The Yimu Huichun Formation, the first-place prize in the Sword Discussion Conference, was obtained from the Tian Shu Ge of the Dao Ting.

This formation was perhaps the most inconspicuous among all the prizes. Many people even wondered why the Dao Ting would offer such an obscure and seemingly useless “healing formation” as a prize for a grand event like the Sword Discussion. However, Mo Hua knew that this was a “bait” someone had set to hook him. Since it was deemed worthy of being used as “bait” to lure him, there must be some profound mystery hidden within this formation.

From Mo Hua’s current research, on the surface, it appeared to be a “healing formation” that could treat injuries and stem the loss of qi and blood. However, at a deeper level, it contained certain principles of “life and death” transformation. Why this was the case, Mo Hua had yet to comprehend. Whether this formation had other significant uses, Mo Hua, limited by his current realm and vision, found it difficult to conceive any ideas.

But even its function of curbing qi and blood loss and restoring vitality with Yimu qi was enough for Mo Hua, especially crucial in this tribal war. War was about killing, and it was about casualties. With the Yimu Huichun Formation to save lives, the casualty rate could be greatly reduced. At least in terms of manpower, the Zhu Que Alliance would have three to four tenths more strength than the Wu Jiu Tribe out of thin air.

Although constructing and maintaining the formation required the consumption of precious spirit stones, the current situation was no time to be stingy with such resources. Mo Hua also took advantage of the war’s need for “large-scale construction” to set up a multitude of Yimu Huichun Formations. As the war progressed, the fighting intensified, and casualties mounted, he used this opportunity to perform numerous “life and death” principle simulations, deepening his understanding of related principles. In a sense, this was also a form of “war profiteering,” observing and comprehending a vast number of life anddeath principles amidst the war. Mo Hua didn’t want to, but he couldn’t refuse.

Once he had a preliminary grasp of these principles and understood the essence of the Yimu Huichun Formation, Mo Hua intended to carve it onto his bones to address the drawbacks of his “bone carving” method. Crafting a natal spirit skeleton formation required the bone carving method. As the name suggested, it involved “carving” a formation onto one’s own bones while still alive. Before carving the formation, one had to forge the bones with Mu Bai Jin Yu.

“Mu Bai Jin Yu Bone” was a secret method treasured by the Bai family. This secret method was a superior body-refining and bone-forging technique, akin to “bronze skin and iron bones.” It allowed one’s bones to fuse with the essence of Mu Bai and the marrow of Jin Yu, two types of heavenly treasures, thereby achieving a certain degree of strengthening. This was a powerful yet “elegant” body-forging technique. After forging, the body would be like gold and jade, exuding a gentle, wood-like aura.

However, Mo Hua was not a body cultivator, and his bones were inherently fragile. Even if strengthened with “Mu Bai Jin Yu Bone,” they wouldn’t become significantly stronger. His primary goal was to attach Mu Bai Jin Yu to his bones to serve as the “formation medium” for the Shi Er Jing Tao Can Ling Hai Formation. The Shi Er Jing Tao Can Ling Hai Formation was a twenty-four-pattern absolute formation related to Tao Can, undoubtedly a fierce formation. Mo Hua’s own physique was weak, and if he were to directly carve this formation, he would surely not be able to bear it. If he wasn’t careful and suffered a backlash from the fierce power of Tao Tie, it was even possible that he would be “smashed to pieces.”

Therefore, he first needed to use the Mu Bai Jin Yu method to strengthen his bones, allowing them to serve as the “formation medium” for the Tao Can absolute formation, withstand the backlash of the natal formation, and bear the operation of the natal formation. This was an extremely ingenious and unconventional approach. Mo Hua didn’t know if anyone had attempted it before, but even if they had, they were certainly very few. Relevant traditions and precedents were almost entirely blank.

Fortunately, with the help of Elder Xun, and thanks to the sect leader still being a member of the Bai family, he received their great kindness and thus obtained this body-forging method of Mu Bai Jin Yu Bone. Mo Hua didn’t know the origin of this Mu Bai Jin Yu Bone, but since the sect leader had personally sought it for a long time, it must be a rare and superior inheritance even within the Bai family.

But even with Mu Bai Jin Yu Bone, the bone carving method remained dangerous. After all, it involved carving a Tao Tie formation onto one’s own bones in a bloody manner. Even with Mu Bai Jin Yu Bone acting as a “formation medium” buffer, it was inevitable to damage the origin of one’s own root bones, leading to meridian damage and a large loss of qi and blood. This had already been proven on Tie Shu Gu’s body.

To alleviate the loss of qi and blood and prevent the condensation of death qi, Mo Hua had been pondering day and night these past days and came up with only one solution: to carve another Yimu Huichun Formation on the Mu Bai Jin Yu Bone. He would use the vitality of the Yimu Huichun Formation to suppress the loss of qi and blood caused by the bone carving method. This way, the vitality within his body could achieve a relative balance. Afterwards, he would carve the Shi Er Jing Tao Can Ling Hai Formation onto his bones to serve as his natal “magic artifact” for forming a golden core.

In this way, his natal magic artifact for forming a golden core would constitute a relatively balanced and complete system. Mu Bai Jin Yu would be integrated into the bones as the formation medium. The Yimu Huichun Formation would restore vitality to the bones. With these two as the foundation, the Shi Er Jing Tao Tie Ling Hai Formation would then be constructed, refined into a natal magic artifact, and used to drive the operation of the spirit skeleton. Thus, the three would be one.

What appeared to be a “natal formation” actually incorporated some “peculiar” elements to truly construct it. Since there was no tradition or established procedure, he could only set the order himself and combine the methods himself. Although this current concept for a natal magic artifact seemed a bit incongruous, from the perspective of elemental balance and formation principles, Mo Hua believed there should be no problem. Boldly conceive, carefully verify, and cautiously practice. This had always been Mo Hua’s customary approach to his cultivation research. He just wondered if this time he had been a little too bold.

There was another point Mo Hua was somewhat concerned about. Both the “Mu Bai Jin Yu” bone forging method and the “Yimu Huichun” formation, which was a prize from the Sword Discussion, contained the character “Mu” (wood). Moreover, both also incorporated certain principles of “Mu.” The Mu Bai Jin Yu Bone and the Yimu Huichun Formation also happened to complement each other, one for bone forging and one for bone nourishment. Mo Hua didn’t know if this was just a coincidence, that the internal principles of these two types of methods happened to align, or if there was some destined karma at play.

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then took out a pure white jade slip from his storage bag. Inside the jade slip were the characters “Mu Bai Jin Yu Bone Forging Method.” “Bai Jin Yu Bone—Bai Family—” Mo Hua was a little dazed, caressing the pure white jade slip in his hand, and couldn’t help but murmur softly, “Master is in the Bai family—” “And my—junior brother and junior sister—” “I wonder when I will see them again—”

Mo Hua looked up at the sky, only to see a chaotic celestial phenomenon. Under the crimson sky, gray-black qi was murky, and vitality was dim. Mo Hua’s gaze also dimmed. “Let’s first find a way to leave the Great Wilderness alive—” “And also let more people survive the disaster—” Although Mo Hua wanted more people to survive, the current situation was that the fighting continued, and barbarian cultivators were constantly dying due to the war.

There is life, there must be death; only with death can there be life. Mo Hua did not want to see this scene, but the general trend was beyond his control. He only hoped that this war could “reshuffle the cards” for him and lay the foundation for his future plans. Mo Hua also took advantage of this time to continue making more thorough preparations for “forming a golden core.” What he needed to study now was the “bone carving” method.

In the Great Wilderness, Master Tu had taught him some bone carving methods within the Great Wilderness Blood Sacrifice Formation. However, the time was short, Master Tu taught carelessly, and Mo Hua’s comprehension was not deep. Moreover, the bone carving method passed down by Master Tu was for carving formations on “demon bones.” Mo Hua was unsure if it could be directly applied to human bones. Therefore, he needed to find more tribal literature and collect more different Great Wilderness bone carving methods to verify them against each other, in order to iterate the most suitable and safest bone carving method. After all, this time, he was going to draw formations on his own bones, which was different from “wasting” someone else’s body, so he couldn’t be careless at all.

The tribal war, with its chaotic conflicts, provided Mo Hua with an opportunity to collect barbarian armor formations. It also gave Mo Hua the chance to secretly inquire about and collect the bone carving methods of various tribes. The bone carving method was very obscure and rare, yet its transmission was scarce, making it a recognized “ancient” heritage. It belonged to a type of knowledge that was inherently rare, a “knowledge of the ancestors,” but it was very esoteric, not widely used, cherished and not easily passed down. Even if passed down, it was difficult to master, and even if mastered, it was difficult to have much practical use. Only a very few shamanic cultivators who specialized in formations would learn a trick or two to draw some ancient formations of the Great Wilderness. Therefore, even among barbarian tribes, barbarian cultivators who knew the bone carving method were very rare.

Similarly, the transmission of bone carving was also relatively strictly guarded. However, Mo Hua’s status was no longer what it used to be. Although his title of “Wuzhu” (Shamanic Priest) was ambiguous, he presided over the construction of formations, achieved remarkable feats, and enjoyed considerable prestige. With his status among shamanic formation masters and some connections, he did manage to obtain some “bone carving” secret methods from different tribes and different versions. But when he tried to collect more later, there was suddenly no further news. Because many tribes’ “bone carving methods” had been lost—and not long ago, but “disappeared” recently.

Mo Hua felt strange in his heart. Following this lead, he discovered something he hadn’t even thought of: these bone carving methods were not lost, but “sold.” As for who they were sold to, it concerned the high-ranking officials of the tribes, and no one knew. However, while drawing formations, Mo Hua found white bottles and a pile of crude Bigu pills while inspecting some tribal storerooms. In Mo Hua’s eyes, these Bigu pills were almost equivalent to “rat droppings.” Wherever rat droppings were found, it meant rats must have been there. The Hua family—

Mo Hua’s heart sank slightly. The Hua family’s “infiltration” of the various tribes in the Zhu Que Mountain Range might be deeper than he had imagined, and it left no traces. This matter was very likely connected to the Hua family. But—”What does the Hua family want with these ‘bone carving’ secret methods in exchange for Bigu pills?” “Is it a coincidence?” Mo Hua initially thought it was just a coincidence. The Hua family profited from the war, using cheap materials to exploit tribal wealth and inheritance, and happened to include this batch of “bone carving” secret methods.

But when Mo Hua investigated more carefully, he found that this was not the case. This was not a “coincidence.” When the Hua family secretly traded with the chiefs and elders of various tribes, if possible, it almost always included the “bone carving” secret methods. And the Hua family’s methods were very covert. These bone carving methods were mixed in with a pile of Great Wilderness inheritances, completely inconspicuous, and no one realized their significance. If it weren’t for Mo Hua himself seeking “bone carving” secret methods to prepare for his core formation, he would not have realized this problem either. This was very peculiar—

“The Hua family—are they stealing my bone carving methods?” Mo Hua frowned. Besides profiting from the war, hoarding Bigu pills, and exploiting the spirit stones and materials of the wilderness, the Hua family’s goal was also to steal the inheritances of the Great Wilderness. And among the inheritances of the Great Wilderness, what the Hua family most wanted was surprisingly the “bone carving” method? Could this also be—the true goal of the Hua family’s ancestor? “But—why?” “What does the Hua family want with such an obscure method?” “Or does this bone carving method hide some—mystery I don’t know about?” Mo Hua’s brows furrowed tighter and tighter. The Hua family—Great Wilderness bone carving—in his understanding, these were two completely unrelated things. Mo Hua found it difficult to understand what connection could be hidden within.

“No matter what, this is a crucial clue—” “I’ll have to find trouble with the Hua family when I get the chance, dig up their secrets—at least get my bone carving methods back—” Mo Hua muttered to himself. Afterwards, he secretly investigated, specifically paying attention to the high-ranking officials of various tribes. He mentally “marked” those who had colluded with the Hua family, had benefited from them, had been infiltrated by them, or were even clearly “spies” of the Hua family. He would “settle accounts” later when the opportunity arose, digging up the Hua family’s roots and secrets to see what they were looking for.

Amidst the busyness and myriad of tasks, Xiao Zha Tu suddenly found Mo Hua. His face was a bit haggard, and his eyes were a little red, clearly having shed tears in secret. He looked at Mo Hua with yearning, but his eyes were also full of worry. He seemed not to want to disturb Mo Hua, but with something hidden in his heart, he couldn’t sleep or eat, and felt compelled to speak. Mo Hua saw through Xiao Zha Tu’s thoughts, his heart trembled slightly, and he asked, “You—miss your grandfather?”

Xiao Zha Tu’s eyes were red, and he nodded. It had been a long time since he had left the Wu Tu Mountain Range with Mo Hua. Since then, the famine had spread, and he didn’t know what had become of the Wu Tu Mountain Range. He didn’t know whether his grandfather, Elder Zha Mu, and his tribesmen were alive or dead, or if they had been swallowed by the famine. His heart was filled with concern, and he was often uneasy because of it. But remembering Mo Hua’s teachings and his grandfather’s instructions, he had wholeheartedly focused on his duties and usually kept these worries at bay.

However, in the current tribal war within the Zhu Que Mountain Range, countless people had died or been injured. Even such large mountain ranges and large tribes were devastated. The smaller Wu Tu Mountain Range, needless to say, would be even worse. Zha Tu was, after all, not very old. Thinking of his grandfather, on whom he depended, being alive or dead and unknown, he felt great pain in his heart. This was why he sought out the omniscient immortal to ask.

Mo Hua stroked Xiao Zha Tu’s head and said gently, “Don’t worry, your grandfather should be fine.” Zha Tu, with tears in his eyes, was both surprised and delighted, “Immortal, is that true?” Mo Hua nodded, “Mm.” Xiao Zha Tu was overjoyed to know that his relatives and tribesmen were safe. He wiped away his tears, then felt a little ashamed, thinking that he was not strong enough and had lost his composure in front of the immortal. So he said somewhat sheepishly, “Immortal, then I’ll go do my work. I won’t bother you.” Mo Hua gently patted his shoulder, “Go.” Xiao Zha Tu felt greatly encouraged and left with a joyful heart.

After Xiao Zha Tu left, Mo Hua fell into deep thought. In the midst of the great disaster, there were too many and too complex matters, even with his divine sense, he felt somewhat stretched. He had almost forgotten about the Wu Tu Mountain Range. But his intuition did not detect any “crisis” in terms of karma. This meant that the Wu Tu Mountain Range had likely not been destroyed by the famine. The famine map he had obtained from the Hua family did not explicitly mark the Wu Tu Mountain Range, so Mo Hua was unsure whether the Wu Tu Mountain Range was within the scope of the famine’s “swallowing” and whether it would be destroyed. Mo Hua’s heart also felt a faint worry.

At the same time, he didn’t know how the big tiger was doing. But in the current situation, he couldn’t possibly get away. Wanting to go back to the Wu Tu Mountain Range to check was almost impossible. Human power has its limits. Mo Hua, after all, was only at the Foundation Establishment stage. There were many things he simply couldn’t handle perfectly. “After dealing with the Wu Jiu Tribe, I’ll find a way to go back and see—” Mo Hua sighed softly. “Not yet, the time is not right, the power is not enough, the influence is not enough, I still have to wait—”

And this wait lasted for another three months. Within three months, after a series of fierce battles and a long period of anxious struggle, the Wu Jiu Tribe finally broke through the blockade and pushed into the deepest part of the ancient Zhu Que Mountain Range. On Mount Zhu Que, red clouds gathered thickly. The ancient altar lay silent at the foot of the mountain. The Wu Jiu Tribe chanted the names of their gods and launched their final charge. Both sides would engage in one last desperate fight under the red clouds, before the ancient altar, and under the terrifying threat of the Wu Jiu Great God’s descent.