The Quest for Immortality

The cave was in a state of chaos. Some of the arrays had been destroyed, and some books and array disks were shredded by spiritual power. There were several pits on the walls, and blood was splattered all over the ground.

The Third Master had his shoulder pierced by a long spear, pinning him to the wall. His hands and feet were bound with silver shackles.

These shackles were specialized tools used by the Daoist Soldiers Department, classified as second-grade spiritual tools, and inscribed with spirit-locking arrays designed specifically for restraining prisoners.

Commander Yang was a scion of a noble family and had led the Daoist soldiers through numerous battles. His personal strength and combat experience were far superior to the Third Master’s.

The only thing the Third Master excelled at was array formations.

But now, with Mo Hua’s assistance, his arrays were rendered useless, and naturally, he was no match for Commander Yang.

After a dozen rounds of combat, Commander Yang captured him.

Mo Hua entered the cave.

The Third Master, upon seeing him, suddenly widened his eyes in shock and exclaimed, ”It’s you?!”

Mo Hua nodded, ”Yes, it’s me!”

The Third Master struggled to stand up but was held down by Commander Yang with a slap, making it impossible for him to move.

In pain, the Third Master gave up struggling, still finding it hard to believe, ”Are you really... an array master?”

”You guessed it?” Mo Hua did not deny it.

The Third Master’s eyelids trembled, and he felt a chill in his heart.

He understood everything now.

It was this little demon who had infiltrated Heishan Stronghold, dismantled his arrays, and destroyed his visualization diagram...

Indeed, it was all done by this little demon!

Yet he found it unbelievable, ”How is it possible? How can you have such strong spiritual sense?”

He was only at the Qi Refining stage, but his spiritual sense was comparable to Foundation Building.

This was far beyond his understanding of cultivation.

Mo Hua smiled faintly and did not answer.

He didn’t want to reveal his secrets.

Let the Third Master keep guessing.

The Third Master’s expression changed several times, and finally, seemingly unwilling, he asked, ”Did you really dismantle my arrays?”

”Sort of,” Mo Hua said casually.

Who knew this would cause the Third Master to look defeated, becoming despondent.

Having strong spiritual sense might just be this little demon’s talent, but dismantling his arrays meant his understanding of arrays was far superior to his own.

A young cultivator in his teens with such superior array skills...

Cracks began to appear in the Third Master’s Dao heart...

This was impossible!

Even if such a person existed, they should be the prodigies of noble Daoist families or ancient sects, not a humble independent cultivator from such a remote place.

The Third Master looked at Mo Hua with disbelief, then with despondence, and finally with jealousy and hatred.

”You lucky little b...”

Before he could finish cursing, Mo Hua swung the Qianjun Stick at his face.

Mo Hua snorted coldly, ”You seem to still not understand your situation.”

Commander Yang also frowned, thrusting the spear deeper, the violent spiritual power on the spear corroding the Third Master’s flesh.

The pain from the wound sobered the Third Master a bit.

He suddenly realized that the little demon in front of him was not easy to deal with.

This little demon had the audacity to infiltrate Heishan Stronghold, and even after being discovered, he could still calmly deceive him, killing a few demonic cultivators in the process...

Such courage and cunning were extraordinary.

This little demon, even if not an old devil who had seized a new body, was a cunning little monster.

Offending him now was indeed unwise.

The Third Master suppressed his many jealous and hateful feelings, forcing himself to calm down.

Seeing that the Third Master was sensible, Mo Hua stopped hitting him.

Of course, his body was weak. Even if he swung the Qianjun Stick, he might dislocate his arm, but it wouldn’t cause much harm to the Third Master, only expressing his dissatisfaction.

Mo Hua asked about the things he cared about:

”You didn’t tell your leader about me?”

”No.”

”Why?” Mo Hua was puzzled.

The Third Master was reluctant to say.

Mo Hua snorted coldly, ”Don’t be ungrateful!”

With that, he raised the Qianjun Stick, ready to hit the Third Master’s face, not to hurt him but to humiliate him.

The Third Master gritted his teeth, ”I’ll talk!”

He didn’t want to be humiliated by a young cultivator.

Mo Hua put away the Qianjun Stick, ”Speak.”

The Third Master hesitated briefly, ”I noticed that the arrays in Heishan Stronghold had been tampered with and suspected it was you, but I wasn’t sure. After all, dismantling arrays is not something an ordinary array master can learn.”

”You are too young to have such array skills.”

”But later, I thought about your strong spiritual sense and felt it was likely you.”

”Then why didn’t you tell your leader?” Mo Hua asked.

The Third Master sneered, ”If I told him and you fell into his hands, your secrets would belong to him...”

”But if I didn’t tell, and I caught you, I could explore your spiritual sense secrets, force you to reveal your array techniques, and enhance my spiritual sense, improving my array skills rapidly.”

”If you were me, what would you choose?” the Third Master retorted.

Mo Hua touched his chin.

He seemed to make sense...

People are naturally selfish, especially demonic cultivators like the Third Master.

”Besides, there’s another reason...” The Third Master looked at Mo Hua, his gaze becoming serious, ”I was afraid you would join the leader.”

Mo Hua was stunned, ”Join the leader?”

The Third Master said coldly, ”I’ve seen your array dismantling techniques. To be honest, I am ashamed and fearful.”

”So young, with such strong spiritual sense and profound array skills.”

”If the leader knew, he would definitely invite you to join Heishan Stronghold. Even if you were unwilling, he would try every means, including coercion and inducement, to make you become a demonic cultivator of Heishan Stronghold.”

”And once you joined Heishan Stronghold, there would be two array masters. The principle of one mountain not accommodating two tigers, you should understand.”

”Moreover, you are so young. Your array skills will be limitless in the future. Even if you wanted to kill me, the leader would probably help you.”

”That’s an exaggeration...”

Mo Hua was a bit surprised. He didn’t know he had such a big face...

The Third Master sneered, ”I’ve followed the leader for many years. I know his character very well. As long as you have talent, you can get anything you want, but if you are useless, he will discard you like trash.”

Mo Hua nodded slightly.

This also matched his impression of the old ancestor of the Qian family.

As the Third Master spoke, he suddenly realized something, his expression changed dramatically, and he asked, ”No, how do you know there is a leader in Heishan Stronghold?”

Mo Hua was momentarily speechless.

This Third Master was really slow to react...

However, from his reaction, he probably didn’t know that the identity of the Qian family ancestor had been exposed, nor that he had been besieged by the Daoist soldiers and was heavily injured and on the run.

In other words, he had no contact with the Qian family ancestor while hiding here.

”Your leader has already been killed!” Mo Hua bluffed him.

The Third Master was shocked, then calmed down, sneering, ”Impossible.”

”Why?” Mo Hua asked curiously.

The Third Master sneered but was unwilling to answer.

”What are these demonic arrays you drew used for?” Mo Hua asked again.

The Third Master closed his eyes, still silent. Even though Commander Yang stabbed the spear deeper and stirred his wound with spiritual power, the Third Master endured the pain without saying a word.

It seemed these matters were highly confidential, and the Third Master would not easily reveal them.

Commander Yang said, ”Take him back, lock him in the Dao Prison, and interrogate him severely.”

Mo Hua nodded. For now, that was all they could do.

Commander Yang withdrew the spear, preparing to escort the Third Master back to Tongxian City. Before leaving, the Third Master suddenly asked, ”What happened to the leader?”

Mo Hua thought for a moment and decided to tell the truth:

”His identity was exposed, he was besieged, heavily injured, and escaped. He probably can’t cause much trouble now.”

The Third Master looked disappointed.

He had hoped the Qian family ancestor would find him, regroup, and rebuild Heishan Stronghold.

Such wishful thinking...

Mo Hua sneered in his heart.

As the Third Master was escorted away by Commander Yang, he looked despondent but turned back with a subtle, sinister smile.

This smile was so faint that if not for Mo Hua’s keen spiritual sense, he would not have noticed it.

What was this Third Master, this old trickster, smiling about?

Mo Hua frowned.

He thoroughly checked everything in the cave again but found nothing special.

He and Commander Yang had already searched the Third Master’s storage bag, which contained only some spirit stones, some blood ink, some Longevity Pills, and a damaged visualization diagram.

The visualization diagram lacked the image of the blue-faced demon child—because that little demon had been eaten by Mo Hua.

Of all the items, the only thing that caught Mo Hua’s attention was the demonic array drawn by the Third Master.

What was this demonic array used for?