The Quest for Immortality

If it wasn’t proper, how could I make it my own Magical Treasure?

Is my destined ”own Magical Treasure” really going to be this Green Dragon Formation?

Mo Hua’s brows knit tightly.

”Or maybe... I should do a Calculation?”

The situation was deadlocked—no clues, and besides a fortune-telling, there didn’t seem to be any better way.

Mo Hua took out the Copper Coins left to him by his master, set up a Divine Mist Formation to seal off his aura, then calmed himself, emptying his thoughts, and began the Heavenly secret Calculation.

The Copper Coins tossed into the air, drawing the threads of causality, and then fell, finally landing in his palm.

Mo Hua silently recited in his heart:

”What is my own Magical Treasure...”

Then he opened his eyes and glanced at the Copper Coins in his hand.

The Copper Coins lay quietly in his palm, without the slightest premonition or trace of cause and effect upon them.

What does that mean?

Mo Hua frowned in confusion.

”Can’t calculate it?”

Mo Hua stared at the Copper Coins for a long time, but saw nothing unusual. Just as he was about to give up and put them down, his Sea of Consciousness suddenly throbbed with pain, overwhelming Divine Sense surged toward the Copper Coins like a tide.

At the same time, fate rose and fell, and cause and effect began to swirl.

But this thread of causality was so vast that, even with Mo Hua’s Divine Sense, he couldn’t bear it at all.

In just a moment, all of Mo Hua’s Divine Sense was sucked dry.

His eyes rolled back, and with a ”thud,” he collapsed onto the table.

The causality on the Copper Coins stopped when there was no Divine Thought to sustain it. Whether the Calculation succeeded or failed, a thread of premonition still sank deep into Mo Hua’s Divine Thought.

In a haze, Mo Hua felt like he was dreaming again.

In the dreamland was an Azure Dragon.

But this dream was shattered and fragmented; all he could see was the dragon’s silhouette, sense its unlimited might and boundless power, and in his ears, the clear sound of dragoncries, rising and falling ceaselessly.

Mo Hua was struck by a feeling.

”Is this the dream-prediction from the cause and effect Calculation? Dreaming of an Azure Dragon... does it mean that my own Magical Treasure ought to be the orthodox Four Symbols Green Dragon Evil Formation?”

Mo Hua let out a breath of relief.

If that’s the case, all I’d need to do is stick to my original plan, keep searching out that Demon Sect Leader, and find a way to get my hands on the Four Symbols Green Dragon Formation Map from him...

As Mo Hua was thinking this, the dreamland shifted abruptly.

It was as if something strange had invaded his dream, shattering it piece by piece and provoking the Azure Dragon’s fury, making it roar loudly in anger.

In just a moment, a blurry, black fog-like thing came sweeping towards the Azure Dragon like a hurricane.

A twisted, strange, unnamable thing wrapped itself around the dragon, ripping it apart—then, alive and writhing...

Swallowed it whole.

In an instant, the dreamland was completely broken. Mo Hua jolted awake, replaying the visions in his mind as waves of shock surged within him.

”A dragon... was swallowed by something...”

”What does that even mean?”

”Was that dream a premonition of my fate?”

”Then what exactly is my own Magical Treasure...?”

Mo Hua murmured in a low voice, feeling even more lost than before.

...

After that, life instead became unusually calm.

Mo Hua still remembered the ”dragon devouring” omen from his dreamland, unable to figure it out despite thinking it over a hundred times, but all he could do was keep it in mind.

He also asked some Elders, bringing it up casually as if it were a random question: in this world, what could possibly ”eat a dragon”?

But the question was just too bizarre.

The Elders were also bewildered, only chalking it up to Mo Hua’s ”childlike innocence,” asking off-the-wall things.

Unable to get any answers, Mo Hua could only settle into his cultivation and classes.

And so, another month passed, and another year came to a close.

During the Sect assessment, Mo Hua made unprecedented progress.

From the eternal ”one Grade A, six Grade C’s” to ”one Grade A, one Grade B, five Grade C’s.”

His Taoist Skill went from ”Grade C” to ”Grade B.”

Probably because Elder Yi sparred with him in ”hide and seek,” and after witnessing Mo Hua’s attainments in movement technique, made an exception to give him a ”Grade B.”

Judging movement technique alone, Elder Yi thought giving him a ”Grade A” would’ve been more than fair.

Even if he suppressed his cultivation to Initial Golden Core, there were few disciples in all of Taixu Gate who could last twenty rounds against him, let alone someone like Mo Hua who could go toe to toe in a real exchange.

Giving a ”Grade B” was just to keep things low-key.

Besides, no matter how good his movement technique, that’s all it was—movement technique.

His weakness in Spiritual Power meant his Spell techniques would never be highly accomplished—at least, not to the Sect’s assessment standards, and thus hard to get a good evaluation. .

Mo Hua didn’t care much for the ”Grade B.”

He just felt vaguely uneasy inside.

Whenever strange things happen, there’s a catch.

His results, which never changed year after year, had suddenly shifted. For someone like Mo Hua, who had a basic grasp of cause and effect, it felt like a harbinger that some new development was coming.

And then, it was time for the festival again.

This was his seventh festival at Taixu Gate, and Mo Hua had begun to get used to it.

And since Uncle Gu had already invited him in advance, he just went with the flow, stopped by the Gu Family, and planned on mooching a festival feast—eating something decent for a change.

There was still some time before the feast.

Mo Hua took Yu Er around Qingzhou City for a stroll.

Qingzhou City was lively. Yu Er was grinning with joy, though there was a faint trace of worry in his smile.

It was a subtle shift that others probably wouldn’t notice, but it couldn’t escape Mo Hua’s eyes.

Mo Hua bought a few skewers of candied hawthorns, handed them to Yu Er, then asked softly:

”Yu Er, is something on your mind?”

Yu Er’s smile immediately stiffened, then his face became weighed down with concern.

He was still young, unable to hide his feelings.

Mo Hua looked at him gently.

Yu Er hesitated for a long time before stammering, ”Brother Mo, I... dreamed again.”

Mo Hua was slightly surprised.

The dream again...

”A nightmare?” Mo Hua asked.

Yu Er nodded, then shook his head. ”Not exactly... it’s different from before...”

”What did you dream?”

”I...” Yu Er seemed timid, but looking at Mo Hua’s eyes, he finally spoke slowly, ”I dreamed of myself.”

Mo Hua raised his brows. ”Yourself?”

”Mm...” Yu Er’s eyes flickered, his words a bit disjointed. ”It was me, but didn’t really feel like me...”

”And then?”

”Then... there were three of me: one in the mountains, one in the water, and one inside my heart. They all just stared at me in silence. I was really scared. They said, said...”

Yu Er looked at Mo Hua, teary-eyed. ”They said my mother would die, and Brother Mo, you’d die too...”

Those words seemed to have weighed on him for a very long time.

Pure and kind-hearted Yu Er had wanted to speak, but always held back out of fear.

Mo Hua looked at Yu Er, seeing the worry, fear, and tears in his eyes. He smiled kindly and spoke softly:

”Demon Monsters and Evil Spirits can take human form and deceive the mind. Those three ’yous’—they’re all Demon Monsters, just trying to scare you.”

Yu Er’s cheeks were still streaked with tears. ”Really?”

”When have I ever lied to you?”

Yu Er thought for a moment, then nodded. Brother Mo had always treated him well, never lied to him.

Mo Hua patted Yu Er on the head and said gently:

”You don’t have to be afraid of anything in your dreams. Whatever shows up, so long as they dare to show themselves, I’ll cut them down—all of them—with a single sword.”

No matter what, I’ll cut them down, every last one, with a single sword...

Those words gave Yu Er a world of courage.

Yu Er’s eyes gradually brightened; a smile appeared on his young face as he nodded to Mo Hua with all his might: ”Mm!”