The Quest for Immortality

”You’re lying to him?”

”I didn’t lie.” Master Zhuang said defiantly, ”I only said the grand array starts at the first-grade ten patterns, but I never said the one I gave him was just ten patterns.”

”A first-grade eleven-pattern array is also considered a ten-pattern start!”

Master Zhuang argued with conviction.

Elder Gui’s face twitched with disbelief, realizing that Master Zhuang’s actions were truly outlandish:

”So, what he drew wasn’t actually a first-grade ten-pattern formation array hub, but... a first-grade eleven-pattern one?”

Master Zhuang sighed, ”That’s why I was surprised.”

”The array jade slip is yours. Why are you surprised?”

”Precisely because it’s mine, I’m surprised.” Master Zhuang sighed, ”It’s difficult to draw; even second-grade array masters can’t master it.”

Yet, Mo Hua had drawn it in a month...

And apparently, his brushwork was very skilled, as if he had drawn it countless times...

”Why didn’t you say it from the beginning?” Elder Gui asked.

”What’s the point of saying it?” Master Zhuang said lightly.

He turned his head, looking towards the deep mountains, stained red by the night’s blood, his gaze profound:

”This demon is no ordinary demon. A first-grade ten-pattern grand array can’t trap and kill it, so only an eleven-pattern formation can.”

”Ten patterns or eleven, since Mo Hua is determined to learn, what kind of grand array is actually irrelevant.”

”If he can learn it and construct an eleven-pattern grand array to trap and kill the demon, fine. If he can’t, he will naturally give up, without wasting manpower and resources on this useless struggle.”

Elder Gui furrowed his brow, ”Can an eleven-pattern grand array really kill it?”

Master Zhuang chuckled lightly, ”In this world, is there anything certain? Even if an array collapses, it will still leave a faint escape route. There’s no such thing as a truly inevitable death trap.”

”The eleven-pattern Five Elements Demon-Slaying Array, in terms of lethality, is already enough to trap and kill a demon. But the demon is a Dao calamity, a variable in the Heavenly Dao. Until the end, no one knows what will happen...”

”And if it doesn’t kill it?” Elder Gui asked again.

”Don’t worry.” Master Zhuang said, ”As long as the grand array is successfully constructed, even if it doesn’t kill the demon in the end, it can still drain most of its blood essence, leaving it severely injured.”

”A fully powered demon is untouchable, but a severely injured demon is of great interest to many.”

”The Dao Court, major families, and sects will find ways to intervene. After all, it is a living... Dao calamity.”

”If it really doesn’t work, you can step in too,” Master Zhuang looked at Elder Gui, half-smiling, ”but it’s just one death.”

”A body for a Dao calamity is still worth it.”

Elder Gui’s gaze fell, his hands behind his back, a flicker of sharpness passing through his lowered eyes.

Master Zhuang muttered softly, ”At your age, still so insincere, pretending to be profound...”

Elder Gui was taken aback, sighing, then asked:

”Don’t you really want to accept a direct disciple?”

This time, Master Zhuang was caught off guard. After hesitating for a while, he sighed, ”I’ve said it before, I won’t take disciples in this life.”

Elder Gui said lightly, ”I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve gone back on your word. What’s with the solemnity...”

Master Zhuang was silent, sighing:

”Talking to you is really boring, it’s too easy to have my faults exposed.”

Elder Gui ignored him.

Master Zhuang thought of Mo Hua, his mind in a daze.

If it were before, he would have accepted this disciple, but now, things were different...

Master Zhuang was silent for a moment, then sighed to himself:

”Let him be a named disciple. To take him as a direct disciple would harm him, and it would harm me too...”

Master Zhuang stood in the boundless darkness, his body shrouded in blackness, the cold moonlight casting a desolate glow on the ground, but not on his face.

”After all, there are countless people who want to kill me...”

...

After returning home, Mo Hua began to seriously consider building the grand array.

He first sought Elder Yu, saying directly, ”Elder, I want to kill that pig!”

Elder Yu was stunned, ”Which pig?”

Mo Hua extended a small hand, pointing towards the deep mountains, where the blood-red aura soared into the sky, making people’s hearts tremble.

Elder Yu was shocked, ”What nonsense!”

That was Feng Xi, the legendary demon who could devour an entire immortal city. How could it be killed?

Even if it could be killed, it wasn’t their place to do so.

They simply didn’t have the foundation or strength.

”It can be killed!” Mo Hua insisted.

Elder Yu wanted to say something but looked at Mo Hua and suddenly fell silent.

He knew that Mo Hua didn’t want to leave Tongxian City, nor did he want them to leave their homeland.

They didn’t want to leave either, but leaving was unavoidable.

When a great disaster came, these scattered cultivators had no choice but to go with the flow, leaving their homeland to seek another path.

At this point, Elder Yu suddenly felt a pang of reluctance.

Once they moved the city, he didn’t know if he could see Mo Hua again.

Although he valued Mo Hua because he was an array master, he genuinely liked the child from the bottom of his heart.

Elder Yu felt a bit bitter, patting Mo Hua’s shoulder, and said seriously:

”Take these spirit stones and find a good way out in the nearby states. Settle down and build your foundation safely. With your ability, you will surely become a respected array master in the future.”

”As for the scattered cultivators in Tongxian City, leave it to me.”

”Moving south will be tough, but as long as we can be self-reliant, a little hardship is nothing to fear. After all, scattered cultivators fear nothing more than hardship.”

Elder Yu tried to comfort Mo Hua.

But Mo Hua shook his head, saying earnestly, ”Elder, I really have a way to kill the demon!”

Elder Yu was stunned, frowning as he carefully examined Mo Hua’s expression.

Mo Hua’s face was calm, his demeanor steady, with confidence that didn’t seem like a joke or wishful thinking.

Elder Yu’s heart skipped a beat, unable to help but ask, ”You... really have a way?”

Mo Hua nodded, saying directly, ”We can build a grand array to kill Feng Xi!”

Elder Yu was bewildered, ”grand array...”

He had heard about grand arrays before, but it was the first time he heard ”building a formation” in his life.

He had heard people mention grand arrays, talking about how some states, sects, or families, with deep foundations, even had powerful protective sect formations, standing for a thousand years...

But those were just words he heard, and he didn’t care much.

As scattered cultivators, they couldn’t even afford regular arrays, let alone grand arrays.

Even the ones who talked about it had never seen a grand array in person.

Unless it was a moment of life and death, sects wouldn’t activate their protective grand arrays.

Many scattered cultivators, even many cultivators from families or sects, might never see a grand array activated in their lifetime.

Let alone ”building a grand array.”

This was simply a fantasy.

Elder Yu was stunned for a while, then his thoughts returned, hesitantly asking, ”What grand array?”

”Five Elements Demon-Slaying grand array!” Mo Hua said boldly.

Elder Yu was shocked. The name of the array alone, with its murderous aura, was enough to make one tremble.

And it sounded like it could slay a demon...

But he was still uneasy, ”Really able to kill?”

Mo Hua said solemnly, ”It’s highly likely to kill, if nothing goes wrong.”

Since Master Zhuang gave him the array, in Master Zhuang’s estimation, the Five Elements Demon-Slaying grand array could kill Feng Xi. Even if it couldn’t kill, it could at least contend with the demon.

Otherwise, Master Zhuang wouldn’t have taught him.

But after spending time with Master Zhuang, listening to his reasoning, Mo Hua knew that nothing in this world was absolutely certain, so he spoke with caution.

Despite that, it was enough to shock Elder Yu.

Highly likely to kill.

This was a demon, a disaster that could not be resisted in the history of Tongxian City. Yet Mo Hua said, ”highly likely to kill”...

Elder Yu was conflicted.

He put his hands behind his back, pacing the hall, lost in thought, unable to make a decision for a long time.

After walking a few circles, Elder Yu suddenly stopped and asked:

”Who will draw this grand array?”

Mo Hua patted his chest, ”I will!”

Elder Yu thought as expected, but still couldn’t believe it, ”You... can draw grand arrays now?”

Mo Hua didn’t hide it...