Chapter 1343: Divine Official

Chapter 1342: Divine Official

Mo Hua’s face darkened. “What nonsense are you saying?”

Dan Ling grabbed Mo Hua and asked anxiously, “Where’s my little brother? How is he?”

Bai Zisheng snapped, “And you still say there’s nothing going on between you two? You even know her brother?!”

Bai Zisheng was furious.

He hadn’t expected that all this time, he had been the one taking the blame for Mo Hua.

What angered him most was that this little rascal Mo Hua had even turned around again and again to question him, asking whether he had something going on with that Great Wilderness demoness.

The one who actually had something going on was clearly Mo Hua himself!!

Sure enough, when people grow up, their hearts change. Once his little junior brother grew up, his romantic schemes multiplied too.

The more Bai Zisheng thought about it, the angrier he became.

Mo Hua’s head started to ache. “It’s not what you think…”

“Then what is it?” Bai Zisheng demanded.

Mo Hua was just about to speak when Dan Ling across from them suddenly frowned.

She looked at Mo Hua, then at Bai Zisheng, and gradually came back to her senses.

Earlier, she had been worried about her younger brother Dan Zhu and was momentarily anxious. On top of that, Mo Hua had a kind face and only Foundation Establishment cultivation, so she hadn’t been very guarded.

But now, seeing both Bai Zisheng and Mo Hua together, she finally sensed something wrong.

Dan Ling’s gaze turned sharp as she asked, “Who exactly are you? How did you get into the Divine Maiden Hall?”

“I am…” Mo Hua froze.

It wasn’t convenient for him to reveal his identity directly.

The key problem was that he had too many identities and didn’t know which one to choose.

Seeing Mo Hua hesitate, the cold light in Dan Ling’s eyes deepened. The Vermilion Bird feathered longsword in her hand slowly lifted and pointed at Mo Hua.

Bai Zisheng’s expression turned cold. He pulled Mo Hua behind him and stepped in front of Dan Ling, thinking to himself that women in this world truly were fickle.

Just a moment ago she had been clinging to his junior brother, looking all intimate like they “had something going on,” and in the blink of an eye she was pointing a sword at him, turning hostile without hesitation.

“Hmph, women…” Bai Zisheng sneered inwardly.

Seeing the situation turning tense, Mo Hua felt helpless. Suddenly, inspiration struck him, and he said, “I’m the Young Lord of the Gongtu Tribe.”

“The Gongtu Tribe’s Young Lord?”

Both Dan Ling and Bai Zisheng frowned.

Mo Hua nodded. “I’m the Gongtu Tribe’s Young Lord. While traveling for trade, I encountered a famine and fled into the Desolate Wilderness. Then I was robbed by bandits, all my guards died, and by sheer luck Young Lord Dan Zhu saved me. That’s how I barely kept my life.”

“I’m deeply grateful for Young Lord Dan Zhu’s kindness. I often heard him mention he had an elder sister. To repay his favor, I accepted his request and came to the Royal Court to check on your situation…”

Hearing that Dan Zhu had been thinking about her, Dan Ling felt warmth in her heart. Then she frowned again, falling into thought.

Bai Zisheng, meanwhile, looked at Mo Hua with a face full of confusion.

He had no idea when Mo Hua had suddenly become some random Gongtu Young Lord. Just as he was about to ask, Mo Hua secretly bumped his arm, telling him not to speak.

After pondering for a moment, Dan Ling looked at Bai Zisheng and asked, “If you’re the Gongtu Young Lord, then who is he?”

Mo Hua said, “He’s my attendant. I’m the Young Lord; he’s my guard.”

Bai Zisheng silently looked at Mo Hua. Mo Hua’s expression was perfectly natural.

Dan Ling frowned slightly.

The white-robed youth before her had bones and bearing far too strong, clearly not an ordinary cultivator.

Compared to Mo Hua, Bai Zisheng looked more like a young lord.

Dan Ling said, “He just called you Mo Hua.”

Mo Hua nodded and said helplessly, “Talented people can be a bit arrogant. Nothing I can do. It’s also because my temper is too good—I don’t stand on status—so he’s always so casual with me…”

Bai Zisheng glared faintly at Mo Hua.

Dan Ling still shook her head. “Mo Hua… doesn’t sound like a name from the Great Wilderness.”

Mo Hua’s mind turned quickly, and he said, “As the Gongtu Young Lord, I occasionally do business and deal with all kinds of cultivators. Naturally, I need a name from the Nine Provinces.”

His mind was quick, and he was familiar with the ways of the Great Wilderness. He could make up such excuses effortlessly.

After questioning him for quite a while and seeing Mo Hua answer smoothly every time, Dan Ling began to half-believe him and asked, “Do you have any proof?”

“Yes.” Mo Hua nodded, then took out a token and handed it to Dan Ling.

It was the Gongtu Tribe Young Lord’s token.

Back then, the Gongtu Young Lord had killed his beloved concubine over a love dispute. After fleeing, he was killed by bandits. Mo Hua had avenged him, and the token had fallen into his hands.

Seeing the token, Dan Ling finally believed a bit more.

Tribal tokens—especially a Young Lord’s token—were extremely precious and rarely forged.

Mo Hua then took out more of Dan Zhu’s personal items, including letters and jade slips, and showed them to Dan Ling.

He was Dan Zhu’s “teacher” and interacted with him often, so he lacked no such keepsakes.

Holding Dan Zhu’s letters and jade slips, looking at the familiar handwriting, Dan Ling’s eyes gradually grew misty with tears.

These were belongings of the younger brother she adored the most. After being apart for many years, seeing these items brought back deep longing and bittersweet emotion.

Dan Ling largely accepted Mo Hua’s identity. To begin with, she hadn’t been that repulsed by him.

Aside from his naturally delicate features and kind temperament, Mo Hua also carried a noble aura of the same origin as the gods. As a Divine Maiden of the Great Wilderness, Dan Ling instinctively felt close to him.

Dan Ling withdrew her hostility.

Bai Zisheng looked at Dan Ling, then at Mo Hua.

From their conversation just now, he could more or less tell that he had misunderstood his junior brother a bit.

His junior brother indeed hadn’t directly had something going on with this Great Wilderness demoness.

But he also hadn’t been completely wrong.

They had something going on indirectly.

He’d misunderstood half of it. Even if indirect, there was still something going on.

“Oh ho… Mo Hua, you brat. You’re the one with something going on, yet I’m the one taking the blame…” Bai Zisheng etched this into his memory.

Mo Hua felt a chill down his back but could only pretend he knew nothing.

Dan Ling asked, “Did Dan Zhu say anything to you about me?”

Mo Hua replied, “Young Lord Dan Zhu asked me to save you.”

Dan Ling was stunned. “You? Save me?”

Mo Hua nodded.

Dan Ling reminded him gently, “You do know you’re only at Foundation Establishment, right?”

Mo Hua said confidently, “Don’t worry. Even though I’m only Foundation Establishment, I know many people. Maybe when the time comes, there’ll be a way…”

Dan Ling sighed helplessly and said warmly, “I appreciate your kindness. I am the Divine Maiden. I should live and die with the Royal Court of the Great Wilderness. If I cherished my own life, how would I be worthy of carrying the faith of the Vermilion Bird lineage?”

Mo Hua sighed inwardly and was about to persuade her again when his expression suddenly changed. He turned his head toward the great hall entrance behind him.

The entrance was empty.

But moments later, amidst faint shifting shadows, a figure slowly appeared.

It was a woman with no detectable aura. She wore a deep crimson Vermilion Bird dress. Her hair was half white, her facial features still fine, but marked by wrinkles from the passage of time.

Around her body drifted faint, wing-shaped spiritual light.

Her cultivation was unmistakably… Feathered Ascension.

A Feathered Ascension being of the Great Wilderness Divine Maiden Hall.

Mo Hua’s pupils shrank.

Bai Zisheng felt as if facing a great enemy.

Dan Ling quickly stood and stepped forward, shielding Mo Hua and Bai Zisheng behind her. “Divine Official, please listen to me—”

The red-robed Divine Official merely waved a hand and said in a slightly hoarse voice, “I know. No need to say more…”

Dan Ling froze, then nodded fearfully.

The Divine Official glanced at Dan Ling and said slowly, “Dan Ling, you may withdraw first.” Then she turned to look at Mo Hua. “This little friend may stay.”

Dan Ling said anxiously, “Divine Official, this little brother is not a bad person, he—”

“Withdraw,” the red-robed Divine Official said.

Dan Ling stiffened and dared not disobey. She could only give Mo Hua a worried look.

Bai Zisheng stared at the Feathered Ascension Divine Official with an unfriendly gaze. He was just about to draw his spear when Mo Hua stopped him with a look.

Mo Hua said quietly, “I’m fine. You go first.”

Bai Zisheng frowned.

Mo Hua gave him another reassuring look. Only then did Bai Zisheng reluctantly put away his spear and leave the hall together with Dan Ling.

The red-robed Divine Official waved her hand, shut the hall doors, and used the power of the Feathered Ascension realm to seal the surroundings.

Inside the great hall, only Mo Hua and the red-robed Divine Official remained.

Mo Hua sensed the powerful Feathered Ascension force all around and his expression grew solemn.

Before this, he had not noticed at all that there was actually a Feathered Ascension expert within the Divine Maiden Hall.

That meant this red-robed Divine Official not only possessed profound cultivation, but also had extremely high attainments in the path of Divine-Sense.

So strong that even Mo Hua hadn’t detected a single trace, there hadn’t even been any Causal forewarning.

Mo Hua looked at the red-robed Divine Official and said respectfully, “May I ask, Senior, what instructions you have…”

The red-robed female Divine Official gazed at Mo Hua with a pair of weathered eyes. After a moment, she slowly bent her body and bowed to Mo Hua.

“This old one pays respects to the Young Divine Lord.”

Mo Hua’s pupils shrank. He quickly stepped aside to avoid the bow and cupped his hands. “Senior, you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

The red-robed female Divine Official said calmly, “I would not be mistaken. I can see that, Young Divine Lord… you are someone who has been worshipped by countless people of the Great Wilderness. Within you is hidden the majesty of a deity, and within your Fate Pattern, there is even condensed the supreme merit of the Great Wilderness…”

Mo Hua frowned. “You can see that?”

The red-robed Divine Official said, “In the eyes of ordinary mortals, your bones, flesh, and blood are not considered outstanding. But in my eyes, you are like a bright flame in the darkness, your body gathering the sunlight of the Divine Dao, dazzling beyond compare.”

For a moment, Mo Hua didn’t know whether she had truly seen through him or was deliberately flattering and deceiving him. He shook his head. “You’re mistaken. I’m really not—”

But the red-robed Divine Official said calmly, “Just now, Young Divine Lord, with only a strand of killing intent, you frightened Yan Zhu into fleeing in fear. Presumably he has suffered quite a bit of humiliation and torment at your hands before…”

Mo Hua suddenly understood. “You saw it all?”

The red-robed Divine Official nodded.

Mo Hua’s brows furrowed slightly. So everything that happened in the Divine Maiden Hall had been seen by this Feathered Ascension Divine Official. Even if he hadn’t acted, she likely wouldn’t have stood by idly.

“Young Divine Lord, coming to this Royal Court,” the red-robed Divine Official said with a somewhat solemn expression, “I wonder for what matter?”

Mo Hua was silent for a moment. He didn’t hide it and answered honestly, “I want to go to the Dragon Pool.”

The red-robed Divine Official nodded. “So that’s how it is…”

Mo Hua asked, “You don’t mind?”

The red-robed Divine Official gave a soft sigh. “If our Great Wilderness cannot guard the Dragon Pool and suppress the dragon vein, our fate will scatter sooner or later. This is the principle of heaven and earth. Even if this old one is unwilling, there is nothing I can do.”

“What’s more, at this time, there are countless people coveting the Dragon Pool. If Young Divine Lord, you can obtain even a wisp of fate from it, that instead forms a good karmic tie.”

Mo Hua frowned slightly. “The Dragon Pool… what exactly is it?”

The red-robed Divine Official fell silent. Only after a moment did she slowly say, “The Dragon Pool… is a forbidden land of our Great Wilderness. Throughout the generations, the Royal clan would form their Golden Core within the Dragon Pool, consolidating their foundation, continuing the fate of the Great Wilderness, and protecting its legacy.”

Mo Hua still didn’t understand. “Why must the Royal clan of the Great Wilderness form their Golden Core in the Dragon Pool? What secret lies in forming a Golden Core there? And why is it connected to the fate of the Great Wilderness?”

The red-robed Divine Official shook her head and sighed softly. “Some matters, this old one cannot speak of.”

Mo Hua frowned, then asked again, “Then… can you tell me how one can enter the Dragon Pool of the Great Wilderness?”

The red-robed Divine Official remained silent.

Mo Hua felt a bit disappointed but didn’t press. After all, it was a secret of the Royal clan of the Great Wilderness. It was normal for others not to tell him.

But after a moment of silence, the red-robed Divine Official said, “Young Divine Lord… you cannot enter.”

Mo Hua asked, “Why?”

The red-robed Divine Official said, “Within the Dragon Pool are ancient restrictions that suppress the cultivation of those nearby. And without imperial blood, even someone at Foundation Establishment who enters would only be seeking death.”

“More importantly, the key to opening the Dragon Pool is held in the hands of the Royal clan of the Great Wilderness.”

“Now, Prince Ao of the Great Wilderness is peerlessly heroic. His cultivation has reached the peak of the Golden Core realm, and his bloodline is extremely powerful. Prince Ao is domineering by nature. It is impossible for him to allow anyone to enter the Dragon Pool…”

Mo Hua was stunned for a long time, his face turning slightly pale. “This Prince Ao you’re talking about… wouldn’t happen to be… Shentu Ao, would it…”

The red-robed Divine Official froze.

Although Mo Hua directly spoke the prince’s name, which was somewhat impolite, he was the Young Divine Lord. The red-robed Divine Official didn’t mind and simply nodded.

“But…”

Mo Hua’s expression shifted. After a long while, he muttered, “Prince Shentu Ao… has already died.”

The red-robed Divine Official stiffened for a moment, her pupils slightly widening. “What did you say…”

“I said Shentu Ao is already dead…” Mo Hua lowered his voice, his expression grave. “More than ten years ago, I saw him die with my own eyes. His skin was even pealed off…”

The red-robed Divine Official stood as if turned to stone, stunned for a long time. In disbelief, she murmured, “Ten years ago…”

Mo Hua nodded. “Ten years ago, I had dealings with your Prince Ao. To be honest, I even led people to surround and kill him. Our stances were different—good and evil cannot coexist—but in the end, Prince Ao died at someone else’s hands…”

“If your Royal clan doesn’t have two people named ‘Shentu Ao,’ then the one I encountered, the one who was plotted against, murdered, and had his Azure Dragon skin stripped, should be your… Prince Ao.”

After Mo Hua finished speaking, the room fell into deathly silence. A pin drop could be heard.

The red-robed Divine Official looked deeply at Mo Hua. Shock, astonishment, awe, and complicated emotions intertwined in her eyes.

All kinds of unbelievable feelings surged in her heart.

A strange chill seemed to flow through the hall.

Just then, a violent tremor suddenly came from outside. From the outskirts of the Divine Maiden Hall, sounds of killing drew nearer and nearer, it seemed the Dao Court had attacked.

The red-robed Divine Official took a deep breath, gradually reining in all her emotions until her face became calm as an ancient well. She withdrew the power of the Feathered Ascension realm, lifted the seal on the great hall, and called out:

“Dan Ling, come here.”

Dan Ling, who had been outside the hall, walked in upon hearing this and glanced at the red-robed Divine Official. “Divine Official…”

“Come closer,” the Divine Official said.

Dan Ling stepped closer.

The Divine Official took Dan Ling’s hand, pointed at Mo Hua, and instructed, “You will escort this… Young Lord Gongtu to the Dragon Pool of the Royal Court.”

Dan Ling was startled. “The Dragon Pool?”

The red-robed Divine Official nodded. “Take him there. Stay with him. And remember… ensure his safety at all costs.”

Dan Ling still wanted to say something.

The Divine Official cut her off. “This is an order. It is the will of the Divine-Lord. It cannot be disobeyed.”

Dan Ling lowered her voice. “Yes…”

Then she couldn’t help but ask worriedly, “Divine Official, you…”

The Divine Official looked at Dan Ling, and her gaze softened. She reached out and gently stroked Dan Ling’s cheek, saying with affection,

“I am old, and the Royal Court is about to fall. You are still young, don’t trap yourself here to die…”

Dan Ling’s expression changed. “Auntie…” she blurted.

The Divine Official shook her head.

At that moment, the distant tremors and battle cries sounded again.

“Go, quickly…” the Divine Official urged.

Sorrow filled Dan Ling’s eyes, but she could only nod helplessly.

The Divine Official glanced at Mo Hua and said softly, “May your Divine Dao flourish… Dan Ling, this child…”

Mo Hua nodded.

The Divine Official said nothing more, nor did she allow Dan Ling to refuse again.

In the darkness of night, under the Divine Official’s forced command, Dan Ling led Mo Hua and Bai Zisheng away from the Divine Maiden Hall, heading toward the Great Wilderness Royal Court.

After the three departed, the red-robed Divine Official’s figure slowly appeared high above the great hall. Her gaze followed them all the way into the distance, toward the brilliantly lit Royal Court.

Only after a long while did she let out a soft sigh, her face filled with indescribable melancholy and loneliness.

“So… he had already died ten years ago…”

“So everything, from the very beginning… was just a nightmare…”

“And now…”

The red-robed Divine Official lifted her head and looked at the dark sky.

“This nightmare… is finally about to end…”