The Quest for Immortality

The An family donated hundreds of thousands of spirit stones. These spirit stones were delivered to the Dao Court by Mo Hua, piled up in the Dao Court’s treasury, and reserved for unified deployment during the construction of a large array.

In return, the An family received gratitude from Elder Yu, the Dao Court, and the Dao Soldier Department, as well as a personal favor from Mo Hua.

However, the spirit stones were still insufficient.

Mo Hua frowned, looking at the jade slip of the large array, calculating the required spirit stones. He found a shortfall of tens of thousands of spirit stones, which puzzled him:

”Do regular large arrays really require this many spirit stones?”

Mo Hua had a good memory. He remembered Mr. Zhuang saying that the spirit stones from a small spirit mine could roughly build a small-scale large array.

This was under the premise of not calculating the artisan’s wages and the spirit stone consumption during the array’s operation.

But now, with so many spirit stones, equaling several small spirit mines, the budget was still not enough.

”Is this really a first-grade, ten-pattern large array?”

”Could Mr. Zhuang have deceived me?”

Mo Hua muttered to himself.

However, at this point, there was no point in considering these matters.

On the contrary, the higher the grade of the array, the stronger its power, and the more certain they would be in hunting down Feng Xi.

Mo Hua now hoped that the array’s grade could be higher.

After all, he had already learned it.

The biggest problem now was how to solve the shortfall of tens of thousands of spirit stones.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then ran to find Commander Yang of the Dao Soldier Department and said:

”Uncle Yang, the spirit stones are not enough.”

Commander Yang sighed helplessly:

”We’ve collected all the spirit stones we could. The Qian family has sent theirs, and the An family has donated theirs. The scattered cultivators have also given all they could. The Dao Court applied for some, but it won’t be much...”

Commander Yang rambled on, then suddenly looked up to see Mo Hua’s calm demeanor, not at all anxious, and curiously asked:

”Do you already have an idea?”

Mo Hua smiled.

Commander Yang was a bit surprised, ”You really have an idea? This is tens of thousands of spirit stones.”

Mo Hua didn’t keep him guessing and whispered to Commander Yang:

”We can confiscate a family’s assets...”

”Confiscate a family’s assets?” Commander Yang was taken aback, ”The Qian family has handed over their spirit stones. It wouldn’t be good to confiscate theirs.”

”Not the Qian family.”

Commander Yang pondered, looking at Mo Hua with a hint of trepidation:

”Could it be the An family... Though they’ve donated a lot, they must have some left. If we search thoroughly, we could scrape out some more, but...”

But it would be ruthless, first deceiving then killing, leaving no room for mercy.

This method was too cruel.

Commander Yang looked at Mo Hua, feeling a chill in his heart. He didn’t expect Mo Hua to be so cold-hearted.

Mo Hua was speechless, ”What are you thinking? How could we confiscate the An family’s assets...”

Commander Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

Right, Mo Hua wasn’t that kind of person.

”Then who do you want to confiscate?” Commander Yang asked curiously.

Mo Hua took out a finely crafted jade pendant from his storage bag. Just by looking at it, one could tell it was valuable.

Commander Yang was a bit surprised, ”A family jade pendant?”

Mo Hua nodded and turned the pendant over. The front of the pendant was engraved with the character ”Kong”.

The Kong family...

Commander Yang thought for a moment, then asked, ”Is there a Kong family in Tongxian City?”

”Not Tongxian City, the Kong family in Qingxuan City.”

Mo Hua’s expression was a bit serious, his gaze slightly cold.

Commander Yang looked at Mo Hua’s expression and whispered, ”Did they offend you?”

Mo Hua shook his head, ”It’s not that they offended me... It’s that they’ve done too many bad things.”

Mo Hua explained to Commander Yang the deeds of the Kong family in Qingxuan City, including how they bribed the Dao Court officials in Qingxuan City, colluded with each other, hired murderers, and the misfortunes of Ji Qingbai’s family...

Commander Yang, with a righteous disposition, was furious upon hearing this: ”This is outrageous!”

Then Commander Yang was a bit puzzled, ”This jade pendant...”

Mo Hua explained, ”This jade pendant belongs to Kong Sheng, a direct descendant of the Kong family. He is notorious for his misdeeds...”

”I infiltrated Heishan Stronghold to gather information and found that Kong Sheng was there and had a good relationship with the demonic cultivators, indicating that the Kong family has connections with Heishan Stronghold!”

The demonic cultivators kept Kong Sheng in a single room and even brought him food, which showed their good relationship.

Kong Sheng wanted to make a deal with the demonic cultivators to save his own life. Saying they were connected wasn’t an exaggeration.

Mo Hua fabricated a reasonable story.

”Then how did this jade pendant end up in your hands?” Commander Yang asked again.

”I picked it up!”

Commander Yang looked at Mo Hua suspiciously, ”Picked it up?”

Mo Hua nodded, ”The demonic cultivators killed Kong Sheng and fed him to the pigs. I picked it up casually...”

Commander Yang pondered, ”If Kong Sheng was colluding with Heishan Stronghold, why would the demonic cultivators kill him and feed him to the pigs?”

”The demonic cultivators act without any rules. They enjoy killing their own. It could be internal conflict...”

Mo Hua found an excuse.

Commander Yang found this very plausible.

If the demonic cultivators acted according to common sense, they wouldn’t be demonic cultivators.

”Alright then...”

Commander Yang knew that Mo Hua was hiding something, that he hadn’t told the whole truth.

But he didn’t care.

With this jade pendant, proving that Kong Sheng was indeed at Heishan Stronghold, the Kong family couldn’t escape involvement.

Later, they could go to Qingxuan City to verify and list the Kong family’s crimes, then send Dao soldiers to confiscate their assets. If anyone resisted, they would be eradicated.

This local power was usually difficult for the Dao Soldier Department to intervene in, but now, in the face of a great disaster, they could act without following the usual rules.

As long as the matters on the surface were justified, they could complete the paperwork and evidence afterward.

Commander Yang weighed the jade pendant in his hand and nodded.

Then he thought of something and looked at Mo Hua strangely:

”You’ve kept this jade pendant for so long. Have you always planned to use it against the Kong family?”

Previously, the timing wasn’t right, so the jade pendant was useless. Now, in this urgent situation, it could be used as a weapon.

Mo Hua replied earnestly:

”This is called the long arm of the law. The Kong family violated the Dao Court’s laws, and it is reasonable for the Dao Soldier Department to confiscate their assets. This is a fair and just matter, and I have nothing to do with it. I didn’t do anything...”

Mo Hua distanced himself from any involvement.

Commander Yang was stunned, then shook his head helplessly, thinking:

Mo Hua, this child, is so clever and scheming. I hope he doesn’t stray onto a crooked path and fall into demonic cultivation in the future, or there will be big trouble.

”It seems I need to find a way to have him join the Yang family. The Yang family’s upright ways will surely guide him onto the right path.”

Commander Yang’s thoughts turned to this...

Mo Hua didn’t need to worry about the subsequent matters.

Commander Yang personally led Dao soldiers to Qingxuan City and confiscated the Kong family’s assets, but the result greatly surprised Mo Hua.

The Kong family not only had their assets confiscated but were also exterminated.

According to Commander Yang, they initially surrounded the Kong family and questioned their crimes. Unexpectedly, some Kong family disciples launched a fierce attack on the Dao soldiers.

Some other Kong family disciples even egged them on.

While another part of the Kong family, realizing the gravity of the situation, turned pale and fled desperately.

Dao soldiers symbolized the authority of the Dao Court.

Attacking Dao soldiers without cause was tantamount to defying the Dao Court.

Commander Yang, with a stern expression, mercilessly ordered the Dao soldiers to begin slaughtering the Kong family cultivators.

The Kong family had only two early-stage Foundation Building cultivators. Having lived in comfort for years, they were no match for Commander Yang and his Dao soldiers.

One of the Kong family’s Foundation Building elders was pierced through the chest by Commander Yang’s spear within a few rounds and kicked to the ground, barely alive.

Knowing he was no match, the Kong family’s Foundation Building patriarch decisively fled.

The other Kong family disciples quickly collapsed.

Originally, the Dao soldiers were few in number and could only defeat the Kong family disciples without capturing them all, allowing them to scatter and escape.

But unexpectedly, another change occurred.

The rogue cultivators in Qingxuan City had a deep-seated grudge against the Kong family.

They had been oppressed by the Kong family for years, unable to seek redress, and had shed countless tears of blood.

The Kong family, with their Foundation Building cultivators, had always been untouchable, leaving the rogue cultivators helpless.

But now, with the Kong family’s two Foundation Building cultivators defeated by the Dao soldiers, one dead and one fled.

Hundreds of years of accumulated resentment, fueled by boundless anger, erupted.

The rogue cultivators of Qingxuan City, with bloodshot eyes

, began slaughtering the Kong family cultivators.

As long as someone was a Kong family cultivator, wearing the Kong family’s attire, they would be dragged down and hacked to death by rogue cultivators as soon as they escaped.

The Kong family’s patriarch, who could have escaped, was also intercepted by rogue cultivators.

As a Foundation Building cultivator, he wasn’t afraid of these Qi Refining rogue cultivators, but these rogue cultivators, seemingly unafraid of death, charged at him wave after wave, like a tide.

Many rogue cultivators didn’t use Dao techniques but charged at the Kong family’s patriarch with sheer bloodlust, trying to bite a piece of flesh from him, even dragging him down with their lives to prevent his escape.

The Kong family’s patriarch killed one after another, yet more kept coming. After killing over a dozen, he not only failed to instill fear in the rogue cultivators but instead fueled their bloodlust and hatred.

The rogue cultivators clung to him, amidst angry curses:

”Give back my son’s life!”

”My parents died at your hands!”

”Kong family dog, you deserve to die! Even if I die, I’ll eat your flesh and drink your blood!”