Chapter 1540: Spiritual Pivot?

Chapter 1540: Spiritual Pivot?

The aura of this formation was...

"...A high-grade Spiritual-Pivot Absolute Formation?"

Mo Hua's pupils instantly took on a golden hue. Black and white swirled in the depths of his eyes, while his Divine Sense surged like a torrential flood, probing into Lord Qingchou's body to examine the yellowish-green formation threads—like puppet strings—that had allowed him to return from the dead.

Lord Qingchou was still in the process of reviving, and the speed of his revival was increasing.

Thread-like mystical rune-patterns, as if woven and printed into existence, reshaped flesh and bone, repairing Lord Qingchou's injuries.

Before long, Lord Qingchou's physical body was whole again.

Then those writhing thread-like formation patterns, as if their purpose had been fulfilled, burrowed into Lord Qingchou's flesh like long parasitic worms, no longer leaking even a trace of aura.

This thing didn't resemble a formation at all.

None of the cultivators present would have guessed that these 'threads' were formation patterns.

But Mo Hua, drawing on his experience, could be certain that this was some more advanced formation technique, one that surpassed his previous understanding of formations.

Unfortunately, despite Mo Hua's exceptionally keen perception of formations, the rune-patterns' movement were also extremely fast.

The moment those mystical formation threads began weaving Lord Qingchou's flesh, Mo Hua activated the 【Heavenly Secret Derivative Algorithm】 to decipher the formation's structure and pivot points.

But he was still too slow.

The threads within Lord Qingchou's body completed the stitching and repair of flesh, as well as the restoration of bodily vitality, in an extremely short span of time.

Then they burrowed into his flesh and went dormant.

That sliver of time was nowhere near enough for Mo Hua to conduct a deeper derivative calculation.

Moreover, these thread-like formation patterns possessed an extraordinarily complex mystery that defied conventional logic.

Mo Hua's 【Heavenly Secret Derivative Algorithm】 had barely gotten started—just found a thread to follow—when it was forced to stop before going deeper.

The black and white in Mo Hua's eyes faded. He looked at Lord Qingchou, brows slightly furrowed, but his gaze grew deeper and deeper, even carrying a barely concealed hunger.

"This Lord Qingchou… is pretty impressive…"

Across from Mo Hua, Lord Qingchou—resurrected from the dead, or rather, killed yet unkillable—slowly rose to his feet again. Though his aura had weakened somewhat, his temper had grown even more savage, like an enraged demonic beast.

Every Dao Court Division cultivator present changed expression.

Gu Changhuai's pupils trembled as well, barely able to believe his eyes.

As for the other Qingchou followers, seeing their leader alive again brought them no joy, only greater terror. They fled desperately in every direction.

The next instant, a bloody green shadow flickered.

Lord Qingchou had already flashed close to several Qingchou followers who were fleeing for their lives. In a few swift motions, he tore them apart and devoured them.

With the replenishment of flesh and blood, his internal injuries improved considerably in an instant.

Everyone watching wore grim, heavy expressions.

Gu Changhuai's face was pale. He coughed softly, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, and instructed: "Everyone... be careful."

The remaining Dao Court Division cultivators gathered closely together, forming a defensive formation to face off against Lord Qingchou.

The Qingchou followers were stricken with terror, but none dared to flee again, fearing they would be the next to die.

Everyone was cautious, not daring to breathe too loudly.

And in this suffocating atmosphere, within the dense forest, a green shadow flickered, then suddenly vanished.

When it reappeared, it was already behind Mo Hua.

Lord Qingchou, his eyes bloodshot and a bloody smile at the corner of his mouth, stared fixedly at Mo Hua.

Then, with two enormous hands like those of an evil ghost, he suddenly tore Mo Hua apart, ripping him into shreds.

The crowd was shocked and alarmed.

Gu Changhuai's face instinctively turned pale, but then he furrowed his brow and slowly let out a sigh of relief.

Sure enough, the next moment, water vapor appeared three zhang away, and the shadowy figure re-condensed into form.

Such a transformation was truly like that of a ghostly phantom.

For an Early Golden Core Stage cultivator to evade a sudden assassination by a Late Golden Core Stage cultivator, if one said he wasn't a ghost, no one would believe it.

Lord Qingchou, having missed his strike, grew even more enraged. His form was like a ghostly fang, his claws reeking with bloody wind, as he charged at Mo Hua.

Among everyone present, if there was one person Lord Qingchou most wanted to kill, it would naturally be Gu Changhuai, that Dao Court lackey who had repeatedly clashed with him and accumulated no small amount of enmity.

But that was in the past.

Now, the one Lord Qingchou most wanted to kill was Mo Hua, this Black-Robed Master.

Lord Qingchou was cunning by nature, and those who are cunning despise being schemed against most of all.

Especially when the despicable villain who schemed against him, that treacherous thief, had the audacity to impersonate a Esteemed Master, deceive him, make him repeatedly beg for help, and then turn against him at the most critical moment, causing him to die once more—truly detestable and hateful beyond measure.

Not tearing him to pieces would not quell the hatred in his heart.

Lord Qingchou's eyes were bloodshot, his attacks growing increasingly vicious.

His massive body could split mountains and break rocks, and the bloody wind from his claws would kill or injure any ordinary cultivator who so much as grazed it.

Yet Mo Hua's form moved like a drifting butterfly in the wind, a fish-dragon in water, each time brushing past Lord Qingchou's killing blows.

Though the situation was perilous, he always escaped by a hair's breadth, leaving Lord Qingchou unable to touch even a trace of him.

Such a movement technique left the watching cultivators both anxious and in awe.

Lord Qingchou, failing to land a hit time and again, grew ever more furious.

But the more furious and reckless he became, the more chaotic his attacks, and the less able he was to touch even a shred of Mo Hua.

Gu Changhuai, watching from afar, grew anxious. Though he knew Mo Hua's movement technique was profound, he also knew Mo Hua's physical body was extremely fragile.

This kind of contest of movement techniques looked exquisite, but in truth, it was like walking a tightrope.

Lord Qingchou could make countless mistakes, but Mo Hua could not make a single one.

If he made just one mistake and Lord Qingchou, at Late Golden Core Stage, seized the opening, Mo Hua would surely end up splattered with blood on the spot, his bones reduced to nothing.

Gu Changhuai wanted to save Mo Hua, but he had just consumed the Gu Clan's Spiritual Bursting Pill and cast a superior Dao Art, draining his spiritual power completely. His meridians stung like needles, and he couldn't help in the short term.

Moreover, though his spells were powerful, they were only large in scale and strong in force, they lacked Mo Hua's freakishly precise locking and control.

If he missed, he might actually hinder Mo Hua instead.

Watching Mo Hua contend with Lord Qingchou, Gu Changhuai could only suppress his anxiety, force himself to calm down, take pill medicine, and sit in meditation to recover as much spiritual power as possible.

Meanwhile, Lord Qingchou continued his pursuit of Mo Hua.

But that black-robed figure truly was like a ghost. The more he wanted to kill him, the less he could.

In fact, not even kill, he couldn't even touch the hem of his robe.

After another hundred exchanges without a single success, Lord Qingchou's fury surged straight to his head.

He was completely consumed by rage, heedless of everything around him, unaware even of heaven and earth, his eyes fixed only on that damned black figure.

At this moment, his sole obsession was to kill the black-robed cultivator before him.

Even if killing the black-robed cultivator meant his own immediate death, he didn't care.

Mo Hua's talent for attracting hatred was truly something else.

But heaven did not comply with his wishes.

Lord Qingchou pursued him for who knew how long, yet still made no progress, to the point that the Blood Qi within his body had begun to recede.

As the Blood Qi receded and the heat of battle cooled, Lord Qingchou gradually calmed down.

He pondered for a moment, and a chill ran through his heart as he said:

"No, this is wrong. Why does this black-robed villain have such abundant spiritual power?"

He was the esteemed Lord Qingchou, a body cultivator at the Late Golden Core Stage. After such an intense, prolonged pursuit, how could he still not have exhausted his spiritual power?

How is this a cultivator at the Early Golden Core Stage?

Lord Qingchou sensed something amiss. The more he calmed down, the more he assessed the situation, and he immediately abandoned Mo Hua, turning instead to strike at Gu Changhuai.

Since this black-robed villain had such bizarre Movement Technique and couldn't be killed, then he would kill Gu Changhuai and settle their old grudge.

Lord Qingchou transformed into a gust of bloody wind and lunged toward Gu Changhuai.

Seeing that he was about to flee, Mo Hua immediately grabbed with his bare hand, and six Water Prison Techniques descended from thin air, firmly binding Lord Qingchou in place.

This disgusting, clingy spell again!

It seemed to have triggered the unpleasant memories from before.

Lord Qingchou flew into a rage, nearly lunging at Mo Hua again to slaughter him, but he managed to restrain himself.

In this situation, he had to prioritize what was urgent over what was not.

Lord Qingchou strained with all his might and broke free of the Water Prison Technique.

This kind of Water Prison Technique could only trap someone at a critical moment; its restraining power at ordinary times was not particularly strong, especially against a high-level cultivator at the Late Golden Core Stage.

After breaking free of the Water Prison Technique, Lord Qingchou once again charged at Gu Changhuai.

But at that very moment, Mo Hua cast the Water Prison Technique again. His casting speed was astonishingly fast, and Lord Qingchou couldn't dodge in time, finding himself bound in place once more.

Lord Qingchou strained his arms and broke free of the Water Prison Technique again.

Mo Hua used the Water Prison Technique a third time, binding Lord Qingchou in place.

Inside the Water Prison, Lord Qingchou nearly vomited from disgust. The discomfort in his heart was truly beyond words.

But he still endured it, continuing to break free of the Water Prison Technique, wanting to switch targets and kill Gu Changhuai.

Mo Hua also realized that constantly binding Lord Qingchou with one Water Prison after another wasn't a viable solution.

So he flipped his fair palm, transforming his hand into pointed fingers, and the Spell Formula instantly shifted from water to fire, condensing into deep red fireballs that shot toward Lord Qingchou.

Lord Qingchou felt his back grow hot, followed by a series of explosions and the sting of searing pain.

One after another, as if he were a target dummy.

Although these fireballs were powerful, they were still only spells at the Early Golden Core Stage, not fatal.

But even if they weren't fatal, they hurt quite a bit when they struck, and what was even stranger was that despite being fireballs, they carried a hint of yin-cold.

When they blasted against his body, besides the burning pain, there was also a trace of eerie chill that crawled into his body like little snakes.

Lord Qingchou immediately activated his Movement Technique, trying to dodge these bizarre Fireball Techniques.

But what was even stranger was that the Fireball Techniques seemed to have eyes of their own.

No matter how Lord Qingchou dodged, it was all in vain.

An invisible but uncanny Divine-Sense was firmly locked onto Lord Qingchou.

This was a powerful lock from Mo Hua's Divine-Sense. Even though Lord Qingchou was a great cultivator at the Late Golden Core Stage, he simply could not shake off this lock.

And then Mo Hua continued to fire off more fireballs in rapid succession.

One Fireball Technique after another, guided by precise Divine-Sense targeting, slammed into Lord Qingchou's back and the back of his head, bursting into clusters of sparks.

Lord Qingchou mentally reviewed every person he had ever wanted to kill in his lifetime.

None of them came close to Mo Hua.

In all his years, he had never been so disgusted by someone using spells against him, and with the most low-tier fireball technique, no less.

Being used as a spell target by Mo Hua like this, even Lord Qingchou could not endure it.

If he insisted on killing Gu Changhuai and exposed his back to Mo Hua, who knew how many more Fireballs would be shot at him from behind.

Lord Qingchou's heart ached with rage. He had no choice but to turn around, eyes bloodshot, and charge at Mo Hua once more.

Seeing Lord Qingchou closing in, Mo Hua ceased his spells and employed Flowing Water Step and Water Shadow Phantom Body, once again dancing around Lord Qingchou.

After another half a day of this circling, Lord Qingchou still could not get the better of Mo Hua.

His mind stirred, and seizing an opportunity, he abandoned Mo Hua again and turned to strike at Gu Changhuai.

Seeing this, Mo Hua first used Water Prison Technique to bind Lord Qingchou three times, suppressing his speed, then used Fireball Technique to pick him off one by one, using him as target practice.

Lord Qingchou was forced to turn back once more to go after Mo Hua.

And so it went—if he closed in, Mo Hua would evade and circle; if he dared to pull back, Mo Hua would shoot him with spells.

Moreover, Mo Hua appeared to have a weak aura and poor spiritual roots, yet in actual combat, his spiritual power seemed inexhaustible.

The fierce and formidable Lord Qingchou now seemed like a trapped beast, darting left and right, utterly helpless.

Such spellcraft—overcoming the strong with the weak, ever-changing and unpredictable—left the assembled cultivators of the Dao Court Division deeply shaken.

They had never seen anyone wield spells to such a degree.

By this time, Gu Changhuai's Qi Sea had also recovered somewhat.

After all this time, the aftereffects of using high-tier Dao Arts had finally subsided.

Gu Changhuai's aura gradually strengthened.

Lord Qingchou, still seething with rage, sensed Gu Changhuai's aura and felt a chill in his heart, realizing things were turning dire.

Once Gu Changhuai's strength fully recovered and he joined forces with this black-robed villain before him...

Then no matter how many lives he had, he would likely end up paying for them all right here.

Hesitation invites disaster.

"No, I must retreat..."

But retreating like this... Lord Qingchou simply could not accept it. Fleeing in such disgrace was worse than death to him.

Lord Qingchou pondered briefly, then a thought struck him, and he abruptly turned his head.

This time, he did not charge at Gu Changhuai, but at the distant cultivators of the Dao Court Division.

He could not kill Mo Hua, and Gu Changhuai was uncertain as well, so he seemed to settle for killing a few random people to vent his fury.

Mo Hua seemed to have anticipated Lord Qingchou's intentions, and immediately halted his Movement Technique, switching spell formulas to use Water Prison Technique to seal Lord Qingchou's movements.

But the very instant Mo Hua switched his spell formula, a flash of blood-red light gleamed in Lord Qingchou's eyes, and the rune-patterns on his green skin lit up. With even greater speed, he suddenly turned back for a surprise strike, charging straight at Mo Hua.

This time, Lord Qingchou seemed to be using all his strength—even overdrawing part of his heart's power—moving with extraordinary speed.

Mo Hua was in the middle of switching his spell formula, and in that infinitesimal moment of shock, Lord Qingchou seized the opening and closed in on him.

Seeing this from afar, Gu Changhuai's expression changed instantly.

Mo Hua seemed caught off guard, his body momentarily stiffening as he scrambled to dodge.

Fortunately, his Flowing Water Step was exceptionally refined, even in the nick of time, he managed to slip past Lord Qingchou's killing blow.

Even so, he was still a fraction too slow, and Lord Qingchou grazed him.

Lord Qingchou's malformed yet razor-sharp fingertips, carrying a reeking wind, swept past Mo Hua's cheek.

The move was perilously close, a hair's breadth from disaster.

It didn't tear Mo Hua's face, but the residual reeking wind ripped a large gash in his cloak, and even sheared off a lock of his hair.

Just a little more... and his face would have been split in two.

Lord Qingchou seethed with regret, furious at the missed opportunity. Yet that tear had also parted the cloak, revealing half of Mo Hua's face.

That half-face was pale as the moon, warm and smooth as jade, with brows like stars—indescribably youthful and handsome.

Even Lord Qingchou was stunned for a moment, hardly believing his eyes.

He had assumed such a despicable, sinister, vile, and filthy wretch would surely be an old schemer, with a face twisted by malice and cunning.

But never did he expect the man to bear such an unbelievable face, and to be so infuriatingly young.

Lord Qingchou grew even more enraged.

Meanwhile, Gu Changhuai, seeing Mo Hua nearly fall to Lord Qingchou's hands, darkened his expression.

Ignoring his unhealed injuries, he rose and began gathering a Spell, striking toward Lord Qingchou with murderous intent blazing in his eyes.

Lord Qingchou was startled, knowing he couldn't delay any longer, his goal had already been achieved.

With a quick glance, Lord Qingchou snatched the lock of Mo Hua's hair into his grasp, then shot Mo Hua a venomous look, as if gazing at a dead man, before transforming into a reeking wind and fleeing, no longer lingering to fight Mo Hua and Gu Changhuai.

Gu Changhuai's Wind Blade struck out, cleaving into Lord Qingchou's body, but it couldn't stop him.

Mo Hua seemed shaken, standing frozen in place, unmoving.

Watching the most troublesome, most infamous culprit—the instigator of the chaos in the Prefecture Realm—escape, Gu Changhuai inwardly lamented the missed chance, yet also felt a flicker of relief.

After all, had Lord Qingchou not fled and instead stayed to fight to the death, it was hard to say who would have lived and who would have died...

Gu Changhuai's hidden wounds churned within him, a metallic taste rising in his throat, but he bore the pain and walked over to Mo Hua. Seeing the torn cloak and the exposed half of his face, he asked in a low, shaken voice:

"Did that beast hurt you?"

Mo Hua shook his head. "No."

Gu Changhuai studied Mo Hua carefully for a moment, and only when he saw that aside from the torn cloak and a few strands of hair lost at his temple, there were no other injuries, did he relax.

Then Gu Changhuai sighed, somewhat self-reproachfully: "I failed to kill that green-faced fiend... he got away..."

But Mo Hua consoled him: "That beast is indeed hard to kill. Don't take it to heart, Uncle Gù..."

Gu Changhuai wanted to say more, but Mo Hua interjected: "This ancient forest is strange, not a good place to talk. Let's leave first..."

Gu Changhuai pondered for a moment, nodded, then looked toward the direction Lord Qingchou had fled.

That was the deeper reaches of the Thousand Spider Ancient Forest, gloomy as an abyss, hiding who knew what, stirring unease in the heart.

Gu Changhuai furrowed his brow and sighed deeply: "We let that beast escape this time. Who knows when we'll get another chance to kill him..."

"Behind this beast, there may be other, even more terrifying presences..."

"Yes..."

Mo Hua nodded, though a flicker passed through his eyes, and a faint, elusive smile of amusement curled at the corner of his lips, tinged with a hint of eeriness.

(End of Chapter)