After spending some time in prison, Mo Hua’s body gradually recovered, thanks to the numerous elixirs provided by the Hua family.

The after-effects of his failed Golden Core breakthrough were slowly being mended.

His already resilient Sea of Consciousness was also continuously restoring itself.

This was initially a good thing.

However, Mo Hua’s sense of unease grew stronger. He constantly felt like he was a “pig” being gradually fattened up.

So, he began to intentionally slow down the pace of his recovery.

He even stopped the operation of the Yimu Huichun Array.

“A famous man is like a fattened pig, destined for slaughter.”

Once a pig gets fat, it will be killed for its meat.

Therefore, to avoid being killed, one must learn to “lose weight.”

Mo Hua meticulously suppressed the recovery within his body.

But no matter how much he suppressed it, there would eventually be a day when his injuries would fully heal.

One day, that True Person from the Hua family came again and routinely asked, “What is your name?”

“I forgot.”

“What is your background?”

“I don’t remember—”

“Why were you in the wilderness? Why were you a Divine Emissary?”

“I have no impression—”

Such perfunctory answers, and getting them once a day, even made this True Person in the Hua robes a bit angry. He said to Mo Hua, “Come out, you will follow me to a place.”

This seemingly ordinary sentence made Mo Hua’s heart clench.

He could sense that this True Person from the Hua family definitely had ill intentions.

This person wanted to harm him.

Mo Hua didn’t want to go.

The True Person from the Hua family turned to look at Mo Hua, his expression turning cold, and said, “Let’s go.”

Mo Hua said, “I’m not feeling well.”

The True Person from the Hua family didn’t speak, but his eyes grew colder and colder, clearly showing no patience for Mo Hua.

Mo Hua muttered to himself, but could only obediently stand up. As a “prisoner” with a golden needle sealing his head and wearing handcuffs and ankle shackles, he followed behind the True Person from the Hua family.

He didn’t know this Hua True Person’s name, his title, or his status in the Hua family.

For ordinary cultivators, reaching the Yu Hua stage was truly rare.

Yu Hua cultivators who could fly through the air were like “immortals” in the eyes of most low-level cultivators.

Therefore, Yu Hua cultivators were respectfully addressed as “True Person,” and most of them also had their own titles.

This title varied from person to person. Some would choose an elegant name to show their taste;

Some were ranked according to the character sequence of their lineage;

Some would use their obsession with cultivation as their True Person title;

Of course, there were also those who simply used their surname as their True Person title.

In such cases, it was either because they were low-key and disliked ostentation, or because they were proud of their surname.

Or they were True Persons from prominent noble families who didn’t consider “Yu Hua” as their lifelong pursuit, so they were too lazy to come up with another True Person title.

This True Person in Hua robes who captured him was only ever referred to as “True Person Hua” by others.

Mo Hua, however, vaguely felt that this person should have his own title, but did not declare it publicly.

Using the title “True Person Hua” was, on one hand, because he was a Yu Hua cultivator of the Hua family, representing them in the Great Wilderness;

On the other hand, not revealing his true name was probably to prevent his secrets from being exposed and targeted by enemies, who might use karmic designs to harm him.

“I need to find a way to uncover this True Person Hua’s true name in the future—” Mo Hua thought to himself.

However, at this moment, his cultivation was too low, so he could only patiently endure and pretend that nothing was happening.

True Person Hua led Mo Hua out of the prison, through a long, dark alley, and into a secret chamber heavily sealed by formations.

Inside the secret chamber, there was blood everywhere, and white bones piled on the ground.

A group of cultivators, their bodies wrapped in white bandages, their faces hidden except for their eyes, held sharp blades and continuously cut into various corpses, as if conducting “dissection” research.

Mo Hua turned and ran.

True Person Hua pointed a finger, freezing him in place, and then dragged him back.

Mo Hua couldn’t resist at all.

Upon entering the bloody secret chamber, the busy “bandage people” stopped their work and turned to bow, saying, “True Person.”

True Person Hua nodded.

The group of bandage people then returned to their work, dissecting amidst the rustling sounds of flesh being cut.

At this moment, a “bandage person” who was clearly of the highest cultivation and most senior, and whose face was also obscured, walked over.

True Person Hua said, “Dissect him and see.”

He didn’t say what to dissect, nor what “dissect” meant.

But Mo Hua’s face turned pale.

The bandage person nodded and led True Person Hua into an even more secluded secret chamber.

Inside this chamber, the array of instruments was even more extensive.

“I need to examine him first,” the bandage person said.

True Person Hua nodded.

The bandage person then walked up to Mo Hua, his bandage-wrapped, cold, corpse-like hands touching Mo Hua’s limbs, joints, and certain acupoints for a long time.

Mo Hua wanted to resist, but being immobilized by a Yu Hua cultivator, he couldn’t move at all.

Just as his mind was tense, the bandage person shook his head, “No.”

True Person Hua frowned, “His injuries are almost healed.”

The bandage person said, “His injuries are largely healed, but the problem is, he is inherently frail, with a weak constitution.”

“True Person, you—” the bandage person looked at True Person Hua, “How many times do you intend to dissect him?”

True Person Hua said, “Naturally, the more the merrier, until every detail is revealed—”

Mo Hua felt all the hairs on his body stand on end.

The bandage person, however, shook his head and said, “That’s precisely it. He is inherently frail, with a strong spirit but weak blood. For live dissection, two or three times would be fine, but if done too many times, his body won’t hold up, and he will die.”

True Person Hua frowned deeply.

Mo Hua, however, let out a long sigh of relief.

Inherently frail!

In all his life, this was the first time he experienced the benefits of being inherently frail.

Because of his frailty, he couldn’t be dissected multiple times!

True Person Hua asked, “What then?”

The bandage person said, “Give him some more potent tonics to replenish him, then bring him back.”

True Person Hua hesitated for a moment, then nodded, “Very well.”

Without further ado, True Person Hua stood up and left.

The bandage person bowed respectfully, “True Person, please take care.”

True Person Hua carried Mo Hua, returned along the original path, and threw him back into the prison. His eyes flickered slightly as he asked, “Did you take all the elixirs I gave you?”

Mo Hua originally wanted to say he had taken them all, but then he remembered that this was the Hua family’s territory, and as a prisoner, he couldn’t possibly deceive True Person Hua.

Mo Hua honestly replied, “No, I threw some away—”

True Person Hua asked, “Why didn’t you take them? Don’t you know that your body is very important?”

Mo Hua silently replied, “I’m a bit—too weak to absorb all the supplements.”

True Person Hua was speechless.

He took out some more elixirs and handed them to Mo Hua.

Each of these elixirs was crystal clear and glowed, all high-grade elixirs for replenishing Qi and blood, and strengthening the foundation.

“One pill of each, morning and evening,” True Person Hua said in a calm tone. “This is for your own good; remember to take them.”

Mo Hua took the elixirs, feeling that these “tonics” were no different from “death催命丹” (life-claiming pills).

But a man under someone else’s roof has to bow his head, so Mo Hua could only grit his teeth and say, “I will take the medicine on time.”

True Person Hua said, “First, take one pill of each.”

After saying that, he silently watched Mo Hua.

Being stared at by a Yu Hua True Person, Mo Hua had no choice but to take one pill of each elixir in front of True Person Hua.

Only then was True Person Hua satisfied. He nodded, gave a final instruction to “remember to take the medicine,” and then left.

Meanwhile, Mo Hua, who had taken the medicine in the prison, felt a burning sensation throughout his body, and a warm current from his Dantian flowed through him.

The lingering injuries from his failed Golden Core formation were rapidly healing with an unstoppable momentum.

His blood circulation became extremely vigorous, and his cheeks were flushed.

These must be the Hua family’s finest healing and tonic elixirs; their efficacy was truly exceptional.

Outside, each pill would be incredibly difficult to acquire, worth a thousand gold.

But as Mo Hua consumed them, his heart was filled with bitterness.

Because he knew that once he was too thoroughly replenished, he would be taken for “slicing.”

He recalled how, back in the Tai Xu Sect, Elder Xun had warned him to always be low-key, otherwise, if his secrets were exposed and fell into the hands of those with ulterior motives, he would surely be captured and “sliced” for research.

Mo Hua hadn’t fully believed it then.

But he never expected that Elder Xun hadn’t lied to him at all; one day, this fate truly descended upon him.

Mo Hua frowned deeply, feeling a surge of anxiety.

But after worrying for a long time, he couldn’t help but think of another question: “The Hua family—dissection—bone carving?”

The Hua family had stolen many inheritances in the wilderness, with bone carving techniques at their core.

And bone carving techniques seemed to be related to the “dissection” of flesh and blood.

Was the Hua family really conducting “human dissection” research?

Mo Hua recalled that bloody secret chamber again.

Inside the chamber, a group of bandage-wrapped figures were using sharp blades to cut into various corpses.

Mo Hua hadn’t seen the corpses clearly when he first entered, but thinking back now, he realized the composition of the corpses was complex; there seemed to be both various monstrous beasts and “humanoid” bodies.

Monstrous beasts were a native specialty of the Great Wilderness.

But what about humans?

Human corpses—were they a specialty of “war”?

Mo Hua’s pupils trembled slightly.

Penetrating deep into the Great Wilderness, instigating wars, plundering everywhere, and using the bone carving techniques of the Great Wilderness for dissection?

Using the dead monstrous beasts and cultivators from the wars in the Great Wilderness as dissection material?

Such actions were already—approaching the demonic path, weren’t they? Was this something a noble family, with an inheritance from Daozhou, would truly do?

But what could “dissection” be used for? To delve into the secrets of cultivators, just as they were doing to him?

Or was it—that the Hua family had a deeper plan?

Dissection—

At that moment, Mo Hua felt that the situation was like an abyss, frighteningly deep.

And now, he seemed to be drowning in this deep pool.

To steal his secrets as a Divine Emissary, the Hua family would surely dissect him from head to toe, from his hair to his toes, piece by piece.

Mo Hua had always kept silent, not revealing the secret of the “Divine Emissary.”

Whether he was truly a “Divine Emissary” or not, the Hua family couldn’t yet conclude.

But this was no longer important; the Hua family didn’t care at all.

They would rather trust the results of “dissection” than Mo Hua’s words.

If Mo Hua truly was a “Divine Emissary,” then being sliced and dissected would be a deserved punishment for his crimes.

If he wasn’t, he must still be connected to a Divine Emissary in some way.

After dissection, they would surely obtain clues about Divine Emissaries, helping them to catch the real ones.

Even if, by chance, Mo Hua was truly “innocent,” it didn’t matter.

Better to kill a thousand innocents than let one guilty person escape.

A trivial young man caught from the barren wilderness, if he died, he died, like a wild grass, no one would care.

“This is not good—”

Mo Hua felt a chill in his heart, truly feeling that this time, he seemed to be in extreme danger.

If this continued, he feared he would truly be subjected to “lingchi” (death by a thousand cuts) and “dissection.”

But it seemed he had no means of escape.

His cultivation was insignificant.

His strongest divine sense, damaged by the failure of his Golden Core formation, still throbbed faintly.

The Hua family had also used an unknown golden needle to seal his Sea of Consciousness, suppressing the divinity within his divine sense.

Mo Hua dared not forcefully try to break through this restriction for now.

Even if he broke through the restriction and could exert his full strength, he had no straw dogs on him now, and he dared not kill anyone.

The most important factor was True Person Hua, a Yu Hua cultivator, and not just an ordinary one, but a Yu Hua cultivator from a prominent noble family in Daozhou.

Mo Hua even speculated that the Hua family’s conspiracy in the wilderness was divided into two main categories.

One was profiting from war, handled by Elder You.

The other was researching cultivator dissection, managed by True Person Hua.

True Person Hua’s status was far higher than Elder You’s, not to mention his cunning and methods.

Coupled with his Yu Hua stage cultivation, Mo Hua knew he could never outwit True Person Hua.

Mo Hua’s brows furrowed tighter and tighter.

But no matter how anxious he was, the situation showed no signs of changing.

In the days that followed, he continued, day after day, eating the “tonics” given to him by True Person Hua, watching his blood and Qi being nourished and growing increasingly “fat.”

During this time, True Person Hua would also, every few days, send the bandage people to pinch his limbs and joints, checking his blood and Qi, to see if he was ready for the “knife.”

Fortunately, his foundation in body cultivation was genuinely weak, and his blood and Qi were truly deficient. It wasn’t something that could be easily replenished in a short period.

His inherent frailty had once again saved Mo Hua’s life.

But the situation was undoubtedly still deteriorating.

One or two days might not be enough to fully replenish him, but in ten days to half a month, there would eventually be a day when he was plump enough.

Once he was truly plump, it would be his death sentence.

Amidst this prolonged agony, some unexpected changes occurred.

On this day, True Person Hua again came to the prison.

He didn’t make his usual inquiries about whether Mo Hua remembered his name or his background, but simply said, “Follow me.”

Mo Hua slowly said, “I haven’t taken my medicine today, and my blood hasn’t been fully replenished; I feel a bit weak—”

True Person Hua glanced at Mo Hua and said indifferently, “There’s something else today.”

“Something else?” Mo Hua was slightly stunned.

True Person Hua nodded, but said nothing more.

Mo Hua followed him, turning this way and that, and realized that they were indeed not taking the usual path to the bloody secret chamber.

After walking for a while, the two entered an assembly hall.

The hall was spacious, quiet, and opulent, with screens depicting landscapes, and wisps of smoke curling, exuding the atmosphere of a noble family.

At this moment, the hall was filled with cultivators, all dressed in exquisite Daoist robes, with noble bearing, and all were at the late Golden Core stage or above.

These were all influential scions of prominent noble families.

When Mo Hua, dressed in a prisoner’s uniform and wearing shackles, entered the hall, all eyes converged on him.