“Done, I said too much just now.”

Mò Huà’s eyes were innocent yet deep, brilliant as stars and perceptive as candlelight, as he stared at Lord Huángshān.

Lord Huángshān’s heart pounded under his gaze.

“Cough, it’s… it’s just that I’ve lived… a bit too long…”

Lord Huángshān immediately organized his thoughts. “Gods have very long lifespans. This desolate mountain has no one, and the broken temple is remote. I reside here as a small mountain god, undisturbed by others. The time just accumulated.”

“And later, alas… if not for acting wrongly later and having the roots cut off by a senior of your sect, I wouldn’t have fallen to this state…”

Lord Huángshān sighed, feigning a disappointed expression.

Mò Huà suddenly felt a bit embarrassed.

Although Lord Huángshān wasn’t chopped by him, it was a senior from his Tài Xū Mén who did it.

Breaking Lord Huángshān’s divine path roots meant he was more or less implicated in the karma.

But Mò Huà still wanted to clear the name of his sect’s senior. He raised a finger and corrected him, saying:

“That’s because you walked the crooked path. The sword cultivator senior only chopped you because of that, it’s not his fault.”

“Yes, yes,” Lord Huángshān nodded repeatedly, admitting frankly, “It was indeed my fault.”

Mò Huà then nodded with satisfaction.

Lord Huángshān silently changed the subject again, saying calmly:

“What else do you want to ask?”

Mò Huà was indeed distracted by Lord Huángshān’s words and no longer dwelled on how long he had lived.

What else to ask?

Mò Huà blinked his eyes and pondered in his heart for a moment.

There were still many things he wanted to ask, and they were messy and chaotic. Some of them, he estimated, Lord Huángshān might not even be able to answer.

Since that was the case, he would start with the most crucial problem right now.

“Suppose… I encounter an evil god…”

Lord Huángshān’s hand trembled, and he inhaled a cold breath. His voice changed, “You encountered an evil god?!”

Mò Huà emphasized, “I said ‘suppose’!”

Lord Huángshān then let out a long sigh of relief. “You child, don’t scare me like that…”

Mò Huà was a bit puzzled. “I just mentioned it casually. Is it that scary?”

Lord Huángshān shook his head. “That’s because you don’t understand just how terrifying evil gods are…”

“Ordinary evil gods are often bloody, strange, and vengeful…”

“Some ancient evil gods are even more terrifying and unfathomable. Their evil thoughts surge, and being stared at by Them, not to mention ordinary cultivators, even proper gods often won’t have a good end…”

“If you truly encounter an evil god, it’s best to run as far as you can.”

“Once you fall into their grasp and become an evil god’s chess piece, having your flesh polluted is a small matter. If your divine thoughts are invaded, your Dao heart degenerates, and you become an evil god’s sacrifice, puppet, or servant… that’s truly neither human nor ghost, unable to live or die…”

Mò Huà silently sighed in his heart.

That’s easy to say, but unfortunately, it’s already too late…

Cultivating the “Tiān Yǎn Shù” set of techniques was equivalent to boarding a pirate ship.

Even if the evil god doesn’t come looking for him, he probably has to go look for Them…

If he doesn’t “eat” Them, how can he break through the bottleneck, raise his cultivation, and break through realms?

Lord Huángshān was about to say something, but suddenly he was startled. He looked at Mò Huà vigilantly. “You didn’t… really encounter an evil god, did you?”

Mò Huà’s eyebrows slightly raised. “If I really encountered an evil god, would I still be here?”

Lord Huángshān thought for a moment and nodded:

“That’s true…”

Even if this little ancestor was capable, there was absolutely no reason for him to escape from an evil god’s hands.

Not being polluted by the evil god’s flesh and being “skinned alive” would be good enough. How could he still be here chatting and laughing with him?

Lord Huángshān nodded silently, but then he was doubtful again. “Why are you specifically asking about evil gods?”

Mò Huà sighed. “The cultivation world is so dangerous. As a weak and fragile little cultivator, I’m trembling with fear, walking on thin ice. Naturally, I want to know more…”

“Knowing more about everything can reduce a portion of the danger.”

“Especially the evil god, this ‘terrifying’ thing. Understanding a bit beforehand, knowing yourself and your enemy, in case you encounter one in the future, you can also be prepared and won’t be careless for a moment, like a sheep entering a tiger’s mouth, being ‘eaten’ by an evil god…”

Lord Huángshān pondered for a moment, then believed Mò Huà’s nonsense.

He felt Mò Huà’s words were very reasonable.

Although with his intuition as a mountain god, this child Mò Huà was an unknown big trouble.

But putting aside the trouble, he actually liked Mò Huà quite a bit in his heart.

His aura was pure, and his appearance was cute.

For so many years, he was the only one who would cross mountains and rivers, bringing offerings to eat for him, a human cub.

Although occasionally, within the innocence, there was some evil energy.

Within the purity, there was some strangeness.

But for a cultivator who could interact with a mountain god like him, and who was still a child, having some extraordinary qualities was to be expected.

“Just treat it as forming a good karma…”

Lord Huángshān took another bite of the chicken leg.

He didn’t know how this chicken leg was made, it was really fragrant.

When eating people’s food, one is beholden to them. He couldn’t continue to hide and hold back, lest he appear petty in front of this child.

“Gods and humans are different. As a mountain god, I originally shouldn’t tell you these words…”

Lord Huángshān sighed. “However, you child are a bit special. Since you can encounter me, this mountain god, it’s not impossible to encounter an evil god in the future. For the sake of these offerings, I’ll just tell you a bit…”

Mò Huà’s eyes lit up, and he immediately moved his butt closer to Lord Huángshān.

Lord Huángshān coughed and cleared his throat, slowly saying:

“The matter of evil gods is quite complex and long to explain. You have no related knowledge, so I can only start from the beginning with you…”

“People’s divine consciousness is divided into grades.”

“Gods’ divine thoughts are different. They are both divided into grades and into ranks.”

Mò Huà frowned, a bit confused.

Lord Huángshān explained: “That is to say, the many gods of heaven and earth are both divided into realms by grades and into god positions by ranks.”

“For example, I am a second-grade small mountain god. ‘Second-grade’ is the realm, and ‘mountain god’ is the god position, also called god rank.”

“God rank is determined by the god’s own ‘god marrow’…”

Mò Huà’s heart trembled.

God marrow?!

After he killed the horned official and the golden evil eye and swallowed them, the “god marrow” that made his divine consciousness further undergo a “qualitative change”!

Lord Huángshān said: “God marrow is the original marrow of gods, containing the origin of gods. It is the manifested Dao of divine thoughts. The higher the god marrow rank, the higher the god rank of the god.”

“Externally, it manifests as great Dao colors like silver, pale gold, pure gold, jade white, glazed, and so on…”

So many kinds of god marrow!

Mò Huà’s eyes lit up, and he involuntarily licked his lips.

Lord Huángshān was speaking halfway when a sudden wave of alarm rose in his heart. He looked at Mò Huà with shock but unclear why, and the rest of his words stuck in his mouth.

Mò Huà couldn’t help but say:

“Mountain Lord, please continue. God marrow…”

Lord Huángshān hesitated for a moment, feeling that he should still follow the premonition of the gods and shouldn’t say too much.

“God marrow is something gods use to advance their god rank. It has nothing to do with you. As a human cultivator, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know…” Lord Huángshān said vaguely.

Mò Huà was a bit unhappy.

Lord Huángshān was afraid Mò Huà would press the question, so he immediately skipped this point and said quickly:

“The realms of gods, that is, grades, represent the ‘quantity’ of divine thoughts manifested. The god ranks of gods represent the superiority of god marrow and the height of the god position, which is the distinction of gods’ ‘quality’.”

“The strength of gods is both determined by realms and influenced by god ranks.”

“The realms of gods determine the maximum volume of gods’ bodies externalized. The higher the grade, the stronger the god and the larger the god body.”

“But the realms of gods are also greatly influenced by god ranks.”

“For example, the lowest-level gods are wandering gods, and higher ones are like me, mountain gods.”

“A third-grade wandering god can suppress a second-grade wandering god, but a third-grade wandering god can’t necessarily suppress a second-grade mountain god.”

“Because the realm is one level higher, but the god rank is one grade weaker. When truly contending for power, who wins and who loses is possible…”

Mò Huà listened very strangely and said doubtfully:

“This seems very different from cultivators’ realms…”

Lord Huángshān nodded. “That’s natural. Cultivators are humans, not gods.”

“These things are secrets that gods know. General gods won’t tell these things to human cultivators.”

“Those with deficient divine thoughts cannot see gods.”

“Sometimes two mountain gods are contending for authority in the mountains, fighting to the death. The formless divine thoughts surge. If passing cultivators have low divine thoughts, they might be like ‘blind’ people, unable to see or perceive anything.”

“Oh, oh…”

Mò Huà nodded repeatedly, then personally poured a cup of wine for Lord Huángshān to thank him for the grace of imparting the Dao of gods.

Lord Huángshān drank the wine Mò Huà poured for him and felt quite comfortable in his heart.

Mò Huà then asked: “What about evil gods? What kind of god ranks do evil gods have? When gods become evil gods, will their god marrow also be polluted?”

Lord Huángshān said with a grave expression: “When gods degenerate into evil gods, their god ranks won’t change, but their god marrow will be polluted…”

Mò Huà was stunned.

Being polluted…

So the two portions of god marrow he ate from evil gods, one from the horned official and one from the golden evil eye, were all polluted?

He was already polluted?

Mò Huà’s heart jumped, and he hurriedly asked:

“What kind of god marrow is it after being polluted?”

Lord Huángshān’s face was stern: “After being polluted, the evil thoughts of the degenerate evil gods will parasitize deep within the god marrow like evil poison, merging with the god marrow as one. As long as the god marrow doesn’t die, the evil thoughts won’t be extinguished…”

“Evil gods’ evil thoughts?”

Mò Huà was startled.

He recalled that day when the golden evil eye was annihilated by the tribulation thunder, there was a phantom like a golden-horned great demon within it, which was annihilated together.

That phantom was perhaps the degenerate evil god’s evil thoughts that were integrated into the god marrow?

Mò Huà slowly let out a breath.

It was good that he was witty and felt early on that the golden “big eye bead” was not right, possibly hiding an evil fetus. He just used the tribulation thunder to “disinfect” it beforehand.

Otherwise, he would have unknowingly “eaten” the evil god’s god marrow.

If that were the case, perhaps his head would already be broken by now.

Once the Dao heart is polluted, the divine consciousness is swallowed, and the sea of consciousness becomes a breeding ground for evil thoughts.

Sooner or later, he would become a complete little evil god.

The key is that this kind of danger is hard to guard against in time.

Without the inheritance of the Dao of gods, he was completely ignorant about matters of gods. Even if he wanted to guard against evil gods, there was fundamentally no way to start.

“So dangerous…”

Mò Huà had lingering fear in his heart and secretly nodded, “Evil gods are indeed very terrifying!”

He almost “ate” the evil god’s eye bead that wasn’t disinfected.

Lord Huángshān saw that Mò Huà showed an expression of fear, which should be because his words had instilled fear of evil gods in him. He nodded involuntarily.

It’s good to know fear…

Mò Huà turned his eyes and asked again: “Then how do I deal with evil gods?”

Lord Huángshān was startled. “Deal with?”

“No,” Mò Huà corrected, “… guard against!”

“Oh.” Lord Huángshān then nodded and said solemnly: “To guard against evil gods, you first have to understand the ways evil gods spread their Dao.”

“Evil gods spread their Dao, and it’s similar to how general gods spread their Dao, but the methods will be very bloody and strange.”

“Evil gods will divide and spread their Dao.”

“Because gods are also limited by the Heavenly Dao, a big evil god will often divide its god body into many one-grade, two-grade, or three-grade ‘god remnants,’ scattering them to various low-grade states in the Nine Provinces to spread evil Dao to the maximum extent, borrowing people’s degenerate desires to feed itself…”

“They spread Dao through god images, parasitize flesh, nurture desires, and devour hearts…”

“Evil gods also ‘feed on sacrifices,’ using people’s flesh and divine consciousness as sacrifices.”

“Especially deformed desires rooted in hearts, filthy sins in karma, bloody and fanatical faith, these are top-grade sacrifices to evil gods…”

Lord Huángshān thought for a moment and summarized: “So later, if you encounter strange god images, strange evil cultivators, demons’ altars, flesh sacrifices, deformed sins… they are probably all related to evil gods.”

“… Don’t hesitate, run as far as you can.”

“Mm-hmm!” Mò Huà nodded repeatedly, then blinked his eyes and humbly said, “What if I can’t run away?”

Lord Huángshān shook his head. “Then I have no way either.”

“You are a mountain god, and you have no way?”

Lord Huángshān said a bit aggrieved:

“How can a mountain god fight evil gods ah…”

Not to mention evil gods, I probably can’t even beat you, this cultivator child…

Lord Huángshān silently complained in his heart.

“Not even a little bit?” Mò Huà asked again.

Lord Huángshān looked at Mò Huà, pondered for a moment, then slowly said:

“If you are lucky in the future and can learn array formations that restrain gods, perhaps you can still fight…”

Mò Huà was stunned, then his spirit was greatly shaken, and his eyes sparkled.

“Restrain gods’ array formations?!”

“Mm…” Lord Huángshān nodded, suddenly vigilant, “You aren’t going to use it to restrain me, are you…”

“Rest assured, you are not an evil god!” Mò Huà comforted Lord Huángshān. “Moreover, we are considered good friends.”

Although Lord Huángshān didn’t quite agree with the words “good friends,” he didn’t dare to raise any objections.

Friends were better than enemies after all.

“Compared to general array formations, what’s different about array formations that restrain gods?” Mò Huà asked with great interest.

He never thought that coming to ask about matters of gods, he would actually hear new secrets about array formations from Lord Huángshān’s mouth.

Lord Huángshān nodded. “That’s natural…”

He sighed. Along the broken roof of the broken temple, he looked up at the sky and sighed: “Heaven and earth have the Great Dao, the Great Dao transforms ten thousand, and the ten thousand are all laws.”

“Array formations are one of the methods that manifest this ten thousand Great Dao. Only compared to other methods, array formations are closer to the origin of the Great Dao.”

“The Great Dao is ten thousand, so array formations naturally also have ten thousand, with numerous categories and different rules.”

Lord Huángshān looked at Mò Huà. “The array formations commonly used by you humans are mostly based on natural forces like the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, but their root is to consume divine consciousness, comprehend the Heavenly Dao, use laws, and manifest through natural spiritual forces like the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams…”

“Within array formations, there is both the power of divine thoughts and the spiritual forces of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams.”

“Different array formations emphasize different natural spiritual forces and the power of divine thoughts.”

“To deal with people, naturally the spiritual forces of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams are the main focus.”

“But to deal with gods…”

Lord Huángshān paused and corrected, “To deal with ‘evil gods’…”

He emphasized the words “evil gods,” probably meaning that he was not an evil god, so Mò Huà shouldn’t deal with him.

Mò Huà nodded understandingly.

Lord Huángshān then continued: “To deal with evil gods, one needs to emphasize the ‘power of divine thoughts’ within array formations.”

“The laws of heaven and earth harm form with form, and harm formless with formless.”

“Flesh and spiritual forces are ‘form’.”

“Blood energy transforms into strength, and spiritual forces transform into techniques, which can harm the ‘form’ of flesh, meridians, and Qi Sea.”

“Divine thoughts are ‘formless’.”

“Gods’ bodies are a certain kind of divine thought condensed from the myriad spirits of heaven and earth. In unknown situations of life and god images, one must use the power of divine thoughts to harm ‘formless’ gods.”

“Therefore, in ancient times, some great ability cultivators, in order to restrain evil gods, manifested a part from the rules of heaven, array formations that could play the power of divine thoughts to the extreme.”

“This kind of array formation emphasizes ‘formless’ gods and downplays ‘form’ forces. It has a very strong restraining effect on gods and ghosts, but its killing power against ordinary cultivators is very weak.”

“Some ancient cultivators uniformly called this kind of array formation…”

Lord Huángshān’s gaze condensed slightly, showing deep reverence.

“God Path Array Formations!”

God Path Array Formations…

Mò Huà’s heart trembled, and he couldn’t help but hold his breath.

This name, just hearing it, is both handsome and strong!

He wanted to learn it!

Mò Huà’s eyes sparkled brightly, and he couldn’t help but ask:

“How to learn God Path Array Formations…”

Lord Huángshān shook his head. “I am a small mountain god, neither human nor array master, how would I know…”

“And the cultivation world has extended for so many years, most of the array formations established by these ancient cultivators have been lost. Even if you want to find them, it’s not easy to find.”

“Even if you find them, it’s hard to learn.”

“If they are sealed within some great cultivation forces and treated as ‘taboos,’ it’s even more impossible for you to learn them.”

Mò Huà was a bit disappointed. “Such important things shouldn’t be passed down from generation to generation and carried forward?”

Lord Huángshān said meaningfully: “In ancient times, the human race was weak, and those who killed the most people were demons, heavenly demons, and evil gods.”

“Later, the human race prospered, and those who killed the most were humans.”

“How can these array formations that restrain gods be compared to the importance of array formations that ‘kill people’?”

Mò Huà was stunned and showed a thoughtful expression.

“And…”

Lord Huángshān’s long eyebrows were slightly raised, and a trace of pride appeared in his gaze:

“Since they are ‘God Path’ array formations that can play the power of divine thoughts to the extreme, how can ordinary cultivators learn, master, and pass them on whenever they want?”

“Heavenly gods, surging with great power, how can they be so easy to restrain?”

“If someone whose divine thoughts are not strong really overreaches, rashly touches taboos, and blasphemes gods, they will inevitably die without a burial place!”

Mò Huà’s heart was stern, then he looked at Lord Huángshān doubtfully.

Lord Huángshān was a bit panicked by Mò Huà’s innocent gaze. He immediately restrained his “proud” expression and said gently and humbly:

“Of course, this is what I heard. I am a small fallen mountain god, and I don’t know much…”

Mò Huà looked at Lord Huángshān with a profound gaze.

Lord Huángshān had a smile on his face, but his heart was still pounding.

It was good that Mò Huà didn’t investigate further but asked another question:

“God Path’ array formations can restrain gods, what about ‘divine thoughts transforming into swords’?”

“Are there also array formations within divine thoughts transforming into swords?”

Lord Huángshān relaxed and explained:

“That’s another matter.”

“Another matter?”

“Mm.” Lord Huángshān nodded. “Not all cultivators in this world know array formations.”

“If you can’t learn array formations and still want to kill evil gods or other powerful evil things, then there’s only ‘another way’.”

“Divine thoughts transforming into swords is just like that.”

“If you don’t know array formations and your divine consciousness is not strong enough, then use the sword to substitute for the array, fuse sword Qi into divine thoughts, transform it into sword intent, and form a powerful killing force of divine thoughts.”

Lord Huángshān sighed. “Although humans are weak, their minds are indeed extraordinary.”

“Then,” Mò Huà asked again, “What’s the difference between divine thoughts transforming into swords and God Path Array Formations?”

Lord Huángshān pondered for a moment and nodded: “The original intention of God Path Array Formations is to restrain and suppress, and can be considered a kind of ‘seal’.”

“While divine thoughts transforming into swords is purely killing.”

Mò Huà said doubtfully: “Then, does that mean ‘God Path Array Formations’ are actually not as powerful as ‘divine thoughts transforming into swords’?”

Lord Huángshān said a bit helplessly:

“How can you compare that? Those who know array formations will definitely go learn ‘God Path Array Formations’ first. Those who don’t use array formations but use swords will go learn ‘divine thoughts transforming into swords’.”

“They are completely different. One is ‘seal’, and the other is ‘kill’…”

“People’s divine consciousness is inherently disadvantaged and cannot compare with the divine thoughts of gods.”

“So if you really go to slay evil gods, people’s divine consciousness realms must be far higher than the realms of gods, and moreover, it will probably be a case of injuring the enemy a thousand and self-damaging eight hundred. Even if you win, it will be a miserable victory.”

“If you lose, it will be the end of divine extinction and Dao dissipation.”

“Divine thoughts transforming into swords is originally hard to learn, so who knows how many people died clashing hard with evil gods.”

“God Path Array Formations are different. Although they cannot kill evil gods or some powerful evil things, using array formations, carefully setting ambushes, and successfully suppressing evil gods and evil things can, to a certain extent, ‘overcome the strong with the weak’ and protect the peace of one side.”

Mò Huà suddenly realized and asked again: “Do gods use array formations?”

He had wanted to ask this question for a long time.

At that time, in his sea of consciousness, he fought with that golden big eye bead.

At first, that big eye bead couldn’t clearly distinguish whether he was a human or a god.

Later, as soon as he used array formations, that big eye bead instantly determined that he was not a “god”.

Mò Huà just guessed, perhaps the gods of this heaven and earth cannot use array formations?

As expected, Lord Huángshān said: “Gods cannot use array formations.”

“Why?” Mò Huà was very curious.

Lord Huángshān said: “Gods are favored by heaven in a unique way. They are born inheriting the Great Dao of heaven, and they themselves contain some special Great Dao origins.”

“While array formations are also manifestations of the laws of the Great Dao.”

“If the laws of the ten thousand Great Dao array formations are of the same source as the gods, then gods have an innate understanding and do not need to learn, let alone borrow array formations to use.”

“If they are of different sources, this array formation will repel the god’s own Great Dao, and gods cannot learn or use it.”

“The power of gods lies in the ‘purity’ of their Dao.”

“The more powerful a god is, the more profound their own Great Dao origin. But at the same time, they are more repelled by other laws and cannot comprehend other Great Daos.”

“Humans are different. They are innately weak in the Great Dao, so they can constantly learn and comprehend array formations, borrow array formations to operate many Great Dao laws, and control the natural forces of heaven.”

Mò Huà suddenly realized.

Simply put, gods have an innate understanding, so they don’t need to learn.

Cultivators are innately insufficient, so they have to comprehend array formations.

In another way of saying…

Gods are uniquely favored by heaven and are born inheriting a part of the Great Dao origin, so they cannot learn other laws.

Cultivators are innately nothing and are not favored by the Great Dao. Instead, they can learn, control ten thousand array formations, and comprehend various Heavenly Great Daos.

This is like…

Mò Huà pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up:

“Do those who have it think it’s beneficial, and those who don’t think it’s useful?”

Lord Huángshān’s pupils suddenly contracted. He was almost speechless. It took a long time before he recovered and murmured:

“That’s the reasoning…”

But the gaze he looked at Mò Huà with contained a trace of subtle incredulity.

(End of this chapter)