On the altar, the vibration gradually intensified, and rubble was already scattering and falling.

Gu Changhuai frowned.

Mo Hua’s gaze focused, and he immediately said:
“Uncle Gu, the array is self-destructing, the demon hall is going to collapse!”

“How long will it take?”

Mo Hua released his spiritual sense, estimating the volume of spiritual power from the array’s collapse, “Less than one incense stick…”

Gu Changhuai gritted his teeth.
At this moment, he very much wanted to trap the Fire Buddha on the altar and thoroughly kill him to eliminate future troubles. But the Fire Buddha seemed to be at a dead end; his body was sluggish due to the water poison, and his breath was declining, but he was not truly at the end of his rope. This kind of demon cultivator was originally exceptionally difficult to kill.

One incense stick of time was still not enough to kill him. Moreover, Mo Hua was also on this altar. Even if he wanted to take the risk and forcefully kill the Fire Buddha, he had to consider Mo Hua’s safety. With Mo Hua’s array talent, his future was limitless, he could not stay here and be buried with the Fire Buddha, this evil beast!

Let’s get out first!

Gu Changhuai coldly glared at the Fire Buddha, and immediately said to Mo Hua:
“Leave first!”

“Okay.”

Mo Hua also did not hesitate. Although this altar was built just for him, and it was very comfortable to sit on and a pity to destroy, he also did not want to be buried in this gloomy demon lair along with this altar. His own little life was more important.

Mo Hua and Gu Changhuai then simultaneously activated their movement techniques. One’s body was like the wind, and the other’s body turned into flowing water, escaping outwards from the altar with all their might.

The Fire Buddha deliberately stayed for a while, until Gu Changhuai and Mo Hua were far away, then he took out a blood-colored strange pill and swallowed it. Strands of blood energy and evil force again surged into his heart meridians.

“You want to kill me… but it’s not that easy…”

The Fire Buddha let out a cold laugh, his smile somewhat meaningful. Afterwards, he used the pill’s power to suppress the water poison, then activated his movement technique, with fire light缠绕 his body, escaping outwards from the altar.

Mo Hua and Gu Changhuai left the altar and arrived at the main hall. In the main hall, it was similarly a scene of ruins, with scattered figures. Some Dao Court Division cultivators were still fighting with scattered demon cultivators. Some officers were chasing demon cultivators. Some people saw the demon hall shaking and were blankly at a loss.

Gu Changhuai frowned and coldly said: “Everyone, evacuate the demon hall!” Then he grabbed Mo Hua with one hand and rushed outwards together.

Gu Changhuai was a Golden Core cultivator and had learned a wind-attribute escape technique. Mo Hua’s movement technique was far not as fast as his. Moreover, at this time, the demon hall was on the verge of collapse, a scene of chaos. There were wandering demon cultivators as well as panicked officers, and giant stones occasionally fell from above in the main hall. Gu Changhuai felt more at ease by personally holding Mo Hua.

Thus, Mo Hua was held in the tall and slender hand of Gu Changhuai with a helpless expression, and the scenery in front of his eyes flashed past constantly. Shouting, howling, and the sound of falling stones echoed in his ears, and occasionally there were also sounds of cultivators fighting, with knives and swords crossing, a ceaseless din.

The altar sank, the main hall collapsed, then the labyrinth collapsed, successively from inside to outside, from the middle hall to the outer hall, the arrays self-destructed layer by layer, and the demon hall collapsed layer by layer. After who knows how long, the scenery in front of Mo Hua’s eyes shook, and he found himself already outside the demon lair.

The sky was high and the clouds were vast, and the mountain fog was misty. Around them were the towering mountains of Bi Shan City. Mo Hua turned back and saw the lone peak containing the demon lair collapsing inwards like boiling water melting snow, accompanied by a huge rumbling sound. And at the entrance of the demon lair, there were still numerous cultivators fleeing out. Most of them were Dao Court Division cultivators, and a few were demon cultivators.

The two sides had just escaped from the demon hall and again started to kill each other. Also, some demon cultivators took advantage of the chaos to escape. Gu Changhuai blocked the stone bridge, killing every one who came. Mo Hua still hid at the side, secretly using spells to control the demon cultivators. If Gu Changhuai was temporarily unable to free his hands and missed any escaped fish, Mo Hua would then use the water prison technique or the Gen Mountain array to trap them. Afterwards, Gu Changhuai would then kill them.

After killing ten more demon cultivators in this way, a blood-red figure suddenly appeared again at the entrance of the demon hall. It was precisely the Fire Buddha. He had also escaped. After the Fire Buddha escaped, the entire mountain peak collapsed with a “boom” sound, completely burying the entire demon hall and the strange altar within it. Those cultivators who could not escape were also buried inside.

Gu Changhuai was extremely angry in his heart, then looked towards the Fire Buddha, and with a stern killing intent, instructed:
“All officers, guard the stone bridge, don’t let this evil beast, the Fire Buddha, escape!”

Then, a wild wind suddenly rose around his body, and he took the lead, killing towards the Fire Buddha. The Fire Buddha let out a cold laugh, and again cast the Falling Fire technique, condensing dense fire rain, bombarding it against Gu Changhuai’s wind blades. The other Dao Court Division cultivators, some guarded the stone bridge, some fought with other demon cultivators, and some supported Gu Changhuai from the periphery.

Mo Hua watched for a while and slightly frowned. This Fire Buddha… in such a short time, he seemed to have suppressed the water poison, his body injuries had also mostly recovered, and his evil force was also much more abundant. He was like a cockroach, so hard to die.

The situation was somewhat unfavorable. And on the other side, during the fighting, the Fire Buddha suddenly bypassed Gu Changhuai, carrying fierce fire, and slapped his palm towards an officer beside him, intending to kill him. Gu Changhuai acted to save him, and his offensive was interrupted for a moment. The Fire Buddha got a breather, and a sinister smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

“In the altar, you didn’t kill me, now it’s too late…”

Gu Changhuai heard this, his expression changed, and he turned his head to look. He saw the Fire Buddha directly crush a luxurious talisman made of gold and jade. In an instant, a wild wind rolled fierce fire, entwining around the Fire Buddha’s body. His figure was not just one level faster.

Gu Changhuai’s pupils shrunk.
“Top-grade talisman… Ten Thousand Miles Divine Travel Talisman?!”

In just a flash, the Fire Buddha’s body was like swift fire, crossing from beside Gu Changhuai, opening up several zhang of distance. In another blink, it was another several zhang.

Gu Changhuai sternly said: “Stop him!”

All the officers heard this, their expressions serious, and they all raised their knives to close in, forming an airtight formation, blocking the entrance of the stone bridge, blocking the Fire Buddha’s path. The Fire Buddha’s gaze slightly focused, and he stimulated the Falling Fire of his whole body, beginning a strong attack. As long as he broke the formation and left the stone bridge, he would be like a fish entering the sea, with a vast sky.

The Fire Buddha and the officers killed into a group. His eyes were damaged, so he could not cast a full killing aura, so he could only simply deter, and could not make the hearts of the Dao Court Division cultivators feel fear. But relying on the surging evil force and the strong power of forbidden techniques, he was still breaking through the encirclement little by little. On the other side, Gu Changhuai was also rushing over with all his might.

Just as Gu Changhuai was about to arrive, the Fire Buddha also approached the entrance of the stone bridge. There were only a few officers around, and with the activation of the divine travel talisman and a move of swift fire, he could escape to heaven. There was a cold smile on the Fire Buddha’s face.

Just at this moment, his feet shook again, and a familiar aura came. The Fire Buddha knew without looking. Another damn array! He glanced out of the corner of his eye, and indeed there were gray array patterns under his feet, forming a mountain stone cage, briefly binding him. This array was again accurate and fast.

The Fire Buddha was annoyed. It must be that strange little ghost, who was hiding somewhere and secretly playing dirty tricks again. The moment the trap array formed, the Fire Buddha’s action was restricted, and immediately several Dao Court Division officers sealed and killed him. One of them shouted, “Fire Buddha, receive death!”

He was young and handsome, wearing a brand new Dao Court Division robe. He was precisely the direct descendant prodigy of the Xiao family, Xiao Tianquan. Previously, he had not directly acted against the Fire Buddha. Only at the last moment did he come out to strike this sword. The power of this sword was not bad, and spiritual power overflowed, indeed striking the Fire Buddha’s left shoulder. But the Fire Buddha was also not ordinary. He waved his right hand, and evil fire spread, burning Xiao Tianquan’s left arm, forcing him to retreat, exposing half of his body position.

Behind him, Gu Changhuai also arrived, waving his folding fan with all his might. Several sharp wind blades suddenly attacked, hitting the Fire Buddha’s back and grinding his back kasaya into pieces. The Fire Buddha endured this attack from Gu Changhuai, spitting blood from the corner of his mouth, but a cold smile still appeared at the corners of his mouth. Then he activated the Ten Thousand Miles Divine Travel Talisman, borrowing the exposed half-body position of Xiao Tianquan, and escaped away as swift as swift fire.

Mo Hua lastly added a water prison technique, but it was useless. Seeing the Fire Buddha escape, Mo Hua was somewhat angry. This Xiao Tianquan was truly useless. Either hide well and reap the benefits. If you jump out at the last moment and want to pick the peach, that’s fine, but you must kill the Fire Buddha. Or at least strive to keep the Fire Buddha behind. Like now, only exchanging some injuries with the Fire Buddha, and just letting him run away, truly accomplished nothing but spoiled things.

Just as Mo Hua was complaining, his expression suddenly startled. His spiritual sense was strong and his gaze was sharp, so in the chaos, he saw… Just now when the Fire Buddha escaped, he brushed past Xiao Tianquan. The two seemed to have an instant…

Eye contact?

Xiao Tianquan covered his arm, his gaze somewhat strange. And the Fire Buddha, looking at Xiao Tianquan, had exceptionally calm eyes. The two said nothing, just in a flash of lightning, their gazes had a trace of intersection.

This feeling, just like…

Acquaintances meeting?

Mo Hua’s heart slightly shook. He looked again, and Xiao Tianquan already had a serious expression, as if he was unwilling because he had let the Fire Buddha escape. And the Fire Buddha had already turned into a fire light, borrowing the Ten Thousand Miles Divine Travel Talisman, escaping to safety.

Gu Changhuai was extremely angry, and instructed sternly from behind:
“Chase!”

Then he also turned into a wild wind, chasing towards the direction the Fire Buddha had escaped, and some Dao Court Division cultivators followed closely behind. Mo Hua then silently looked at Xiao Tianquan, his thoughts slightly moving.

It seemed…

There was still a big fish…

Mo Hua did not follow Gu Changhuai to chase the Fire Buddha. The Fire Buddha ran too fast, he could not catch up even if he chased him, and he did not have that much spiritual power to support his movement technique for such a long distance chase. He would just honestly wait for Uncle Gu’s news in Bi Shan City, and it was also a good time to rest.

Early the next morning, Gu Changhuai returned with a tired and travel-worn face.
“The Fire Buddha escaped…”

Gu Changhuai sighed deeply, his tone bitter. Mo Hua felt very regretful in his heart, but it did not feel unexpected. The Fire Buddha, this demon cultivator with surging evil force, was hard to kill, and unless he was thoroughly surrounded and completely exhausted, otherwise outside, the variables were too great, making it difficult to kill him.

“Uncle Gu, what is the Ten Thousand Miles Divine Travel Talisman?” Mo Hua secretly asked.

Gu Changhuai’s expression startled, and he sighed: “This is a top-grade talisman, for cultivators below the Golden Core stage, it is the top talisman used for traveling and escaping…”
“This kind of talisman is generally only found in big clans…”

Mo Hua said: “Did that Fire Buddha’s talisman, did he rob it, steal it, or…”

Someone gave it to him? Mo Hua did not say clearly, but Gu Changhuai understood in his heart, and his expression also became serious. Mo Hua looked left and right, and then quietly said: “Uncle Gu, that Xiao Tianquan, seems to know the Fire Buddha…”

Gu Changhuai’s gaze was serious, “How do you know?”

“I saw…” Mo Hua said, “When the Fire Buddha escaped, he made eye contact with Xiao Tianquan. That gaze was just like acquaintances…”

Gu Changhuai frowned, recalling the scene from yesterday, but did not remember this moment. Mo Hua said: “The time was very short, just a blink, but I saw it with my sharp eyes!”

The Fire Buddha and Xiao Tianquan, in “eye contact”!

Gu Changhuai’s brows wrinkled tighter, he thought for a moment, but still shook his head.
“Logically speaking, it’s not possible…”
“The Fire Buddha is over two hundred years old, and Xiao Tianquan is probably just twenty or thirty. The generation gap is too great. When the Fire Buddha was infamous for his evil deeds, Xiao Tianquan was not yet born…”
“The two couldn’t possibly have intersected…”
“Given the Fire Buddha’s nature, he wouldn’t necessarily think highly of Xiao Tianquan either…”

Mo Hua said in a low voice: “Is it the Xiao family…”

Gu Changhuai thought for a moment, but still shook his head, “This time, in surrounding and killing the demon hall, many people from the Xiao family died. These are the foundations of the Xiao family in the Dao Court Division…”
“This kind of act of destroying their own foundation, even if Xiao Tianquan wanted to do it, their Xiao family ancestor would not possibly agree…”

Mo Hua nodded, but still felt something was fishy. Gu Changhuai saw that Mo Hua was full of doubts and didn’t know what he was pondering in his heart. He was afraid that he would do some outrageous thing again, so he sighed: “I will pay attention to this matter, you just don’t worry about it…”
“Also, you don’t tell outsiders, otherwise if the Xiao family hears about it, they will definitely use ‘spreading rumors and slandering the Xiao family’ as a reason to find trouble with you…”
“The Xiao family has great power in the Dao Court Division. If you are targeted by them, you will be restricted in everything you do, and your days will be hard…”

“Mhm mhm!”

Mo Hua continuously nodded. This kind of matter indeed needed to be handled low-key. Mo Hua asked again: “Uncle Gu, where exactly did the Fire Buddha escape to?”

Gu Changhuai’s expression was serious, “Outside the border of Qian Xue State. The specific location is still unclear. I have already notified the Dao Court Divisions of each immortal city along the way to issue a wanted order and surround and intercept him…”
“Hopefully we can stop the Fire Buddha…”

Gu Changhuai sighed. Once the Fire Buddha escaped and hibernated outside the border of Qian Xue State, recuperating and developing, when he returned one day, there would probably be another wave of blood rain and foul wind. Who knows how many cultivators would suffer disaster and die. If he truly entered the Golden Core stage, the harm would be endless…

Mo Hua also sighed, his mood heavy.
“Then I…”

Mo Hua still wanted to say something, but Gu Changhuai said: “Don’t you, you should go back to the sect early to cultivate…”
“Chasing the Fire Buddha is both dangerous and long. How much time do you have to spend? You only have a total of seven days off…”

“There are still two days!” Mo Hua said.

“Two days is a lot? Qian State is so big, truly going to chase the Fire Buddha is not enough for a round trip…” Gu Changhuai said coldly.

“Then…” Mo Hua still wanted to persist a bit.

Gu Changhuai then said without allowing refusal: “Tomorrow I will arrange for people to send you back to the sect. You can cultivate peacefully.”

Mo Hua did not really want to listen to his words. Gu Changhuai then said: “You honestly go back, and I will find a way to convert some sect merits for you. After all, destroying the demon hall is also a great merit…”
“If you don’t go back, then this matter is off the table.”

Mo Hua immediately followed the good advice and obediently said: “Okay, Uncle Gu, I’ll listen to you!”

So early the next morning, Gu Changhuai hired a carriage and sent Mo Hua back to the sect. Originally, Gu Changhuai wanted to find two officers to send him back. But Mo Hua did not want officers to escort him. One reason was that if he truly encountered danger, he had hiding techniques, which were enough to escape. If he truly couldn’t escape, then these two officers couldn’t save him either, and might even drag their lives down.

Another reason was that he wanted to seize the time on the way back to research the Fire Buddha’s Falling Fire forbidden technique secret book. And another one…

《Demon Path Turn Evil True Formula》!

When Mo Hua stole the Fire Buddha’s secret books, he grabbed two books at that time, without looking carefully, and just put them into his storage ring. Later, Mo Hua went back and secretly flipped through them, and then discovered that besides the Fire Buddha’s 《Falling Fire Forbidden Technique》, there was still one, precisely this 《Demon Path Turn Evil True Formula》! This should be what Uncle Gu said, the supreme inheritance of the Demon Evil Sect. It was also the method by which the Fire Buddha “led evil into law” and deterred the divine soul.

Mo Hua decided to “critique” it a bit. If there were places that could be referenced, then he would “take its essence and discard its dross,” and research it a bit. If he truly couldn’t learn it, then he would find the vital point of the Fire Buddha’s evil aura from it. If it was too evil, then he would burn it with a fire to avoid harming others. But this kind of book definitely needed to be read secretly, and he couldn’t let the Dao Court Division or Uncle Gu know, to avoid them thinking he was a “bad person.”

Among green mountains and waters, a carriage leisurely drove. This kind of spirit horse pulling a carriage all knew the way. Mo Hua just sat in the carriage, quietly flipping through the two secret books treasured by the Fire Buddha.

First was 《Demon Path Turn Evil True Formula》. Mo Hua flipped through it, and his gaze sank. The book was as its name suggested, indeed a bloody and cruel demon sect scripture. According to the book, evil aura was also a kind of heaven and earth power, between spiritual energy and divine sense, both tangible and intangible. The process of cultivating evil aura, simply speaking, was the character “kill.” Massively kill people, create killing karma, accumulate resentment, and then through this true formula, turn “killing karma” into evil aura. The more people killed, the deeper the evil aura. The stronger the people killed, the heavier the evil aura.

When fighting an enemy, just relying on deep and terrifying evil aura could make people’s livers and gallbladders split, fear extremely, lose resistance, and let people slaughter them. When fighting with experts, evil aura could also erode the opponent’s divine sense, making the opponent’s evil aura enter their body, go mad or frenzy. At that time in the main hall, the Fire Buddha just used evil aura to “frighten” several officers, then used a fire knife to kill them all. Demon evil aura, whether in group battles or single kills, was all quite fearsome.

“Need to massively kill people…”

Mo Hua frowned and shook his head. The killing karma was too heavy, this he definitely couldn’t cultivate. But what interested him was the process of “turning evil.” Turning “killing karma” into “evil aura.” This method, Mo Hua looked, actually contained some similar “cause and effect transformation” techniques. Killing karma as the cause, evil aura as the effect. Turning kill into evil, turning cause into effect. It was like it utilized a trace of the rules of “heavenly machine cause and effect,” then combined with the demon path’s killing behavior, creating such a method.

Mo Hua thought for a bit, but still did not destroy this secret book. Evil aura could not be cultivated, but the process of “turning evil” involved cause and effect transformation, which could be researched a bit.

Then was what Mo Hua most anticipated, the Falling Fire forbidden technique secret book! The secret book of the Falling Fire technique was a thick stack, more like a “forbidden technique research draft.” Inside, it was densely packed, with pictures and texts interwoven, all about the records and precautions of the forbidden technique. Including the taboos, drawbacks, and hard-to-break problems of this technique. Mo Hua roughly looked, and then suddenly realized.

The Falling Fire technique was a forbidden technique with extremely large spiritual power, extremely large power, but also extremely large negative effects. To cultivate this technique, the Fire Buddha massively killed people and fused their flesh and spiritual power into his own body, which was inside his chest, in the two “flame hearts.” The more people killed, the stronger the flame hearts, the more fearsome the technique’s power, and the nearly endless supply of evil force. No wonder his whole person looked like a fierce fire beast with surging demonic power. It was hard to kill, and not easy to die. And even injured, as long as he continued to kill people, he could quickly recover.

And his two hearts were actually a pair of origin twin evil tools. More so, they were treasure embryos incubated by Golden Core realm cultivators as their life treasures. Golden Core cultivators would refine their life treasures. If Foundation Building cultivators were to advance to Golden Core, they needed to incubate their life treasure embryos in advance. This was what Mo Hua’s teacher told him in cultivation class. The Fire Buddha’s treasure embryos were his two “flame hearts,” and at the same time, they were also the core of the Falling Fire forbidden technique.

As for the matter of treasure embryos, Mo Hua, at present, still did not thoroughly understand it. He was only in the early stage of Foundation Building, still a bit far from the Golden Core realm. Cultivation knowledge like life treasures was not yet time to delve into. As for the Fire Buddha’s Falling Fire technique… Mo Hua would not learn it, let alone try to learn it, so there was no need to spend too much time pondering. What he needed now was actually just a stable and controllable “technique structure.” And the Fire Buddha’s two flame hearts contained this technique structure. After all, his two “hearts,” as life treasure embryos, were implanted into his heart meridians. If they were not stable, the Fire Buddha would have “self-exploded” and died long ago.

“Stable and controllable technique structure!”

With this goal, Mo Hua again “discarded its dross, took its essence,” and focused on researching the spiritual power circulation paths of the fire attribute within the Fire Buddha’s two “hearts.” And according to this path, he “copied the gourd and drew the ladle,” pondering several basic fire-attribute spiritual power circulation “technique structures” himself. However, these technique structures were all very complex.

But Mo Hua was not afraid. His divine sense was strong, not afraid of complex techniques, even the more complex the better. After summarizing these technique structures, Mo Hua’s heart was itching to try them out. He just sat in the carriage and tried them one by one. First, he started with the single fireball technique. Mo Hua, according to the complex “technique structure” obtained from the forbidden technique, began to condense the fireball technique, and then bombarded the ground.

From the entire process of launching the fireball, Mo Hua began to experience the changes in the technique. How was the power, was it stable, was it controllable, was the technique structure easy to scatter, etc… After trying more than ten times, Mo Hua finally found one relatively stable and easiest to control style of the fireball technique. Mo Hua was greatly joyful in his heart and really wanted to immediately try fireball fusion and rub a “spiritual change” fireball technique to see its power. But on second thought, he still endured. This was not in the sect. In case of mishandling, the technique would go out of control, and he would injure himself again, and there would be no elder to save him…

Mo Hua suppressed his restless heart, thinking that he would wait until he returned to the sect to try the power of this technique. The carriage was still slowly driving. The scenery on both sides of the road was pleasant. It passed through small paths in spirit fields, through one immortal city after another, and near evening, it arrived outside Qing City Mountain. After passing this mountain and walking for a while, they would reach the border of Qian Xue State.

The sun set behind the mountain, and the evening glow was splendid. Mo Hua lay by the window, looking at the evening glow in the sky. As he watched, Mo Hua’s heart suddenly palpitated. The evening glow in the sky was like blood. Mo Hua blinked and looked again, and the evening glow was still splendid. The “blood color” just now was just his own illusion. Mo Hua was somewhat uneasy in his heart.

He tried to use heavenly machine derivation, and suddenly saw a fresh red chain of cause and effect on himself, like blood, like fire, and filled with killing intent. Mo Hua’s pupils shook, and without hesitation, he immediately flipped out of the carriage.

Just a few breaths later, the carriage he had been riding in suddenly exploded, ignited a raging fire, and turned to ashes. Mo Hua landed and looked forward, only to see a figure at the road ahead. The body was tall, the face was gentle, wearing a blood-red kasaya, and the eyes were blazing with killing intent.

It was precisely the Fire Buddha! His gaze was ice cold, and his voice was indifferent: “Little benefactor, I have come to send you on your way!”

(End of this chapter)