Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 681 – Taking It Back

This 100-plus contribution points weren't a small amount. Mo Hua himself could still patch it up with some formations, but for Cheng Mo and the others—it would be a wasted trip.

There were many disciples in the sect but few missions. Contribution points were precious.

Cheng Mo and the others were still inexperienced; earning over a hundred contribution points wasn't easy for them.

As the senior disciple, Mo Hua couldn't let his "junior brothers" suffer losses.

What's more, they'd finally captured Guo Jianglong, only to have him snatched away by the Broken Gold Sect bullies. If word got out, it'd surely damage the reputation of the Great Void Sect—people would think they were afraid of the Broken Gold Sect.

Personal pride was a small matter. The sect's honor was a big one.

For the sake of the sect's face, this grievance had to be avenged!

Mo Hua nodded seriously.

Cheng Mo and the others were momentarily stunned—then their eyes lit up, sweeping away the earlier disappointment, spirits reignited.

Still, after some thought, they grew uneasy again.

Regardless, the plan was set, and the group set out.

Unless the Broken Gold Sect disciples were complete idiots, they'd definitely suspect them.

Mo Hua didn't lay any overly lethal formations—he didn't want to take lives and create killing karma, nor bring trouble to himself or Cheng Mo and the others.

"Exactly…"

Mo Hua said with a kind, sincere expression:

"Think about it—if two mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators found out they got robbed in broad daylight by a group of early-stage juniors… wouldn't they feel just awful?"

Cheng Mo was stunned.

"Why the masks? To keep it a secret from them?"

Those Broken Gold Sect disciples were bad, but not deserving-of-death bad.

"Besides, I'm doing this for their own good."

"Relax," Mo Hua said, "I just watched them while hidden. They split into two groups—one went swaggering off with that 'Golden Fool,' and the other only had two men, escorting Guo Jianglong to the Dao Judiciary."

Mo Hua hid to the side and listened as footsteps approached—along with two voices grumbling:

He reminded himself of his "ordinary" formation master role, and began seriously laying traps, placing formation plates, and masking traces.

He said seriously:

"This is a matter of etiquette. We have to do it properly, with a bit of face-saving for everyone involved."

"You guys, get some black cloth and cover your faces."

Mo Hua calculated:

"Two mid-stage Foundation Establishment guys. But their cultivation is shallow—weak for their level. Judging by their demeanor, all puffed up and superficial, they're probably used to bullying others. Probably not much actual combat experience. Should be manageable…"

Then Mo Hua used his Minor Five Elements Concealment Technique to circle ahead of the two and lay down a second-grade Earthfire Array on the path about half a mile ahead.

Cheng Mo and the others were visibly excited.

Just as Mo Hua was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something and turned to Cheng Mo's group:

They nodded in understanding.

"We have principles—we're just reciprocating. They robbed us, so we're taking it back. We're not trying to start a blood feud or kill them."

"Damn right…"

"If we didn't cover our faces and robbed them openly, that'd mean we didn't respect them at all. That would be rude."

Hao Xuan's eyes lit up:

"Senior Brother, you're so kind-hearted!"

"…Be grateful I didn't give you dirtier jobs to do."

After all, they'd just had a run-in with these guys, and now they were going to rob them?

A while later, the two Broken Gold Sect disciples really did appear, escorting the seemingly half-dead Guo Jianglong.

"Mo Hua… we're not strong enough to beat them, right?"

Situ Jian also asked doubtfully:

"Even if we wear masks, won't they know it was us?"

The three of them were momentarily speechless.

The two Broken Gold Sect disciples were escorting Guo Jianglong, who looked barely conscious, walking along a narrow path near the woods toward the Dao Judiciary.

Mo Hua sighed, looking considerate and thoughtful.

The Broken Gold Sect people had indeed split up.

Cheng Mo and the others: "..."

"So go easy on them. Beat them half to death, not fully."

"Yeah, they've got seven or eight people, and they're all mid-stage Foundation Establishment…"

"Why do we always get stuck with the dirty work…"

"Wearing masks at least shows them some respect."

"And don't go too hard—no killing. Don't bring trouble to the sect—or to ourselves…"

Hao Xuan, this silly kid… does he misunderstand the phrase "kind-hearted"…?

Mo Hua whispered instructions:

"I'll sneak up and trigger the formation to blast them by surprise. Then we all attack together…"

Mo Hua quickly caught up to the two disciples and gave Cheng Mo and the others a subtle signal.

Meanwhile, the two were still talking:

"Don't know when we'll get to board the 'boat'…"

The other sneered in a low voice,

"With your background? What grade family are you from? That kind of 'boat' isn't for the likes of us."

"Damn… it makes my hands itch…"

"Don't do anything stupid."

"I know. I'm just… greedy. If I got to have one of those even once in my life, I'd die without regrets…"

"Stop dreaming…"

...

Mo Hua frowned.

"Board the boat"?

What boat?

He thought for a moment—then suddenly remembered what that fisherman cultivator had said: "Rouge Boat."

"What exactly is this Rouge Boat used for? And how is it related to Young Master Jin… or these Broken Gold Sect disciples?"

Mo Hua's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

At that moment, the two disciples escorting Guo Jianglong had just reached the trap Mo Hua had set.

It was already dark.

They were too caught up in conversation to notice that someone had rigged the path ahead.

Suddenly, one of them stepped on something—the ground flashed red—and with a loud BOOM, an explosion erupted!

A wave of fire burst out, engulfing both disciples—and Guo Jianglong with them.

Mo Hua remembered: Guo Jianglong had taken a healing pill from Young Master Jin, so his injuries had improved. He was a potential threat.

So he made sure the array explosion caught him too.

Right after the blast, Cheng Mo's group—lying in ambush—rushed in at top speed.

Their faces masked with black cloth, they launched their attack. Spears, swords, clubs, axes—they all came out in a wild flurry against the two disciples and Guo Jianglong.

Mo Hua stood to the side, casting just the right amount of support spells.

In about fifteen minutes, the three were subdued.

The two Broken Gold Sect disciples were bruised and bloody, faces swollen with panic.

Guo Jianglong coughed up blood, completely dumbfounded.

They had no idea what just happened.

All they knew was that they'd been walking—and suddenly an array blew up—and then they were swarmed and beaten into the ground.

One of the Broken Gold disciples looked up through a bloodied eye, squinting at Cheng Mo and the others.

Seeing the black masks, he shouted in anger and disbelief:

"Who… who the hell are you?! We're from the Brok—"

Yang Qianjun gagged him with a rope to stop the yelling.

The other disciple's left eye was swollen shut, but the right eye still worked. He squinted through the darkness and, though he couldn't make out their faces under the black cloth, he saw a massive axe, a spirit sword, and a long spear.

In an instant, realization hit.

"You… You're—!"

Those punks from the Great Void Sect!

But before he could finish, Hao Xuan clubbed him over the head, knocking him out cold. Then he moved to the other disciple and did the same.

Because Senior Brother Mo had said:

If you're going to whack someone from behind—make it clean, make it final, leave no room for resistance.

Hao Xuan took that lesson to heart.

Hao Xuan kept this firmly in mind.

And with that, under the dim night sky, only Guo Jianglong remained conscious on the path.

At this point, he also recognized that the few masked cultivators before him were the same hateful sect brats who ambushed him earlier!

Which only confirmed what he had suspected.

Laying ambushes with nets, using formations to entrap, pressing forward with precise timing and coordination—even circling back at night for a surprise attack.

There was no way these juniors were capable of all this on their own. There had to be someone directing them from the shadows.

Blood at the corner of his mouth, Guo Jianglong's expression was grim as he gritted his teeth and growled:

"Who is it? Who sent you?"

Cheng Mo and the others remained silent, masked with black cloth, surrounding Guo Jianglong like four "bandits."

After a moment of silence, footsteps echoed on the quiet forest path.

The mastermind was here!

Guo Jianglong's heart trembled. He looked up—only to see no one.

He blinked, confused—then his pupils shrank sharply.

From what had been empty space, a figure slowly emerged.

"A kid?"

"No… not a kid!"

The figure was small and looked weak. Its face was shrouded in shadow and hard to make out. Its form seemed to melt into the darkness.

It resembled a young cultivator—but radiated an eerie, oppressive spiritual pressure, one that bore down on his divine sense…

Like a juvenile…

Little demon.

Guo Jianglong knew—he had seen it before—some "people" in this world could no longer be called "human."

They harbored terrifying things inside.

A chill crept into his heart.

This person also wore a black cloth over their head, obscuring their face.

Guo Jianglong wasn't even sure whether there was a human face under that cloth—or the face of some demonic being.

Because someone as cunning as this couldn't possibly be just a mere junior cultivator.

Then, Guo Jianglong noticed the figure was examining him—coldly, precisely—using divine sense.

Unease flooded his heart.

Moments later, he heard a young but strangely eerie voice—crisp, yet with a cruel edge:

"Break his arms and legs. Take him away."

Guo Jianglong's pupils widened. Just as he tried to struggle, searing pain exploded through his limbs.

His arms and legs—had really been broken.

Then a heavy blow struck the back of his head, and he blacked out completely.

Cheng Mo rubbed his chin, a little unsure, and asked Mo Hua:

"Wasn't that… a little too brutal?"

Mo Hua replied seriously:

"Showing mercy to bad people is the cruelest thing you can do! So when dealing with bad people—you have to be ruthless!"

Cheng Mo thought for a moment, then nodded.

"You're right."

Situ Jian and the others also pondered it briefly, then nodded in agreement—convinced that this was probably wisdom Mo Hua had learned from that uncle of his at the Dao Judiciary.

The Dao Judiciary dealt with criminal cultivators every day—plenty of experience. If this was how they handled things, then it probably wasn't wrong.

With that, their task was complete—Guo Jianglong was captured.

They tossed the two Broken Gold Sect disciples into the bushes.

They were injured, dazed from the beating, but not fatally harmed. They'd wake up in a while.

Then the group prepared to escort "Guo Jianglong" to the Dao Judiciary and collect their reward.

Mo Hua had originally considered making Guo Jianglong kneel on his "Formation Iron Plate" to interrogate him a bit.

But after reconsidering—he dropped the idea.

That Young Master Jin had repeatedly warned Guo Jianglong to keep silent no matter what. Even under torture, he might not talk.

Worse, it could push him to commit suicide.

And Guo Jianglong was on the list.

Of all the cultivators on that list, most were dead or on the run. Few remained.

Guo Jianglong was clearly a key figure. He had to be used sparingly—he might just lead to a bigger catch.

Also, using a formation for forced interrogation would be too flashy.

Mo Hua didn't want to leave too deep an impression on Guo Jianglong.

There was also a storage pouch on him.

Mo Hua searched it, but found nothing especially important. Not even a message talisman or confidential jade slip.

Either the situation had grown too tense lately, and Guo Jianglong didn't dare carry sensitive items…

Or they had already been taken by Young Master Jin.

But one item did catch Mo Hua's interest: the "White Wave Technique", a water-element cultivation method.

More accurately, it was a full set of techniques.

Besides the cultivation method, it included the matching White Wave Movement Technique, and some secret arts for repelling water beasts.

Mo Hua couldn't cultivate the technique itself, but the movement art and secret techniques were worth studying.

These weren't useful to Cheng Mo and the others, so Mo Hua "appropriated" them with a clear conscience.

And so, with his arms and legs broken, Guo Jianglong was handed over to the Dao Judiciary by Mo Hua and the others.

Once the paperwork and transfer were done, to avoid further trouble—or running into more Broken Gold Sect members—the group hopped on a carriage and began their journey back to the Great Void Sect.

In the carriage, though exhausted, Cheng Mo and the others were visibly elated.

Though this mission had its share of twists and turns, in the end, they had taken revenge, captured Guo Jianglong, and earned their contribution points.

And they weren't afraid of the Broken Gold Sect anymore.

Sure, they'd had to retreat before because the other side had numbers on their side…

But once back in Qianxue Province, everyone had sects and noble families behind them. Inside the sects, elders and instructors kept watch.

There was no way the Broken Gold Sect would dare stir trouble there.

Thinking back on the mission—from picking up the bounty to completing it—they owed everything to Mo Hua.

Feeling a little embarrassed, Cheng Mo said:

"Mo Hua, why don't you take 200 points? The rest of us can just take 100 each."

The others all nodded in agreement.

Without Mo Hua, they probably wouldn't have earned any contribution points.

Mo Hua shook his head:

"We agreed on 120 points each—we stick to that. Besides, without your help, I couldn't have caught Guo Jianglong alone."

Cheng Mo and the others were deeply moved.

Yang Qianjun looked at Mo Hua with even more admiration in his eyes.

"Alright then," Cheng Mo said with a grin, "we'll treat you to a big feast when we get back!"

"Mm-hmm!"

When it came to eating, Mo Hua was never one to refuse.

Night fell deeper, and the carriage rocked gently along the road.

Fatigue soon crept over Cheng Mo and the others. They simply sat down cross-legged inside the carriage, closed their eyes, and began to meditate and rest.

Mo Hua, sitting by the window, gazed at the hazy night outside, his mind adrift with the events of their journey.

Guo Jianglong knew Young Master Jin. And from the way he spoke, their relationship was very close.

Guo Jianglong had mentioned a "Blood Oath List"...

Could that list be the same one Mo Hua had obtained from Boss Jiang?

That list of criminal cultivators?

If so, then it really hadn't belonged to Boss Jiang.

And if it wasn't his... where had he gotten it?

Mo Hua frowned and mentally reviewed everything that happened with Boss Jiang—every encounter, every clue—and gradually formed a suspicion:

Boss Jiang probably stole that list.

He had once been a disciple of the Broken Gold Sect. But likely a fringe disciple, never taught the core sword arts, which left him bitter and resentful—and tempted to steal.

And if he were to steal, it would have to be from a core disciple.

During his theft, he had likely taken two jade slips.

One was the "Broken Gold Sword Command Technique", and the other... the "Blood Oath List".

Both were sect inheritance jade slips. The seal patterns on them could probably be undone by Boss Jiang as a former sect member.

But the encrypted markings within the Blood Oath List... that, Boss Jiang definitely couldn't crack.

Without breaking the encryption, he couldn't even see the list.

So he must've thought that jade slip was just a sealed, blank one.

Which is why he...

Wrote a diary inside it.

As for the real purpose of the "list," he may have never known.

Chances are, even in death, he never realized he had been keeping a diary inside such a highly sensitive and encrypted "Blood Oath List."

But that raised another question—

Who exactly had Boss Jiang stolen those jade slips from?

Mo Hua's eyes narrowed slightly.

Could it have been… that Young Master Jin?

Based on what he knew, Mo Hua began to piece together a theory:

Both the Broken Gold Sword Technique and the Blood Oath List were extremely valuable. Ordinary disciples would never have access to them.

And Young Master Jin? He was clearly no ordinary disciple.

Having the jade slips in his possession would make sense.

Boss Jiang being able to steal them likely meant that, at some point, the two were… "familiar."

Boss Jiang had probably worked for Young Master Jin before.

But with such low cultivation, Boss Jiang was always going to be a nobody.

Desperate to climb higher, he took a gamble and stole Young Master Jin's sword technique—his trump card—and struck out on his own.

That's why he only used the Broken Gold Sword Technique when he had no other choice.

As for the Blood Oath List? He didn't understand it at all. Ignorance bred boldness, and so he never realized what he had.

But then a new doubt surfaced in Mo Hua's mind.

After Boss Jiang betrayed his sect, he had started gathering a gang, recruiting "brothers," and got into the business of trafficking cultivators.

Did Young Master Jin know about this?

If he didn't know... that seemed unlikely.

But if he did know—would he really just let Boss Jiang operate unchecked?

Or was it that…

Mo Hua's gaze turned grim.

Boss Jiang had defected from the sect under Young Master Jin's orders, to carry out illegal operations on his behalf.

Only… Young Master Jin might not have known that Boss Jiang had stolen his jade slips.

And maybe, right up to the end, in Young Master Jin's arrogant eyes, Boss Jiang had always been just a disposable underling—a "tool" used for trafficking cultivators.

If Boss Jiang was the muscle on the ground, then with Young Master Jin secretly pulling strings behind the scenes…

Could it be that Young Master Jin was one of those black-clothed human traffickers?

…

Mo Hua's expression grew darker.

A core disciple of Broken Gold Sect—one of the Twelve Streams of Qianxue Province—a direct descendant of a noble family… might secretly be the mastermind behind cultivator trafficking.

And he might not even be acting alone. Behind him… were the so-called "young masters."

Did the Broken Gold Sect know about this?

Did the other sects?

Did the noble families of Qianzhou know?

And what about those old ancestral monsters hidden in the clans, those who claimed to peer into fate—had none of them foreseen this?

Mo Hua furrowed his brow and looked out the window into the oppressive darkness.

He had a faint, creeping feeling—

A massive conspiracy was brewing.

Beneath the dazzling surface of prosperity, the shadows within the Qianxue Province…

Were beginning to rise to the surface.

(End of Chapter)