Mutuo

Mutuo was a Wrathful Dao Master Monk who supplied Situ Mo with divination and repeatedly sought chances to recover power. His reincarnation saved him after Kong Tingyun crushed his body, but a later struggle over the Qinling inheritance exposed him to Xuanfeng's fatal arrows. (Chapters 526–528, 564, 566–567)

Biography

Reincarnation and a fatal inheritance struggle

Mutuo helped Situ Mo seek an opportunity to ambush Kong Tingyun at sea, but failed to locate Li Yuanjiao through divination and dismissed Situ's caution as cowardice. Kong's golden mountain suppressed him before he could use his many techniques, then crushed his body. He returned through a child born to a woman he had favored on Golden Sack Island: contingencies in the north had become unsafe amid rival monks' struggles. This escape placed him under Situ's control, housed and sustained for his divination, while blood qi gradually restored his former appearance. Survival therefore preserved his usefulness at the cost of independence. (Chapters 526–528, 564)

A coveted artifact drew Mutuo toward another apparent opportunity. His junior brother Ewu disguised himself as a Situ clansman to lure him out, but Mutuo's Blood Mask secret technique exposed the disguise despite his damaged body. With Situ's advice, he brought four guest cultivators into an ambush, disrupted Ewu's spells using the inheritance he had withheld and hoped to devour Ewu's body to shorten his recovery. Xuanfeng, watching the rival monks, instead selected the weakened Mutuo first. Two arrows prevented regeneration and annihilated him, body and soul; his temple statues and substitute infants burst apart, and the Qinling inheritance passed to Ewu. His earlier means of survival did not protect him from that final attack. (Chapters 564, 566–567)

Appearance and personality

Mutuo is a red-faced monk whose shattered body leaves him weak and, after reincarnation, dependent on blood qi to recover his appearance. He is impatient with caution and greedy for recovery, defending blood consumption with claims of future salvation for those consumed. (Chapters 526–527, 564, 566)

Abilities and cultivation

Mutuo specializes in divination and maintains contingencies involving statues, descendants and alternative bodies. After his first body is crushed, he returns through an infant on Golden Sack Island, but recovery would take decades without further help. His teacher's Blood Mask secret technique lets him recognize Ewu beneath a disguise; possessing the intact Qinling inheritance also lets him blur Ewu's manifested figure and interfere with his spells. Xuanfeng's arrows prevent his flesh from regrowing and destroy the remaining life-preserving contingencies. (Chapters 564, 566–567)

He describes an artifact-assisted Wrathful transformation method that makes a target become the animal whose flesh they habitually eat, and claims it can be directed against relatives if the target resists. This is his explanation of the coveted artifact's possible use, rather than a transformation he successfully performs. (Chapter 564)

Relationships

• Situ Mo: His island ally and, after reincarnation, controlling protector who valued his divination. (Chapters 526–527, 564, 566)
• Kong Tingyun: Crushed his first body with her golden mountain. (Chapters 527–528)
• Ewu: Junior brother and inheritance rival; inherited Qinling's transmission after Mutuo's final death. (Chapters 566–567)
• Li Xuanfeng: Killed him during his fight with Ewu. (Chapter 567)

Items

Mutuo's survival arrangements include temple statues and substitute infants, all of which collapse during his final annihilation. His pursuit of a treasured artifact capable of assisting Wrathful transformation draws him into the encounter with Ewu and Xuanfeng. (Chapters 564, 567)