Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 1047: Escaping Death in Heaven-Rank Battle

The prodigies had fallen, corrupted and slaughtering each other until their Dao hearts completely collapsed, turning them into vessels for demonic cultivation.

The situation was even more severe than Mo Hua had anticipated.

"We need to find the others as soon as possible," Mo Hua said in a low voice.

Others might not matter, but those junior disciples who had fought alongside him day and night—he couldn't abandon them.

If they didn't find them soon, and the evil formation kept running, with the blood mist spreading further, none of them would escape. They would all fall into madness, succumbing to bloodlust and slaughter—either becoming killers or victims. In the worst case, their minds would be devoured by demonic entities, turning them into puppets of evil thoughts—mindless flesh, walking corpses. The consequences were unthinkable.

Situ Jian and the others, realizing the gravity of the situation, all nodded solemnly.

Without further hesitation, Mo Hua released his divine sense, scanning the surroundings. With a copper coin twirling between his fingers, he calculated karma and fate to seek out the whereabouts of the other disciples from the Tai Xu Sect.

Moments later, his eyes darkened slightly. "Follow me."

Then, he activated his movement technique, a stream of water-like light trailing behind him, heading straight toward a perilous, withered forest.

The others quickly followed his lead.

Upon entering the forest, the blood mist thickened, the miasma grew denser, and the bloodstained thorns writhed like bloodthirsty serpents and insects.

Among the trees floated even more blood-colored leeches.

Mo Hua's eyes sharpened. He turned and warned, "Follow right behind me. Don't step out of line."

"Yes!"

Everyone nodded. Though they couldn't see the blood-colored evil spirits ahead, seeing their senior brother's solemn expression, they knew something was wrong.

His instructions had deeper meaning.

In times like these, they had to be meticulous and follow his words exactly.

This was the experience they had all gathered over years as disciples of the Tai Xu Sect.

Mo Hua nodded, then continued leading the way, carefully avoiding the evil entities and guiding the group deeper into the forest.

By now, Mo Hua had already mastered the technique of Soul Severance Projection.

These blood-colored spirits—he could destroy them all with a single sword strike.

But in this forest, evil spirits roamed everywhere. There were too many to kill. It wasn't worth wasting his divine will.

Besides, they were within a demonic formation. Who knew what other sinister threats lay ahead? He had to preserve his strength.

In the forest, the floating blood leeches twitched their sharp mouthparts. Whenever a cultivator got close, they would silently latch onto their foreheads and burrow into their sea of consciousness for a feast.

But with Mo Hua leading the way, the Tai Xu Sect disciples successfully avoided them.

After a while of cautious travel through the forest, Mo Hua suddenly said, "Careful."

As soon as the words left his mouth, a figure lunged at them from amidst the rustling trees.

Cheng Mo, already tense, instinctively swung his giant axe with full force. But just as the blow was about to land, Mo Hua's voice came:

"Don't kill."

Cheng Mo forcefully redirected his swing, avoiding a fatal blow and instead struck the attacker's back, knocking them to the ground.

Then, Situ and the others quickly subdued the figure. Looking closely, their expressions all changed.

"Ouyang Xuan!"

Ouyang Xuan was now pinned to the ground by Cheng Mo, looking half-human, half-ghost, snarling and struggling.

His Tai Xu Sect robes were smeared with mud and blood, making him almost unrecognizable.

Seeing his state, a chill ran through the hearts of the disciples. They all turned to Mo Hua.

Mo Hua stared at Ouyang Xuan with a grave expression, observing him for a moment before sighing softly.

"His brain hasn't been fully eaten… That's good."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

But Ouyang Xuan was still violently struggling. Killing him wasn't right, but letting him go was just as dangerous.

"Hold his head still. Make him look at me," Mo Hua instructed.

Cheng Mo and Situ grasped Ouyang Xuan's head, forcing his gaze toward Mo Hua.

Ouyang Xuan's eyes were blood-red, with a strange, crimson entity writhing within his pupils, glaring fiercely at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua's deep eyes gleamed with golden light. A wisp of divine will turned into a faint sword light and pierced into Ouyang Xuan's eyes.

The demonic, thrashing Ouyang Xuan trembled, then slowly closed his eyes and fainted.

Mo Hua let out a quiet sigh. It might have been a bit rough, but there was no time for gentleness now.

"Carry him. We're going to find the others," Mo Hua ordered.

Ouyang Xuan wasn't weak. If he had ended up like this, the others likely weren't in much better shape.

Time was short—they had to race against it.

Once again, Mo Hua unleashed his divine sense, using karmic calculations to search for the auras of the remaining Tai Xu Sect disciples.

Along the way, they saw one twisted scene after another:

– Fleshy demons hanging upside-down in trees, waiting to feast on humans.

– Blood-drinking thorns at the roadside, shedding their skin in grotesque transformation.

– Cultivators possessed by evil, engaged in deadly battles.

– Scattered, terrified, even despairing disciples hiding wherever they could.

– And in the sky—a grotesque, monstrous evil spirit composed of dismembered human and demon parts, stitched together into an abomination. It hovered above, its enormous vertical pupil scanning the forest like a predator hunting prey.

That massive evil spirit, brimming with demonic energy, stood directly in Mo Hua's path.

Its grotesque, warped eye locked onto Mo Hua.

Mo Hua slowly raised his head—and stared back. Time seemed to have stopped.

After a moment, the great evil spirit silently averted its gaze, pretending not to see Mo Hua. Its body trembled slightly as it slowly floated elsewhere.

Its movements were light, slow, and very polite—it didn't dare block Mo Hua's path.

Seeing it behave sensibly, Mo Hua didn't bother with it either. He continued to follow the karmic threads, and within the eerie grand array, the blood-stained withering forest, and the carnage, he fished out his nearly twenty junior disciples, one by one.

Some of them were unharmed, just trapped in small valleys, too afraid to come out.

Some were mildly corrupted by evil spirits.

Some had encountered disciples from other sects, fought them, ignited killing intent, and their Dao hearts were slightly influenced, giving rise to a trace of bloodthirsty evil thoughts.

A few, like Ouyang Xuan, were deeply infected and on the verge of losing their sanity.

Subduing these people took quite a bit of effort. Among them, the most troublesome were the Five Brothers of Mount Tai'a—Ouyang Fu, Lu, Shou, Xi, and Cai.

When Mo Hua found them, the five brothers were in the middle of "killing each other."

Ouyang Fu and Ouyang Lu had been corrupted by evil spirits. Their eyes were red, their killing intent out of control, and they were attacking even their own brothers with murderous blades.

The remaining three brothers had no choice but to fight back in order to restrain them.

But as the fighting continued, all five were infected by the blood mist of the array, their killing intent intensified, and they completely lost control. It truly turned into a bloody and savage brawl of fratricide—five massive swords clashing in a frenzy.

When Mo Hua arrived, this was the scene he witnessed.

"Stop!"

Mo Hua's eyes narrowed. His crisp yet thunderous shout pierced the ears of all five, jolting their minds into momentary clarity.

Ouyang Shou, Xi, and Cai immediately regained consciousness and stopped fighting.

Ouyang Fu and Ouyang Lu, however, were more deeply corrupted. Their bloodlust raged on as they continued to attack.

Cheng Mo and others tried to intervene but couldn't stop them.

During the chaos, golden light flickered in Mo Hua's eyes. With a single authoritative glance, he swept his gaze across them and pierced into their eyes.

The two burly men trembled violently, their minds went blank, and they collapsed to the ground.

Just a single glance suppressed the two strongest among the Tai'a Five Brothers.

Cheng Mo and the other disciples, although unclear on what Mo Hua had done, were all visibly shocked—deeply awed by their little senior brother.

"Bring them. Follow me," Mo Hua said.

"Yes, Little Senior Brother."

Ouyang Shou and Ouyang Xi carried their two older brothers and, along with the other disciples, followed Mo Hua.

Mo Hua swept his divine sense to examine the surrounding terrain and finally found a cave in the withered forest.

Everyone entered the cave.

Mo Hua pinched his fingers together, and spiritual ink flowed on the ground, weaving into an array that sealed the cave entrance.

"Those not corrupted, stand behind me."

"Those slightly affected or with awakened bloodlust, stand to my left."

"Those heavily corrupted and unconscious, lay them on the right."

Mo Hua sorted them based on the degree of corruption. Then he took out a censer, lit a stick of sandalwood incense, and said to the mildly affected ones—Yang Qianjun, Ouyang Shou, Ouyang Xi, Ouyang Cai:

"Sit cross-legged and meditate in place. Guard your heart, eliminate stray thoughts. Visualize a spotless mirror, a state of still water."

"If your Dao heart falters or evil thoughts become uncontrollable during this process, report it to me immediately..."

"Understood, Little Senior Brother."

Yang Qianjun and the three Ouyang brothers nodded, and with the others, sat down to meditate as instructed—restraining themselves and guarding their hearts.

Then, Mo Hua turned to the most heavily corrupted trio: Ouyang Xuan, Ouyang Fu, and Ouyang Lu.

These three were trickier to handle.

He couldn't enter their seas of consciousness.

The God-Slaying Sword was too powerful when unleashed.

If he tried to use spiritual sword intent to forcibly cut out the evil spirits, he might end up erasing their divine consciousness as well.

After some thought, Mo Hua decided to fight poison with poison, devour demons with demons.

He took out a broken white bone sword and whispered:

"Bone-Head Sword, go into their seas of consciousness and eat the evil spirits."

"You're only allowed to eat the evil spirits—if you so much as take one bite of anything else, I'll feed you to the dogs."

After giving instructions, Mo Hua placed the broken bone sword on Ouyang Xuan's forehead—at the Heavenly Gate Acupoint connected to the sea of consciousness.

A faint, ominous red light appeared.

Then, Bone-Head Sword drilled into Ouyang Xuan's sea of consciousness and, following its little master's command, devoured every last bit of the bloody evil spirit.

The evil spirits didn't taste good.

Bone-Head Sword really wanted to sneak a bite of the cultivator's divine soul—that was its true calling as an evil spirit.

But it didn't dare.

If it dared even a nibble, that little master outside really had ten thousand ways to kill a little sword demon like it.

That little ancestor's terrifying cruelty—it knew better than anyone.

His word was law, and Bone-Head Sword truly didn't dare disobey.

"Sigh... he's a junior of the Ouyang clan. I might not be human, but I can still do something good..."

Thinking of the name "Ouyang," Bone-Head Sword's gaze dimmed slightly. After confirming there were no remnants left, it withdrew from Ouyang Xuan's sea of consciousness.

Mo Hua repeated the process, ordering Bone-Head Sword to devour the evil spirits in Ouyang Fu and Ouyang Lu as well.

Once finished, Mo Hua personally double-checked everything. Only when he confirmed that Bone-Head Sword had honestly done its job did he nod in approval.

Ouyang Xuan and the other two were finally cured.

Mo Hua then checked on Yang Qianjun and the others and found that their inner evil thoughts had significantly faded.

The rest were also no longer in danger.

"Everyone's here... and all alive."

Only then did Mo Hua finally let out a long breath and feel a wave of relief.

Fortunately, he knew a bit of fate and karmic techniques. He could trace familiar qi signatures—otherwise, in a grand evil array filled with blood mist and surging corruption, it would have been impossible to find Ouyang Xuan and the others in time.

Had he been delayed even slightly, who knew what his junior brothers might have turned into?

Mo Hua silently thought to himself:

"Karmic techniques truly are wonderful. I must seek out some fate Dao inheritance to study thoroughly in the future..."

"Whether saving people or killing them, they could be extremely useful..."

But that was for later.

Now that all his fellow disciples had been rescued, Mo Hua faced a new question:

What should he do next?

Mo Hua sank into deep thought.

From what he had seen and heard along the way, he had pieced most of it together.

Everything before him had been orchestrated by Mr. Tu—or rather, the evil god.

Even the previous Asura battle.

It had been used to make the disciples of the Four Sects, Eight Clans, and Twelve Factions fight each other first—stoking their killing intent and mutual hatred.

Then, once the evil grand array was activated, these disciples were trapped within it to engage in a real massacre.

Killing intent, hatred, pain, regret, and despair would all be stirred up within the array.

In the end, those who survived would be drenched in the blood of their peers and fellow disciples. Their hearts would be overwhelmed with remorse, their Dao hearts shattered. And if they had outstanding talent and spiritual roots—they'd make the perfect vessels for evil thoughts.

Mo Hua wasn't an evil god, so he didn't understand all the intricacies. But with his experience, he could immediately think of a dozen ways to refine these "demonized" geniuses into tools for the evil path.

Whether as minions, divine servants, sacrificial offerings, nightmares, demons, or even as demon embryos... they were all top-tier materials.

This twisted demonic battle royale—its main theme was slaughter.

All the rules were set by the evil god.

And while Mo Hua was not an evil god—he knew their nature all too well.

Even if he and his junior disciples from the same sect managed to escape the pursuit of disciples from the other four sects, eight clans, and twelve factions—and even if they killed everyone else and survived to the very end—they still wouldn't be the true "winners."

If you played by the Evil God's rules, there was no way to win.

Since that was the case…

"Then we'll just have to make our own rules, and play by our own 'standards.'"

Mo Hua propped up his chin, eyes flickering with thought.

In the Earth-Class Shura Battle, he had to kill. Kill everyone else, so that the Tai Xu Sect could take first place.

But this "Heaven-Class" battle royale was the opposite—he had to save.

Killing wouldn't solve the problem. The more you killed, the heavier your karmic burden, the deeper the evil energy, and the stronger the grand formation would become. That would mean falling right into the Evil God's trap, and in the end, no one would survive.

So he had to act in reverse—save people instead.

He would save all the outstanding disciples of the four sects, eight clans, twelve factions, and even some from the Hundred Schools of Qianxue—anyone he could save.

Unite every force that could be united, get everyone on the same boat.

Only then could the majority survive.

But saving people couldn't be done randomly.

There were several hundred prodigious disciples from all the major sects. Saving them one by one was simply impossible.

And even if he did save them, they wouldn't necessarily listen. With so many people, each with their own agendas, chaos could erupt.

"Then… capture the 'king' before the bandits—seize the key prodigies first, and use them to bring order to the rest…"

Mo Hua's eyes lit up as an idea took shape.

"Rest for one incense stick's time. Then we'll set out," Mo Hua instructed.

Everyone was stunned. Situ Jian asked, "Senior Brother, where are we going?"

"To save people."

"Save people?"

"Mm!" Mo Hua nodded, but didn't explain further. He simply said, "Soon, I'll draw some formation talismans. Press them against your foreheads to protect your spiritual seas. Remember—absolutely do not take them off."

Everyone nodded solemnly.

Afterward, Mo Hua used the leftover formation media and spirit ink from the Sword Debate Tournament to draw some basic divine formations. He gave them to his group to wear on their foreheads, guarding their spiritual seas from evil disturbances.

During this time, Ouyang Xuan and the others gradually regained consciousness.

Though their spiritual senses were still damaged and their faces pale, the root of the illness in their divine sense was gone, so they weren't in any real danger.

Mo Hua could finally relax.

After one incense stick of time passed, Mo Hua gathered everyone and set off again.

Although the other sects' prodigies weren't close to Mo Hua, after crossing swords at the tournament, some karmic ties had formed, allowing Mo Hua to trace their spiritual auras.

What surprised him, though, was that this karmic connection was actually quite strong.

Why?

Mo Hua found it odd.

Were those prodigies thinking about him that much?

Am I really that worth worrying about?

But there was no time to dwell on it. Following the threads of karma, he continued his search.

Soon, he found his first target.

And this person happened to be an "old friend" of Mo Hua's—Song Jian, the "spy" he had planted in the Broken Gold Sect.

Song Jian wasn't alone. Fifteen Broken Gold Sect disciples were with him.

As one of the top prodigies of the Broken Gold Sect, he naturally had many fellow disciples who followed his lead.

Now, trapped in the sinister formation of the Evil Path, with danger lurking everywhere, they were clearly sticking together for safety, searching desperately for a way out.

But this demonic formation was full of traps and death—there was no easy way to survive.

With a frown on his face and anxiety in his heart, Song Jian suddenly saw Mo Hua.

At first, Song Jian froze. Then joy flashed in his heart, though his face showed anger. He immediately drew his sword and pointed it at Mo Hua, gritting his teeth:

"Mo Hua—what a narrow world! I finally ran into you. Today, you die!"

Without hesitation, he charged first, unleashing Broken Gold sword energy straight at Mo Hua.

Cheng Mo stepped forward and blocked Song Jian's attack with two axes.

Linghu Xiao pointed his fingers and summoned Chongxu sword energy, forcing Song Jian back.

Song Jian retreated into his group.

Mo Hua sneered, "The Broken Gold Sword Technique isn't much."

Song Jian burned with fury, but perhaps because of his fear of Linghu Xiao and the five Tai'a brothers beside Mo Hua, he didn't act rashly. Instead, he turned to his fellow disciples and said:

"The Tai Xu Sect is strong—we can't take them on. Let's go."

He had just turned to leave when Mo Hua called out, "Song Jian."

Song Jian looked back.

Mo Hua said calmly, "This is a demonic formation, filled with deadly traps. You won't make it out. Why not join forces with the Tai Xu Sect and seek a path to survival together?"

Song Jian sneered, "Foolish dream. The Broken Gold Sect and the Tai Xu Sect are enemies. How could we ever ally with you?"

Mo Hua's gaze hardened. "If not for yourself, then think of the fifteen disciples behind you."

"Without me guiding you, all of you will die in this formation."

"These disciples behind you… they're the best of your sect's generation, right? If they die…" Mo Hua chuckled, "the Broken Gold Sect's loss would be… significant."

Song Jian's face turned grim, clearly torn.

After a long moment, he said seriously, "Can you really lead us out?"

Mo Hua replied arrogantly, "Don't forget—I'm the top Array Formation expert of Qianxue Academy."

Song Jian's eyes grew solemn. After a fierce internal struggle, he finally gritted his teeth and said:

"Fine! I'll trust you!"

Then he turned to the other Broken Gold Sect disciples and said solemnly:

"Our sect may bear grudges with Tai Xu, but this alliance with Mo Hua is my decision alone. If the elders blame us afterward, put all the blame on me."

Song Jian's expression was stern.

The disciples were deeply moved, and with great respect, bowed to him one after another:

"You bear this burden for our safety. We shall advance and retreat together with you, share honor and disgrace, and follow you through fire and water without hesitation!"

Song Jian was gratified. Then he looked toward Mo Hua, his eyes filled with complex emotion, and said:

"Please lead the way."

Mo Hua nodded slightly, a faint smile on his lips.

(End of Chapter)