The Quest for Immortality

”Who is this person? What is his name?”

”I should remember...”

”But why can’t I recall?”

”Why can’t I recall?!”

”Sun Yi” muttered deliriously, tormented in thought.

He clasped his forehead with both hands, grasping his scalp and scratching fiercely, until blood flowed from his head and his face was torn, yet he remained puzzled and distressed.

A moment later, he slowly stopped.

In his eyes, a glint of cold decisiveness flashed.

With his finger dipped in his own blood, he shakily drew a Formation Pattern on his forehead.

The Formation Pattern was sinister and bright red, not a standard Formation, but a Demon Pattern from the Demon Sect.

Once the Demon Pattern was formed, it seemed to come alive, feeding on Sun Yi’s Blood Qi and Divine Thought.

Sun Yi gritted his teeth as his Blood Qi slowly weakened, but his thoughts became increasingly clear.

The fog shrouding his memories also began to lift.

He finally remembered something.

”There was another... a little disciple...”

”A little disciple...”

”What was his name?”

”Sun Yi” wore an expression of pain as if enduring great torture, and finally piece by piece, he remembered:

”Mo...”

”Mo... Hua!”

Mo Hua!

”Sun Yi’s” eyes first showed excitement, then confusion.

”Why?”

”Why was this name hidden so deep?”

”Who exactly is this child?”

In Sun Yi’s memories, the image of a smiling face surfaced.

It was the smile of a little Cultivator, about ten years old.

Innocent and naive, yet also warm and endearing.

Simultaneously, his awareness of Mo Hua began to clarify.

”Qi Refinement, seventh level, a first-rank Formation Master, Foundation Establishment Divine Sense...”

”Sun Yi” trembled inside.

Foundation Establishment Divine Sense?

So that’s how it was...

”With such terrifying talent, no wonder he needed to be hidden away...”

”Sun Yi” sneered, but as he laughed, his smile gradually faded.

”What was I just thinking about?”

”Who erased my memories?”

”Sun Yi” slightly angered, once again endured the intense pain in his Sea of Consciousness and sought the truth he had just forgotten amidst the fog.

He remembered the name Mo Hua once again.

And once again, he saw Mo Hua’s smiling face.

His cognition of Mo Hua once again became clear.

”Qi Refinement, seventh level, Foundation Establishment Divine Sense...”

Before he could react, his memory stuttered, and he lost it again.

”Sun Yi’s” gaze turned sharp.

To have hidden this child so deeply...

My fellow disciple, what exactly are you planning to do?

He tried to think again, to remember.

”Qi Refinement, seventh level, Foundation Establishment Divine Sense...”

But unexpectedly, at this point, his memory was wiped clean.

With every wipe, the memories dimmed; with each dim, more blurriness ensued.

After countless times, all that remained were the vague concepts of ”Qi Refinement, seventh level, Foundation...”

”Qi Refinement, seventh level, not yet Foundation Establishment...”

”Sun Yi” nodded to himself.

Then it dawned on him; wasn’t that stating the obvious?

Qi Refinement, seventh level, naturally hadn’t reached Foundation Establishment yet.

But when he tried to ponder further, his thoughts grew hazy, unable to think of anything else.

”Is he just a filler disciple?”

Sun Yi muttered to himself.

He decided not to bother anymore, only remembering Mr. Zhuang, Old Kui, and the Bai siblings, and then nodded to himself.

Sun Yi took off his outer clothes and wiped away the blood on his face and body.

Then, he tore off the old and dirty Taoist Robe from the already-dead Sun Ji and put it on himself.

”Now it fits.”)

Sun Ji was tall and thin, while Sun Yi had an average build and was slightly plump.

The Taoist Robe fit him just right.

”Sun Yi” pushed open the door again, the sky was dimming, and he walked out alone.

The disciples of the Sun Family were taken aback when they saw him.

For he was wearing an old Taoist Robe, which looked very peculiar.

Some disciples greeted Sun Yi respectfully, but he ignored them as if he had neither seen nor heard them, continuing to walk out with uneven steps.

Sun Yi left the Sun Family’s gate.

Then he walked down the main road of Thousand Families Town, not looking back as he headed into the distance, disappearing at the end of the vast mountains.

This was the last time the disciples of the Sun Family saw their Family Head.

The Spirit Farmers of East Mountain Village also gossiped that the Family Head of the Sun Family, Sun Yi, wearing the robe of a dead man, limping away as if his soul had been hooked by something.

Most people speculated that Sun Yi had violated the ancestral teachings, and the Old Ancestor of the Sun Family had taken him to the underworld for punishment.

After that, Sun Yi never came back.

Nor was he seen again.

...

While ”Sun Yi” was deducing Mo Hua’s identity, Mr. Zhuang in the carriage also opened his eyes.

”Master, would you like some tea?” Mo Hua asked with a crisp voice.

Mr. Zhuang liked to nap, and after waking, he liked to drink some tea.

The preferences of the master were well remembered by Mo Hua.

Mr. Zhuang nodded slightly.

Mo Hua then poured him a cup of tea.

Mr. Zhuang seemed somewhat weary; after drinking the tea from Mo Hua, he felt a bit reinvigorated and then asked:

”Mo Hua, how does a person die?”

It wasn’t just Mo Hua who was startled.

Even Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi both looked puzzled.

They didn’t know why Mr. Zhuang would suddenly ask such a question.

”Uh... If you’re killed, you die?”

Mo Hua said quietly.

”You can die from hunger, from old age as well...” Bai Zisheng also said.

```

”What is the bottom line, then?”

Mo Hua recalled what Mr. Zhuang had said about a cultivator’s Spiritual Power, Blood Qi, and Divine Sense and tried to express:

”A cultivator will die if the physical body exhausts, the Qi Sea shatters, or the Divine Sense perishes...”

”So, a cultivator’s death ultimately relates to these three aspects?”

Mr. Zhuang nodded slightly.

”If someone wants to kill you, they will target one of these three, either wrecking your physical body, shattering your Qi Sea, or destroying your Divine Sense.”

Mo Hua felt a chill in his heart, ”Master, is someone trying to kill me?”

Mr. Zhuang shook his head, ”It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

”Oh.” Mo Hua nodded, pondered for a moment, then asked doubtfully:

”Master, I understand how one can kill through the physical body and Qi Sea, as ordinary Tao Cultivation Martial Arts and spells damage the physical body, corrode the meridians, and ruin the Qi Sea, but killing through Divine Sense... How does that work?”

”There are many methods,” Mr. Zhuang said.

He looked at Mo Hua, then at Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi, and patiently explained:

”One type is Divine Sense spells, which form spells with Divine Sense, harming the Divine Sense of others.”

”Such spells are exceedingly rare; do not learn or use them casually, as prolonged use can also damage your own Divine Sense.”

”Moreover, these spells are ancient secrets, with requirements for innate talent, and are generally beyond reach.”

”The second type is Divine Sense parasitism, where one fragments their Divine Sense and inhabits the body of another cultivator.”

”This is a technique of the Demon Path; you should neither learn nor use it.”

”The third type is Divine Sense contamination, using ancient sinister Divine Thoughts, sealed since ancient times, to contaminate the Divine Sense of others, leading them to moral decay, derangement of Divine Sense, and even the collapse of the Sea of Consciousness, becoming something neither human nor ghost...”

”This amounts to killing by proxy. But by contaminating others, you also taint yourself.”

”If others’ Divine Sense is tainted, yours will not remain clean; you would just be unaware of it.”

”Therefore, it’s best not to use this method either.”

”There are other ways to kill with Divine Sense, but they are mostly sinister and unorthodox, and I do not know them in detail.”

After Mr. Zhuang finished speaking, he looked at the three disciples and cautioned:

”I tell you this so that you may be on your guard.”

”The means to harm the physical body and Spiritual Power are mostly visible,”

”But the dangers of Divine Sense are often invisible.”

”In this world, there exists many unseen and indescribable terrors, it’s just that a cultivator’s Divine Sense is too weak to perceive them.”

”Hence, you must be extremely cautious with matters related to Divine Sense.”

”Do not pry into people or things that should not be pried into.”

”When encountering someone strange, do not speak to them, do not entangle with them, and especially do not look into their eyes...”

All three disciples looked serious and nodded.

After a moment of thought, Mo Hua softly said:

”Master, if someone’s Divine Sense has parasitized you, is there a way to kill the intruding Divine Sense?”

Mo Hua thought back to the little demon in the Contemplation Map.

It jumped into Mo Hua’s Sea of Consciousness, attempting to usurp his place and use Mo Hua’s Sea of Consciousness as its breeding ground.

Although Mo Hua suppressed the little demon with the Taoist Stele after much trouble and eventually ”consumed” it,

He was somewhat bewildered and ignorant of the ins and outs.

The Taoist Stele was useful, but he couldn’t rely on it too much.

If the Taoist Stele were ever to malfunction, and he encountered another parasitic demon as before, it would be very dangerous.

Therefore, Mo Hua wanted to know if there were any other methods that could handle the parasitic Divine Thought without relying on the Taoist Stele.

Formation seemed possible, but Drawing Formation was relatively slow, and one could only stay inside the Formation without stepping out, which was quite passive.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi both looked at Mo Hua with surprise and curiosity.

Their little junior brother really had... unusual thoughts.

Mr. Zhuang, however, was not surprised and simply nodded: ”Yes.”

Mo Hua’s eyes lit up, ”Then...”

```

```

”I can’t teach you now.”

Mo Hua sighed, a trace of disappointment in his voice, and then he looked forward with anticipation:

”Master, when can you teach me?”

Mr. Zhuang’s gaze held profound meaning:

”Wait until your Divine Sense is a bit stronger, and I will teach you.”

”Stronger?”

Mr. Zhuang nodded, ”All measures to counter Divine Thought must be based on the strength of Divine Sense...”

”As long as the Divine Sense is strong enough, the perils within it naturally cease to be dangerous.”

”With a powerful Divine Sense, a thousand evils cannot invade!”

Mr. Zhuang declared in a solemn voice.

With a powerful Divine Sense, a thousand evils cannot invade...

Mo Hua murmured to himself, and then nodded full of hope:

”Alright, Master!”

...

From then on, Mo Hua practiced drawing Formations with even more diligence.

Unable to use the Taoist Stele, he could only utilize every moment to practice the Thick Earth Formation.

Every time the carriage stopped, he would draw Formations on the ground.

This entire journey, rocks and soil bore the Formation Patterns he left behind.

He even brought some soil onto the carriage to practice his drawing.

Over and over, he practiced the level one eleventh pattern Thick Earth Formation.

Through this, Mo Hua continually honed his Divine Sense.

He subtly sensed a feeling of urgency.

Mr. Zhuang never spoke without reason.

The fact that he mentioned Divine Sense must mean he foresaw something.

Divine Sense killing...

That could mean someone might attempt to kill him using Divine Sense.

And so, he had to take precautions before it was too late.

With a powerful Divine Sense, a thousand evils cannot invade!

Every increase in strength of the Divine Sense made him that much safer...

Mo Hua practiced tirelessly, leading to a noticeable increase in his Divine Sense, but he was always just a little short of the twelfth pattern...

No matter how he practiced Formation drawing, it seemed to yield little effect.

Mo Hua felt somewhat helpless.

Early one morning, Mo Hua got up and started his routine cultivation to greet the dawn.

Suddenly, the Qi Sea inside him trembled slightly.

Mo Hua was taken aback, and then he was overjoyed.

He quickly took out a Spirit Stone, ceaselessly absorbed the Spiritual Energy, refined the Spiritual Power, circulated it through his meridians, and accumulated Spiritual Power in the Qi Sea.

After an unknown amount of time, the Spiritual Power solidified, and his aura grew stronger.

Mo Hua opened his eyes and could not help but smile brightly.

He had reached the eighth level of Qi Refinement!

And there was more.

After a breakthrough in realm, Divine Sense also grows.

Although compared to his Foundation Establishment level Divine Sense, his realm was only at Qi Refinement, and the increase in Divine Sense from the breakthrough was not substantial.

But these slight increases in Divine Sense bridged that small gap, pushing his Divine Sense over the threshold, successfully reaching the twelfth pattern!

The morning glow splashed across the mountains, casting its light upon Mo Hua.

At this moment, Mo Hua, at fourteen years old, was at the eighth level of Qi Refinement, with a Foundation Establishment level twelve pattern Divine Sense!

```