Chapter 1296: The Death Calamity

Chapter 1295: The Death Calamity

Within the Vermilion Bird Alter, killing intent surged like black clouds blotting out the sky.

All of that murderous intent was aimed squarely at Mo Hua.

This was Mo Hua’s “Calamity of Slaughter,” and even more so, his “Calamity of Death.”

Though his existence as the Divine-Shaman had unified the Barbarian Wilds and brought prosperity to the people of the Great Wilderness, he had also offended far too many interests and broken far too many taboos.

Countless people wished to tear his flesh and drink his blood.

As long as he remained strong—wielding the Divine-Shaman’s authority, commanding the power of Divine Punishment, leading millions of barbarian warriors—he stood flawless within the web of causality, unfathomable in depth.

No one dared to kill him, nor could anyone touch him.

But now… he was about to form his Golden Core.

For demon beasts, forming a core meant nine deaths and one life; for cultivators, it was equally perilous.

Such dangers came not only from the cultivation process itself but also from external enemies.

During core formation, one must withdraw all Divine-Sense, physical force, and spiritual power, carefully nurturing the Golden Core within the dantian.

The process was as delicate as walking on thin ice—no mistakes allowed.

During that time, Divine-Sense could not be released, blood-essence and spiritual power could not be mobilized for battle, and awareness of external threats was reduced to its lowest. The danger was immeasurable.

Core formation was the moment a cultivator shed weakness and stepped into strength.

But it was also the moment they were at their weakest.

Many cultivators bent on vengeance would exhaust every method to calculate the exact day their enemy attempted core formation, then seize that moment of utmost vulnerability to strike them down and destroy their Dao foundation.

There was no shortage of brilliant geniuses throughout history who perished at this very stage, ambushed by life-and-death enemies.

Mo Hua now faced the same fate. After pushing the Barbarian Wilderness into an era of reform and reshaping the world’s causality, the moment he attempted core formation and exposed his heavenly secrets—countless enemies aimed to encircle and kill him.

These mortal foes continuously attempted to break into the Vermilion Bird Divine Shrine, seeking to ruin his Dao path, destroy his core formation, and halt his breakthrough.

This was their only chance.

If Mo Hua failed in his breakthrough and had to withdraw to recuperate, he would vanish within causality. With his mastery over Causal-karmic law, no one in the Wilderness would ever find a flaw to target again.

Waiting for another chance at vengeance might take until the end of time.

And next time, Mo Hua might not give them any chance at all.

But if Mo Hua succeeded—if he truly became a Golden Core—then with the Divine-Lord’s blessing and command over Divine Punishment, he would be, to a certain extent, unrivaled beneath the heavens.

Throughout all the Barbarian Wilderness, across every mountain realm—no matter high or low, noble or humble, whether one cultivated body or shamanic arts—no Golden Core would withstand even a thought from him.

Therefore—Mo Hua must die.

…

Amidst the chaotic battle, the great general of the Dark-Bone Tribe broke through the outer defenses first, charging into the inner Vermilion Bird Hall.

At its deepest point lay the Grand Shaman Hall—Mo Hua’s seclusion chamber.

At this moment, faint traces of Golden Core aura leaked from within, mixed with fear-inducing Divine Dao intent that made hearts tremble.

The Dark-Bone general dared not hesitate. He pushed deeper, slaughtering his way forward.

Several black-robed Golden Cores rushed in behind him.

Lu-Gu and the others immediately rushed back to support, doing everything they could to stop these assassins from barging into the inner hall and disrupting the Divine-Shaman’s core formation.

But they ultimately couldn’t stop everyone.

Just as the Dark-Bone general was about to break into the deepest chamber, formation patterns lit up across the floor—fire exploded outward.

Within the flames, pitch-black disintegration runes flashed. Any Golden Core cultivator who touched them had their flesh dissolved and limbs severed instantly.

The Dark-Bone general’s expression changed dramatically. “Be careful!”

He didn’t know what kind of formation it was, but its terror was palpable.

Some sections of the formation had begun collapsing, but those who crossed the boundary were already crippled.

Fortunately, the collapse radius was small—enough to cripple, but not kill.

The Dark-Bone general had barely exhaled in relief when, in the next heartbeat, a chill ran down his spine. He whirled around—

A massive corpse, like a small mountain, stood behind him.

The Undying Shi-Gu!

A cold, corpse-pale claw was already reaching for the general’s abdomen.

He dodged and slashed with his crimson bone blade—yet the blade sank into dead flesh like mud, leaving not even the smallest wound.

The Dark-Bone general frowned deeply.

Shi-Gu ignored him and turned to attack another black-robed cultivator. The Dark-Bone general tried to warn him—but was too late.

Shi-Gu twisted the man’s neck, ripped out his Golden Core, and swallowed it whole.

The grisly sight made every black-robed cultivator tremble.

After devouring a Golden Core, the deep Taotie markings beneath Shi-Gu’s heavy armor flickered, his eyes gleaming eerie blue as his aura grew even more terrifying.

The Dark-Bone general’s face looked grim.

This “Shi-Gu” was one of the Divine-Shaman’s most brutal killing machines during the chaos of the Great Wilderness.

If the Divine-Shaman was forming his core, Shi-Gu would naturally guard him.

The Dark-Bone general steadied himself and clashed with Shi-Gu. After hundreds of exchanges, he slowly calmed.

Shi-Gu looked fierce, but in terms of pure combat strength, he wasn’t unstoppable—the Dark-Bone general could handle him.

But just as that thought arose, his face changed again.

Mid-battle, Shi-Gu suddenly seemed “hungry.” He spun aside, instantly killed another black-robed assassin, tore out his Golden Core, and ate it, recovering half his spiritual power instantly.

The motion was so fast—so practiced—it was clear he’d done this thousands of times.

The Dark-Bone general’s pupils contracted.

This was precisely what made the Divine-Shaman’s undying general, Shi-Gu, so terrifying.

Watching the blood-soaked corpse-soldier killing and eating as he pleased, the Dark-Bone general couldn’t help thinking:

“Can someone who raises such a monster… really be called a ‘Divine-Shaman’…?”

He could only grit his teeth and continue fighting head-on.

After a few hundred more rounds, Shi-Gu repeated the same move—turning to kill and eat another Golden Core.

The other assassins could have fled, but small collapse formations surrounded the hall.

They didn’t kill—but they crippled.

Once injured, with limbs missing, they could no longer escape Shi-Gu’s grasp, doomed to have their cores ripped out.

This was clearly “designed.”

First cripple with formations.

Then feed them to Shi-Gu.

The crippled enemies became his “food,” and once fed, Shi-Gu could continue killing endlessly.

As for who designed all this? There was no need to ask.

A chill crawled down the Dark-Bone general’s back as he deeply felt just how ruthless the Divine-Shaman’s calculations truly were.

But if this continued—once Shi-Gu became a perpetual-motion slaughter machine—they were in real trouble.

Just as they couldn’t break through the Undying Shi-Gu’s blockade and the situation grew more desperate, black wind surged in the distance—a powerful cultivator approached.

Dressed in a Wujiao robe, it was the Great Chieftain of the Wujiao Tribe.

“That accursed Divine-Shaman—where is he now?” The Wujiao Great Chieftain, dressed in black and stained with blood, asked hoarsely.

The Dark-Bone General pointed toward the inner hall.

The Wujiao Great Chieftain activated his Wujiao Black Sword and charged into the depths.

Shi-Gu blocked his path.

But driven by vengeance, ready to die without hesitation, the chieftain unleashed the full extent of his cultivation and power.

Shi-Gu could not withstand him at all.

After more than a hundred exchanges, Shi-Gu’s defensive line was breached.

The Wujiao Great Chieftain pushed deeper—but with a flash of black light, another “corpse” blocked his path.

His son. His most beloved son. The one he’d placed all his hopes upon.

The Wujiao Young Chieftain.

Now, this most favored son had been killed, his corpse controlled, and forced to “guard” the murderer who killed him.

The Wujiao Great Chieftain felt his heart bleeding.

But the Wujiao Young Chieftain cared for none of that. He merely activated the dragon-patterns all over his body, charging in like a demonic fiend reborn, slaughtering toward his own father.

The Great Chieftain, enduring the agony in his chest, fought his own son in a brutal clash.

A living and dead divide. Father and son, turned enemies.

His hatred toward Mo Hua reached absolute peak.

Yet facing his own son—even if he was only a corpse—the Great Chieftain still couldn’t bear to strike ruthlessly.

Even worse, the Wujiao Young Chieftain had been incredibly strong in life.

Now dead, he feared nothing.

Wounds appeared all over the Great Chieftain’s body; blood seeped from his mouth.

Seeing him overwhelmed by sorrow and chaos in his qi, he was on the verge of being defeated by his own son’s corpse—perhaps even dying beneath his son’s hand. If a Golden Core–peak Great Chieftain like him fell, the entire situation would turn instantly disastrous. The plan to encircle and kill the Divine-Shaman would collapse before it began.

From afar, Lu-Gu, Dan-Zhu, and others, including Mo Hua’s loyal followers—Flame-Shaman, Azure-Shaman, and more—rushed in, preparing to surround and kill the Wujiao Great Chieftain.

The situation grew worse by the heartbeat.

Suddenly, behind Lu-Gu, Flame-Shaman swallowed a Fire Stone, formed a hand seal, and chanted an obscure incantation.

At the same time, a divine fire rune was expelled from his mouth, forming a streak of flame in the air before branding itself onto the Wujiao Young Chieftain’s chest.

This fire rune seemed to be a seal containing the divine power of Luminous-Flame deity. It could isolate Divine-Sense—and sever the Divine-Sense controlling the corpse.

Wrapped in flames, the Wujiao Young Chieftain’s body stiffened; with the controlling Divine-Sense cut off, he slowly half-knelt, ceasing all movement.

Seeing this, Lu-Gu’s expression darkened, and he immediately slashed at Flame Shaman.

Flame Shaman conjured raging flames to block the blow, was forced back three steps, and blood seeped from his palm.

Lu-Gu glared icily. “You wretch—what are you doing?”

Flame Shaman’s face was cold. Gritting his teeth, he said: “The Divine-Shaman’s ambition is too great. He defies the Royal Court and violates the divine order. He cannot be allowed to form his Golden Core…”

Lu-Gu’s tone chilled further. “Do you want to die?”

On the Wujiao Young Chieftain’s body, the fire rune dimmed as the seal weakened.

Flame-Shaman prepared to chant again, to reinforce the control.

But Lu-Gu wouldn’t allow it. His massive Bone-Slaying Blade hacked toward Flame Shaman’s head.

Unable to split his focus between defense and spellcasting, Flame Shaman turned to Azure-Shaman beside him. “Quick, help me!”

Azure-Shaman’s fair and seductive face was full of hesitation.

Desperate, Flame-Shaman gritted his teeth and hissed:

“That person promised—once it’s done, we can return to the Royal Court! Do you want to rot in this gods-forsaken wilderness forever? Do you want to spend your whole life controlled by that Divine-Shaman? Don’t forget—once he forms his Golden Core, killing us will be as easy as crushing an ant…”

“You’d stake your Divine Dao and your life on his ‘goodwill’?”

Hearing this, Azure-Shaman’s conflicted expression slowly shifted.

She cared little for anything else, but…

Her hand drifted subtly to her lower abdomen.

Lu-Gu’s expression hardened. He glared at Flame-Shaman. “Who gave you this promise?! Who made you betray the Divine-Shaman?!”

Flame-Shaman refused to answer.

Lu-Gu’s anger boiled over; he struck with full force.

Barely able to defend while maintaining his divine fire seal, Flame-Shaman was in dire straits—when suddenly, a pink divine-sense descended.

Lu-Gu’s expression sank. He knew Azure-Shaman had acted.

She cast a Qīngqiū Illusory Divine-Sense spell on him.

Lu-Gu cursed inwardly, but his movements slowed.

Flame-Shaman exhaled in relief, disengaged from Lu-Gu’s reach, and turned back to unleash divine fire techniques, fully sealing the Wujiao Young Chieftain once more.

With Flame-Shaman’s spell, fire-runes spread across the corpse like binding chains, cutting off all external divine-sense control. The corpse could no longer move at all.

The Wujiao Great Chieftain finally breathed out. His aged eyes looked at his once-proud son with deep affection—warmth rising painfully in his heart.

But that warmth was laced with grief.

His son was dead. What remained was only a corpse, toyed with by others.

All that agony congealed into raw, blood-soaked fury.

Eyes bloodshot, he turned and strode toward the Divine-Shaman Hall at the inner end of the Shrine.

Elder You, Dark-Bone General, Flame-Shaman, Azure-Shaman, and various tribal generals and traitors charged alongside him.

Before the Divine-Shaman Hall stood the final barrier.

Led by Big Tiger, nearly a hundred fierce tigers—each wearing the Four Symbols Mystic-Tiger Armor—crouched before the hall like an army of beast-kings.

As the Great Chieftain and the others charged forward, the tiger army slowly raised their heads. One towering beast after another formed a “Wall of Demonic Beasts” sealing the entrance.

A torrent of oppressive demonic aura surged like a raging sea.

Even the Wujiao Great Chieftain, burning with hatred, felt his chest tighten when facing such a massed army of regal, ferocious monster-kings.

These were third-grade tiger-demons—the kings among demons. One among them even resembled a Four-Symbols Sacred Beast, a black-and-white-striped Sacred Tiger.

To command a sacred beast, and rule over demon-kings—

Perhaps this was what truly befitted the title of “Divine-Shaman”…

For a brief moment, even the Wujiao Great Chieftain felt a ripple of awe.

But no matter what, his hatred could not be erased.

Even if Mo Hua were the supreme Divine-Shaman… today, he had to die!

His eyes blazing with boundless fury, he raised his Wujiao Black Sword and roared: “Kill!”

Behind him, a group of Golden Core rebels threw caution to the wind and charged straight toward the Divine-Shaman Hall.

Big Tiger reared back and let out a sky-shaking roar. The tiger legion surged forward in a wave of demonic wind and bloodlust.

Tiger-demons and barbarian cultivators clashed. The battlefield instantly grew even more brutal.

Moments later, more and more cultivators flooded in—black-robed assassins of the Wujiao Tribe, as well as Dan-Zhu, Lu-Gu, and the Divine-Shaman’s loyalists.

Around the Divine-Shaman Hall, the final battle erupted in a frenzy of killing.

Near the hall’s entrance, Mo Hua had laid down various formation traps, triggering small-area collapses.

Those collapsing formations were silent and annihilating, terrifying in power, and nearly impossible to defend against.

Many black-robed assassins were crippled on the spot—then either devoured by the tigers, cut down by others, or had their Golden Cores dug out by Lu-Gu.

Spirit-Reversal formations, tiger-demon soldiers, the Undying General Shi-Gu, and numerous other Vermilion Bird Mountain barbarian generals, heavily armored barbarian soldiers… and so on.

For a Golden Core tribulation, this protective lineup was nothing short of formidable and airtight.

Across the entire history of the Great Wilderness, among all Third-Grade Mountain Realms, the number who could muster such a powerful formation to safeguard their Golden Core formation was likely only this one—Mo Hua, the unparalleled “Divine-Shaman” who unified the Great Wilderness.

But Mo Hua’s enemies were just as extraordinary. In the end, they still broke through.

Or rather, the majority of the black-robed assassins were stopped.

But several barbarian cultivators like Wujiao Great Chieftain—too strong individually—could not be stopped if they ignored the fighting and simply forced their way in to kill Mo Hua.

After a grueling, vicious battle, they smashed through the tiger horde, broke through layer after layer of formations, tore through the Divine-Shaman’s defenses, shattered the grand hall’s gate, and finally charged inside.

Within the hall, Mo Hua’s dense aura and karmic traces were indeed present.

But what shocked them was that the great hall contained no sign of Mo Hua himself.

Elder You was holding a compass. On it, threads of karma pointed directly toward the meditation cushion in the center of the hall.

On the cushion sat a tiny straw dog.

The little straw dog slightly squinted eyes, as if mocking them.