The Quest for Immortality

Mo Hua accepted the bounty, but he was unable to leave the Qianxue State Boundary, so he handed the mission over to Cheng Mo to lead the team.

However, Mo Hua didn’t disclose the content of the bounty.

It was not until the night before departure that Mo Hua gathered everyone and mentioned some precautions related to the bounty.

”This bounty involves assisting the Taoist Court in exterminating a large number of Demon Cultivators in Qingping City!”

A large number of Demon Cultivators!

Upon hearing this, everyone’s hearts chilled.

It indeed was a significant matter, no wonder it offered such high Merit Points.

All disciples couldn’t help but feel nervous, yet they couldn’t hide their excitement either.

Though they were born into noble families and were young with little worldly experience, they had always been dedicated to their cultivation without being entangled in familial interests, and in their hearts lingered the aspiration of ”brandishing swords in the world, eliminating demons and evil.”

With justice in their hearts, they were naturally repulsed by heretical demons.

In previous bounty missions, they had encountered some Evil Cultivators as well, but those cultivators, with their petty and lowly inheritances, were nefarious yet only caused minor disturbances.

Unlike now, facing off against ”a large number of Demon Cultivators.”

Mo Hua continued, ”One thing to remember in this extermination is...”

”To eradicate evil thoroughly?” Cheng Mo asked.

”No, it’s to preserve your lives!”

All disciples were taken aback.

”Don’t underestimate Demon Cultivators!” Mo Hua said with a solemn expression, ”Demon Cultivators are malevolent, but not foolish. Even if they aren’t as intelligent or talented as you, they have rich experience in cultivation, stop at nothing to achieve their goals, and are lowly and shameless in character...”

”When you clash with Demon Cultivators, if you are careless for a moment, you could suffer a great loss, even endangering your own life!”

”While it is good to eradicate evil, you have to judge the situation and act within your capacity. I want you to earn merit, not to lose your lives.” Mo Hua sighed, ”If anything were to happen to you, the Sect Elders will blame me, and I won’t be able to assign you any tasks from the Taoist Court in the future...”

The disciples nodded and assured, ”Senior Brother is truly considerate.”

Their hearts felt warm.

”Therefore,” Mo Hua concluded, ”when you act later, stick together in groups of five, watch out and support each other, with survival as the priority.”

”Leave the direct confrontation with the Demon Cultivators to the Taoist Court.”

”You all are only responsible for supporting from the periphery, dealing with any that slipped through the net.”

”Remember, do not seek glory, do not be reckless, do not be reluctant to withdraw, avoid strong enemies, and do not pursue desperate foes to the end.”

”Everyone should go safely and return safely.”

Mo Hua sighed again, saying: ”If anything happens to you, the Sect Elders will surely blame me, and I won’t be able to let you undertake any missions from the Taoist Court in the future...”

Upon hearing this, the disciples immediately gave their assurance with a salute:

”We will definitely be cautious in our actions, please rest assured, Junior Brother!”

Mo Hua nodded and then advised them on some trivial matters, such as ”bring your protective Spiritual Artifacts, wear your Armor and Taoist Robe properly, and also bring more Pills for healing and saving lives...” and so on.

After finishing, taking advantage of the cover of night, Cheng Mo led the team of fifty people and set off on their journey.

Mo Hua waved goodbye at the Mountain Gate, watching them depart into the distance.

The moon shone bright with sparse stars, the mountain colors dark and obscure.

Taixu Mountain was enshrouded in the thick night.

A group of Taixu disciples followed the mountain path, leaving Taixu Gate, embarking on their first large-scale operation against Demon Cultivators.

Mo Hua let out a soft sigh, with some worry in his heart.

He wondered if this mission to Qingping City, in which they were to eradicate the Demon Cultivators that intended to destroy their Sect, would go without issues.

But with Uncle Gu overseeing the operations, there shouldn’t be any major problems.

Moreover, Mo Hua had already made his Calculations.

Although his Calculation Method was still immature and couldn’t foresee a clear cause and effect, at least he did not sense any omens that would make his heart leap with fear.

So it seemed that this extermination should not be fraught with great peril.

Mo Hua breathed a slight sigh of relief.

In any case, he couldn’t go beyond the state boundary, so all he could do was wait for Cheng Mo and the others to return with news, no point in worrying.

And he had other matters to attend to.

During Mo Hua’s break, Master Gu sent him a suit of Armor.

This was a suit of Armor custom-made according to Mo Hua’s requirements, compatible with the Five Elements Source Formation.

Mo Hua named it:

Five Elements Source Armor.

Formations that strengthen the Five Elements like the Ultimate Formation are extremely rare.

And Spiritual Artifacts that can match it are also extremely scarce, lacking references for designs.

Mo Hua could only go step by step, experimenting with refining it based on his understanding of the Formation and taking Master Gu’s Artifact Refining suggestions into account, like feeling his way across a river by stepping on stones.

This suit of Source Armor was only the first version, and whether it could be used or not, Mo Hua wasn’t sure.

It would likely require continuous testing and improvement.

This was also within Mo Hua’s expectations.

With some spare time during his break, Mo Hua took some time to test the functionality of this set of Five Elements Source Armor.

He first drew the Five Elements Fire Source Formation inside the Armor.

Then he rented a Dao Room for testing the might of the spell.

In the Dao Room.

Mo Hua, wearing the Armor that was clearly a size too big, appeared somewhat comical despite his serious expression.

There was no choice; the Armor was made for an adult’s build, so it was bound to look oversized on him.

But since the Dao Room was enclosed and no one would see, it didn’t matter.

Wearing the Armor, Mo Hua began to practice his Fireball Technique on a spell Puppet in the distance.

A flash of red light from the Armor enveloped Mo Hua.

With a flick of his finger, a Fireball Technique whooshed out, tracing a fierce line of fire that struck the distant spell Puppet.

An explosion followed, and flames raged.

The spell Puppet was scorched black by the Fire-series Spiritual Power, but gradually restored to its original state under the effects of the Formation.

The Fireball Technique was not weak.

But Mo Hua gradually furrowed his eyebrows.

”Something’s not right...”

The Armor was useless.

He took off the Armor again, disassembled it, and inspected the Formation carefully.

Mo Hua was thoroughly familiar with the First Grade Thirteen Patterns Five Elements Fire Source Formation, each stroke and line was precise and accurate.