292 Intelligence_1
A group of people thundered their way back to Tongxian City. Elder Yu dismissed the others, leaving only Mo Hua, Mo Shan, Yu Chengyi, Yu Chengwu, and the Taoist Court’s Zhang Lan.
Elder Yu brought everyone to the guest room of the Southern City Refinery Shop, where there was no one around and some privacy was ensured by a Formation.
All present understood what Elder Yu intended to do and their expressions grew somber.
After taking a sip of tea, Elder Yu asked Mo Hua, “So, are there really Sin Cultivators in the depths of the mountain?”
Mo Hua always acted with appropriate measure. His long delay in the Inner Mountain must have been due to some discoveries.
Thinking back to the previous conjectures about the Inner Mountain, Elder Yu suspected that what Mo Hua had mentioned earlier could indeed be true: the depths of Big Black Mountain may well be harboring a group of Sin Cultivators, and their power was probably not small.
Yet Mo Hua shook his head, “They are not Sin Cultivators.”
Elder Yu was momentarily stunned and then let out a sigh of relief.
As long as they’re not Sin Cultivators…
“They’re Evil Cultivators,” Mo Hua declared.
Elder Yu’s recently eased heart tensed again, as he exclaimed in shock, “Evil Cultivators?”
Mo Hua nodded.
Mo Shan and the others looked somewhat astonished, and Zhang Lan’s expression turned severe as he asked,
“How many of them are there?”
“Hundreds.”
“Can you be more specific?”
“Around five or six hundred.”
Including Elder Yu, everyone inhaled sharply.
Five or six hundred Evil Cultivators!
Evil Cultivators differ from ordinary Cultivators; they practice Evil Skills, which are not sanctioned by the Taoist Court. Such skills typically advance quickly, possess great power, and have bizarre and unpredictable effects, making them very difficult to deal with.
The Wanted Evil Cultivators by the Taoist Court are usually loners; they seldom operate in groups. However, to everyone’s surprise, there turned out to be five or six hundred Evil Cultivators deep within Big Black Mountain.
Zhang Lan, although certain that Mo Hua would not lie, couldn’t help but say,
“Are you sure you didn’t see incorrectly?”
Mo Hua replied, “I saw them with my own eyes, and even counted them myself.”
Zhang Lan nodded, then suddenly realized something was amiss, “You saw them with your own eyes, and even counted them yourself, and they just let you watch?”
“I’ve learned the Concealment Technique, they couldn’t see me.”
The Concealment Technique…
Only then did Zhang Lan remember that Mo Hua had learned the Concealment Technique.
Even though he had known in advance, the notion still seemed incredible to Zhang Lan.
This young man, Mo Hua, truly managed to spy on five or six hundred Evil Cultivators right under their noses and retreated unscathed.
Zhang Lan felt that he should be shocked, but somehow he couldn’t muster any more surprise; he had grown numb to it, and deep down he felt that no matter how outrageous the event, it didn’t seem that outlandish when it concerned Mo Hua…
“You’re quite brave…”
Then Elder Yu asked again, “What else do you know?”
After pondering for a moment, Mo Hua began to add details steadily,
“The Evil Cultivators are gathered in a stronghold in the mountains called Black Mountain Stronghold.”
Black Mountain Stronghold…
Upon hearing this, everyone’s expressions turned grave.
The name of the stronghold where the Evil Cultivators residing deep in Big Black Mountain convened carried an ominous air just by the sound of it.
“Do you know the location of Black Mountain Stronghold?” Yu Chengyi inquired.
Mo Hua produced a map with two lines marked on it.
This map was a simplified view of the mountain, drawn from Mo Hua’s memory. One of the lines showed the route Mo Hua had taken on the way there, cutting directly through hidden mountain paths between the cliffs to the entrance of Black Mountain Stronghold.
The other line represented the path Mo Hua took to return, starting from the gates of Black Mountain Stronghold and extending towards the edge, all the way to the Inner Mountain.
The routes marked on the map were based on Mo Hua’s recollection and might not be precisely accurate, but the general direction was correct.
Everyone looked at the map, somewhat shocked.
“As expected of a Formation Master, your memory is impressive,” Zhang Lan remarked, then curiously asked, “But with such thick fog in the deep mountains, how did you discern the routes?”
“Because I am a Formation Master,” Mo Hua explained.
Zhang Lan didn’t understand.
Mo Hua elaborated, “The fog in the mountains was not naturally that thick. It was because the third Householder of Black Mountain Stronghold had set up a Fog Formation, which made it difficult to identify directions…”
“But as a Formation Master, the Formation he laid out actually made it easier for me to determine directions.”