Chapter 402: Eight Layers

“Who is this person? What’s his name?”

“I should remember…”

“But why can’t I recall it?”

“Why can’t I remember?!”

“Sun Yi,” he muttered deliriously, wracked with painful thought.

He pressed his hands to his forehead, clawing at his scalp, tearing at it with force until his head bled and his face was scratched raw, yet still he could not figure it out.

After a while, he slowly stopped.

A cold resolve flickered in his eyes.

With trembling fingers, he dipped them in his own blood and drew a formation pattern on his forehead.

The pattern was sinister and vivid red, not a conventional formation, but a demonic sigil of the Dark Sect.

Once completed, the sigil seemed to come alive, feeding on Sun Yi’s blood and spiritual consciousness.

Gritting his teeth, Sun Yi felt his life force weaken, but his thoughts gradually cleared.

The fog that had shrouded his memory began to lift.

Finally, he remembered something.

“There’s also… a little disciple…”

“A little disciple…”

“What’s his name?”

Sun Yi’s face contorted in agony, as if enduring torture, yet bit by bit he recalled it:

“Mo…”

“Mo… Hua!”

Mo Hua!

Excitement flashed across Sun Yi’s eyes, quickly followed by confusion.

“Why?”

“Why was this name hidden so deeply?”

“Who exactly is this boy?”

A smiling face appeared in his memory.

A young cultivator, around ten years old.

Innocent, yet warm and endearing.

Gradually, his recognition of Mo Hua became clear.

“Qi Refining, seven layers. First-rank Formation Master. Foundation Establishment-level Divine Sense…”

Sun Yi’s heart skipped a beat.

Foundation Establishment-level Divine Sense?

So that’s it…

“With such terrifying talent, no wonder he was hidden away…”

Sun Yi’s smile froze and faded into nothing.

“What was I just thinking?”

“Who erased my memory?”

A flicker of anger crossed Sun Yi’s mind, yet he endured the pain in his Sea of Consciousness, probing the fog for the truth he had just forgotten.

Once again, he recalled Mo Hua’s name.

Once again, he saw Mo Hua’s smiling face.

His understanding of Mo Hua returned.

“Qi Refining, seven layers. Foundation Establishment Divine Sense…”

Before he could react, the memory stuttered and was erased again.

Sun Yi’s gaze grew cold.

To hide this child so deeply…

“Junior brother, what exactly are you planning?”

He tried again to remember.

“Qi Refining, seven layers. Foundation Establishment Divine Sense…”

But here too, the memory was erased.

Each time it was erased, it faded a little more, until only the vague concepts of “Qi Refining, seven layers” and “Foundation Establishment” remained.

“Qi Refining, seven layers, not yet Foundation Establishment…”

Sun Yi nodded.

Then he thought: isn’t that obvious?

Qi Refining, seven layers—of course he hasn’t reached Foundation Establishment yet.

Yet when he pondered carefully, it was still hazy, impossible to fully grasp.

“Is he just a token little disciple?”

Sun Yi muttered.

He decided not to dwell on it, remembering only Mister Zhuang, Old Kui, and the Bai siblings, then nodded.

Sun Yi removed his outer robe, wiping the blood from his face and body.

Then he tore the dirty, old Daoist robe from the deceased Sun Ji and put it on himself.

“Fits perfectly now.”

Sun Ji was tall and thin; Sun Yi was medium-built and slightly plump.

The robe fit him just right.

Sun Yi pushed open the door and stepped outside. The sky was dimming, and he walked alone.

The disciples of the Sun family were stunned.

His appearance in the old robe looked strange and unsettling.

Some disciples saluted, but Sun Yi ignored them completely, walking on with uneven steps.

He passed through the Sun family gate and walked down the main road of Qianjia Town, never looking back, disappearing into the distant mountains.

That was the last time any disciple saw their family head.

The spiritual farmers of Dongshan Village spread rumors that Sun Yi, wearing a dead man’s robe, limped away as if his soul had been taken.

Most guessed that Sun Yi had violated the family’s ancestral rules and was dragged to the underworld for punishment by the Sun family ancestors.

After that, Sun Yi never returned.

No one ever saw him again.

…

Meanwhile, as Sun Yi calculated Mo Hua’s identity, Mister Zhuang inside the carriage opened his eyes.

“Master, would you like some tea?” Mo Hua asked in a clear, crisp voice.

Mister Zhuang liked to nap and always wanted tea when he awoke.

Mo Hua remembered his master’s preferences well.

Mister Zhuang nodded slightly.

Mo Hua poured a cup of tea for him.

Mister Zhuang looked a little tired. After drinking the tea, he felt more alert and asked:

“Mo Hua, how does a person die?”

Not only Mo Hua was taken aback—Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi also looked puzzled.

They didn’t understand why Mister Zhuang suddenly asked this.

“Uh… you die if someone kills you?”

Mo Hua answered quietly.

“You also die if you’re hungry or old…” Bai Zisheng added.

“But at the root of it?”

Mo Hua recalled Mister Zhuang’s words about cultivators’ spiritual power, life force, and Divine Sense, and answered:

“If a cultivator’s body fails, they die. If the Qi Sea is shattered, they die. If the Divine Sense is destroyed, they die…”

“The death of a cultivator ultimately involves these three,” Mister Zhuang nodded.

“If someone wants to kill you, they’ll start with one of these three: either destroy your body, shatter your Qi Sea, or annihilate your Divine Sense.”

Mo Hua shivered inwardly. “Master, does someone want to kill me?”

Mister Zhuang shook his head. “Better to be prepared than surprised.”

“Oh,” Mo Hua nodded, thinking for a moment before asking:

“Master, I understand killing through body and Qi Sea—ordinary martial arts or magic can destroy the body, corrode the meridians, or ruin the Qi Sea. But killing through Divine Sense… how is that done?”

“There are many methods,” Mister Zhuang said.

He looked at Mo Hua, then Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi, and patiently explained:

“One is Divine Sense spells, where the spell is condensed through your Divine Sense, damaging the target’s Divine Sense.”

“These spells are extremely rare. Don’t learn or use them lightly. Overuse can damage your own Divine Sense.”

“Also, these are ancient secret techniques that require talent. Most people cannot learn them.”

“The second is Divine Sense parasitism, splitting your Divine Sense and letting it attach to another cultivator.”

“This is a Dark Dao method. Don’t learn it, and never use it.”

“The third is Divine Sense contamination, using unspeakably filthy Divine Consciousness sealed from the ancient times to corrupt another’s Divine Sense, breaking their will, disrupting their Divine Sense, even collapsing their Sea of Consciousness, turning them into neither human nor ghost…”

“This is like killing with a borrowed knife. But when you contaminate others, you also contaminate yourself.”

“If someone’s Divine Sense is tainted, yours won’t remain pure either—you just won’t notice.”

“So this method is best avoided.”

“There are other ways to kill through Divine Sense, but most are bizarre and obscure; I know little about them.”

Mister Zhuang finished and warned the three disciples:

“I tell you this so you can be cautious. Means that harm body or spiritual power are usually visible.”

“But the dangers to Divine Sense are often invisible.”

“In this world exist many unseen and unspeakable horrors. Cultivators’ Divine Sense is weak, so they cannot perceive them.”

“Anything related to Divine Sense must be treated with utmost caution.”

“Don’t look at what cannot be looked at, don’t spy on what cannot be spied on.”

“Encounter strange people? Don’t talk, don’t engage, and don’t meet their eyes…”

All three disciples nodded solemnly.

Mo Hua thought for a moment and quietly asked:

“Master, if someone parasitizes my Divine Sense, is there a way to kill their Divine Sense?”

He remembered the little ghost from the vision diagram.

It leapt into Mo Hua’s Sea of Consciousness, trying to take over as a nest.

Though Mo Hua used the Dao Monument to suppress it and eventually ‘consumed’ the little ghost, he still didn’t fully understand.

The Dao Monument was useful but could not be overly relied upon.

If it failed, and the ghost parasitized him again, it would be dangerous.

He wanted to know if there was a way to handle parasitic Divine Consciousness without the Dao Monument.

Formations seemed possible, but drawing them was slow, and he had to stay inside, which was passive.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi exchanged a glance.

This little junior brother’s thinking was indeed… extraordinary.

Mister Zhuang was not surprised. He nodded: “There is.”

Mo Hua’s eyes brightened. “Then…”

“Not yet,” Mister Zhuang replied.

Mo Hua sighed, a little disappointed, then asked eagerly:

“Master, when will you teach me?”

Mister Zhuang’s gaze was meaningful:

“When your Divine Sense grows stronger, I will teach you.”

“Stronger?”

Mister Zhuang nodded. “All methods against Divine Consciousness rely on the strength of your Divine Sense.”

“If your Divine Sense is strong enough, the dangers of Divine Sense will no longer threaten you.”

“With a powerful Divine Sense, no evil can penetrate!”

Mister Zhuang said solemnly.

No evil can penetrate a powerful Divine Sense…

Mo Hua repeated it silently, then nodded with anticipation: “Yes, Master!”

…

Afterward, Mo Hua practiced formations even harder.

Without relying on the Dao Monument, he used every moment to practice the Earth-Stabilizing Formation.

Whenever the carriage stopped, he drew formations on the ground.

Mountains, rocks, and soil along the way bore his formation marks.

He even brought some soil onto the carriage to draw on.

Over and over, he practiced the first-rank eleven-pattern Earth-Stabilizing Formation.

Through this, he honed his Divine Sense.

A vague sense of urgency nagged him.

Mister Zhuang never spoke without reason.

Mentioning Divine Sense meant he anticipated something.

Divine Sense killing…

Someone might try to kill him with Divine Sense.

Then he must prepare.

The stronger his Divine Sense, the safer he would be.

Mo Hua trained tirelessly. His Divine Sense grew noticeably, but he still fell just short of the twelve-pattern threshold.

No matter how he practiced formations, progress seemed slow.

Mo Hua felt frustrated.

One morning, facing the rising sun, he practiced as usual.

Suddenly, his Qi Sea trembled slightly.

Mo Hua froze, then rejoiced.

He quickly drew out spirit stones, absorbing spiritual energy, refining it, circulating it through his meridians, and storing it in his Qi Sea.

After some time, the spiritual energy solidified and his aura strengthened.

Mo Hua opened his eyes, unable to contain a bright smile.

Qi Refining, eight layers!

And not only that.

With the breakthrough, his Divine Sense also grew.

Compared to his Foundation Establishment-level Divine Sense, the increase was small, but just enough to bridge the gap. His Divine Sense now reached twelve patterns!

The morning glow spilled over the mountains, bathing Mo Hua in light.

At fourteen years old, Mo Hua had reached Qi Refining, eight layers, with Foundation Establishment-level twelve-pattern Divine Sense!