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Chapter 1384: Infant
That naive yet eerie laughter rang again beside the Ancestor Huá’s ears, as if echoing within his very heart.
The black strange-flame infant said, “Your Dao Heart?”
“What Dao Heart do you even have?”
“You want to become an Immortal?”
“But didn’t I already tell you?” The strange-flame infant said with a face full of regret, “You can’t become an Immortal. You’ve already taken the wrong path.”
Ancestor Huá’s face twitched as he said coldly, “You vile little creature, what nonsense are you spouting?”
“Hehe…” The strange-flame infant split its mouth into a grin. That smile, clear and innocent, carried a touch of childlike brightness, yet also bore a faint shadow of the Strange Daoist.
“I actually know,” the strange-flame infant said. Its clear, unsettlingly deep and lively eyes stared straight into Ancestor Huá’s, as if to see through his very soul:
“When I told you before, you already knew…”
“But you refused to admit it. Why?”
“Could it be…” the strange-flame infant asked like a curious child, “that once you admit it, your Dao Heart will shatter?”
Ancestor Huá’s expression changed drastically. “Absurd!”
The strange-flame infant sighed and said in a crisp voice:
“Actually, I understand you.”
“I’ve been the Divine-Shaman before. I know the feeling of holding great power, looking down upon all living beings, it’s truly intoxicating.”
“Being an Ancestor is far too comfortable. High above, wielding the power of the Profound-Hollow-Void, controlling life and death. With a single thought, you can send countless Great Wilderness citizens to their deaths, how majestic, how domineering.”
“Even after killing so many and incubating Dao-Sin Calamities, you can suppress them with the power of the stars, leaving yourself untouched by karma.”
“That feeling of deceiving the Heavenly Dao, grasping causality, slaughtering all beings, and yet bearing no responsibility… isn’t it utterly intoxicating?”
“As if you are the Heavenly Dao itself. The rules are yours to decide. Whoever you want dead must die. If you wish for all life to suffer, then all life suffers.”
The strange-flame infant’s words seemed to strike straight into Ancestor Huá’s heart.
His face gradually turned pale.
The infant paddled its tiny hands, drifting freely within the abyss, floating before Ancestor Huá. Pressing close to his ear, it whispered softly:
“But… do you really think the Heavenly Dao knows nothing of this?”
“Do you really think you can deceive the Heavenly Dao?”
“Do you really think this path can lead you to Immortality?”
“You can’t, right? After committing so many sins, you still want to become an Immortal?”
“Have you ever considered… that falling here, into the hands of Martial Uncle—that great demon—might be the consequence of deceiving the Heavenly Dao…”
“The Heavenly Dao has sentenced you to death. It wants to destroy your Dao Foundation and sever your Immortal path!”
“The Heavenly Dao is telling you… Immortality isn’t cultivated this way…”
Ancestor Huá’s face turned deathly pale, drained of all color. He roared in fury:
“Nonsense!”
“Nonsense!”
“You’re talking nonsense!”
“Impossible! I am Profound-Hollow-Void! I’ve cultivated for thousands of years, what do you know? WHAT DO YOU KNOW?!”
“You think I need you to teach me? My Dao is correct! I will attain the Dao, become an Immortal, live as long as heaven and earth, achieve eternal life…”
His expression twisted, his mind thrown into violent turmoil.
The strange-flame infant giggled. “Oh? Really?”
Its voice seeped into Ancestor Huá’s heart like a demon:
“Why don’t you take a look within… and examine your own Dao Heart?”
“See for yourself… isn’t it about to shatter?”
Ancestor Huá knew he must not look inward at his Dao Heart.
But at that moment, an overwhelming urge arose within him. He wanted to confirm his Dao Heart... to confirm his Dao.
He wanted to know whether his lifelong cultivation had been correct.
Whether his Dao Heart had gone wrong.
And so, unable to resist, he looked inward.
His Dao Heart resided at the core of his Sea of Consciousness, where his Divine-Sense was also hidden. At this moment, it appeared intact, without the slightest crack.
Ancestor Huá let out a sigh of relief.
“My Dao Heart… is fine…”
But just then, that eerie, childlike laughter rang out again, this time laced with a chilling cunning, as if its trick had succeeded.
“Hehe… so this is where your Dao Heart is hidden…”
Ancestor Huá jolted awake, his soul nearly leaving his body.
Not good!!
His face turned deathly pale.
Almost simultaneously, faint, pale-white Strange rune patterns began to spread outward from the depths of his Dao Heart.
His Dao Heart… had truly begun to crack.
And once the Dao Heart destabilized, revealing internal flaws, the even stronger external strange runes, like ferocious beasts smelling blood, rushed inward to devour it.
Ancestor Huá’s face filled with terror... but it was already too late.
Inside and out, strange runes seeped into his Dao Heart. Under their combined assault, his very origin began to transform, step by step, falling into corruption.
He tried to save himself, to stabilize his Dao Heart, to protect his origin, but the more it cracked, the more terrified he became.
And the more terrified he became, the deeper the cracks grew.
Before long, over half of his Dao Heart had turned into a grotesque, “evil” form, densely covered in strange runes.
Even his origin had been infiltrated halfway by the Strange Daoist.
Ancestor Huá’s heart turned utterly cold.
He knew his Dao Foundation was completely ruined. Before long, he would become a puppet of the Strange Daoist…
“You…”
Enraged beyond measure, he tried to find the culprit, the damned instigator, that damned little abomination.
But his Dao Heart had already been “broken.” The strange-flame infant merely smiled strangely and vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.
This sudden change naturally drew the attention of the Strange Daoist.
Yet all of it had occurred within Ancestor Huá’s thoughts.
When the Strange Daoist looked over, he only saw a strange little figure wrapped in strange-flames flicker and disappear. After that, Ancestor Huá’s Dao Heart collapsed like a breached dam, and his origin began to be rapidly eroded by the strange Dao.
To the Strange Daoist, this should have been a good thing.
The hardest bone to chew had now collapsed on its own.
Yet his face remained cold, showing no sign of joy.
He silently gazed into the void, watching that tiny figure which had suddenly appeared, only to vanish again in a bizarre manner. His pitch-black eyes were cold.
No one was there anymore.
Within the endless Ruins of Return, countless malevolent ghosts wandered. No one could see that strange little figure.
Only a crisp “hehe” laughter lingered faintly, mixed within the howls and roars of the ghosts.
...
Kun Province, the Fifth-Grade Houtu Prefecture Realm.
Earth Sect.
Several high-ranking members of the Earth Sect surrounded a young man, his body eroded by abyssal power, grievously wounded, unconscious, barely clinging to life, his entire being emanating a horrifying, sinister aura, as they discussed:
“He’s been treated for half a month already. Can he still survive?”
“Probably not. Even if he does, his body’s already corroded, his Sea of Consciousness polluted… I’ve lived this long and never seen anything like this. Did he bathe in evil thoughts or something?”
“No matter what, we have to save him. Otherwise, we won’t know what exactly happened in the Great Wilderness…”
At these words, everyone frowned, their hearts filled with doubt.
Why had the Ancient Stellar Formation suddenly exploded?
What about those mysterious Profound-Hollow-Void ancestors of unknown origin? Where were they now? Had they remained in the Great Wilderness?
At the moment the teleportation formation exploded, they had faintly sensed a terrifying demonic aura.
What exactly had happened on the other side of the teleportation formation?
Why had only this inexplicable boy made it through?
Who was he? And who had sent him through the Ancient Stellar Formation?
Why?
So many questions, just thinking about them made their scalps tingle.
A high-ranking Grand Elder of the Earth Sect, his complexion sallow, spoke gravely:
“No matter what, this boy must be kept alive. Even if we have to forcefully sustain his life, we will do so. If necessary, use the Earth Vein Great Restoration Pill to replenish his Qi, even at the cost of draining his vitality, force a momentary resurgence and make him speak. We must extract the truth.”
“This boy likely carries a great secret… If we don’t uncover it, I won’t be at ease.”
The others frowned for a moment, then sighed.
“This is the only way.”
One elder asked, “Then… do we use the Great Restoration Pill now?”
The Grand Elder shook his head. “Not yet. The Earth Vein Great Restoration Pill is far too precious. It’s too early. Try everything else first. If there’s no other option, then we’ll consider it…”
Such pills were exceedingly rare, each one not to be used lightly.
Moreover, this boy’s body was too weak to withstand it. If he consumed the pill now, he would certainly die on the spot.
And if they failed to extract anything, all those secrets would be buried with him in the grave.
Thus, unless absolutely necessary, the Grand Elder was unwilling to take that step.
Soon after, the entire Earth Sect mobilized. All elders skilled in the medical arts gathered in the secret hall and began treating Mo Hua.
They placed him within the Rejuvenation Formation to nourish his blood and Qi.
Then, using spiritual power, they excised the corrupted flesh invaded by abyssal force, and cleansed his body with various spiritual liquids.
Finally, they administered all kinds of medicinal pills to regulate his meridians and heal his injuries.
Mo Hua’s body was frail, so any injury to his flesh was especially severe.
To purge the corruption from his body, the entire process consumed immense manpower and medicinal resources from the Earth Sect.
His condition gradually improved.
However, as treatment progressed, the elders began to notice something strange about Mo Hua’s body.
His outer flesh was indeed weak, but his internal meridians and bones were… anything but ordinary.
An astonishingly vigorous life force circulated within his bones.
It was precisely this life force that had prevented him from dying on the spot under the invasion of such terrifying evil power.
At the same time, his body even seemed to be “assimilating” that evil force.
His bones felt as if they possessed a kind of “life,” stirring restlessly.
Several alchemy elders frowned deeply.
“His flesh is weak, but these bones… they probably conceal something…”
“Should we cut him open and take a look?” someone suggested.
Until now, they had only been removing the evil force and nourishing his flesh, they had not truly used a blade to dissect him.
But now, it was clear that this boy harbored secrets within his body. Without cutting him open, they likely wouldn’t uncover anything.
From all current signs—weak exterior, yet extremely dense inner vitality, surviving on the brink of death, even his bones devouring evil force—the secrets within him were anything but simple.
One elder picked up a blade, preparing to slice open Mo Hua’s skin, sever the meridians, and examine his bones.
But the moment the blade cut through the surface and was about to touch his bones, an ancient aura emanated outward.
An indescribable brutality surged forth from within his bones.
It was as if some savage monster was hidden beneath that frail exterior, stirring restlessly.
That single cut… might release some kind of calamity.
The elder’s heart clenched violently. His hand began to tremble.
After a moment’s hesitation, he withdrew the blade, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and said in a trembling voice:
“If we damage his vital essence and kill him, that’ll only make things more troublesome…”
The other elders, though not wielding the blade, could also faintly sense that horrifying aura. Knowing this matter was no small issue, they all nodded.
Better to avoid trouble than invite it. A life was at stake, rash action was unwise.
Thus, the treatment continued.
The Earth Sect, being the only major sect within the entire Fifth-Grade Huotu Prefecture Domain, possessed immense power, countless disciples, vast wealth, and profound expertise in alchemy and medicine.
Under their treatment, Mo Hua’s condition steadily improved.
But the problem was, no matter what they did, he still did not awaken.
The Sect Master, Grand Elders, and high-ranking elders had no choice but to gather once more for discussion.
“We can’t keep dragging this out… Something may have happened in the Great Wilderness. We need answers.”
“Use the Earth Vein Great Restoration Pill. Forcefully replenish him and sustain his life.”
“As long as he can speak, everything becomes manageable.”
“With such a forceful replenishment… he’ll probably die, won’t he?”
“That’s inevitable. Once he dies, we can dissect his corpse and examine his bones. There may be great mysteries hidden within…”
“This…” someone hesitated.
A senior elder explained:
“If we dissect him while alive, we may drain his vitality and kill him, potentially triggering further calamities.”
“And if he dies without speaking, all secrets will be lost.”
“So the only way is to forcefully sustain him first, bring him back long enough to speak.”
“After he fails to withstand the replenishment and dies, we dissect the body and uncover the secrets within him.”
“That way, we can extract as much as possible from him.”
“I have a feeling… whether it’s what he says or what lies within his bones, the secrets he carries are extraordinary…”
Another elder nodded. “Indeed. And this approach is more humane. Dissecting a living person violates moral principles. Once he’s dead, examining the corpse is reasonable.”
“I still feel something is off,” another elder objected.
“Putting everything else aside, are we really going to waste a single Earth Vein Great Restoration Pill on this boy?”
“Rest assured. I guarantee the secrets he carries are worth it.”
“Should we report this to the Ancestor and let him decide?”
“The Ancestor is in seclusion. We must not disturb him. Matters within the sect are to be decided by us, the high-ranking members.”
The Earth Sect was vast, with many elders and a complex structure.
Although most supported using the pill and then dissecting Mo Hua, reaching full consensus still required effort.
However, before long, new complications arose.
Other forces within Kun Province—especially powerful great clans—began visiting the Earth Sect, probing for information.
After all, Kun Province was prosperous, and the Huotu Prefecture Domain had long been peaceful. It had been a very long time since any major incident had occurred.
Not to mention something on the scale of a fifth-grade formation self-destructing, starlight falling, and space itself warping.
Especially since such a disturbance had occurred within the powerful Earth Sect, it stirred countless suspicions in the shadows.
Where something abnormal happens, something strange must be at work. Openly or secretly, no one knew how many forces were watching every move of the Earth Sect.
This kind of surveillance had, in fact, never stopped from the very beginning.
At first, out of respect for appearances and the Earth Sect’s authority, everyone merely made indirect inquiries.
But as events developed, more and more information leaked out: “Great Wilderness frontlines,” “ancient formation self-destruction,” “reverse teleportation,” “a mysterious boy of unknown life or death”…
The major Kun Province clans quickly realized the gravity of the situation. They joined forces and began pressuring the Earth Sect, demanding an explanation.
At the very least, they wanted to see the “boy who fell from the sky.”
The Earth Sect did everything it could, offering all kinds of excuses to evade them.
But with such a large sect and so many people, secrets were hard to keep. Somehow, news spread that they were “feeding the boy Earth Vein Great Restoration Pill to prolong his life while forcing him to reveal his secrets.”
This time, the Kun Province clans could no longer sit still.
Using the Great Restoration Pill to extend his life meant that once the person died, everything would be over. And once he was dead, whatever secrets he held would remain forever within the Earth Sect.
Thus, the major clans of Kun Province—especially wealthy giants like the Lu, Jin, Shen, and Wu Clans—sent their patriarchs directly to the Earth Sect’s mountain gates to demand answers.
The Earth Sect had no choice. No matter how powerful they were, they could not afford to provoke public outrage.
After discussions among all parties, it was decided that three days later, a meeting would be held in the Earth Sect’s main hall to determine how to deal with the Great Wilderness youth.
...
Three days later, the Earth Sect’s grand hall.
The Earth Sect’s sect master, the patriarchs of the major Kun Province clans, grand elders, and senior elders—hundreds of people in total—gathered together.
Across the entire fifth-grade Houtu Prefecture, most of the prominent figures from various powers had arrived, all prepared to discuss how to handle Mo Hua.
Everyone present held high status and had countless affairs to attend to, so no one bothered with pleasantries.
The patriarch of the Lu Clan of Kun Province immediately asked the Earth Sect’s sect master, “Where is he?”
The Earth Sect was vast, with numerous branches and three sect masters. The one present today was the Right Sect Master, who oversaw sect affairs.
The Right Sect Master replied calmly, “He is still being treated.”
The Lu patriarch frowned. “After all this time, he’s still not healed?”
The Right Sect Master said, “His injuries are severe…”
The Lu patriarch was about to speak again when his expression suddenly shifted. He looked toward the entrance of the hall and saw a dignified woman in plain robes walking in, step by step like lotus blossoms blooming beneath her feet.
Her aura was completely restrained; in both motion and stillness, there was not the slightest fluctuation, clear signs of cultivation refined to an extremely profound level.
The Lu patriarch’s expression changed slightly, and the others were all startled as well.
“Master Rong?”
All the Earth Sect elders and clan leaders stood up at once, their attitudes respectful.
The Right Sect Master also bowed politely. “Master Rong, what brings you here?”
Master Rong said calmly, “I just came to listen. Continue.”
Only then did everyone relax and slowly sit down. But just as they had settled, behind Master Rong at the hall entrance, another figure in white followed in.
It was a woman dressed in snow-white robes, her figure graceful, her veil like drifting clouds. Though her face could not be seen clearly, she carried an air as pure and flawless as jade.
And the moment this white-clad woman appeared, that crisp, icy beauty spread through the hall, causing everyone present to involuntarily hold their breath.
Some female cultivators even felt the blood in their bodies begin to boil.
(End of Chapter)