Chapter 1101: Cherish

After completing the formalities for the sect's jade invitation, Mo Hua carefully placed it in his storage ring.

This jade invitation was not just a "recommendation letter" or a "business card"; it represented the value and intentions of the sect's old ancestors, sect master, and numerous elders towards him. Mo Hua treasured it greatly.

There were still some minor matters to attend to afterwards.

Since he had already "graduated" and the disciples from the same sect had all left, there was no need to attend classes. Mo Hua's time was much more flexible.

He made a list, noting down some place names and personal names, planning to visit them all before leaving the borders of Qian Xue State.

He had essentially bid farewell to the seniors and friends within Tai Xu Sect.

The remaining ones were mostly outside.

The next day, Mo Hua first went to Gu Shan City.

Master Gu led Mo Hua to walk around Gu Shan, looking at the large spirit tools and arrays on Gu Shan, and the refining furnaces within the refining workshop.

He also told Mo Hua a bit about the recent situation in Gu Shan City.

"Before the blood sacrifice disaster, Gu Shan City was fortunate and was not affected. The spirit tools and arrays on these mines were all preserved, and the refining workshop was also intact."

"Now that there is industry, the rogue cultivators in the city have food and clothing, and can be self-sufficient. The remaining spirit stones are used for cultivation, and their lives are better than before."

"The orphans in the city have also all been taken in by our refining workshop. Those with good spiritual roots are sent to small sects to cultivate. Those with strong physical foundations learn refining tools. Those with smart heads learn arrays."

"Of course, we have explained the principles to them."

"All expenses for their cultivation, body refining, tool refining, and array learning are covered by the Gu Shan Refining Workshop. After they graduate, they must return and contribute to Gu Shan City, so that Gu Shan City can prosper, and so that the rogue cultivators in Gu Shan City can all live better in the future..."

Master Gu narrated slowly to Mo Hua as they walked.

Mo Hua walked in Gu Shan City, looking around. He did see many orphans carrying heavy bamboo baskets lining the streets.

On the contrary, there were quite a few more cultivators coming and going.

Occasionally, he would see a few children with smiles on their faces.

This once desolate immortal city was also gradually gaining human vitality.

Although most of the cultivation minerals within Gu Shan had already been over-exploited and squeezed dry by the world's noble families and great clans, the remaining resources were very few compared to before, and it was still quite poor overall.

However, because people lived a little better, had living goals, and also had expectations for life, and were willing to work hard for the future, the entire Gu Shan City instead had a thriving vitality and atmosphere.

Mo Hua sighed deeply in his heart.

The most valuable resource of an immortal city is actually "people".

With people, there is a city.

Without people, even the most prosperous immortal city will eventually decline.

And the most important thing for people is actually their "heart".

If people's hearts are aspiring and united, even if it is a little hard and tiring, they can still build a foundation.

If people's hearts are bad, no matter how much wealth there is, it will only breed greed and mutual oppression, ultimately leading to a joint decline.

After walking around Gu Shan City, Mo Hua went to the refining workshop to check on the refining furnaces again.

The most important one was the magnetic ink furnace.

During this period, Mo Hua collected all the secondary thunder patterns derived as byproducts from the operation of the magnetic ink furnace.

After seeing that everything was safe and sound, Mo Hua then prepared to leave.

Master Gu was reluctant, "Young Master Mo, why not stay one more day? Many masters in the refining workshop want to express their gratitude to you in person, and the orphans in Gu Shan City are all grateful for the young master's kindness."

Mo Hua shook his head and said, "No need, it's good as long as everyone can live well step by step."

Master Gu sighed deeply, "Achieving the deed and leaving, not seeking merit or fame. Young Master Mo is truly of noble character and admirable."

Mo Hua's face was a little red.

He was purely just afraid of trouble, but Master Gu praised him so much that he could not deny it.

"Right," Master Gu still remembered one thing, "Fan Jin, Prefect Fan, has been promoted and is no longer in Gu Shan City. Before he left, he specifically instructed me that if I met the young master, I must convey his thanks to you. He also said that you are his 'noble person'. He is currently in a low position and does not dare to easily speak of repayment. If he makes a name for himself in the future, he will definitely go through fire and water to repay Young Master Mo's kindness in recognizing him."

"Prefect Fan is too polite..." Mo Hua shook his head.

Prefect Fan had helped him, and he had said a few good words for Prefect Fan in front of Xia Jian Cha, which was just a small effort.

As for the future... The Dao Ting Si is a place of fame and fortune, related to the authority of the Dao Ting.

Prefect Fan did not have a good background. If he wanted to stand out, he did not know how much hardship he would have to endure, and where he would have the spare energy to repay others.

He did not take these words too seriously.

After confirming that everything was alright in Gu Shan City and that the rogue cultivators' lives were getting better, and also bidding farewell to Master Gu, Mo Hua set off to leave.

He came without a sound. When he left, it was also quietly.

Master Gu stood in front of the city gate, watching Mo Hua's carriage go far away, and sighed deeply in his heart.

Mo Hua was Prefect Fan's "noble person", and also his, the Gu Shan Refining Workshop's, and even the entire Gu Shan City's biggest "noble person".

He had indeed not misjudged that year, and had clung to a big leg.

It's just that people always have to part ways.

Young Master Mo also had his own future and path.

"May the young master be safe and sound throughout his life, and become an immortal and achieve the Dao..."

Master Gu bowed towards the carriage where Mo Hua had left, and prayed devoutly in his heart.

Everyone in the world sought immortality.

But whether there truly were immortals in this world, whether people could become immortals, Master Gu was not sure.

But assuming there truly were immortals, he estimated that immortals would do the same as Young Master Mo.

And assuming that people could truly become immortals and live forever, then Master Gu hoped that the person who could ultimately become an immortal was this young Master Mo, who had a kind Dao heart and compassion...

After leaving Gu Shan City, Mo Hua went to the small fishing village by the Yan Shui River.

Old Man Yu was overjoyed to see Mo Hua, and bustled about using treasured fish fry to cook small fish soup for Mo Hua to drink.

He actually did not know Mo Hua's true identity.

He did not know that Mo Hua was the little senior brother of Tai Xu Sect, the "crown prince" of Tai Xu Sect, the pride of Qian Xue State in sword debate, and the double champion of array Dao in Qian Xue State.

He only knew that Mo Hua was his "little benefactor".

Mo Hua drank the fresh and delicious fish soup, and incidentally asked about the past situation of the small fishing village.

Old Man Yu had a look of lingering fear on his face and said that there were too many strange things this year.

"First, there was an anomaly in the sky. Five golden figures were in the air, and their power was terrifying. Then, the Milky Way descended from the sky, and the great array was shocking..."

"Then Xuan Tian Peak fell, and not long after, the sky turned blood red. I'm afraid it was some world-shaking great demon appearing."

"That blood color covered the sky and the earth for several months. The water in the Yan Shui River almost turned into blood."

"Everyone thought it was the end. Unexpectedly, I don't know how, the heaven and earth turned black again, without any sound. The entire mountains turned into black powder, and those countless demons, like paper, were all burned to black ashes. It was really too scary..."

Old Man Yu's eyebrows danced and his face was vivid as he spoke.

Low-level cultivators, with limited cultivation and knowledge, only saw the surface scenes and knew almost nothing about the inside story.

But this did not hinder him from enjoying it. Obviously, these matters, as after-dinner talk, had been repeated by him countless times.

But Old Man Yu was also curious, "Benefactor, you say, this again golden figures in the air, again star river suspended, again blood color flooding the heaven, again heaven and earth silent... Whose dao sect ancestors' work is it exactly?"

Mo Hua was just drinking fish soup and could not help but choke a little, coughing twice:

"I... don't know either..."

Old Man Yu looked at Mo Hua and nodded, "That's right."

Benefactor was also just in the Foundation Establishment stage, so it was indeed unlikely that he would know these inside stories.

Afterwards, the two chatted about some trivial matters.

Mo Hua suddenly asked, "Where are Xiao Shun Zi and Xiao Shui Zi? Why don't I see them?"

Upon mentioning this, Old Man Yu bowed to Mo Hua again, expressing a thousand thanks, and said:

"It's all thanks to the benefactor's great blessing. Those two children were also lucky. Because they have some aptitude, they learned cultivation techniques and have now entered a large sect to cultivate."

"Large sect?" Mo Hua was a little surprised, "Which large sect?"

"It seems to be called... Gui Shui Gate," Old Man Yu said.

"Gui Shui Gate?" Mo Hua was astonished. He did not expect that the two children, Xiao Shun Zi and Xiao Shui Zi, would actually have the opportunity to enter Gui Shui Gate.

"Did they enter on their own, or did someone come to collect them?" Mo Hua asked.

Old Man Yu said, "A passing elder with the surname Yu said that my two children have good talent and are also surnamed Yu, so they are from the same family, and it counts as having fate. Then he took Xiao Shun Zi and Xiao Shui Zi away."

"Is he really an elder from Gui Shui Gate?" Mo Hua frowned.

Old Man Yu pondered, "Yes, Xiao Shun Zi and Xiao Shui Zi were indeed sent to Gui Shui Gate by me. The two children also respected that Elder Yu very much."

"Elder Yu..."

Mo Hua thought for a moment and nodded, "I know..."

After finishing the fish soup, Mo Hua went to the back mountain again to see the little silver fish.

Because it guarded the dragon bone statue and also received incense from the villagers of the small fishing village, the little silver fish had clearly grown a bit, and the scales on its body faintly had the appearance of "dragon scales".

The little silver fish was extremely happy to see Mo Hua, wagging its tail and circling around Mo Hua constantly, in a very intimate manner.

Mo Hua pointed its forehead with his finger and said with a smile, "I will be leaving soon. It might be a long time before I can come to see you."

The little silver fish's joyfully wagging tail suddenly stopped.

It hung its head, looking very lonely.

Mo Hua sighed slightly, and then said:

"Gods have a long lifespan. You just need to focus on cultivation, eat incense, protect your believers, and sooner or later, we will meet again."

"Also, that... god statue, just treat it as a gift from me. You must guard it well."

The little silver fish nodded repeatedly, and its spirit vibrated a little.

Mo Hua accompanied it for a while longer, then left.

Old Man Yu sent Mo Hua to the village entrance, cupped his hands and sighed, saying:

"This old man is not good with words. I only wish benefactor a smooth journey and that everything goes as you wish in the future."

Mo Hua also smiled and wished Old Man Yu "good weather and fish every year."

Afterwards, Mo Hua got into the carriage and left the small fishing village, driving along the river bank, all the way south.

After driving for a while, Mo Hua's expression changed slightly. He lifted the carriage curtain and saw a small silver fish, glittering on the Yan Shui River, constantly following him.

It was not until the carriage had gone far away, leaving the domain of the Yan Shui River, that the little silver fish could no longer keep up. It lingered lost in the original place for a long time before reluctantly returning home alone.

Leaving the Yan Shui River, Mo Hua went along the mountain path to Ku Shan again, to see Huang Shan Jun from a while ago.

Huang Shan Jun was an "old friend" he had made before entering the borders of Qian Xue State.

During the blood sacrifice disaster, Mo Hua did not know how Huang Shan Jun was.

Whether he was affected, whether he was polluted, whether he had fallen again...

Mo Hua was a little worried and missed him.

Just before the life disaster occurred, he was locked in the back mountain by Old Mister Xun, and then he was busy with graduation and had many trivial matters.

At this time, having some free time, Mo Hua specially came to Ku Shan to see his old friend.

Stepping into Ku Shan, stepping onto the mountain stairs, the mountain stones were rugged and dry leaves covered the ground all the way. Until the deep mountain peak, he slightly raised his head and saw Huang Shan Jun's broken temple.

Huang Shan Jun's broken temple had become even more broken.

Three of the four walls had fallen.

Half of the roof had collapsed, leaking wind and rain.

The mud statue inside was also broken in half. The offering table was gone, and there were no offerings at all, not even spoiled steamed buns to eat.

There were even quite a few bloodstains on the ground.

Mo Hua's heart turned cold.

"Huang Shan Jun... he's not gone, is he?"

Mo Hua entered the god temple and released his divine sense. Before he could search carefully, he saw Huang Shan Jun slowly rise up from the half mud statue and cup his hands towards Mo Hua, saying:

"Little friend, long time no see."

Mo Hua breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Mountain Lord, are you alright?"

Huang Shan Jun's face was sallow, "Still okay."

Mo Hua felt a little heartache. He pointed his finger and used the Clear Wind Technique to sweep away the dust, clearing a clean place. Then he used this as an offering table, placed an incense burner, and some chicken, duck, fish, meat, steamed buns, and fresh fruits as offerings. He also conveniently poured a cup of wine.

Huang Shan Jun only felt a warm current surge in his heart.

Afterwards, Mo Hua and Huang Shan Jun sat on the ground, one person and one god, eating the offerings and chatting.

"How did your broken temple become like this?"

"It's hard to say in one word..." Huang Shan Jun sighed, "Several months ago, the blood sacrifice array was fully activated, and the demonic path was rampant. This barren mountain wilderness was even more chaotic to the extreme."

"Every few days, there were homeless cultivators who temporarily avoided this temple."

"Then after a day or two, they would be intercepted and killed by demonic cultivators. Their skin was peeled and their tendons were drawn, and their corpses and bones were gone."

"I could only give them a little hint through dreams at night, but I am a fallen mountain god, and my strength is less than one percent of what it was. I could not change their life and death. Not only that, my broken temple could not withstand this calamity of life and death between the righteous and the demonic."

"Fortunately, this wave of great calamity did not last too long, and then disappeared inexplicably, just..."

Huang Shan Jun frowned, his expression grave, "Before, I clearly felt a terrifying and evil god aura."

"The evil god of the Great Wilderness will inevitably descend. But why did all the disasters calm down later? The aura of the True Fetus also dissipated?"

"Where did the evil god of the Great Wilderness go exactly?"

Mo Hua gnawed on a chicken leg, looked at Huang Shan Jun, and softly asked, "Do you want to know?"

Huang Shan Jun was startled, "What?"

Mo Hua said, "Where the evil god of the Great Wilderness went."

Huang Shan Jun nodded blankly.

Mo Hua then took out an ancient tooth talisman from his neck and said to Huang Shan Jun, "Here."

Huang Shan Jun was completely like a stone carving or a mud statue.

At first, he thought Mo Hua was joking with him.

Is the evil god hanging on your neck?

But when he fixed his eyes on the tooth talisman on Mo Hua's neck and carefully perceived it, he felt a majestic and powerful divine beast aura, and suppressed under this divine beast aura was that trace of extremely ferocious ancient evil thought.

Huang Shan Jun almost scared his primordial spirit to crack.

The evil god that has been hiding for nearly a thousand years is actually by my side at this time?!

Huang Shan Jun staggered, fell to the ground, struggled to retreat to the corner of the wall, pointed at the tooth talisman, and said tremblingly:

"This... you... this..."

Mo Hua comforted him, "It's alright, I cut it into two halves. One half I can't tell you, and the other half I just keep."

"Keep... keep?"

"En," Mo Hua nodded, "I couldn't kill it, so I'll raise it first. I eat a mouthful occasionally to 'supplement' myself..."

Huang Shan Jun's pupils widened in shock.

That's an evil god! That's an evil god!

Are you treating it like you're raising a pig?!

Afterwards, he looked at Mo Hua again and found that at this time, Mo Hua's aura was extremely profound. He did not know how much cause and effect and vital energy were mixed together. He clearly had a thin physical body, yet he was as deep and unfathomable as chaos.

And he faintly emitted an aura that made him, a god, feel fear.

This aura was not present before.

Huang Shan Jun had only detected it previously.

But as Mo Hua "swallowed" more of a certain existence, this aura became stronger, making his heart palpitate even more.

Huang Shan Jun actually had the illusion for a moment that he, this "rat", was eating at the same table with a "cat".

Huang Shan Jun's mood was extremely complex, and he finally sighed:

"This matter, absolutely cannot be told."

Mo Hua nodded, put the tooth pendant away, and said to Huang Shan Jun, "I only told you about this because you are a mountain god. As for others, even if I tell them, they won't understand."

Huang Shan Jun smiled bitterly.

He did not want to understand at all.

Mo Hua then said, "The evil god cannot be killed, so I will take It... a part of Its power, and leave the borders of Qian Xue State. If there is an opportunity later, I will thoroughly erase it. If I cannot erase it, I will just... use it to knock out teeth..."

Knock out teeth...

Huang Shan Jun's brain crashed for a moment.

He felt that what Mo Hua said should not be human words.

But it should not be "god" words either.

Because even a god would not say such crazy words.

"Forget it..."

Huang Shan Jun sighed.

He also gradually digested all this, this fact that made it hard for him to believe.

The creation of heaven and earth and all things can occasionally nurture some heaven-defying existences that are difficult to measure with "types".

"Little friend, you... be more careful. The evil god is not easy to deal with," Huang Shan Jun said sincerely.

Mo Hua nodded, "I know."

He was quite understanding of the evil god and gave the evil god enough respect. He was not easily careless and did not let the evil god exploit a loophole.

Afterwards, the atmosphere relaxed somewhat.

Huang Shan Jun breathed a sigh of relief.

Mo Hua looked at Huang Shan Jun again, a little melancholy:

"I won't be able to come to see you after this. When I go down the mountain later, I will spend some spirit stones and ask someone to rebuild a temple for you. I will also ask people to burn incense and offer supplies for you every year during festivals."

Huang Shan Jun was startled, and his heart was slightly sore. For a moment, he could not tell whether Mo Hua was a terrifying "monster" or a sincere and kind teenager.

He sighed deeply and said sincerely, "Thank you, little friend."

The gathering was short. After chatting and finishing the offerings, Mo Hua also stood up to bid farewell, "Mountain Lord, see you later."

Huang Shan Jun looked at Mo Hua, thought that this "little ancestor" would not come to see him again in the future, and that the evil god would also be far away from Qian Xue State with him. His first reaction was relief.

But afterwards, he thought that Mo Hua would really not come to see him again.

He would not come to chat with him again, would not bring him offerings again, and would not ask about this and that again.

Afterwards, in this barren mountain wilderness, there would be no more friends to chat with, and no more lovely teenager who missed him.

Huang Shan Jun's heart suddenly felt empty again.

He could only watch Mo Hua leave, watching Mo Hua's figure gradually disappear into the mountain forest, and murmured:

"Take care..."