Chapter 1270: Mystery of the Sacred Beast

Chapter 1269: Mystery of the Sacred Beast

Mo Hua’s expression turned cold as he said: “Stop them!”

Lu-Gu obeyed immediately. With the force of his Golden Core, he activated the Demon-Slaying Bone Blade and slashed toward the Third-Rank One-Eyed Black Tigress.

A late-stage Golden Core general faced off against a mid-stage Third-Rank fierce tiger in an instant.

Chi Feng and the other thirty or so Golden Core cultivators also activated their barbarian treasures, clashing with over a dozen frenzied female tiger demons.

On the mountaintop, the air was thick with the stench of blood, and the surging demonic energy filled the sky.

The lead Third-Rank One-Eyed Black Tigress was locked in intense combat with Lu-Gu. Man and tiger clashed, shattering rocks with each strike, neither yielding an inch, their flesh and skin both bearing injuries.

The One-Eyed Black Tiger was indeed an extremely ferocious beast.

But Lu-Gu was a barbarian general, practicing a body-refining technique. His massive body was as solid as iron, and he was equally fearless.

Their battle looked less like a man fighting a tiger and more like two monsters locked in a desperate struggle in the mountains.

They fought like this for a hundred rounds.

Inside the cave, an ancient and mysterious aura suddenly grew even stronger.

The Third-Rank One-Eyed Black Tiger caught a whiff of it. Its desire surged violently, and its demonic power boiled like giant waves. The blood in its eyes nearly dripped out, mixed with a murderous aura.

Within this aura were the souls of the living beings it had slain and devoured.

These beings, like “hungry ghosts,” were condensed into its murderous aura, trapped within its eyes.

Even Lu-Gu, a late-stage Golden Core general who had fought his way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, was subconsciously shaken when he locked eyes with the tiger. Its “Tiger-Killing Fierce Aura” sent shivers through his mind, making him feel as if the tiger had bitten into his very soul, instilling fear.

Taking advantage of Lu-Gu’s moment of terror, the Hanging-Eyed Black Tiger slammed a paw into his chest, ripping through his barbarian armor and leaving five bloody claw marks.

The residual force flung Lu-Gu across the ground.

The tiger didn’t continue the pursuit but instead turned toward the mountaintop, leaping forward.

In the mountaintop cave, Mo Hua’s Big-Tiger was breaking through, its aura growing ever stronger.

It seemed the Third-Rank One-Eyed Black Tiger had been waiting for this exact moment.

It had endured patiently for a long, long time, nearly going mad in the process. Now that the moment had come, how could it not go wild?

But standing before the mountaintop was a lean figure blocking its path.

Mo Hua.

From the strength of his flesh and blood, he looked like a very “weak” human.

Weak enough that a tiger’s paw could crush him into a bloody mess, or one bite could devour him, skin and bone together.

Normally, that would have been true.

Yet this Third-Rank One-Eyed Black Tiger felt a deep, instinctive caution toward Mo Hua.

It sensed that within this frail body lay a terrible presence, a force of authority and power that even a king among beasts dared not underestimate.

It seemed like one paw could kill him—but the tiger did not dare to strike.

It only wanted to pass Mo Hua and reach the cave to seize its long-awaited “opportunity.”

But when the tiger was only twenty to thirty feet away, poised to leap into the cave, Mo Hua’s eyes suddenly shimmered with black, white, and gold.

A terrifying aura, unlike any human’s, surged from him.

The sharpness of his Divine-Sense condensed into golden light, shooting from his eyes directly into the tiger’s, shattering the blood-red hue and the vengeful murderous spirits trapped within.

The Third-Rank One-Eyed Black Tiger’s head throbbed painfully. A piercing roar echoed through the mountains.

Covering its eyes, it rolled on the ground three or four times, its claws cracking the earth, its tail smashing rocks.

Only when the pain eased slightly did it slowly rise, eyes bleeding, staring at Mo Hua with hatred and fear, but lowering its gaze, hesitant to look directly.

Its demonic soul was damaged, pain clouding its mind, leaving it filled with both hatred and dread in front of Mo Hua.

But Mo Hua had already held back.

At this moment, Lu-Gu, chest shredded by the tiger’s claws and affected by its Tiger-Killing Aura, felt his consciousness return. His chest wound began slowly healing.

In the Great Wilderness, beast cultivation was closely tied to the “demonic.” Thus, top-tier barbarian cultivators like Lu-Gu were, in many ways, half-beast themselves.

After the tiger’s attack, his chest wound visibly began to mend.

As the wound healed, Lu-Gu’s massive form rose before Mo Hua, standing like a guardian, eyes coldly fixed on the One-Eyed Black Tiger.

The tiger glared fiercely, low growling, but dared not act further.

Mo Hua said calmly to Lu-Gu, “Guard this place. If these tiger demons dare to force their way again, do not hold back…”

A flash of sharpness appeared in Mo Hua’s eyes. “…Kill without hesitation.”

Lu-Gu replied in a deep voice: “Yes.”

The One-Eyed Black Tiger continued to roar.

Mo Hua said nothing more and turned back into the cave.

Inside, the Big-Tiger was already breaking through.

Its demonic aura, like mist and blood, swirled around the cave, making it feel as if the cave itself were the heart of a demon beast.

Among its flesh and veins, the most prominent was a “pure white” bloodline.

The ancient and mysterious aura emanated from this white bloodline.

It also made Mo Hua’s heart tremble slightly.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, the aura of the Pixiu horn on his Divine-Sense Manifested body seemed to resonate with this energy.

“This is… the sacred beast aura of the Great Wilderness…”

Mo Hua’s pupils contracted.

In a flash of insight, he suddenly understood why those tiger demons outside had been frantically trying to break in as Big-Tiger’s Aura surged.

What they coveted was this strand of “sacred beast” bloodline.

These tiger demons… they wanted to steal the bloodline.

They wanted to become “sacred”!

Mò Huà frowned, finally understanding.

This was why the female tigers were so fixated on the Big-Tiger, Dà Huā.

(TN: Dà Huā(花) meaning Big Flower. This Huā(花) is different from Mò Huà(畫))

It wasn’t because Big-Tiger was flirtatious, nor solely because of the scarcity of male tigers during the war between the Great Wilderness and Dao Court.

The main reason was the bloodline carried within Dà Huā.

Though it was just a strand, pure white, sacred, faintly glowing, untouched by flesh and blood, unsullied by the scent of battle—it was clearly the ancient white tiger’s “sacred beast” bloodline.

No wonder the female tigers gathered around Da Hua.

No wonder they went crazy over it now.

The reason Big-tiger had delayed its breakthrough for so long was instinctive: it sensed the danger of having its bloodline “stolen,” so it suppressed its power to survive.

At the same time, it was waiting for him.

He was the one who had saved it as a cub, who had fought alongside it, the only partner it had trusted since birth.

The Big-Tiger didn’t trust humans, its own kind, or any other beasts—but it trusted him alone.

If he hadn’t returned, hadn’t stayed by its side, it might have refused to break through even in death.

Mo Hua felt a mix of emotions, but gradually relaxed.

Fortunately, he had returned…

He tapped his fingers repeatedly, sealing the cave entrance with several more formation seals, then sat cross-legged, calmly “guarding” Big-Tiger.

At the same time, he observed the changes in its flesh during the breakthrough and the interaction with the white “sacred beast” aura.

The flesh of a beast during a breakthrough was extraordinarily mysterious.

The pure white sacred bloodline of the great tiger moved like a thread, connecting its veins and flesh in a masterful, almost divine arrangement—this “art of creation” in the bloodline construction left Mo Hua astounded.

But as he watched, he suddenly froze.

As a formation master, he was used to studying patterns, and staring long at the white sacred bloodline, he unconsciously felt it resembled…

A formation pattern?!

It was as if someone were tracing a white formation thread, stitching together the veins, bones, and flesh of Big-Tiger, merging them into a new “demonic beast…”

At that moment, Mo Hua’s scalp tingled.

This was… man-made “flesh and blood”? Using formations to create a living beast?!

It wasn’t a puppet, not a device, not refining a corpse—but using formations to “construct” a fully living, vibrant creature.

And this new beast carried a sacred aura, so it could be called…

A sacred beast?!

So…

The Great Wilderness’s sacred beasts were, in fact, some kind of… “synthetic beasts”?!

Mo Hua felt chills down his spine, hair standing on end. A strong, unprecedented understanding of formation “laws” assaulted his consciousness, leaving him deeply shocked.

Formations… can create flesh-and-blood life.

The Great Wilderness’s sacred beasts… are synthetic beasts.

This realization shook Mo Hua’s old notions of formation techniques, filling him with awe.

Even more incredible, as he pondered seriously, he realized these two conclusions, based on his knowledge of formations, could indeed be valid.

The Dao gives birth to all things.

Formations are a direct manifestation of the Dao’s laws.

So, if the Dao can give life to all things, formations can naturally do the same, even create flesh-and-blood life.

And another point…

The Great Wilderness’s Dragon Transformation Formation already used Taotie principles, taking the essence of various demonic patterns and combining them into the Four Symbols Sacred Beast Formation.

If the sacred beast formations can be combined, so too can the flesh and blood of sacred beasts.

If formations can be combined… then flesh can be fused too.

…

Mo Hua took a deep breath.

At the logical level of “Dao” and “formation,” this made sense.

In fact, many clues and traces had always existed within his understanding.

He simply hadn’t witnessed it firsthand before, so he hadn’t dared—or imagined—to think in that direction…

Mo Hua could never have imagined that such formation secrets, which even in his understanding seemed “heretical,” could truly exist…

And now, they were unfolding right before him, alive…

Mo Hua couldn’t help but look again at the big tiger lying on the ground.

Blood aura swirling, black and white interwoven, the big tiger was breaking through, condensing its demon core, and transforming its bloodline.

But Mo Hua could sense that the big tiger was deliberately slowing its breakthrough, so that the changes in its bloodline could be clearly displayed before him, allowing him to understand the hidden mysteries.

Mo Hua paused, and suddenly understood.

Why did the big tiger insist on waiting for him to return before breaking through?

It wasn’t just because it trusted him, that only with him as its protector could it feel at ease.

It was also because the big tiger wanted him to witness this bloodline transformation, to grasp something from it.

The big tiger was a demon beast—sometimes clever, mostly dumb—and it might not truly understand the meaning of its bloodline change.

But instinctively, it knew this was the most precious “inheritance” in its bloodline.

Therefore, it wanted him to see its bloodline inheritance.

The reason it went nowhere and didn’t break through, waiting with single-minded focus for him to return, was to reserve this “great opportunity” for him.

Even if its breath grew weak, almost to the point of death, it never gave up…

Mo Hua’s eyes trembled; his heart swelled with deep emotion, and for a moment, his nose felt prickly.

“You big fool…”

He drew a deep breath and pushed all other thoughts aside, focusing entirely on protecting the big tiger.

At the same time, he concentrated on observing the bloodline changes inside the tiger, as well as the condensation of the third-rank tiger demon’s “demon core.”

He did not disappoint the big tiger’s intentions.

The condensation of a demon core in a demon beast was a scene that almost no cultivator in the world could ever witness.

Demon Beasts and humans do not coexist.

A demon beast encountering a cultivator would normally attack immediately.

Even the mere presence of a cultivator’s aura would make a demon extremely cautious, unable to break through—unless the cultivator had already been stripped and stored as “provisions.”

Let alone during the critical moment of breaking through to third-rank and condensing a demon core.

Even many elders who had spent their lives studying demon beast behavior in major sects could not witness this process firsthand.

They could only infer it from traces, records, and the habits of spirit beasts.

Seeing it with their own eyes was impossible.

But now, a peak second-rank demon beast, containing the bloodline of a sacred beast, was slowly condensing its third-rank demon core through the mysterious changes of its demon power, blood aura, and bloodline, and every step fell directly into Mo Hua’s eyes, engraved in his memory.

Meanwhile…

Outside the cave, the third-rank One-Eyed Black Tigress could no longer restrain its jealousy and anger, repeatedly charging at the mountaintop.

But each time, it was stopped by Lu-Gu, forced to roar in fury.

Lu-Gu didn’t strike to kill.

Although Mo Hua said it could be killed, the third-rank One-Eyed Black Tigress, enraged and ferocious, was not easy to kill.

Thus, Lu-Gu maintained a defensive stance, only blocking the tiger demons’ attacks.

Inside the cave, the big tiger continued breaking through, the aura of the sacred beast bloodline becoming stronger and stronger in the air.

The third-rank One-Eyed Black Tigress grew more and more impatient.

Yet it had already been harmed in its divine sense by Mo Hua and could not defeat Lu-Gu, leaving it completely helpless.

After an unknown amount of time, suddenly a thunderous roar erupted from the mountaintop, black and white aura bursting out, spreading across the peak.

Extraordinary, carrying a few strands of sacred aura, the demonic energy shot skyward.

Amid the clouds, a white sacred tiger’s phantom appeared, covering the entire mountaintop.

A core formation phenomenon.

And this was the rare phenomenon of a demon beast condensing its demon core.

Lu-Gu and the others’ pupils trembled, hearts startled.

It was the first time in their lives they had seen a beast forming its demon core trigger a celestial phenomenon—and the phantom was that of a Great Wilderness “sacred beast,” which was even more incredible.

Soon, someone realized:

“This is a divine sign!”

“It’s the sacred beast that Lord Shaman requested from the Divine-Lord!”

The crowd’s fear subsided, and they all bowed toward the mountaintop, loudly praising with sincerity:

“The Divine-Lord is immortal, the Shaman Lord wise and holy.”

“The sacred beast descends from heaven, protecting our Great Wilderness!”

The fierce pressure from the bloodline, combined with the celestial phenomenon and the sacred beast’s aura, instantly quieted more than a dozen previously violent tiger demons.

They also lowered themselves, kneeling and bowing to the ground.

Even the third-rank One-Eyed Black tigress, subdued by the sacred beast’s majesty, lowered its head toward the mountaintop, no longer daring to act rashly.