Chapter 1280: Deadly Enmity

Chapter 1279: Deadly Enmity

“His ‘death fate’ was something I personally reported to the Ancestor Patriarch with a flying sword message across millions of miles. Only then did the Ancestor Patriarch make the calculation…”

“The Ancestor Patriarch also said this was the one and only chance…”

“This person’s karmic threads are unfathomably deep, hiding calamity within. Not to be observed, not to be pried into, not to be stolen. Normally, there isn’t the slightest flaw to exploit.”

“Only a short while ago, he encountered an urgent matter nearly tied to his very ‘life essence.’ His mind was entirely entangled, leaving him lax toward the outside world. Only because of that did a sliver of opportunity appear, letting the Fortune-Stealing Gold Coin Rat follow his shallow traces of karmic threads, lock onto his location, and gnaw at his Dao Body… Striking at such a critical moment would ruin his Dao, take his life, or at the very least damage his cultivation and obstruct his realm…”

“But even so, we still… couldn’t do anything to him?”

“Even the Heavenly-Secret Gold Coin Rats all died in an instant? Even the carved statue of the Gold Coin Rat shattered?”

“This person… could he truly be a ‘Divine-Lord’s Divine-Shaman,’ with a deity residing within him?”

Elder You’s brows tightened.

He was an elder of a Grand Dao Court clan, raised under its “orthodox” inheritance. Until now, he usually scoffed at the Divine Dao, considering it superstition, smoke and mirrors meant to deceive the ignorant.

Back in the Qianxue Prefecture, the only reason he joined the Demon Sect and pretended to ‘worship an evil god’ was purely for business.

As long as profit and spirit stones were involved, he could believe in anything.

But ever since entering the Great Wilderness, witnessing all manner of things, he could not help feeling shaken.

One cannot understand what one has never witnessed.

But once witnessed, one can understand.

This so-called “Divine-Lord’s Divine Shaman” was only at Foundation Establishment. Without the protection of a true deity, it would be impossible for him to accomplish such feats in the Great Wilderness.

Even more impossible would be surviving the Ancestor Patriarch’s karmic calculation and the Gold Coin Rats’ fortune-theft unscathed.

“This ‘Divine-Shaman’ lord truly cannot be judged by appearance. He is indeed a terrifying figure…”

“Only…”

Elder You couldn’t shake the unexplained sense of familiarity from this “Divine-Shaman.”

Moreover, neither his features nor physique resembled the savages of the Great Wilderness. If anything, he looked more like an outsider.

But where was this ‘outside’?

Of the Eight States—Qian, Kun, Kan, Li, Gen, Zhen, Xun, and Dui… or perhaps Dao State… which one?

Surely he didn’t fall from the heavens, right?

Elder You specifically investigated, but the Great Wilderness offered no clues at all.

He even begged the Ancestor Patriarch to calculate it, but the moment the Ancestor Patriarch attempted it, he immediately said: “Cannot be calculated,” ordering him to abandon the thought.

“This Great Wilderness Divine-Shaman—his current karmic fate, his present location, life and death, fortunes and calamities, even parts of his future can be calculated…”

“But only one thing cannot be touched: the past—at least not through karma.”

“That is a vortex of great terror and must never be approached. Absolutely untouchable.”

“To touch it is to bring disaster…”

These were the Ancestor Patriarch’s exact words.

It was also the first time Elder You had ever heard the Ancestor Patriarch evaluate someone like this.

And that someone was a mere Foundation Establishment.

For a moment, Elder You thought he had misheard.

If not for the Ancestor Patriarch’s notorious seriousness, he’d have thought the old man was joking.

This alone showed how thoroughly “troublesome” this Divine-Shaman truly was—and how impossible it was to leave him be.

Not to mention, based on his recent actions, his intent had already violated enormous taboos.

He offended the Royal Court.

He offended the Dao Court.

He disrupted tribal traditions.

He infringed upon the interests of the great clans.

Most importantly, he severely obstructed the Hua family’s business.

If he unified the Great Wilderness, how could the Hua family sow division?

If he equalized resources, how could the Hua family continue exploitation?

If he liberated the barbarian slaves, how could the Hua family continue the slave trade?

…

Each of these was a blood-soaked grudge tied to enormous wealth and profit.

A cold, venomous light flickered in Elder You’s eyes.

“No matter what kind of Divine-Shaman you are—anyone who ruins my business… must die.”

…

Meanwhile, on the other side, Mo Hua had also made up his mind.

He would nurture his Life-Bound Formation, and feed the Taotie Twelve-Meridian-Spiritual-Skeleton Formation to fullness—and for that, he needed a massive amount of spirit stones.

And those spirit stones… could only be plucked from the “Hua Clan.”

He wanted the Hua Clan to help him form his Golden Core.

From that moment onward, under the name of the Divine-Shaman, Mo Hua ordered the Vermilion Bird Mountain realm’s barbarian soldiers and the Divine-Slave Tribe’s barbarians to continue advancing along multiple lines, conquering the remaining ununified barbarian mountain realms.

At the same time, he secretly ordered Lu-Gu to purge and exterminate the Hua Clan forces parasitizing in these mountain realms.

The Hua Clan were “parasites,” driven solely by profit.

Their methods were extremely covert—almost impossible to notice on the surface. But behind the scenes, countless events were pushed by them.

Big merchants love one thing most: chaos.

Only in great chaos can one reap outrageous profits and make a fortune.

Many tribes had been nudged by the Hua Clan into division and destruction.

The chaos of the Great Wilderness… the Hua Clan had always been a major instigator.

And their influence in the Great Wilderness was deeply entrenched, tangled like a vampiric poisonous vine coiled around the great tree of the Wilderness, sucking the blood of barbarian cultivators under the guise of “trade.”

Aside from Mo Hua’s urgent need for spirit stones, the Hua Clan had now become one of the greatest enemies standing in the way of his unification of the Wilderness.

Other tribes were enemies in the open; the Hua Clan was an enemy in the shadows.

But at this point, whether open or hidden no longer mattered to Mo Hua.

The “Gold-Coin Mice” were definitely related to the Hua Clan. They wanted his life, wanted to obstruct his Core Formation. In that case, the Hua Clan must be annihilated.

Mo Hua held nothing back.

In the battles to follow, Lu-Gu carried out Mo Hua’s secret orders, purging the Hua Clan’s parasitic forces throughout the Great Wilderness.

Any Mountain Realm touched by the Hua Clan was prioritized for conquest.

Any Hua Clan cultivator captured—was executed.

Any barbarian tribe associated with the Hua Clan was thoroughly “cleansed.”

Anyone who had close dealings with the Hua Clan—meaning they had essentially sold out their tribe’s interests—were all to be executed without mercy.

And whenever a secret Hua Clan “stronghold” was discovered, Mo Hua would send in Shi-Gu.

Under the empowerment of the Taotie Rune, that “undying general” at the late Golden Core stage under the Divine-Shaman was nearly immortal—capable of wiping out every “living person” in a stronghold by himself, devouring even Golden Core cultivators, and striking terror into the hearts of the Hua Clan.

This continued for quite some time.

The Hua Clan lost many people; their supported forces were wiped out one after another; their territory shrank; their hidden trade lines were uprooted. Many of their businesses turned into disastrous losses.

The Hua Clan was furious—especially Elder You.

Ruining his trade was no different from murdering his parents.

He began paying an enormous price to win over other great tribes, fostering new forces to oppose Mo Hua.

At the same time, he spared no cost infiltrating the territory ruled by Mo Hua—using inheritance, fame, profit, and women to corrupt the chiefs and elders of tribes that served under Mo Hua.

Most people with faith held absolute loyalty toward the Divine-Lord and would not be “corrupted.”

But there were always some who lusted for fame, wealth, and sensual pleasures. Their faith gradually wavered, their hearts changed, and secretly they began doing Elder You’s bidding—stealing their tribe’s interests, even daring to secretly assist in schemes to assassinate Mo Hua, the Divine-Lord’s Divine-Shaman.

All these people were beheaded by Mo Hua’s order, their heads hung at the tribe gates for all to see.

Mo Hua also began fighting fire with fire—controlling the “faith” of some Hua Clan cultivators from within.

…

Thus, Mo Hua and the Hua Clan—especially Elder You—played a grand “board game” across the Great Wilderness, using tribes as pieces, killing each other, and seizing territory.

Both sides also placed hidden pieces—using inheritances to provoke the Dao-heart, using wealth and lust to corrupt desires, constantly instigating betrayals and rebellions…

From Dao Calendar Year 20,043, Great Wilderness New Calendar Year 10, Divine-Shaman’s Year 2, to Dao Calendar Year 20,045, Great Wilderness New Calendar Year 12, Divine-Shaman’s Year 4.

In just two years, Mo Hua and the Hua Clan openly and secretly clashed countless times—sometimes through bloody warfare, sometimes through schemes and deception.

There were visible storms of gore, and invisible torrents beneath the surface.

During this time, Mo Hua gained the upper hand at times, but also suffered setbacks and losses.

He seized Hua Clan territory, but the Hua Clan also subverted some Mountain Realms under his rule.

He captured Hua Clan disciples and controlled their “faith.”

But some of his own chiefs, elders, close followers, and disciples were seduced by the Hua Clan and betrayed him.

Mo Hua even had to painfully execute disciples he had personally taught—disciples whose Dao-heart had collapsed under the Hua Clan’s temptations.

…

Through all these clashes, the hatred between the two sides grew ever deeper.

From the Hua Clan’s upper echelons—the hidden strategist Old Ancestor of the Hua Clan, to Elder You in charge of frontline business, and even down to the lower-level disciples executing orders, and the barbarian tribes loyal to the Hua Clan—

All of them hated the two words “Divine-Shaman” to their very core.

“Business prospers through harmony. In this world, there are no eternal enemies—only eternal interests.”

This had always been Elder You’s life creed.

But now, that creed had been twisted.

For in this world, there truly existed an eternal “enemy.”

And that enemy was the one who, in the name of the Divine-Lord, was rumored throughout the barbarian cultivators as the one who sought to unify the Great Wilderness and save the masses—the “Divine-Shaman.”

The youth with jade-like features and golden-stone eyes, whose appearance was youthful, yet whose air was austere and cold, devoid of anything human…

The Great Wilderness Divine-Shaman.

This Divine-Shaman was the Hua Clan’s greatest enemy in the Great Wilderness.

In fact, his threat, up to now, far surpassed even that of the Great Wilderness Royal Court.

For even if the Royal Court were rebels, they could still negotiate with the Hua Clan, still conduct trade with them.

But this Divine-Shaman was different.

This Divine-Shaman was determined to ruin the Hua Clan’s business, seize their spirit stones, kill their people, and uproot their foundation in the Great Wilderness.

Naturally, the Hua Clan could not possibly let this go.

Although Mo Hua was only in Foundation Establishment, he had already surpassed many Nascent Soul and Profound-Hollow-Void cultivators, rising to the very top of the Hua Clan’s “must-kill” list.

Except—on that list, he was recorded under the name “Divine Shaman.”

And Mo Hua likewise would not let the matter rest.

He had to slaughter every Hua Clan cultivator in the Great Wilderness, seize every spirit stone they possessed there, burn every stronghold they had built.

He would eliminate every “chess piece” the Hua Clan placed on the board.

He would uproot every shred of Hua Clan influence within the Great Wilderness.

The hatred between them was irreconcilable—water and fire could not coexist, and neither side could yield even an inch.

However… no matter what Mo Hua tried next, in the open and hidden struggles against the Hua Clan, he could only maintain the upper hand—never turn that advantage into a decisive “victory” that could wipe out the Hua Clan’s foundation in the barbarian lands.

From Divine-Shaman Year 2 to Divine-Shaman Year 4…

During these two years, Mo Hua pondered long and hard and concluded that the best method was to kill “Elder You.”

But he had never found a good opportunity to strike.

For although Elder You appeared to be only an early-stage Golden Core elder, he absolutely could not be just a simple early-stage Golden Core.

To have gained the Hua Clan Ancestor’s trust and to preside over operations in the Great Wilderness meant his identity could not be ordinary.

Moreover, this Elder You, in appearance, seemed nothing more than a plain-looking, slightly affable middle-aged cultivator.

But this was likely only a “façade.”

A disguise crafted so he could walk among various powers to conduct business while raising no suspicion and winning favor on all sides.

No one knew what truly lay hidden inside this chubby middle-aged exterior.

Not to mention—the Hua Clan Ancestor would certainly be “watching over” Elder You through karma, guarding his life and death.

Even Mo Hua, with his near-pure divinity and icy rationality, could not perceive Elder You’s karmic threads through the Heavenly Secrets.

More than that—Mo Hua could sense that his own “karma” was instead being spied upon by the Hua Clan.

And this was a far subtler, more skillful form of “spying.”

Because it was exceedingly cautious and never touched his “past,” it posed an even greater threat to his present self.

In these two years of conflict with the Hua Clan, Mo Hua could feel that the dangers around him had multiplied at least tenfold.

These dangers could come from karma, from demons, from evil spirits—or from traitors, fallen desires, and sinister hearts…

And Mo Hua knew well: despite his powerful Divine-Sense, his nearly invincible Divine Dao, and his divinity approaching that of a true god, his physical body was still nothing more than a Foundation Establishment shell—vulnerable to any close-range “assassination.”

Thus, during this period when the Hua Clan’s hatred was locked firmly onto him, Mo Hua was more cautious than ever before.

Unless it was someone he truly trusted, he never allowed anyone to approach him.

Wherever he went, he brought Big Tiger with him, allowing the third-grade Golden Core Big Tiger to stay by his side at all times as the Divine-Shaman’s personal guardian.

…

Night had fallen.

Within the Divine-Shaman Hall of a certain mountain realm—

Brilliant lights filled the golden hall.

Mo Hua sat upon the highest seat, fully absorbed in deducing the fortunes and trajectories of his struggle against the Hua Clan.

The black-striped, white-furred Big Tiger lay beside him, its head resting on the floor, dozing with drooping eyelids.

Its fluffy body was like a fortress wall… or like a pile of giant fur blankets, shielding Mo Hua in the middle.

A moment later, in the silence of night, the drowsy Big tiger slowly opened its eyes and looked toward the hall entrance.

Soon, someone entered, bowing low, holding a thick stack of scrolls and jade slips.

It was Tie Shugu.

“Divine-Shaman Lord, here are the current battle reports of each mountain realm, for your review…”

“The matters you instructed have also been handled…”

Mo Hua nodded slightly.

Receiving the acknowledgment, Tie Shugu stepped forward respectfully and presented the jade slips and scrolls.

Mo Hua silently watched him for a moment before saying:

“You’ve worked hard…”

Tie Shugu bowed.

“To serve at your side is the greatest honor, Divine Shaman Lord. Tie Shugu does not feel burdened.”

Mo Hua shook his head. “No…”

His gaze, deep with golden divine light, seemed to pierce through Tie Shugu. His tone turned cold.

“I mean… it must be hard for you, an ‘Ancestor’ of the tribe, to personally serve me like this.”

As soon as the words fell, Tie Shugu’s body jolted violently.

He immediately raised his head toward Mo Hua, his eyes already filled with shock—and the ashen gloom of someone whose secret had been exposed.