Chapter 1533: Farewell and the Road Ahead

Chapter 1533: Farewell and the Road Ahead

Upon hearing this, Bai Qingcheng was first taken aback, then furrowed her brows slightly. "Not staying in Houtu City? Where are you going?"

Mo Hua said, "I'm going to the Great Spirit Field Realm..."

Bai Qingcheng frowned. "The Great Spirit Field Realm is a barren and impoverished place. What are you going there for?"

Mo Hua only said vaguely, "I... have some matters to attend to..."

Bai Qingcheng looked at Mo Hua, her gaze turning slightly cold, and said in a firm tone:

"No! That place is a poor and barren land, with nothing but Spirit Fields and spirit farmers. Cultivation resources are scarce, Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures are rare, and there aren't even many Spirit stones... What future could you possibly have there?"

"Listen to me properly. Stay in Houtu City, and I'll find you a good marriage within the great clans. Your path of cultivation will then be smooth sailing. Whether it's cultivation or learning Formations, you won't have to worry about anything..."

But Mo Hua shook his head. "Martial Aunt, I am not the same kind of person as the great clans."

Bai Qingcheng said calmly, "Zixi and I are also from great clans."

Mo Hua fell silent.

Bai Qingcheng looked at Mo Hua's somewhat stubborn demeanor and felt a surge of irritation. But after all, he was Senior Brother Zhuang's most beloved youngest disciple during his lifetime, and her own Martial Nephew...

Bai Qingcheng's tone softened a bit as she said gently:

"I know that people from great clans, accustomed to being in high positions, are mostly somewhat arrogant. These past days, you've been wronged, and you feel uncomfortable inside."

"But in this life, who can go without being wronged?"

"If you can gain benefits, what harm is there in enduring a little grievance?"

"Cultivation requires a vast amount of resources. You're only at Golden Core now, and later there's Feathered Ascension. Though it's very difficult, and the chance is only one in ten thousand, but if that one in ten thousand truly comes... you'd have the opportunity to contend for the fortune of Profound-Hollow-Void?"

"Every single realm, every small step upward, requires enormous financial and material support."

"Not to mention, you still want to learn Formations... All the precious Formation inheritances in this world are hidden within the great clans and major sects."

"Without the foundation of a great clan to support you, merely competing with others and fighting for these resources would consume a vast amount of time and waste most of your lifespan."

"Cultivation is like sailing against the current, fall one step behind, and you fall behind at every step. Other prodigies from great clans, supported by their families, are all focused solely on cultivation."

"While you're still earning Spirit stones and risking your life to seek cultivation Spiritual Materials, how could you possibly surpass them?"

Upon hearing this, Mo Hua's gaze turned slightly heavy.

He knew in his heart that what his Martial Aunt said was all true.

The children of great clans only needed to cultivate in peace.

But poor children, without family support, had to earn even their Spirit stones themselves. Any opportunity had to be fought over with a crowd, risking life and limb.

The noble have no cold doors; the lowly have no great clans—this has been so since ancient times.

Seeing Mo Hua like this, Bai Qingcheng sighed again. "If you endure a little grievance now, and cross the threshold of a great clan through a good marriage, you'll have abundant resources to support your cultivation in the future."

"Later, when your cultivation is high and your wings are strong, you can decide what to do then."

"But not now..."

"Meeting you in Houtu City is also a stroke of fortune for you. With me keeping those great clans in check, I can secure the greatest benefits for you. I can also fight for many conditions on your behalf."

"Consider this... my way of making up for what I owe Senior Brother Zhuang, repaid to you."

"The threshold of a truly fifth-rank or higher great clan is not so easy to cross. If you miss this opportunity, you may never have another in this lifetime."

"I'm not one to meddle in others' affairs, either. If it were anyone else... even my own direct nephews and nieces of the Bai Clan, I might not care, let alone expend so much thought..."

Bai Qingcheng's tone was cold.

Mo Hua felt grateful in his heart.

He knew that given Martial Aunt Bai's status and temperament, being willing to set aside her pride and say so much to persuade him was already showing him great respect.

These past days, she had also been running around with him, seeking a future and a path for him.

This truly was an unprecedented kindness.

It was just that...

Mo Hua sighed inwardly, his gaze growing slightly deep, and said softly:

"Martial Aunt, I will always remember your kindness. But I truly... have things I must do, and a path I must walk..."

Bai Qingcheng's face paled slightly, and she grew angry.

This child, why is he so stubborn...

You're only at Golden Core, what things could you possibly have to do, and what path could you possibly have to walk?

Throwing away a bright future, being clever for nothing—what for?

Bai Qingcheng looked at Mo Hua with some impatience, about to scold him further, but as her gaze swept over and caught sight of Mo Hua's eyes, she suddenly froze.

Those were not the eyes of a naive stubbornness.

On the contrary, Mo Hua's gaze was clear, calm, and resolute.

Deep within his eyes, there was also an indescribable depth, concealing an unusual sharpness, like...

Like Senior Brother Zhuang of old...

Bai Qingcheng was momentarily lost in thought.

In the old days when they studied at the sect, Senior Brother Zhuang had a wild and untamable nature, once he set his mind on something, no one could talk him out of it, not even the Master could persuade him.

And now Mo Hua, though his appearance and temperament differed from Senior Brother Zhuang of those years...

But those eyes—the calm determination and unyielding sharpness within them, were exactly the same.

The Senior Brother Zhuang of the past had been like a peerless immortal sword, striking fear into anyone who laid eyes on him.

Mo Hua's spiritual roots were lacking, and his temperament leaned toward gentleness and softness, so naturally he couldn't compare to Senior Brother Zhuang's sharp, awe-inspiring presence that dominated all.

Yet as Bai Qingcheng looked at him now, she realized that beneath Mo Hua's gentle exterior, he too seemed to be a sword.

Unlike Senior Brother Zhuang, Mo Hua was more like... an invisible sword.

All his sharpness was concealed beneath his mild-mannered facade, rarely ever revealed.

Bai Qingcheng's heart jolted. She suddenly realized that she had never truly understood this 'stray' martial nephew of hers.

She too came from a great clan, and was inherently proud. Subconsciously, she had never thought that a child of rogue cultivator origins with intermediate-lower grade spiritual roots could cultivate anything significant, or possess any real insight or conviction.

But now, looking into Mo Hua's eyes, Bai Qingcheng suddenly realized she had been wrong.

She didn't truly understand Mo Hua.

Just as... she didn't truly understand her Senior Brother Zhuang either...

A strange bitterness welled up in Bai Qingcheng's heart. All the words she had prepared dissolved in her chest.

She sighed, looking at Mo Hua with helplessness. "You... have you truly thought this through?"

Mo Hua nodded. "Mm."

Bai Qingcheng's expression was complicated. "Stay in Houtu City, and I'll give you a bright future. If you leave Houtu City, everything will depend on you alone. Fortune or misfortune, you'll have to bear it yourself, I won't be able to look after you."

Mo Hua nodded seriously. "Martial Aunt, I understand."

Bai Qingcheng sighed. "Fine then. As long as you know what you're doing."

But after all her efforts had come to nothing, there was a hint of resentment in her words.

Mo Hua felt guilty. "Martial Aunt, I'm sorry."

Bai Qingcheng shot him a slight glare from the corner of her eye, but she couldn't really do anything about him.

What else could she do with a martial nephew like this?

"Well..." Bai Qingcheng thought for a moment, then sighed. "Go tell Zixi. After all... she is your senior sister..."

Mo Hua was silent for a moment. "Mm."

...

In the usual small courtyard, Bai Zixi was still reading her formation manual as always.

Only, the once warm and lively courtyard was now much quieter.

Mo Hua walked in slowly, looking at that hazy figure like pale moonlight, feeling an inexplicable ache in his heart. He sighed softly.

"Senior Sister..."

Hearing this, Bai Zixi looked up at Mo Hua. Her gaze was calm and indifferent, but there was something complicated in the depths of her eyes.

Mo Hua said, "Senior Sister, I'm leaving."

"Mm," Bai Zixi hummed in acknowledgment. It was only after a long moment that she seemed to register his words, and said in a daze, "You... you're leaving?"

Mo Hua nodded.

"Where to?" Bai Zixi asked.

Mo Hua said, "For now... I'm going to the Great Spirit Field Realm."

Bai Zixi asked, "And after that?"

"I don't know..." Mo Hua said softly.

"Then you..." Bai Zixi's voice was faint, barely audible. "...will you come back?"

Mo Hua gazed deeply at Bai Zixi's brows and eyes. After who knew how long, he shook his head and said softly, "I don't know..."

Hearing this, Bai Zixi felt a sudden pain in her heart, and her gaze grew dimmer and dimmer.

But she said nothing.

This day was bound to come eventually...

She only nodded. "Mm. Take care of yourself."

Mo Hua nodded as well.

After that, neither of them spoke again. They stood in silence for a moment, neither willing to look into the other's eyes, before going their separate ways.

...

After bidding farewell to his Little Senior Sister, Mo Hua returned to his guest room and began packing his things.

He had never owned much to begin with, all his important belongings were stored in his Storage Ring. His daily life had always been simple and frugal.

In less than half an hour, he was done.

Looking back at the familiar but now empty room, Mo Hua felt a swell of emotion.

His time at Little Luan Mountain had been the most peaceful and leisurely period since he left Tongxian City.

No great disturbances, and no terrifying presence like Martial Uncle looming over his head.

On ordinary days, he cultivated in peace, studied formations, played with Xiao Ju, and kept his Little Senior Sister company.

But good times were always short-lived.

Most days in life were inevitably filled with rushing, toil, exhaustion, confusion, hardship, and even bloodshed and battle.

Mo Hua sighed softly.

Since he had decided to leave, there was no point in delaying. He planned to set out tomorrow.

Houtu City wasn't Tongxian City, nor was it Great Void Sect. There weren't many people he needed to bid farewell to.

But before leaving, Mo Hua still went to see True Person Rong.

After all, True Person Rong was the master of Little Luan Mountain. It was she who had saved his half-dead life back then, and he had been under her protection all this time.

When True Person Rong learned that Mo Hua was leaving, she was somewhat surprised. But after thinking about it, she wasn't that surprised.

After all, someone like Mo Hua was capable of doing anything.

True Person Rong only said, "You decide for yourself. If you want to go, then go. I have many matters to attend to, so I won't see you off."

"Yes," Mo Hua nodded, then handed a thin, handwritten booklet to True Person Rong.

"These past days, I've been grateful for your care, True Person. Consider this a parting gift."

True Person Rong was somewhat taken aback. As she took the booklet and saw the words 【Fundamentals of Cause-and-Effect Calculation Method】 and 【Demon Bone Divination Art】 written on it, her surprise deepened into shock:

"You... you're giving these to me?"

Mo Hua nodded. "Yes."

He had watched True Person Rong painstakingly deduce cause and effect day after day, and it seemed far too laborious. So he had written down some basic principles of the Causality Technique for her reference and research.

True Person Rong now knew whose disciple Mo Hua was, which made her all the more astonished:

"You... is it really alright to pass on the Causality Technique to outsiders?"

In any sect, inheritance related to cause and effect was top secret and could not be easily shared.

Especially Mo Hua's master's lineage, that was even more extraordinary...

But Mo Hua said with certainty, "It's fine."

He had never had much of a concept of his true sect, nor did he know anything about its rules.

Besides, these causality techniques were less inherited and more things he had gathered and figured out on his own. They were his own possessions.

If he wanted to give them to someone, he naturally could.

Mo Hua said, "If not for your protection, True Person, I might have been sliced up by the Earth Sect long ago. This small gift is nothing."

With that, Mo Hua clasped his hands and said, "I won't disturb your cultivation any longer, True Person. I'll take my leave."

True Person Rong watched Mo Hua turn and walk away. As his figure was about to disappear through the doorway, she finally let out a sigh and said:

"If things don't work out out there, come back. At least within Little Luan Mountain, no one would dare touch you..."

Mo Hua paused, turned back to look at True Person Rong, and gave a gentle smile. "Thank you, True Person. Mo Hua will remember that..."

Then, without further hesitation, he turned and left the study, vanishing from True Person Rong's sight.

True Person Rong watched his retreating figure and, for a moment, felt an inexplicable emptiness.

Though the child was a big trouble, a troublemaker, and she had long wished for this big problem to disappear.

But now that the big problem was truly gone, it felt somewhat strange.

True Person Rong shook her head and looked at the thin booklet on cause and effect in her hands, her expression complicated...

...

Early the next morning, Mo Hua packed up, made no delay, and set off.

Bai Qingcheng, Bai Zixi, and Xiao Ju all came to see him off.

At the entrance of Little Luan Mountain, morning glow spread across the path.

At the moment of parting, Xiao Ju's eyes were red, tears welling up.

When they were together, she had thought that Mo Hua was nothing special.

But now that her little companion Mo Hua was suddenly leaving, Xiao Ju felt an inexplicable ache in her heart and asked, "The tangerine tree is about to grow big. Aren't you going to wait to eat the tangerines?"

Mo Hua smiled gently. "You eat them. Eat plenty."

Xiao Ju asked, "Then will you come back?"

Mo Hua shook his head, but seeing Xiao Ju on the verge of tears, he added, "I'll come back when I have time."

Xiao Ju said, "Then you must have time..."

Mo Hua sighed inwardly, smiled, and nodded. "I will."

After comforting Xiao Ju, Mo Hua turned to look at Little Senior Sister beside him.

With his Martial Aunt still nearby, Mo Hua couldn't say much. He could only take one deep look at Little Senior Sister's face, etching her features firmly into his heart, and then say:

"Senior Sister, take care."

Bai Zixi's expression was calm, her gaze as cold and clear as ever.

But in her chest, it felt as if a piece of flesh had been gouged out, making it hard to breathe.

Still, she restrained herself as best she could, showing nothing unusual. She simply gave Mo Hua one last look, as if she too wanted to carve her little junior brother's image into her heart.

After what felt like a long time, she finally spoke:

"You take care too."

The two who had once been of one heart exchanged one more glance. In their clear, moving eyes, countless emotions churned, yet they could only be buried deep in their hearts, unable to show even a trace.

On the surface, they were merely proper senior sister and junior brother—proper and distant.

Bai Qingcheng watched and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Mo Hua finally turned to Bai Qingcheng, bowed, and said sincerely:

"These past days, thank you for your care, martial aunt. It's just that..."

Mo Hua sighed. "My cultivation is low, and I have nothing to repay you with. If there's ever an opportunity in the future, I will surely repay your kindness..."

Bai Qingcheng was a True Person from a sixth-rank great clan. She likely lacked nothing in terms of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures or inheritance methods. Mo Hua himself was poor and low in cultivation, and he truly didn't know how to express his gratitude.

This child...

Bai Qingcheng shook her head and simply said, "Take care of yourself..."

Mo Hua nodded, glanced once more at Xiao Ju and Little Senior Sister, his gaze dimming slightly, and said, "Martial Aunt, I'll take my leave."

"Yes." Bai Qingcheng nodded.

Mo Hua hesitated no longer. He turned and stepped through the gate of Little Luan Mountain, facing the morning glow, and set off down another path, growing farther and farther from the minor blessed land.

Seeing Mo Hua leave, Bai Zixi's gaze finally fell unguarded upon his retreating figure.

She simply stood there, watching his back all the while.

Watching Little Junior Brother's figure pass through her life, yet gradually drift further away...

Bai Zixi's ice-and-snow-like eyes were veiled with a layer of mist.

Xiao Ju, meanwhile, pouted her little mouth and scrunched up her small face, continuously waving at Mo Hua's retreating back, hoping that one day, Mo Hua would return.

Bai Qingcheng also wore a silent expression, watching Mo Hua depart into the distance.

As Mo Hua drifted farther and farther away, his silhouette growing smaller and smaller, he eventually faded slowly from view at the end of the road.

Just as Mo Hua's figure disappeared, the morning sun flashed and vanished, casting a brief shadow.

Bai Qingcheng's expression changed involuntarily.

In the final instant of Mo Hua's figure vanishing, a faint black afterimage lingered.

Bai Qingcheng seemed to see the shadow of another person on Mo Hua's form...

But only for that single moment—that illusion-like afterimage vanished in the blink of an eye.

When she looked again, Mo Hua had already disappeared completely.

Truly disappeared without a trace.

Even with Bai Qingcheng's Divine-Sense at the Feathered Ascension Realm, she found herself momentarily unable to perceive even a hint of Mo Hua's whereabouts.

Bai Qingcheng's eyes trembled slightly.

Only then did she suddenly realize that Mo Hua's front—especially that temperament, that look in his eyes—bore a striking resemblance to Senior Brother Zhuang.

But Mo Hua's back, the shadow cast by the sunlight behind him, resembled another, far more terrifying person...

"How could this be..."

Is it... my imagination?

Bai Qingcheng's pupils shook, her heart unable to find peace for a long time.

...

And not long after, on another bustling street in Houtu City, Mo Hua's figure slowly materialized. By now, he had draped himself in a cloak, concealed his features, and shielded himself from the Heavenly Secret.

Like an ordinary young man, he merged into the noisy crowd, blending into the chaotic web of cause and effect, step by step leaving Houtu City behind.

Behind him lay splendor like flowing gold and cascading jade.

But ahead of him stretched poverty and strife, bloodshed and chaos—the vast and boundless Great Spirit Field Realm.

Mo Hua's departure went unnoticed by all.

Or rather, a few masters versed in the Heavenly Secret within Houtu City knew of it, but they did not care.

In the vast and prosperous Houtu City, countless people came and went every day.

Among them were countless True-Persons, masters, and nobles.

To the Earth Sect and the great clans, Mo Hua was merely a Golden Core—somewhat talented, but unable to influence the greater scheme, hardly worth excessive attention.

But what none of them knew was that the true Heavenly Secrets had already begun to churn violently...

On this very day, Houtu City lost an insignificant 'Young Master Mo.'

But the Great Spirit Field Realm was about to welcome a 'flesh-and-blood deity' walking among the mortal world.

A sovereign commanding both yin and yang, wielding dominion over both the paths of life and death...

A living King of Hell.

(End of Chapter)