Chapter 2921: Chapter 166: Great Witch

The Holy Beast phenomenon hung upon the horizon, lingering for a long time before slowly dispersing.

And over the whole mountaintop, it was as if auspicious omens were descending from on high; within the ferocity of the tiger’s majesty, a sanctified aura was mingled, echoing between the mountains for a long, long time.

In later generations, the Barbaric People would name this mountain "Holy Tiger Mountain," meaning the mountain where the Holy Tiger descended into the world, and they would worship it from age to age.

At this moment, inside the cave, the Big Tiger was huffing and munching on food.

It had already broken through successfully; now it was a Tiger Demon of the Third-grade Golden Core Realm. The fully formed Demon Core was withdrawn into its body, and the pure white Holy Beast "Bloodline" had completed its "suture," merging into all its bones and blood, buried deep within the Monster Marrow, no longer exposed.

But the Big Tiger’s appearance had also changed quite a bit.

It was as if it had changed into a "new skin," becoming whiter, whiter in a purer sense, looking more sacred; the contrast of black and white Patterns was all the more striking—an ordinary person need only glance once to know its Bloodline was noble and extraordinary.

At the same time, its frame had grown another size, and its presence was even more formidable.

When a Cultivator attains Core Formation, the Taoist Foundation is transformed; the significance is immense.

It is the same for Monster Beasts: once a true Demon Core is formed and it becomes a third-grade Monster Beast, from then on its Taoist Practice surges forward by leaps and bounds, its Bloodline root is reborn in flesh and bone, and upon the path of Cultivation, a whole new heaven and earth naturally opens before it.

Precisely because of this, Core Formation for Monster Beasts is likewise exceedingly difficult.

This is a great threshold on the path of Cultivation.

Of Second Grade peak Monster Beasts truly able to form a core, transform their Taoist Foundation, avoid all calamities, and survive with every hair and tail intact, not even one in ten.

And now, the Big Tiger had already successfully stepped across this threshold.

Its Bloodline had awakened very thoroughly; its flesh had undergone a metamorphosis, as if cast in bronze and wrought in iron; even its fur had become tougher and more exquisitely beautiful.

It had to be said: its blessed fortune was exceedingly deep.

Mo Hua couldn’t help himself; he reached out and rubbed the white fur around the Big Tiger’s neck.

The Big Tiger was in a very good mood as well.

Previously it had forcibly suppressed its Realm and waited far too long on Mo Hua’s account, then had a whole pack of its own kind "eyeing it like a tiger," with danger lurking everywhere; it had been on edge all that time.

Now everything had turned out well: the Demon Core was formed, the Realm had broken through, the secret of the inheritance had been shown to Mo Hua, and Mo Hua was rubbing its fur again.

The Big Tiger, high-spirited and triumphant, swayed its big tail and hummed happily, yet its mouth never stopped, continually huffing and chomping away.

Because it was far too hungry.

Watching the Big Tiger eat with such relish, Mo Hua couldn’t help but smile; but then his gaze touched upon the black-and-white Patterns on the Big Tiger’s body, and that smile unwittingly faded a little.

Mo Hua’s eyes grew deep; he sank into contemplation.

Those two "heretical" discoveries he had made earlier resurfaced in his mind.

"Formations... can create flesh-and-blood life..."

"Holy Beasts... are ’composite beasts’ born of Formations and the reshaping of flesh..."

Extending this line of imagination further...

Even the "Holy Beast Bloodline" that exists among the Monster Beasts of the Great Wilderness might be understood as... a certain hidden and ancient type of "Life Formation Patterns," sealed deep within their Bloodlines.

When a Monster Beast breaks through its Realm, its flesh undergoes metamorphosis, and it carries out "atavism" or "Holy Beast-ization," these hidden "Life Formation Patterns" surge up from the depths of the Bloodline, carrying out a "compilation"-style reconstruction and fusion of the Monster Beast’s flesh.

Once these Life Formation Patterns finish compiling successfully, that Monster Beast will undergo a certain degree of "atavistic return," or "sanctification," awakening some portion of the Great Wilderness Holy Beast’s Bloodline and powers.

The stronger the Life Formation Patterns, the more successful the fleshly "compilation," and the more evident the degree of sanctification.

The more thoroughly the Monster Beast is able to transform into a "Holy Beast."

This may well be the true face of the Holy Beasts of the Great Wilderness.

On the surface it appears to be the Bloodline inheritance of Monster Beasts, but in essence it is very likely a "construction of life" being carried out through the use of certain Formations.

This does not follow the logic of living flesh, nor that of Bloodline inheritance.

In essence, it is the logic of Formations!

Mo Hua was inwardly shaken, as if struck by tempestuous waves, unable to calm himself for a long time.

Only in this moment did he begin to truly grasp what "the Dao gives birth to all things" meant.

Why it is said that Formations are the true essence of this world.

All forms whatsoever are but illusion.

All forms are non-forms; their essence is the Dao. And the Dao takes Formations as its medium, takes Formations as its means...

Mo Hua’s brows knit tight, and then he became aware of another, even more terrifying question.

Formations create life; Holy Beasts are "composite beasts"...

Then who, in the end, possesses such ability—to use Formations to create flesh-and-blood life?

And who has the ability to synthesize the "Holy Beasts" of the Great Wilderness?

Mo Hua slowly drew in a cold breath.

On the surface, there was no way to discern any clue, any trace at all, yet a name that was almost never spoken gradually surfaced in his mind:

"Great Witch!"

These three words had already been buried in the history of the Great Wilderness.

Up to this day, Mo Hua had gone deep into the Barbaric Wilderness, personally taken part in Tribal Wars, and in the name of a Shaman unified the entire Vermilion Bird Mountain Realm, leafing through an uncountable number of Barbarian Tribes’ historical records.

But the three words "Great Witch" were seldom mentioned.

Only on some very, very old things—so old that only a few scraps of ragged hide remained—or on certain Bone Scrolls and Bone Steles so worn that the characters were almost illegible, there would faintly, hazily still be traces of these three words.

But even then, they were only brushed over in a single stroke.

All that was known was that in the history of the Great Wilderness, there had once been such a "Great Witch."

But what identity he held, what origin he came from, what Cultivation Realm he had attained, what deeds he had done, whether he left behind any words at all, what position he occupied in the history of the Great Wilderness, how his merits and faults should be judged... and so on, and so forth.

For all of this, not a single word remained.

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