Chapter 1390: Whispered Words
After that, Mo Hua would calculate the timing every day, going at just the right moment to seek guidance on formations from his Little Senior Sister.
It was both for learning formations, and for tempering his Dao-heart, strengthening his self-control.
This kind of training was rather difficult. Mo Hua had already done his utmost to keep his mind steady, but whenever he looked at his Little Senior Sister’s clear and peerlessly beautiful eyes, her fair and flawless face, her vermilion lips and jade-like teeth... and listened to her cool yet attentive voice as she explained formations, he couldn’t help but lose focus.
Still, it was much better than before.
Moreover, he had gained some experience. Using the methods of the Strange Dao, he would split his attention, deliberately leaving a portion of his mind just to listen to his Little Senior Sister.
This way, even if he drifted off, when his Little Senior Sister “questioned” him, he could still roughly know what she had just said.
As long as he could answer, she wouldn’t get angry.
Instead, it was the little girl Xiao Ju, who occasionally bared her teeth at Mo Hua like a feral cat, making fierce little sounds.
But though she looked fierce, her threat level was basically zero.
(TN: LMAO)
Thus, Mo Hua and Bai Zixi, as junior and senior, one teaching and one learning, met every day. Yet they only discussed formations, never chatting idly about anything else, leaving True-Person Rong with nothing to criticize.
If there had been any impropriety, it was her duty to stop them.
But she had listened with her Divine-Sense... these two, sitting together, truly only talked about formations.
Although they sat rather close, their conduct was proper and dignified, without any overstepping.
She couldn’t exactly forbid fellow disciples from cultivating, studying, and improving together.
True-Person Rong could only feel a bit helpless.
Of course, another reason she didn’t wish to interfere was that ever since she had “sliced” into Mo Hua and glimpsed that indescribable monster, she held deep apprehension toward him.
She could manage Zixi’s daily conduct and etiquette, ensuring she behaved properly... but she truly didn’t dare to interfere much with Mo Hua, this monster wearing human skin.
As long as Mo Hua didn’t do anything excessive, she could only turn a blind eye.
Occasionally, True-Person Rong also had her own matters to attend to.
...
On this day, she was in the library pavilion, flipping through Introduction to Causality Techniques, frowning in confusion when the transmission token suddenly lit up.
She glanced at it, sighed, then rose and went to the bamboo chamber, saying to Bai Zixi:
“I’m heading out for a while. I’ll return by evening.”
Bai Zixi nodded slightly.
True-Person Rong hadn’t intended to say more, but after a moment’s thought, she still added:
“You… behave yourself.”
Bai Zixi was slightly taken aback, but said nothing.
True-Person Rong shook her head helplessly and departed.
After she left, Bai Zixi continued as usual. Cultivating, reading, and studying pill formulas.
She was wholly devoted to the Dao, diligent and disciplined, her cultivation austere. She had almost no leisure time each day.
Only during these recent days, when the time came, would her Junior Brother come to consult her about formations.
She could rest a little then, and even pose questions to test him, watching her once-clever and bright Little Junior Brother occasionally fall into a daze, or grow nervous and awkward.
As Bai Zixi waited, seeing the time had come, she put away the alchemy book she had been reading, took out several formation diagrams, and spread them across the table.
Before long, Mo Hua entered the bamboo chamber, holding a formation manual.
“Greetings, Senior Sister.”
Bai Zixi nodded gracefully. “Sit.”
As usual, Mo Hua sat beside her, took out his prepared questions, and politely sought her guidance.
After reading them, Bai Zixi carefully considered each one and explained them to him in detail.
Occasionally, seeing Mo Hua spacing out, still not quite understanding, she would lean a little closer, slender hand holding a brush, personally drawing formation diagrams on paper to demonstrate.
Amid faint drifting fragrance, her voice was clear as jade, her presence like autumn orchids.
Perhaps because third-grade formations were truly difficult, Mo Hua’s mind would sometimes stall.
Often, only after Bai Zixi demonstrated three or four times could he barely grasp it. Then, somewhat embarrassed, he would sincerely praise:
“Senior Sister, you know so much.”
Bai Zixi gave a slight nod.
Thus, one teaching and one learning, as they talked, half an hour passed.
The sky dimmed slightly, and their discussion of formations came to an end.
The atmosphere suddenly grew quiet.
Earlier, Mo Hua had noticed that True-Person Rong had already left and was no longer in the Little Blessed Land.
Xiao Ju had also been sent away to watch over the alchemy furnace.
Inside the bamboo chamber, only he and his Little Senior Sister remained.
Some things couldn’t be told to outsiders, but he still had to tell his Little Senior Sister.
After a moment of silence, Mo Hua finally said slowly:
“Senior Sister… I met Senior Brother.”
Bai Zixi asked, “In the Great Wilderness?”
Mo Hua was slightly surprised. “Senior Sister, you already knew?”
Bai Zixi’s gaze dimmed slightly. “He is, after all, my elder brother.”
Mo Hua felt a bit ashamed and murmured, “The Great Wilderness has fallen… I couldn’t bring Senior Brother out… I don’t even know how he is now…”
Bai Zixi looked at him, her eyes softening slightly as she said gently:
“The Bai Clan may not favor my brother, but they wouldn’t truly watch him die.”
Mo Hua was startled, then after thinking it through, gradually understood.
This trip to the Great Wilderness... perhaps the Bai Clan had long been aware of it. The Clan’s ancestors might have already made other arrangements.
At the very least, the Golden Core anomaly of Azure Dragon Origin Reversion on Little Senior Brother could not possibly be a coincidence.
He cared about Senior Brother and didn’t want him to die.
The Bai Clan’s ancestors, though they might not care for him, likely also didn’t want him to die.
Mo Hua let out a soft breath, feeling much more at ease.
Most of the time, his worries and concerns could only be buried in his heart, he had no one to share them with.
Bai Zixi silently watched him. After a moment of hesitation, she finally asked softly:
“Junior Brother, in the Great Wilderness… what exactly happened to you?”
Many of Mo Hua’s secrets could not be revealed, once spoken, they might bring disaster.
Bai Zixi understood this as well. But at this moment, in this Little Blessed Land, there was no one else. At last, she couldn’t hold back and voiced the doubts in her heart.
She wanted to know why her Junior Brother had been so gravely injured... his life once hanging by a thread.
What had he gone through…?
Mo Hua fell silent for a long time before finally speaking:
“I… encountered Martial Uncle…”
A trace of lingering fear flickered in his eyes as he added:
“The real… Martial Uncle.”
Bai Zixi’s pupils trembled, her cool expression changing as shock filled her gaze.
That shock soon turned into deep concern. “Then you—”
Mo Hua shook his head. “I’m fine. It was the Yang Clan’s ancestor who saved me.”
He sighed, his expression dim. “Martial Uncle… is too strong. I was no match for him at all. Even with everything I had, I couldn’t defeat him. I could only barely escape from his hands. But… the Yang Clan ancestor who saved me, and the other Dao Court ancestors… I’m afraid their chances are grim…”
Shock still lingered on Bai Zixi’s face. After a moment, she let out a soft breath, looking into Mo Hua’s eyes as she comforted him:
“Martial Uncle… is, after all, a Daoist.”
“The fact that you escaped already makes you remarkable…”
She knew well in her heart just how terrifying this Martial Uncle, bestowed the title of “Daoist”, truly was.
A “Daoist”… one who could cultivate a Dao Fruit.
In the history of the demonic sect, every Daoist had been a being capable of stirring bloody storms, turning heaven and earth upside down, a peerless calamity.
It was just that most Daoists had remained dormant for thousands of years, and many had forgotten their fearsome reputations.
Their Martial Uncle was a newly advanced Daoist of the demonic sect. Because his seniority was shallow, and rumors claimed he had only reached Feathered Ascension, he was easily underestimated.
But regardless of who it was, anyone who could be titled “Daoist” was terrifying beyond measure.
Those who could escape alive from a Daoist could be counted on one hand.
Not to mention… her Junior Brother was only at the Golden Core stage…
Bai Zixi couldn’t understand how Mo Hua had managed to escape from such a terrifying Martial Uncle.
But when she recalled how, as a child, he had once survived having a demonic seed planted in his Dao heart, it didn’t seem entirely impossible.
She silently marveled.
After so many years apart, her Junior Brother seemed to have become much more capable than before… though he still looked somewhat weak on the surface.
Bai Zixi sighed softly. After a moment of thought, she seriously instructed:
“This matter... you must not tell anyone.”
“The secrets of the Great Wilderness, keep them buried within you. Don’t invite trouble.”
“And the fact that you escaped from Martial Uncle... never let any outsider know. Otherwise, they’ll capture you and torment you daily to squeeze out your secrets…”
For a Golden Core cultivator to escape from the Strange Daoist—no matter the reason—was an extremely abnormal and inconceivable matter.
If this spread, it would just give others yet another reason to dissect Mo Hua.
Mo Hua nodded seriously. “I haven’t told anyone. I only told you, Senior Sister.”
Bai Zixi nodded lightly in acknowledgment.
The bamboo chamber fell quiet again. After a while, Mo Hua glanced at Bai Zixi and softly asked:
“Senior Sister… do you know anything about Master’s condition?”
Seeing the concern in his eyes, Bai Zixi shook her head. “I don’t know either. Mother won’t let me ask.”
Mo Hua’s gaze dimmed.
Bai Zixi felt a twinge of discomfort... even guilt.
Back then, if not for her mother insisting that she and her brother take Master as their teacher and learn the Immortal Heavens Formation Flow—thus exposing karmic ties—Master might not have drawn calamity upon himself so early.
If she and her brother had never gone to Tōngxiān City, perhaps her Junior Brother would still be living in seclusion there with Master.
Or perhaps he would be traveling the world alongside Master, wandering through some small immortal city in Li Province…
Instead of things being as they were now. Master’s life or death unknown, and her Junior Brother drifting alone through the cultivation world, enduring unseen hardships.
Bai Zixi felt a pang of heartache, though her expression remained calm as ever. Only the softness in her gaze toward Mo Hua betrayed her feelings.
“If you have time, come with me to the Bai Clan. I’ll take you to see Master.”
Mo Hua, who had been dejected, immediately perked up at her words. His eyes lit up as he nodded eagerly:
“Okay! Thank you, Senior Sister!”
Bai Zixi pressed her lips together slightly.
But she knew in her heart that even if they went to the Bai Clan, her mother might not allow her Junior Brother to see Master.
Behind Master’s life-and-death situation, there seemed to be even deeper, more obscure, and more immense karmic entanglements.
Her mother wouldn’t even tell her, nor allow her to be involved in the slightest, nor permit anyone else to see Master.
But none of that mattered.
Anything she promised her Junior Brother, she would definitely accomplish.
As they spoke of Master, the two of them seemed to return to their childhood, and the atmosphere grew more harmonious.
Not knowing when True-Person Rong would return, and wary of prying ears, Mo Hua stopped discussing the Great Wilderness and Martial Uncle, instead chatting about cultivation and the past.
“Senior Sister, you’ve reached mid-stage Golden Core?”
“Mm,” Bai Zixi nodded. “My cultivation has always been arranged for me.”
Mo Hua then asked, “What about your formation mastery? Have you reached Third-grade mid-tier?”
Generally speaking, for cultivators of a given realm, being able to draw formations of the same level was already considered highly talented.
Bai Zixi shook her head slightly. “I can draw Third-grade high-tier formations.”
Mo Hua’s heart tightened, though he wasn’t too surprised.
During these days studying formations under her, he had already vaguely sensed that her formation attainments were extremely high.
Not only was her foundation solid, but she was also highly proficient in high-level formations.
“Is it because of… the Immortal Heavens Formation Flow?” Mo Hua asked softly.
Bai Zixi nodded.
Back then, one of her mother’s main purposes in sending her to take a master had been to learn this extremely profound formation lineage... one even associated with the word “immortal”:
The Immortal Heavens Formation Origin Flow.
Bai Zixi glanced at Mo Hua, thought for a moment, then asked:
“Junior Brother, how about… I teach you the Immortal Heavens Formation Flow as well?”
She knew clearly that the one Master had truly valued back then was not her and her brother—despite their Heavenly Spiritual Roots—but this seemingly “low-talent” Little Junior Brother.
Many things had been passed only to him.
Yet the most profound Immortal Heavens Formation Flow had been taught only to her and her brother. Mo Hua had never learned it.
Mo Hua felt tempted. He had long wanted to know what exactly this lineage—called the “Immortal Heavens Formation Origin Flow”—truly was.
But after thinking for a moment, he ultimately restrained himself and shook his head. “Master didn’t allow me to learn it back then.”
“You don’t want to learn?” Bai Zixi asked.
“I do…” Mo Hua sighed. “But if Master didn’t allow it, there must be a reason. I can’t go against his wishes.”
Seeing that her formation-obsessed Junior Brother could maintain such restraint even before the Immortal Heavens Formation Flow, Bai Zixi nodded approvingly.
Then she looked him over again and suddenly frowned. “You joined the Great Void Sect?”
Mo Hua nodded. “Yes.”
He had just been about to boast about being the Two Times Qianxue Formation Dao Champion, the top swordsman in Sword Dao Debate, and the “Little Senior Brother of Great Void Sect,” when Bai Zixi asked:
“Then why did you form an Inferior-grade Golden Core?”
Mo Hua instantly deflated.
Bai Zixi had actually wanted to ask this for a long time. “Did the Great Void Sect secretly suppress you? Didn’t give you a proper inheritance? Didn’t even tell you the essentials for preserving quality when forming a core?”
Her gaze turned cold, suspecting he had been treated unfairly.
Mo Hua could only say helplessly, “It has nothing to do with the sect. The ancestors and elders treated me very well. It’s just…”
He sighed. “I was targeted by the Heavenly Dao.”
Bai Zixi froze. “The Heavenly Dao targeted you? What did you do? Defy the heavens?”
Mo Hua found it hard to explain.
Just then, the sound of carriages came from outside Xiaoluan Mountain Blessed Land. True-Person Rong had seemingly returned. Mo Hua immediately straightened his posture.
Bai Zixi seemed to guess something and didn’t press further. Instead, she spread out the formation diagrams again, pretending they had been studying all along.
The two stopped their whispered conversation.
Moments later, True-Person Rong’s divine sense swept over. Seeing the senior sister and junior brother obediently studying formation diagrams, she did not disturb them further.
Mo Hua discussed formation knowledge with his senior sister a bit longer. Seeing that it was getting late, he took his leave.
...
Night fell.
Mo Hua sat in his room, thinking about his conversation with his senior sister during the day, his mind heavy with thoughts.
At one moment, he thought of the secrets of the Great Wilderness; at another, of the terrifying Martial Uncle; and then of his master.
After that, he recalled his senior sister and the origins of the Immortal Heavens Formation Flow. As he kept thinking, Mo Hua suddenly froze, realizing there was something he seemed to have forgotten for a long time.①
He quickly got up, shut the doors and windows, and hastily set up a few formations to isolate his aura.
These were third-grade soundproofing and aura-sealing formations, something Mo Hua had just learned, perfect for temporary use.①
After preparing everything, Mo Hua finally took out a scroll from his Storage Ring.
It was a very old scroll, wrinkled and even marked with footprints... left by Mo Hua when he was a child.
This scroll was originally the Zhang family’s ancestral “Corpse Diagram” from Nanyue City.
But the Zhang family’s ancestors depicted within had all been “consumed” by Mo Hua. Now, within this scroll, something even more dangerous was sealed:
The Five Elements Source Formation of the Five Elements Sect.
(End of Chapter)