The origin of the Huangtian Houtu Map is truly immense.

While wandering, Mo Hua recalled what his Master had once said about the origin of the Huangtian Houtu Map. At the time, he had little experience and the words didn’t resonate deeply. Now, thinking carefully, he felt increasingly startled.

So-called visualization maps reflect the divine thoughts of others, or some other kind of existence. In other words, what can be visualized in the map is the “Dao” of others, or the “Dao” of some non-human existence.

Mo Hua, who cultivates the Dao through divine sense, understands more deeply the profound mysteries it contains, which are unfathomable. Up to now, none of the visualization maps he has seen have been simple. Let alone this sect-protecting treasure, inherited for ten thousand years by the Dizong, one of the largest sects in Kunzhou. No one knows exactly what is sealed within it. Even the Dizong itself is probably not clear. It could be ancient Dao essence, or possibly, some even more terrifying unknown existence.

Mo Hua still remembers his Master saying that although the Huangtian Houtu Map is a treasure of the Dizong, because it contains the two characters “Huangtian”, it violated the taboo of the Dao Court. No matter how great the Dizong is, it is only a sect in Kunzhou. It can worship “Houtu,” but it cannot claim “Huangtian.” Therefore, the old monsters of the Dao Court forcibly divided the Huangtian Houtu Map into the 《Huangtian Map》 and the 《Houtu Map》. The 《Huangtian Map》 was offered to the Dao Court, while the 《Houtu Map》 was hidden in the Dizong.

The Huangtian Houtu Map, inherited for over ten thousand years, naturally contains formidable Dao essence. But in the Dao Court, those old monsters who have lived for several tens of thousands of years and whose cultivation has reached the heavens are the true terror. Could the old monsters in the Dao Court whose cultivation has reached the heavens be above Dongxu realm?

Mo Hua shuddered inwardly. The cultivation world’s water is indeed too deep, and the cultivation world’s sky is also too high. He doesn’t know if it will be possible to cultivate to that kind of realm in this lifetime.

And… “This Huangtian Houtu Map, I don’t know if I will have the opportunity to see it. If I can’t see the Dao Court’s Huangtian Map, it would be good if I have the opportunity to see the Dizong’s Houtu Map.”

As for the complete Huangtian Houtu Map… His Master’s half-joking, yet meaningful words, echoed in Mo Hua’s ears again: “If one day, you can make the Dizong bow its head and submit, and stand on equal footing with the Dao Court, it is not impossible for the Huangtian Map and the Houtu Map to merge into one.”

Mo Hua shook his head. He could still listen to that sentence before. Now that he has entered the boundary of Qianxuezhou, seen so many cultivators and great powers, and broadened his horizons, he only feels that this idea is really a bit too arrogant, too impolite. His Master can joke, but he himself must absolutely not take it seriously.

Mo Hua put away his thoughts and turned his attention to thinking about Mr. Pi. “Then this Mr. Pi should be a rebellious disciple of the Dizong?” After all, proper Dizong disciples, no matter what, would not engage in this kind of tomb robbing business. So why did he rebel against his sect? Did he do bad things and get expelled from the sect, or… like Old Jiang, did he steal some inheritance?

Mo Hua’s eyes brightened, and he immediately searched his storage bag thoroughly again, and then helplessly sighed: “Thinking too much…” He still held a slim hope, thinking that this Mr. Pi rebelled against his sect because he stole the “Houtu Map” out, or at least stole related clues. Now it seems, it was indeed wishful thinking. For an existence like the Houtu Map, ordinary disciples probably don’t even have the qualification to see it.

But without the Houtu Map, Mo Hua discovered another strange thing: a tooth talisman. This tooth talisman looked like a claw inlaid with dark gold and light silver, or a polished tooth. The front end of the claw or tooth was sharp and pointed, semi-transparent, emitting faint fluorescence. The rear end was gold inlaid with silver, and was also engraved with two characters: Mo Jin (Touch Gold).

“Mo Jin Talisman?” Mo Hua’s heart skipped a beat, and then he turned this tooth talisman over and over again. It was a pity that he didn’t understand the trade too well and couldn’t see too many intricacies, he just vaguely knew that this tooth talisman was definitely very precious, otherwise it would not have been placed by this Mr. Pi at the deepest end of the storage bag.

Mo Hua didn’t think and directly put this ancient Mo Jin Talisman into his own ring. Regardless of its use, it was his now anyway.

The remaining array diagrams, array books, bronze pens, and such, Mo Hua thought for a moment, still didn’t move them, but put them all back into Mr. Pi’s storage bag. There wasn’t enough time, he simply couldn’t look carefully.

Sure enough, after a while, an extremely faint sound of footsteps was transmitted from a distance. Although very light, the aura was complex, and it seemed that a group of people had arrived. Mo Hua was somewhat surprised. Could Mr. Pi’s so-called “guests” be more than one? Is it necessary for so many people to rob a tomb?

While doubting, the people in the distance walked closer. Mo Hua’s gaze swept over them and he discovered that there were actually fully seven people at most. Besides the three tomb robbers, “Hui Erye”, there were still four “guests”. These four guests were all wearing black robes. Among them, two were burly big men, very tall and strong. When walking in the tunnel, they even had to bow their heads. One was an elderly old man. And one was a young man.

All four people were tightly wrapped in black robes, and their aura was not exposed. The only exception was the young cultivator. Although he was wrapped in a black robe, his face was exposed. His complexion was fair, his appearance was handsome, and there was some frivolity between his eyebrows. At a glance, he was just pampered and spoiled, very likely the young master of some family. But Mo Hua had never seen him and had no impression of him.

And these several black-robed cultivators, although their black robes blocked divine sense, Mo Hua intuitively judged that they should all be Jin Dan realm. Fully four Jin Dan… Mo Hua’s heart sank slightly, but at the same time, he also had some doubts. These four “guests” looked very strange. He didn’t quite understand the relationship between these four people. Did these four black-robed cultivators come as a young master bringing three guards? Or a clan elder bringing disciples for training?

While Mo Hua was doubting, this group of people had already walked over. Hui Erye was leading the way at the front, and at the same time politely said: “Various distinguished guests, please rest assured, everything is prepared properly, just waiting for Mr. Pi to break open the tomb door…” Before he finished speaking, Hui Erye was stunned. The tomb door was tightly closed, and the front was empty. Only Mo Hua with shackles and Shen Qingsheng tied with chains were there, while Mr. Pi had already disappeared.

“Where is Mr. Pi?” Hui Erye looked around and asked Mo Hua.

Mo Hua said in a low voice: “It seems… dead.”

Hui Erye opened his mouth, his brain somewhat crashed for a moment. Not… dead? How did he die? Why did he die? They just turned around for a while, just brought the guests over, and this Mr. Pi just died without a word? For a time, he didn’t know what expression to use to face this abstract fact.

Hui Erye frowned and asked Mo Hua: “How did Mr. Pi die? Where did he die?”

Mo Hua pointed with his finger to the nearby tunnel. The crowd followed the direction and only then discovered that at the end of the tunnel, in the darkness at the end, there was a stone roller. Mr. Pi was already crushed into meat paste, and the blood had almost solidified…

“Mr. Pi was cracking the array, and suddenly at the end of the tunnel, a strange sound was transmitted. Then Mr. Pi, as if possessed, walked towards that tunnel by himself. After that, he triggered the mechanism, and just became like this…” Mo Hua said his just made-up false words with a face of sentiment.

For a time, the crowd was a little hard to believe. Pi Erye and the other two were even more disbelieving. “What kind of person is Mr. Pi, it’s impossible for him to die so simply…” “Go check the corpse and see exactly how Mr. Pi died, he definitely left traces on his body.” “That’s a tomb mechanism, do you also want to follow Mr. Pi and die together?” “I am Jin Dan.” “So what if you are Jin Dan? What in the tomb is so simple…”

Several people were arguing, when the tomb robber called “Hao Zi” suddenly said: “Not right,” he pointed at Mo Hua, “This kid is definitely not telling the truth. Who knows, Mr. Pi was just harmed to death by him.”

Mo Hua silently raised the shackles on his arm, implying that with shackles, how could he kill someone?

Hao Zi’s gaze slightly condensed.

Hui Erye also said in a deep voice: “Are we still not clear about Mr. Pi’s abilities? How could he be harmed to death by a little brat?” Mo Hua continuously nodded.

“However…” Hui Erye turned his head to look at Mo Hua, also guessing in his heart that Mo Hua was definitely not telling the truth. He thought for a moment, then looked at Shen Qingsheng again, pinched his neck, and asked in a deep voice: “You say, how did Mr. Pi die?”

“I…” Shen Qingsheng stuttered.

Mo Hua subtly glanced at Shen Qingsheng.

Shen Qingsheng immediately trembled and said in terror: “I… I don’t know, I fainted, I saw nothing…” By now, how could Shen Qingsheng not understand. In this tomb, all are evil people. Mo Hua looks pure, but his insidious and ruthless nature is fundamentally not inferior to these Jin Dan realm bandits. He can kill Mr. Pi, and he can also kill himself. In the current situation, only by firmly saying he knows nothing can he have a chance to survive. And he is still useful, Hui Erye temporarily also cannot really kill him.

“Damn…” Seeing Shen Qingsheng cower, Hui Erye couldn’t help but curse, annoyed in his heart. He never expected that the start would be unfavorable. They hadn’t even entered the tomb door, and first one person died, and the one who died was the most critical Mr. Pi.

Hao Zi leaned close to Hui Erye, looked at Mo Hua and said: “Erye, I still feel that this kid is a bit dishonest, do you want to use some torture to make him tell the truth?”

Hui Erye’s expression moved.

Mo Hua made a mental note of this “Hao Zi”. You short one, stop meddling. Seeing that Hui Erye was a bit moved and seemed to really want to use torture, Mo Hua then said: “You cannot use torture on me!”

“Why?” Hui Erye raised his eyebrows and asked him.

Mo Hua countered: “Do you have an array master or not?”

Hui Erye frowned, “What do you mean?”

Mo Hua then said: “Mr. Pi was the only array master, right? He’s dead, and you don’t have anyone else who knows arrays. If you don’t know arrays, how can you open this tomb door? After going down into the tomb, if you encounter other array killing formations, what will you do?”

Hui Erye was asked speechless. He looked at Mo Hua and said again: “Mr. Pi’s array is not a general array, don’t tell me, you at this young age, also learned?”

“I understand a bit,” Mo Hua said.

“Nonsense,” Hao Zi sneered, “This is Mr. Hu’s exclusive array, how could you possibly know?”

“You’ve already said it, it’s ‘exclusive’ array, not ‘exclusive only’ array. Arrays are vast and profound, with complex origins. His array is not only known by him alone,” Mo Hua said confidently.

Hui Erye and the others were silent. Arrays in this area were always handled by Mr. Pi, and they indeed didn’t understand them very well. Mr. Pi also regarded his inheritance as a treasure and never revealed any array matters to them. Now it seems, the only person left who knows arrays is indeed Mo Hua. But Mo Hua is an outsider after all, and looks too young… Hui Erye was a bit hesitant.

Just at this time, among the black-robed cultivators, that handsome young master opened his mouth: “Can you still open this tomb door?” His voice was cold, revealing some dissatisfaction.

Hui Erye’s heart trembled, knowing that their negligence had displeased these “distinguished guests”. This was a big business. And these distinguished guests were generous, had no small background, and absolutely could not be offended.

Forget it… Hui Erye looked at Mo Hua and asked: “Can you open this tomb door?”

Mo Hua said confidently: “This is natural.”

“Good…” Hui Erye just nodded, when that sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked man, nicknamed “Hao Zi”, a Jin Dan, approached him and whispered something in his ear. Hui Erye’s expression sharpened, and he nodded.

Hao Zi then walked to Mo Hua’s front and snatched Mr. Pi’s storage bag from his hand. In front of Mo Hua, Hao Zi’s gaze was greedy. He searched this storage bag inside out, but seemed to not find what he wanted. His face immediately became sinister, and he looked at Mo Hua and said: “Kid, where is that thing?”

Mo Hua had a look of bewilderment, “What thing?”

“That… Mo…” Hao Zi endured and swallowed the words back.

“What?” Mo Hua asked.

Hao Zi’s gaze was even more sinister, “It was definitely you who took that thing. Hand over your storage bag and let me search it.”

Mo Hua was unconvinced, “On what basis do you search my storage bag?”

Hao Zi sneered, and then regardless of Mo Hua’s objection, directly snatched his storage bag away. Inside Mo Hua’s storage bag were mostly array diagrams and array books. Hao Zi didn’t understand any of them. Besides, there were still some pills, spirit stones, and some small gifts from others. Hao Zi searched back and forth, but couldn’t find what he wanted. He couldn’t help but look at Hui Erye.

Hui Erye frowned, looked at the four black-robed cultivators beside him again, his face showing apprehension, and then said: “Forget it, business is important, that thing… we’ll talk about it later.”

Hao Zi could only give up.

Mo Hua then said: “Return my storage bag.”

Hao Zi sneered and returned the storage bag to Mo Hua, but before returning it, he deducted the spirit stones inside and some valuable spirit objects. Mo Hua outwardly “dared to be angry but not speak”, but in his heart, he already regarded him as a dead person.

Hui Erye took out a pot of wine, walked to Mr. Pi’s corpse, sprinkled wine on the ground, and said silently: “Life and death are determined by fate, Mr. Pi, have a good journey.” Hui Erye’s voice was low. But in this line of work, the temperament is indifferent, and there isn’t really any friendship. While alive, everyone drinks wine and eats meat; when dead, one less person to work, and one less person to divide spirit stones. At most, there is some sympathy for the fallen, but not much sadness.

After sacrificing Mr. Pi, this matter was also left behind. Hui Erye turned around and said to Mo Hua: “Open the tomb door. If you can open this door, we guarantee you won’t die. But if you can’t open it, you can only go accompany Mr. Pi.”

If he can help the array master, he is a good array master. If he can’t help, he’s just a dead person.

Thus, under the gaze of the crowd, Mo Hua walked to the front of the tomb door and began to try to crack the array on the tomb door. However, on the tomb door was a strange earth array. Mo Hua looked at it for a moment, still motionless. After a while, he reached out his hand towards Hui Erye: “Give me Mr. Pi’s storage bag.”

Hui Erye’s gaze slightly condensed, “Why do you want the storage bag?”

“I’m looking at the array diagrams.”

“Looking at array diagrams?”

“Mm,” Mo Hua nodded, “Some arrays I don’t know, I need to learn a bit.”

Hui Erye felt his forehead twitch and said in disbelief: “Not… you’re learning on the spot, huh?” Messed around for half a day, this kid is bragging to him? He doesn’t know the array on the tomb door at all!

Mo Hua yet righteously said: “Otherwise? Who is born knowing everything? If you don’t know, you just need to learn, right?”

Hui Erye was speechless. He pointed at Hao Zi and said, “Give him the storage bag and let him learn.”

Hao Zi’s gaze flickered, and he was a bit unwilling, but due to the situation, he still handed the storage bag to Mo Hua. Mo Hua took Mr. Pi’s storage bag, took out several array books and array diagrams from inside, and began to flip through them in front of the crowd. Hui Erye and the others just watched Mo Hua like this and didn’t say anything. But Mo Hua knew clearly in his heart that if he could solve the earth array and open the tomb door, it would be fine. If not, they would definitely kill him first.

Mo Hua calmed down and patiently flipped through Mr. Pi’s array books. Once involved with arrays, Mo Hua quickly entered the state, and his expression became focused as he researched them. He looked for half an hour like this, and Mo Hua also had a rough understanding of Mr. Pi’s earth array inheritance. The so-called earth array is related to the earth and has common points with the earth array among the Five Elements Arrays of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. The earth array is a level higher than the Five Elements earth array, and its array principles are profound, already infinitely approaching the “Kun” array of the Eight Trigrams. But this kind of earth array should still be a bit less than the true “Kun” array of the Eight Trigrams, otherwise it would not be called “earth array”, but directly called “Kun array”.

In Qian Kun Eight Trigrams, the Qian array and Kun array are arrays that govern the patterns of heaven and earth, and may even have origins with the Dao Court’s Three Talents Array. Very few related inheritances are spread outside. Learning the earth array is much more profound than learning the Five Elements earth array. This kind of array is related to the Dao essence of the earth. It is not difficult to get started, but it is extremely difficult to truly comprehend. Mo Hua is just the opposite. He has learned the One Grade Eleven Patterns Thick Earth Array, communicated with the Dao essence of the earth, and is proficient in drawing arrays on the ground. He spends his idle time drawing arrays on the ground. Therefore, he has an affinity for the earth that far surpasses ordinary cultivators. The most difficult parts of the earth array are not too difficult for Mo Hua. What is difficult for him is the lack of inheritance, the lack of array diagrams, and the inability to get started. As long as he is allowed to learn some basics, cross the threshold of the earth array, and enter the door, it is generally smooth sailing, and he learns faster and faster. This is the advantage of a solid foundation in arrays. It is also the benefit of comprehending absolute arrays and communicating with the Dao essence, which is difficult at first and then easy.

After half an hour, Mo Hua’s eyes brightened, and then imitating Mr. Pi’s appearance, while looking at the earth array compass, he took out a bronze array pen, dipped in spirit ink, and sketched something on the tomb door. Hui Erye and the others didn’t notice anything. Instead, the black-robed young master looked at Mo Hua with a surprised expression, his pupils slightly trembling.

Mo Hua used the bronze array pen to draw the array on the tomb door. After checking it once and feeling there was no problem, he opened the array book again. According to the book’s explanations, he dipped the pen in ink and hooked several array patterns to activate the array. A faint light flashed, and the array patterns being broken lit up one by one. The sealed array patterns broke inch by inch. The tomb door also trembled slightly. After a moment, with an ancient, old sound of copper rust, the bronze tomb door slowly opened a gap, and yin energy seeped out from the gap.

“It really opened…” Not only Hui Erye and the other two, but even the four black-robed cultivators all looked at Mo Hua in surprise.

Mo Hua methodically put the array book, array diagrams, bronze pen, and compass all into his storage bag. Then, rightfully, he took Mr. Pi’s storage bag as his own. Hui Erye and the others were stunned for a moment, but no one said anything more, including that Hao Zi, who also didn’t dare to have any opinions on Mo Hua. Cultivators always speak with strength. Knowing arrays, being able to break arrays, and being able to open doors is strength.

At this time, the old man among the black-robed cultivators said with a hoarse voice like wind and sand: “Time is not early, open the door.”

The distinguished guest spoke, and Hui Erye dared not delay any longer. He walked to the front of the tomb door, grabbed the ox head and horse face door ring, and used force to pull it to both sides. The tomb door was slowly pulled open. Behind the door was emptiness, blackness, and a chilling sensation that made one’s heart palpitate, accompanied by an almost suffocating oppressive feeling. At the same time, low roars sounded. Countless evil auras rushed towards them.

(End of this chapter)