Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 688 – Divine Sense Transformation

Why would Crossing Dragon know Divine Path Formations?

Mo Hua frowned slightly.

He had observed closely earlier—Crossing Dragon's strokes were clumsy, his divine sense sluggish, and his wrist stiff. It was obvious he wasn't someone who regularly drew formations.

He wasn't a real formation master.

The "seal" formation on the well had clearly been something he copied mechanically—just parroting what he'd memorized.

If that was the case, then someone else must have taught him this Divine Path Formation.

Who?

Mo Hua's divine sense worked at lightning speed, reviewing every cultivator related to Crossing Dragon and the child traffickers—until his gaze sharpened.

"… Mister Tu?"

Human traffickers.

Criminal cultivators.

Demonic cultivators.

Heretics…

Among all of them, only one might possess such ancient, nearly lost and advanced formation arts—

That mysterious, elusive figure Mo Hua had only heard of, never seen:

Mister Tu.

"Could it be… the Divine Path Formation legacy is in Mister Tu's hands?"

Mo Hua was puzzled.

If he wasn't mistaken, Mister Tu was the man behind the scenes—

A figure of high status—possibly a top lackey of the Great Wilderness Evil God.

And yet, the Divine Path Formation—

A system built upon divine sense to suppress gods—

was in his hands?

Mo Hua's brows furrowed even tighter.

That didn't make sense.

Unless… there was some unknown history behind it all?

While Mo Hua was deep in thought, the well underwent a complete change in aura, as if its cause and effect had been reversed.

Its atmosphere shifted sharply—it no longer felt like a regular well.

Scarlet blood mist billowed from its depths.

This was no longer the water well of the fishing village—

It had become the gateway to some forbidden land.

Crossing Dragon knelt by the well, prostrating devoutly with full-body bows.

After three kowtows, he picked up the dead fish… and jumped straight into the well.

Mo Hua was stunned.

"He… jumped in?!"

But something felt off.

There was no splash.

It was as if the well no longer held any water—now a dried-up abyss.

Mo Hua waited a while. Seeing no sign of his return, he quietly crept to the well's edge to peek in.

The bottom was completely shrouded in crimson mist—

a blood-colored forbidden domain.

Just looking at it sent chills down his spine.

Mo Hua then examined the surrounding formation again—

and only then noticed something: the pale bricks around the well weren't stone at all, but bone bricks—polished flat and laid in with gray mortar to blend in.

Bone bricks—used exclusively in heretical arrays as formation mediums.

And on top of them… were the bloody runes Crossing Dragon had just drawn.

As Mo Hua studied them, his expression shifted in alarm—

The runes were fading—the bloody markings vanishing bit by bit.

In a flash, Mo Hua understood.

"This blood-ink was designed to vanish—leaving no trace!"

Crossing Dragon had used blood-ink to draw the formation, unlock the well's "seal," and then jumped in.

Afterward, the blood-ink would evaporate, the formation would disappear, the seal would reset, and the blood mist entrance would close.

Just like that—no one would know he was ever here.

No one would know what secrets were buried within the well.

"So meticulous…"

Mo Hua was impressed. But there was no time to waste.

He immediately began memorizing the bloody runes around the well.

After a while, the formation faded completely, and the blood mist was sucked back into the well.

The well returned to normal—its waters dark and still.

Mo Hua exhaled in relief.

"Thank goodness my divine sense is sharp… and I've got decent comprehension and memory. My formation skills aren't bad either."

"If I were a bit worse in any of those areas, I'd never have remembered all those runes in time…"

He took out his paper and ink, and using ordinary spiritual ink, carefully copied the formation runes that Crossing Dragon had drawn to unseal the well.

These runes… might very well be fragments of the legendary Divine Path Formation.

Mo Hua studied them for a long time—his brows slowly creasing.

He couldn't quite make sense of them.

Something was missing—some foundational layer of the structure.

The formation's meaning, its core mechanisms, and the flow of power were all obscured.

It was like this array had been designed specifically for formation illiterates—purely mechanical and performative.

You didn't need to understand it—just copy it.

That was great for non-experts…

But for someone like Mo Hua, who knew the logic of arrays, it was ironically even harder to decipher.

So for now, all he could do was memorize the pattern.

If he ever gained access to the complete Divine Path Formation system, then maybe he could truly understand it.

Of course, that assumed his guess was correct—

That this formation on the well really was a Divine Path Formation.

Mo Hua's eyes gleamed as he looked toward the well.

"The Evil God is definitely tied to this well…"

"My earlier guess was right."

On the surface, it was just a well.

But in truth, it was two:

One well connected to the fishing village, harvesting faith and wish power from the people.

The other, a dry well, linked directly to the Evil God—receiving offerings.

This was Mo Hua's first time seeing, and personally experiencing, an Evil God's method of "preaching."

He let out a long breath.

His divine sense had undergone qualitative transformation, and thanks to Lord Huangshan's teachings on the Dao of Divinity, he was finally able to catch the Evil God's tracks.

If not for that—

Even if he were a Core Formation cultivator, entering this village recklessly, he would've found nothing.

Worse, he might've had his divine sea corrupted and filled with heretical thoughts—never realizing what had happened.

Mo Hua glanced once more at the well.

Now, the entrance to the truth… was right before him.

"Should I follow Crossing Dragon… and dive into the well? See what lies beneath? See what form the Evil God has taken?"

"But before that, I need to learn how to unseal the well…"

Mo Hua hesitated for a long time.

Finally, he decided—no matter whether he entered now or not, he had to learn how to unseal the well.

That way, he held the initiative.

He replayed the entire formation-drawing process in his mind, then took out brush and ink, and began copying the formation on the bone bricks beside the well.

Mo Hua moved fast.

Soon, the formation was complete.

But… nothing happened.

The well didn't respond—no change at all.

"Just as I thought…"

Mo Hua sighed, a little disappointed.

Bone as medium. Blood as ink.

This was the path of heretical formations.

Trying to use normal "spiritual ink" to activate a blood-ink formation?

Hopeless.

But then—where was he going to get blood ink?

Blood ink was made with human blood—

Not only that, but it required forbidden herbs and cruel, twisted methods.

It was the first step toward becoming a heretical formation master.

To brew blood ink… was to plant one foot onto the path of heresy.

Mo Hua would never do something so foolish.

But then… Without blood ink… How was he supposed to draw a heretical array?

Evil Formations...

Mo Hua began deducing step by step, relying on his immense experience with Grade One and Two formations.

At its core, so-called evil formations were just arrays that a formation master couldn't normally draw, but could forcibly construct using heretical methods...

Or perhaps they were normal formations whose power had been enhanced by tapping into the dark arts.

Crossing Dragon wasn't a formation master, and his divine sense was limited—he clearly couldn't draw a true Divine Path Formation.

So, he had to rely on crooked methods to brute-force his way into drawing it.

In that case, the formation Crossing Dragon drew contained both heretical and divine elements.

Using the "evil" to approach the "divine."

That was how he managed to draw it.

But Mo Hua? He couldn't tap into the divine path, and he refused to borrow the evil path.

So no matter how beautifully he redrew those runes—they were completely useless.

"What does a Divine Path Formation really mean?"

Mo Hua racked his brains, but couldn't figure it out.

"Then let's think in reverse…"

What was a Divine Path Formation for?

To counter… or seal deities?

And to do that, you'd need divine sense power on par with the gods, right?

After all—mortals and gods are different.

There's a qualitative difference between a human's divine sense and a god's divine consciousness.

So in that case...

Mo Hua's eyes widened in shock.

"Could it be that a Divine Path Formation is a method to transform a human's divine sense into something that can rival a god's divine power?!"

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense.

And if that were true...

Then—he himself already possessed divine-like consciousness!

Why would he need to transform anything?

Mo Hua's eyes lit up as he followed the train of thought.

Until now, even after his divine sense had undergone a qualitative transformation, he'd still used it in the old way when drawing formations.

But now—if he deliberately injected his "divine-transformed" sense into the formation—

Wouldn't that itself be a form of Divine Path Formation?

The fog in his mind cleared all at once.

Without delay, Mo Hua gave it a try.

He closed his eyes and gathered all the faint golden, blood-thread-like strands of divine sense in his sea of consciousness—

These had formed after devouring divine marrow.

Then, he began redrawing the evil runes that Crossing Dragon had etched—using ordinary spiritual ink.

As he drew, the pale gold divine sense flowed with his brush, infusing into the array—

The runes under his hand gradually began to glow with a barely visible divine radiance—a transcendent shimmer, unseen by ordinary cultivators.

Mo Hua drew carefully and methodically.

And this time—it worked.

He could sense a profound, mysterious "Divine Path force" in the formation.

It resonated with the bone bricks and drew out some deeply hidden evil power from the bottom of the well.

That power began to surge upward…

The well trembled, the aura shifted—

Scarlet blood mist billowed up once more.

Mo Hua's eyes gleamed in joy.

Success!

He'd just unlocked the Evil God's front door!

Meaning—the key to the Evil God's house… was now in his hand!

"Should I go in?"

Mo Hua stared into the swirling blood mist… but decided not to take the risk just yet.

Instead, he tossed a little tiger puppet down as a scout.

No splash. No water sound.

Mo Hua nodded slightly.

That confirmed it—a dry well.

He manipulated the puppet with his divine sense and guided it forward.

The passage was smooth—no people, no architecture.

Mo Hua frowned.

"Is the well bottom… completely empty?"

But just a few steps later—splash!

The little tiger seemed to fall into water.

And before Mo Hua could react, a tremendous force slammed into it.

In an instant, it was crushed into powder.

Mo Hua's heart chilled.

"What the hell was that…?"

A cultivator? A beast?

Was this the real watchdog guarding the Evil God's gate?

Mo Hua winced.

Too dangerous…

He paused, sighed, and muttered to himself:

"Forget it… I'll need a better plan."

A fully developed, cult-preaching Evil God was bound to be a tough opponent—

Not something he could handle alone.

Though unwilling, Mo Hua had no choice but to retreat for now.

Before leaving, he used spirit-dissolving solution to erase all the runes he had drawn beside the well.

Once the runes were gone, the well returned to its ordinary appearance.

He looked around carefully, ensuring he left no trace—

Then finally turned to leave.

But he didn't go far.

He found a hidden spot nearby and waited in stealth for the whole night.

Even after dawn broke and villagers came to draw water—Crossing Dragon still hadn't returned.

With no other choice, Mo Hua gave up.

His time was limited. He couldn't request another leave.

So he had no choice but to return to the Great Void Sect.

As for the leave— Gu Changhuai had successfully filed Mo Hua's one-day leave.

The reason?

Still the classic: "Helping the Dao Court draw formations."

Gu Changhuai helped Mo Hua request a day off, once again using the excuse of helping the Dao Court draw formations.

When Mo Hua returned to the sect, Gu Changhuai immediately sent a message:

"Where did you really go?"

I went to catch an evil god…

That's what Mo Hua wanted to say, but let's be real—Uncle Gu would believe that when pigs fly.

Unless he got parasitized by an evil god himself one day.

"I tracked Crossing Dragon and found a clue related to the human traffickers,"

Mo Hua offered a more… digestible explanation.

Sure enough, Gu Changhuai perked up:

"Where? In the fishing village?"

"Mhm." Mo Hua nodded.

"They've definitely set up a base in the fishing village, but I'm still trying to find the entrance."

Gu Changhuai fell silent for a moment, and then, rarely for him, said:

"You've worked hard…"

Without someone like Mo Hua—sharp divine sense, expert in concealment, and extremely detail-oriented—the Dao Court would've had no way of shadowing Crossing Dragon secretly, let alone follow the trail to the traffickers' den.

Mo Hua was surprised.

Uncle Gu actually told me "you've worked hard"?

Now he was half-suspecting the man really had been possessed by an evil god…

Still, it felt nice to be appreciated.

It would make dealing with the Dao Court easier in the future.

"I'll go check again on the next rest period," Mo Hua said. "See if I can catch Crossing Dragon."

"Good," Gu Changhuai replied via message.

"I'll assign a few more people to monitor the fishing village."

"Mhm," Mo Hua nodded.

With that, the conversation ended.

Afterward, Mo Hua resumed his classes as normal.

Every bit of his spare time was now devoted to studying Divine Path Formations.

Array formations were vast and profound.

Having a legacy to inherit was ideal.

But in the absence of one, you had to learn to find the path yourself.

Through understanding formations, building experience, and applying core knowledge—

You had to follow the threads, unravel the false from the true, and search the unknown Dao to master deeper levels of formation theory.

This was exactly what his master had taught him back when they traveled the world.

As for Divine Path Formations—mysterious and nearly lost to time—

Mo Hua had no inherited knowledge.

But thanks to the recent trip to the fishing village, the crude runes left by Crossing Dragon, and his own hands-on experimentation that actually opened the Evil God's sealed well, Mo Hua had gained a clearer idea:

Divine Path Formations are used to "transform" a cultivator's divine sense through the array, producing a qualitative shift—

One that can restrain divine beings.

Mo Hua still couldn't be sure if this "shift" was the same kind as his own divine sense transformation.

After all, he hadn't studied a real Divine Path Formation yet.

But the fact that such formations could suppress gods...

Meant that the transformed divine sense produced by those arrays—

Even if not as strong as the true divine transformation he underwent—was probably not far behind.

In a sense, this was a technique to grant mortals the power to rival deities.

Mo Hua sighed in admiration.

The ancient formation masters who could comprehend the heavens, grasp the nature of divine sense, and create Divine Path Formations—

Those guys were terrifying…

To have researched this kind of array…

To use flesh and blood to comprehend the Dao, and stand against gods—

Mo Hua couldn't help but feel deep respect.

But with that reverence came a lingering question…

Ordinary cultivators used Divine Path Formations to transform their divine sense into god-level power.

So what would happen if someone like him, whose divine sense had already undergone transformation, used such a formation?

Would it allow him to seal a deity even more powerful than himself?

Or maybe even—

Mo Hua paused mid-thought, his own idea shocking him to the core.

He shook his head rapidly.

"No, no, don't get too ahead of yourself…"

"This is all just speculation. I don't even know if it's true."

"Let's just focus on one step at a time—find a real Divine Path Formation and study it."

"A true formation master must be grounded and seek truth from facts!"

Mo Hua nodded solemnly.

Right now, the only real clue was still Crossing Dragon.

If he could capture him—he might obtain a complete Divine Path Formation diagram.

Mo Hua's eyes sparkled in anticipation.

Only… that blood-filled well…

How the heck was he supposed to get down there?

The thought gave Mo Hua a headache.

He wasn't particularly afraid of evil beings.

But when it came to lurking demonic beasts or organized demonic cultivator gangs...

That was more than he could handle alone.

Could he find help?

Uncle Gu was a Golden Core cultivator—but he didn't believe in evil gods.

And even as a Golden Core, if the evil god invaded his mind…

He might still be doomed.

That blood-misted well… yeah, definitely not something he could touch for now.

Mo Hua sighed.

"Gotta figure something else out…"

"Or maybe… I could find time to ask Lord Huangshan again?"

He pondered quietly.

In the days that followed, Mo Hua juggled cultivation, formation research, and constantly turned over the mystery of the fishing village and the Evil God's well in his mind.

Then, a few days later—

He suddenly received a message from Gu Changhuai:

"Something's happened at the fishing village…"

Mo Hua froze.

"What happened?"

Gu Changhuai:

"Two children were kidnapped by Crossing Dragon. No one knows where he took them."

Mo Hua's heart skipped a beat. Something felt very wrong.

But he still confirmed:

"Whose children?"

Gu Changhuai replied:

"I heard… it was old Yu's two grandsons."

(End of this Chapter)