“Old Ancestor, are you really at ease?” Xun Ziyou frowned.

He was only in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, not the late stage of Gold Core. In a second-grade territory, it was still acceptable, but once they reached a third-grade territory, the dangers were truly numerous.

Especially in certain situations, dangers were everywhere. Even an Elder at the late stage of Gold Core like him couldn’t necessarily handle it.

Elder Xun was silent for a moment, then slowly sighed and asked, without answering the question, “Do you think Mo Hua will stay in my Taixu Gate?”

Xun Ziyou was startled, “You mean… whether he will enter the inner sect?”

Elder Xun nodded.

Xun Ziyou thought for a moment and said, “He should… He is the dignified chief of the Array Dao. Although his spiritual root is a bit lacking, his talent in array methods is truly heaven-defying. And he has established quite a few merits for our Taixu Gate. Based on both emotion and reason, the sect will accept him into the inner sect…”

“And the Elders throughout the sect also like this child very much. Mo Hua gets along very well with his fellow disciples and is very familiar with the Elders. If he doesn’t enter the Taixu inner sect, where else can he go, to other sects?”

Elder Xun shook his head, “This child is destined not to stay in Taixu Gate…”

Xun Ziyou didn’t understand but didn’t dare to ask more. He only said, “If he doesn’t enter the inner sect, he will have to go out and travel, and still have to find a way to form his core himself…” Xun Ziyou’s brows furrowed tightly with deep worry, “Sleeping in the open and exposed to the elements, that would be too hard, and, who knows how many dangers he will encounter…”

It wasn’t just simple “dangers.”

Elder Xun didn’t explain clearly.

Mo Hua’s true origin was known to almost no one in Taixu Gate.

And with great karma on his body, the crises he faced in the future would be even more terrifying.

So terrifying that ordinary people simply couldn’t imagine.

The enemies standing opposite him were also so strong that it was hard to predict.

“Protecting for a while is not protecting for a lifetime…”

Elder Xun sighed deeply, “Some dangers, he can only go through them himself, overcome them himself.”

“Disaster relies on fortune, this world, crisis and opportunity are born together. Only by going through dangers, experiencing trials, seeking a glimmer of opportunity in desperate situations, and moving forward step by step, can one truly be reborn from fire and become stronger.”

“Masters, elders, treasures, these are external, they are ‘strength’ given by others.”

“Only by truly relying on one’s own knowledge, experience, wit, and strength, overcoming tribulations, and turning danger into safety, is that true ‘strength’.”

“A precious sword is tempered in fire, only then does it have true sharpness.”

Xun Ziyou’s expression was solemn, and then he nodded in deep agreement.

Cultivators raised in luxury often couldn’t withstand wind and frost, couldn’t bear setbacks, and when they encountered true tribulations, their Dao hearts were easily shattered.

Ordinary people only knew how to praise cultivators’ spiritual roots, blood energy, family background, appearance, these superficial things.

They didn’t know that what was truly precious to cultivators was actually a heart that had gone through tribulations, an unyielding Dao heart.

This kind of Dao heart was very difficult to forge without tempering.

“Old Ancestor’s deep plans and distant thoughts,” Xun Ziyou said, “Whatever Mo Hua wants to do, I just won’t manage.”

Xun Ziyou stood up, intending to leave, but was called back by Elder Xun.

“Stop.”

Elder Xun said, “I didn’t tell you not to manage it at all.”

Xun Ziyou was startled, “Huh?”

“You can’t really not manage anything.”

Elder Xun said, he pondered in his heart for a while, and in the end, he was still reluctant.

The sharp edge of a precious sword is ground out, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold.

These words were indeed not false, but he was the only precious disciple in Taixu Gate like Mo Hua. If he were to be truly injured, or if something happened accidentally…

Just thinking about it, Elder Xun’s heart ached endlessly.

Moreover, Mo Hua was different from other geniuses, he didn’t have any life-saving talismans on his body.

Without this as a safety net, even a little negligence could not be tolerated.

A slight mistake would lead to eternal damnation.

Even if they wanted to regret, it would be too late.

Elder Xun had indeed thought about it before, wanting to plant a life-saving talisman on Mo Hua, which could save his life at a critical moment.

But Taixu Gate didn’t have any “old and dying” Cave Void realm cultivators.

Even if they did, without any family or reason, how could they consume their source to plant a life-saving talisman for Mo Hua, this unrelated child?

Elder Xun thought about doing it himself.

But Taixu Gate originally had only a few Cave Void realm cultivators, and he was the only one proficient in arrays and having a rough understanding of heavenly mechanisms.

At this time, in the Qian Xue territory, heavenly mechanisms were obscure, a storm was brewing, the situation was treacherous, and dangers were unpredictable.

Many important matters still required his personal planning.

His old bones still had to continue burning, to continue the fire for the sect.

It was impossible for him to truly damage his source and cut off his own path to plant this life-saving talisman for Mo Hua.

He could only think of other ways.

“If Mo Hua goes out to travel, leaves Taixu Gate, leaves Qian territory, the mountains are high and the waters are far, I can’t worry about him, and I can’t manage him even if I want to.”

“But at least in the vicinity of the Qian Xue territory, I have to leave a backup to protect his safety.”

Elder Xun took out a pure white jade pendant and handed it to Xun Ziyou.

“The Taixu Two Instruments Lock is the supreme treasure of my Taixu Gate, and it is now hanging around Mo Hua’s neck, protecting his karma.”

“This jade pendant matches the Taixu Two Instruments Lock and can sense some of his karma’s qi mechanism.”

“If this jade pendant is white, it means everything is safe, and Mo Hua won’t have any accidents.”

“If it shows light red, there is a small crisis; if it shows dark red, there is a big crisis;”

“If it shows black,” Elder Xun’s gaze sank, “…that is an omen of death!”

Xun Ziyou’s expression tightened.

Elder Xun gave him the jade pendant and instructed, “You take this jade pendant and follow him. You don’t need to follow too closely. Let him resolve any matters himself, but if he encounters a life-and-death crisis, you must protect him at all costs.”

Xun Ziyou took the jade pendant with a solemn expression, only feeling a heavy heart.

Although it was a third-grade territory, if there were no accidents, he, the Taixu Gate’s Gold Core late stage sword cultivator Elder, should be able to handle any crisis.

But fear not ten thousand, just fear that one in ten thousand.

If something really went wrong, and Mo Hua had an accident, and he didn’t rescue him in time, even if he paid with his life afterwards, it would be of no help.

“Old Ancestor, what if I can’t do it… I can’t protect him?” Xun Ziyou frowned and asked.

Elder Xun’s expression was solemn, he pondered for a moment, and slowly said, “If you can’t do it, just… crush the Void Sword Order.”

Xun Ziyou’s heart thumped.

This was the second time the Old Ancestor had mentioned the Void Sword Order.

Using the Void Sword Order was enough to show Mo Hua’s position in the Old Ancestor’s eyes.

Or rather, it showed Mo Hua’s importance to Taixu Gate.

But Xun Ziyou still didn’t quite understand, “Third-grade territory has realm restrictions, even crushing the Void Sword Order won’t break the void, right?”

“You don’t need to worry about this, I have my own arrangements.” Elder Xun said lightly.

Xun Ziyou didn’t know what arrangements the Old Ancestor had, but he didn’t dare to ask more.

Elder Xun’s fingers slightly pinched, his brows moved slightly, and then he said, “It’s getting late, you should leave early, follow secretly, you are familiar with this matter…”

After speaking, Elder Xun added, “Don’t be like before, a dignified Gold Core late stage cultivator, staring at a Foundation Establishment disciple, and still being discovered…”

Xun Ziyou was somewhat ashamed, “Yes, I will be careful this time…”

Elder Xun waved his hand, “Go.”

Xun Ziyou took his orders and left.

In the Elder’s residence, only Elder Xun was left.

He looked at the chaotic and unclear heavenly mechanism compass with disordered karma in front of him, his brows furrowed tightly. After a long time, he only slowly sighed, “I can only protect you to this extent…”

“Whether this trip’s opportunity is big or small, whether your fortune is good or bad, you can only rely on yourself…”

On the mountain path in the Qian Xue territory, Mo Hua was sitting in a carriage, heading towards the remote Gushan City.

About half a day later, Mo Hua arrived at Gushan City.

The dilapidated city was built against the mountain. The mountain rocks were pitch black, and the woods were barren. From afar, there were no abnormalities, but Mo Hua always felt that this mountain was hiding some strangeness.

After entering Gushan City, Mo Hua first went to find Shen Xiuyan.

In a secluded private room in a teahouse, Shen Xiuyan handed a storage bag to Mo Hua.

“What Young Master wants is all in the bag. But time is urgent, and my authority is limited, so I only found some peripheral things and some fragments. They may not necessarily be useful.”

Shen Xiuyan said to Mo Hua in a low voice.

Mo Hua took the storage bag, glanced at it, then cupped his hands, “Many thanks.”

“It’s good if I can help Young Master,” Shen Xiuyan said, and then his face showed some apology, “It’s not convenient for me to stay long.”

He was a Shen family Elder, and Mo Hua was a genius of Taixu Gate.

Although the relationship between the Shen family and Taixu Gate was not to the point of being like fire and water, if seen by people with intentions, it was still easy to cause suspicion.

Especially, in a sense, Shen Xiuyan was indeed doing something that “betrayed” the Shen family.

Once discovered, it would be impossible to explain clearly.

Mo Hua also understood this point. He cupped his hands, “Elder Xiu, please go ahead, I won’t see you off.”

Shen Xiuyan breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, performed a ritual, and then took his leave.

In the teahouse, only Mo Hua was left.

Mo Hua thought for a while and didn’t leave. Instead, he directly opened the storage bag and looked at the scrolls Shen Xiuyan had given him while drinking tea.

The teahouse was quiet, and no one disturbed him.

Mo Hua’s divine sense was powerful, and he looked very focused. In just half an hour, he roughly flipped through all these scrolls and then fell into contemplation.

The scrolls recorded the beginning and end of the Shen family’s mining of the Gushan mineral, spanning several hundred years, involving all aspects, including the mobilization of cultivators, engineering arrangements, spirit tool structure, spirit contract regulations, mineral flow, spirit stone prices, copper mine stock estimates, records of rogue cultivators’ families… and so on.

Among them were even records of several conflicts between the Shen family and rogue cultivators.

These scroll documents covered a wide range, but relatively, they were also very fragmented, consisting of fragments of some mining events spanning several hundred years and different time periods.

Through these, Mo Hua had a preliminary concrete impression of the mining matters.

But the deeper truth still couldn’t be dug out, nor could he see the full picture.

The only thing that somewhat concerned Mo Hua was the “orphans” of Gushan City.

Mo Hua, while flipping through the scrolls, discovered that during a certain period, the number of orphans in Gushan City sharply increased, but what exactly happened before and after was not recorded in any scrolls.

He didn’t know if it was because no one cared about the situation of rogue cultivators, so no one specifically recorded it.

Or if there were scrolls recorded, but they were sealed by the Shen family.

Or… were they directly destroyed?

Mo Hua’s brows furrowed slightly, and his heart became more and more doubtful.

“What exactly did the Shen family do in Gushan?”

“Could the Shen family’s matters be related to the evil fetus?”

“A cunning rabbit has three burrows, one mountain, one water, one person… Is there really an evil fetus hidden in Gushan?”

“If it is hidden, then where is this evil fetus hidden?”

For the rest of the time, Mo Hua carefully flipped through these scrolls, trying to find some clues from them.

But after flipping back and forth, he found nothing.

Mo Hua then decided to personally go to the mountain head of the Shen family to take a look.

He didn’t call Master Gu, but planned to go by himself.

He knew concealment techniques and could investigate in hiding. It was more convenient to go alone. Moreover, he also didn’t want to involve Master Gu too much.

He had Taixu Gate as his backing, and he had no ties here in Gushan City, so he could come and go freely.

But Master Gu was different. His status in the Gu family was not high, and he still had to manage the livelihoods of a crowd of apprentice disciples in the refining workshop. A runaway monk cannot run away from the temple. If he truly opposed the Shen family, he would definitely be sought revenge, and then the trouble would be big.

Mo Hua also estimated it.

Although Gushan City was a third-grade territory, it was a very poor third-grade territory.

The passing Gold Core cultivators were generally just in the initial stage.

His body technique had now merged concealment technique, Flowing Water Step, and Water Shadow Illusion Body. Facing cultivators in the initial stage of Gold Core, even if he couldn’t win, running was not a problem.

Mo Hua thought it over properly, then packed up a bit, and then, concealing himself, he entered Gushan alone.

At the same time that Mo Hua entered Gushan, in the Shen family of Gushan City, Shen Xiuyan was already sitting in a carriage, preparing to return to Xiaoling Gate.

He had even given some less important scrolls of the Shen family to Mo Hua, which was considered “leaking secrets.”

Although it wasn’t a big mistake, it was better to have fewer matters than more.

Once the matter was done, it was better to withdraw early to avoid bearing responsibility.

Moreover, to be honest, as soon as he saw Mo Hua now, he thought of his origin and couldn’t help but feel a bit fearful, and he really didn’t want to deal with Mo Hua too much.

Shen Xiuyan drove the carriage and prepared to return to the sect.

But the carriage had just taken a few steps when it met a person head-on.

This person had an ordinary appearance but an extraordinary aura, wearing the attire of a Shen family Elder. It was precisely the real power Elder of the Shen family, Shen Shouxing.

“Xiuyan?” Shen Shouxing said.

Shen Xiuyan had to come out to greet him, “Brother Shouxing.”

“Going back to the sect so early?” Shen Shouxing asked.

“There are some matters in the sect.”

Shen Shouxing nodded and then said, “I have some matters I want to ask you about. Follow me.”

Shen Xiuyan felt a little uneasy, but Shen Shouxing’s cultivation was higher and his power was greater than his, so he didn’t dare to refuse.

Although the two had some private friendship, here in the family, friendship couldn’t compare to interests.

“Okay.” Shen Xiuyan said.

The two then went to the living room, where someone served tea.

Shen Shouxing then dismissed the attendants. Seeing that there was no one around, he was silent for a moment, and then said to Shen Xiuyan, “Several years ago, you asked for a divination for me…”

“Divination?”

Shen Xiuyan was startled and slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

He had thought it was about Mo Hua’s matter. It turned out to be a false alarm…

“That divination said,” Shen Shouxing frowned, “I will only have one son in this life?”

Shen Xiuyan didn’t know why Shen Shouxing brought this up. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly understood.

He had wasted his “number” and wanted to reopen one.

Shen Xiuyan nodded, “Correct.”

“This divination image, can it not be changed?”

Shen Xiuyan pondered for a moment and said, “This divination was entrusted to someone by me and sought from Xuanji Valley. The Elder of Xuanji Valley said that the karma is already set, this is your fate, whatever you did, you will reap the consequences, it cannot be changed.”

Speaking of this divination, it was also a bit strange.

Originally, he wanted to ask Old Wen to calculate this divination.

Old Wen was from Xuanji Valley and had a treasure on him called the Three Talents Easy Number Copper Coins. It wasn’t to say that he could foretell like a god, but he could also predict good and bad fortune.

That year, he followed Old Wen and Young Master Yun, and the three of them went to Tongxian City, Nanyue City, and Lizhou City together.

Along the way, he also relied on his divination method.

But after experiencing that matter, when he came back, Old Wen was frightened and said he was afraid of staining strange karma, so he sealed all his divination knowledge.

Within fifty years, he would not ask about heavenly mechanisms or look at karma to preserve his life.

He had no choice but to ask Old Wen to recommend another Elder from Xuanji Valley to calculate this divination for Shen Shouxing.

At that time, after this Xuanji Valley Elder calculated Shen Shouxing’s divination, his face was ashen and he said many unpleasant words.

Shen Xiuyan didn’t want to convey them word for word, so he only picked some rhetoric like “karma already set” to tell Shen Shouxing.

At the same time, he also told him: He would only have one son in this lifetime.

But this divination was just a casual calculation.

Shen Xiuyan and Shen Shouxing didn’t take it to heart at first.

Karma was illusory, and a divination image was after all just a divination image, explaining nothing.

But now, Shen Shouxing truly only had one son. He had an official Dao companion and secretly raised so many concubines, but not a single one showed signs of pregnancy.

This was a bit strange.

And now, his only son, Shen Qingsheng, was naughty and caused trouble.

Raising people was like planting trees, but if a tree grew crooked, you could still chop off the dead branches and correct it with an axe.

If a son was raised crooked, then he was truly crooked, and there was really nothing that could be done.

Shen Xiuyan understood it and then felt some sympathy for Shen Shouxing, this real power Elder, “You want to… recalculate a divination?”

Shen Shouxing nodded, “Trouble Brother Xiuyan.”

“Then suppose…” Shen Xiuyan pondered, “The divination image is still the same?”

Shen Shouxing frowned, “Then please ask Brother Xiuyan to help me ask if there is a way to ‘go against time and change fate’…”

“Go against time and change fate…” Shen Xiuyan muttered once, suddenly lost in thought, and nodded, “Okay, I will go and ask for you…”

“Many thanks!” Shen Shouxing cupped his hands.

The two finished chatting and had no other words.

Shen Shouxing finished drinking the tea and prepared to stand up and leave, but he turned and walked a few steps, only to find that Shen Xiuyan was still sitting in the chair, not moving.

Shen Shouxing was a little strange and frowned, “Brother Xiuyan?”

Shen Xiuyan sat woodenly, his expression somewhat dazed, as if he hadn’t heard what he said, and had lost perception of everything around him.

“You…”

Shen Shouxing’s brows furrowed tighter.

Just at this moment, a low voice sounded, “No need to calculate.”

“What?” Shen Shouxing was startled.

Shen Xiuyan slowly lifted his head, his eyes dim, with a wisp of gray, “I calculated for you… you will only have this one son in this life.”

Shen Shouxing touched Shen Xiuyan’s eyes and instantly lost in thought, then his eyes became obscure, and he muttered in a low voice:

“I will only have this one son in this life.”

Shen Xiuyan’s voice was low and strange, “If this son dies, you will have no descendants.”

“If this son dies, I will have no descendants.” Shen Shouxing also repeated it exactly the same.

And these words, like seeds, took root and sprouted in his heart…

“I will only have this one son in this life.”

“If this son dies, I will have no descendants…”

“No descendants…”

Shen Shouxing’s eyes instantly turned gray, and then gradually brightened, regaining his spirit. He turned to look at Shen Xiuyan.

Shen Xiuyan was also a little startled, then stood up and cupped his hands, “It’s getting late, I have to return to the sect.”

“Then I won’t keep Brother Xiuyan.” Shen Shouxing also said.

“Taking leave.”

“Walk slowly.”

The two people parted ways as if nothing had happened.

Shen Xiuyan sat in the carriage, the horse hooves clopped, the wheels leisurely, leaving Gushan City and driving towards Xiaoling Gate.

The mountains on both sides passed by one by one.

In the carriage, Shen Xiuyan was lost in thought for a moment, then suddenly frowned a little.

“Did I just… say something to Shen Shouxing?”

“It seems… I didn’t say anything? Just simply drank a cup of tea?”

“That’s right, I don’t have anything to say to him.”

“I can’t quite remember…”

Shen Xiuyan shook his head, “Perhaps I’m too tired, or perhaps I dreamed too much, my spirit is weary…”

During this period, he occasionally still dreamed.

He dreamed of that dark little broken temple outside Lizhou City.

But this time it wasn’t a nightmare, and he wouldn’t use a knife to wipe his own neck anymore.

It was just an ordinary dream. Everything in the dream wasn’t that scary, not that dark, not that bloody.

The figure of little Mo Hua roasting sweet potatoes in the dream also became more and more vivid and clear.

Shen Xiuyan gently breathed a sigh of relief.

He sat at ease in the carriage and drove towards Xiaoling Gate.

Just at this moment, he still didn’t realize that in his dream, Mo Hua’s figure became more and more vivid, and the form of the Taoist in the shadow also became more and more clear…