The Quest for Immortality

The deep mountain had truly become a forbidden land.

Day and night, one could see the blood-red aura soaring into the sky, emanating from the blood-colored pig demon perched atop the peak.

The pig demon was refining the medicinal power of the Life-Transforming Elixir.

To say it was refining would be inaccurate; it was more like assimilation.

This elixir had originally been formed within its body, forcibly extracted, and now it was merely ”returning to its rightful owner.”

The pig demon’s refining of the blood aura was slow; it seemed to take a long time, but no matter how long, there would eventually be a day when it finished refining.

Time passed slowly, and the pig demon’s blood aura grew denser, its presence more terrifying.

All the cultivators in Tongxian City wore expressions of deep concern.

Elder Yu and the others looked increasingly grave.

A storm was brewing; a great calamity was approaching.

Mo Hua, however, was deeply puzzled.

What was a great demon, why did that pig become one, and why did a great demon signify a great calamity?

These secrets of cultivation were things he had never encountered before.

Mo Hua went to ask Elder Yu.

Elder Yu sighed, ”The term ’great demon’ is used by demon hunters to refer to immensely powerful demonic beasts, beyond human capability to resist, capable of destroying a city or realm.”

”What level of demonic beast qualifies as a great demon? Second grade and above?” Mo Hua asked.

Elder Yu shook his head, ”A great demon isn’t simply measured by grade.”

Mo Hua thought for a moment, ”Is it based on the grade of the realm?”

Elder Yu nodded and explained to Mo Hua:

”In a second-grade realm, a great demon is second grade; in a third-grade realm, a great demon is third grade, and so on. A powerful demonic beast approaching the upper limit of a realm’s grade is called a ’great demon.’”

”But why could that pig become a great demon?” Mo Hua was puzzled.

That pig had merely eaten Elder Qian, even died at one point, so why did it suddenly become a great demon?

”I don’t know either,” Elder Yu said bitterly, ”Great demons have always been legends; no one knows how they come to be... The last record of a great demon in Tongxian City was two or three thousand years ago.”

”Was that great demon killed?”

”No,” Elder Yu shook his head, ”The great demon wasn’t killed.”

Mo Hua was stunned, ”Then how did it die?”

”It starved to death.”

”Starved to death?” Mo Hua was shocked.

This was a death he had never considered.

Elder Yu’s eyes were filled with deep fear:

”It ate all the cultivators in Tongxian City, all the demonic beasts in Dahei Mountain, everything it could eat. After more than a hundred years with nothing to eat, it finally exhausted its blood aura and starved to death...”

Mo Hua took a deep breath, ”It ate... all the cultivators in Tongxian City?!”

Elder Yu nodded, ”Yes.”

”Couldn’t it be killed?”

”If it could be killed, the city’s cultivators wouldn’t have all been eaten...” Elder Yu said with a bitter smile.

”Why couldn’t it be killed?”

Mo Hua was very puzzled.

It was just a second-grade demonic beast, no matter how strong, there must be a way to kill it.

Even if Foundation Building wasn’t enough, there were still Qi cultivators. If the demon hunters weren’t enough, there were Dao soldiers. So many cultivators working together, even if they had to wear it down, they could eventually kill the great demon...

Elder Yu pointed to the sky, ”Do you see that blood aura?”

Mo Hua looked up and saw the blood aura of the pig demon soaring into the sky.

”Is it because... the blood aura is too thick?” Mo Hua pondered for a moment and said.

Elder Yu nodded, ”A great demon’s attack is only slightly stronger than a same-grade demonic beast, but the most troublesome is its blood aura...”

”The blood aura of a great demon is extremely thick, almost dozens of times that of a same-grade demonic beast.”

Mo Hua felt a chill, ”The blood aura is so thick?”

”That’s not the scariest part,” Elder Yu continued:

”The scariest part is that it can restore its blood aura by eating people. Trying to wear it down with numbers is impossible.”

”A great demon’s blood aura is thick, and fighting it is a long, protracted battle with inevitable casualties.”

”But once there are casualties, the great demon will replenish its blood aura. In this cycle, all the cultivators will end up being eaten alive!”

”Unless no one dies, cultivators are just ’blood supplements’ for the great demon.”

”But a great demon is so terrifying, how could no one die in the fight?”

Mo Hua felt a chill in his heart and frowned, asking:

”What should we do now?”

Elder Yu shook his head, his tone heavy:

”Our only hope is that we are mistaken, that the pig isn’t really a great demon, so the Dao Court can be petitioned to send more Foundation Building cultivators for the siege.”

”What if it is a great demon?”

”If the Dao Court confirms the pig is a great demon,” Elder Yu sighed, ”we can only... consider relocating the city.”

”Relocate the city?” Mo Hua was stunned.

”Relocate the city,” Elder Yu nodded:

”All the cultivators in Tongxian City will have to move to another place to make a living. Otherwise, once the great demon finishes refining its blood aura and starts hunting, it will eat all the demonic beasts and then the people, eventually devouring all the cultivators in Tongxian City just like two or three thousand years ago...”

Elder Yu’s expression was extremely bitter, ”This is a great calamity, or even an unprovoked disaster, and we have no way to deal with it...”

Mo Hua was somewhat lost.

He hadn’t expected things to become this serious.

He had thought a ”great demon” was just a more powerful demonic beast that could be killed with combined effort, but he hadn’t realized a great demon truly meant a ”great calamity,” forcing an entire city of cultivators to relocate.

But Mo Hua knew in his heart that ”relocate the city” was more like fleeing.

”Where will we relocate to?” Mo Hua asked, ”There shouldn’t be any places nearby suitable for cultivators to live.”

Moreover, even if only Tongxian City relocated, all the small immortal cities nearby would have to move too.

This meant more cultivators relocating and fewer places to settle.

”We’ll generally move south, close to the wild borderlands, where most of the land is undeveloped, with demonic beasts and barbarians.”

Elder Yu sighed, ”But this means life will be very tough...”

Long journeys, eating and sleeping outdoors, unpredictable dangers along the way, and hardship at the destination.

Mo Hua’s mood also fell.

He hoped that pig demon wasn’t really a great demon...

But Mo Hua knew in his heart that this was unlikely.

Because he had seen the pig demon with his own eyes and had injured it with an array collapse, he knew the pig demon’s blood and flesh regeneration was mysterious and extraordinary, almost Dao-like, far beyond ordinary demonic beasts.

Three days later, the Dao Court issued a document:

”In the twenty-fourth year of the Dao calendar, a second-grade Black Mountain realm, the pig demon causes chaos.

After verification by the Divination Office, this is a great demon, anciently named Feng Xi.

The local Dao Court should take appropriate measures to ensure peace in the area.

If unable to handle the disaster, consider relocating the city.”

Mo Hua learned the contents of this document from Zhang Lan.

When the Dao Court issued the document, Zhang Lan received the news, knew it was unavoidable, and feeling a bit depressed, went to a restaurant to drink, where he shared the news with Mo Hua.

”Doesn’t the Dao Court have any other solutions?” Mo Hua asked Zhang Lan.

”If the Dao Court had a solution, great demons wouldn’t be considered one of the ’great calamities.’”

Mo Hua still didn’t understand, ”Can’t the Dao Court send Golden Core cultivators to kill that pig?”

”It’s Feng Xi,” Zhang Lan corrected, ”Once it becomes a great demon, it gets a name recorded in the history of cultivation. Historically, pig-type great demons are generally called ’Feng Xi.’”

Zhang Lan took a sip of wine and sighed, ”Golden Core cultivators can’t come.”

”Are they afraid of dying?”

Zhang Lan shook his head, ”A second-grade great demon, Golden Core cultivators can’t kill it, but they can escape.”

”What they fear...” Zhang Lan pointed to the sky, ”is the Dao Law.”

”What does this have to do with the Dao Law?” Mo Hua didn’t understand.

Zhang Lan didn’t answer but asked, ”What realm are we in now?”

”Black Mountain realm.”

”What’s the full term?”

Mo Hua had studied cultivation geography in Tongxian Sect. He had studied diligently and remembered clearly, so even though he had left school, he could still answer, ”The cultivation world is divided into nine provinces, each province divided into realms, with immortal cities within the realms.”

”Tongxian City is part of the Dahei Mountain realm in Li Province. Leaving out the province name, it’s called the Black Mountain realm.”

Zhang Lan nodded and asked again, ”What grade?”

Mo Hua was puzzled but answered, ”Second grade.”

”Why is it second grade?”

”Because the highest cultivators are Foundation Building...”

Mo Hua felt Zhang Lan was asking redundant questions, but also felt Zhang Lan wouldn’t ask pointless questions, so he thought for a while and slowly said, ”Golden Core is third grade

, exceeding the second-grade realm limit, so they can’t come?”

”It’s not that they can’t come, they just can’t use powers above the second grade.”

Zhang Lan explained, ”Golden Core cultivators can’t use their Golden Core powers here, so what’s the use of coming?”

”What happens if they forcefully use it?” Mo Hua asked.

”If they forcefully use it, they’ll die!” Zhang Lan said solemnly.

”They’ll die?!” Mo Hua was shocked.

”They’ll die!” Zhang Lan nodded, thought for a moment, and added, ”So saying they’re afraid to die and don’t dare to come is also correct.”

”Why?” Mo Hua still didn’t understand.

Zhang Lan sighed, ”This is the rule of the Dao Law. When the Dao Court was established, it designated this place as second grade, so all the cultivators here can only use Foundation Building powers at most...”

”Once this limit is exceeded, they’ll be erased by the Dao Law!”

”No exceptions?” Mo Hua asked.

Zhang Lan said firmly, ”None!”

”Above Golden Core?”

Zhang Lan said, ”Even beyond Golden Core, up to the Great Ascension stage, as long as they haven’t become immortals, they must abide by this Dao Law. If they violate this rule, no matter how high their cultivation, how strong their power, they’ll be erased by the Great Dao, and their bodies and spirits will perish!”

”Even the Dao Sovereigns, who rule the nine provinces, are no exception!”

”This is the Dao Law!”

Zhang Lan said solemnly:

”The Dao Law is above all things and all cultivators!”