The Quest for Immortality

The Pavilion Elder pondered quietly for a moment, his voice aged, murmuring almost inaudibly:

”The flame is too weak, I’m afraid that a mere gust of wind will extinguish it...”

So, let it burn slowly, little by little...

The feeble flame flickered lively within the ornate, old candlestick.

The Pavilion Elder smiled faintly, half with emotion and half in self-mockery:

”I’ve lived too long...”

”Those older than me have passed away, and those younger are gone too. I had thought, living carried little joy, taking each day as it comes.”

”Yet surprisingly, there are quite many intriguing things in this world.”

”As long as one lives longer, extending life, one will surely encounter them...”

Having said this, the Pavilion Elder felt his drowsiness dissipate, and a long-lost interest emerged.

His cloudy gaze brightened slightly, looking toward the chessboard before him.

Upon the board, lay a game long sealed in dust.

This game was played solely by the Pavilion Elder.

But there were many participants in this situation.

However, none knew their identities, their seats, nor their intentions.

Using the Back Ruins as the catalyst, the heavens and earth as the chessboard, the first game began...

The Pavilion Elder mused with amusement:

”Can’t recall how many years since I played chess properly, whether my skills have deteriorated...”

He picked up a chesspiece and placed it on the board.

After ages of inactivity on the board, the game finally saw a move.

And nearby on the tabletop, was placed the Jade Slip suggesting the ”Sect Reform” proposal from the Four Great Sects of Qianxue State Boundary...

...

The entrance to Refining Demon Mountain, Valley of Ten Thousand Demons.

The copper line flipped through the air, entangled in cause and effect, the fortunes and misfortunes reversed several times, ultimately landing in Mo Hua’s palm.

It was heads.

Mo Hua was somewhat surprised, ”It’s actually ’auspicious’?”

And it was so neat and without any hindrance.

Is Valley of Ten Thousand Demons a place of ”great auspiciousness”?

Mo Hua looked up into the distance.

In the pitch-black night afar, the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons was paved with white bones, Blood Qi soared to the sky, sinister Monster cultivators spread everywhere, the eerie Monster Qi pervasive.

Whose ”auspicious place” appears like this?

Mo Hua was at a loss for words.

On his first attempt to calculate fortune and misfortune, was he wrong?

”But it shouldn’t be...”

In that moment, Mo Hua seemed to connect with the Earth’s Qi Mechanism, glimpsing the vast causation of all things between heaven and earth.

Though it lasted only a moment, and he saw it but once.

Everything then faded without a trace.

But in that instant, Mo Hua truly felt a mistaken sense of ”penetrating heavenly secrets, tracing all causation, between thoughts of fortune and misfortune, grasping auspiciousness and calamity,” feeling immensely powerful.

At least for that moment, his Heavenly secret Calculation seemed flawless.

Even if not entirely accurate, it couldn’t be wildly incorrect.

”Could it be that the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons only appears dangerous on the surface, but is actually a place full of opportunities?”

Mo Hua frowned slightly, and thought to himself: ”Let it be, I’ll have to go anyway.”

”Since the divination showed no ’bad omens,’ I’ll just go in and see...”

The Copper Coin was left by his teacher.

Even if he didn’t believe himself, he could trust his teacher!

Moreover, there are in total three Monster cultivator Elders within the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons, two have gone out, only one remains.

Theoretically, as long as he avoided this one Elder, the danger within the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons would greatly decrease.

And the scale of the Valley seems vast.

Such a large valley, it’s unlikely he’d be so unlucky to be caught by this sole Monster cultivator Elder...

Mo Hua nodded slightly.

On the White Bone Path, coffins containing Little Wood and the others were locked onto a cart, pulled by several Monster cultivators, increasingly moving farther, almost out of sight.

No time to waste, Mo Hua acted quickly.

He employed the Minor Five Elements Stealth Skill, concealing his form, wrapped in the Divine Way Formation, also clad in the black robe of the Monster cultivator’s Formation Sequence, jumping lightly from under a tree.

Upon landing, Mo Hua glanced around, ensuring there were no other Monster cultivators, then carefully stepped onto the White Bone Path.

The entire pathway was constructed from White Bone.

Walking upon it felt a bit rough, with an eerie sensation.

Thankfully, there were no other anomalies.

Mo Hua remained concealed, covertly moving along the White Bone Path, continually advancing.

The march of the Monster cultivator troop was slow, about 30 minutes later, Mo Hua finally saw the coffin.

The coffin was tightly shut, chained to the cart, surrounded by Monster cultivators.

”Think of a way to blend in...”

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, his gaze suddenly flickering, catching sight of another ”monster cart” a short distance ahead, with an iron cage confining a Black Bear Demon.

The Black Bear Demon was bound by chains, its scarlet eyes ferocious, filled with brute force, roaring in futile resentment.

Mo Hua glanced at it, discovering that the chains employed a formation.

These chains were indeed standard ones, utilizing the Five Elements system’s ”Golden Lock Formation,” and were standardized chains.

Seems like the Monster cultivators ”procured” it from some families?

Mo Hua’s eyes flickered, cautiously creeping to the front edge of the White Bone Path, beginning to tamper with the chains.

The oppressive silence of the White Bone Path kept the Monster cultivators marching respectfully, head low, thus failing to notice for some time.

A trace of Mo’s ink appeared out of thin air, permeating and spreading on the Black Bear Demon’s chains, altering the Golden Lock Formation Patterns on the chains.

In just a moment, the Golden Lock Formation Patterns were deciphered.

A flash of faint light, and the Golden Lock Formation lost its efficacy.

The Black Bear Demon, released from the chains and suppression, instantly sensed the removal of its bindings.

Its eyes flashed red, immediately erupting in ferocity.

On the oppressive White Bone Path, a sudden ferocious roar of the demon rang out.

The Black Bear Demon tore apart the chains, shattered the cage, overturned the monster cart, and lunged at a nearby Monster cultivator.