Chapter 1348: Four Symbols Palace

Chapter 1347: Four Symbols Palace

Seeing the high walls of the Royal Court collapse, the Royal guards crushed to death, and Dao soldiers along with all sorts of demons and monsters surging like a tide toward the depths of the court, the dark, blood-red hue spreading across the sky also began to engulf the palace grounds.

Dan Ling’s face turned deathly pale as she muttered, “Impossible… The Royal Court’s defenses were so tight. How could it be breached this quickly…?”

Mo Hua’s gaze sharpened slightly as he glanced at Yan Zhu and Young Master Tuoba, deep in thought.

On the other side, Yan Zhu was still locked in battle with Qing Zhu, cursing, “Qing Zhu, you wretched woman!”

Qing Zhu’s expression was icy as she focused solely on using Qingqiu soul techniques to suppress Yan Zhu’s divine flames.

Seeing that Yan Zhu couldn’t break free, Young Master Tuoba immediately pointed at Mo Hua and shouted sternly,

“Everyone from the Great Wilderness Sect, kill him at all costs!”

An elder of the Great Wilderness Sect hesitated. “Young Master, this…”

He didn’t know Mo Hua’s identity, but anyone who could make a late–stage Golden Core High Shaman like Lord Yan Zhu so fearful and respectful—someone who could command even High Shaman Qing Zhu with a single sentence—was definitely no ordinary figure.

If even Yan Zhu dared not kill him, how could they?

How could Young Master Tuoba not understand this?

Precisely because he understood, he knew he had no choice but to kill Mo Hua.

Such a terrifying person—if not eliminated amid the chaos now—would be like letting a tiger return to the mountains or a dragon soar into the heavens, leaving endless future trouble.

“Kill!” Young Master Tuoba gave the death order.

The Great Wilderness Sect members had no choice but to grit their teeth and attack Mo Hua and the others.

Dan Ling drew her sword, Bai Zisheng leveled his spear, and the two stood in front of Mo Hua, clashing with the Great Wilderness Sect cultivators.

Young Master Tuoba also unsheathed his blade and charged at Mo Hua.

While weaving around with the Flowing-Water Step, Mo Hua used nearly instant Water Prison Techniques and Fireball Techniques to deal with the Great Wilderness Sect attackers.

He had considered rushing into the Four Symbols Palace first.

But the remnants of the Ten-Pillar Blazing Fire Divine Dao Formation still remained, sealing off the path ahead.

A group of Fire-Dao shamans held Blazing-Fire Tokens, chanting divine incantations, forming a wall of spiritual fire that blocked the entrance to the Four Symbols Palace.

Mo Hua himself wasn’t afraid of such measures, he could come and go freely.

But his Little Senior Brother and Dan Ling couldn’t. Forcing their way through would injure their Divine-Sense.

The battlefield was in chaos. After hundreds more exchanges, just as the stalemate dragged on, the earth suddenly shook, killing intent filled the sky, and the blood-red glow overhead spread to directly above them.

The Dao Court’s army had arrived.

Every palace, wall, pavilion, and tower along their path was flattened under the army’s advance, flames rising everywhere.

Where the army went, slaughter followed.

All cultivators of the Great Wilderness—royals, nobles, barbarian generals, soldiers, Royal guards, maids—were butchered by Dao soldiers: beheaded, pierced through the chest, cut in half at the waist, burned alive by spells… Flesh was trampled into mud by iron cavalry, blood soaking into the earth.

The cruelty and disaster of war unfolded vividly before Mo Hua’s eyes.

Human lives were like grass. Mo Hua didn’t even know whom he should pity.

Soon, he too was swept into it.

The Dao army, clad in clashing steel and riding iron steeds, surged like a tide before the Four Symbols Palace. They made no distinctions—any living person they saw, they raised their blades to slaughter, including Mo Hua.

“Move aside!” Mo Hua said immediately.

Dan Ling and Bai Zisheng obeyed at once and withdrew to the side.

Some Great Wilderness Sect disciples and fire-dao shamans couldn’t avoid in time and were instantly crushed into pulp under the Dao army’s charge.

After killing those in their way, some Dao soldiers rushed straight toward the entrance of the Four Symbols Palace.

But the remnants of the Ten-Pillar Blazing-Fire Formation were still there.

An invisible wall of divine fire shrouded the palace gates.

The Dao soldiers couldn’t see the invisible spiritual flames. They charged straight in, and the divine sense in their Seas of Consciousness was instantly burned away.

The soldiers at the very front felt as if a fireball had exploded inside their heads.

Clutching their heads, howling and struggling, they collapsed to the ground. Within a few breaths, they died in agony.

But the soldiers behind did not stop. They continued charging toward the Four Symbols Palace.

They were Dao soldiers… On the battlefield, they advanced without hesitation, never retreating, even if facing mountains of blades or seas of fire.

Thus, wave after wave of Dao soldiers charged forward, only to have their Divine-Sense burned away in the Blazing-Fire, dying before the Four Symbols Palace.

Even in death, they never knew how they had died.

Batch after batch of Dao soldiers fell.

But their numbers were simply too great. After several waves had perished, the spiritual flames within the fire wall were finally exhausted.

Using human lives to fill the formation, the subsequent Dao soldiers finally managed to charge alive into the Four Symbols Palace.

Inside, even fiercer clashes and slaughter erupted.

Mo Hua and the other two did their best to protect themselves within the torrent of soldiers. Seeing the situation grow even more chaotic, Mo Hua said, “Quick, into the Four Symbols Palace.”

Bai Zisheng and Dan Ling nodded and followed Mo Hua, charging into the palace along with the tide of troops.

Yan Zhu had been watching Mo Hua the whole time. Seeing this, he immediately rushed toward the Four Symbols Palace as well.

But Qing Zhu instantly moved to block him.

Yan Zhu flew into a rage. “Are you crazy?!”

Qing Zhu only murmured, “Lord Divine-Shaman will forgive me…”

Yan Zhu cursed, “If we join forces and kill him, why would we need his forgiveness?”

“That lord… is not someone you or I can kill,” Qing Zhu shook her head.

Yan Zhu casually grabbed and burned a Dao soldier to death, tossing the corpse aside with a cold laugh.

“Don’t forget, this is the only chance we have to kill that lord. If he truly enters the Dragon Pool, forms his Golden Core, and perfects the Divine Dao, then you and I will be nothing but fish on the chopping block, our lives and deaths decided by a single thought of his.”

At the thought, Yan Zhu’s face paled slightly. “If he turns on us then, we’ll have no path but death.”

Qing Zhu’s expression grew solemn as well.

Yan Zhu shouted angrily, “Right now, with the Dao soldiers charging in, this is the best chance to erase this Desolate Wilderness Divine-Shaman!”

“Either you join me and kill him, or stand aside and don’t stop me. If you want to be fish on someone else’s chopping block, your life in another’s hands, that’s your choice, but I won’t…”

Yan Zhu snorted coldly, then left Qing Zhu behind, carving a bloody path through the Dao soldiers and charging into the Four Symbols Palace.

The Dao soldiers at this point were all Foundation Establishment, with only a few Golden Core commanders, none were a match for Yan Zhu.

Qing Zhu stood there, watching the Royal court fall, people slaughtering one another, faces twisted in bloody savagery. She couldn’t help but touch her lower abdomen, her expression lost, murmuring,

“How can I… let you live…”

She sighed, gritted her teeth, and also rushed into the Four Symbols Palace.

…

Royal Court, Four Symbols Palace.

This was a massive palace, and at its four corners stood four enormous divine statues.

Azure Dragon of the East, White Tiger of the West, Vermilion Bird of the South, Black Tortoise of the North, guarding the four directions.

Between these four statues lay a vast maze.

The maze twisted and intertwined, corridors winding endlessly. Along every wall were engraved, in scattered disarray, different patterns of the Four Symbols divine beasts.

Azure Dragon patterns, White Tiger patterns, Vermilion Bird patterns, Black Tortoise patterns, completely scrambled and chaotically carved throughout the maze.

After charging into the Four Symbols Palace, the Dao soldiers couldn’t tell direction from another. Their formations were instantly shredded by the disorienting maze, split into fragments.

Small clusters of Dao soldiers could only fight on their own.

Meanwhile, inside the Four Symbols Palace was stationed the Great Wilderness’s last remaining force, the Four Symbols King Soldiers.

These King Soldiers were divided into four divisions, each clad in battle armor bearing the sacred patterns of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, or Black Tortoise. They looked mighty and imposing, their presence overwhelming.

This was the strongest Royal guard unit that had been passed down since ancient times to protect the royal bloodline of the Great Wilderness.

The Four Symbols King Soldiers were powerful, and more or less all carried the bloodline of the Great Wilderness royalty. They were tall, almost half a head taller than ordinary Dao soldiers.

Combined with their sacred-pattern battle armor, their combat strength was ferocious, their bodies tough and resilient, unstoppable in battle.

Often, it took five or six Dao soldiers working together just to contend with a single King Soldier.

Now these formidable Four Symbols King Soldiers were using the Four Symbols Maze as their stronghold, fighting a final, desperate battle against the Dao soldiers.

Throughout the Four Symbols Palace, in every corner, King Soldiers and Dao soldiers hacked at each other in scenes of chaos and bloodshed.

The maze offered no clear escape. Everyone could only fight for their lives.

Only Mo Hua, relying on his understanding of the Four Symbols Formation and the maze’s layout, moved through the Four Symbols Palace like a fish in water.

He found a relatively safe corner and temporarily avoided the conflict. Then he tapped a finger to the ground, forming a Concealment Formation that hid the traces of himself, Bai Zisheng, and Dan Ling.

Just one step away, Dao soldiers and King Soldiers were fighting to the death.

Yet the three of them could sit to the side and rest in meditation.

Still, watching the King Soldiers fall one after another beneath the Dao soldiers’ blades and spears, Dan Ling couldn’t help growing anxious.

She tried to stand and rush out, but Mo Hua grabbed her arm.

Mo Hua shook his head. “It’s useless even if you go.”

Dan Ling frowned. “I can’t just watch Dao soldiers slaughter their way into the Royal Palace and do nothing. I’m the Divine Maiden of the royal court, I—”

Mo Hua said coldly, “You can only stand by. If you go, you’re just throwing your life away.”

Dan Ling stubbornly replied, “So what if I die? I’m not afraid.”

Mo Hua said, “And after you die? What does that change?”

Dan Ling froze, her gaze dimming.

Mo Hua sighed. “The Royal Palace has fallen. These King Soldiers are strong, but they’re too few. They can’t hold out long. Sooner or later, they’ll all be slaughtered by the Dao soldiers. The Great Wilderness has already lost… What you need to do is keep yourself alive, not die in a fit of pride.”

“Enough people have already died. No one’s short of one more corpse.”

“What you should think about is how to survive. Even if you have to endure humiliation, you must live. Only by living is there hope…”

Mo Hua’s voice was low.

Dan Ling’s ruby-like eyes were filled with pain.

After a moment, she nodded. Then she looked at Mo Hua solemnly. “You… who exactly are you? Why does Yan Zhu respect you so much? Did he call you—”

Mo Hua waved a hand. “He was talking nonsense. Don’t believe it.”

Dan Ling fell silent.

But Bai Zisheng’s expression shifted slightly. He thought about what Yan Zhu had said earlier—“betrayal,” “ambush,” “failure to form the Golden Core,” “damaged origin,” “forced to appear in flesh and blood”—and could more or less guess that his junior brother must have gone through many dangers and setbacks in the Great Wilderness.

It was just that Mo Hua never spoke of those hardships, always wearing a calm face before others.

Looking at Mo Hua’s clear, youthful face, Bai Zisheng felt a faint ache in his heart.

Outside, the killing continued.

Relying on Mo Hua’s formation, the three hid in a corner, temporarily removed from the bloodshed and chaos.

But slaughter would eventually come to an end.

Mo Hua was right. No matter how strong the Four Symbols King Soldiers were, their numbers were limited.

The Dao Court’s forces were simply too vast. Dao soldiers poured in like a tide. Over time, even the King Soldiers couldn’t hold out.

At first, the mighty Four Symbols King Soldiers of the Great Wilderness cut down Dao soldiers.

Gradually, however, the King Soldiers began dying at the Dao soldiers’ hands.

One by one, King Soldiers were beheaded, their chests split open, dying inside the palace they had guarded for generations.

Killing intent filled the entire Four Symbols Palace.

Blood flowed along the ground, reaching Mo Hua’s feet.

Mo Hua could only sigh.

After an unknown amount of time, the sounds of battle outside gradually faded.

Bai Zisheng asked, “What do we do now?”

“Wait a bit longer,” Mo Hua said. But then his heart jolted. He made a quick calculation with his fingers, and his face changed slightly. “Let’s go. Yan Zhu has found us.”

Bai Zisheng and Dan Ling were both startled, not understanding how Mo Hua could tell just by counting on his fingers. They hadn’t sensed anything at all.

Still, they instinctively followed his lead.

Mo Hua activated the Flowing-Water Step and moved ahead, with the other two close behind.

Along the way, scattered skirmishes still broke out. Quite a few heavily wounded King Soldiers were still struggling, fighting Dao soldiers to the death.

And whether King Soldier or Dao soldier, upon seeing Mo Hua, they attacked him alike, friend or foe.

Mo Hua avoided killing whenever possible, steering clear of the fighting. After moving through the Four Symbols Maze for some time, Yan Zhu finally caught up and cornered them.

Mo Hua was only at Foundation Establishment, after all. In terms of movement speed, he was far inferior to Yan Zhu, who was at the late Golden Core stage.

And the maze paths were short, once Yan Zhu locked onto him, being caught was only a matter of time.

Mo Hua had expected this.

The only thing he didn’t understand was how Yan Zhu had managed to lock onto him.

Mo Hua’s gaze sharpened as he looked at Yan Zhu, and saw that in Yan Zhu’s hand was a Vermilion Bird–shaped lamp. Realization dawned.

Yan Zhu hadn’t locked onto him, he had locked onto Dan Ling.

As the Divine Maiden of the Vermilion Bird Hall, Dan Ling shared the same origin as the Vermilion Bird. As long as Yan Zhu could track Dan Ling, he could track Mo Hua as well.

And since Yan Zhu had coveted Dan Ling for a long time, it wasn’t surprising he had secretly prepared a tracking method.

Yan Zhu slowly approached, casting a wary glance at Mo Hua before turning to Dan Ling, his tone gentle.

“Dan Ling, I only need to kill this lord. Come here. This has nothing to do with you.”

Dan Ling sneered.

Yan Zhu grew anxious, even pleading a little.

“Dan Ling, listen to me. I really am doing this for your own good. The Royal Palace has fallen, Dao soldiers have already stormed in. You’re the Divine Maiden of the Great Wilderness, they won’t spare you. If you fall into their hands, you’ll wish you were dead.”

“Come with me now. I can keep you safe.”

Dan Ling frowned and shook her head. “I’d rather die.”

Yan Zhu was both anxious and angry, but with Dan Ling so stubborn, he was helpless.

He sighed, his gaze turning icy as he looked at Mo Hua. “This time, you truly deserve to die.”

Mo Hua smiled calmly. “Then come kill me.”

Yan Zhu’s face twitched. He seemed to hesitate, not daring to make the first move himself.

At that moment, Qing-Zhu also approached, visibly unsettled.

But she neither stopped Yan Zhu nor dared attack Mo Hua, only standing silently to the side.

Young Master Tuoba arrived as well with the people of the Great Wilderness Sect, glaring at Mo Hua like tigers eyeing prey.

Yet he also didn’t dare make a move.

As the two sides confronted each other, the atmosphere grew tense and deadlocked.

Mo Hua’s gaze shifted slightly as he looked into the distance.

Before long, the sound of footsteps came from afar, mixed with the auras of many powerful figures.

It seemed a large group of experts was heading this way.

As they drew closer, the agonized cries of King Soldiers being slain and the sounds of flesh being torn apart could faintly be heard.

These experts seemed to be “clearing the field,” moving from far to near, killing every surviving King Soldier, leaving none alive.

And their pace of “clearing” was fast. The sounds of slaughter grew clearer and clearer.

Dan Ling revealed a look of anguish, her heart aching.

Soon, at the other end of the maze, a group of people appeared.

These people were all impeccably dressed, elders and disciples from powerful aristocratic clans. And every sword in their hands was stained with blood.

At their head was a man wearing a gold-threaded yellow robe. His brows and eyes were dignified and imposing. He was unmistakably at the peak of the Golden Core realm.

He was even just a hair’s breadth away from Feathered Ascension.

Upon seeing this man, Yan Zhu—a High Shaman of the Great Wilderness—actually bent forward and saluted, saying, “Greetings, Elder Xuanyuan.”

Qing Zhu’s expression was complicated, but she also bowed in salute.

Even Young Master Tuoba of the Great Wilderness Sect bowed and said, “Junior Tuoba Ye greets Elder Xuanyuan.”

Elder Xuanyuan nodded and said in a deep voice, “You’ve worked hard.”

This scene was extremely strange and unsettling.

Dan Ling’s eyes widened in shock, and Bai Zisheng was also somewhat stunned.

Mo Hua, however, narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking to himself: As expected.

The shamans of the Royal Court had betrayed them.

And the Great Wilderness Sect, which had once betrayed the Dao Court, had now betrayed the Royal Court as well.

That was why the Great Wilderness Royal Court had fallen so quickly.

That was why, even with a great battle looming, people like Yan Zhu, Qing Zhu, and Young Master Tuoba had the leisure to come hunt him down.

Because they had already become the Dao Court’s “running dogs.”

At that very moment, Yan Zhu raised a hand and pointed at Mo Hua, respectfully saying,

“Elder Xuanyuan, this person is the Divine-Shaman of the Desolate Wilderness…”

“If you kill him, you will earn a great merit.”