The Quest for Immortality

Mo Hua’s gaze was somewhat playful, as he pondered silently.

”This Iron Skill Bone is indeed a ’talent’...”

”It’s just... there’s indeed something strange about him.”

Mo Hua couldn’t help but softly recall the words Iron Skill Bone said during his prayer last night:

”Bless the ancestors... bless the believers, bless the descendants, may they avoid disaster and calamity.”

”Let all misfortunes not touch the body, and all causes and effects be transferred to others.”

”Straw Dog becomes me, the dead do not become me...”

Avoid disaster and calamity... misfortunes do not touch the body, causes and effects are transferred to others...

And Straw Dog...

What do these words mean?

Could Iron Skill Bone possibly... have some Karmic Legacy?

What kind of legacy would it be? What is the mantra? What is the medium? What is the spell point? What is the Causality Law?

Why does Iron Skill Bone carry such a legacy?

Is it a blessing from the Barbarian God?

Or a Secret Technique passed down by the ancestors he mentioned?

Does Iron Skill Bone truly know he carries such a legacy? Does he truly understand the meaning of these cause-and-effect words?

The more Mo Hua thought, the deeper his gaze became.

...

Within the next month, with the guidance of Iron Skill Bone, a ”traitor” utterly loyal to the Barbarian God, Mo Hua began a more precise campaign against the Shugubu.

His purpose was singular:

To find the Barbarian God.

To devour the Barbarian God to supplement his Divine Sense.

Iron Skill Bone’s purpose was also singular:

To lead Mo Hua to the Barbarian God.

To have the true Barbarian God kill this ”Demonic Mage” Mo Hua.

In order to quickly achieve this goal, Iron Skill Bone even did not hesitate to personally attack the Shugubu, clearing obstacles for Mo Hua, attacking strongholds and breaches.

He hadn’t acted before, because he was, after all, a Golden Core Cultivator, the leader of the Wandering Tribe of Shugu.

He was different from ordinary tribesmen.

In the Great Wilderness here, the leader’s surrender is shameful.

Iron Skill Bone also cared about his dignity; he couldn’t yield to a formidable enemy, nor could he capitulate to an enemy tribe and turn against his own tribe.

But now it’s different.

He has received guidance from the Barbarian God, seen through illusion, solidified his faith, knows what to do, and no longer cares about others’ views.

Even if in others’ eyes, Iron Skill Bone, this ”leader” of Shugu, is a traitor, fallen, shameless, he doesn’t care.

For the sake of the Barbarian God, he is willing to endure this humiliation and doesn’t care about others’ misconceptions.

His painstaking efforts will be witnessed by the Barbarian God himself.

Thus, Iron Skill Bone transformed, becoming the vanguard for Mo Hua in the campaign against the Shugubu.

To defeat some stronger tribes, Dan Zhu or Chi Feng was needed.

But for the smaller tribes or Wandering Tribes lacking Golden Core combat power, Iron Skill Bone became the main force.

Whenever a Shugu settlement was conquered, Iron Skill Bone would personally lead Mo Hua to the altar’s idol.

He personally arranged the sacrifice, prepared offerings, lit bone fire, and performed the ritual dance, readying everything for Mo Hua.

Then amidst illusion, a mysterious presence descends.

Iron Skill Bone entered the Dreamland of the Divine Way again, encountering the Barbarian God of the Shugubu in the dream.

As always, he bowed to the Barbarian God.

And as usual, a brilliant sword light flashed past, and the head of the Barbarian God fell again.

In the past, Iron Skill Bone would have panicked, become confused, frightened.

But now, he merely silently lamented in his heart:

”Another ’False God’ after all...”

The true Barbarian God could never have his head cut off by a Sword Dao demon.

Only a ”False God” could have its head severed.

Iron Skill Bone was searching.

Searching for the one who can’t be slain by the Sword Dao demon, emanating a brilliant pure gold glow, the ”Barbarian God”.

Only this Barbarian God could save him from calamity.

Only this Barbarian God could kill the fearsome Demonic Mage wrapped in human skin.

After that, Iron Skill Bone kept searching, kept leading Mo Hua to campaign against the various Shugu tribes, seize altars, and assault idols.

Iron Skill Bone was even more active than Mo Hua himself.

And he kept dreaming, kept bowing.

With each bow, a Barbarian God’s head would fall.

As he kept bowing, Iron Skill Bone realized that after visiting so many altars and bowing so many times, he hadn’t found the true Barbarian God but instead noticed the Sword Dao ”demon” seemed to grow stronger, becoming increasingly oppressive.

It was an insidious oppressive presence, at the level of Divine Thought, intangible yet omnipresent.

The stronger this oppressive presence, the stronger Iron Skill Bone’s sense of urgency.

And this oppressive presence culminated after one breakthrough in attacking a powerful Shugu tribe’s adjunct. Iron Skill Bone finished the ritual dance and entered the dream, bowed his head, ”bowed” a sinister ”False God” to death, reaching its peak.

Iron Skill Bone could feel the burning sensation around him, like a hellfire.

Then he heard a sound like a whirlwind sucking inward.

The next moment, an unsettling powerful aura suddenly arose.

Golden light dazzling, sharp as a sword, the overwhelming momentum kept rising, whirling around like a hurricane, pressing Iron Skill Bone almost breathless.

Iron Skill Bone could only kneel and lower his head, daring not to look.

But he knew in his heart this must be the expression of the Demonic Mage progressing through the Divine Thought by having slain enough ”False Gods.”

He didn’t know how long it lasted; the turmoil subsided.

The dream also warped and dissipated.

A dizzy spell, and when Iron Skill Bone opened his eyes again, he found himself kneeling before an idol.

The idol’s head remained, but the ”soul” seemed absent.

Iron Skill Bone’s heart trembled, he couldn’t help turning to look at Mo Hua, only to see a flash of black-and-white color in Mo Hua’s eyes, as a vast Divine Thought returned to himself like a whirlpool, emanating an abyss-like eerie aura.