The Quest for Immortality

”When the time comes, if Sever Gold Sect shamelessly accuses us of stealing their sect-protecting sword technique, it’ll really be troublesome...”

The group discussed.

”That’s right, that’s right!”

Mo Hua, feeling guilty, nodded repeatedly.

Because he did, in fact, steal Sever Gold Sect’s sect-protecting sword technique.

The jade slip containing the Sever Gold Sword Control Jue currently lay in his storage ring...

He absolutely couldn’t let the ”Petty Sect” find out.

Mo Hua said, ”We’re proper people, not bandits. We only take back what’s rightfully ours—we won’t stoop to robbery.”

”If people don’t offend me, I don’t offend them.”

”But if people do offend me, then I’ll strip them, hang them on a tree, and draw a turtle on them!”

Cheng Mo and the others nodded in agreement, ”Junior Brother is absolutely right!”

Afterward, the group gathered all the materials from the Pig Monster, taking them for themselves, while returning the storage bags of Sever Gold Sect’s disciples to their owners.

After tidying up, and with the night still young, Mo Hua and his companions left Refining Demon Mountain.

As for whether Sever Gold Sect’s disciples would end up eaten by Monster Beasts...

Mo Hua didn’t care.

It wasn’t like he killed them anyway—if they got eaten by Monster Beasts, that was just their own fault.

Still, Mo Hua had a kind heart. Before leaving, he fed each of them a healing pill, so they wouldn’t actually die.

After Mo Hua left, some time passed, and the medicinal power took effect. Sever Gold Sect’s disciples’ injuries improved, and they gradually regained consciousness.

And then they saw—

The ”heroic and proud” senior brother they had always looked up to was stripped naked, hanging from a tree, with a turtle drawn on his chest, looking like a ridiculous clown.

All the disciples were stunned.

”Senior Brother, you...”

The Sever Gold Sect Senior Brother awoke as well and angrily roared, ”Aren’t you going to let me down already?!”

The group of disciples immediately scrambled in panic and hastily brought him down.

”Senior Brother, who did this?!”

”Senior Brother, I felt a strike to my head and blacked out—it was all a blur...”

”I swear I saw countless shadows—could it have been a group attack?”

One of them frowned and said gravely, ”Even Senior Brother Jin couldn’t defend himself, and suffered such humiliation. The ones responsible likely included more than one Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator...”

”Brother Jin...”

”Shut up, all of you!”

Surname Jin, the Sever Gold Sect Senior Brother, shouted angrily.

Each word from his disciples stabbed him like a knife to the chest.

He felt deeply humiliated, furious, and a burning frustration in his chest—he couldn’t help but spit out another mouthful of blood.

Night had fully fallen, the forest was desolate, and the occasional growls of Monster Beasts echoed faintly.

The atmosphere in the mountains grew increasingly dangerous.

”Let’s return first. I swear we’ll settle this debt!”

The Sever Gold Sect Senior Brother’s eyes burned with venomous hatred.

The other disciples dared not speak; helping each other, they headed down the mountain.

Not long after they left, Xun Ziyou stepped out from the shadows on the dark hillside, sighing softly.

No need for him to intervene.

A single Sever Gold Sect Foundation Establishment Late Stage Senior Brother, paired with seven Foundation Establishment Middle Stage disciples, had been handled so thoroughly.

The methods were a bit ruthless, but there had been restraint—not truly lethal.

Still, where did the boy learn such tactics?

Despite looking every bit pure, fair-skinned, and obedient, in his actions, he was cunning to the bone, brimming with deviousness...

Xun Ziyou shook his head, musing to himself:

”But perhaps it’s better this way. He’s not one to be easily bullied. Should he be wronged, he wouldn’t need the sect elders to support him—he’d reclaim his dignity by himself...”

”That’s a rare and valuable quality.”

”To act with inner principles while outwardly adaptable; to have ideals, yet not shy away from any means; to follow rules, yet not be shackled by them...”

Xun Ziyou suddenly felt a pang of melancholy, losing himself to his thoughts.

”Brother Xuan, back in the day... unparalleled talent and unyielding virtue. But perhaps it was that same unwavering virtue that led to his downfall...”

”If only he hadn’t been so staunch...”

...

Mo Hua and his group returned to the sect without incident.

The next day, Mo Hua acted as if nothing had happened, attending cultivation classes as usual.

Xun Ziyou quietly observed Mo Hua, noting his calm demeanor, as though last night had never occurred...

He hadn’t killed the Second-Grade Middle Stage Pig Monster.

He hadn’t been robbed by Sever Gold Sect.

And he especially hadn’t turned the tables, robbing Sever Gold Sect, crippling their Foundation Establishment Late Stage Senior Brother, stripping him, hanging him on a tree, and drawing a turtle...

Xun Ziyou felt a tinge of helplessness.

This boy’s audacity was boundless.

Indeed, if he had truly slaughtered those Sever Gold Sect disciples last night, he’d probably still show up today with a composed face.

With such resolve, he was destined for greatness.

It was merely uncertain whether the great deeds he pursued, straddling the line between righteousness and darkness, would be virtuous or villainous.

Xun Ziyou shook his head.

Turning away, he walked toward the Elder’s Residence to pay a visit to Elder Master Xun.

After all, he needed to report what he’d seen and heard.

Yet upon entering the Elder’s Residence, Xun Ziyou was surprised to find Elder Master Xun standing frozen in place, holding a jade slip.

Elder Master Xun looked as though he’d discovered something monumental. His face was pale with shock, and his trembling hand gripped the jade slip tightly.

Xun Ziyou had rarely seen the ancestor display such an expression.

The elder had lived countless years, his temperament stern and reserved, rarely revealing joy or anger on his face; he was almost never this visibly shaken.

Something significant must have transpired...

Not daring to intrude, Xun Ziyou stood at the door like a block of wood.

Meanwhile inside, Elder Master Xun stared at the jade slip, his heart churning like waves in a storm.

A disciple sent to investigate Mo Hua’s history had returned today and just delivered this jade slip.

What was recorded within was deeply shocking:

Tongxian City. Mo Hua.

Rumored to have, while still in Qi Refinement, spearheaded the creation of the First-Grade Five Elements Demon Slaying Array to crush the Big Demon Feng Xi, rescuing an entire city of cultivators.

Afterward, this array collapsed, and Mo Hua perished alongside the Big Demon Feng Xi.