The Quest for Immortality

After spending a few days, Mo Hua ”digested” the Iron Corpse Elder and purified its malicious thoughts, significantly increasing his Divine Sense.

”As expected of the Iron Corpse Elder, the Divine Sense is comparable to Foundation Establishment...”

Mo Hua felt great joy in his heart.

With the enhancement of Divine Sense and the condensation of spells and formations during the manifestation of Divine Thought in battle, Mo Hua’s control of Spiritual Power became even more precise, deepening his comprehension of the Spiritual Pivot Formation.

But that was as far as he could go.

No matter how Mo Hua practiced thereafter, and no matter how much he reflected, he could no longer gain any new insights.

His understanding of the Spiritual Pivot Formation had reached a bottleneck.

Mo Hua thought it over and felt that this shouldn’t be his own issue.

After all, studying the Spiritual Pivot Formation, whether in terms of Divine Sense expenditure or understanding of the Laws, had not reached a state of utter exhaustion and extreme difficulty.

The current bottleneck likely lay with the Formation itself.

The Spiritual Pivot Formation in his possession was incomplete.

An incomplete Formation could not fully grasp the fundamental principles of Spiritual Power.

”It seems I need to find a way to obtain the complete Spiritual Pivot Formation...”

Mo Hua silently said to himself.

In the time to come, he still had to deal with the Zhang Family’s ”zombie” situation.

He planned to ”eat” the zombies in the diagram, from the weakest to the strongest.

With the strategy of nourishing warfare through warfare, devouring his disciples and grand-disciples to enhance his Divine Sense, he would eventually take on the zombies’ Ancestral Master.

That would be Zhang Quan’s ancestor.

However, according to what the Iron Corpse Elder had said, this zombie ancestor had many tricks up its sleeve.

Knowing both your enemy and yourself, you will never be endangered in a hundred battles.

He needed to find a way to fully understand its capabilities to develop a targeted strategy.

Moreover, as for Divine Thought Manifestation, Mo Hua was still not very proficient with it.

Even though he had repeatedly engaged in battle, and the manifestations of spells and formations were quite substantial, Mo Hua was still not quite satisfied.

The manifested Spiritual Power wasn’t realistic enough;

The power of the manifested spells was slightly inferior;

And the speed of manifested formations was still a bit too slow...

This level of skill was more than adequate to deal with lesser zombies.

It was just sufficient to suppress the Iron Corpse Elder.

But when facing the Zhang Family’s zombie Ancestral Master, Mo Hua lacked confidence.

To the average cultivator, with the Zhang Family’s evil thoughts and a whole family of zombies, having consumed who knows how many people, their strength was already extremely formidable.

Being able to suppress Walking Corpses and Iron Corpses was already an achievement.

But Mo Hua believed that he was a disciple of Mr. Zhuang.

If his master had taught him Divine Thought Manifestation, then he must master it exceptionally well; otherwise, he would surely lose face for his master and let down his master’s expectations.

Therefore, his Divine Sense had to be cultivated to the extreme.

Divine Thought Manifestation also had to be cultivated to the extreme!

The manifestation of spells and formations required the manifestation of Spiritual Power as a foundation.

Manifesting Spiritual Power required an intrinsic understanding of the nature of Spiritual Power.

The deeper the understanding, the more authentic the manifestation, and the stronger the power.

And the understanding of the nature of Spiritual Power had to do with the Spiritual Pivot Formation.

Thus, apart from ”eating” zombies, Mo Hua had to start preparing to find the complete Spiritual Pivot Formation.

Besides, the Spiritual Pivot Formation was related to the traitor of the Minor Hidden Spirit Sect.

Instructor Yan had devoted most of his life to settling this grudge with the Sect.

His lifelong obsession was to recover the Spiritual Pivot Formation and take personal revenge on the traitor who had betrayed and dishonored their ancestors.

Instructor Yan had shown him great kindness.

A drop of water should be repaid with a spring.

If the Black Hand behind the Corpse cultivators in the mine turned out to be the traitor from the Minor Hidden Spirit Sect, Mo Hua wouldn’t mind letting the deserving die a fitting death.

...

The clue to the Spiritual Pivot Formation was hidden on Zhang Quan, who was detained at Taoist Court.

During these days, Mo Hua’s thoughts had all been focused on capturing zombies.

But he had kept an eye on the news from the Taoist Court.

When Situ Fang and Situ Jin came to present gifts, Mo Hua took the opportunity to subtly inquire about some information.

The gifts from Situ Fang were Formation Diagrams and some Formation Books.

This was previously agreed upon.

It was both an expression of Situ Fang’s gratitude and the Situ Family’s goodwill.

One can accept rewards for their services.

He had indeed been a great help with the Corpse Walking Stronghold.

Not to mention that the gifts were related to formations.

Mo Hua thus accepted them with peace of mind.

In addition, there were some brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, specialties of the Situ Clan’s Spirit Fruits, as well as various types of Spiritual Meat.

They weren’t particularly valuable, but they were thoughtful.

Mo Hua accepted those as well.

The Spirit Fruits could be made into cakes for Junior Sister to eat.

The Spiritual Meat could be stewed for Master and Junior Brother to enjoy.

There were also some odd fruits, with unknown flavors, but looking crunchy and crisp, which Mo Hua planned to fry and let Old Kui try...

After receiving the gifts and offering tea, exchanging a few polite words, Mo Hua asked:

”How are things with Zhang Quan?”

Situ Jin hesitated somewhat.

After a moment’s hesitation, Situ Fang shook his head and said,

”We haven’t gotten anything out of him...”

”Have you used torture?”

”We have,” Situ Fang sighed, ”We’ve broken five or six sticks on him, but he just won’t speak, not a single word.”

Mo Hua wondered, ”Doesn’t he feel pain?”

Situ Jin frowned and explained:

”It looks like a special cultivation technique that can make the flesh as stiff as a zombie and the senses numb, impervious to pain,”

”What about using other methods?” Mo Hua thought for a moment, then said:

”I remember Uncle Zhang telling me that the punishments of the Taoist Court are plentiful, ranging from pinching fingers to cutting meridians to poisoning eyes...”

”What on earth are you talking about that Zhang Lan told you...”

Instructor Yan grumbled in her heart.

She noted down what Mo Hua said.

Next time she visited the Zhang Family to complain, there would be another ”crime” to add to Zhang Lan’s list of offenses.

After that, Instructor Yan said helplessly, ”We tried, but none of them worked.”

”Alright then...”

Mo Hua felt somewhat regretful.

”I will think of another way and ask about it. If Zhang Quan says anything, I will tell you,” Instructor Yan said.

”Mhm, thank you, Sister Situ!”

Mo Hua nodded and responded.

After Instructor Yan and Situ Jin left, Mo Hua began to wonder:

”How can we make Zhang Quan confess?”

He wondered if formations could be used for torture...

Before Mo Hua could think of anything, chaos erupted in South Yue City two nights later.

The streets were bustling, sprinkled with light from fires.

There were also noisy shouts from cultivators and dense fluctuations of spiritual power.

Mo Hua heard the commotion, but he was busy catching zombies in his Sea of Consciousness and couldn’t afford to be distracted, so he didn’t pay it any mind.

The next day, Instructor Yan arrived.

She was injured and looked haggard.

Mo Hua asked with concern, ”Sister Situ, what happened?”

Instructor Yan regretfully said, ”Zhang Quan is dead.”

Mo Hua was startled, ”Dead?”

Instructor Yan sighed, ”Last night at 1 a.m., some cultivators broke into the prison wearing black robes, moving stealthily. By the time the Taoist Court noticed, it was already too late...”

The Taoist Court had indeed been negligent in its defense.

But the main issue was that they never expected someone would dare to break into the Taoist Court’s prison.

This was defiance against the Taoist Court.

If caught, there would be severe punishment and consequences for all involved!

Mo Hua’s expression also grew solemn as he asked:

”Did they break into the prison to rescue Zhang Quan?”

Instructor Yan nodded.

Mo Hua was puzzled, ”If it was to save Zhang Quan, how come he is still dead?”

Instructor Yan explained, ”During the chaotic fight, someone stabbed Zhang Quan with a sword. Then they set a fire that burned down half of the Taoist Prison along with Zhang Quan’s body...”

Mo Hua frowned, ”Someone stabbed Zhang Quan with a sword... That person must have been at the Foundation Establishment level.”

”Yes,” Instructor Yan also frowned deeply, ”There were Foundation Establishment level individuals among the prison breakers, the Taoist Court, and other sects and clans that came to support when they heard of the chaos at the Taoist Court...”

”In the midst of the chaos, no one knows who killed Zhang Quan or who set the fire.”

”This matter... is quite strange,” Mo Hua mused.

Instructor Yan nodded, ”I suspect the prison break was a feint, and the real intent was to kill and silence him.”

”What happened to those cultivators who broke into the prison afterward?” Mo Hua asked.

Instructor Yan replied with resignation, ”They all died as well.”

Mo Hua opened his mouth in surprise, ”All of them died?”

”Yes.”

”So... not a single survivor?”

”That’s right,” Instructor Yan sighed helplessly, ”And it’s not even certain that those dead bandits were actual robbers.”

”Their identities?”

”Still under investigation, but it’s doubtful anything will come of it.”

Mo Hua murmured with furrowed brows, ”So, they all died...”

”Then, the responsibility of the Taoist Court for this incident must be significant,” Mo Hua asked again.

Such a prison break should surely lead to a thorough investigation.

After contemplating, Instructor Yan shook her head:

”It’s hard to say...”

Indeed, two days later, the matter was brushed aside.

Instructor Yan found Mo Hua, her expression a mixture of anger and helplessness.

Mo Hua learned the outcome of the incident from Instructor Yan.

In the report sent to the Taoist Court by Court Leader Qian of South Yue City, it was written:

”Taoist Calendar year 20,025, beginning of the fourth month...

Unknown black-robed cultivators attempted a prison break, met with swift suppression from the Taoist Court, convict Zhang Quan died, and the bandits were all executed.

Half of the Taoist Prison was damaged, one enforcement leader killed and ten injured... A request for 2,836 spirit stones for compensation...”

Although there had been a prison break, all the bandits died, and so did the convict.

The Taoist Court paid a price but preserved its dignity.

On the balance, the positives and negatives canceled each other out.

Even if an investigation were pursued, there would be nowhere to go, as all were dead...

At most, there would be some minor reprimands.

Mo Hua was somewhat shocked.

This was incredibly audacious and meticulous.

They committed a brazen act like a prison break, but managed to resolve everything both above and below them.

In the end, a big issue was played down, a small issue disappeared...

Mo Hua’s gaze turned speculative.

The big fish behind the scenes had surfaced.

But it had bitten the hook, taken the bait, snapped the line, and slipped away...