Chapter 1117: Snatching Food

Three days later, in the early morning before dawn, Mo Hua had already packed his bags.

He handed a jade slip to his mother, Liu Ruhua, and said:

"Mom, this jade slip contains some insights on Foundation Establishment that I've summarized. Please take a look when you have time and cultivate diligently. Dad has already reached Foundation Establishment, but you're still at the ninth level of Qi Refinement. You must have been slacking off and not focusing on cultivation. This won't do. Cultivation is like sailing against the current; if you don't advance, you fall back. If you slack off, one step will slow you down, and then every step will be slow..."

"You must cultivate diligently. Cultivation is the foundation of a cultivator. The higher your cultivation, the better your health will be, and the longer your lifespan. That way, I won't have to worry all the time..." Mo Hua admonished her with a serious expression.

Liu Ruhua looked abashed.

Mo Shan, standing nearby, couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and exasperation. In other families, parents urged their children to cultivate, but with Mo Hua, it was the other way around; he was urging his parents.

After saying all this, Mo Hua had nothing else to advise. He checked his storage bag, making sure the dried meat and pastries his mother made for him were all there. He then looked back at his room and his home, feeling a pang of reluctance.

Liu Ruhua looked at her child, who was about to leave home, her heart aching. She couldn't help but hug Mo Hua tightly and whispered:

"Please take good care of yourself."

"If you encounter danger, don't be brave and push yourself. Run if you can; your life is paramount. Nothing in this world is more important than your life."

"If you get tired, come home. Your mother will always be waiting for you."

"Mmm..." Mo Hua nodded softly.

Liu Ruhua looked deeply at Mo Hua again, hesitated for a moment, then spoke:

"Zisheng and... Zixi. I miss those two children quite a bit. You're studying in Qianzhou; have you met them?"

Zixi especially loved Liu Ruhua's pastries. Bai Zisheng was gluttonous and had always longed to recognize Liu Ruhua as his godmother. The brother and sister had visited Mo Hua's home before. What's more, they were Mo Hua's Little Senior Brother and Little Senior Sister, and the three of them, as fellow sect members, were like siblings. Liu Ruhua also liked these two children very much and held them in her thoughts.

Mo Hua paused slightly at her words, and a fleeting image appeared in his mind: the hazy, graceful female figure he'd glimpsed while leaving the Qianxue State boundary on a Cloud Ferry at the cloud stream diversion point, and the ethereal, breathtaking face, like an epiphyllum flower in bloom, behind a veil. He muttered to himself:

"Is that person... my Little Senior Sister?"

"It must be, right?"

"So, that means... the Heavenly Secret Divination that told me to choose that old Cloud Ferry, and the premonition that I'd regret not choosing it, was because I could see Little Senior Sister?"

"Was the slower Cloud Ferry meant to ensure I'd meet Little Senior Sister?"

"It's a pity... the Cloud Ferries crossed paths for only an instant. I only got a glimpse and didn't have time to properly see what Little Senior Sister looks like now..." Mo Hua felt a touch of wistfulness.

"Hua'er?" Seeing Mo Hua lost in thought, Liu Ruhua called softly.

"Oh," Mo Hua snapped back to reality and shook his head. "I haven't met them yet..."

"Is that so..." Liu Ruhua's gaze dimmed. A moment later, she looked up at Mo Hua, her expression a little worried, and said, "Zixi... her family's status isn't simple, is it?"

As the saying goes, childhood often reveals future paths. The budding affections between the two children could be discerned even when they were young. They themselves, growing up together as childhood sweethearts, constantly by each other's side, might not have even realized it, but as a mother, how could Liu Ruhua not see it? However, the disparity in their statuses was simply too great. Liu Ruhua felt guilty that, as a mother, she hadn't given Mo Hua a better background. And she also felt heartache for the two children, fearing that in the future, even if their hearts were bound together, they would suffer endless torment from worldly rules and experience countless hardships and bitterness.

Mo Hua seemed to sense Liu Ruhua's thoughts and gently comforted her, saying, "Mom, don't worry about these things; you don't need to trouble yourself..."

Liu Ruhua nodded, but her gaze was downcast, clearly still worried.

Mo Hua looked at Liu Ruhua, then at Mo Shan, pondered for a moment, and suddenly said:

"Dad, Mom, why don't you... have another younger brother or sister for me? It would make the house livelier..."

Liu Ruhua instantly blushed deeply. "What are you saying, you child..."

The usually composed Mo Shan also wore a helpless expression. But the sorrow of parting had been considerably diluted.

Mo Hua finished packing everything, took one last look at his parents, and bowed respectfully, saying:

"Father, Mother, your son is going out to gain experience and seek to form his Golden Core. Please take good care of yourselves and stay well."

"Mmm." Mo Shan nodded.

Liu Ruhua's eyes were moist, and she urged again: "You must also take good care of yourself."

"Mmm!"

Mo Hua felt reluctance in his heart, but he resolutely turned and left home. Mo Shan and his wife stood at the entrance of their old home, supporting each other, watching Mo Hua depart into the distance.

Mo Hua could feel two gazes filled with attachment lingering on him. He felt a pang of guilt. As the saying goes, while parents are alive, one should not travel far. Yet, he had no choice but to constantly leave his hometown and travel afar for cultivation. However, there is no such thing as perfection in this world. One always has to make choices. Since he was determined to pursue the Grand Dao, he should focus wholeheartedly and cultivate diligently, not disappointing his parents' expectations. He should form his Golden Core as soon as possible and become the first Golden Core Grand Cultivator in Tongxian City's history.

"Golden Core..." Mo Hua's heart calmed, and his resolve gradually strengthened. He hid his longing for home and his concern for his parents deep in his heart, and set off alone on the path to Golden Core formation.

Dawn had not yet broken; the remnants of night were hazy. Most cultivators in Tongxian City were still deep in their slumber. Without many people knowing, Mo Hua had already quietly left Tongxian City, embarking on another cultivation path filled with thorns and hardships. When he would return home next, he did not know.

After leaving Tongxian City, Mo Hua first made a detour to Nanshan to see Mr. Zhuang's former residence. However, everything from the past was gone. The bamboo courtyard, the pond, the large pagoda tree, Master, Old Puppet, Little Senior Brother, and Little Senior Sister, all were gone... Like a dream, a phantom, or a bubble, they had vanished into nothingness. Mo Hua stood there for a long time, sighed softly, before continuing south into the Great Black Mountain.

The sky was still dark. The mountains and forests were dense. Within the Great Black Mountain, the low roars of demonic beasts echoed one after another. Mo Hua was alone, walking through the Great Black Mountain, where the terrain was complex and the environment perilous. However, none of the demonic beasts throughout the mountain could discover his presence. Even some powerful beasts, which vaguely sensed a wisp of his aura, dared not provoke the unknown dark shadow that was Mo Hua, out of instinctive fear.

Mo Hua walked around the deep mountains for a while, finally stopping before a mountain peak. He bent down, rubbed the soil with his fingers, and sniffed the faint, almost extinguished scent of blood. He then performed a brief divination in his mind. Some fragmented, black-and-white images flashed through Mo Hua's mind, one after another. It seemed cultivators were hunting a demonic beast. The beast roared, tearing open a cultivator's chest. Then, roars of fury erupted, and a more intense battle ensued between the two sides... But too much time had passed; the images were too blurry and severely fragmented, making it impossible to discern more details. Mo Hua wanted to expend more spiritual sense to enhance his divination power, but his spiritual sense suddenly throbbed with pain, and malevolent energy surged. It sounded as if vengeful spirits were roaring in his ears. Mo Hua's eyes turned gray, and a chill crept into his heart. He immediately forced himself to stop the divination.

"No..." Spiritual sense could not be overused. The methods of Heavenly Secrets and divine sense also needed to be used with restraint, otherwise, his mind would easily lose balance, leading to a backlash of malevolent energy. Mo Hua frowned. This made things troublesome. He had no idea where his big tiger had gone, or if it was dead or alive.

Counting it, his connection with this big tiger was quite deep. When it was young, the big tiger was skinny and small, like a kitten. It had been caught in Uncle Chu's trap, and Mo Hua had later acquired it to practice his movement techniques. He then kept his promise and released it back into the forest. Later, in Black Mountain Village, he had saved this big tiger again, and the big tiger had also helped him kill rogue cultivators. He had even taken the time to feed it many dried fish... Even when he left home to study in Qianzhou, the big tiger had seen him off with a forlorn expression. Given these bonds, Mo Hua was reluctant to abandon it.

But the current situation was somewhat perplexing. Who exactly was trying to capture it? What had happened to the big tiger now? Had it escaped? Or had it been captured? If it had escaped, that would be good. It might have simply left the Great Black Mountain and established itself as king on another peak. But if it had been captured, given the relationship between demonic beasts and cultivators, it probably wouldn't be alive now... Mo Hua's gaze deepened.

"Who exactly is trying to capture my big tiger..."

A moment later, Mo Hua sighed faintly. His Heavenly Secret Divination was limited, and there were no other clues at the moment. He could only inquire along the way to see if there were any other leads.

Furthermore, there was another matter... Mo Hua continued walking south, into the more dangerous depths of the Great Black Mountain, and walked for another half day. There was no one around, and even demonic beasts were rare. Mo Hua used his spiritual sense to control ink and easily set up some high-grade second-rank formations on the ground. Within the second-rank Great Black Mountain state boundary, especially in such a remote place, high-grade second-rank formations were essentially equivalent to the 'peak' cultivation level. It was practically impossible for any cultivator or demonic beast to break through such formations.

Mo Hua sat inside the formation and took out his Pixiu fang talisman. He was about to 'eat'. In the Qianxue State boundary, to avoid exposing the karmic ties with the Evil God, Mo Hua hadn't eaten. Upon arriving in Lizhou, within Tongxian City, Mo Hua feared that something might go wrong while eating, causing the Evil God to lose control and evil thoughts to overflow, affecting his family and friends, so he hadn't eaten either. Now, he was about to embark on a journey alone, traveling through desolate mountains and remote ridges where no one was around. Naturally, he had no qualms and could indulge in a 'feast'.

Heaven and Earth are inhumane; they treat all beings as straw dogs. The gods are inhumane; they treat all living beings as straw dogs. Mo Hua is inhumane; he treats the Evil God as a straw dog. The Evil God was his 'sacrifice,' a promise Mo Hua had made to the Great Barren Evil God. He absolutely could not 'go back on his word.' What's more, if he wanted to form his Golden Core, prove his Dao with spiritual sense, and forge his destined magic treasure, his spiritual sense had to be elevated to the second-rank twenty-four patterns. This involved a massive deficit in spiritual sense. To form his Golden Core sooner, he had to find every possible way to bridge this gap as soon as possible. And to bridge this gap, the Evil God's true embryonic form was a large, succulent piece of meat. This was also Mo Hua's intention in using the divine beast Pixiu to seal the Evil God's true embryonic form. He had originally planned it this way. This idea was originally very reasonable.

But what Mo Hua hadn't expected was that he had overlooked a crucial point. That was, the Pixiu was very displeased!

Mo Hua held the Pixiu fang pendant in his hand, his spiritual sense sinking into his Sea of Consciousness. He entered the sealed Divine Beast Hall, intending to cut off a 'piece of meat' from the Evil God's true embryonic form to replenish his spiritual sense. However, the originally amiable Pixiu immediately turned hostile, its golden fur bristling, and bared its fangs at Mo Hua. Only then did Mo Hua realize that the legendary saying was true. The reason Pixiu became a divine beast for warding off evil and sealing was because it was notoriously stingy, loved wealth, and wouldn't part with a single hair. This large-headed Pixiu was fundamentally a miserly tightwad! Once a juicy piece of meat was in its mouth, there was no thought of getting it back.

Mo Hua got a terrible headache. He had planned meticulously, but hadn't accounted for this. Although he had sealed the Evil God's true embryonic form, it was equivalent to handing it over to 'someone else'. At heart, Mo Hua was also a 'tightwad', and naturally, he couldn't agree to such a thing. What's more, he still needed to form his Golden Core. If he didn't consume the Evil God, how could he form his Golden Core?

Mo Hua began to earnestly persuade the Pixiu, hoping to convince it with reason. But the Pixiu was resolute, like a scale weight set in stone, refusing to yield an inch. Mo Hua was so angry that he punched the Pixiu. The Pixiu got annoyed and began fighting with Mo Hua. Their ship of friendship capsized instantly. A large-headed divine beast and a child deity, they exchanged blows, tearing and biting at each other. After fighting for a long time, neither could do anything to the other.

Ultimately, the Pixiu compromised. It seemed it also knew that it was being a little 'unethical,' since both prey were caught by Mo Hua, and it shouldn't be too stingy. It then exceptionally allowed Mo Hua to cut a 'piece of meat' from the Evil God's true embryonic form. Mo Hua was very dissatisfied, feeling the Pixiu was not generous enough. But what he didn't know was that for the Pixiu, which was always notoriously stingy, this was already a huge concession. If it weren't for his truly good relationship with it, and the contract they'd signed, giving him a piece of Pixiu horn which was roughly equivalent to half a 'Pixiu', this large-headed Pixiu would absolutely not have allowed Mo Hua to 'snatch food' from under its nose.

Mo Hua still wanted to be greedier. But the Pixiu's fierce, large head shook like a rattle-drum, refusing to agree to anything more. Mo Hua had no choice but to agree.

Finally, he transformed his divine sense into a sword and cut a piece of 'meat' from the Evil God's true embryonic form. This single cut caused the Evil God's true embryonic form pain, making it roar in fury. To it, this was blatant humiliation. Mo Hua used his divine sense as a cleaver, treating a god as fish meat. This was a forbidden act that violated the Heavenly Dao. While the Evil God's true embryonic form was in pain, the Pixiu felt even more pain in its heart. Cutting into its 'property' hurt more than cutting into its own flesh. If it weren't for Mo Hua's good relationship with it, and the contract they'd signed, giving him a piece of Pixiu horn which was roughly equivalent to half a 'Pixiu', this large-headed Pixiu would absolutely not have allowed Mo Hua to 'snatch food' from under its nose.

After cutting a piece of meat from the Evil God, Mo Hua returned to his Sea of Consciousness. He used the tribulation lightning on the Dao Stele to obliterate the Evil God's will, effectively 'disinfecting' it, then swallowed it whole and refined it directly. His spiritual sense increased by a small amount. However, this increase was far from Mo Hua's expectations, and for the twenty-four patterns spiritual sense realm, it was merely a drop in the ocean. And snatching food from the Pixiu's mouth was harder than killing this big idiot.

Mo Hua sighed, his gaze distant as he looked out at the vast land of Lizhou, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart:

"It seems I still need to find another way to enhance my spiritual sense..."

"I wonder if there's anything else to 'eat' in the Great Barren Land..."