Chapter 1329: Show of Authority

Chapter 1328: Show of Authority

Inside the main hall of the Situ clan, Mo Hua—like a tyrant—sat in the seat of highest honor.

Little Junior Brother Situ Jian sat at his left, while Grand Elder Situ Wei sat at his right.

Below them, the hall was packed with younger disciples, all geniuses from the Four Sects and Eight Gates of the Qianxue Prefecture. Their sharp, overwhelming aura of prodigies surged together, rushing forward like ten thousand swords loosed at once—keen, oppressive, and impossible to ignore.

Situ Wei’s scalp tingled as he sat stiffly, as though perched on needles.

This was the Situ clan. He was the Situ clan’s Grand Elder—albeit a temporary one—but still a figure above tens of thousands, of exalted status.

In almost any setting, any gathering, he was always among those with the highest standing—often the highest.

He had always been calm and composed, his presence imposing.

Yet today’s scene made him experience, for the first time, something like “inferiority,” “timidity,” and “self-doubt.”

It wasn’t because the people present had exceptionally high cultivation.

After all, they were mostly scions of great clans, at most at the peak of Foundation Establishment.

But their bearing, spirit roots, Dao foundations, family backgrounds, sects, reputations—each and every one was terrifying.

A glance around revealed nothing but rare, top-tier heavenly talents.

One or two such prodigies would already be impressive… but here, an entire hall was filled with them.

What kind of spectacle was this?

Even back in the Qianxue Prefecture, that flourishing land of cultivation where sects stood shoulder to shoulder and prodigies gathered like clouds, assembling all the “headliners” of the Four Sects and Eight Gates in one place would have been nearly impossible.

Let alone doing so in the Situ clan.

Situ Wei gazed at the hall full of prodigies as if he were staring at a pond of dazzling, noble “golden dragonfish,” swimming back and forth before his eyes…

So much so that he couldn’t help asking himself:

“Am I… really qualified to appear at a gathering like this?”

Not to mention that at this very moment, he was seated in a place of honor arranged by Mo Hua, being looked up at by a group of top-tier geniuses from great clans. It truly felt as though he were being roasted alive on an alchemy furnace, his head burning, limbs trembling, his heart numb.

Situ Wei had already forgotten why he had come.

Yet the dignity of being Grand Elder still forced him to suppress the “inferiority” and torment in his heart.

In contrast, Mo Hua was far more relaxed.

To him, this was actually a small scene.

These Qianxue prodigies didn’t put much pressure on him at all. After all, back at the Sword-Debate Tournament, which one of them hadn’t been “bullied” by him?

Mo Hua said generously, “Today, I’m treating everyone to a meal.”

Strictly speaking, this was his first time hosting such a large-scale banquet.

Of course, the one actually footing the bill was his Little Junior Brother, Situ Jian.

After all, this was the Situ clan’s territory, hardly appropriate for a guest to pull out spirit stones to pay.

Besides, Mo Hua himself didn’t have many spirit stones left. Most of what he’d brought earlier had been devoured by the Taotie Spiritual Skeleton Formation, and what remained he needed to save for forming his Golden Core. Right now, he was actually quite “poor,” relying entirely on his junior brother’s support.

Situ Jian lightly clapped his hands, and a group of Situ clan disciples began serving wine and dishes.

Since this was the front line of the Great Wilderness, it wasn’t extravagant—but it was quite decent. At least, Mo Hua was satisfied.

Yet the prodigies below barely touched their chopsticks.

This was Mo Hua’s meal. They couldn’t bring themselves to eat it.

Feng Zichen of the Carefree Gate swept his gaze around the hall, sneering inwardly. These people had cursed Mo Hua with their mouths, swearing they’d never attend if he invited them, yet intimidated by Mo Hua’s “tyranny,” hadn’t they all still come running, not a single one missing?

And they dared call themselves prodigies, utterly spineless…

Feng Zichen sneered inwardly, then looked at Mo Hua and said aloud, “Mo Hua, you didn’t invite us here just to eat, did you?”

Hearing this, everyone else also turned to look at Mo Hua.

Xiao Ruohan of the Heavenly Sword Sect said calmly, “Mo Hua, if there’s something to say, just say it.”

No one believed there was such a thing as a harmless banquet, certainly not one hosted by Mo Hua.

Seeing how impatient they were, Mo Hua stopped beating around the bush and said, “There is something. It’s… about the barbarian slaves in the Great Wilderness.”

“Barbarian slaves?”

Xiao Ruohan was taken aback, and the other prodigies also looked surprised.

Mo Hua nodded. “I’ve traveled around various regions… In the Royal Capital Regions, wars break out frequently. Tribes everywhere are destroyed, their people reduced to barbarian slaves, bought, sold, and killed by major clans. You may not know about it, but within your clans—openly or secretly—there will certainly be involvement.”

“So I called you here to see whether we can find a way to gather these barbarian slaves together and give them a way to survive.”

After Mo Hua finished speaking, the entire hall fell silent—you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone stared at one another.

After a moment, Ao Zheng said, “Just for this?”

Mo Hua nodded. “Just for this.”

Ao Zheng frowned, finding it baffling. “You say that, but this matter… what does it have to do with you?”

Mo Hua said solemnly, “We cultivators pursue the Dao and seek immortality; we should comprehend the Heavenly Dao and benefit all living beings. Heaven cherishes life. People of the Dao Court are people, people of the Nine Provinces are people, and people of the Great Wilderness are also people. If we hadn’t encountered this, fine. But now that we have, and know these people are ravaged by war and on the brink of death, we should naturally do what we can. Moreover, trafficking barbarian cultivators, raising slaves, and harming living beings already violates the rules of Dao law and the principles of the righteous Dao…”

His tone was calm, yet in his eyes was a trace of compassion for all under heaven.

Everyone stood stunned for a long while, saying nothing.

Were these words really coming from that Mo Hua?

This Mo Hua felt strangely unfamiliar.

Too “righteous”, so righteous it almost felt unsettling…

“But…” Ao Zheng frowned. “In the end, what does all this have to do with you?”

Mo Hua replied, “I’ve already said it, cultivators cultivate to comprehend the Heavenly Dao and benefit all beings…”

Ao Zheng shook his head. “No, I mean, what does this have to do with you, Mo Hua? Are you a native of the Great Wilderness?”

“No.”

“Are you of Great Wilderness royal blood?”

“No.”

“Do you have relatives in the Great Wilderness royal court?”

“No.”

“Then…” Ao Zheng said, “whether these barbarian slaves live or die, what does that have to do with you? What benefit do you get?”

Feng Zichen also said, “Mo Hua, be honest, are you thinking up some rotten scheme to screw us over again?”

Ao Zheng’s gaze turned cold. “Ten years have passed. We’re no longer naïve sect disciples. The dangers of the cultivation world, the selfishness of human hearts—we’ve all seen them to some extent.”

“Birds don’t rise without insects; people don’t act without profit. Mo Hua, what exactly are you trying to do? I don’t believe you’d show this kindness for no reason.”

The others nodded in agreement:

“Exactly.”

“You have to give us an explanation.”

“Don’t think that you can fool us with lofty rhetoric, treating us like idiots…”

Mo Hua fell silent for a moment, then asked an abrupt question: “Why do you cultivate, exactly?”

Everyone frowned.

After a moment, Xiao Ruohan slowly said, “Naturally… to attain the Dao, to become immortal, to live forever.”

Mo Hua continued, “Then what is the Dao? What is immortality? And how does one achieve longevity?”

Ao Zheng frowned. “Who could possibly know that? We’re only at Foundation Establishment, how could we understand what the Dao is, or what immortality is?”

“Fine,” Mo Hua nodded. “Then let me ask it the other way around. If we are all selfish, only seeking our own cultivation and personal gain, ignoring the Heavenly Dao and disregarding all living beings—do you think that can truly lead to immortality? Can that really grant eternal life?”

The hall fell silent. The brows of all the prodigies knitted even tighter.

Xiao Ruohan shook his head. “Mo Hua, saying these grand but hollow things is meaningless.”

Mo Hua said slowly, “The Heavenly Dao is vast, so vast that it seems empty. But is it possible that it only feels empty and false because our realms are too low, our understanding too shallow, so we can’t perceive its essence or grasp its meaning?”

Ao Zheng said, “This is too abstract. It doesn’t align with how cultivation clans actually operate. If one isn’t selfish or doesn’t seek personal benefit, then the entire cultivation world—its great clans and sects—couldn’t even establish themselves in the first place…”

Mo Hua’s eyes burned brightly as he asked, “All these years, has anyone among the cultivation clans ascended to immortality?”

“If immortality cannot be attained, then what use are these rules for cultivating immortals?”

“Across the world, among the countless people who fail to become immortals—could it be that everything they do, think, and believe is fundamentally wrong?”

“Clan monopolies are wrong. Chasing profit is also wrong.”

Mo Hua looked at everyone. “You are the top prodigies of the great clans and major sects. Your talent far surpasses that of ordinary people. Do you truly want to follow the same old habits of those clans, learn to be selfish, and in the end, let your own Dao slowly wither away within mundane rules, personally strangling your own chance at becoming immortals?”

His words were like blades, cutting straight into the heart.

They struck like thunder. The entire hall of prodigies was shaken to the core, a trace of dread rising within them.

Those involved were blind. Born into cultivation clans and raised within them, they had been immersed in this way of thinking since childhood and had never stepped outside it to examine the issue.

They spoke endlessly of becoming immortals, yet had never truly considered, from a practical standpoint, what the path to immortality was supposed to look like…

The shock reverberated in their hearts for a long time.

All the Qianxue prodigies frowned deeply, lost in thought.

Even Situ Jian was stunned into a daze upon hearing these words.

No one knew how long the hall remained silent.

Only then did Shen Cangfeng of Heavenly Dao Sect frown and say, “These words… are ultimately just your personal view. Does not being selfish really allow one to attain the Dao and become immortal?”

Mo Hua shook his head. “No matter what, to attain the Dao and become immortal, to achieve eternal life, one must endure painstaking cultivation, thousands of hardships, countless dangers, innumerable great tribulations, and long, grinding suffering. It is never easy.”

“The only difference is whether your path is correct.”

“If the path is right, at least you are walking upon the ‘Dao’ toward immortality. But if your path is wrong from the very beginning, then even if you cultivate to Feather Ascension, to Profound-Hollow-Void, or even higher, you will still merely be ants beneath the Heavenly Dao—puppets of cultivation—light-years away from transcending heaven and earth and becoming one with the Dao worthy of the word ‘immortal.’”

The hall once again sank into prolonged silence.

Some were shaken, some frowned, some remained silent, some pondered, and of course, some prodigies were unconvinced.

A thousand people have a thousand minds; everyone has their own thoughts and their own heart.

Mo Hua’s words moved them deeply, but making them truly believe was not so easy.

“In the end, it’s still just your own conviction, there’s no real evidence,” Shen Cangfeng said coldly.

Other prodigies nodded and murmured, “Still only at Foundation Establishment, yet talking about the Dao and immortals, what arrogance.”

“Exactly. What can a Foundation Establishment cultivator possibly know…”

“I say Mo Hua is just deceiving us. He’s crafty, treating us like fools for his own amusement…”

All these words, loud or soft, reached Mo Hua’s ears.

Mo Hua sighed inwardly. These prodigies really hadn’t mixed with him much, their temperament was lacking, not easy to lead, and far inferior to the little junior brothers of his Great Void Sect.

If his own junior brothers were here, whatever he said would go. There’d be no need to waste this much breath…

Mo Hua said, “I’ve said all I need to say. How you choose your Dao is up to you. I won’t say more.”

“The pressing question now is this: These barbarian slaves, will you save them or not?”

Feng Zichen thought for a moment, then shook his head. “You still need to give us a reason. Why are you so determined to save these barbarian slaves?”

The others nodded in agreement. “That’s right, give us a practical reason. Explain things clearly.”

“If you don’t explain it clearly, how can we possibly save them?”

“Make it clear, otherwise…”

Mo Hua finally lost his patience. His pupils darkened, his expression turned cold, and the aura of one who had served as a Divine-Shaman and long occupied a position of authority burst forth. Combined with that “local tyrant” demeanor, it instantly sent a chill through the hearts of the prodigies present.

They knew Mo Hua was angry.

“I’m not asking for your opinions,” he said. “I’m only asking you… will you save them, or not?”

His voice was cold, carrying an unquestionable authority.

The prodigies no longer dared to make a sound.

A powerful Divine-Sense pressed down, bringing with it an intense sense of oppression. The atmosphere in the hall seemed to turn several degrees colder.

After an unknown amount of time, Feng Zichen finally dared to mutter softly:

“If you’d just said it like that from the start, wouldn’t that have settled it… We never said we wouldn’t save them…”

(They were just barbarian slaves. If you’d gotten angry earlier, would we really have wasted all this time arguing with you? Seriously…)

Ao Zheng also spoke up, “Raising barbarian slaves and trafficking cultivators already violates Dao Court law. Since we are disciples of reputable clans and sects, we naturally won’t stand by and do nothing.”

Xiao Ruohan nodded as well. “This matter indeed goes against chivalry.”

Shi Tiangang said, “Aristocratic clans seeking profit should not do so at the cost of human lives, even if those people are barbarians from the Great Wilderness.”

“Barbarians are savage—that’s why they traffic people and keep slaves. We of the Nine Provinces, how could we commit such despicable acts and place ourselves on the same level as barbarians?”

“This matter absolutely cannot be ignored.”

“Indeed, it’s utterly improper.”

“If we didn’t know, that would be one thing. But now that we do, it’s impossible not to intervene…”

“We’re doing this out of respect for Dao Court law and the principles of cultivation. We’re saving them of our own accord, it has nothing to do with you, Mo Hua.”

“Exactly…”

A group of heavenly geniuses voiced their agreement one after another.

Mo Hua withdrew his aura and gave a slight nod. “Then this matter is settled.”

He raised his wine cup and said solemnly, “I offer everyone a toast.”

The assembled geniuses raised their cups with reluctance. Some even wore expressions of open disdain, yet their bodies did not resist, and they drank a cup together with Mo Hua.

Mo Hua nodded in satisfaction, his tone relaxing a little. “There’s nothing else. Let’s eat.”

For reasons unknown, the geniuses of Qianxue actually let out a sigh of relief. Then they took their seats and began to eat.

After all, it was Mo Hua who was treating them. Though the food could not be called rare delicacies or peerless dishes, once it reached their mouths, it carried a flavor all its own.

After all, Mo Hua was truly sinister and terrifying. Opportunities for them to take advantage of Mo Hua were practically nonexistent.

From beginning to end, Grand Elder Situ Wei—who had been sitting stiffly to the side, without even the qualification to speak—could not help but feel shocked beyond measure.

He couldn’t understand it, nor could he comprehend it at all.

Why was this youth able to issue orders so bluntly to a hall full of Qianxue heavenly geniuses, prodigies of the Four Sects and Eight Gates?

And yet no one dared resist, no one even dared raise their voice.

Was this Mo Hua really so unfathomably powerful?

Was he merely the Little Senior Brother of the Great Void Sect?

Or was he the Little Senior Brother of the Four Great Sects and Eight Great Gates of a Fifth-Rank Qianxue Grand Prefecture?