Chapter 1349: Surnamed Mo, Given Name Hua

Chapter 1348: Surnamed Mo, Given Name Hua

Elder Xuanyuan, dressed in a golden silk-yellow robe, lifted his eyes to look at Mo Hua. Seeing that Mo Hua was slender, fair-faced, clearly very young in cultivation age, and only at Foundation Establishment, he couldn’t help frowning as he turned to Yan Zhu.

“This person… can he really be the Desolate Wilderness Divine-Shaman?”

Yan Zhu nodded firmly. “There’s no mistake. He truly is the Divine-Shaman.”

Elder Xuanyuan then glanced at Dan Ling beside Mo Hua. His gaze shifted slightly as he asked Yan Zhu, “Then this woman… could she be…?”

Yan Zhu’s heart ached.

He had always regarded Dan Ling as forbidden possession , wanting to keep her safe and claim this passionate, radiant woman of pure faith for himself.

But Dan Ling was too stubborn, too unyielding… and the situation no longer allowed it.

Now that people from Dao Province had already seen her, everything was too late. There was no way he could protect this “forbidden possession” anymore.

After one last look at Dan Ling, Yan Zhu clenched his teeth and said, “This woman is the Divine Maiden of the Vermilion Bird lineage of the Great Wilderness.”

A glint lit up Elder Xuanyuan’s murky eyes. He nodded. “Good.”

He looked again at Dan Ling, as beautiful as a vermilion luan carved from fine jade, and gave a slight nod. “Excellent…”

“Kill the Divine-Shaman. Take the Divine Maiden away.”

Elder Xuanyuan issued the order.

He didn’t really care whether Mo Hua was truly a Divine-Shaman. He was only a Foundation Establishment cultivator, killing him would be effortless, like tossing a corpse by the roadside.

This was war, a city massacre. A couple more deaths were no more significant than losing a few strands of hair.

That Divine Maiden, on the other hand, was a top-grade prize, rare in the world. In every sense of the word, she had to be obtained.

Facing the vast crowd of well-dressed Golden Core cultivators from noble families, Dan Ling’s face turned pale. Her fingers tightened around her sword hilt until they went white.

All she could feel was despair.

The Dao Court’s foundation was far too deep. These Golden Core elders—each and every one of them—had overwhelmingly powerful auras, far beyond anything the Royal Court could compare to.

Dan Ling knew she had no chance of escape.

She was just considering whether she should slit her own throat when she suddenly felt Mo Hua gently pull her behind him.

“Don’t speak…”

Mo Hua softly instructed Dan Ling. Then he stepped forward, his expression cold as he looked at Elder Xuanyuan and sneered.

“Old fart, who gave you the guts to try killing me?”

Elder Xuanyuan’s expression changed, killing intent flashing in his eyes.

The other clan elders were also stunned. Then someone flew into a rage and shouted,

“Insolence! You brat still wet behind the ears, how dare you speak so rudely to Elder Xuanyuan! Do you have a death wish?!”

“Do you even know who Elder Xuanyuan is?”

“Just a Golden Core,” Mo Hua said flatly. “If True Person Huá of the Huá Clan were here, I might give a bit of face. But you Golden Core Dao-protector elders dare to act arrogant in front of me?”

True Person Huá…

The Dao Province elders felt a chill in their hearts and exchanged looks.

“You actually know True Person Huá?”

“Aren’t you the Desolate Wilderness Divine-Shaman?”

Mo Hua sneered and cursed, “What Divine-Shaman? I’m at Foundation Establishment, how could I be the Divine-Shaman of the Great Wilderness? Are your brains broken? Don’t you know even basic cultivation common sense? Or do you think the Great Wilderness is full of idiots, that a Foundation Establishment cultivator can summon wind and rain?”

The Dao Province elders were scolded until their faces flushed red, yet they had no way to refute him.

It was true, what kind of Divine-Shaman could be only at Foundation Establishment?

Even they, Golden Core elders, might not be able to determine the outcome of a single battle.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator acting as Divine-Shaman and controlling the Desolate Wilderness really did sound absurd.

Elder Xuanyuan frowned. “If you’re not the Divine-Shaman, then who are you?”

Mo Hua slightly raised his chin and looked around arrogantly.

“Among you, someone should have heard my name.”

“My surname is Mo. My given name is Hua.”

The moment that name was spoken, it was like a stone crashing into still water, stirring a thousand waves. The Dao Province elders’ expressions changed drastically. They whispered among themselves in shock.

“Mo Hua?!”

“He’s Mo Hua!!”

“Mo Hua… who’s that?”

“That rumored monster disciple of the Great Void Sect, the top formation genius of Qianxue, first place in the Qianxue Sword Debate, the crown prince of the Great Void Sect, the most adored grandchild of the sect’s old ancestor…”

“The Bai Clan prodigy Bai Zisheng is also his defeated opponent, humiliated by him time and again.”

“And his background is unfathomable.”

“They say True Person Huá drinks and dines at the same table with him. True-Person Zhuge is inseparable from him. True-Person Qingmu curries favor with him. General Yang of the Dao Soldiers Division treats him like a nephew…”

“The prodigies of every Qianxue sect are bullied by him and obey his every command.”

“That… that monstrous?”

“Absolutely monstrous.”

Someone secretly sized Mo Hua up and sighed in amazement.

“Seeing him today, he really is like the rumors, fair and handsome on the surface, but with a nasty temperament, unrestrained speech, and boundless arrogance…”

These words drifted into everyone’s ears.

Dan Ling stared at Mo Hua’s back, her face full of disbelief.

Young Master Tuoba’s expression changed wildly.

After their shock, Yan Zhu and Qing Zhu were also filled with disbelief.

Their minds twisted like tangled hemp rope, utterly confused. They simply couldn’t understand how the “Divine-Shaman” they had worshiped for so long had suddenly turned into a sect prodigy of the Great Void Sect.

Only Bai Zisheng looked unhappy.

Beside Young Master Tuoba, Da-Hu stared at Mo Hua in a daze.

With just his name alone, Mo Hua shook everyone present to the core.

Elder Xuanyuan’s face looked extremely ugly.

He had originally thought this Foundation Establishment youth was just a stray dog by the roadside, someone he could kick to death with a single blow.

Who would have thought that one kick would hit a slab of solid iron, nearly breaking his own leg?

If this brat really was that rumored Mo Hua, killing him would surely bring enormous disaster.

But Elder Xuanyuan couldn’t easily admit that. He said, “You claim you’re Mo Hua. Do you have proof?”

Mo Hua replied, “Among you, someone should have seen my portrait.”

Elder Xuanyuan shook his head. “A portrait doesn’t count.”

Cultivators could reshape their bones and muscles, even change their faces. Disguises were not difficult.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then said, “Where are the prodigies from your Dao Province clans? They definitely recognize me. After all…”

He gave a contemptuous smile.

“The Bai Zisheng they couldn’t defeat was defeated by me. And I did it in front of all of them. In other words, they’re all my defeated opponents. There’s no way they’d forget me.”

The moment those words were spoken, the Dao Province elders burned with anger.

Arrogant!

Too arrogant!

He was blatantly not putting their Dao Province prodigies in his eyes at all!

At that instant, who knew how many people wanted to slaughter Mo Hua on the spot.

But they didn’t dare.

Mo Hua simply stood there calmly, looking at the Golden Core elders who wanted to kill him but didn’t dare to, his composure tinged with brazen arrogance.

Elder Xuanyuan’s face was extremely unpleasant. After thinking for a moment, he said,

“Fine. Come with me. If it’s proven that you’re truly a prodigy of the Great Void Sect, we naturally won’t make things difficult for you. But if you’re lying, don’t blame this old man for being merciless…”

His gaze turned cold and sharp.

Mo Hua acted as if he hadn’t seen it at all, not taking Elder Xuanyuan seriously in the slightest.

Elder Xuanyuan sneered inwardly. The arrogant are bound to be punished by the heavens. Brat, sooner or later your bad luck will come. Then he turned to the others and ordered,

“Continue clearing the field.”

“Yes, Elder.”

Just as everyone was about to leave with Mo Hua, Yan Zhu suddenly snapped back to his senses and shouted urgently, “Elder Xuanyuan, you mustn’t! I swear on my life that this boy is definitely the Divine-Shaman! You must cut the knot quickly and kill him on the spot, or there will be endless trouble later!”

Elder Xuanyuan grew displeased and shot Yan Zhu a cold look. “Are you teaching me how to do things?”

Yan Zhu’s heart trembled. He immediately cupped his hands. “I wouldn’t dare, but…”

He gritted his teeth, almost swearing an oath. “He truly is the Divine-Shaman!”

Elder Xuanyuan frowned, a trace of doubt flashing in his eyes.

Mo Hua smiled and teased Yan Zhu, “You say I’m a Divine-Shaman, so I am? Why not say I’m the Divine-Lord instead?”

“If I were the Divine-Lord, would you have to kneel to me and kowtow? Would you have to serve me like an ox or a horse?”

There was a playful smile on Mo Hua’s face.

Yan Zhu froze, staring at Mo Hua in astonishment. In that moment, he suddenly felt Mo Hua was unfamiliar… something was off.

The Divine-Shaman Lord wasn’t like this.

The Divine-Shaman Lord was cold, majestic, detached, lofty, holding the power of life and death.

He had never spoken in such a teasing way, like a living, breathing youth.

Let alone joking about the Divine-Lord.

The Divine-Shaman carried out the Divine-Lord’s decrees and worshiped the Divine-Lord. How could he possibly joke about Him?

Yan Zhu felt lost for a moment.

Elder Xuanyuan shook his head. “Let’s go. Business first.”

The other Dao Province elders led their Dao soldiers and began the final sweep of the entire Four Symbols Palace.

Mo Hua smoothly switched identities again, becoming “Mo Hua” of the Great Void Sect, blending seamlessly back into the Dao Court’s forces.

Only when he brushed past Yan Zhu did Mo Hua cast him a faint glance.

That look was indifferent, lofty and supreme.

Yan Zhu, who had still been confused, suddenly shuddered all over. That familiar, icy fear once again spread through his heart.

No mistake!

This person was absolutely the Divine-Shaman Lord!

That gaze, that bearing, that familiar heart-stopping dread, there was no way it was wrong!

He was the Divine-Shaman… both the Divine-Shaman who wielded immense power in the Desolate Wilderness, and the Heavenly prodigy of the Great Void Sect’s younger generation!

These two seemingly unrelated identities were actually the same person, the same unfathomable monster.

The fear in Yan Zhu’s heart deepened. At the same time, he was furious, cursing the Dao Court’s well-dressed aristocratic elders as complete idiots—useless wine sacks and rice bags. Not a single one of them could see through Mo Hua’s “disguise.”

How could you not see it?!

You still can’t see it?!

Yan Zhu suddenly felt the agony of “everyone is drunk while I alone am sober.”

The world was foolish, and only he was awake, yet it was completely useless, because no one believed him.

Filled with anger and hatred, Yan Zhu stopped where he was, unwilling—or rather, not daring—to walk alongside Mo Hua disguised as a “human.”

He was afraid that if Mo Hua tore off his human skin, he would “eat” him.

Only when Elder Xuanyuan turned back and glanced at him did Yan Zhu finally force himself to move and follow with the crowd.

Now labeled a “traitor,” he had no choice but to go with the Dao Province people.

But he didn’t dare get close to Mo Hua, nor even raise his head to look at him.

Because he knew… the Divine-Shaman Lord’s eyes could kill…

…

The group advanced inward through the corridors of the Four Symbols Palace, sweeping from the outside in.

All remaining king soldiers they encountered along the way were killed without exception by the elders.

Dan Ling couldn’t bear it, but remembering Mo Hua’s instructions, she endured it and didn’t say a single word.

And so they continued “clearing the field” for half an hour.

At last, everyone reached the center of the Four Symbols Palace.

At the center stood a grand hall with a suspended dome. In the middle of the hall was a vast plaza engraved with majestic patterns of the Four Symbols Sacred Beasts.

But now, those sacred beast patterns were stained with blood.

The Great Wilderness King soldiers who had guarded this place for generations had been almost completely slaughtered by the Dao Court. Blood soaked the ground, making it sticky underfoot.

The entire Four Symbols Palace had, in the truest sense, been “washed in blood.”

And at this moment, quite a few people had already gathered in the center of the plaza.

Without exception, they were all from the Dao Court’s various aristocratic families—elders, ordinary cultivators, and the prodigies of the major clans.

After all, the clearing work was too bloody, so these prodigies weren’t asked to take part.

Thus, they had all gathered in the plaza. At a glance, Mo Hua even spotted quite a few familiar faces.

The moment Mo Hua stepped into the plaza, someone immediately recognized him and pointed, shouting, “Mo Hua!”

“It’s Mo Hua!”

“This brat didn’t die?”

“What a pity. Would’ve been nice if he’d died in the royal court…”

“Relax. That brat’s slippery as a fox. You might die and he wouldn’t…”

…

For a moment, another wave of discussion erupted around Mo Hua.

Elder Xuanyuan glanced at Mo Hua, his heart tightening slightly.

“Seems what he said is true. He really is Mo Hua, a Heavenly prodigy of the Great Void Sect. And judging by this, he’s quite ‘famous’…”

“In that case, he can’t be touched lightly…”

Elder Xuanyuan felt some regret, then turned his gaze to Dan Ling beside Mo Hua.

Mo Hua was a prodigy of the Great Void Sect and couldn’t be touched… but this Dan Ling was the Divine Maiden of the Great Wilderness… she had to be taken.

Elder Xuanyuan ordered, “Men, seize this Divine Maiden of the Great Wilderness. We’ll interrogate her later.”

Several aristocratic elders stepped forward to make a move.

Mo Hua’s brows lifted as he said domineeringly, “Who dares?”

The atmosphere froze instantly.

Elder Xuanyuan frowned. “You’re a disciple of the Great Void Sect. I won’t touch you. But this Dan Ling, she’s the Divine Maiden of the Great Wilderness Royal Court. What, you intend to protect her?”

Mo Hua sneered. “This Divine Maiden is useful to me. No one is allowed to touch her.”

Elder Xuanyuan’s anger flickered. “Such arrogance!”

Mo Hua replied calmly, “What, you want to snatch her from me?”

Elder Xuanyuan let out a cold laugh and barked, “Brat, you’ve got some backing, sure, but so what? This is the Great Wilderness. This is a bloody battlefield. Do you really think a mere Foundation Establishment junior can challenge Golden Core elders like us?”

Mo Hua gave a cold laugh and shot back, “Old fossil, you’ve got some cultivation, so what? It’s only because this is the Great Wilderness that I’m giving you a bit of face. If we were in the Qianxue Grand Prefecture, do you really think a Golden Core elder like you would even be qualified to speak in front of me?”

Elder Xuanyuan was furious, his hands trembling. He immediately drew a golden longsword, ready to kill Mo Hua on the spot.

Right then, someone shouted, “Who dares harm my Little Senior Brother?”

In a flash, the tall and heroic Situ Jian had already rushed to Mo Hua’s side.

Elder Xuanyuan froze.

Within the crowd, elders of the Situ clan—including Situ Wei—felt their scalps go numb when they saw their clan’s prodigy dash to Mo Hua without hesitation.

But Situ Jian had already moved. They had no choice but to follow.

The Situ clan’s guardian elders could only step forward awkwardly as well, cupping their fists stiffly.

“Elder Xuanyuan… our apologies…”

Their Situ clan might be a local power, but they were only fourth-rank. They truly didn’t dare openly oppose a Dao Province great clan like the Xuanyuan clan.

Mo Hua understood their difficult position. He swept his gaze across the hall and began calling out names one by one.

“Feng Zichen. Shi Tiangang. Song Jian… Xiao Ruohan. Ao Zheng…”

“Get over here.”

The prodigies he named wore complicated expressions and clearly didn’t want to move.

Mo Hua’s face turned cold. “You don’t want to enter the Dragon Pool anymore?”

At the mention of “Dragon Pool,” these geniuses from various sects and clans reluctantly activated their movement techniques and came to stand beside Mo Hua one after another.

In an instant, a dense crowd of sect prodigies gathered at Mo Hua’s side.

And once the prodigies moved, their respective guardian elders were forced to move as well. Their duty was to protect their clan’s talents.

So just like that, another dense mass of Golden Core clan elders gathered behind Mo Hua.

With a few sentences, the situation in the great hall flipped completely.

In the span of barely a few blinks, Mo Hua had used the prodigies to command the elders, indirectly “controlling” nearly half of the noble clan forces inside the Four Symbols Hall. Surrounded by young geniuses and backed by Golden Core elders like clouds, he exuded an indescribable authority.

Elder Xuanyuan stood there gripping his longsword, staring at Mo Hua in shock. Even after a long moment, he still couldn’t figure out what had just happened, or how the situation had turned upside down so suddenly.