Chapter 337: Manifestation
Mo Hua’s mind trembled violently—utter disbelief coursing through him.
The Qian Family’s Old Ancestor… was dead?!
He had only casually said earlier that those who commit too many evil deeds will meet their own demise—that retribution would come.
But he never thought the Old Ancestor would actually meet retribution—and so quickly at that!
Mo Hua’s thoughts were in turmoil, yet what followed left him even more shocked.
After devouring the Old Ancestor, the pig demon’s pale, lifeless eyes began to turn blood-red.
The blood in its veins started flowing again; its demonic power recondensed. The blood crusting its body shifted from dark red to bright scarlet, eventually glowing with a dazzling crimson light.
Mo Hua’s pupils contracted.
The pig demon was refining the medicinal essence!
Not only that—it was refining both the power of the Transmigration Origin-Converting Pill and the Old Ancestor’s blood essence.
At the same time, a terrifying aura gathered around it—so overwhelming that it made Mo Hua’s body tremble, as if the very Dao itself were thrown into chaos!
He didn’t know what was happening, but one thought filled his mind:
Run!
Just then, the pig demon turned its head—its blood-red eyes locking onto Mo Hua.
Every hair on Mo Hua’s body stood on end. He activated the Flowing-Water Step to its utmost, sprinting madly out of the stone chamber.
After a few steps, he saw figures ahead—Commander Yang and Zhang Lan.
The two appeared at the cave entrance and, seeing Mo Hua’s pale face, were about to ask something when Mo Hua shouted anxiously—
“Run!”
The two froze, still trying to process what was happening, when a monstrous pig’s head emerged from the stairway below.
Its twisted, blood-colored eyes rolled wildly before fixing on Mo Hua. It let out a deafening roar and charged.
The stone walls on both sides shattered like tofu beneath its massive body.
Though the pig demon appeared bulky, its speed was terrifying—it was almost upon them in an instant.
Zhang Lan and Commander Yang’s faces tightened. They quickly pulled Mo Hua behind them, preparing to stall the monster even for a moment to let him escape.
But the demon’s aura was far too dreadful. Cold sweat soaked their palms—they weren’t sure they’d last even a breath.
Mo Hua, shielded behind them, felt both touched and panicked.
He knew neither of them was a match for that abomination. Blocking it would only mean being torn apart like the Qian Family’s Old Ancestor.
In that desperate instant, inspiration struck him.
He suddenly remembered—the formation he’d placed on the ground!
When the pig demon had rushed out earlier, the formation hadn’t been triggered.
Mo Hua pushed his Divine-Sense to the limit, locking onto it in the chaotic chamber—it was the First-Grade Earthfire Secondary Formation!
In less than a heartbeat, he channeled his energy and cast a Fireball Technique.
The fireball shot forward in an arc, hitting the formation precisely.
For an instant, all sound vanished—like the world itself held its breath.
Then, the formation began to collapse!
Commander Yang and Zhang Lan could hardly believe their eyes.
They saw Mo Hua, moving with incredible speed, ignite a formation in the corner with his spell.
But instead of exploding, the formation’s energy reversed, unraveling into fragmented black spiritual energy.
Those black fragments looked like countless tiny daggers—swiftly shredding the pig demon’s body piece by piece, flaying its flesh down to the bone.
First its hide, then its flesh, and finally its bones—all disintegrated into black dust.
The formation had collapsed at the pig demon’s hind leg, and in an instant, its entire right leg vanished—as though erased from existence.
The demon staggered, its forward rush broken.
But mere moments later, blood energy surged again.
Bone reformed. Flesh and veins followed. Skin sealed over.
Where the formation had destroyed, its body regenerated.
As swiftly as the power of dissolution destroyed, the power of its blood restored.
Commander Yang and Zhang Lan were utterly shaken.
“What kind of formation was that? Those black fragments—what are they? They can disintegrate a Tier Two demon beast?!”
“And what kind of demon regenerates that fast?!”
Mo Hua saw they were still frozen and slapped them both on the back.
“Stop staring—run!”
The pig demon’s leg was still reforming, its blood sluggish—it hadn’t yet regained full control.
If they didn’t run now, they might never get another chance.
Snapping to their senses, the two men activated their movement arts and fled toward the cave’s exit.
Moments later, the pig demon’s enraged roar echoed behind them—it had already stood back up.
Commander Yang’s heart sank. He grabbed Mo Hua around the waist and pulled Zhang Lan along, sprinting faster than before.
He was a Foundation Establishment cultivator—much faster than the others.
Within seconds, they burst out of the cave.
Outside, several people were waiting—Elder Yu, Supervisor Zhou, and Old Master An.
They had followed the bell’s signal to this place but hadn’t yet pinpointed the exact location before the cave shook violently, bestial howls echoing within.
Seeing the three flee out pale-faced, Supervisor Zhou frowned.
“What happened?”
Commander Yang opened his mouth, but Mo Hua clutched his sleeve and gasped out—
“Run!”
The others exchanged baffled looks.
“With all of us Foundation Establishment cultivators here, even if it’s the Qian Family’s Old Ancestor, we can—”
Mo Hua shook his head sharply.
“The Old Ancestor was eaten. Not just us—everyone in the mountain needs to retreat immediately!”
His tone carried genuine terror.
That pig… was far too terrifying.
Its aura felt both familiar and wrong—
Familiar, because it resembled the energy of a collapsing formation, as though both carried a trace of heavenly law.
Yet strange, because where the collapsing force represented destruction, this aura embodied ceaseless regeneration—rebirth.
Mister Zhuang had once said: life and death are two sides of the Dao. Where there is birth, there must be death.
If the disintegration of the formation was death, then that pig demon was life reborn!
Born from death—clearly dead, yet alive again.
Mo Hua’s heart went cold. He didn’t know exactly what made it so powerful, but his deep comprehension of formations—and sheer instinctive dread—told him one truth:
If they didn’t flee now, none of them would leave that mountain alive.
Everyone paled at his words.
The Qian Family’s Old Ancestor… eaten?!
That calculating, formidable man—who could escape even surrounded by Foundation cultivators and Dao soldiers—devoured by a pig?!
Supervisor Zhou didn’t hesitate. “We retreat!”
From within the cave came a deafening crash.
The demon was thrashing, smashing through stone. The bloodthirsty aura leaking out was growing stronger by the second.
No one hesitated further—they turned and fled.
Commander Yang hauled Zhang Lan, Elder Yu carried Mo Hua on his back.
Along the way, they shouted to every camp they passed:
“Disaster in the deep mountains! Everyone retreat—now!”
Through the night, the once-silent forest became a chaos of motion.
After some panic, the search teams fell into order, pulling out of the mountains in waves.
An hour later, all surviving cultivators—including Mo Hua—gathered at the mountain’s base.
This was the border between the deep mountains and the inner ranges—a few more steps would take them to safety.
Elder Yu set Mo Hua down, and everyone finally exhaled in relief.
But then—
A terrifying change erupted in the mountains behind them.
A pillar of blood surged skyward, shattering peaks.
A massive, blood-drenched pig demon emerged—its roar tearing through the night.
Not only Mo Hua’s group saw it.
Even the cultivators far away in Tōngxiān City looked up in alarm, witnessing that scarlet light piercing the heavens.
The sheer ferocity and malice of the aura made every heart tremble.
Some veteran demon hunters turned pale, their voices quivering in horror:
“Th-that’s… a Great Demon…”
Elder Yu stood beside Mo Hua, his face ashen as the ancient tales flashed through his mind.
His voice cracked, barely above a whisper:
“A Great Demon… has emerged…”
His expression went ghostly white.
“This… this is impossible…”
(End of Chapter)