The Quest for Immortality

The situation at Heishan Stronghold had essentially come to an end.

The true identity of the Qian family’s patriarch had been exposed, and the Qian family could no longer rely on Heishan Stronghold to commit evil deeds.

Without the support of the Qian family, Heishan Stronghold couldn’t develop further; without the backing of Heishan Stronghold, the Qian family couldn’t continue to grow.

Even if the instigator, the Qian family patriarch, was still lurking in Dahei Mountain, he wouldn’t be able to cause any major disturbances in the short term.

No matter how powerful a Foundation Building cultivator was, without the support of a family or faction, he was just a Foundation Building cultivator, with no place to utilize his cultivation.

Moreover, the heavily injured Qian family patriarch’s cultivation wouldn’t be as strong as before.

However, to completely wrap up the Heishan Stronghold matter, two things still needed to be done:

First, they needed to find the Third Chief.

He was a demonic array master who could draw demonic arrays, and could not be left unchecked; otherwise, he would cause endless troubles.

Array masters were already extraordinary, and the Third Chief was a demonic array master at the Foundation Building stage.

Even if he wasn’t very talented and didn’t work hard, and was still just a First Grade array master, he couldn’t be underestimated.

After all, without the arrays he drew, Heishan Stronghold might have been discovered long ago and couldn’t have lurked in Dahei Mountain for so long.

The second thing was to hunt down the Qian family patriarch.

Mo Hua always felt that the Qian family patriarch wasn’t so simple.

The Qian family patriarch was very thoughtful, with twists and turns in his mind probably more numerous than a mouse’s burrow.

That day, when he was surrounded and attacked, even though he seemed to be at his wits’ end, the Qian family patriarch’s expression was still too calm.

Mo Hua couldn’t figure it out.

Was he really relying on something, or was it just that he was so deep in his schemes that even facing death, he wouldn’t show any signs of panic or desperation?

Mo Hua didn’t know if he had any other plots.

But as long as they caught or killed the Qian family patriarch, everything would eventually settle down.

Even if he had some schemes, as long as they were buried with him, Mo Hua wouldn’t care.

Mo Hua first found clues about the Third Chief.

The First Chief had been hiding in the Qian family and had already been executed.

The Third Chief was likely still hiding deep in the mountains.

The Dao soldiers had been searching the mountains for days, but there was no news of the Third Chief or the Qian family patriarch.

Mo Hua volunteered to help with the search.

Since he had learned the technique of spiritual sense calculations, his sensitivity to the traces of array spiritual energy had become increasingly keen.

If the Third Chief was hiding deep in the mountains, he would definitely set up arrays, and as long as he set up arrays, the spiritual energy traces generated by the arrays would be like a bright light in the night, unable to escape Mo Hua’s spiritual sense detection.

Commander Yang was worried and followed Mo Hua into the deep mountains.

The deep mountains were vast, and Heishan Stronghold was just a part of it. There were many other remote, overgrown, poisonous, and desolate areas.

With Commander Yang guarding him, Mo Hua observed everywhere while expanding his spiritual sense to search for traces of arrays.

A good array master wouldn’t set up arrays carelessly.

As long as there were arrays, they couldn’t escape Mo Hua’s spiritual sense.

Half a day later, Mo Hua finally discovered traces of an array on a cliff.

It was a familiar concealment array!

In the area near Tongxian City, the only array master who could draw concealment arrays, besides himself, was probably the Third Chief.

”Found it?” Commander Yang, seeing Mo Hua suddenly stop moving, his eyes lit up and he asked.

Mo Hua nodded and pointed to the cliff, ”It’s nearby.”

Commander Yang followed Mo Hua’s pointing, but the cliff was just a mass of strange rocks and shrubs, no different from other cliffs they had seen along the way.

How did he find it...

”Is it here?” Commander Yang confirmed.

”Yes, there’s a concealment array here, hiding their tracks.”

Commander Yang released his spiritual sense, but he still couldn’t find anything. The array patterns’ spiritual energy blended with the mountain mist, making it obscure and indistinguishable. He wasn’t an array master and couldn’t tell the difference.

But he didn’t want to let Mo Hua know he couldn’t see anything, so he nodded seriously and agreed, ”Indeed.”

”I’ll go in and take a look,” Mo Hua said.

Commander Yang quickly stopped him, ”I’ll go with you.”

The Third Chief was a demonic array master, hiding in a concealed cave with unknown dangers. He feared Mo Hua might encounter danger.

Mo Hua shook his head, ”I’ll go in invisibly, he won’t see me.”

Commander Yang still disagreed.

Mo Hua continued, ”Uncle Yang, you don’t know what arrays are set up inside. If you rush in, you’ll either fall into a trap or alert him and let him escape.”

”You know what arrays are set up inside?” Commander Yang asked, puzzled.

”I’ll know once I take a look,” Mo Hua said.

Commander Yang hesitated.

He didn’t recall any other array masters having this ability...

Knowing the arrays set up just by looking?

But seeing Mo Hua’s confident demeanor, he must have confidence.

”Alright then,” Commander Yang nodded, ”I’ll wait here. If you encounter danger, just shout, and I’ll rush in to save you!”

”Okay!” Mo Hua nodded.

Then Mo Hua used the Concealment Technique and disappeared from Commander Yang’s sight.

Commander Yang sighed. Despite seeing this Concealment Technique many times, he still found it unbelievable.

He was only at the Qi Refining stage, yet he could evade the senses of Foundation Building cultivators...

”Let’s see if there are any suitable, beautiful, gentle girls in the family. I have to find a way to trick Mo Hua into joining the Yang family...”

The upright Commander Yang couldn’t help but think of some crooked ideas...

Mo Hua, concealing his form, walked along the hidden steps on the cliff into the concealed cave.

The cave was filled with arrays, including concealment arrays and some warning, trap, and defensive arrays.

Mo Hua, using his spiritual sense calculations, knew the range of the arrays and the types of array patterns, avoiding them without leaving a trace.

The process was much easier than Mo Hua had expected.

Mo Hua couldn’t help but marvel at how effective Mr. Zhuang’s calculation methods were.

Especially when dealing with array masters, he could see through their arrays at a glance.

The cave was relatively spacious and dark, with only a faintly glowing array providing illumination.

In the dim light, he could see array books, array plates, pens, and ink scattered around, along with some materials for pill furnaces and several large vats of human blood.

The Third Chief was sitting at a stone table, focused on drawing something.

Mo Hua quietly used the Passing Water Step, trying not to make any noise, and tiptoed closer. He could see the table but wouldn’t draw the Third Chief’s attention.

The fully concentrated Third Chief never imagined that hiding in such a secluded cave, he still couldn’t escape Mo Hua’s ”peeping.”

Mo Hua stretched his neck, curiously observing the Third Chief, wanting to see what he was doing.

After a while, he understood.

The Third Chief was drawing an array, and it was a demonic array!

Another demonic array...

Mo Hua’s heart tightened, and he focused to see what kind of demonic array it was.

After a while, Mo Hua felt disappointed.

As Bai Zixi had said, demonic arrays were unconventional, but not profound in array techniques.

Demonic arrays were derived from orthodox arrays, altering the array medium, ink, and some array hubs to achieve quick results.

Using flesh and blood as the array medium saved spiritual sense; using human blood as ink enhanced the array’s power, but the array patterns were simplified, shoddy, and crude.

The so-called demonic arrays seemed more like ”opportunistic” arrays.

They were ”quick-success” arrays.

They seemed profound and terrifying, but their essence was rough and shallow, lacking in quality.

Whether in cultivation or array techniques, quick success might start fast but couldn’t go far or understand the ultimate Dao.

Mo Hua tried calculating in his mind, and the demonic array patterns clearly appeared in his mind.

No wonder Bai Zixi said he might ”learn it at once.”

Mo Hua lost interest.

The demonic arrays, looking fierce, were actually not interesting.

Too low in technical content...

Mo Hua didn’t want to watch anymore and quietly left.

Outside the cave, Commander Yang was fully alert, staring at the cave entrance.

Suddenly, Mo Hua appeared beside him, startling him.

”When did you come out?”

”Just now...”

Commander Yang coughed to cover his embarrassment, pretending to be calm, and asked, ”Is the Third Chief inside?”

Mo Hua nodded, ”He’s inside. There’s a hidden path. You go in and catch him, don’t let him escape!”

Mo Hua took out paper and pen, drew a schematic of the cave, and marked everything clearly.

Where the arrays were, what types they were, their functions, the safest path to avoid traps and not alert the enemy, the cave’s mechanisms, and the location of the hidden path...

Mo Hua told everything to Commander Yang.

Commander Yang couldn’t help but sigh.

He wanted to carry Mo Hua around like a treasure.

Expert in warning, searching, detecting, and breaking arrays.

With him, future military operations would be so convenient!

But Commander Yang knew he could only think about it.

Such wishful thinking was impossible.

Commander Yang memorized the route and, imitating Mo Hua, sneaked into the cave. After a while, there was the sound of fighting inside, mixed with the Third Chief’s angry and shocked voice.

After a while, the commotion stopped.

Commander Yang’s voice echoed from the cave, ”Mo Hua!”

Mo Hua knew the Third Chief had been subdued, his spirits lifted, and he swaggered into the cave.