Chapter 1286: Betrayal and Encirclement

Chapter 1285: Betrayal and Encirclement

In the 12th year of the New Great Wilderness Calendar, the 4th year of the Divine-Shaman, October—winter began.

The first to betray were the Bifang Tribe.

The Bifang Tribe’s Grand Elder was the first to abandon his faith in the Divine-Lord. Taking with him half of the tribe’s upper echelon and a third of its elites, he joined the previously defected young master Bi Jie, and together they pledged allegiance to the Wujiao Tribe.

The Bifang Tribe had always been close to the Hua Clan, profiting deeply from numerous dealings.

And the tribe had long-standing grudges with the Shugu Tribe, with Lu-Gu, and even with Mo Hua himself.

As the Divine-Shaman, Mo Hua was magnanimous and held no grudges over past conflicts.

But the Bifang Grand Elder feared that Mo Hua would hold a grudge—feared that one day he would make a mistake, and the Divine-Shaman would descend divine punishment upon him. In that case, the esteemed Grand Elder would meet a miserable end.

Thus, he defected.

He chose to join the only faction capable of resisting the Divine-Shaman—one that even Mo Hua himself could not easily deal with: the camp of the Wujiao young chieftain.

In October, the Grand Elder defected. Seven days later, he invoked his authority to declare the young master Bi Jie the new Great Chieftain of the Bifang Tribe. At the same time he announced an alliance between the Bifang Tribe and the Wujiao Tribe, accusing the so-called “Divine-Shaman” of being a puppet of the Divine Dao, a deceiver misleading the Great Wilderness—an heretic.

This incident spread like wildfire, causing enormous turmoil.

Morale in the Divine-Shaman army plummeted.

But in less than a month, the traitorous Grand Elder unexpectedly had a dream… In the dream, the Divine-Shaman himself appeared.

Under the Divine-Shaman’s immense, awe-inspiring authority, the Bifang Grand Elder collapsed to his knees.

Mo Hua pointed at his forehead and declared that he would bestow divine punishment upon him.

The Grand Elder jolted awake, drenched in cold sweat, weak in all limbs, Divine-Sense scattered and unfocused.

The life-soul he had enshrined on the divine altar…

Mo Hua had crushed it.

The Grand Elder did not know the details, but from that moment on, his vitality plummeted. He fell gravely ill, bedridden and unable to govern, living in constant dread.

Bi Jie—the young master he had raised up—took the opportunity to seize full power, resisting the Divine-Shaman while slowly marginalizing the Grand Elder.

In the same year, November arrived.

The Flame-Wing Great Chieftain rebelled.

Dissatisfied that Mo Hua favored the Vermilion Sparrow Tribe and particularly relied on Dan Lie and Dan-Zhu, resentment had long simmered in his heart.

The Hua Clan approached him, offering secret benefits—even promising him the seat of Alliance Master of the Vermilion Bird Tribes.

How could he not be tempted?

Thus, he echoed the Bifang Tribe, claiming that Mo Hua’s title as Divine-Shaman was “false and unearned.”

That the Divine-Lord was but a fabricated illusion.

That the campaign to unify the barbarian wilderness was merely an invasion draped in the guise of a divine war—a lie woven from ambition.

The Divine-Shaman camp was outraged.

In December of the 4th year of Divine-Shaman, Dan Lie, Great Chieftain of the Vermilion Sparrow Tribe, volunteered to lead the punitive expedition against the Flame-Wing Great Chieftain.

The two sides clashed outside Wujiao Peak—over twenty fierce battles, no decisive victor.

Until one night, the Flame-Wing Chieftain dreamt of the Divine-Shaman standing before him, pointing at his forehead and delivering divine punishment.

He awoke terrified, drenched in sweat—

And outside the camp, the sounds of slaughter eruptions.

Dan Lie had already brought troops to attack.

The Flame-Wing Chieftain fought Dan Lie, but his life-soul had already been partially erased by Mo Hua—his soul gravely injured, mind splitting with pain.

Within a hundred exchanges, he was slain.

Before dying, he knelt toward the east and repented.

Thus the Flame-Wing Tribe’s rebellion ended.

But at the end of December, even the Vermilion Sparrow Tribe itself erupted in rebellion.

The third young master Dan Bie, along with several high-ranking members, defected to the Wujiao Tribe.

They rebelled because of Dan-Zhu.

Mo Hua, as the Divine-Shaman, wielded immense authority.

Dan-Zhu was his closest “disciple,” destined to be the Vermilion Sparrow Tribe’s future, officially endorsed Great Chieftain.

In such a future, Dan Bie had no place.

And he was far more than just a “third young master.”

Tribal politics were tangled—many upper-ranking members had placed their bets on him.

There were debts on his back. If he became Great Chieftain, he could repay them. If he did not, his life would become unbearably difficult.

Thus, he had no choice but to gamble.

No choice but to rebel.

He could not allow Dan-Zhu to become Great Chieftain.

That would make him the complete loser, stripping him of his identity as a young master.

He rebelled.

But Dan Bie’s rebellion lasted barely over a month.

In the 13th year of the New Great Wilderness Calendar, spring of the 5th year of the Divine-Shaman, Mo Hua calculated Dan Bie’s whereabouts, locked onto him through causality, and sent Lu-Gu to take action.

All of the Vermilion Sparrow Tribe’s high-ranking supporters of Dan Bie were slaughtered.

Dan Bie’s limbs were snapped, and he was brought back.

Dan Bie knelt before Mo Hua, willing to die to atone.

His father Dan Lie remained unmoved, merely saying: “Rebellious son. His crime deserves execution. He must not be spared.”

Dan Zhu, on the other hand, knelt down, pleading for his brother’s life, hoping Mo Hua would show mercy, and he was willing to bear the punishment in his place.

Dan Zhu’s words were earnest, and Mo Hua agreed, stripping Dan Bie of his status as the young master, demoting him to a commoner, and sparing his life.

At the same time, Mo Hua removed several of Dan-Zhu’s posts and stripped him of part of his military authority as punishment.

Dan-Zhu remained endlessly grateful.

As for Dan Bie, his feelings were complicated. He understood many things in his heart, and he knew that he was just a “chess piece” on the Divine-Shaman’s board—moved as needed. But regardless, he survived.

Moreover, without the title of “Young Master,” he felt strangely relieved, even grateful to his younger brother, Dan-Zhu.

Thus, the internal strife within the Vermilion Sparrow Tribe ended.

The price: Dan Bie’s title, and the lives of several high-ranking members.

Afterwards, small-scale unrest broke out in the Gao-Tu Tribe and the Ghost-Cry Tribe.

Within many tribes, those with divided loyalties all showed their faces.

From early autumn of the 4th year of the Divine-Shaman to summer of the 5th—Nearly half a year of continuous internal unrest and rebellions plagued the Divine-Shaman’s forces.

Mo Hua extinguished every rebellion.

Those who should die died; those who should be punished were punished.

External pressure exposes internal fractures.

In war, when powerful foes appear, the traitors reveal themselves.

And only through rebellion can loyalty be tested—faith refined.

Using the pressure of the Wujiao young chieftain—the half-dragon Golden Core monster—and the Hua Clan’s infiltration and temptations, Mo Hua purged a large number of ambiguous, double-dealing elements.

The army seemed weakened, but those who remained became purer in their faith toward the Divine-Lord—and more loyal to Mo Hua as the Divine-Shaman.

Thus his forces became sharper, more cohesive.

And through half a year of brutal war, Mo Hua had recorded vast amounts of “war data” into his Sea of Consciousness—

The complex terrain of the entire Wujiao Mountain Realm, the patterns of mountains and rivers, the seasonal rhythms of tribal winds…

And the habits, troop types, tactics, ambush processes of every tribe in the Wujiao Alliance—All became material for his causal deductions.

Warfare-based causal deductions—factoring in changes of timing, terrain, and human factors—were the most complex, profound, and variable of all causal arts.

It was also the sharpest forge for one’s mastery of Causality Arts.

Battle tempers men; war tempers sense of causality.

Coupled with the ice-cold rationality of his divine nature, Mo Hua’s understanding of causality advanced yet another step. The war of the Great Wu-Feng Mountain Realm formed a clear causal framework in his mind.

He could finally see the currents of victory and defeat.

And based on causal judgment, Mo Hua initiated the most crucial battle in the conquest of the Great Wu-Feng Mountain Realm—

The Battle of Wujiao Peak.

The outermost mountains formed the first defensive gate.

Hundreds of li inward stood Wujiao Peak—the second gate.

These two gates, and the treacherous lands between them, were why the mountain realm was easy to defend and hard to attack.

After half a year of bloody fighting, the Divine-Shaman’s army finally reached Wujiao Peak.

If they broke through it, they would break the second gate—And charge past the mountain realm’s natural barrier.

From there, they could penetrate deep into its heartland, directly threatening the Wujiao Tribe’s headquarters.

Thus, the success or failure of this siege would determine the war’s direction.

Mo Hua pushed all his divine computational power to the limit.

Heavenly Secret Derivative Algorithm, and Heavenly Secret Deceptive Algorithm’s deceptive split-line command of the battlefield—all were used to their fullest.

Every troop Mo Hua could command was committed to this battle.

This was the pinnacle of his causal strategy.

The Wujiao Tribe’s troop movements danced entirely within his expectations.

Every victory, retreat, regrouping, dispersal of both armies—all fell neatly within his deceptive split-line deductions.

To the Wujiao Tribe, it truly felt like they were fighting a god.

Every move was countered. Every plan was predicted.

At the same time, Mo Hua strained every fiber of his being to “calculate” the Young Chieftain of the Wujiao Tribe to death.

Every expert he could deploy—he deployed.

Every killing move he could muster—he unleashed.

He pushed the Young Chieftain’s causality to a dead end, isolating him, surrounding him with layer upon layer of killing formations.

But he failed.

In the encirclement of countless Great Chieftains and generals, the Young Chieftain triggered the Great Wilderness Dragon Formation, black dragon runes covering his body.

With a draconic physique bordering on absurdity, he crushed all foes—breaking out like a true child of the black dragon, a sovereign of the wilderness.

All of Mo Hua’s calculations collapsed.

It proved a simple truth:

Before absolute strength, all schemes crumble.

After merging with dragon runes, the Young Chieftain’s physical power had grown into something beyond reason.

Even Mo Hua, with all his methods, could not restrain him.

After breaking free, the young master’s battle spirit surged. He even intended to charge alone into the rear of the Divine-Shaman army and personally behead Mo Hua.

For none knew better than him—This seemingly youthful Divine-Shaman was the very core of the entire faction.

Unique and irreplaceable.

In some sense, this walking Divine-Shaman was more important than the distant, possibly mythical Divine-Lord himself. Killing Mo Hua would shatter the entire faction and hand the Wujiao Tribe victory.

Sensing the threat, Big Tiger roared and lunged forward.

The Third-Rank One-Eyed Mystic Tiger joined him, battling the dragon-marked Young Chieftain.

The Taotie corpse, Shi-Gu, blocked in front of Mo Hua.

Lu-Gu, Dan-Lie, and numerous generals and Great Chieftains rushed over.

Sacred Tiger, Demon beasts, Taotie corpse, late-stage Golden Core generals—an encirclement.

The Young Chieftain, exhausted and besieged, could not kill Mo Hua.

He could only glare from afar at Mo Hua, who sat calmly like a living deity, before turning away coldly and carving a bloody path to escape.

Not long after, the battle ended.

The Battle of Wujiao Peak not only failed to kill the Young Chieftain—it elevated his fame.

After this battle, the entire Great Wilderness knew of the “undying, undefeated” Young Chieftain, heir of the Wilderness Dragon, divine-might unstoppable, his body eternal and unkillable.

But he was still just one man. Not even the greatest hero could stop Mo Hua’s advancing armies.

In the end, Wujiao Peak fell.

The Divine-Shaman army surged into the heart of the Great Wu-Feng Mountain Realm.

Mo Hua had achieved strategic victory.

And the Young Chieftain had cemented his status as the “Dragon-Son of the Great Wilderness.”

…

In autumn of the 13th year of Great Wilderness New Calendar, 5th year of Divine-Shaman, one month after the Battle of Wujiao Peak.

The Divine-Shaman army entered the heartland and launched a life-and-death struggle with the Wujiao Alliance.

War reached its climax.

But instead of commanding the campaign, Mo Hua appeared—with Big Tiger at his side—in a remote mountain range north of Wujiao Peak.

This mountain range lay near the Wujiao Tribe’s main territory.

It had been under their rule until today, when Mo Hua ordered it seized.

Dusk approached.

Mo Hua stood alone in the barren mountains, watching the setting sun, with only Big Tiger beside him.

After an unknown amount of time, a distant figure appeared.

Tall and thin, wearing a black-feather barbarian robe—seemingly an elder of the Wujiao Tribe.

Mo Hua did nothing, only watched quietly.

As the “elder” approached, he removed his hat. His face shifted—turning into Tie Shù-Gu’s.

He saluted. “Divine-Shaman Lord.”

Mo Hua nodded slightly.

Wearing the Vulture robe, Tie Shù-Gu continued:

“For the past half year, I have been hiding within the Wujiao Tribe under your orders, searching for traces of the ‘Great Wilderness Straw-Dog Fate-Art’…”

Tie Shù-Gu pointed toward thebarren mountain. “This mountain… is the clue.”

He sighed softly. “Posing as an elder, I sifted through the Wujiao Tribe’s ancient records—written in archaic barbarian script. These characters are so old they’re practically older than I am. In the whole Wujiao Tribe, perhaps only a handful could read them…”

“According to those ancient texts, and after months of cross-checking changes in terrain and mountains, I’ve finally confirmed that this mountain is an ancient forbidden ground of the Wujiao Tribe. Within it lies an ancient secret…”

“And there is something else I learned…”

He continued slowly: “It’s said that the Wujiao Young Chieftain received the blessing of the Great Vulture Deity here—where he learned he possessed the fate of a ‘True Dragon,’ destined one day to unify the entire Great Wilderness…”

Mo Hua’s expression stirred.

During their battle that day, he had clearly seen that the dragon rune on the Wujiao Young Chieftain was a variant of the ‘Four Symbols Azure Dragon Formation.’

A variant Mo Hua found very familiar.

Moreover, the Young Chieftain’s dragon-marked appearance resembled that of the Demon Sect Master of Qianxue Prefecture—the proud Crown Prince of the Great Wilderness. If his guess was correct, both dragon formations likely came from the same hand… Mister Tu.

The Wujiao Young Chieftain’s dragon-diagram was Mister Tu’s work.

And the Great Wilderness Straw-Dog Fate-Art was very likely also seized by Mister Tu.

Both clues, investigated by Tie Shù-Gu—the ancestor of the arts— pointed to this same place.

Mo Hua looked toward the barren mountain.

He stood silently for a long time.

From within the mountain, he could already faintly sense the karmic presence of an “old friend”…