Thus, Mo Hua was stationed in the second-grade Black Horn Mountain Range. He spent his time gathering barbarian children to re-educate them, forging barbarian armor to strengthen tribal cultivators, and campaigning in all directions. Whenever he had a spare moment, he would stealthily hunt barbarian gods based on the list Elder Zamu had scouted, devouring their mental power to further enhance his divine sense.

His days were busy and fulfilling, leaving Mo Hua with no time for other concerns.

The pace of external conquests noticeably slowed. The Black Horn Mountain Range was twice the size of the Utu Mountain Range, containing over twenty tribes of varying sizes, many of which were not weak. Since Mo Hua had stepped back and ceased personal intervention, allowing Wucha and his allies to lead the fight, the process naturally became much more arduous and prolonged.

However, this was a necessary phase. As a “Witch Priest,” Mo Hua could not constantly be at the forefront or always take action, as it would leave too many traces and vulnerabilities. Wucha and his forces, too, needed to learn to stand on their own, becoming sharp “blades” to conquer on his behalf.

This inevitably required a period of adjustment and growth, which would bring casualties among barbarian cultivators, along with various setbacks and failures, thus consuming a relatively long time. Nevertheless, it was all indispensable. Without undergoing this stage and these trials, his subordinate forces could not truly take shape or develop significant combat strength. At the very least, within a second-grade mountain range, they needed to possess the independent ability to conquer and pacify various small tribes.

Most of the Three Thousand Wildernesses were second-grade mountain ranges, and they also contained the highest number of small tribes. Mo Hua, after all, was just one person and couldn’t be everywhere at once. He also had more crucial tasks: imparting knowledge, cultivating his divine sense, and seeking to form his Golden Core. He couldn’t “use a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken” by personally pacifying every single small tribe. Therefore, it was vital for Wucha and his forces to develop the capacity for independent warfare and mountain range pacification. This would save Mo Hua a great deal of time, though the initial phase of conquest would undoubtedly be slow.

This process lasted for half a year. It took a full six months for Wucha, leading the Wulu, Black Horn, Wotai, Utu, and other allied barbarian cultivators, to completely conquer and pacify the second-grade Black Horn Mountain Range. By all accounts, six months was already considered a short time, yet Mo Hua still found it quite protracted.

His ambition was immense; at this rate, conquering the entire Three Thousand Wildernesses would likely take a thousand years. After all, the Three Thousand Wildernesses were not entirely composed of small mountain ranges; they also contained numerous large mountain ranges and major tribes. These were the truly formidable challenges, virtually insurmountable obstacles. After unifying the Utu and Black Horn Mountain Ranges, Mo Hua faced a sharp question: should he campaign against the third-grade mountain ranges?

Approximately two thousand *li* southwest of the Black Horn Mountain Range lay a third-grade barbarian mountain range. Mo Hua took the time to visit, stealthily observing the situation within the range, and immediately dismissed the idea upon his return. It was completely unfeasible.

The third-grade mountain range to the southwest was vast, roughly estimated to be ten times the size of the Black Horn Mountain Range. This mountain range also lacked a unified name, as it was divided among nearly ten third-grade tribes. And astonishingly, all these tribes were commanded by powerful barbarian cultivators at the late Golden Core stage. Mo Hua was quite shocked. This was not an ordinary third-grade mountain range, but a “strong third-grade” major mountain range.

If it were a typical small third-grade mountain range, with only one or two third-grade tribes whose highest cultivation was around the early Golden Core stage, Mo Hua might still consider it. But such a strong third-grade mountain range was a true behemoth, simply too powerful to engage. With the limited territory and strength he had accumulated, rushing into a third-grade mountain range would lead to instant annihilation. Even without considering the entire mountain range, just picking any one of those third-grade major tribes, the current barbarian cultivator alliance would be no match at all.

After all, he didn’t even have a single Golden Core cultivator under his command. Even if he disregarded the backlash from his Fatal Calamity and personally acted, activating the Void-Slaying Divine Sword, he could only slay Golden Core cultivators whose divine sense was below twenty-two patterns. Without the disintegration of large-scale formations, he would be no match for cultivators at the mid or late Golden Core stages. The third-grade mountain ranges were simply untouchable.

Thus, he could only continue expanding into the surrounding second-grade small mountain ranges to accumulate more strength.

After some thought, Mo Hua summoned Wucha. Inside the large encampment tent, Wucha saluted Mo Hua, half-kneeling, proclaiming, “Witch Priest, you are sagacious!” His expression was fervent. They now controlled two complete second-grade mountain ranges: Utu and Black Horn. This was something Wucha had never dared to dream of in his entire life.

According to barbarian history and tradition, conquering and pacifying a mountain range solely through tribal might would take at least several decades, or even a hundred years. Most tribes and most barbarian cultivators would never achieve such a feat in their entire lives. Now, under the guidance of the “Witch Priest,” they had accomplished this in just half a year, which could only be described as a “miracle.” Of course, the only regret was that he, the tribal chief leading the conquests, was not the true master of the mountain ranges. The true master of both the Utu and Black Horn Mountain Ranges was the Witch Priest. Such a vast territory, so many followers, and genuinely great power were all held by the Witch Priest.

Wucha’s gaze towards Mo Hua instinctively held a hint of greed. This gaze, naturally, did not escape Mo Hua’s eyes. Mo Hua sighed softly in his heart. He had guessed correctly: the barbarian nature was hard to change, especially for someone like Wucha, who was astute, greedy, bloodthirsty, and a tribal chief. Wucha might not be entirely without “loyalty” towards him, but deep down, he still harbored profound greed. His loyalty was genuine, but his greed was equally deeply rooted, so much so that Wucha himself couldn’t suppress his own thoughts. In Mo Hua’s presence, he might be “loyal,” but given the right opportunity, his greed could lead him to rebellion. This was the typical mindset of most adult barbarian cultivators.

Therefore, they could not be allowed to stop. Since they were “wolves,” they had to be driven to continuously conquer. With a solemn expression, Mo Hua slowly said: “Seven days from now, you will lead the Wulu Tribe, the Black Horn Tribe, and the recently subdued Hujin and Qilian Tribes, to continue west and campaign against the third mountain range.” Wucha paused, then bowed, “Yes.” After repeated campaigns, Wucha felt some dissatisfaction, but he dared not voice any objection.

Knowing Wucha’s thoughts, Mo Hua spoke again: “I intend to name this mountain range ‘Wucha Mountain Range’.” Wucha was stunned, then trembled all over. “‘Wucha Range’…” Mo Hua nodded, “Indeed. If you conquer it, it will be named after you. Not just you; future conquered mountain ranges can be named after your descendants or your subordinates. This is an supreme honor, and a reward from the Divine Lord for your valiant struggles.” Wucha trembled with excitement. In an instant, all his petty thoughts vanished, replaced by the most fervent loyalty to the “Witch Priest.” He knelt on the ground and swore: “Wucha will bravely fight for the Witch Priest and conquer vast territories!” Mo Hua said sternly, “Not for me, but for the Divine Lord.” Wucha replied, “Yes, everything is for the Divine Lord!”

Wucha departed, continuing the conquests on Mo Hua’s behalf. For a long time thereafter, Wucha treated Mo Hua’s words as “iron decrees,” executing them strictly. This included not killing prisoners or abusing barbarian slaves, and after campaigns were settled, they were not to plunder defeated tribes or defile barbarian women, and so on. Wucha exerted himself fully, and external expansion proceeded smoothly.

Besides Wucha, another person was greatly promoted by Mo Hua. This person was tall and strong, named Jue Li, a warrior from the Black Horn Tribe and Elder Jue Hu’s illegitimate son. Wucha was warlike and bloodthirsty; Jue Li was tall and steady. One offensive, one defensive, they conquered tribes and pacified mountain ranges for Mo Hua. This was Mo Hua’s external arrangement.

Internally, Mo Hua was responsible for coordinating how to govern the conquered tribes, maintain the people’s livelihoods, and organize production. This was specifically implemented by elders from the Utu Tribe, Black Horn Tribe, and other tribes who were knowledgeable and skilled in witchcraft. External warfare was merely a means; internal governance was the foundation. Only by governing the tribes well could the barbarian cultivators’ livelihoods be improved. Only then could the foundation in the Great Wilderness be stable, and Mo Hua’s desired results be achieved.

This was not something that could be accomplished overnight; various conflicts and difficulties would arise during this process. Mo Hua continuously pondered, solved problems, and accumulated experience on how to sustain cultivators’ livelihoods and improve people’s lives from the bottom up, especially in resource-scarce environments. These matters, though perhaps tedious and mundane, were very meaningful. Most barbarian tribes were thus able to survive years of warfare and famine.

They could now eat meat. Millet and sorghum were planted around the tribal settlements, ensuring their livelihood even if they couldn’t hunt demonic beasts. Barbarian children received a certain level of cultivation education. The education they received was personally “improved” by Mo Hua. In the Great Wilderness, spiritual stones were scarce, and cultivation traditions were relatively primitive, closely related to “demons” and “beasts.” Often, it was hard to distinguish between righteous cultivation and demonic cultivation.

Mo Hua therefore gathered all the cultivation traditions of the various tribes, then sifted through them, personally revising and deleting those traditions that were clearly demonic cultivation paths and easily led to qi deviation. He also integrated a portion of the orthodox cultivation traditions of the Tai Xu Sect into the original traditions of each tribe, aiming for simplicity, clarity, practicality, and resourcefulness. To the greatest extent possible, using the fewest resources, he aimed to ensure that the maximum number of children could build a certain foundation in cultivation during their formative years, and that this cultivation was righteous and free from the risk of qi deviation. Many barbarian tribes and their children thus had their life trajectories changed, opening up different possibilities.

As time flowed, another two years passed. Wucha and Jue Li had conquered five more second-grade mountain ranges. These mountain ranges were incorporated into Mo Hua’s sphere of influence and, under his influence, underwent a fundamental transformation through subtle changes. Mo Hua’s own gains were also significant. He had largely confirmed that his “philosophy” of seeking the Dao was feasible, and he had accumulated rich experience.

In order to preach and guide the barbarian children in their cultivation, Mo Hua collected almost all the cultivation traditions, texts, and classics from the vast majority of tribes across the seven barbarian mountain ranges within his sphere of influence. He then sorted, integrated, compiled, and recorded them. These inherited classics represented a significant wealth of knowledge. Thanks to this, Mo Hua gained a deeper understanding of the history and cultivation system of the Great Wilderness.

He also restored three methods for forging barbarian armor. Besides the Black Horn Barbarian Armor, there were also the Red Fire Barbarian Armor, Night Stalker Barbarian Armor, and Verdant Vine Barbarian Armor. These three sets of armor, improved by Sword Bones and arranged by Elder Jue Hu, had been put into production and were being used by the allied barbarian cultivators. Clad in barbarian armor, they followed orders strictly. Mo Hua’s barbarian cultivators now increasingly resembled the “barbarian soldiers” of the Great Wilderness.

Besides the armor forging methods, Mo Hua also unexpectedly found some ancient texts on demon bone divination. Most of these were incomplete, and in these lower-tier tribes, hardly any barbarian cultivators could master these divination arts, so they were not well-preserved. However, these incomplete fragments were still extremely valuable to Mo Hua. What he lacked was not an understanding of the “Dao of Karma,” but rather the specific means to perform “karma arts.”

Mo Hua only needed some fragmented texts to inspire his thoughts. He could then, relying on his extraordinarily powerful divine sense, incredible computational ability, and exceptionally high comprehension, restore and complete the divination methods himself. Karma arts were extremely important. During these two years, Mo Hua spent a large portion of his free time studying these fragmented divination scrolls from the Great Wilderness. Using his divine sense and computational ability, he restored, completed, deduced, and comprehended them independently. Under the influence of these scattered barbarian divination fragments from various tribes, Mo Hua’s mastery of karma arts gradually accumulated and deepened imperceptibly.

While studying these ancient, obscure, and incomplete barbarian divination texts, Mo Hua unexpectedly discovered some ancient Great Wilderness script. These ancient characters, passed down from unknown barbarian ancestors, were even more fragmented, scattered, vague, and incomprehensible. But one particular term made Mo Hua’s heart tremble: “Great Witch Priest…”

Mo Hua’s thoughts churned. According to the Second Elder, the second-grade, twenty-four-pattern Twelve Channels Gluttonous Spirit Skeleton Absolute Array was created by an incredibly talented and brilliant Great Wilderness Great Witch Priest. But Mo Hua didn’t know if the “Great Witch Priest” mentioned in these karma fragments was the same person as the “Great Witch Priest” who created the Gluttonous Spirit Skeleton Array, as mentioned by the Second Elder.

“If it’s the same person, then this Great Witch Priest was not only proficient in array formations but also in the Dao of Karma?” Mo Hua mused, finding it plausible. If someone could become a Great Witch Priest, they must be highly capable; it would be reasonable for them to be proficient in both array formations and divination, just like himself. But the question remained: were these two “Great Witch Priests” truly the same person? And how many Great Witch Priests had there been in the history of the Great Wilderness?

Mo Hua couldn’t directly ask such a question. After all, he was currently a “Witch Priest” and couldn’t ask such “low-level” questions. But unable to suppress his curiosity, he approached Elder Zamu and subtly brought up the topic under the guise of “testing him.” The result greatly surprised Mo Hua. Elder Zamu apparently had no knowledge of any “Great Witch Priest.” According to him, in the barbarian lands, there were only “Upper Witches,” meaning high-ranking Witch Priests, but never a “Great Witch Priest.”

Mo Hua was skeptical, so he “tested” others as well, but no barbarian cultivators mentioned the words “Great Witch Priest.” It was as if these three words had been erased from the history of the Great Wilderness. Not just the person “Great Witch Priest,” but even the title itself had ceased to exist. Mo Hua frowned, feeling an indescribable strangeness. He even felt a faint, inexplicable chill of eeriness settling over his heart. But the clue about the Great Witch Priest ended there. Mo Hua wanted to investigate further but had no starting point.

At the same time, a very realistic problem lay before him: should he attack the third-grade mountain ranges? If so, how? Even though he had now unified seven second-grade small mountain ranges, his power and military strength were greatly expanded, and his popular base among the common barbarian cultivators was very solid. But this did not mean he truly possessed the strength to contend with a strong third-grade mountain range. The disparity between second-grade and third-grade was immense, not to mention these were third-grade major tribes with late Golden Core cultivators in command.

But if he didn’t attack, his forces couldn’t develop further. All seven surrounding small mountain ranges had been conquered by him, preventing external expansion. And if Wucha, Jue Li, and the other campaigning barbarian cultivators stopped, chaos would surely ensue. Their awareness was not that high. Their loyalty still harbored selfishness and greed. They might not dare to defy him, the Witch Priest, but they would certainly descend into internal conflict among themselves. Whether he chose conservatism or expansion, there would be problems. Mo Hua was quite troubled by this, but after a long period of consideration, he still found no good solution.

Finding himself free, Mo Hua took a trip to the back mountain of the Utu Mountain Range to see the great tiger. The great tiger’s life was very comfortable now. Mo Hua had designated a large area of the mountain range, off-limits to barbarian cultivators, for the great tiger to roam freely. The great tiger had plenty to eat and drink, and would stir up wind and rain in the forest when it pleased, looking exceptionally majestic. Consequently, its physique had grown even more robust, and its fur had become denser and more vivid: its whites whiter, and its blacks blacker, making it look both powerful and handsome.

The great tiger’s happiest times, naturally, were when Mo Hua came to visit and roasted meat for it. Mo Hua stroked the great tiger’s fur, and couldn’t help but wonder if he should forge armor for the great tiger and have it join him in campaigning against the third-grade mountain ranges. But looking at the cheerful great tiger, Mo Hua shook his head again. “No… not yet, at least.”

The great tiger’s cultivation level was at the peak of the second-grade. Although it was a powerful demonic beast and a king among them, and capable of fighting Golden Core cultivators, this didn’t mean it could actually kill a Golden Core cultivator. Even if it could kill one, it would certainly suffer severe injuries, possibly even being on the brink of death. This was not what Mo Hua wanted to see. Moreover, to truly campaign against a third-grade mountain range, the enemies would surely be more than just one or two Golden Core cultivators. The great tiger’s identity was also special; once it appeared, it would certainly attract disputes among the barbarian tribes. It could ultimately lead to a major crisis.

Mo Hua stroked the white fur on the great tiger’s neck, sighed, and murmured: “Forget it, you’re too valuable. You can’t make an appearance yet.” The great tiger, not understanding, shook its large head, then extended a furry paw and scratched at the flame array on the ground a couple of times, signaling Mo Hua to quickly roast meat for it as it was very hungry. Mo Hua was a little helpless. “This silly tiger… it’s truly become an essence.” He could only activate the flame array and continue roasting meat for the great tiger.

After roasting meat and feeding the great tiger, Mo Hua returned to the tribe and pondered for a long time. He decided that he still needed to find a way to attack the third-grade mountain ranges in the Great Wilderness. Although it was difficult and seemed impossible, he had to try. Moreover, the major tribes in the third-grade mountain ranges had long histories; they certainly possessed more karma-related texts, and ancient written records would undoubtedly be more complete. There should even be third-grade barbarian gods. If so, he might be able to consume richer thought power, learn more advanced karma arts, and perhaps even uncover more forbidden secrets.