Chapter 230: Inner Mountain
Before entering the Inner Mountain, Mo Hua was secretly handed a Demon Hunting Token by Elder Yu.
"Take this, from now on, you're officially a Demon Hunter."
Mo Hua was slightly stunned.
"You can become a Demon Hunter without going through the Demon Hunting Rite?"
He had first guarded the spirit mine, then established both a Refining Workshop and a Alchemy Workshop. After all those events, he'd spent most of his days cultivating and drawing formation arrays. Because of that, he had missed this year's Demon Hunting Rite.
Moreover, as a Spirit Cultivator and a Formation Master, he rarely engaged in close combat with demon beasts, strictly speaking, he wasn't exactly suited to be a Demon Hunter.
"Those ceremonies are just formalities, useless fluff. Whether you're a Demon Hunter or not depends on my word, and I say you are!"
Elder Yu said it with full righteousness.
Since he was the only Foundation Establishment cultivator in the Demon Hunter Guild, what he said did indeed go.
Elder Yu personally hung the Demon Hunting Token around Mo Hua's neck.
"This token is the key, anyone with one is a real Demon Hunter."
"Drip a drop of your blood on it," Elder Yu added.
Mo Hua blinked in surprise.
Seeing Mo Hua's fair, delicate hands, Elder Yu thought for a moment and said:
"Forget it, I'll do it for you."
He took Mo Hua's slender hand, condensed his spiritual power into a fine needle, and pricked Mo Hua's fingertip. A drop of blood welled up and fell onto the token.
Mo Hua sucked on his finger, and the bleeding soon stopped.
At that moment, his Divine-Sense trembled faintly, as if the token resonated with it. A strange sense of kinship arose, as though this bone token was no longer a lifeless object, but an extension of his own consciousness.
"Is this a blood-recognition ritual?"
"More or less. But this token isn't a spiritual tool or anything that possesses awareness, so 'blood-recognition' is stretching it. Let's just call it… stamping ownership."
"Oh." Mo Hua nodded.
Then, curious, he touched the token and asked:
"Elder Yu, how exactly are these Demon Hunting Tokens made?"
Elder Yu found a chair, poured himself a cup of tea, and said:
"They're passed down from the forefathers of the Demon Hunters. It's said that in the world there grow many Bone Trees. These trees carry the bloodline of ancient great demons: part demon, part tree. They look like trees, but their trunks, branches, and even leaves are made of bone."
"The Demon Hunting Token is crafted from the bonewood of these Bone Trees. When a demon beast is slain, the token senses it and forms a blood mark, that mark is the Demon Hunter's earned merit."
"The denser the blood marks, the higher the merit. Makes you look impressive when bragging to others."
Mo Hua's small face twitched.
"So… it's for showing off?"
"Mainly for displaying one's seniority," Elder Yu replied with a smirk. "But it's handy for bragging too."
His brows rose as he continued:
"If you go around saying you've slain countless demons, who'd believe you without proof? This token is the proof. Pull it out, let them see all the blood marks, then your boasting has weight!"
Judging by Elder Yu's expression, he had clearly done plenty of that himself.
Mo Hua asked again:
"Can we make our own Demon Hunting Tokens?"
Elder Yu shook his head.
"No. These are made and distributed exclusively by the Dao Court. Don't be fooled by their similar appearances, each token is recorded in the Dao Court's archives. Counterfeiting is impossible."
Mo Hua turned it over several times, finding no visible markings, and couldn't figure out how they recorded them.
Could it be through some special formation?
Elder Yu then lowered his voice conspiratorially:
"Yours is a bit special, made from the bonewood at the very heart of a Bone Tree's annual ring. I've kept it hidden for decades and never gave it away... until now."
Mo Hua immediately felt the token grow heavier around his neck.
"Shouldn't you keep it for Uncle Yu?"
Elder Yu snorted.
"That fool son of mine? I'm not wasting it on him."
Mo Hua felt a bit embarrassed accepting such a precious gift.
Seeing that, Elder Yu said lightly:
"It's really not a big deal. All parts of a Bone Tree—trunk, branch, or leaf—work the same. Yours is just a little more refined, that's all. Don't overthink it."
Mo Hua's heart eased a little, and he nodded.
"Keep it safe, don't lose it," Elder Yu reminded.
"Got it!"
Now, hanging from Mo Hua's neck were two pendants, the alchemy jade given by Elder Feng, and this new Demon Hunting Token made from demon bone.
...
The next day, Mo Hua packed up and entered the Inner Mountain with Mo Shan.
The Inner Mountain was filled with miasma and poisonous swamps, its toxins far stronger than those of the Outer Mountain.
In the Outer Mountain, a little caution was enough to stay safe even without antidote pills, but in the Inner Mountain, pills were absolutely necessary.
In Mo Hua's storage pouch were bottles of all kinds: Anti-Miasma Pills, Anti-Poison Pills, Clear Mind Pills, Blood-Stopping Pills, and more, all prepared for him by Elder Feng.
He also carried dried meat, rice wine, and pastries prepared by his mother.
At dawn, Mo Hua finished a light meal, geared up, and set out with Mo Shan into Great Black Mountain.
They trekked across the Outer Mountain and soon reached the Inner Mountain.
Mo Hua swallowed an Anti-Miasma Pill and observed his surroundings.
The terrain was far more complex, the forests denser, the paths steeper, and the directions harder to discern.
The miasma was thick; the fog fluctuated, sometimes thin as gauze, sometimes so heavy one couldn't see a hand's breadth ahead.
At times, a few steps would clear the fog; a few more, and it would return to smother the world again.
It was eerily strange.
Mo Shan warned:
"If you see dense fog ahead, avoid it if you can. If not, proceed with extreme caution. Don't stray from known paths. Better to wait than to act rashly…"
"Otherwise, you could lose your bearings and wander deep into the mountains, and encounter things you'd rather not."
Mo Hua nodded solemnly.
The Inner Mountain was much larger than the Outer Mountain. Even after years of demon hunting, Mo Shan had never explored it fully.
So, he led Mo Hua along the main paths to help him get familiar with the terrain: where to run in danger, how to find the way out, and how to return home.
The land was rugged, the paths exhausting. They walked a while, then rested.
During breaks, Mo Hua would take out a map and draw on it.
This map, borrowed from Elder Yu, was crude, showing only mountain contours and a few rough trails.
Mo Hua intended to improve it.
He had done the same for the Outer Mountain, not only did it help him understand the geography, it also made gathering herbs, spices, and ores much easier. And in emergencies, it was a lifesaver.
After about half a month of exploration along the main routes, Mo Hua had a rough grasp of the Inner Mountain's layout.
His map was now filled with lines and annotations, marking what he'd learned.
Next, Mo Hua began setting up the Parent-and-Child Compass Array Network.
As a Formation Master, he couldn't rest easy without some formations in place.
With the network active, he could sense spiritual fluctuations, helpful for joining the fray, anticipating danger, or, more importantly, bleeding demon beasts efficiently.
This wasn't something he could do alone, so he enlisted help from other Demon Hunters.
Yu Chengyi gathered ten or so Qi-Refining Ninth Layer Demon Hunters to help Mo Hua place stone needles inscribed with the Compass Child Array.
Since the Inner Mountain was vast, a single Mother Compass couldn't cover it all, so Mo Hua created two: Compass A and Compass B.
Compass A monitored the southern sector; Compass B, the northern.
He even crafted sets for Mo Shan and Yu Chengyi, to aid the Demon Hunters in their operations.
Yu Chengyi was overjoyed. With these formation compasses, their hunts in the Inner Mountain would be far safer.
Whether tracking beasts, predicting danger, or coordinating rescues, everything became much easier. They no longer had to rely solely on instinct and experience.
(End of Chapter)