Immortality Through Array Formations

Chapter 134 – Chance Encounter (Three Updates)_1

Old Zhao was seriously injured, and his breath was weak.

The people rescued him, fed him some pills to protect his heart meridian, and sent him down the mountain, knocking on the door of Apricot Forest Hall overnight.

Old Mr. Feng made a move and saved his life.

But although his life was saved, he still hadn’t woken up.

According to Old Mr. Feng, he had been dealt a deadly blow, pursued over a long distance, depleted of spiritual power, and lost too much blood, which caused him to fall into a coma and be unable to wake up.

He needed to be slowly treated, and once his qi and blood were well-nourished, he would be able to wake up.

Fortunately, he was discovered early; a bit later, it would have probably been too late to save him.

When Old Mr. Feng heard that the person was found by Mo Hua, he was stunned for a moment, then smiled relievedly and, patting Mo Hua on the head, said,

“You child, you have great fortune.”

Mo Hua was somewhat embarrassed.

Old Zhao’s wife, due to excessive anxiety, fainted several times. Hearing that her husband was in a coma but his life was saved, her tense spirit finally relaxed.

When she found the time, she came to thank Mo Hua, presenting him with a few Taoist robes she had made by hand. On the collar of each robe, she had embroidered two lines of small characters:

Wishing you safety and longevity.

It was the most heartfelt blessing.

Liu Ruhua chatted with her in the house, soothing her in a soft voice; by the time she bid farewell and left, her expression had improved a lot.

But there was still one thing Mo Hua was very concerned about.

Old Mr. Feng said that Uncle Zhao had been dealt a deadly blow, not chased by monster beasts.

In Tongxian City, who would want to harm a cultivator in the later stages of Qi Refinement like a Monster Hunter?

Mo Hua couldn’t figure it out.

Elder Yu had already sent people to investigate, and there should be some clues. Even if they couldn’t find anything, once Uncle Zhao woke up, they would probably be able to know the truth.

But this was Elder Yu’s and others’ concern now, no longer related to Mo Hua.

He had done what he ought to do.

He could only hope that Uncle Zhao would wake up soon and that their family would be reunited.

In the following period, Mo Hua devoted a bit more effort to cultivating.

Every day, he would spend an additional two hours meditating and refining spirit stones.

Cultivators talk more about persistence: if one cultivates without interruption day after day, accumulating over time, success comes naturally.

There’s no need to cultivate for excessive lengths each day; it’s enough to be consistent for two hours.

The additional two hours Mo Hua invested were not particularly efficient, and the spiritual power he refined was not much. But after all, he was only a step away from the sixth level of Qi Refinement, and Mo Hua wanted to make an effort to get past it sooner.

Several days later, he indeed felt the threshold of the sixth level of Qi Refinement.

Mo Hua took it seriously, burning incense, bathing, preparing spirit stones, and focusing intently, waiting for the breakthrough.

Then he failed.

He didn’t get past the threshold…

Mo Hua’s face darkened, his storage bag slung over his shoulder, he entered Big Black Mountain again.

As for the cultivation breakthroughs, he would leave it to fate; he didn’t bother anymore.

He’d better stock up on more monster blood for practicing formations.

After Mo Hua entered Big Black Mountain, he noticed there were fewer Monster Hunters in the mountain.

In the past, he’d meet quite a few acquaintances within half a day of entering the mountain. Now, after roaming around for a day, he could only encounter one or two.

Mo Hua joined a Monster Hunting Team he wasn’t very close with, mooched some monster blood off them, treated them to beef, and inquired about what had happened, only to learn the details.

Since Old Zhao was pursued and nearly killed, Elder Yu had concerns; he had sent people to investigate and advised everyone to enter Big Black Mountain less frequently in recent days, which is why there were fewer Monster Hunters in the mountain.

Mo Hua frowned; with fewer people, the mountain would relatively have more monster beasts.

It would be somewhat dangerous for him to stay in the mountain under these circumstances.

If he were chased by monster beasts, there would be no one available to help.

“Leave the mountain now?”

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then shook his head. His Divine Sense was already strong, no weaker than that of an average cultivator in the later stages of Qi Refinement. He could detect monster beasts early on and wouldn’t easily be chased by them.

But it was still necessary to keep a low profile.

Mo Hua smeared some grass juice on his clothes, stuck a few twigs in his hair, and even dirtied his face.

In this way, monster beasts wouldn’t be able to sniff out his scent; from a distance, with the grass and twigs, his figure wouldn’t be distinguishable.

As for dirty clothes, his mother would wash them when he returned.

Mo Hua set his worries aside and continued his original plan of “patrolling” the mountain.

Mo Hua held the compass, swaying until noon. When hunger struck, he sprawled in the grass eating the beef his mother had made.

While eating, Mo Hua suddenly sensed some movement. Looking up through the blades of grass, he saw several cultivators walking this way from a distance.

Their attire didn’t resemble that of Monster Hunters.

Mo Hua’s expression tensed as he lay down and stealthily released his Divine Sense.

His Divine Sense detected three people approaching—two men and one woman—all in the late stages of Qi Refinement, their spiritual power subtle and elusive, hard to probe. They seemed to be arguing about something.

Mo Hua pricked up his ears, listening with curiosity.

“…Been searching for days, found nothing…” a man’s voice came intermittently.

“Be patient… that person is extremely cunning…”

“…Despicable and shameless… If we catch him, I will tear him to pieces…” A woman’s voice this time.

Who are they talking about? Surely not Uncle Zhao…

Mo Hua held his breath and concentrated, listening carefully.

The three people were getting closer, and their voices became clearer. Among them was a voice that Mo Hua found somewhat familiar.

“…If we still can’t find him, you two should go back first,” said the man who was leading the group.

“I won’t go back!” the woman protested.

“So this is the capability of the Taoist Court from Tongxian City? Can’t even find one person?” the other man said, his tone somewhat mocking.

“That thief is all too familiar with Big Black Mountain. It’s like looking for a needle in the ocean, trying to find him like this.”

“We must fish out that needle from the ocean…”

“You’re not local cultivators; you don’t understand. Big Black Mountain is riddled with Monster Beasts, exceedingly dangerous…”

“It’s just a Second Grade state boundary’s monster-infested mountain. How dangerous can it be?”

“Only the ignorant are fearless…”

“Hmph, I’m not like you, so cowardly! In this mountain, whether it’s Monster Beasts or that thief, I’ll slay each one I see…”

The man in front stopped suddenly, sneering:

“Stop bragging. You’ve been watched for quite a while and haven’t even noticed?”

“What are you talking about?”

“What surveillance?”

After a moment of silence, the man abruptly drew his sword and pointed it toward the bushes where Mo Hua was hiding, saying coldly:

“Stop hiding, come out!”

Upon hearing this, the other two were momentarily stunned, and then a fleeting look of horror flashed in their eyes. They both retreated half a step, drew their swords, and looked sternly in the direction the man’s sword pointed.

The mountain was rugged, the wild grass lush, but there was no sign of anything unusual.

The more it seemed so, the more frightened they became.

The sword-wielding man’s expression was stark, and he became cautious.

If he hadn’t momentarily used his Divine Sense and discovered an almost imperceptible figure in the grass, they would still be unaware they were being spied upon!

All three cultivators, in the late stage of Qi Refinement, were unaware that someone had been scrutinizing them with Divine Sense all along!

The stronger the Divine Sense, the deeper the cultivation. Plus, being adept at concealment and crafty in tactics…

As this thought crossed the man with the sword’s mind, his back turned icy cold.

Realizing he had been discovered, Mo Hua in the bushes slowly stood up.

The three saw the grass stir slightly, and then a skinny figure appeared.

He had strange branches growing from his head and wore robes resembling those of a cultivator, but they were stained with large patches of grass juice, and his face was covered in grime, making it difficult to see clearly.

His spiritual power also seemed weak. No, it was more like he was deliberately concealing his aura.

“Is it a person? Or a Monster Beast?”

The tension on the face of the man with the sword intensified, a chill growing in his heart as he wondered whether to act.

Then he saw the creature, whether person or Monster Beast, wave at him and cheerfully called out:

“Uncle Zhang, long time no see!”

The sword-wielding man was stunned.

He recognized the voice, he also recognized that figure…

“Mo… Mo Hua?!”

“Mm-hmm,” Mo Hua nodded happily.

Zhang Lan was completely dumbstruck, and the sword in his hand clattered to the ground.