Chapter 699: Exploitation
Mo Hua once again examined the River God Temple before him, his thoughts stirring.
Several hundred years ago, a senior sword cultivator with long, slanted eyebrows had fought his way to the temple alone, sword in hand. It was likely he had slain many of the temple's evil spirits.
He had even pierced the River God's chest with a single strike.
Since then, the River God had grown fearful and no longer dared to manifest in a physical shrine in the real world.
Instead, it constructed a "phantom" River God Temple within a dreamscape as a refuge—to prevent another sword cultivator who could turn divine sense into a blade from coming again to cut it down.
This dream-temple was nearly cut off from the world.
Other than the Evil God's true followers, likely no one knew the entrance, nor how to enter the temple.
And this so-called Master She was probably not just an ordinary follower.
Otherwise, there was no way the true entrance and the "dream-entering" formation would be in his hands…
Mo Hua glanced around.
Not just him—Gu An, Gu Quan, and several other Gu family cultivators, including Yu Dahe, had all been dragged into the dream. They remained unconscious.
The two black-robed men were missing.
Because their divine sense had already been sacrificed by Master She to open the gate.
Little Shui and Little Shun were gone too.
Their souls were probably already inside this River God Temple… though it was unclear whether they'd already been "eaten" by the River God.
Mo Hua sighed.
"I have to find a way to get inside the River God Temple and take a look…"
The main doors to the temple were tightly shut, but had no visible lock.
Just as Mo Hua stepped up to push them open, his expression froze, gaze sharpening as his figure slowly faded from view.
At the circular stone plaza in front of the River God Temple…
Master She's figure gradually materialized.
He swept his gaze around coldly, his face twisted with vicious delight as he laughed darkly:
"A bunch of pigs! Livestock! You humiliated me again and again along the way—now you've all fallen into my trap."
"I'm the River God's priest. In this fishing village, I am under divine protection. What do you have to fight me with?"
"I endured humiliation all this time just for this moment."
"Now that we're in the dream, I'll slaughter you one by one. Once your divine sense is destroyed, your physical bodies will rot soon enough…"
He pulled out a blood-colored sacrificial dagger, intending to slit Gu An and the others' throats.
But before he acted, he paused, frowning.
"No… that's letting you off too easily…"
"Just killing you, letting you die without even realizing it—that won't cleanse my shame. It won't satisfy my rage."
After a moment of twisted thought, Master She grinned sinisterly.
"That's right… I already planted blood-fish inside you, making you sacrificial offerings for my Divine Lord. Once your divine senses are drained, I'll refine you into half-human, half-demon monsters…"
Excited, he sliced open his wrist with the sacrificial blade. Blood spilled and condensed in the air into a hideous, bloody fish.
Master She grabbed the fish and tried to force it into Gu An's forehead.
But the array mark on Gu An's brow flickered—something blocked it.
No matter how he tried, the fish couldn't get in.
"What the…?"
Master She frowned deeply.
"Why won't the evil spirit take root? Who placed a divine protection on them?"
A faint unease crept into his heart.
Something wasn't right.
"Did I… forget some little pest?"
He looked over everyone again—then his expression shifted.
"That damned brat—where is he?!"
"Looking for me?"
A clear voice rang out behind him.
Startled, Master She turned—only to feel a small, steel-strong hand grip his neck.
"Wha—?!"
His eyes bulged. He struggled with all his might, but no matter what he did, he couldn't escape.
That small hand carried an immense force of divine sense.
With a grunt, he stabbed his own arm with the sacrificial dagger. A burst of bloody mist exploded, blasting the hand off his neck. He barely managed to stagger free.
Once steady, he turned—and saw Mo Hua standing there, smirking.
Only now, Mo Hua seemed slightly smaller than before.
As if… he'd grown younger.
"Brat…"
Master She sneered—but before he could finish, his face twisted.
"No… Who the hell are you? Why is your divine sense so refined? How are you still conscious inside the dream?!"
Mo Hua simply smiled, not bothering to answer.
Master She's expression shifted wildly. In the end, his gaze darkened as he sneered:
"Fine, brat. If you won't talk, don't blame me for being ruthless."
Mo Hua looked amused and replied crisply:
"You wanna fight me?"
"Fight? You're flattering yourself…" Master She curled his lips.
"I'm a proud late Foundation Establishment cultivator, with eighteen-pattern divine sense. In this dream woven by the Divine Lord, dealing with a mere early Foundation brat like you? I could crush you like a bug. You—"
Before he could finish, Mo Hua shot forward like thunder and slammed a fist into his stomach.
The punch was blindingly fast and terrifyingly heavy.
Master She didn't even have time to react before he felt a searing, twisting pain in his gut. His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
He clutched his stomach, groaning, and slowly dropped to his knees before Mo Hua.
Mo Hua grabbed the back of his neck again and ordered:
"Old bastard, take me to your master."
Master She's face twisted in agony. Waves of horror crashed in his heart.
What the hell is this brat?!
I'm at late Foundation Establishment—how can I not even take a single punch from him?!
Where the hell are the rules of cultivation?!
"Who… who are you really?"
Master She gritted out in pain.
Mo Hua applied more pressure.
"You think you're qualified to ask questions?"
With a snap, Master She nearly had his neck broken. He quickly cried out:
"Ancestor! Please have mercy! I'll lead the way!"
Only then did Mo Hua let go.
Master She gasped for breath, stealing a glance at Mo Hua from the corner of his eye—his heart cold as ice.
Shit… I misjudged.
This brat… is the most dangerous one among these Dao Court lackeys.
Outside, he looked like the weakest—low cultivation, arrogant, brainless, a typical spoiled clan kid…
But inside this nightmare, his divine sense is terrifying.
What the hell is he?!
Master She furrowed his brow, still unable to figure it out.
Mo Hua, now clearly annoyed, said:
"Hurry up and lead the way!"
That snapped Master She back to attention. He nodded repeatedly:
"Y-Yes! Right away!"
Then, meek and respectful, he stepped forward and reached to push open the River God Temple doors.
"Wait," Mo Hua suddenly said.
Master She froze instantly, not daring to move.
Mo Hua glanced at Gu An and the others, then asked:
"How do we get them out?"
If divine sense perishes, the body dies too. He didn't want Gu An and the others stuck here, possibly running into danger.
Master She replied:
"Right now, it's not possible."
Mo Hua stared at him in silence.
Master She flinched under the gaze and quickly explained:
"Truly, I can't. Entering the dream is Lord River God's doing—I only set up the altar and borrowed the ritual. I don't have the power to pull anyone out…"
Mo Hua's eyes narrowed.
"You entered the dream too. How did you get out?"
Master She's face twitched slightly.
This brat… way too sharp.
He hesitated, voice weak:
"I…"
Mo Hua cracked his little knuckles.
Master She panicked and quickly confessed: "I… I went to pay respects to Lord River God! Burned incense at the altar, kowtowed three times—then I was able to exit the dream."
"The altar…"
Mo Hua's eyes narrowed slightly. He nodded and said, "Got it. Lead the way."
Master She didn't know what Mo Hua had realized, but he didn't dare ask. He could only resign himself to fate and pushed open the grand doors of the River God Temple.
With a creak, the vermillion doors opened, and the inside of the River God Temple finally revealed the tip of its iceberg.
This dream-constructed River God Temple was far grander than the one outside.
It was also significantly more spacious inside.
Mo Hua stepped into the temple. A long white-stone path stretched before him, flanked by ornate beams and painted pillars, all carved with patterns of fish-like demons.
They walked onward, through the front hall's massive gates, until they reached the temple's central plaza.
Upon stepping into the plaza, Mo Hua's pupils suddenly contracted.
The entire plaza was packed with kneeling "people"!
And these people looked startlingly familiar—upon closer inspection, they were the very same fishermen from every household in the little fishing village.
Even Old Yu was among them, kneeling.
Their forms were illusory, kneeling on both knees, all bowing toward the depths of the River God Temple. In their heads, an ugly blood-fish swam lazily.
These fish swam in their minds as if in water, occasionally taking a bite—each time, the figures of these fisher cultivators grew fainter.
All of them wore expressions of anguish, as though trapped in an eternal nightmare, experiencing endless cycles of suffering—offering their pain as devout faith to the evil god.
Mo Hua's gaze turned grim with pity.
To these villagers, happiness was fleeting. Pain was their whole life.
Whether it was aristocratic clans or evil gods, they were all the same—treating these people as mere "tools," squeezing out every drop of their worth.
But the state these fishermen were in deeply puzzled Mo Hua.
They should've been ordinary rogue cultivators—not on the path of divine sense, and certainly incapable of forming autonomous manifestations within a dream.
The kneeling figures… felt more like—
—The manifestation of their divine sense within the nightmare?
But Mo Hua wasn't certain. So he turned to Master She and asked, "What's the deal with these villagers?"
Master She's eyes rolled slightly, then he solemnly replied:
"These ignorant peasants were born into suffering. So, they prayed to the great River God for blessings and mercy."
Mo Hua said nothing.
Seeing Mo Hua wasn't buying it, Master She quickly added:
"To show compassion, Lord River God created this dreamscape. That way, they can all kneel and pray here—day and night."
Mo Hua's gaze sharpened. He was starting to understand.
Ordinary cultivators lacked divine-sense manifestations.
So the evil god wove a dream.
Within this dream, everyone's divine sense could be drawn out and visualized.
This nightmare was a "collective dreamscape" personally constructed by the River God—or rather, a grand evil god of the Great Wilderness.
Through this dreamscape, the evil god could sustain its followers and feed off their faith, all without them realizing it.
And when Master She said "day and night," he didn't mean it figuratively.
This dream wasn't just the kind you see when you fall asleep at night.
The fisherfolk were constantly dreaming it.
It only surfaced at night—but the medium through which they entered it… was the well water infected with blood-fish.
Mo Hua suddenly recalled the fish soup he drank days ago—how his divine sense was tainted and how he'd been dragged into a terrifying nightmare.
In that dream, he and his little senior sister were caught in endless sorrow—never meeting a happy ending.
When he awoke, he crushed the fish demon lurking in his sea of consciousness.
Had he not done so, and let the corruption deepen… he too might have ended up like these villagers—dragged into this collective nightmare on some future night, never to awaken again, forever reduced to livestock feeding an evil god.
Of course, Mo Hua wasn't afraid.
While dangerous, with his abilities—even if he couldn't defeat a second-rank evil god—he could protect himself.
But these villagers…
They had no power to resist.
They probably didn't even know what was happening to them.
Mo Hua sighed inwardly.
Meanwhile, Master She stood nearby, carefully observing Mo Hua's expression, mind likely scheming gods-know-what.
Mo Hua asked, "Can these villagers be brought out of the dream?"
Master She jumped, trembling as he said:
"Don't say such things!"
He looked around nervously, then lowered his voice and whispered:
"These villagers… are Lord River God's foundation. If you even think of touching them and end up angering the River God, you'll die without a burial!"
Mo Hua just curled his lip in disdain.
Master She grew anxious and quickly tried to dissuade him:
"Y-Young Master… I don't know your background or what kind of terrifying legacy you've inherited, but even with such strong divine sense, you're still just one person—how dare you provoke the might of a god?"
"If you really anger Lord River God… not just you, I—I'll probably get dragged down with you too…"
He added silently in his heart.
The River God's temper… it's never been gentle.
Mo Hua asked curiously, "You've seen the River God?"
Master She's face paled. "Seen… and not seen. I didn't dare look—just knelt on the ground the whole time, head pressed down."
Mo Hua lost interest. "Enough. Just lead the way."
Master She hesitated, not moving forward.
Mo Hua walked a few steps and turned back, frowning. "Why're you just standing there?"
Master She hesitated again. "You… shouldn't go any farther."
"Why not?"
"It's dangerous…"
"So what? Just take me."
Master She's eyelids twitched. "I… don't want to go."
"Then are you planning to leave your life here?" Mo Hua asked innocently—with the tone of a child, but the threat of a guillotine.
Master She's heart roiled with hatred.
A tiger fallen to flatlands gets mocked by dogs!
Damn brat! I'd like to see how long your arrogance lasts!
Fine—if you want to die, I'll gladly escort you there.
Suppressing the rage in his heart, Master She sighed and said, "Fine. Follow me."
He led the way while Mo Hua followed.
They passed through the plaza of kneeling fishermen and continued toward the back hall of the River God Temple.
After a while, they reached the door to the rear chamber.
It was sealed shut with a massive lock.
Darkness loomed beyond it.
Mo Hua glanced at Master She.
Gritting his teeth, Master She finally pulled out the sacrificial dagger, stabbed it into his arm, and let the blade drink deeply of his blood. Once it was saturated, he inserted the dagger into the lock.
The lock trembled, like a demonic beast waking, drinking down the blood from the blade.
After a while, it finished drinking. With a click, the lock opened on its own.
Master She's hand trembled as he carefully removed the lock.
As soon as the doors opened, a gust of cold wind rushed out, laced with the foul stench of rot and blood.
And somehow… that stench felt disturbingly familiar to Mo Hua.
As he stepped through the doors and saw the scene within, his expression froze, eyes filled with disbelief.
In the back hall of the River God Temple, hundreds of iron cages were crammed together—each one imprisoning grotesque abominations, cobbled together from fish heads, human bodies, and monstrous claws.
These monsters were almost identical to the flesh-and-blood abominations he'd seen outside.
But these… were evil spirits!
In that instant, something clicked in Mo Hua's mind. A cascade of realizations burst forth.
He finally understood where the twisted, misshapen monsters from Yu'er's nightmare had come from.
He finally understood why the evil god had gone to such lengths to create so many flesh-forged monstrosities outside.
And he now understood exactly how the evil god had been spreading its gospel… and cultivating its dark forces.
The human traffickers? Just lackeys.
The true forces under the evil god's command were two kinds of terrifying abominations:
Flesh-and-blood monstrosities.
Evil-spirit monstrosities.
One physical. One spiritual.
The flesh beasts attacked the physical body—corrupting meridians, spiritual energy, and qi seas.
The evil spirits invaded the sea of consciousness—devouring divine sense from within the god-woven nightmare realm, unstoppable once inside.
As the thought struck him, Mo Hua's divine sense throbbed in pain.
Cruel scenes surfaced from the depths of karma, flashing through his mind like a lantern reel—
A blood-colored fishing village.
Fisherfolk kneeling in worship.
Their suffering, the foundation of their faith.
That faith, sustenance for the evil god.
The evil god fed on their devotion.
Once that faith was exhausted and their divine sense depleted, the villagers became husks—empty shells—and the evil god raised its blade, commanding black-robed henchmen to slaughter them all.
The villagers' corpses were fused with beasts, refined in sacrificial formations of blood, transforming into grotesque, horrifying flesh monstrosities.
These blood rituals were beyond cruel, birthing immense pain and resentment.
That resentment—along with the lingering divine sense of the slain—fermented, transmuting into new evil spirits.
Mo Hua sucked in a cold breath.
These poor fisherfolk…
Alive, they were food for faith.
Drained, they were slaughtered and used to make monsters.
Dead, their divine sense was fermented and twisted into new spiritual weapons.
Born as prey, died as blades.
Their entire existence—from flesh to soul, from life to death—was exploited, devoured, and utterly erased.
Mo Hua's chest tightened, and an overwhelming killing intent surged in his heart.
Not far off, Master She noticed Mo Hua standing motionless, seemingly dazed. His eyes darkened, and he slyly gripped his sacrificial dagger.
The blade sliced his palm—blood dripped to the floor, forming glowing red patterns.
The abominations, smelling the blood, began to stir restlessly.
Master She trembled slightly in fear, but gritted his teeth and continued bleeding—more patterns began to form on the ground.
These blood patterns slithered along the floor like keys, flowing toward the cages—one by one, unlocking the locks.
Within moments, a dense wave of demonic energy flooded the hall.
Grotesque creatures burst from their cages, eyes crimson, turning their gaze toward Mo Hua.
Only then did Mo Hua snap back to awareness. His gaze fell on the approaching demons—expression calm, emotionless.
At the same time, Master She suddenly stabbed his sacrificial dagger into his own chest. Blood erupted forth and surged toward Mo Hua.
As the blood neared, it instantly formed a blood-red array, locking Mo Hua in place and freezing him on the spot.
Master She's face turned pale, his figure dimming, but he couldn't help sneering smugly:
"Surprised, brat? I'm actually an array master!"
"This is the blood-sacrifice array I've studied for a lifetime—bestowed by the God-Lord himself. In this nightmare realm, it uses blood as ink and dreams as the medium. It's unbreakable!"
"You'll be trapped right here—torn to pieces, one bite at a time, by these hungry monsters…"
"They've been starving for a very long time…"
With that, Master She turned and fled.
He had to leave before the monsters devoured Mo Hua. Otherwise, in their hunger, they might just eat him too.
These things only obeyed the God-Lord. No one else.
His figure fled in panic.
But before he'd made it far, he felt a strange shift in the air behind him. He turned—and his pupils contracted violently.
Hundreds of demonic creatures had surrounded that little brat in a tight, inescapable ring. Their bloodlust was overwhelming.
But—
Despite their numbers…
Despite their madness…
None of them dared come within three feet of Mo Hua.
They only bared their fangs, drooling foul saliva, and growled lowly.
Their gazes were ravenous—but none dared take a step forward.
As if…
As if they were afraid of something.
No—not afraid.
They were terrified!
Master She felt a chill run straight to his bones.
Then he saw it.
Surrounded by the feral beasts, Mo Hua's gaze went cold. Strange divine power flowed over his body—and in a flash, three layers of inky black shadows formed around him, like layered daoist robes.
Mo Hua spread his arms. The eerie divine energy pulsed with his motion, leaving behind phantom trails.
In the blink of an eye, his divine sense roared like a tidal wave.
Arcane array runes surged from the ground like vines in spring—wildly spreading outward.
In just a few breaths, a massive, majestic Mountain-Flame Killing Array had formed.
Mo Hua's pitch-black eyes gleamed, and he softly whispered:
"Kill."
His divine sense erupted. The array detonated like a fiery storm—sweeping across the hall.
All the monsters trapped within were instantly incinerated.
Master She's eyes widened in horror. His knees buckled, and he collapsed on the floor. He struggled to get up—but couldn't move an inch.
When he finally raised his head…
Mo Hua was already standing before him.
"Try another trick…" Mo Hua said lightly, "and I'll crush your neck."
(End of Chapter)