Chapter 2923 - 166: Great Witch (3)

Chapter 2923: Chapter 166: Great Witch (3)

At this thought, Mo Hua’s heart gave a tremor, and his gaze, suddenly wary, turned toward the Big Tiger lying on the ground.

The Big Tiger, in the middle of eating meat, sensed a chill; it jolted, suddenly bristling, then lifted its head to look at Mo Hua.

It still had meat clamped in its jaws; in its large eyes, there was clarity yet confusion, an utterly innocent look, as if it had no idea why Mo Hua seemed a little angry.

Mo Hua stared blankly into the Big Tiger’s clear eyes; after a moment, he let out a somewhat helpless sigh, and his expression softened.

"This big idiot only knows how to eat; clearly it really doesn’t know anything..."

Mo Hua realized he was probably overthinking things.

Setting the Great Wilderness aside for the moment—what happens here, without a doubt, carries the "schemes" of many people; Cause and Effect are tangled and complex, infused with much "deliberate intent."

But matters outside the Great Wilderness are not necessarily so; not every event must lie within someone else’s calculations.

Especially the things from his childhood, and the Big Tiger’s affairs—many strands of Cause and Effect, he suspected, were really just "coincidence."

Rather than saying they were orchestrated by others, it would be better to say...

Mo Hua frowned, thought for a while, and felt it was more like... being drawn, being tugged, by the powerful gravity of some "existence," and only thus were these Causes and Effects linked together.

Within this, there was both a degree of inevitability, and a great deal of contingency.

It was closely bound up with his own Cultivation, his Dao-path, and the choices of his life, laden with far too many variables.

It could not be simply explained with "destined by fate" or "driven by Cause and Effect."

Thinking of this, Mo Hua felt somewhat embarrassed; with a gentle expression he stroked the Big Tiger’s head and said:

"Eat a bit more."

The Big Tiger was somewhat at a loss, but did not bother with it too much; after a moment of confusion, it lowered its head again and began devouring the meat in great mouthfuls, snorting as it ate.

Mo Hua silently watched the Big Tiger eat.

The Big Tiger could live carefree, but he could not.

He knew that some things might be accidental, yet within those accidents there truly was intermingled a strand of unseen "Cause and Effect," quietly steering the course of events...

On this chessboard of the Great Wilderness, it was not only the living who were playing; perhaps... there was also a "dead man" making moves...

...

The Big Tiger ate and drank its fill; its Blood Qi was restored, and its Realm stabilized.

Mo Hua also took the changes he had seen in the Big Tiger’s Holy Beast Bloodline, and sketched them out in the form of Formation Patterns, recording them into a Jade Slip for future study.

This sort of thing concerning the Holy Beast Bloodline was still beyond his comprehension for now, yet it contained "terrifying" Formation laws—indeed, so terrifying as to be somewhat "unspeakable."

Mo Hua stored it away in his Storage Ring with utmost care.

Afterwards he整理ed his thoughts once more, recording several key points concerning Cause and Effect; feeling that nothing had been left out, he then walked out of the cave together with the Big Tiger.

Outside the cave, Lugu and the others had been standing guard all along.

At this moment, when they saw Mo Hua emerge with a snow-white, black-marked Big Tiger of third-grade golden core, looking like a "Holy Beast," their expressions all grew solemn.

Though they knew what had happened, to see with their own eyes a living, breathing Golden Core "Holy Tiger," unbound by any constraints, guarding the Shaman with single-minded devotion and refusing to leave his side, still filled their hearts with a sense of disbelief.

And that third-grade Dangling Eyes Fierce Tiger also looked at Mo Hua with eyes full of reverence.

Only, within that gaze there was not only fear, but also a jealousy and resentment that could not be concealed.

Mo Hua sensed the hatred in this Tiger Demon’s eyes and gave it a faint glance.

After a brief moment, a thought stirred in Mo Hua’s mind, and he asked:

"Do you wish to become holy?"

The fierce, baleful eyes of the Dangling Eyes Fierce Tiger quivered slightly.

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, his gaze sharpening as he said:

"Though you are a demon, there are certain karmic paths. Do work for me, and serve the Divine Lord. One day, if your Merit is complete, I can bestow upon you a stroke of ’Fortune,’ let you shed the mortal and transform to ’Holy,’ and be enshrined among the ’Holy Beasts’..."

At these words, the Dangling Eyes Fierce Tiger was stunned; then the ferocity in its eyes gradually faded.

Subdued by the deity-like majesty that emanated from Mo Hua, sensing as if some opportunity had appeared, it slowly lowered its body, bowing to Mo Hua in a gesture of submission.

And as the Dangling Eyes Fierce Tiger submitted, the other Tiger Demons also let out a low growl, then dropped to all fours and prostrated themselves before Mo Hua.

Seeing the fierce tigers submit, Lugu’s pupils contracted; his expression shook, and he half-knelt upon the ground, pledging loyally:

"Shaman, your wisdom is holy."

The others likewise knelt down in succession, praising:

"Shaman, wise and valorous, divine might vast and boundless, protector of our Great Wilderness."

Amid the acclamations of the crowd, Mo Hua’s gaze remained calm; unconsciously, his expression took on a few more degrees of the solemnity and aloofness of a deity.

...

After this, Mo Hua personally led the Big Tiger back to the Danque Tribe.

And now that all was prepared, the next matter he would deal with was that ancient deity’s throne of authority within Vermilion Bird Mountain.