Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 682 – The Evil God

After returning to the sect, Mo Hua immediately sent a message to Gu Changhuai:

"Uncle Gu, you need to keep an eye on 'Guo Jianglong.' Someone's going to tamper with him."

Gu Changhuai quickly replied,

"How do you know?"

Mo Hua:

"I heard it…"

Gu Changhuai:

"Heard it from who?"

Mo Hua hesitated, then asked,

"If I tell you, will you believe me?"

On the other end, Gu Changhuai clearly paused too.

"Say it."

"It was a disciple from Broken Gold Sect… people call him 'Young Master Jin.'" Mo Hua replied.

"Young Master Jin?"

"Mm."

Previously, Mo Hua had also found it odd—if this black-robed human trafficking operation was so deeply rooted, how could the Dao Tribunal know nothing about it?

There was no way they didn't know.

Gu Changhuai fell silent. His expression turned faintly dangerous.

"The sect has already set up measures at the mountain gate—to detect Demonic Qi and monster aura."

"I see…" Mo Hua nodded.

Mo Hua furrowed his brow.

"You mean they can't trace it?"

Sure, some small Dao Tribunal branches were corrupt and reckless, but this was Qianxue Province—home to a proper Grade Five Dao Tribunal...

Mo Hua continued,

"He said Guo Jianglong would be put into Dao Prison first, then fake his death there, and re-emerge under a new identity…"

Then he quickly asked,

"Uncle Gu, how much do you actually know?"

Gu Changhuai didn't really believe him.

"Mm." Mo Hua nodded solemnly.

"When our Dao Tribunal raided them, the leader escaped. The others in black were all left behind—but without exception, they all died. The Demonic Qi destroyed their flesh, polluted their meridians and spirit roots… leaving behind only black, foul-smelling lumps of blood and flesh…"

Just as expected!

"But that doesn't make sense…" Mo Hua frowned again, puzzled.

"All the sects in Qianzhou strictly forbid their disciples from cultivating demonic techniques or bringing any such manuals or tools onto sect grounds…"

Still, despite Mo Hua's odd methods and unpredictable ways, he wasn't the type to speak nonsense about things like this.

"They were the 'receivers.'" Gu Changhuai finally said.

His silence meant agreement.

This kind of identity-swapping and death-faking scheme violated not only law, but the very bottom line of the Dao Tribunal.

"After all, if a sect disciple falls into demonic cultivation, it's a massive scandal—for both the sect and their noble family. In serious cases, the Tianquan Pavilion of the Dao Tribunal might even forcibly demote the sect's rank…"

Mo Hua asked again,

"So can the Dao Tribunal investigate Broken Gold Sect?"

"A Grade Five Dao Tribunal in Qianxue Province still doesn't have the power to interfere with these powerful factions… especially in such sensitive matters…"

Gu Changhuai sighed.

"We can't investigate, and there's no way to even start…"

"It's not allowed. Matters within large sects are beyond our reach—unless we have concrete evidence that a disciple has violated Dao law and committed a major crime. Otherwise, there's no grounds to investigate, let alone arrest."

"That's why we suspect…"

Mo Hua looked a little disappointed.

Gu Changhuai added,

"That day, when you… coincidentally took Yu'er away, a few black-robed figures showed up at the tavern."

"There have already been noble family disciples with top-tier spirit roots who went missing. The Dao Tribunal traced it back and caught some of the black-clad traffickers—but every single one of them had their bodies destroyed by Demonic Qi…"

After another pause, Gu Changhuai slowly said:

"This matter… you shouldn't get involved for now."

Mo Hua thought for a moment and didn't hide his thoughts:

"I suspect the black-robed traffickers in Qianzhou are sect disciples. And that this 'Young Master Jin' from Broken Gold Sect is very likely one of them…"

"It's not an isolated case."

"Sect powers are vast, and most of them are highly protective of their own. Behind them are enormous noble clans…"

"You've uncovered something again, haven't you?" Gu Changhuai asked.

Finally, Gu Changhuai couldn't hold it in. He sighed heavily and said:

"You know about what happened to Yu'er, right?"

Mo Hua nodded.

"That's why I had 'Guo Jianglong' sent into Dao Prison—so you could monitor him and maybe catch a mole inside the Tribunal."

Gu Changhuai was surprised and only replied after a long pause:

"Alright…"

Then came a flurry of messages from Mo Hua:

"Uncle Gu."

"Uncle Gu, are you there?"

"Uncle Gu, say something…"

Mo Hua froze slightly, sensing something was off.

"Uncle Gu… you already knew, didn't you?"

Gu Changhuai said nothing.

He clenched his teeth and finally muttered:

"Yes… Quite a few noble family disciples have fallen into demonic cultivation. They've become monsters… yet wear human skin, masking their aura."

Mo Hua pressed him:

"But if they've already gone demonic, shouldn't the mountain gates detect them? Why are they still able to blend into sects and walk around like noble geniuses?"

"That's the strangest part…" Gu Changhuai's gaze turned cold, tinged with confusion:

"No one knows how they're doing it. Clearly they've fallen, done things worse than beasts… and yet they can still move freely inside sects, pretending to be heaven-blessed scions of noble blood…"

Suddenly, something occurred to Mo Hua. His eyes narrowed as he asked solemnly:

"Uncle Gu… do you know what an Evil God is?"

Gu Changhuai was clearly caught off guard.

"Why are you suddenly asking about that?"

"Uncle Gu… do you really know what an Evil God is?"

Gu Changhuai pondered for a bit, then shook his head.

"Heaven Demons and Evil Gods were ancient calamities, according to legend. But no one really knows what they are."

"Even most Daoist scriptures barely mention them."

"Why are you suddenly…"

He froze.

"You're not saying… you think this is all related to an Evil God?"

Mo Hua:

"Mm…"

Gu Changhuai took a deep breath and said helplessly:

"You haven't been reading some bizarre fringe Daoist tales, or obscure almanacs about monsters and deities, have you…"

His imagination really was something…

Mo Hua blinked.

"It's real…"

Gu Changhuai shook his head:

"This is Qianzhou. It's blessed by the Grand Dao of Heaven. Noble families thrive, sects are everywhere, and cultivators abound. Where would an Evil God even gain a foothold? How could it possibly spread its teachings?"

Mo Hua:

"But… you don't know what an Evil God is, right? So how can you be sure it can't spread its teachings?"

That stumped Gu Changhuai.

He thought long and hard but realized—if he kept following Mo Hua down this logic rabbit hole, he was going to tie himself in knots.

So Gu Changhuai just said:

"Focus on your cultivation. Firm up your foundation. Prepare for your next breakthrough—that's what really matters. Stop thinking about these fantastical, chaotic things. They'll disturb your Dao heart and waste your cultivation."

Mo Hua sighed.

But if he didn't think about these "monsters and gods"... he couldn't break through anyway.

If he didn't chew on a few Evil Gods, he might never even reach mid-stage Foundation Establishment!

"But what if… Evil Gods really do exist?" Mo Hua pressed one more time.

Gu Changhuai actually gave it some thought. But the more he thought about it, the more abstract it felt.

The term "Evil God" was just too foreign.

In his entire cultivated understanding of the Dao, there was almost nothing about Evil Gods. He couldn't even picture what one would look like.

Nor could he imagine—how would an Evil God appear in such a vast and orderly province like Qianxue?

In the end… Mo Hua gave up.

Mo Hua gave up.

He tried seeing it from Uncle Gu's point of view—and honestly, it was a bit hard to grasp.

It was like a kid who'd grown up in the mountains suddenly being told the sea existed—of course his heart would be full of confusion.

Then Mo Hua remembered something his master once said:

"Only when your divine sense is strong enough can you see the truth beneath appearances… can you glimpse the essence of all things in this world."

And the "Evil God" was probably one of those hidden truths—the kind only seen with powerful divine sense.

Ordinary cultivators who didn't walk the path of divine sense? They probably couldn't see divine beings at all.

Forget Evil Gods—even someone like that scrappy fallen mountain god, Lord Huangshan, probably wouldn't be visible to most cultivators.

So, Mo Hua compromised a little and said to Gu Changhuai:

"Right… I was just in the Library Pavilion and saw a bizarre book called The Top Ten Evil Gods, Ancient to Modern. It said Evil Gods control dumb cultivators' divine sense… and eat people…"

Gu Changhuai was quiet for a moment… then couldn't help but mutter:

"Your Great Void Sect… really has a unique taste in reading material…"

Mo Hua didn't say any more.

Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss.

It was because his divine sense was too powerful… that happiness felt so out of reach.

Then Mo Hua suddenly remembered something and warned:

"Uncle Gu, you'd better be careful lately—someone's got their eye on you…"

It seemed that Young Master Jin and his lot had blamed all the crimes on that list of rogue cultivators… on Uncle Gu. They thought he was the puppet master behind everything.

Uncle Gu had unknowingly become the biggest scapegoat of them all—wrongfully accused and stuck with a pitch-black reputation.

Mo Hua felt genuinely guilty.

But Gu Changhuai was unfazed, like he'd seen it all before:

"Being a Dao Tribunal Adjudicator means being watched by many. A few more enemies doesn't make a difference."

Mo Hua still reminded him:

"Just be careful…"

"Mm." Gu Changhuai replied calmly.

That reassured Mo Hua a bit.

Uncle Gu was already buried in debt—what's one more loan? If lice don't itch, then maybe this wasn't Mo Hua's fault after all.

Gu Changhuai thought for a moment, then finally said:

"I'll keep a close watch on Guo Jianglong. As for Young Master Jin… and Broken Gold Sect… I'll be paying attention."

"But matters like disciples falling into demonic ways, or black-robed human traffickers… you stay out of that. This mess runs deep—you'll drown if you're not careful."

After saying this, he sighed to himself. He knew it was useless. If Mo Hua decided to do something, there was no stopping him.

So he added:

"Just be careful. If you find any clues, tell me. If you run into trouble—talk to me."

"Mm! Mm!" Mo Hua nodded eagerly.

He wasn't stupid.

Black-robed traitors or noble demon scions—none of that was something he could handle alone. Now that he had a reliable helper, why wouldn't he use him?

And so, their conversation came to an end.

In the days that followed, Mo Hua resumed his usual routine: cultivation, array drawing, and divine sense refinement.

His cultivation progressed steadily—step by step.

Because he didn't prioritize his foundation and focused too much on speed, his pace was neither fast nor slow compared to his peers.

His spiritual energy was now much denser than when he first reached Foundation Establishment, but he was still a little ways from mid-stage.

But when it came to his divine sense—that was the real headache.

His divine sense had long surpassed early Foundation Establishment levels and was stuck right at the bottleneck of the late-stage level.

At this point, merely drawing arrays was like trying to wear down a mountain with dripping water—painfully slow.

And because his divine sense was stuck at the sixteen-rune level, his array mastery couldn't improve either.

Lately, all Mo Hua could do was broaden his array knowledge—learn more Five Elements and Eight Trigrams formations.

But truthfully? He was sick of drawing sixteen-rune arrays.

He desperately wanted to draw arrays with seventeen or more runes, the kind classified as high-grade Tier 2 formations.

Especially the Primordial Magnetic Arrays with seventeen runes or higher—those would definitely involve deeper array principles and more advanced applications.

Mo Hua was excited just thinking about it.

But without a breakthrough in divine sense, it was all just talk.

Even Yu'er's nightmares were drying up—fewer demons, fewer monsters.

Her complexion improved day by day, which made Mo Hua happy…

…but also sad.

Because his "rations" were getting lower day by day too.

"When will I finally get a proper feast…"

Mo Hua grumbled in his heart.

If not, he'd have to wait another year until his cultivation broke through, which would also expand his sea of consciousness and help him push past the bottleneck.

And then there was the matter of the Evil God…

Other people could ignore it.

He couldn't.

Mo Hua had been pondering it for days.

Based on what Lord Huangshan once said, Mo Hua had come to this conclusion:

Divine sense advancement has two dimensions.

One is the "Rank (品)", and the other is the "Tier (階)".

Eating demons and monsters increases the Rank—that's quantity, the realm of divine sense.

Swallowing divine marrow raises the Tier—that's quality, or the level of divinity.

Normal cultivators can only improve Rank—pure quantitative growth.

But with his Heavenly Deduction Technique, Mo Hua could apparently improve both—just like a divine being, he could advance the Tier of his divine sense.

Which meant that, if he wanted to attain the Dao through divine sense, he had to improve both Rank and Tier.

And just raising Rank was already hard enough.

Now he had to do both?!

Mo Hua felt his head throb.

Right now, the only path forward was this:

Find a way—any way—to get closer to the Evil God.

Demons were its claws.

Divine marrow was hidden in its divine corpse.

Both were incredible nourishment for divine sense!

But the Evil God… was hiding way too deep.

But the Evil God was hidden far too deeply…

Uncle Gu, with his divine-sense-dummy brain, wouldn't believe him even if Mo Hua spelled it out.

And right now—with the Fire Buddha dead, the Bìshan Demon Temple sunken—the only lead left was Guo Jianglong, who had been on the same list as the Fire Buddha.

The problem?

Mo Hua couldn't personally watch Guo Jianglong.

He couldn't leave the sect, couldn't enter the Dao Prison—it was all out of his reach.

This task could only be entrusted to Uncle Gu.

Besides, it involved a potential mole within the Dao Tribunal—clearly a matter internal to the Tribunal itself.

Not something he could meddle in.

Guo Jianglong was just the bait worm—he was there to fish.

But fishing took patience. Rushing would ruin everything.

He had to wait for the fish to nibble.

Wait for the big one to bite.

There was no choice but to proceed slowly and cautiously…

Mo Hua sighed.

Looked like he was going to go hungry a while longer…

"Just where exactly is that Evil God's divine corpse hidden…"

Meanwhile, as Mo Hua plotted his next move against the Evil God—

—In a forbidden area, Mr. Tu suddenly opened his eyes, pupils shrinking sharply.

That dreadful, heart-gripping feeling had returned.

This time he was sure—someone was out there, recklessly and blasphemously coveting the Divine Lord!

Suddenly, Mr. Tu's face cracked, his pupils turning pitch black and hollow—as if something had parasitized him.

His mouth let out a hoarse, inhuman shriek:

"Find them!"

"Whoever it is—find them!"

In the next instant, Mr. Tu shivered in terror and stammered:

"Y-Yes… Divine Lord, please calm your wrath…"

"It's my fault. All my fault. I searched… but I couldn't find them…"

"Several hundred years of cultivation… hooked nose, pronounced nasolabial lines, sharp eyes, reclusive aura, calm exterior… but a sinister, poisonous smile…"

"There are a few like that in the Qianxue Prefecture, but… none match exactly."

"And they couldn't possibly have ruined the Divine Lord's grand plan…"

Suddenly, an unspeakable, terrifying roar erupted from Mr. Tu's throat—not a human sound at all.

His face went even paler.

"Yes…"

"But… too many of the pawns on the list have been lost. The altar in Bìshan's divine temple has been destroyed. Most of the demon slaves are dead or crippled…"

"Too many Divine Feeders died in the trafficking ring… fewer livestock… the sacrificial offerings are slow to raise… the array's progress has had to…"

Before he could finish, blood burst from all seven orifices of Mr. Tu's face. He collapsed uncontrollably, limbs twisted.

"Y-Your servant has overstepped…"

His voice rasped in agony.

After a while, as the wicked power receded slightly, he slowly pushed himself up, trembling as he once more knelt reverently before the altar.

"My loyalty to the Divine Lord is eternal and unshakable!"

"One day… the mighty Divine Lord will awaken from slumber and reign supreme over the Great Wilderness!"

After saying that, his tense body finally relaxed a little. He clearly felt some relief.

Then he continued, slowly:

"Someone is sabotaging the Divine Lord's plan…"

"It's all being manipulated from the shadows."

"The divine embryo has been hidden and protected. The monsters summoned under the Divine Lord's name—none of them returned…"

"Even… one of the Divine Servants has died. The Divine Eye, one of the myriad divine remains that possessed him—has also… been destroyed."

"Only then did I realize—I was wrong."

"I underestimated him."

"This person is certainly not just a regular array master."

"The one who has repeatedly defiled the Divine Lord's will, who has obstructed the grand plan—must be a terrifying cultivator who walks the divine path through arrays… or perhaps one who practices divine sense sword techniques!"

"If it's the divine-path array arts—I can deal with that."

"But if it's divine sense sword arts…"

Mr. Tu's eyes were filled with deep fear.

That forbidden technique—the terrifying art of forging swords with divine thought—once again surfaced in his memory.

Finally, Mr. Tu knelt down and bowed to the gruesome altar statue before him: a horned, human-faced goat demon, stained with blood, fanged and ghastly.

"I will find them."

"All who dare oppose the Divine Lord's grand plan—will become livestock, damned to rot in the wilds, tormented for eternity, their souls shattered, never to reincarnate!"

"Great Void Sect…"

His voice faded to a whisper.

Then he lowered his gaze, not daring to look directly at the horned statue, bowing his head and backing out in submission.

Only once he left the altar did he slowly straighten, pulling out a human skin mask… and draping it over himself.

The skin spread and sealed him, covering his deathly pale, wrinkled face—and the blood-soaked, cracked skin that came from long exposure to blood pools.

Mr. Tu transformed— into a tall, pale-skinned, gentle-eyed middle-aged cultivator.

Gone were the hideous deformities and humble groveling.

With a warm smile, he calmly stepped out of the shadowy forbidden ground.

(End of Chapter)