Chapter 1557: Five Ghosts Curse Art

Chapter 1557: Five Ghosts Curse Art

"Seizing Souls and Commanding Generals... Grand Art?"

Mo Hua's pupils constricted slightly. This Seizing Souls and Commanding Generals... could it be that Wang Liangzi's signature skill, the Unorthodox Path Fāng Art he excelled at most?

Seizing Souls and Commanding Generals...

As Mo Hua murmured these four words, his heart felt as though it bore the weight of a thousand catties.

This was a revelation from Heavenly Secrets Cause-and-Effect.

It seemed this Fāng Art was of vital importance to him.

But as things stood now, Mo Hua knew only a smattering. He did not know the inner principles, the rituals, or the Spell Formula methods of this 《Seizing Souls and Commanding Generals Grand Art》.

Thus he did not quite understand why his Karmic Intuition had shifted so, nor exactly where this Fāng Art's importance to him lay...

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then asked Great General Chang:

"This Wang Liangzi... just who is he? What Unorthodox Path does he belong to? Where is his Dao temple?"

Great General Chang frowned in thought, then shook his head and said:

"To be honest, Esteemed Master, apart from this vice-general, no one knows just who this Wang Liangzi really is. Even this vice-general knows only the two words 'Wang Liangzi,' and that he is the true culprit behind the murders and exterminations of whole households. Beyond that, I know nothing at all."

"This old man made inquiries. There are quite a few similar cases, households massacred to the last soul, with ropes looped around their necks."

"But these are all unsolved cases. No one knows who the killer is. As for the motives and methods behind the killings, opinions vary widely."

Mo Hua's gaze deepened slightly.

"In other words, this Wang Liangzi acts with extreme caution—harming people, killing them, exterminating whole households—without leaving even a name, and without letting anyone know his whereabouts?"

Great General Chang nodded. "That is indeed so..."

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then nodded and said:

"I understand this matter now. As for that vice-general, have him forget this affair, and forget this name as well. Let it never be mentioned again, lest he bring trouble upon himself. As for what comes after, this Esteemed Master has his own methods..."

Hearing this, Great General Chang cupped his hands and said: "Everything shall be done in strict accordance with Esteemed Master Mo's instructions."

Afterward, Mo Hua gave a few more instructions, and Great General Chang withdrew.

Within the tent, only Mo Hua remained.

Mo Hua sat upright in the high chair draped with jackal-wolf demon hide, unconsciously propping his chin with his right hand, much like the Divine-Shaman of old, his gaze shifting as he slowly sank into thought.

"Wang Liangzi..."

"Acting without leaving a name, committing evil and always silencing witnesses... so cautious and careful... is he afraid his name will become known?"

"If I had not now gathered an army of eight hundred thousand rioters, with so many people and so many ears, there might truly have been no way to trace his cause and effect, perhaps not even his name would have come to light..."

"His whereabouts so secret, leaving no trace... even among the Unorthodox Path, this is somewhat rare..."

"Is it because his origins are improper?"

"His Unorthodox Path inheritance... did he steal it or seize it by force? Something that cannot be made public, that cannot see the light of day?"

"Where did he steal or seize it from?"

"The 《Seizing Souls and Commanding Generals Grand Art》... just hearing the name, one knows its origins are no small matter. Could it be the core sect inheritance of some great Unorthodox Path sect, a secret not passed to outsiders?"

"That is why this Wang Liangzi skulks about, always silencing witnesses when he kills, dreading the slightest leak?"

Should I set a trap, kill this Wang Liangzi, and get my hands on his Seizing Souls and Commanding Generals methods to have a look?

Mo Hua mused inwardly.

Though he did not know what wondrous use this Seizing Souls and Commanding Generals had, or what problem of his it could solve, he trusted his Karmic Intuition, this thing was certain to be very important.

Mo Hua immediately began. He took out a Jade Slip and recorded all the information about this Wang Liangzi to date—name, appearance, past karmic deeds—one by one, then calculated on his fingers.

He wanted to trace Wang Liangzi's whereabouts through cause and effect and devise a killing scheme.

But after calculating for a long time, with various Karmic Threads interwoven, Mo Hua gradually realized a problem:

He couldn't kill him...

So far, the cause and effect Wang Liangzi had revealed was still too little. No matter how Mo Hua calculated, there seemed to be no Karmic Thread that could directly lead to this Wang Liangzi's death.

This Wang Liangzi's cultivation was probably not low, his Unorthodox Path Fāng Arts were superb, and he was hiding among a million Green-Faced Multitude, neither easy to find nor easy to kill.

He himself could not risk going to assassinate him either.

A son of a thousand gold does not sit beneath a crumbling wall.

A million Green-Faced Multitude was no small number. Seen from afar, it was almost like a vast ocean, boundless and endless.

Once trapped within it and surrounded and killed layer upon layer, as long as one could not fly, even a Late Golden Core Stage cultivator would probably be ground to death by the sea of people.

And in that kind of battlefield, dense with crowds and bristling with blades like a forest, the concealment technique was almost useless.

Flowing Water Step could maneuver, but the margin for error was almost zero.

Mo Hua had not forgotten that his physical body was not strong and could not withstand much injury. Once he slipped up, his life would be gone.

Perhaps there were Golden Core Cultivators who could rely on the strength of their physical bodies to hold a pass alone against a million soldiers.

But that person might be Little Senior Brother, yet it was definitely not Mo Hua himself.

In the Changshan Army, no one had that ability.

Sending Bai XiaoSheng and Uncle Gù to assassinate him was likewise very dangerous.

Uncle Gù need not be mentioned. Although Bai XiaoSheng had a sharp tongue, he was at least the grandnephew of his own Little Senior Sister.

Although Bai XiaoSheng would not admit it verbally, in his heart Mo Hua had always treated Bai XiaoSheng as a junior.

An elder must have magnanimity and must not screw over a junior.

Still less could he send him into a million-strong army to assassinate a dangerous [Fāngshì].

Mo Hua knew clearly that [Fāngshì] were proficient in Unorthodox Path Fāng Arts, and their combat power was not easy to evaluate directly by realm.

Sometimes, if your luck was good, you might kill a [Fāngshì] with a single blade.

But sometimes, if your fate was poor and you fell for a [Fāngshì]'s sinister trick, you might instead be played to death by the [Fāngshì].

The strong are always strong, but that does not mean the strong are certain to win.

Nor does it mean the strong will not die.

After all, within the Cultivation World there were still many unseen Heavenly Secret killing intents, karmic curses, and shady ghost-domain tricks hidden in the dark.

That being the case, there was no way on his side to cross a million rioters and execute this mysterious Wang Liangzi.

Then the only option was... to wait for Wang Liangzi to come to him?

But there was another problem: if Wang Liangzi came looking for him, he could not just directly transform his Divine-Sense Thought into a sword and split him dead, could he?

He still could not stain his hands with a human life right now.

Moreover, if he really did kill him with one sword strike, then from whom would he ask about the 《Seizing Souls and Commanding Generals Grand Art》?

From his traces, this vicious Wang Liangzi was by no means easy to deal with.

He also absolutely would not obediently let himself manipulate him.

So meeting him would inevitably mean a fight to the death.

Mo Hua himself had quite a few methods in the way of Divine-Sense Thought, but more or less, all of them had limitations.

Apart from Divine Sense Transforming into Sword, whether it was Divine-Sense Thought magic spells or Divine-Sense Thought formations... powerful as they were, they were all too crude.

They were things Mo Hua used by instinct, lacking refined methods and subtle, unpredictable variations.

The identity markers were also too obvious.

If word got out in the future, anyone watching would see fireballs and formations and know this person was "Mo Hua."

The true nature of this Esteemed Master Mo would be seen through at a glance, and that would not be good.

Even Bai XiaoSheng had been able to infer from the faintest traces that he might have some connection to the 《Taixu Divine Sense Sword-Manifesting True Art.》

If he truly used Divine Sense Transforming into Sword along with all kinds of magic spells and formations to rampage through the Unorthodox Path world, who knew how many eyes and suspicions he would attract.

Once Divine Sense Transforming into Sword was exposed, who knew how many people would want to harm him and seize the Sword Dao inheritance because of this Forbidden Art sword art.

He would certainly also bring no small amount of criticism upon Great Void Sect.

Great Void Sect and Old Mister Xun had shown him kindness as weighty as a mountain; he could not bring them trouble.

Therefore, Esteemed Master Mo was simply Esteemed Master Mo, and absolutely could not be Mo Hua.

At least on the surface, he could not leave anyone a handle to grasp. Even if they shared the surname Mo, they absolutely could not be the same person.

After all, in this world, many people shared the same given name, let alone the same surname.

Then the Esteemed Master Mo of Kun Province should be completely different from Mo Hua...

Since he was an Esteemed Master, then without question, he must be skilled in Unorthodox Path Fāng Arts...

But the problem was, he was not currently proficient in any Unorthodox Path Fāng Arts.

The only one he was somewhat familiar with...

Mo Hua's mind stirred, and he suddenly thought of the Curse Art that his Divine Sense Body had been struck by when he clashed with Master Wu and was killed by him:

"Five-Ghosts Human-Faced Curse-Slaying Art..."

Mo Hua pondered inwardly.

This Curse Art was sinister, vicious, and ruthless, and seemed to be the signature inheritance of Master Wu's lineage.

Taking it and using it as the signature Unorthodox Path magic spell of the Esteemed Master Mo of the Tongxian Cult in Kun Province seemed quite fitting.

Master Wu had killed him, so taking the curse-slaying inheritance as compensation—cause and effect exchanged—was also entirely fair...

Mo Hua nodded slightly, and without further hesitation, began recalling in his mind the circumstances of when he had been curse-killed by Master Wu.

Every detail concerning the 《Five-Ghosts Human-Faced Curse-Slaying Art》 also replayed in Mo Hua's mind:

"The Fāng Art I am teaching you now is a type of Gu Arts... it is called the Five-Ghosts Human-Faced Curse-Slaying Art..."

"...Refine five Human-Face Ghost Spiders into Gu insects, cruelly strangle them, and after they die, form curse-thought, which merges into the five fingers..."

"When casting, the five fingers transform into curses. Using a cause-and-effect medium, the Divine Sense Thought Power of the Human-Face Ghost Spiders is infiltrated into another's Sea of Consciousness, and they can be instantly curse-killed..."

As he said this, the scene of Master Wu's fingers suddenly turning black, his fingernails bulging, his flesh rotting, and five Ghost Mask spiders drilling out and crawling up his own forehead also surfaced one by one in his mind...

Mo Hua's Divine-Sense circulated, and he began to extract the basic structure of the curse-slaying Spell Formula from these words and images:

"The number of this Gu Art: the number of the Five Poisons."

"The source of curse power: five Human-Face Ghost Spiders, taking the Resentment of killing to form the power of curse death."

"The locking method: cause and effect as the medium..."

"The method of casting the curse: the five fingers transform into curses..."

"The form of curse-thought: Human-Face Ghost Spiders..."

"The ritual process: nurturing poison, forming Gu, refining Gu, generating resentment, transforming thought, refining the curse..."

...

In his mind, Mo Hua replayed the scene of Master Wu casting the curse and himself being cursed to death, over and over, frame by frame, observing, studying, pondering, and savoring it in detail...

Master Wu was right. The fastest way to learn a Fāng Art was to experience it firsthand.

The fastest way to learn Curse Arts was to personally die under a curse.

Having died once and experienced the process of being cursed to death, one would naturally gain a profound understanding that ordinary people lacked.

Mo Hua observed, comprehended, and ran Derivative Algorithms all at once.

After watching about seventy or eighty times, the various details of the entire Five Ghosts Human-Face Curse-Killing Art began to be parsed, restored, and reconstructed bit by bit in Mo Hua's mind.

The various key points of the Spell Formula and the entire spell process were also gradually becoming clear.

Finally, after backtracking and observing the scene of his own cursed death a full one hundred and twenty-four times, Mo Hua had at last reconstructed the basic framework and structure of the Five Ghosts Human-Face Curse Art.

Mo Hua could also roughly understand the necessary procedures and casting elements required to perform the 《Five-Ghosts Human-Faced Curse-Slaying Art》.

But instead of being happy, Mo Hua frowned deeply.

Because he realized that even though he had reconstructed this curse art, he still seemed unable to use it.

This was a curse-killing art. The Resentment of the Human-faced Spider was fierce and venomous, the slightest carelessness could cause death.

Mo Hua did not lack means to kill.

On the contrary, he was now plagued by Fate Bane and needed to cultivate his character, unable to kill casually.

Beyond that, the most critical problem was:

He also lacked the material medium for casting the curse, namely, those five Human-Face Ghost Spiders that carried fierce poison and had been refined through Gu poison.

These five Human-Face Ghost Spiders were simultaneously the material medium, the Gu insects, the ritual sacrifices, and the source of the curse's power.

Without the Ghost Spiders, where would he go to refine curse power?

Without curse power, how could the curse art possibly have any power?

As for the rest—the cause and effect locking and the curse-casting hand seals, which were of a single-method nature—to other [Fāngshì], these might be the greatest difficulty.

But to Mo Hua, they were actually the simplest.

"Ghost Spiders... curse power..."

Mo Hua's gaze darkened slightly as he realized his thinking had still been a bit too simplistic.

Just from watching once and dying under someone else's curse-killing art, he had wanted to learn Master Wu's trump-card curse-killing technique that the man had cultivated for many years. It really was somewhat too wishful.

At the very least, the experience of raising the Five Poisons, raising spiders, raising Gu insects, and cultivating curse art materials, without a hundred or so years of dedicated study, it was simply impossible to master.

That Master Wu had probably raised them for one or two hundred years to produce this kind of fiercely poisonous Human-Face Ghost Spider.

Only then did he have the spell formula foundation to perform the Five Ghosts Human-Face Curse Art.

But where would he find the leisure to spend so many years raising a bunch of damned spiders?

Mo Hua frowned and thought:

"Or maybe I should go back to the Thousand Spider Ancient Forest, find Master Wu, and steal some Ghost Spiders from his lair?"

Then Mo Hua shook his head again.

"No, too time-consuming..."

Moreover, these Ghost Spiders were Gu insects, raised for who knows how many years, certainly at the cost of his heart's blood.

Going to rob Master Wu of his Ghost Spiders would be like robbing him of his life, there was no way he would let it go.

By then, it would probably be another situation of fighting to the death.

Master Wu's side... there was no rush for now...

Mo Hua concentrated and pondered for a long time, but could find no solution.

Fāng Arts are the Divine Thought Technique of the Unorthodox Path, formless arts that rely on a certain material medium as the basis for casting.

Without a material medium, the foundation for the spell's existence is gone, and many Fāng Arts simply cannot be performed.

So what to do? Without the Ghost Spiders, was he just not going to learn this Curse Art?

Mo Hua felt somewhat unwilling to accept this. After pondering for a long time, almost out of instinct, he subconsciously thought:

"What if... I modify the Fāng Art myself?"

He had modified Cultivation Methods before.

He had modified Forbidden Arts before.

He had modified Formations before.

He had modified Divine Sense Transforming into Sword before.

Even his Lifebound Magical Treasure, the Twelve Meridians Spiritual Skeleton, he had tampered with, making it quite different from the original version.

If all these could be modified, then there was no reason he couldn't modify a mere Fāng Art...

Mo Hua's eyes brightened slightly. He nodded, then pondered further:

"Then... how should I modify the Curse Art..."

Mo Hua once again carefully recalled in his mind the Five Ghosts Human Face Curse Art—its Spell Formula principles, the casting process, the flow of curse power—reviewing it over and over.

At the end, his heart suddenly skipped a beat:

"I've been fooled by appearances..."

"The Unorthodox Path's curse power... when you get down to it, isn't it just Divine Sense Thought Power?"

"Others need a material medium and cruel rituals to generate stronger curse power."

"But I don't need to..."

"My own Divine Sense Thought Power can serve as powerful curse power, can't it?"

Of course, using Divine Sense Thought Power directly didn't seem quite right either... it was missing something. Then...

Mo Hua's gaze narrowed slightly. Then, with a flash of spiritual insight, he suddenly thought:

"Formations?"

"What if... I use a Formation to first remold my Divine Sense Thought Power, converting it through Formation Style structures into different formation power, and then use that formation power to simulate curse power, to drive the Unorthodox Path Fāng Arts?"

Thereby achieving... the flow and transformation between cultivation Divine Sense Thought Power, formation power, and curse power?!

Mo Hua's expression shifted slightly as he realized his idea might once again be somewhat dangerous...

(End of Chapter)