The tall figure, half-skeleton and half-decayed flesh, an Undead, groped in the darkness until it reached an altar.

This altar, like the one outside, echoed its structure, serving as a mother-and-child altar.

And this Undead was a certain ancestor of the Shugu clan.

It lit the altar, and by the faint green ghostly flame, it found a familiar compass made of white bone, intricately carved with various mystical beast patterns.

A trace of nostalgia appeared on the Shugu ancestor’s face, though it was covered in rotten flesh, making its expression unclear.

Then, it activated the compass to fix its Karma, preventing any sliver of life force from leaking out and attracting heavenly backlash.

It then closed its eyes, and when it opened them again, it was already in a grand hall of white bone.

This was a Divine Consciousness Hall meticulously crafted by generations of Bai Gu ancestors through their divine souls.

Its physical body had already died, temporarily preserved within a white bone coffin.

If it still wished to accomplish anything, it could only influence the present world through the Dream Realm, manipulating events through Karma.

It hadn’t wanted to do this, for its existence was not meant to see the light of day, and too much action was ill-advised.

More actions lead to more mistakes; fewer actions lead to fewer mistakes; no actions lead to no mistakes.

Even more, it could disrupt the natural order of life and death, inviting an unknown “Great Terror.”

But it had no choice:

The bloodline contract of its descendants was active. Since a Great Chieftain among its descendants had died, offered their heart, and a shaman had invited it with their life, it had to appear.

This kind of inheritance required descendants.

A bloodline without descendants could not awaken it, but once awakened, it was obliged to do something for its offspring.

The Shugu ancestor entered the white bone hall and immediately saw Tie Shugu, who had stabbed himself through the heart with a dagger and was kneeling before it.

Now, Tie Shugu was wrapped in white bone chains.

He had willingly offered his life to become a “living sacrifice,” awakening his ancestor.

“Knowing that old ancestor has been buried underground for a long time and is hungry, you came to offer yourself to old ancestor. This can be considered ‘filial piety’ indeed.”

The Shugu ancestor nodded.

It turned its head to look at a “Blood Curse” contract.

This was Tie Shugu’s life offering, given to it, containing information about the person to be cursed to death.

The Shugu ancestor glanced at it and chuckled.

“Master Wu, seemingly in his twenties, actual cultivation age unknown—late Foundation Establishment stage cultivation?”

The Shugu ancestor turned back to look at Tie Shugu, who had offered his life, thinking:

A Golden Core realm cultivator sacrifices his life, knocks on my ancestral coffin, awakens me, just to kill a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator?

Have the descendants of my Shugu clan become this incompetent?

For a moment, the Shugu ancestor didn’t know if its own eyes had rotted away and couldn’t see, or if its descendant’s brain had rotted.

It genuinely wanted to pry open its descendant’s skull to see if there was a brain inside.

“A Great Chieftain dies, a Golden Core realm cultivator is sacrificed, and I am awakened, all for this kind of thing—”

Flames of anger surged within the Shugu ancestor’s heart.

But the blood contract was such that it had no choice but to comply. The Shugu ancestor suppressed its rage and began to follow the protocol.

The Shugu ancestor muttered the name, attempting to trace the Karma to cast the curse. However, after searching for a long time, it frowned.

“Not their real name?”

Even the surname and identity were incorrect; the intended target could not be precisely identified at all.

The Shugu ancestor immediately knew that its descendants had been played.

And they had been thoroughly played, to the point where they didn’t even know the name or title of the person they wanted to curse to death.

But thankfully…

The other contents of the blood contract recorded some details about this person’s height, appearance, words, and actions.

Because Tie Shugu had spent a long time with Mo Hua, and had even been tortured by him, he knew a great deal about Mo Hua.

Clearly, Tie Shugu was unsure if the person was indeed named Mo Hua, so he provided many other clues.

The name might not match, but the other information was sufficient to pinpoint the Karma.

The Shugu ancestor’s mastery of Karma was indeed profound.

This small problem did not stump it.

The characters on the blood contract began to dissolve one by one, transforming into blood-colored threads of Karma that unfolded before the Shugu ancestor.

The Shugu ancestor calculated for a long time, finally finding several fatal threads of Karma among them.

It began its work, chanting incantations, manipulating the threads of Karma with its white bone hand, severing the life threads, and binding all the death threads together.

By extinguishing this person’s life force, all their subsequent causes would lead to the effect of “death.”

Any situation would develop in a “fatal” direction.

This self-proclaimed Foundation Establishment cultivator would be afflicted by a “curse” and would undoubtedly die.

At first, everything went smoothly.

It found the threads of Karma.

It also seemed to have severed several life threads.

But when it tried to guide the “death threads” towards the destiny, it discovered a terrifying problem:

It seemed that on this person’s destiny, a vast number of “death threads” had already accumulated.

The Shugu ancestor could not see or touch them, but by mere sensation, it knew these “death threads” were densely packed, to an astonishing degree. In comparison, the few “death threads” it had added were utterly insignificant.

The Shugu ancestor’s rotten eyeballs began to tremble.

“What is this? Bearing so many causes of death, and still ‘alive’? Can this be a living person?”

In that case, did its “curse” still have any meaning?

The Shugu ancestor pondered for a moment, then suddenly realized that the threads of Karma in its hand also began to tremble, as if someone at the other end was pulling its Karma threads.

The Shugu ancestor froze, then its expression changed drastically.

“Something is climbing along the threads of Karma?!”

Can things be done this way?

The Shugu ancestor immediately wanted to sever the threads of Karma, but when it looked down, it discovered a tender, pale small hand, which had appeared from the outside at some unknown point.

This tender, pale small hand was firmly gripping the threads of Karma and was gradually exerting force, climbing towards this end.

The Shugu ancestor’s soul was terrified. Just as it was about to do something, it realized it was too late.

In just a moment, the dream twisted, and a figure climbed over from the other end of the Karma.

This appeared to be a “child,” with skin like jade, red lips and white teeth, a glint of golden light on its forehead, and bright, radiant eyes.

The Shugu ancestor immediately felt a sense of dread.

An abnormal event must signify a demon.

Anything that could climb along threads of Karma could not be an ordinary thing.

Moreover, this “child” was simply too beautiful, so beautiful it didn’t seem human at all.

The Shugu ancestor’s eyes flashed, and its right white bone arm surged, transforming into a giant bone claw. It intended to strike first and kill this “child.”

But the giant bone claw, halfway through its downward strike, was blocked by a single pinky finger from the tender, pale small hand.

A single pinky finger was like a towering mountain.

No matter how much the Shugu ancestor urged its divine consciousness, it could not advance another inch.

And this beautiful, eerie child, with a mere flick of its wrist, tore off the Shugu ancestor’s entire arm. With a gentle twist, the entire arm was crushed into fragments.

The arm was severed so quickly that the Shugu ancestor didn’t even have time to react, standing there dumbfounded, as if it had witnessed a ghost story, forgetting even the pain in its divine consciousness.

The child tore off its arm, bit into the bone, then spat it out with a “Pah!” seeming to find it unpalatable. The Shugu ancestor’s heart turned cold. It turned its head to look at Tie Shugu, who had committed suicide as a sacrifice, and couldn’t help but think:

These descendants of mine are truly “filial sons and grandsons,” sacrificing their lives to send a terrifying “monster” to harm their old ancestor.

Treating their old ancestor as a scapegoat.

The Shugu ancestor cursed inwardly.

This strange yet handsome child, however, did not kill it. Instead, it circled around, found a high spot, sat down with a thud, looked back at the Shugu ancestor, and said in a clear voice:

“Shall we talk?”

The Shugu ancestor suppressed its anger and showed a friendly smile, “Yes, let’s talk, let’s talk—”

The White Bone Hall.

Mo Hua, in his divine consciousness form, sat cross-legged on the ancestral tablet dedicated to immortals by the Shugu clan, looking completely at ease, like a host.

The Shugu ancestor sat below, somewhat awkwardly, like a guest.

Mo Hua asked, “So you are the ancestor of the Shugu clan.”

The Shugu ancestor replied, “Something like that—”

Mo Hua observed him, noting his half-white-bone, half-decayed-flesh appearance, which was somewhat ugly. Feeling a bit disgusted, he asked again:

“How old are you?”

The Shugu ancestor honestly replied, “This old one’s lifespan—eight hundred.”

“Only eight hundred years old? And an ancestor?” Mo Hua said.

The Shugu ancestor replied, “This old one’s lifespan was eight hundred, but I died in ancient times. How many years have passed since then is unknown.”

Mo Hua nodded.

The Shugu ancestor looked up at Mo Hua, and quietly asked, “May I ask—Fellow Daoist, what is your Dao age?”

“I am two—” Mo Hua paused, then said seriously, “I am over two hundred years old.”

Over two hundred years old…

The Shugu ancestor looked at Mo Hua’s divine consciousness body, an expression of undeniable shock on his face:

“In merely over two hundred years, to achieve such a perfectly sealed Golden Body and a Mind-Body returned to its pristine state? Fellow Daoist—you are truly an unparalleled genius.”

Mo Hua’s expression was subtle, and he said vaguely, “It’s alright—”

The Shugu ancestor then cautiously looked at Mo Hua again and quietly asked, “May I ask, Fellow Daoist—how should I address you?”

Mo Hua didn’t answer, just silently observed the Shugu ancestor.

The Shugu ancestor suddenly felt a chill of fear.

Mo Hua said, “You may call me ‘Master Wu’.”

The Shugu ancestor smiled gently, “Yes—Master Wu.”

Mo Hua no longer allowed it the privilege of inquiring about himself, and instead retorted, “Is your cultivation only at the peak of the third-grade?”

The words “only” made the Shugu ancestor feel somewhat uncomfortable.

But it still humbly replied, “Yes, merely the peak of the third-grade.”

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then asked him, “Do all the ancestors of your Shugu clan not exceed the third-grade?”

“This—” The Shugu ancestor hesitated for a moment, then slowly said, “The barren lands are the ‘commoner’ areas of the Great Wilderness. Although vast, with tribes living in groups, the upper limit of the Heavenly Dao’s ranks is relatively low.”

“Most mountain realms are second or third-grade. Third-grade is already the ceiling.”

“Fourth-grade realms are generally only the imperial court, the royal courts guarded by various kings, including the imperial capital regions around the royal courts.”

“And only the ancient ancestral court of the Great Wilderness is a fifth-grade land.”

“Therefore, if one cannot enter the royal court, at most, one can only achieve the third-grade.”

The Shugu ancestor slowly explained.

Mo Hua was somewhat surprised.

He hadn’t known these things before.

Looking at it this way, the upper limit of this Great Wilderness place was indeed far inferior to Qianzhou, not to mention Daozhou.

The Three Thousand Barbarian Wildernesses were commoner districts, with a maximum of third-grade.

The royal courts were fourth-grade, and the ancestral court was fifth-grade.

This was even lower than what he had previously guessed.

He wondered if it was due to the scarcity of resources in the Great Wilderness and the generally lower cultivation levels of barbarian cultivators, which resulted in a low upper limit.

Or was it because the Heavenly Dao Array only granted this upper limit to the Great Wilderness, which is why the Great Wilderness had been stuck at the third and fourth grades for so long?

However…

Mo Hua looked at the Shugu ancestor, “You still haven’t directly answered my question. Does your Shugu clan have any ancestors above the fourth-grade Yuhua stage?”

The Shugu ancestor felt his skull tingle, and seeing that he couldn’t deflect the question, he could only sigh, “There are some, yes—”

“Are they dead?”

“They are dead.”

“Where are they buried?”

The Shugu ancestor hesitated, “Some ancestors served the royal family and performed meritorious deeds, so they were buried in the royal court lands after death. Others were buried in—”

The Shugu ancestor pointed downwards, “—this White Bone Mausoleum.”

Mo Hua said, “So, this White Bone Mausoleum, despite being located in a third-grade mountain realm, indeed contains the remains of fourth-grade Yuhua stage cultivators from the Shugu clan.”

The Shugu ancestor nodded, “Yes.”

Mo Hua’s eyes flickered, “Then why—haven’t they woken up?”

These were… fourth-grade Yuhua stage divine consciousnesses.

For some reason, the Shugu ancestor felt a chill in its heart and said with a bitter smile:

“This is a third-grade mountain realm. Once one reaches the Yuhua stage and dies and is buried, it’s not easy to ‘wake up’ again. Otherwise, if one is not careful and violates Heavenly Dao taboos, the entire White Bone Ancestral Mausoleum will be reduced to ashes.”

Mo Hua nodded, indicating understanding, then asked, “So, you were chosen to awaken and curse me to death?”

The Shugu ancestor fell silent.

If its body hadn’t already rotted, it would be breaking out in a cold sweat by now.

Mo Hua asked him again, “So, are you ‘dead’ or ‘alive’ right now?”

The Shugu ancestor slowly replied, “I suppose—half-dead.”

Mo Hua’s tone became a little colder, “Give me a clear answer.”

The Shugu ancestor felt immense pressure and had no choice but to say:

“I am not ‘alive.’ A sliver of Karma has merely been preserved, holding onto a trace of life force, and my divine consciousness is nurtured here. Occasionally, I can be awakened by the blood contract of my descendants to perform certain tasks, but I cannot see the light of day.”

Mo Hua nodded, trying to suppress the fluctuations of his inner emotions, and asked in a calm tone:

“Then—can you truly come back to life?”

The Shugu ancestor pondered for a moment, then sighed, “It’s too difficult—and I’ve been buried for too long. My body has rotted away, devoid of life. Once I leave this tomb, with no means to extend my life, I will ultimately still die.”

“Even more terrifying is the Heavenly Dao—”

“All things in the world have birth and death; only then is there a Dao. Once the Heavenly Dao discovers that someone has used some trickery, deceiving it and extending their lifespan after their appointed time, the backlash from the Heavenly Dao is also extremely terrifying.”

The Shugu ancestor’s tone was grave.

Mo Hua fell silent. After a moment, he looked at the Shugu ancestor and slowly began:

“What if—I mean, what if—”

“A person, though dead, has their Karma locked, their life force no longer dissipates, and their physical body is still intact. If I then find a way to deceive the Heavenly Dao, would that mean…”

Mo Hua tried his best to control his emotions, “…—he could still come back to life?”

The Shugu ancestor was stunned, turned to look at Mo Hua, a terrifying speculation surfacing in its heart, its face gradually changing drastically, filled with horror.