Chapter 778: Mural

Mo Hua eavesdropped on the conversation between the Jin Gui and the demon cultivator for a while. Everything was pretty much as he had anticipated.

The Xie Qi Shi had been blown up and was a mess. The old demon cultivator who forged the evil sword had gone mad. There was a trace of his remaining flesh and blood at the scene, as well as the corpses of two other demon cultivators. These two demon cultivators had died tragically. There were arthropod chopping wounds on their bodies, clearly killed by the centipede demon cultivator. It was evident that there had been a fierce battle before they died. The old demon cultivator was the one who did it.

Besides this, the Lian Qi Gu Lu, Xue Chi, Xie Jian, and arrays were all destroyed. The foul blood had spilled everywhere, making it impossible to distinguish which things had problems and which didn't. The Jin Gui was furious, but he could only let the matter go. He was the manager, and if something went wrong, the leader or the young master would question his ability to handle affairs. Therefore, it was best to make a mountain out of a molehill. He didn't dare to make too big a fuss.

And Ou Yang Mu, with his Foundation Establishment middle stage cultivation and dull personality, wouldn't be suspected even if he had luckily escaped. The Jin Gui was also fortunate that Ou Yang Mu wasn't dead after the Xie Qi Shi collapsed, otherwise he would have been in big trouble. Thus, the little blockhead was temporarily safe.

As for Ling Hu Xiao and Song Jian, their situation was also still good. After all, it wasn't yet the time for the true "plot twist." He could leave for a while first. Mo Hua went to see Ling Hu Xiao and the others again and said, "I'm going to scout around a bit. I might be back in a few days. You all be a bit careful."

Ling Hu Xiao's expression was solemn, and he nodded. Ou Yang Mu then said, "Mo senior brother, take more care." Although Song Jian kept a straight face and didn't say anything, his heart suddenly felt empty and lost. When Mo Hua was here, even though he was often invisible and couldn't be seen, his heart always felt much steadier, and he could also have dried meat to eat. But now that Mo Hua was leaving, he suddenly felt particularly insecure. Song Jian's mood was tangled for a while.

Mo Hua was too lazy to care about him, and he gradually concealed his form again and disappeared. Ling Hu Xiao and the other two looked at each other, feeling that without Mo Hua here, the Ten Thousand Demon Prison seemed to suddenly become "sinister" again.

At the top of a prison cell in the Ten Thousand Demon Prison. Mo Hua gradually revealed his form. There were no demon cultivators around, only huge chains binding demon beasts, roaring to themselves. Mo Hua took out the half-bone sword and asked, "Which way should I go?"

The half-bone sword was silent, without any movement. Mo Hua threatened, "If you don't speak, I'll scrap you." A faint old voice indeed came from inside the sword, "Wait a moment... Little ancestor... I said..." The voice paused for a while, then came again. "...You didn't hear..."

Mo Hua concentrated to listen. After a moment, he realized that the old demon cultivator was indeed speaking, but not by "speaking." It was more like... "divine sense transmission." Mo Hua was slightly startled, "You can transmit divine sense?" The old demon cultivator was helpless, "I'm already dead, without a physical body, it's just remaining thought force. So as long as I speak, it's all 'divine sense transmission'..."

"Oh, right." Mo Hua suddenly understood. Subsequently, he asked again, "If I don't speak, only use divine sense transmission, can you feel it?" The old demon cultivator was somewhat speechless, but he didn't dare to say Mo Hua was "ignorant and inexperienced." He only tactfully said: "Little ancestor, you're joking. Cultivators below the Yu Hua Realm cannot 'transmit divine sense'."

"Why can only Yu Hua Realm transmit?" Mo Hua asked seriously. "This..." The old demon cultivator said awkwardly, "I'm only at Foundation Establishment, separated from the Yu Hua Realm by ten thousand eight thousand miles. The specific reason... this old one is ignorant and not very clear..." "Oh." Mo Hua was somewhat displeased. This old thing was a bit of a know-it-all, knowing the fact but not the reason. But never mind.

"So the situation now is, you can quietly transmit divine sense, and I can only speak to you?" Mo Hua asked. "Yes..." The old demon cultivator said in a low voice. Mo Hua nodded, "Alright..." He pointed the white bone broken sword forward and asked again: "Which way should I go?"

The white bone broken sword was silent for a while, seemingly thinking, or perhaps recalling the route. After a moment, the old demon cultivator transmitted to Mo Hua: "To the right, past that blood-red wolf demon's prison cell, the second stone door, turn right and walk inside..." Mo Hua looked to the right and nodded. He concealed his form again, ready to go in the direction the old demon cultivator pointed.

But as he stepped, he suddenly thought of something, shook the white bone broken sword in his hand, and warned: "Old thing, don't deceive me, otherwise I'll let you know what true 'terror' is." The old demon cultivator hurriedly said: "Dare not, dare not..." At least for a short time, he was beaten into fear by Mo Hua and didn't dare to have any strange thoughts.

Moreover... The old demon cultivator said in a low voice, "I'm not called 'old thing'..." This voice was very small, but Mo Hua still heard it. "Right, you're not called 'old thing'? Then what are you called?" Mo Hua asked curiously. The old demon cultivator sighed, his expression emotional, "Before I became a demon cultivator, I was a Tai E Sect disciple, surname Ou Yang, name..."

Who knew what he was saying, Mo Hua fundamentally wasn't listening, but was muttering to himself: "Calling you 'old thing' isn't too good, a bit impolite. I'll give you a nickname. I'm very good at taking nicknames..." The old demon cultivator was silent. Mo Hua thought for a bit, inspiration flashed, "You're a sword demon, inherently a sword, and full of bones. Let's just call you 'Jian Gu'."

The old demon cultivator almost thought Mo Hua was scolding him as having "cheap bones." It was somewhat angry. Its dignity did not allow it to accept such a humiliating name. But its courage was not enough to support it in making any protest. Jian Gu it is, Jian Gu... The old demon cultivator accepted this name and still had to praise Mo Hua against his conscience: "Good name... Little young master is truly a naming 'expert'."

Mo Hua gladly accepted this flattery, then said: "Lead the way, Jian Gu." The old demon cultivator, named "Jian Gu" by Mo Hua, helplessly and resignedly said: "Yes..." Then Jian Gu led the way.

Mo Hua, concealing his body while releasing his divine sense to observe the surroundings, while holding the white bone broken sword and listening to Jian Gu's divine sense transmission, shuttled through the complex Ten Thousand Demon Prison. The entire Ten Thousand Demon Valley was built by hollowing out the mountain belly, extremely large. Not only were the stone halls and rooms numerous, but the passages and corridors were densely interwoven. Plus, there were patrolling demon cultivators coming and going, making it indeed easy to get lost if you weren't familiar with the way.

Fortunately, "Jian Gu" was old and experienced, and also familiar with the Ten Thousand Demon Valley. Plus, being held in Mo Hua's hand, he didn't dare to misbehave. So, he was conscientious all the way and still reliable.

After walking for who knows how long, Mo Hua arrived at a gate. This gate was majestic and towering, with two huge demon beast statues standing guard, carved with ferocious demon patterns. This was the gate of the Ten Thousand Demon Prison. There were lock arrays in front of the gate, but they weren't too sophisticated. The main trouble was the several demon cultivators guarding it.

"Every six hours, the demon cultivators change shifts. There will be a dozen breaths of a gap..." "Jian Gu" secretly transmitted. Mo Hua wasn't that patient. He quietly hid in the dark and chose a red-haired mane dog demon cultivator. He had analyzed the Siyuan demon patterns of the dog type, and the corresponding array hubs had also been categorized in his "Siyuan demon pattern library."

Mo Hua took advantage of the unsuspecting moment and began to control the ink with his divine sense. A ball of spirit ink floated in the air, condensed into a wisp of ink line, quietly moved and wound, finally climbing onto the demon cultivator's leg, forming the Siyuan dog pattern array hub. The demon cultivator had thick skin and tough flesh, and his perception was slow. That dog demon only felt his leg was slightly cool and didn't pay too much attention at first. But by the time he realized that this cool feeling was somewhat strange, it was already too late.

The demon patterns lit up, and the demon power instantly went out of control. Under Mo Hua's control, the demon power reversed, rushing straight to the Heavenly Spirit. The mane dog demon cultivator's divine sense was abnormal, and his ferocity erupted. He instantly pounced on and killed the several demon cultivators beside him. The scene was chaotic for a while. The demon cultivators killed each other. Roars and curses mixed together, and blood splattered everywhere.

Mo Hua then openly left the Ten Thousand Demon Prison gate. "Jian Gu," who was parasitic in the white bone broken sword, saw all this and felt a chill in his heart. He fundamentally didn't notice what means this little ancestor had used to silently make the demon cultivator lose control and then kill each other. These several gate-guarding demon cultivators were quite strong, but in the hands of this little ancestor, they seemed like mere "toys."

Too terrible... Jian Gu's little thoughts in his heart decreased by a few more points.

Outside the Ten Thousand Demon Prison, there were several main roads ahead. Mo Hua asked again, "Which road should I take?" Jian Gu said tremblingly, "Left side..." Mo Hua looked up, nodded, and stepped towards the main road on the left.

As he walked deeper, the view became increasingly open, and Mo Hua became increasingly surprised. The Ten Thousand Demon Valley was indeed very large. The Ten Thousand Demon Prison was only a part of it. In other places, there were still numerous evil and strange cultivation buildings standing. These things, if he were to explore them one by one, would take a very long time. Time was not enough now, so he could only skip them all.

After walking for a while longer, the smell of blood suddenly became extremely strong. Mo Hua frowned and looked out. What appeared before him was a huge field, densely covered with numerous large guillotines. On the guillotines, there were person-thick chains stretching across, and also built with array-driven, huge guillotine axes. At this time, there was a bear demon bound on a guillotine with thick chains. After the array was activated, the huge guillotine axe whizzed over, chopping off the bear demon's head. Blood surged like a spring to the blood pool on the platform. On the other guillotines, there were also many "headless" demon beasts lying there. At this time, many demon cultivators were busy dissecting the corpses of these demon beasts. The fur, bones, heads, demon cores, internal organs, etc. of the dissected demon beasts were classified, processed, and stored.

"This is the Slaughterhouse..." Jian Gu transmitted. "Slaughterhouse..." Mo Hua frowned, silently murmuring in his heart. Jian Gu said again, "This place originally had no name. 'Slaughterhouse' is a conventional name among demon cultivators. All demon beasts caught and brought into the Ten Thousand Demon Prison will be gutted here..." Mo Hua nodded and continued forward.

After walking for another hour, he saw a tower-like building. "This is the Refining Demon Pot," Jian Gu said. Mo Hua was somewhat doubtful and said in a low voice, "Isn't this a tower? Why is it called a Refining Demon Pot?" Jian Gu said, "It is said that this Refining Demon Pot is a type of cultivation building from the Great Wilderness Southern Barbarian region. It's in the shape of a 'pot,' cast into a demon tower. It's both a building and a spirit tool." Mo Hua looked up and then realized that the entire tower in front had demon images on its outer shape, with serpents climbing, one layer after another, but with upper and lower bellies and a narrowed middle, indeed like a "pot."

"The naming habits in the Great Wilderness are really strange..." Mo Hua silently mumbled. The old demon cultivator, named "Jian Gu" by Mo Hua, paused his expression, not knowing what to say. "This tower... this Refining Demon Pot, have you been in?" Mo Hua asked. "No," Jian Gu's tone was somewhat grave, "I'm not clear what's inside. Moreover, I'm a refining artifact master, forging swords every day, and I have no opportunity to enter the Refining Demon Pot." "Alright," Mo Hua nodded, "Then we'll go around."

Everything needed to be prioritized. The Ten Thousand Demon Valley was too big, and he definitely couldn't wander around everywhere. Since that was the case, he wouldn't cause unnecessary trouble. "Lead the way," Mo Hua instructed again. Jian Gu then honestly continued to point the way for Mo Hua.

After walking for a while, he encountered a large area of alchemy rooms again, roughly estimated to be dozens. Inside each alchemy room, there was a white bone alchemy furnace. Many demon cultivators were constantly refining evil pills inside. Some of the demon beast materials, especially internal organs, were transported over right after being slaughtered. While fresh, dripping with blood, they were immediately refined into pills.

Mo Hua frowned, somewhat not understanding. "Why are there so many alchemy rooms in the Ten Thousand Demon Valley?" "Evil pills are consumables, naturally the more the better, no amount is too much... after all, there are so many demon cultivators in the Ten Thousand Demon Valley," Jian Gu said. Mo Hua nodded slightly and then said strangely: "What about refining artifacts? Are you the only one refining artifacts in this valley?"

Jian Gu patiently explained: "Pills are consumables, evil artifacts are durables, it's not the same..." "Moreover, most of the people in this valley are demon cultivators. Demon cultivators rely more on their own claws and teeth for killing, rather than evil artifacts. Only those demon cultivators whose demon methods must borrow evil artifacts to cast them, or sword cultivators who are proficient in sword arts and are unwilling to abandon swords after becoming demon cultivators, will use evil artifacts." "So the consumption of evil artifacts is far less than that of evil pills." "Moreover, I'm not the only evil artifact master in this valley. There were several others before, but they couldn't hold on and all died one by one." "Finally, only I was left..."

"Oh." Mo Hua nodded, suddenly detecting something wrong, "The other several evil artifact masters, weren't they killed by you?" Jian Gu laughed in a low voice, "Don't hide anything from the little young master. An evil artifact master can live longer in the valley. If there's more than one, they're just not valuable." This Jian Gu was indeed not a good thing... Mo Hua silently criticized in his heart. But it didn't matter, anyway the ones who died were evil artifact masters.

Mo Hua asked again, "This valley has refining artifact rooms and alchemy rooms. Is there also a place to draw arrays?" Jian Gu was startled, shook his head, and transmitted: "This I don't know. There are almost no array masters among demon cultivators." "No array masters?" Mo Hua was somewhat surprised. Jian Gu explained: "Demon cultivators who enter the demon path will have their physical bodies amplified by demon power and become powerful, but correspondingly, their divine sense will decline, and their divine mind will be abnormal." "The key to array masters lies in divine sense. Not only must their divine sense be powerful, but their divine mind must also be clear." "Divine sense declines, so they cannot draw arrays. Divine mind is unclear, they will even gradually forget array patterns, so there are few array masters among demon cultivators..." Jian Gu's voice slightly sank, "At least this old one has lingered in this Ten Thousand Demon Valley for hundreds of years and hasn't seen many array masters." "The only few either died early because they couldn't adapt to the life of demon cultivators, or after entering the demon path, their divine mind became abnormal, and they gradually forgot that they were array masters..."

Mo Hua frowned, "Then where did the arrays in this Ten Thousand Demon Valley come from?" Jian Gu was somewhat afraid to say. Mo Hua gripped the sword hilt and smashed it on the ground a few times. Jian Gu was helpless and immediately said: "It's the leader." Mo Hua was slightly startled in his heart, "Leader? A Golden Core Realm demon cultivator?" "No, no." Jian Gu shook his head, "It's Foundation Establishment, not yet Golden Core. In this Ten Thousand Demon Valley, only the three elders are Golden Core." "One Foundation Establishment, why can he be the leader?" Mo Hua didn't understand. Jian Gu solemnly said: "Because in the Ten Thousand Demon Valley, all the demon patterns on the bodies of all demon cultivators are personally drawn by the leader..."

Mo Hua frowned. All the demon patterns on the bodies of all demon cultivators were drawn by this leader? This meant that this leader almost mastered all kinds of Siyuan demon arrays? At the same time, he also mastered divine path arrays? Wasn't that... more powerful than himself? A Foundation Establishment cultivator, how could he have such strong array attainment? Mo Hua didn't believe it. Of course, mainly because he wasn't convinced. Up to now, he hadn't met an array master in the same realm who was more powerful than himself.

"That's not right..." Mo Hua pondered for a while and quickly realized a problem, frowning: "You said all the demon patterns on the bodies of all demon cultivators are drawn by this 'leader'?" "But this Ten Thousand Demon Valley has been built for at least several hundred years." "If this leader is only at the Foundation Establishment realm, how can he live so long?" Jian Gu shook his head: "This... this old one just doesn't know. The leader of this valley is mysterious and unpredictable. I've been in the valley for hundreds of years and have only seen him a few times, and from a distance. I fundamentally don't know his details." "A bit strange..." Mo Hua mumbled.

There was definitely some secret hidden in this "leader." But now time was urgent, and it wasn't suitable to get too entangled. The pressing matter was other things... Mo Hua also didn't plan to stay in the alchemy rooms here, because they were refining evil pills, and even if he stole or robbed them, they would be useless. "Continue to lead the way," Mo Hua said, "Take me to see that Refining Demon Diagram."

Jian Gu was somewhat uneasy. Especially since he was now in the state of an "evil spirit," for some reason, he was even more fearful of the Refining Demon Diagram. He reminded: "That diagram is very dangerous, it's best not to rashly..." Mo Hua asked: "How dangerous?" Jian Gu still wanted to speak, but suddenly paused, and then realized that the Refining Demon Diagram was dangerous, but this little ancestor who "kidnapped" him was perhaps not less dangerous. Jian Gu sighed. Forget it, none of them were easy to deal with. Just take him there. It would be best if this wicked little ancestor died inside the Refining Demon Diagram, and he could also be freed. Then he would find another "sword slave," perhaps he could turn danger into safety and see the light of day again after leaving this ghost place. After that, no one would dare call him "Jian Gu"!

Jian Gu's heart gave birth to a bit of hope. He became even more conscientious. In his eyes, Mo Hua was like an evil ghost. The Refining Demon Diagram was hell. Evil ghosts naturally entered hell. What he had to do now was to take this "evil ghost" Mo Hua into the "hell" of the Refining Demon Diagram, so that he could have a chance to escape. "Little young master, follow me. I'm very familiar with this road, absolutely no mistake." Jian Gu said. Mo Hua nodded with satisfaction.

After that, Jian Gu led the way, and Mo Hua followed. He passed through dozens of alchemy rooms, walked several wide stone paths, avoided numerous patrolling demon cultivators, climbed up a cliff, and looked up. On the towering mountain wall in the distance, a huge wall painting of demons dancing wildly suddenly came into view. Mo Hua's mind was involuntarily shocked by it: "This is... the Refining Demon Diagram?!"

(End of this chapter)