The Quest for Immortality

After bidding farewell to Lord Yellow Mountain, Mo Hua descended the mountain. In the little Immortal City at the foot of the mountain, he spent some Spirit Stones to hire people to build a temple for Lord Yellow Mountain and to regularly send offerings to the Mountain Lord, lest it starve every day, exposed to the wind and dew.

Although the Lifebound Divine Statue was found, the incense and faith matters were disregarded by Lord Yellow Mountain.

But one cannot go hungry!

Humans are like this, and so are deities.

Having done all this, Mo Hua turned to glance at Kushan Mountain, silently wished Lord Yellow Mountain well, and then left by carriage.

After leaving Kushan Mountain, there was still quite a distance to Taixu Gate.

Mo Hua sat inside the carriage, closing his eyes to rest.

The sound of horse hooves tapped rhythmically for an unknown duration, suddenly making the forest gloomy, the surroundings deathly silent, with a faint metallic smell and Evil Qi permeating the air.

Mo Hua slowly opened his eyes.

Ever since being plagued by fateful evilness, he had been extremely sensitive to qi types like ”life” and ”death,” ”evil qi.”

Before, when encountering Evil Qi, he had to use Divine Sense to perceive it or computational power to deduce it.

Now, Evil Qi at the causal level seemed like a ”scent” to him, that Mo Hua could almost detect it purely by instinct.

Mo Hua lifted the curtain and looked out the window.

Outside was a deserted village, with dilapidated houses showing traces of life, but now completely abandoned.

The blood Qi in the air had been diluted by the mountain breeze.

But deadly evilness was pervasive.

Mo Hua didn’t need to calculate, nor deduce, and almost instantly, scenes floated before his eyes.

His eyes seemed capable of clearly discerning the cause and effect of death, seeing the pain and despair of the world.

Demon Cultivators were murdering, blood-sucking, corpse refining, and flaying.

Innocent cultivators were struggling, resisting, despairing in pain.

This scene appeared in black and white, yet stained with blood.

Mo Hua sighed slightly.

He continued riding the carriage forward, encountering several villages and camps along the way, all empty.

Even a city once lively and bustling, where Mo Hua had strolled the streets, eaten noodles, and watched acrobatics, was now in ruins.

Mo Hua’s expression became slightly melancholic.

This is the calamity of the Blood Sacrifice...

When the Desolate Heaven Blood Sacrifice Formation is activated, an altar is required as the node of the blood sacrifice.

The altar in Solitary Mountain City was dismantled by Mo Hua, and the altar in Little Fishing Village was destroyed by Mo Hua as well.

Therefore, the cultivators in these two places survived the blood sacrifice disaster, without any fatalities.

But Mo Hua cannot eradicate all altars.

For someone to survive means someone else dies.

These Immortal Cities and villages faced calamity, with many innocent cultivators tortured and slaughtered by Demon Cultivators during the blood sacrifice disaster, their flesh and full despair offered to the altar.

These cultivators’ habitats turned into ruins and deserted villages.

These people are lives.

But since they were all low-level cultivators, impoverished and humble, people merely mourned for a moment, and then moved on.

Some wouldn’t even feel mournful at all.

Because all they could see were the dry and cold numbers on the Taoist Court’s records.

Even many deceased humble Loose Cultivators wouldn’t be included in the death statistics.

Those who truly bear the cost of pain, despair, and death in the great catastrophes are the silent ”majority.”

They lived silently.

After death, they made no sound, buried silently among the hills and grasses.

Mo Hua gazed with compassion, feeling somewhat helpless and powerless, finally sighing and murmuring:

”Still... not strong enough...”

The heavens move continuously, a gentleman should strive for self-improvement without rest.

Only by being strong enough can one change the Cultivation World’s dynamics, and even affect the fate of all beings.

Mo Hua looked up at the vast, towering, endless sky, dazed and lost.

...

Leaving Kushan Mountain, the carriage traveled all the way and after half a day, finally returned to Qian Learning State Boundary.

But Mo Hua didn’t return to Taixu Gate; instead, he first visited Gui Water Sect, and as he expected, found Yu Canghai, the former Elder of Water Prison Sect.

After the Water Yama incident, Yu Canghai temporarily stayed at the Gu Family to lay low. Later, Mo Hua didn’t inquire, but unexpectedly, Yu Canghai had become an Elder at Gui Water Sect.

Yu Canghai was somewhat surprised to see Mo Hua, then sighed and said:

”With the endorsement of the Gu Family and Supervisor Gu’s introduction, I entered Gui Water Sect and became an Elder.”

”The upper ranks of Gui Water Sect were cleared by the Taoist Court, and most of the remaining members know little of my past, only thinking I’m a ’spy’ planted by the Taoist Court. They don’t dare offend me or delve deeply into my history.”

”The heritage of Gui Water Sect mostly comes from Water Prison Sect. I find teaching quite easy, and being an Elder isn’t difficult.”

Mo Hua then asked: ”Little Shunzi and Little Shuizi, did you take them in?”

”Yes,” Yu Canghai nodded, ”I must keep these two children close to feel at ease...”

”If they can enter the Inner Gate in the future and become my direct disciples, then I could legitimately continue the heritage of Water Prison Sect.”

”I can consider myself as having no regrets in this life. Beneath the nine springs, I can face the ancestors.”

At this point, Yu Canghai sighed and bowed to Mo Hua, ”All of this, thanks to my young brother. Yu is deeply grateful.”

Mo Hua nodded without speaking.

Yu Canghai rose to pour tea for Mo Hua.

Mo Hua accepted the teacup, took a sip, and suddenly said: ”The Water Prison Forbidden Box is in my hands.”

Yu Canghai trembled all over, spilling tea on his hand, and looked up at Mo Hua in disbelief.