Chapter 1297: The Great Killing Calamity

Chapter 1296: The Great Killing Calamity

Staring at the little straw dog whose half-squinted eyes seemed to mock him, Wujiao Great Chieftain spat out a mouthful of blood. He spun around and seized Elder You in a death-grip, his voice shrill:

“Where is he?! That boy… where is he?! We fought our way here, risking our lives—just to kill this dog?!”

Elder You was equally shaken, grinding his teeth so hard it seemed they might shatter.

He drew a long breath, forcefully calming his trembling mind. His Divine-Sense spread outward. The grand hall was empty—utterly empty. Not a single trace of a person.

All the Golden Core aura was coming from that inexplicable straw dog placed on the meditation cushion.

At first glance, Elder You couldn’t understand what this straw dog even was.

Why did it carry such thick, overwhelming aura of causality?

But Elder You was favored by the Huá Clan’s Old Ancestor; he had heard fragments of many ancient arts. As he stared at it, a guess suddenly formed in his mind. His pupils contracted sharply:

“Could this be… Causality transference?!”

There were still living people in this world capable of performing causal laws of this level?

Impossible…

Didn’t the Old Ancestor say…

His eyes went unfocused, expression shifting wildly.

Just then, explosions and flashes erupted outside the hall. Flame-Shaman rushed in. Seeing the empty room, he asked anxiously:

“Where is he?!”

Wujiao Great Chieftain’s face was dark. “We’ve been tricked…”

Flame-Shaman glanced at the straw dog on the cushion—his face instantly turned deathly pale.

“Hurry… he must still be forming his Golden Core! No matter what it takes—find Lord Divine-Shaman… and kill him!”

Elder You frowned, saying nothing.

Flame-Shaman’s face twisted. “You don’t understand! I betrayed the Divine-Shaman! If he enters Golden Core stage, I’ll die for sure!”

He pointed at Elder You and Wujiao Great Chieftain, he shouted sharply:

“You two will die too!”

Then he jabbed a finger toward the outside, voice trembling with terror:

“Everyone who betrayed him—every single one—will die!”

“All of them will die!!”

“He is the Divine-Shaman!”

The one who could ignite a divine war and unify the Great Wilderness!

The one before whom sacred beasts bowed, king-beasts submitted, and who wielded supreme divine punishment—able to kill with a single finger!

If you are going to betray such a being, the betrayal must be absolute.

Otherwise, everyone would suffer the Divine-Shaman’s wrath and fall into eternal damnation.

Among all those who feared Mo Hua, Flame-Shaman—being a fellow shaman—understood that terror the most.

Elder You thought for a moment, then sighed deeply. He flipped his hand, summoning the Gold coin mouse, and had it gnaw Mo Hua’s straw dog into scraps.

“Then… we have no choice…”

His gaze turned icy.

……

Roughly eight hundred li from the Vermilion Bird Mountain divine altar, upon a remote and barren peak swallowed by famine, lay a desolate mountain with no signs of life.

Within a cave sealed off by a formation.

Sensing the destruction of the straw dog, Mo Hua slowly opened his eyes and looked at the second straw dog in his hand.

The Great Wilderness Straw-Dog Fate Technique could shift causality.

During this period, Mo Hua had worked tirelessly, weaving two straw dogs in total.

One he left in the Vermilion Bird Divine Hall as his substitute.

The other he kept by his side as a contingency.

Mo Hua had calculated his own fate. Forming his Golden Core would inevitably bring a great killing calamity—possibly even a death calamity.

And the art of Causality Transference existed precisely to let something take his place and “disperse disaster and dissolve calamity.”

That straw dog had taken on all the killing tribulations and murderous intent meant for him. Only then did he have a sliver of safety to focus on forming his Golden Core.

The Wujiao Great Chieftain and the others had calculated correctly—and Mo Hua himself understood very well that core formation was indeed the moment he would be at his weakest and most vulnerable.

Whether in flesh and blood, Divine-Sense, or Causality, it was perilously dangerous.

Thus he had no choice but to proceed with extreme caution, calculating again and again to eliminate all risks.

Now that the Great Wilderness straw dog had taken all the firepower for him, Mo Hua could finally focus his mind.

And he had to be fast.

Across the entire Great Wilderness, the karmic upheaval caused by his reforms had earned him too many enemies. The slightest misstep, and more trouble would come crashing down.

The time he could truly use for core formation was incredibly precious.

Mo Hua pushed aside all other thoughts, closed his eyes, and formally began forming his Golden Core…

Core formation was the process of drawing in all the spiritual power cultivated from Qi-Refining up to Foundation Establishment, gathering it into the Qi Sea, and incubating it into a Golden Core.

During this process, massive amounts of spiritual power were further compressed.

The circulation count of spiritual power would rise to the peak of the Minor Cycle.

A cultivator’s spiritual-root potential and the advantages of their cultivation method would, at the Golden Core realm, be drawn out to their fullest for the first time.

Qi-Refining solidified the foundation; Foundation Establishment set the Dao foundation; Golden Core was the first metamorphosis of that foundation.

Thus, Golden Core was the greatest watershed of all.

Qi-Refining spiritual power was like gas; Foundation Establishment like mercury; but a Golden Core cultivator’s spiritual power became like solid crystals—substantial and condensed.

Their techniques gained tangible “spell forms,” greatly increasing their power.

And throughout core formation, the spiritual power, fleshly body, and Divine-Sense would fuse even further.

Essence, Qi, and Spirit entered the Dao—this was the origin of “cultivating one’s fate and life together.”

In the process of harmonizing blood-essence, spiritual power, and Divine-Sense, one could merge the “life-bound embryo” into it and forge a life-bound artifact.

A life-bound artifact was unique to each cultivator, usable only by its owner, aligned perfectly with one’s Dao foundation, capable of letting a single cultivator wield the full might of a heavenly “artifact.”

It was the first step toward the unity of man and artifact.

For the world’s rogue cultivators, the words “Golden Core” were an unattainable luxury.

A realm they would almost never reach.

As for how to form a Golden Core, they couldn’t possibly know.

But Mo Hua had cultivated in the Great Void Sect for nine years, receiving the complete transmission of a major sect’s cultivation system.

He had long since mastered the theory of core formation.

As for the actual process, he had simulated it tens of thousands of times in his heart.

Now, the core formation he had yearned for was finally within reach.

Despite his divinity growing and his humanity on the brink, Mo Hua still felt that burning, fervent anticipation in his heart.

Even his divine nature carried an icy, rational “desire,” urging him to complete his core.

He drew a deep breath and began using the Taotie Twelve-Meridian-Spiritual-Skeleton Formation, which he had nurtured to one-twelfth completion, as the embryo of his life-bound artifact.

Then he mobilized all the spiritual power he had cultivated throughout his life, directing it along the Minor Cycle, forcefully plunging it into his dantian.

At the same time, the spirit-gathering formation beneath him continuously crushed and refined the spirit stones he had prepared in advance, turning them into pure spiritual power that flowed through his apertures, into his meridians, and then gathered into the Qi Sea.

Thus, the internal and external spiritual power formed a vortex under immense pressure, step by step crystallizing.

Once all the spiritual power within was fully crystallized and condensed into a core body, the breakthrough to Golden Core would succeed.

This demanded patience and resilience; the slightest error was unacceptable, and interruptions were disastrous.

A single mistake… and everything would be ruined.

What Mo Hua needed to watch out for was ensuring his Golden Core didn’t “drop in grade.”

As long as he held on, he could form an Intermediate-Lower Grade Golden Core.

It belonged to the “Intermediate Grade,” though the lowest of that tier—still quite good for Mo Hua.

He quieted his mind, concentrating wholly on refining his spiritual power.

Time flowed by as Mo Hua’s spiritual power crystallized bit by bit.

Throughout the process, he controlled the flow with his powerful Divine-Sense, refining every detail with utmost precision.

For someone adept in Divine-Sense, this wasn’t difficult.

And the process proceeded smoothly.

Mo Hua sat still as an ancient bell.

Spiritual power gathered around him from the spirit-gathering formation, merging into his meridians and the life-bound formation.

Blue Taotie patterns lit up one after another across his skin, making him look like a spiritual monster wearing human flesh.

Along the Hand-Tai-Yin Lung Meridian, the blue glow was especially bright—nearly blinding.

This was the sign that the life-bound embryo was step by step fusing into a true life-bound formation.

Amid these subtle transformations, after an unknown span of time, the crystallized spiritual power within Mo Hua’s dantian reached a certain scale and began to take the shape of a Core under the pressure of his Divine-Sense.

A faint outline appeared within him.

His Golden Core was finally beginning to take form.

Mo Hua steadied his emotions and began merging his Divine-Sense, flesh, spiritual power, and the life-bound formation—into the almost-formed core.

And the “divinity” within his Divine-Sense also fused deeper and deeper into it.

Mo Hua’s Golden Core became more “golden” than anyone else’s.

So golden it was strange—bright and clear to a degree that didn’t seem human.

At the same time, within the Golden Core, another vision slowly emerged.

In the vision, a deity hung high in the heavens, golden radiance blanketed the sky, the Vermilion Bird soared, the White Tiger bowed, and all beings of the Great Wilderness worshipped as endless faith gathered into the Golden Core.

Mo Hua felt immense joy.

This was the supreme honor of a true deity—worshipped by heaven and earth, receiving the incense of all living beings.

His divine nature condensed further.

A vast tide of divine intent surged outward like a storm.

“Condense!”

Mo Hua’s pupils turned completely golden. The golden radiance around him merged entirely with the blue glow.

In his dantian, a “spiritual-power core” spun rapidly, finally solidifying into a true core.

This was the condensed tangible Golden Core.

But at the instant it formed—

Without Mo Hua’s knowledge, the heavens above the Wilderness trembled. Winds and clouds reversed direction. Countless powerful karmic forces that had lain dormant on the Great Wilderness’ heavenly chessboard bared their ferocious aura.

The true Great Killing Calamity he had not anticipated… had arrived.

…

Great Wilderness, Royal Court.

An old man covered in dragon bones opened his eyes. Within the aged pupils flickered a frigid killing intent.

“Disrupting my Royal court’s foundation… defying the Divine Dao of the Wilderness… and you think you’ll meet a good end?”

The old man sneered. His withered finger tapped a dragon bone, and a terrifying Causal-karmic dragon-mark roared forth, diving into the heavenly mechanism.

…

Dao Province, Dao Court.

Astrology Bureau.

A scholar in a Seven-Star Dao Robe gazed up at the heavens, eyes like stars.

“In the Great Wilderness, baleful stars have flickered for years. There must be a great traitor of the Dao Court rising in power there…”

“And now he dares expose his karmic lifeline? Truly… lawless…”

A streak of starlight shot from the scholar’s palm, soaring into the heavens, merging with the celestial rotation, shining down upon the Great Wilderness.

…

Dao Province, various clans forbidden grounds.

Several Profound-Hollow-Void ancestors, each from different clans and in secluded cultivation, simultaneously opened their eyes, their expressions cold:

“Demonic wretch, you finally revealed your tail…”

“You’ve ruined our clan’s grand plans.”

“If not for the distance and the chaos in the Heavenly Secrets, we would’ve crushed you long ago…”

“And you dare break through your realm now…”

“Courting death.”

Threads of causality anomalies, Divine-Sense curses, Divine-Talisman thoughts—all slipped into the void, following a certain karmic thread toward their target…

…

Dao Province, Huá Clan.

An elegant elder with immortal bearing stroked the Heavenly-Secret Sword in his hand. murderous intent rippled in his heart. After a moment of thought, he still did not unsheathe it.

“Such a lowly creature… not worthy of this sword…”

“He must be taken alive…”

…

Great Wilderness, Ancient Wujiao Forbidden Ground.

At the core of the Taotie Famine-Calamity Grand Formation.

The demonlike “Mr. Tu” lifted his black pupils toward the sky. Countless hoarse voices of resentful spirits rasped in unison:

“The Great Wilderness’… Divine-Shaman.”

A strand of Deceptive thought crawled into the void like a lurking ghost.

…

Dao Province, a quiet small courtyard.

The Grand Elder also looked toward the heavens, sighed softly, and murmured, “This child… is making things very difficult for me…”

…

Almost at the same moment, in the Great Wilderness, Vermillion Bird Mountain Realm.

Inside the cave where the core-forming was taking place.

Mo Hua suddenly felt his mind violently tremble. A vast terror surged toward him, his whole body turning ice-cold.

Above the Heavenly Secrets, countless murderous karmic forces roiled. It was as though towering karmic mountains pressed down upon his head, making it hard to even breathe.

Mo Hua’s expression changed. He opened his eyes and looked down—only to see that beside him, the “spare” straw-dog substitute was suddenly engulfed by dazzling and terrifying Causal killing intents.

There was vast, savage dragon qi.

Profound and boundless starlight.

There were dragon sparrows, devouring pythons, brocade tigers, golden scales, and all manner of heavy-authority symbols—tripod patterns, jade seals—each containing its own causal force, all descending to suppress and kill.

There was even a thread of chilling Deceptive-Dao Causality.

Under the combined force of all these Causalities, the frail straw-dog substitute was instantly crushed into ash.

His “substitute” died once again in the blink of an eye.

Mo Hua felt as if he had fallen into an icy abyss.

And these Causality killing intents came from origins far too great. The Heavenly-Secrets force was far too strong. Even though they were all absorbed by the ancient and profound Great Wilderness Straw-Dog Fate Technique—trading one life for another—

In Causality, one may only kill a person once.

No matter how mighty the Causal force, it can only kill a person one time.

Once that kill is taken, the Causality recoils along its path and no longer harms the “innocent.”

Debts go to their debtors; grievances to their owners.

This is the law of Cause-and-effect.

It should have ended there—but the Causal methods of these mighty cultivators were too overpowering. After killing the straw dog, the lingering aftermath still struck Mo Hua.

He didn’t know where he was injured, nor why—but suddenly he spat out a mouthful of blood.

At the same time, his Divine-Sense collapsed, “bleeding away,” and even the divinity within it began breaking apart.

This was the backlash of great karma.

And the collapse of his Divine-Sense and divinity caused Mo Hua’s core-forming process to fall into irreversible chaos.

The Golden Core he had just formed—shattered.

This was the embryonic core he had forged through countless trials—gone in an instant.

Mo Hua froze; unable to accept it, anger surged, and he coughed up another mouthful of blood.

But his Dao Heart was tenacious. Even at the brink, his rationality returned in a flash.

He had to save himself. He absolutely could not allow the Golden Core to collapse out of control, or it would damage his very foundation.

He hurriedly shoved all the prepared pills into his mouth—life-saving, blood-restoring, qi-restoring, foundation-strengthening, essence-nourishing, spirit-recovering… anything and everything.

At the same time, with the remnants of his Divine-Sense, he forcefully controlled his spiritual power—preventing it from running wild or flowing backward, lest his meridians rupture and his foundation be crippled.

Under Mo Hua’s unnervingly calm self-rescue, the backlash in his body gradually subsided.

He dared not stay a moment longer. He packed up immediately and prepared to flee.

The straw dog was gone. His core-forming had failed. He was alone—no protection.

If anything else happened, he’d be finished.

But just as Mo Hua turned around.

A mysterious Nine-Petaled radiance bloomed on the ground.

A luxurious screen materialized out of thin air, blocking his path.

From within the screen, a man stepped out—dressed in a magnificent Dao robe, brows high and proud, expression cold and aloof, aura ethereal and detached from the world.

A Feathered Ascension True-Person!

Mo Hua’s face changed drastically. Before he could react, the Feathered Ascension True-Person lifted a finger and gently pointed at him.

Like an immortal casting a spell, Mo Hua was instantly immobilized—unable to move, even his consciousness growing faint.

He struggled, but with all his calculations ruined and his breakthrough failed, he had no chance before a Feathered Ascension True-Person.

That cultivator flicked out a golden needle and pierced Mo Hua’s Sea of Consciousness.

The golden needle entered his mind, transforming into a Heavenly-Chasm Lock, sealing his Divine-Sense and even his divinity completely.

Pain stabbed through his Sea of Consciousness. Mo Hua wanted to resist further, but he truly had no strength left. At last, he slipped into darkness.

The Feathered Ascension True Person supported Mo Hua’s limp body with one hand, frowning slightly.

“This frail little brat became a Divine-Shaman and ruined the Huá Clan’s great plan?”

“You must be joking…”

He shook his head lightly. “Forget it. The location leaked by the Grand Elder shouldn’t be wrong.”

“Just take him away.”

As mountains and rivers shifted like flowing ink, the tall figure in ornate robes lifted Mo Hua with one hand and stepped back into the folding screen.

The screen dispersed.

And the figure of Mo Hua—the Divine-Shaman—vanished from the Great Wilderness.

(End of this chapter)

…

Translator Notes:

We were first introduced to the Yu Hua realm around 500+ chapters in, and Martial Uncle casually killed two Yu Hua realm cultivators. Based on that and my experience with other novels, where the fourth stage is usually Nascent Soul and the MC jumps all the way to Immortal Emperor within fifty chapters, I assumed Yu Hua would only stay relevant for about 200 chapters before becoming just another “ant” realm.

Because of that, calling the fourth stage “Ascension” didn’t feel right to me. It sounded far too grand for a realm that would soon be trivial, so for convenience, I translated Yu Hua as Nascent Soul since “Ascension” felt excessive for a mere fourth-stage realm.

However, now that 1300 chapters have passed and we are only just being properly introduced to the Yu Hua Realm, while Mo Hua hasn’t even formed his Core yet, I feel I should correct this and translate it as “Feather Ascension” before it’s too late.

The story already contains concepts like spiritual power transforming into feathers.

Previously, I thought Yu Hua isn’t as important and would be glossed over within 200 chapters, which is why I chose Nascent Soul.