The Quest for Immortality

Kushan Mountain, secluded and tranquil.

Sunlight filtered through the deep forest, cutting into fragmented shadows, spreading on the ground, bright yet cool.

On the mountain steps, fallen leaves piled up, soft and cushy when stepped on.

The rarely-visited mountains exuded a unique hidden charm.

Mo Hua stepped on the fallen leaves on the mountain steps, and arrived at the decaying temple once more.

Inside the decaying temple, it remained as usual, still as run-down.

The roof continued to leak, the walls continued to let in drafts, and there was nothing on the offering platform, not even stale steamed buns, only aged rainwater settled at the bottom of a bowl, dirty and murky.

Lord Yellow Mountain’s clay statue wore a bitter expression.

When people are poor, life is hard.

When the Mountain God is poor, life is equally tough.

The moment Mo Hua entered, the smoke-like form of Lord Yellow Mountain slowly floated out from the clay statue, bowing to Mo Hua, forcing a smile:

”Hello, young friend...”

Mo Hua also smiled happily, waving to him:

”Mountain Lord, long time no see, did you miss me?”

I missed you, you big-headed ghost.

Not at all...

If you didn’t come, I could finally have peace.

Lord Yellow Mountain thought, but smiled even more on the surface, cheerfully saying:

”Naturally, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you, young friend, I’ve truly missed you...”

Mo Hua nodded, very pleased.

Lord Yellow Mountain secretly sighed in his heart.

No wonder he’s been feeling uneasy these past few days; it turns out this ”Little Plague God” is about to visit again.

But there’s no way around it, the temple is here, he can’t run away, just has to resign himself to fate.

Mo Hua glanced around the decaying temple, feeling some sympathy for Lord Yellow Mountain’s hard days, then placed the offerings of chicken, duck, and fish he’d prepared on the offering table. .

Although Lord Yellow Mountain didn’t like Mo Hua coming, he couldn’t refuse the chicken and duck offerings.

In the sparsely populated Kushan Mountain, no one offered sacrifices, leaving him hungry to the point of being just a shadow.

Even knowing Mo Hua ”comes with ill intentions,” he was powerless to do anything about it.

Mo Hua placed the offerings, then asked: ”By the way, doesn’t the Mountain God need incense?”

”Yes...” Lord Yellow Mountain said contentedly.

”Well, that’s perfect,” Mo Hua said, ”I’ve also brought you some incense; wait and I’ll light it for you.”

Lord Yellow Mountain’s incense burner was already in a sorry state, originally copper-colored, now coated with a layer of black grime.

Mo Hua washed the incense burner and then refilled it with some grain at the bottom, sprinkled a layer of incense ash, and then lit a stick of incense, inserting it into the incense burner.

But just at the moment Mo Hua personally inserted the incense into the burner.

Lord Yellow Mountain felt as if a giant iron hammer had slammed into his chest, his heart about to leap out of his throat.

He immediately cried out in shock:

”No!”

Mo Hua’s incense lighting motion paused, turning his head, somewhat puzzled, looking at Lord Yellow Mountain, ”Don’t you want the incense?”

Lord Yellow Mountain’s heart still trembled with fear, eyes lingering with panic.

Just that instant, he was scared to the point his Divine Soul nearly scattered.

It felt as if that wisp of incense was as heavy as a mountain, weighing him down, leaving him unable to breathe, utterly unable to bear it.

What does this mean...

The incense from this young friend... he can’t afford it?!

Lord Yellow Mountain gazed deeply at Mo Hua, then tugged at the corners of his mouth, forcing a smile:

”The good intentions of a young friend, this Minor God appreciates, but let’s skip the incense for now. Hungry for so long, eating some offerings suffices, eating incense might just make me overfull...”

”Overfull?” Mo Hua asked, puzzled, muttering, ”Can deities also be overfull?”

Well, if you don’t want it, fine then.

Maybe accustomed to poverty, suddenly having a full meal means they can’t eat too well.

Mo Hua nodded.

”Then eat the offerings.”

Lord Yellow Mountain bowed: ”Many thanks, young friend.”

Thus, in the decaying temple, on the clay statue, Lord Yellow Mountain slowly floated out, descended onto the offering table, and began enjoying the offerings laid out by Mo Hua.

As he ate, Mo Hua couldn’t just sit by idly.

He also took out the ”snacks” he’d prepared for himself from his storage bag, jumped onto the offering table, and sat alongside Lord Yellow Mountain, eating together.

Lord Yellow Mountain ate the offerings while discreetly observing Mo Hua.

Only then did he realize Mo Hua was different from before.

His aura was restrained, his Divine Thought coherent, making him feel close, yet faintly exuding a sense of ”awe,” instilling fear.

Lord Yellow Mountain was inwardly startled.

If he remembered correctly, it had only been a year...

A year without seeing, this young adolescent seemed to have undergone yet another transformation.

More bizarrely, Mo Hua’s Divine Sense was clearly stronger.

But just how strong... Lord Yellow Mountain was unsure at the moment.

Most of a person’s Divine Sense is sealed within their Sea of Consciousness, only a small portion is externalized.

Foundation Building Cultivators cannot perform Primordial Spirit Emergence; to glimpse the true nature of their Divine Sense requires either leading them into dreams or invading their Sea of Consciousness.

Lord Yellow Mountain sneakily glanced at Mo Hua.

”Lead him into dreams, or invade his Sea of Consciousness?”

This thought emerged, yet he immediately extinguished it.

When one acts foolishly, death is assured.

The same applies to gods.

”One must be dutiful as a human, and the same applies to being a god. I’m no longer what I used to be; I must be more ’law-abiding’...”

Lord Yellow Mountain silently chanted in his heart.

Then he calmly began eating the offerings.

Mo Hua ate quickly, wolfing down his food; Lord Yellow Mountain, as a Mountain God, had to maintain composure, so he ate slowly, deliberately.

Mo Hua finished eating, and with nothing to do, began asking Lord Yellow Mountain:

”Mountain Lord, can I ask you about Divine Thought into sword?”

Lord Yellow Mountain gracefully ate a chicken leg, feeling a bit surprised at the words, ”Haven’t you asked before?”

Mo Hua nodded, ”I did ask before, but recently I thought of some new questions.”

Before, he couldn’t perform Divine Thought into sword at all, purely an outsider.

But now things are different; he learned a bit of the Sword Transforming Skill, one foot barely stepping through the threshold, with a foundational understanding, naturally asking different questions.