The Quest for Immortality

The traitor from the Minor Hidden Spirit Sect deceived his master and annihilated his ancestors, likely falling into the Demon Path and refining corpses for others.

As for Instructor Yan... if his heart were set on revenge and he spared no means, it’s also possible that he has gone astray.

Mo Hua sighed, deeply worried about Instructor Yan.

He hoped that Instructor Yan would be safe and sound, and also hoped that Yan wouldn’t be blinded by obsession and stray onto the wrong path, committing some sort of misdeed.

Instructor Yan was undoubtedly upright, but even the most upright person could momentarily be driven to desperate measures in a surge of anger.

Bai Zisheng asked, ”Should we go look for Zhang Quan?”

Mo Hua nodded, ”We must.”

Now, all the clues lay with Zhang Quan.

The death of the Mining Cultivator, the method of Corpse Refinement, the hiding place for the corpses, the complete Formation Diagram of the Ultimate Formation, and Instructor Yan’s whereabouts.

All these, it was estimated, were related to Zhang Quan.

Bai Zisheng’s eyes lit up as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation, ”Then let’s get going early, I want to slaughter him!”

The thought of Zhang Quan’s actions in refining corpses had been infuriating him these past few days.

Bai Zisheng had deliberately learned a few Taoist Skills, planning to use Zhang Quan for practice.

Then he grew somewhat worried,

”After so many days, can we still find him?”

”It’s hard to say, but there are still some clues.”

Mo Hua nodded and then took out the Compass Parent-Child Disk.

On the disk, of the original three bright spots, only one remained.

This meant that one of the Compass Child Formations was still on Zhang Quan.

It could be that the needle was hidden so well that Zhang Quan had not discovered it.

Alternatively, it could be that he did find it, but deliberately left it there as bait, luring Mo Hua to come over and walk into an ambush.

Regardless, Mo Hua was determined to take a look.

He put the zombie back into the coffin and drew both Golden Lock Formation and Cold Ice Formation on it to lock the coffin and use the Cold Ice Formation to store the Walking Corpse at a low temperature.

It was precaution to prevent the Walking Corpse from escaping or decomposing.

The next morning, as soon as dawn broke, Mo Hua called upon Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi, and the three left Tongxian City. In a secluded place, they concealed their presence, then hastened towards the wild mountains west of South Yue City using movement techniques.

Mo Hua had looked over the Map of South Yue City.

The bright spot on the Compass Mother Formation Disk corresponded to the location of the wild mountains to the west of the city.

These wild mountains, similar to mining mountains, bore no minerals to be excavated and had no other resources. Therefore, Cultivators seldom visited, leaving them desolate.

The vegetation on the mountains was stunted, mostly pale green or gray-brown.

The exposed mountain rocks were dry and white.

Weeds rooted in the crevices of the rocks.

Occasionally, unknown Monster Beasts would emit strange cries from who-knows-where, echoing through the empty mountains.

Mo Hua crouched behind a large boulder, staring at the Compass Disk.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi leaned over to look as well.

The moving point on the disk was extremely suspicious, constantly meandering through the mountains, unpredictably east and west, as if evading something or deliberately concealing itself, with no discernible pattern.

What was this Zhang Quan up to?

The three exchanged glances, all a bit puzzled.

”Could it be a trap?” Bai Zisheng said.

”If it were a trap, he should have stopped to set up an ambush, right? What’s the point of running around?”

”True...” Bai Zisheng nodded, then speculated, ”Could it be that he discovered the needle, removed it, and then stuck it onto a mountain pig or some other Monster Beast?”

Mo Hua stroked his chin, ”That’s possible...”

Bai Zisheng suggested, ”Let’s go take a look. If it’s Zhang Quan, we’ll capture him. If it’s a mountain pig, we’ll see whether it eats meat or grass...”

Mo Hua was taken aback, ”What difference does it make whether it eats meat or grass?”

”If it eats meat, then we’ll just slaughter it, no need to worry further; if it eats grass, after slaughtering it, we’ll need to bring it back, I feel like eating pork...”

Bai Zisheng looked at Mo Hua with anticipation.

Bai Zixi sighed softly.

Mo Hua’s expression was complicated, ”I’m not going to cook it for you.”

Bai Zisheng defended his position, ”I don’t really mind, it’s mainly to show filial respect to Instructor...”

”I’ll slaughter the pig, you’ll cook it, and then we’ll give Instructor a taste. But obviously, Instructor can’t finish it by himself and as a disciple, naturally, I have to relieve Instructor of his worries...”

Bai Zisheng’s calculation was making loud noises.

Mo Hua asked, ”Can’t you cook it yourself?”

”If you cook, it’s a show of respect to Instructor. If I cook, it’s like I’m poisoning Instructor...”

Bai Zisheng was quite self-aware of his own cooking skills.

”Fine...”

Mo Hua nodded his head.

The food in South Yue City was indeed mediocre, and Mr. Zhuang hadn’t been eating much these days.

Bai Zisheng was overjoyed and promptly said,

”Then, let’s set off quickly.”

The three concealed their presence and, guided by the Compass, searched for the location of the bright spot.

Soon, beneath a hillside covered in shrubs, they found the position of the bright spot.

What was hidden in the shrubs was Zhang Quan, not a mountain pig.

It seemed that the Formation needle was still on Zhang Quan and not embedded in a pig.

Bai Zisheng felt both relieved and somewhat disappointed.

Zhang Quan was squatting in the shrubs, his gaze scanning around vigilantly as if he were on the lookout for something.

Mo Hua and his companions stayed concealed, watching from a distance.

After a while, Zhang Quan crept out of the shrubbery, made his way into the forest, changing directions several times, and vanished from sight.

Mo Hua looked at the Compass and pointed in a direction.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi followed him to another mountain peak. From there, they looked down and saw Zhang Quan emerge from a cave entrance, taking another wary glance around before leaving a Formation in the spot.

They were too far away for Mo Hua to make out the details of the Formation.

However, based on the spiritual power calculations of the Formation, it seemed to be a type of trap Formation, with patterns ranking at grades one and two. It’s somewhat obscure, but not highly ranked.

Zhang Quan set up the Formation, then continued down the mountain path.

After walking for a while, he turned onto a small path, burrowed into a forest, found a cave, and set up another Formation...

He repeated the cycle, tirelessly and seemingly without purpose.

Mo Hua frowned, ”What’s he doing...”

Bai Zisheng thought for a moment, ”It seems he is guarding against something, probably afraid of being followed.”

”Guarding against whom?”

Mo Hua didn’t understand.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi pondered briefly before both casting a silent glance at him.

Mo Hua was startled, ”Me?”

Bai Zixi said, ”You can conceal yourself, he probably fears that you’re invisibly following him.”

Mo Hua clicked his tongue, ”Such heavy caution.”

Meanwhile, Zhang Quan was in a state of panic.

”Why, why is there nothing?”

These days, he’d had a nagging feeling that something was off.

It seemed like he was being watched.

Every move he made, within someone else’s grasp.

But after searching himself thoroughly, he found nothing suspicious.

Zhang Quan was utterly baffled.

Yet the intuition honed from years skulking in the shadows wouldn’t deceive him.

Someone was definitely following him!

But who could track him without his notice?

After a moment, Zhang Quan had his answer:

It was that brat!

The one skilled in concealment, whose stealth even cultivators at Foundation Establishment couldn’t detect!

Among the cultivators he knew, only that brat could employ such covert tactics, untraceably sticking to him like a relentless parasite.

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”Truly inexorable!”

Zhang Quan cursed inwardly.

He couldn’t let that brat follow him!

Zhang Quan released his Divine Sense, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find any traces of other cultivators—because initially, no one was indeed following him.

But he still felt restless, so he resorted to various means, winding through caves and forests.

He set down Formations, testing to see if anyone was following him.

But the Formations were undisturbed, untouched.

Zhang Quan was confused and at a loss.

Had he guessed wrong, or was that brat’s tactics too cunning, eluding his detection?

...

Mo Hua also furrowed his brow.

Bai Zisheng asked, ”Are you thinking of some cunning scheme again?”

”I’m not thinking of any schemes!”

Bai Zisheng humphed, ”You can deceive others, but you would deceive your senior brother too?”

Ignoring him, Mo Hua expressed his doubt:

”This Zhang Quan, he’s a bit too vigilant.”

After pondering for a moment, Bai Zisheng spoke slowly:

”Having suffered so much and being in such a wretched state, it’s not unreasonable for him to be extra cautious.”

”Being cautious is fine, but his caution seems a bit excessive.”

Bai Zisheng observed Zhang Quan from a distance, unable to discern his expression but noticing his furtive actions, feeling they were overly suspicious.

Bai Zixi’s gaze sharpened slightly, ”Is he afraid something will be discovered?”

Mo Hua nodded slightly, then looked around.

The surrounding barren mountains stretched on, with no end in sight.

In such a place, despite the desolation, the mountains concealed more than they revealed.

”Afraid of what being found?”

With furrowed brows, the three of them fell into thought, until suddenly, they all looked up, their eyes brightening, having understood.

”It’s the place where he refines and hides the corpses!”

Mo Hua said, ”We’ll quietly follow, without startling the snake in the grass.”

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi both nodded in agreement.

The three of them kept their eyes on Zhang Quan, intending to let Zhang Quan lead the way, hoping to trace back to his corpse lair.

But Zhang Quan’s patience turned out to be even more outrageous than they imagined.

After another three or four days, he was still meandering in the mountains, darting about, ceaselessly testing with Formations and trail markers.

Mo Hua watched in irritation, while Zhang Quan continued painstakingly.

”This Zhang Quan... he really knows how to play it safe...”

Bai Zisheng complained.

And it seemed like he could keep it up for a long time.

But Mo Hua’s gaze grew serious.

The more cautious Zhang Quan was, the more it indicated that his corpse refining and hiding place contained a great secret that couldn’t suffer the slightest oversight.

That was why he didn’t dare take any risk.

Every slight worry had to be thoroughly eliminated.

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then said:

”Don’t follow!”

Bai Zisheng was slightly surprised, ”Why stop following?”

Mo Hua glanced at the distant desolate mountains, his brows slightly raised, and said:

”We’ve reached the doorstep. We can search on our own, no need for him to lead the way.”