Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 670 – "God-ification"

"A god-eater?!"

The golden demonic eye suddenly contracted, its socket trembling violently as golden veins bulged out, brimming with overwhelming fear.

It had finally understood what it was truly dreading—what it feared most deeply.

Humans were nothing but cattle to gods, disposable dogs at best.

How dare livestock dream of eating a god?

"Absurd!"

"Ignorant!"

The golden eye's voice shrieked, high-pitched and distorted.

"You dare blaspheme divine majesty?!"

"You foolish brat, you don't even know what you're doing—you've touched upon the most terrifying of taboos!"

Mo Hua blinked, confused.

"I was just joking... Why so worked up? Aren't you supposed to be a 'god'? Not even a hint of grace or composure?"

More veins burst across the golden eye, throbbing grotesquely.

It had grown accustomed to kneeling devotees, flattering cultivators who chanted praises in reverence. It simply couldn't tolerate being mocked like this by a mere human boy.

"I'll kill you… eventually."

"I'll hollow out your flesh, carve out your organs, drain your divine sense dry. I'll use your mind-sea as a cradle, turn you into a 'divine slave'—forever shackled to my will, never to be free again…"

The golden eye spat venomously.

Mo Hua froze.

This evil god… is petty and vicious.

He still didn't know what this thing truly was…

After a moment's thought, Mo Hua's eyes lit up. He purposely raised his chin, sneering with a tone dripping with contempt:

"You? Really?"

"You were beaten to a pulp by me. Your demonic body's in pieces, and I plucked out your big ol' eyeball. I'm about to eat you. What're you gonna threaten me with?"

But unexpectedly, the golden eye went quiet.

It stared at Mo Hua coldly, voice hoarse and hollow, carrying restrained fury:

"In the Endless Great Wilderness, countless divine corpses lie buried…"

"A million fiendish demons. All beings, nothing but cattle…"

"Lowly creature—you've defiled the divine. One day, you'll die with not even a grave to hold your bones!"

Mo Hua's eyes twitched slightly.

Endless Great Wilderness… countless divine corpses?

What did that mean?

Did it mean the gods of the Great Wilderness had split into thousands—scattered remnants of divinity?

Was this eyeball just one fragment among many?

The "Lord of the Wilderness"… is that powerful?

Mo Hua frowned.

Uh-oh… did I poke a really big hornet's nest?

Still… he didn't really have a choice. This evil god tried to kill him. He couldn't exactly lie down like some sacrificial lamb.

Besides—

When food delivers itself to your door, it'd be rude not to eat it.

"Whatever…"

He made up his mind—to eat this golden eyeball first.

"If the Great Wilderness has thousands of divine corpses, one more or less won't matter."

"I'll just eat one secretly. It's not like the Big Guy's gonna notice."

But… how exactly do you eat it? Bite it directly?

He looked at the grotesque, golden eyeball and found his appetite vanishing fast.

Then Mo Hua stared at it for a bit longer—and suddenly paused.

Something felt off.

The golden demonic eye, although gripped tightly and unable to escape, seemed strangely resigned… but deep in its core, there was still a faint, obscure gleam.

Something subtle and ominous that would be easy to miss if one weren't paying attention.

"Something's fishy…"

Mo Hua frowned delicately.

That big eyeball still had some tricks hidden up its lens. It was plotting something.

But what?

He tried to guess—but had no clue.

This thing was a divine remnant, carrying a portion of an evil god's will. He didn't know what kind of tricks it had up its sleeve.

He was severely lacking in god-related knowledge.

If he just ate it recklessly and ended up corrupted by the evil god's will—polluted his Dao heart—it'd be a disaster.

After all, gods weren't like ordinary demons.

Their divine sense contained Divine Marrow—fundamentally different from demonic power.

Sitting in meditation and purging demonic thoughts? That worked against demons.

But against gods?

Not guaranteed.

Especially not evil gods.

"Better to play it safe…"

Mo Hua nodded to himself.

Gripping the golden eyeball firmly, he began walking toward the center of his consciousness sea.

The golden eye, previously still, suddenly sensed something was wrong and asked warily:

"Boy… what are you doing?"

"I wanna show you something cool!" Mo Hua replied with a grin.

The eye's ominous feeling intensified.

It couldn't help but feel uneasy—was this little brat hiding something more terrifying?

Moments later, an ancient, profound aura began to rise.

The golden eye stiffened on the spot.

It felt a presence—something extremely ancient, embodying the Dao, akin to a divine entity.

Then it saw it.

From somewhere deep in the mind-sea, a broken stone tablet emerged.

The golden eye's pupil trembled violently.

A stele?!

Mo Hua keenly noticed the shift in its energy and asked softly:

"Wait… do you recognize this stele?"

The golden eye scrutinized the Dao Stele, then scoffed coldly:

"Just an old, broken piece of rock…"

Mo Hua's large, clear eyes narrowed with doubt.

The golden eye twitched slightly but didn't betray anything further.

Truth was—it didn't actually recognize the origin of this stele.

At the very least, it didn't match any of the ancient stone steles from its divine heritage.

Mo Hua's suspicions deepened.

The golden eye quivered but merely let out a sneer:

"So this is the 'treasure' you wanted to show me?"

Mo Hua looked at it thoughtfully, then suddenly beamed:

"Nah, this is the real treat!"

Something felt wrong.

Mo Hua suddenly lifted the golden eye and slammed it onto a corner of the Dao Stele.

Caught off guard, the golden eye was forced to gaze at something—a flash of red.

This red was redder than blood, redder than sunlight—redder than anything imaginable.

Crackling lightning surged upon it—imbued with cold, ruthless heavenly laws and the unyielding will of the Dao itself.

"T-Tribulation?! Tribulation Lightning?!"

The golden eye let out a shrill scream.

Its socket trembled violently, veins bulging, as it struggled with all its might—but Mo Hua's two little hands held it tight.

A flash of blood-red lightning—

And in the next moment, the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning utterly erased the golden eye.

It melted into a pool of golden fluid.

At the same time, a golden horned shadow burst out—roaring and writhing in fury, unwilling to fade.

But the shadow, too, disintegrated into dust.

Mo Hua nodded inwardly.

As he suspected.

That golden-horned shadow likely carried the will of the Great Wilderness's evil god.

If he'd carelessly eaten the eye whole, that will would've entered him too—and become a hidden danger.

Who knows how long such a remnant might have lurked in his sea of consciousness?

You can't underestimate these old monsters—no telling how many schemes they've buried over the eons.

"Good thing I used the tribulation lightning to… 'detoxify' it."

Otherwise, he might've fried his brain from the inside.

"Heavenly tribulation really is useful…"

Mo Hua couldn't help but praise it in his heart.

The golden eye had been completely shattered by the lightning. Its embedded will was also destroyed.

What remained was pure Divine Marrow—golden in color, but faded.

Apparently, part of its essence was destroyed along with the will.

What was left had diminished in both quality and quantity.

But this remaining Divine Marrow was pure, clean, and unconscious.

Safe. Digestible.

"Eh, smaller portion's fine…"

"I wonder… after I eat this, what will my divine sense become?"

"Will I break through?"

Mo Hua's eyes lit up, full of anticipation.

Then he opened his mouth wide and sucked sharply—gulping down all the Divine Marrow in one breath.

In an instant, an ancient and profound divine will surged into his consciousness sea.

Strands of Divine Marrow—like threads of blood—began to seep into the spiritual body of his divine sense.

These "threads of Divine Marrow" wove themselves into intricate, obscure patterns, quietly aligning with the runes of the Heaven-Obscuring Grand Array, layer upon layer, solidifying Mo Hua's divine consciousness.

It was as if, upon the foundation of Dao, bricks of Divine Marrow were laid—forming a stairway toward godhood.

For a moment, Mo Hua experienced a strange illusion—

That he had already taken a step into the taboo realm of the divine.

All things under heaven and earth, all living beings, appeared in his eyes as nothing but cattle, ants, kneeling in worship and enslaved beneath his will.

The clarity and agility in his eyes gradually faded.

In its place, a faint, majestic gold began to emerge—cold and divine.

This golden hue, nourished by Divine Marrow and flowing through his pupils, slowly spread into his divine consciousness avatar, merging with his spirit form.

A faint golden light shimmered around Mo Hua's entire body, making him seem almost like a god.

His once cute features took on a majestic solemnity, and a sense of arrogance and detachment deepened in his gaze…

At the same time, his humanity was slowly being erased…

Just then—the Dao Stele suddenly resonated with a low hum.

A sound ancient and pure rang through his sea of consciousness.

Mo Hua's expression jolted—snapping him awake in an instant. He immediately began to meditate, trying to reclaim his inner self from the dizzying influence of "divinity."

His Dao Heart glowed faintly with divine radiance—but it felt barren and fragile.

He focused hard—meditating, tracing his soul back to its original heart.

Memories from childhood began to surface one by one.

The people he'd met. The things he'd experienced. They all reappeared vividly.

His parents. Elder Yu. His childhood friends. His master. Old Puppet. Senior Brother. Senior Sister…

Joy. Anger. Sorrow. Laughter. Separation. Reunion. A flood of human emotions surged in his heart.

Mo Hua's barren soul was like parched soil touched by spring rain—his humanity gradually returned.

The faint golden solemnity in his eyes faded away. The clarity and liveliness returned.

No one knew how long passed, but Mo Hua's gaze finally returned to normal.

The golden Divine Marrow had now fully withdrawn, gathering inside his divine consciousness avatar—integrated into the "flesh and blood" of his spirit.

Mo Hua looked down at his hands and furrowed his brow.

His divine sense… hadn't grown much stronger.

Well, it had improved a little—but not by a lot. He was still stuck at the sixteen-rune bottleneck.

However, his divine sense seemed to have undergone a subtle transformation in quality.

Deep within his divine body, faint golden traces of "divine blood" now existed—intertwined within his spiritual veins.

This was his own—refined Divine Marrow, forged into his own essence!

He felt that—for the first time—his divine sense had taken a step into a different tier of existence.

This was… the divine sense of a god.

It was stronger now—

But not in terms of realm—rather, in quality.

This seemed like a whole new dimension of divine sense.

The difference between a cultivator and a god.

Mo Hua felt both confused and a little uneasy.

The sensation from earlier still haunted him. That tiny bit of Divine Marrow he swallowed had nearly erased his humanity—and almost devoured his Dao Heart.

He had almost forgotten what it meant to be human, seeing himself as a lofty god above all beings.

And that was just from eating one goat eye.

If he ate more…

Would he even remember who he was?

Would he become a cold, newborn godling—devoid of self?

Mo Hua frowned.

Master told him to "attain the Dao through divine sense"…

But didn't say anything about "becoming a god."

Those sounded like two very different paths.

Mo Hua was thoroughly tangled, thoughts in a knot.

"At the root of it… I just don't understand gods well enough…"

He sighed.

"Whatever. I already ate it. No point stressing now."

Besides, his divine sense had improved—just not in level.

Still, a cultivator should learn to be content—not greedy.

He was just at early Foundation Establishment, yet his divine sense had already reached the limit of mid-stage Foundation.

Any further, and he'd hit the late Foundation stage with just his divine sense—wouldn't that be too outrageous?

Mo Hua felt a bit disappointed, but quickly calmed down.

"This whole 'god-ification' thing… I should study more later."

All fear stems from the unknown.

Right now, his understanding of gods was limited—that's what made him uneasy.

Later, he'd find opportunities to learn more about gods, their origins, their nature—how to reduce the side effects of 'eating' them.

Also, that Great Wilderness Evil God—definitely a petty little thing. Even though Mo Hua only "ate" one of its eyes, it was surely holding a grudge.

So from now on, he had to keep a low profile.

Maybe even prepare a backup plan—just in case that Evil God ever found out he'd been snacked on.

Mo Hua pondered this deeply.

Right now, the Evil God's eye had been erased by tribulation lightning, leaving only Divine Marrow—which he had slurped up cleanly.

There shouldn't be any trace left.

After all, a big-shot evil god like that probably had limitations.

Whether it was still "alive" or just "slumbering," no one knew.

Even if it was alive—there were tons of powerful cultivators in Qianzhou. The odds of it focusing on an unknown little Foundation-stage brat like Mo Hua were slim.

Mo Hua nodded. Sound logic.

Plus—he still had the Dao Stele, and there was a Tribulation Lightning sealed within it.

The stele guarded his mind. The lightning roasted gods.

As long as the Evil God didn't descend personally, Mo Hua should be safe.

If a weaker one showed up, he could deal with it himself. No need to summon the stele.

Worst case—he'd roast it with the lightning for "detox," then fry it on the Dao Stele like a teppanyaki grill—clean, hygienic, and easy to digest.

At last, Mo Hua let go of his worries.

"Lice don't itch. Debts don't weigh you down."

He'd already pissed off his Senior Uncle. One more Evil God didn't matter much.

They were way too powerful to even notice a "tiny ant" like him—as long as he kept his head down…

He did a quick scan and found no remaining evil will or divine traces in his sea of consciousness.

Only then did he finally relax and exit his mind.

——

In a desolate mountain valley, Mo Hua opened his eyes.

The sky was still gray—dawn hadn't broken yet.

All around were signs of battle.

Scorch marks from fireball spells, shattered formations, sword-qi slashes, and demonic qi residues.

Not far away, the corpse of the black-robed leader lay still—

But now, his body had already been corrupted by demonic qi, melting into a pool of filthy black water.

Earlier it hadn't decayed—perhaps because of the Evil Eye's presence.

Now that the eye was gone—he ended up like the other black-robed cultivators.

Demonic Qi corroded the body—leaving no bones behind.

But Mo Hua had already memorized that man's face.

Though scorched by the Inferno Array, with burn marks on his face, a sinister expression, and a gloomy voice—he looked to be quite young, likely only in his early twenties.

And clearly… a descendant of a noble clan.

He might even have been a disciple from a sect.

But—Mo Hua didn't recognize him.

He thought it over carefully and decided: it was best not to speak of this just yet.

If word got out, he'd immediately become a target of those black-robed cultivators lurking in the shadows.

The Great Wilderness Evil God might even trace this incident back to him.

Anyone daring to conduct human trafficking so close to the Qianxue provincial border—definitely had backing.

He might end up on the radar of one of those formidable factions pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

And even if he did speak up, who would believe him?

That black-robed leader was dead, his flesh and blood reduced to black sludge, his face unrecognizable. No witness, no testimony.

With no evidence, his story would be dismissed as slander, maybe even draw him into trouble.

No matter how he thought about it—it all seemed unwise.

Mo Hua shook his head.

"I'll just investigate it myself first.

When I find solid evidence, I'll tell Uncle Gu—in secret."

Until then, he couldn't reveal anything.

He rummaged through the black-robed leader's storage pouch. It only contained a few spirit stones and some mass-produced spirit swords.

(Your Highness, this chapter's not over yet—click to the next page! It gets even better!)

There were also a few pills inside—but clearly evil elixirs.

Nothing truly valuable.

Mo Hua drew another Inferno Array, cremating the corpse once again.

Then a Burial Array—deeply interring the body beneath rock and soil.

He altered the surrounding evidence, covering his own tracks.

That black-robed leader was now completely buried, forgotten in this remote valley.

Even if someone came looking—they wouldn't find the body.

And even if they did—it would have nothing to do with Mo Hua.

Who would believe that a Foundation Establishment rookie had single-handedly taken down a ruthless mid-stage demonic cultivator?

Mo Hua finished tidying up, confident that everything was airtight. He nodded with satisfaction.

In his heart, he silently thanked Uncle Zhang Lan:

"It's all thanks to Uncle Zhang Lan's guidance.

I've gained the experience to kill, bury, and vanish cleanly—no clues, no trouble!"

After that, Mo Hua made his way back to regroup with Cheng Mo and the others.

He deliberately took a longer route, approached from another direction, and even adjusted his mood.

He mentally rehearsed a story where he'd been chased by the black-robed leader, panicked, barely escaping with his life—and then returned.

Before he got near the abandoned artifact shop, his divine sense had already picked up Cheng Mo and the others.

They were searching in all directions, visibly anxious, shouting his name.

Even though they'd been immobilized under the Evil Eye's blood light, they still vaguely remembered—Mo Hua had drawn away the black-robed leader to protect them.

That's how they survived.

So, when the Dao Court arrived, the two groups teamed up and scoured the mountains, casting a wide net to find Mo Hua.

They were all terrified something had happened to him—feeling both worried and guilty—shouting his name with everything they had.

Mo Hua felt deeply moved, and from afar, waved to them.

"I'm back!"

The group was ecstatic—especially Cheng Mo, the big guy's eyes even looked a bit red.

"Mo Hua, you're okay!?"

"Are you hurt?"

"Where's that black-robed bastard?"

They bombarded him with questions, one after another.

"I'm fine." Mo Hua nodded, then put on a properly startled expression.

"That black-robed guy was terrifying. I was no match at all…"

"He chased me, and I had to run. Eventually, I hid up in a tree…"

"It was dark, the terrain complicated—he let his guard down and didn't find me."

"Then maybe he got scared Dao Court would find him, so he left. I waited a while, then came back…"

Mo Hua calmly delivered the story he had rehearsed.

Plain and simple—but reasonable and believable.

Cheng Mo and the others bought it completely, breathing sighs of relief.

"Thank goodness…"

"Man, you're really lucky!"

"I was so worried…"

"That black-robed scumbag—when I hit mid-Foundation, I'll smash his head open!"

"Yeah, sure. By then he'll probably be late Foundation…"

…

Now that the tension was gone, everyone started chatting more casually.

Mo Hua, too, began to smile faintly.

What came next was straightforward—nothing he needed to worry about.

The Dao Court took custody of the kidnapped cultivators and returned them to the nearest Dao Court branch.

They also examined the corpses of the black-robed cultivators one by one.

Mo Hua and the other five rode a carriage provided by the Dao Court enforcers, headed back to the Great Void Sect, located at the Qianxue border.

Mo Hua originally wanted to visit his old friend, Lord Huangshan.

But time was tight. Besides, in times like this—less is more. It was safer to follow the carriage straight back to the Great Void Sect and avoid unnecessary complications.

The Dao Court's carriage was spacious, though not particularly comfortable.

Still, Cheng Mo and the others soon fell fast asleep.

They'd been hunted, then counterattacked, then fought to kill ten-plus black-robed cultivators in the abandoned shop, and finally spent hours wandering the mountains looking for Mo Hua—they were absolutely exhausted.

Now that things had calmed down—they couldn't stay awake any longer.

Mo Hua leaned against the window, watching the scenery outside, his thoughts drifting.

Human traffickers…

Demonic Qi…

Evil Eyes…

Evil Gods…

Clearly, Qianxue's borders were far from peaceful.

Behind the façade of prosperity, an evil tide had long been stirring. What he'd seen… was probably just the tip of the iceberg.

Who knew what was still lurking in the shadows?

Mo Hua's gaze grew a little heavier.

…

And so, accompanied by the rhythmic clip-clop of hooves, the carriage rocked and rumbled its way—

Back to the Great Void Sect.

(End of chapter.)