Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 1121: Decadence

Mo Hua pushed open the door and stepped out of the guest room.

The domineering, awe-inspiring wolf howl from the horizon had already faded.

The disciples who had been kneeling in reverence around the Cangwolf Sect slowly stood up. Yet in their eyes, a faint flash of blood-red light passed, and their expressions seemed slightly more savage—vaguely wolf-like.

Mo Hua's expression stiffened for a moment.

Then, acting as if nothing had happened, he casually wandered around the outer mountains of the Cangwolf Sect.

While mentally noting the terrain, he simultaneously deduced the array layout and quietly extended his divine sense to track any lingering trace of the wolf's aura.

But after making a full round, he found nothing.

He couldn't sense at all the origin of that soul-shaking wolf howl.

After all, the Cangwolf Sect was a third-grade sect—even if on the weaker end of the grade, it was still a third-grade power.

A sect built to such standards was massive in scale, and its array structure and layout were not something one could decipher at a glance.

Mo Hua had only formed a Divine Sense Core—he hadn't reached the Golden Core stage and couldn't even draw third-grade formations.

Moreover, as a "guest" here, and a newcomer at that, it would be unwise to act too conspicuously.

So Mo Hua withdrew his divine sense and pretended as though nothing had happened.

Still, a certain itch lingered in his heart.

Impatience yields cooked tofu.

If there were no leads, he could leave it be. But now that the meat was practically at his lips, wouldn't it be tasteless not to have a bite?

So, with deliberate leisure, Mo Hua strolled around once more and "happened upon" an elder he had briefly met before.

The elder greeted him, asking, "Young Master, did you rest well?"

Mo Hua replied, "I slept fine the first half of the night, but early this morning, some kind of beast seemed to be howling—it kept me awake. Does your Cangwolf Sect raise spirit beasts?"

The elder's expression changed slightly.

Though just for a moment, it couldn't escape Mo Hua's keen divine perception.

The elder chuckled. "Young Master jests. How could there be spirit beasts within the Cangwolf Sect? Perhaps some disciples were out training their bodies and shouted too loudly, disturbing your rest. I shall go scold them right away and make sure they're more mindful. Please don't take it to heart."

Hearing that, Mo Hua frowned as if doubting himself. "Morning body training? Did I really mishear it? It wasn't a spirit beast?"

The elder cupped his hands. "We've disturbed your rest, Young Master. That was our negligence."

Mo Hua quickly waved it off. "No problem, Elder. Don't worry about it."

"In that case…"

"Please, go about your business."

The elder smiled and cupped his hands again. "Then I'll take my leave. Feel free to do as you wish."

Mo Hua nodded.

As the elder left, Mo Hua watched his back, eyes narrowing.

That elder was clearly hiding something.

And perhaps because this was the "Cangwolf" Sect, Mo Hua couldn't help but feel that despite the elder's warm and friendly smile, there was a faint hint of a wolf in sheep's clothing.

With these thoughts in mind, Mo Hua wandered the sect grounds for a while longer. Before long, he noticed several faint, barely perceptible traces of divine sense lingering nearby—he was clearly being watched.

Not wanting to alert them, he kept up the pretense of idle boredom. After a while, he casually asked a disciple for directions, then made his way down the mountain and headed into Cangwolf City.

Even there, the parasitic divine sense clung to him.

Mo Hua pretended not to notice and took his time wandering the city —examining both the lavish, extravagant main city and the desolate, poverty-stricken surrounding districts.

Wealth and poverty exist side by side. The more prosperous a place, the more its poverty shadows it like a ghost.

Mo Hua was already used to that.

He sighed inwardly, then confidently made his way to the Luo Escort Agency.

Escort Chief Luo was sitting inside, sighing, when he saw Mo Hua. He jumped in fright. "Young Master Mo! What brings you here?"

Mo Hua said, "I was bored and decided to wander a bit—figured I'd come check in on you."

Luo Escort Chief grew uneasy inside.

Elder Duan, Elder Sun, and six Cangwolf Sect disciples had died at their hands.

If the Cangwolf Sect grew suspicious of Mo Hua's visit, the consequences would be unimaginable…

But looking at Mo Hua's calm, composed demeanor, as if nothing had happened, Luo Escort Chief inexplicably felt reassured.

"Young Master Mo is clearly no ordinary person. Since he's not worried, then I shouldn't panic either, lest I slip up…"

With that thought, Luo Escort Chief turned and called into the back courtyard, "Yingniang, Young Master Mo is here. Brew some good tea."

Moments later, the heroic and graceful Yingniang emerged with a teapot, pouring tea for Mo Hua while boldly staring at him.

Escort Chief Luo sighed helplessly and waved her away, then lowered his voice and asked, "Young Master Mo, your visit…"

Mo Hua replied, "Really, it's nothing. Just came to chat. In all of Cangwolf City, I only know you—nowhere else to go."

Only then did Luo Escort Chief relax.

The two then chatted, with Mo Hua doing most of the asking and Luo Escort Chief answering.

The questions were all "pointless" trivialities—as if Mo Hua were a curious child asking about every mundane detail.

Yet given Mo Hua's cultivation and strength, Luo Escort Chief didn't dare show impatience and answered each one thoroughly.

Thus they chatted nonsense for a full hour.

By the end, Luo Escort Chief was nearly drowsy from Mo Hua's endless questions.

But Mo Hua remained energetic—until his divine sense stirred. The surveillance that had clung to him grew sluggish, clearly withdrawn to rest. Mo Hua's eyes brightened slightly as he leaned in and asked softly:

"Chief Luo, do you know about the Cangwolf Sect's 'wolf howl'?"

"Wolf howl?" Luo Escort Chief looked puzzled.

"Mhm," Mo Hua nodded. "At dawn, there was a resounding wolf roar—howling at the sky. All the Cangwolf Sect disciples dropped to their knees in worship, their faces full of reverence…"

Luo Escort Chief furrowed his brow and shook his head. "I… I've never heard of such a thing."

"Never?" Mo Hua was surprised. "It was so loud…"

Still shaking his head, Luo said, "I've lived in Cangwolf City my whole life—never heard a wolf howl like that."

Mo Hua frowned slightly, deep in thought.

This was strange…

It seemed the wolf howl wasn't something everyone could hear. At least, ordinary cultivators within Cangwolf City hadn't noticed anything.

There could be many reasons for this.

But with so few clues, Mo Hua couldn't yet determine the truth.

Luo Escort Chief cautiously asked, "Young Master Mo, that howl…"

"Oh, it's nothing," Mo Hua said lightly. "Just curious. Maybe I misheard."

Since Luo Escort Chief didn't know, Mo Hua wouldn't drag him into it. Someone at the early Foundation Establishment stage couldn't survive the Cangwolf Sect's wrath.

Mo Hua then asked something else: "Chief Luo, does the Cangwolf Sect have a bad reputation?"

"Well…" Luo clearly didn't want to say.

But since Mo Hua had asked, he couldn't stay silent. He simply said, "In the cultivation world, big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimp."

"The Cangwolf Sect is a big fish. All the other forces are small fish and shrimp."

"The reason Cangwolf grew powerful is through monopolies, devouring others, and endless expansion."

"There used to be nearly a hundred factions in this third-grade Cangwolf City. Even a few third-grade powers. Now, they're all gone in name or wiped out—only Cangwolf remains."

"When there were many factions, things were chaotic, yes, but at least everyone got a sip of soup."

"Now, with only Cangwolf remaining, their appetite's grown—they don't just eat the meat. They don't even leave a drop of soup behind."

"So, Young Master, you'll see the main city growing more and more extravagant and decadent…"

"But the outer streets and nearby territories are growing deserted and poorer by the day."

"And this monopoly, this devouring—it's soaked in blood. As for the dirty dealings behind it… I'd rather not say too much…"

Luo Escort Chief fell silent, his face troubled.

Mo Hua nodded, wanting to ask more, but suddenly sensed that same surveillance divine sense coil around him again. So he said no more and stood to take his leave:

"It's getting late—I should head back."

Luo Escort Chief tried to keep him, "Why not stay for a humble meal?"

"Next time," Mo Hua said.

"Let's talk about it next time."

Chief Luo looked at Mo Hua, still uneasy in his heart, and asked in a low voice, "That matter... Young Master, have you...?"

Mo Hua was slightly taken aback. "That matter?"

"That is..." Chief Luo hesitated, clearly anxious.

Mo Hua suddenly understood and said, "Oh, you mean— you want to join the Cangwolf Sect, and you want me to put in a good word for you with the Sect Master, right?"

Chief Luo froze.

Mo Hua winked at him. Chief Luo quickly reacted and grinned sheepishly, "Yes, yes…"

Mo Hua sighed. "That's not easy. The Sect Master is a busy man. Maybe after some time, if I get the chance, I'll mention it to him…"

Chief Luo hurriedly said, "Many thanks, Young Master, many thanks…"

"All right, I'm heading back to the Cangwolf Sect."

Mo Hua said casually, then stood up and took his leave.

"Take care, Young Master." Chief Luo watched Mo Hua's departing figure and sighed softly in his heart.

…

Afterward, Mo Hua didn't linger and returned directly to the Cangwolf Sect.

The Sect Master was indeed very busy and didn't have time to deal with him. No one else bothered him either, which suited Mo Hua just fine.

He wandered around the sect for a bit, then returned to his luxurious guest room and began reading books on array formations.

That evening, there was a knock on the door again.

Mo Hua opened the door and saw a stunningly beautiful woman standing outside.

This woman had a completely different kind of allure—tall and curvy, with seductive eyes like waves, her jade body wrapped in sheer fabric.

The clothes she wore might as well not have been there.

"It's such hot weather, I thought I could…"

Bang!

Mo Hua slammed the door shut again, rubbed his eyes, and muttered, "Ugh, I saw something filthy…"

In his mind, he pictured his senior sister to cleanse the filth, and only when his heart felt warm and serene again did he turn around and return to studying formations.

The beautiful woman outside hadn't even finished her sentence before Mo Hua shut the door in her face. She stood there, humiliated and angry, a hint of ferocity flashing across her delicate features. Stamping her foot in frustration, she turned to leave, and halfway down the corridor, she ran into a burly elder with a scar on his chest.

The beautiful woman bowed. "Elder Ji."

The man, known as "Elder Ji," gently helped her up, letting his hand linger on her waist. "What's this? Got rejected?"

The beautiful woman fumed, "He's got the face of a playboy, but he's a block of wood."

Elder Ji chuckled softly. "He might be a blockhead, but I'm not. Come to my room later—I'll make it up to you."

The woman batted her eyes flirtatiously. "Then I'll wait for you…"

Elder Ji's soul almost left his body.

The woman sashayed away, swaying her hips.

Elder Ji's eyes followed her graceful figure until it disappeared from sight. Then he glanced at Mo Hua's room, frowning, clearly confused.

"Even someone this fine doesn't interest him…"

"Could it be… he doesn't like women?"

…

The next day, Mo Hua got up early on purpose. After cultivating for a while, he half-sat by the window, waiting for that wolf to howl again.

But for some reason, the mountain forest was dead silent. No wolf howl came.

Mo Hua was displeased.

Just then, a knock came at the door again.

Mo Hua frowned and opened it, finding a burly man with a scar on his chest standing there.

"And you are?"

The man cupped his hands and smiled. "My surname is Ji, an elder of the Cangwolf Sect."

Mo Hua nodded. "Elder Ji. Do you need something?"

Elder Ji replied, "Young Master Mo is an honored guest and should have been received personally by the Sect Master. Unfortunately, the Sect Master holds a high position and is extremely busy, unable to spare the time. So this duty falls to me instead."

Mo Hua got the message. "You're taking me out to have fun?"

Elder Ji nodded. "Exactly."

"Where to?" Mo Hua asked.

Elder Ji didn't answer directly, only smiled mysteriously. "I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

Mo Hua had a vague feeling that this wasn't going to be anything good.

But a man should fear nothing.

Mo Hua nodded. "All right."

Elder Ji then led the way and brought Mo Hua to a tall, magnificent, luxuriously dazzling building in the heart of Cangwolf City.

This building stood in the main city area and was the tallest pavilion in all of Cangwolf City.

Mo Hua had seen it during his stroll yesterday.

Back then, he could only sneak a glance from outside.

But today, Elder Ji brought him in—and not just inside, but to the very top floor.

Jade terraces and grand pavilions, emerald eaves glowing.

Golden silk screens stretched across the hall, translucent curtains like clouds, crystal lamps as bright as the moon, incense burners exuding violet smoke.

For a moment, it felt like a true celestial realm on Earth.

Its opulence and indulgence rivaled even some of the fourth- or fifth-rank great sects in the Qianxue Province.

Mo Hua was deeply impressed.

Elder Ji clapped his hands, summoning people to bring wine and delicacies, and called for beautiful women to dance.

Soon, the dishes were ready, and the women filed in.

Each of these women was beautiful in her own way—plump or slender, each with a distinct charm. Their ages ranged from little girls to budding young maidens, pure beauties, seductive temptresses, and even mature, curvaceous ladies—all varieties were present.

Mo Hua frowned deeply at the sight.

Elder Ji watched his expression carefully, confirming his suspicions even more. Once the singing and dancing ended, he clapped again and said:

"Bring in a different batch."

"Change the batch."

The ones brought in this time were all men.

There were young boys, teenagers, and middle-aged men.

All of them were striking in appearance, each dressed differently—some gentle and handsome, others mature and steady.

There were even some dressed as women, their beauty so dazzling it surpassed that of actual women.

A trace of coldness appeared in Mo Hua's eyes.

He only knew that: extreme poverty breeds wealth, wealth breeds arrogance and luxury, arrogance breeds indulgence, and indulgence breeds decay.

But even he didn't expect it to have decayed to this extent…

Elder Ji looked at Mo Hua, a bit stunned in his heart.

"Could this guy really be a block of wood? No desires? Doesn't like women, and doesn't like men either?"

"Then what does he like?"

Sensing Mo Hua's displeasure, Elder Ji hurriedly waved his hand. "Dismiss them, dismiss them."

Once everyone had left, Elder Ji leaned in and said quietly, "Young Master Mo, are you interested in gambling for some fortune?"

"Gambling for fortune?"

Mo Hua was slightly startled, then quickly realized—this Elder Ji wanted to trick him into gambling.

Elder Ji noticed Mo Hua didn't say he liked it, but also didn't say he didn't, so he continued:

"Young Master Mo, if you've never tried it before, you might as well give it a go. In this worldly life, there are endless forms of pleasure. Only by experiencing them can one temper the Dao Heart and push forward."

To his surprise, Mo Hua found Elder Ji's words somewhat reasonable. He nodded. "Alright."

"Good!"

Elder Ji brought Mo Hua down two floors, arriving at a grand, resplendent hall of gold and jade.

It was vast inside, and packed with people—cultivators in luxurious robes gambling loudly and chaotically.

This was a gambling den, with many different forms of betting and various types of stakes.

But for the most part, they were betting spirit stones. After all, spirit stones were the most widely used currency in the cultivation world.

"Young Master Mo, come with me. I'll let you try out a few rounds of each game…" Elder Ji said with a warm smile.

He then took Mo Hua through most of the gambling formats in the golden casino.

He even paid from his own pocket, giving Mo Hua a full twenty thousand spirit stones as starting chips.

Unable to refuse the generous offer, Mo Hua participated a little.

And unsurprisingly, his luck was incredibly smooth. In the blink of an eye, the twenty thousand spirit stones had multiplied—

Sixfold. A full profit of a hundred thousand.

But Mo Hua felt no joy.

Because the scheme was far too obvious.

He could see at a glance that Elder Ji was deliberately letting him win—there was no thrill in it.

Moreover, even if Elder Ji hadn't been helping him win, Mo Hua could have easily done so himself.

Gambling is tied to karma.

But Mo Hua had heaven-defying divine sense, and possessed both Heavenly Pattern Deduction and Heavenly Trick Calculation. He could perceive the flow of cause and effect. In these ordinary Qi Refining and even Foundation Establishment level gambling games, he could see the outcome at a glance. Even without Elder Ji's "cheating," he could've effortlessly won tens or even hundreds of thousands of spirit stones.

But as he had always understood: gambling touches karma.

The spirit stones won aren't just "falling from the sky"—they're forcibly taken from the losers by exploiting the rules.

If you win, someone else must lose.

What you win is simply what others lost to you.

So gambling, at its core, is a form of exploitation.

Not just exploitation of wealth and spirit stones, but also of one's fate and fortune.

The way of man is to take from the lacking to serve the excessive.

Mo Hua understood karma well, so naturally he knew this principle. He had never once considered winning spirit stones through gambling.

Besides, the Heavenly Pattern Deduction he learned from his master and the Heavenly Trick Calculation from his martial uncle were profound divine arts—not something to be degraded by using them for cheap tricks.

Therefore, gambling was something he absolutely must not touch.

The spirit stones won through gambling, stained with the karma of others, were not something he should accept.

So, what did Mo Hua do next? He went and "acted recklessly," dumping all the spirit stones Elder Ji had schemed to help him win—right back into the games, losing every last one. Then he scolded:

"What kind of garbage gambling is this? Lost it all. Boring. I'm done…"

Elder Ji was fuming.

He had worked so hard to rig the games so Mo Hua could win big.

But this brat had no gambling "talent" whatsoever, stubbornly went against all advice, and in the blink of an eye, lost every stone won through the rigged setup—all by his own "skill."

Truly a lost cause. Even with help, he couldn't win!

And then he had the gall to complain the games were trash and boring.

Do you even know how to gamble?

"If the Sect Master hadn't instructed me to treat him well, I'd have taught this brat a lesson myself…"

Suppressing his inner fury, Elder Ji forced a smile and said:

"Perhaps these games just don't suit you, young master. Why don't we try something else?"

Mo Hua haughtily nodded.

So Elder Ji led him through another round of flashy and extravagant entertainment.

Mo Hua was inwardly stunned, but on the surface, he still couldn't help nitpicking:

"Boring. Not fun. A bit dull. They're wearing too little. Hurts my eyes…"

…

And just like that, under Elder Ji's guidance, Mo Hua spent an utterly decadent and "depraved" day.

As evening approached, he left the drunken, luxurious den of excess and took a carriage back to Cangwolf Sect.

Passing near the outskirts of Cangwolf City, Mo Hua looked out the window and saw another street.

On the street, cultivators were dressed in rags, their skin thin and dry.

Some begged. Some did hard labor. Some knelt after being beaten, begging for mercy. One mother, for the sake of her child, gritted her teeth and spent a few broken spirit stones to buy a steamed bun…

As Mo Hua looked upon it all, his expression was full of sorrow, and in his eyes, a faint black aura began to stir.

(End of this Chapter)