Immortality Through Array Formations Chapter 2059 - 982: Fulfilling the Pact (3)

"I’ve brought a 'gift' for you."

The statue of the deity was draped in a dust cloth, encircled by a fog formation Mo Hua had sketched to mask its presence and prevent any leakage of cause and effect. Lord Yellow Mountain stood before the object, momentarily struck speechless.

The cloth was wrapped so tightly that he had no idea what was hidden beneath it. However, as he drew closer, he began to detect a faint, ethereal aura that felt strangely familiar.

A possibility he had never dared to imagine slowly began to take root in his mind. A surge of overwhelming agitation and joy erupted from his heart, racing through his limbs until his entire body trembled. His emotions boiled, his scalp tingled, and his head buzzed with intensity. Lord Yellow Mountain was consumed by a sense of pure disbelief.

"This..." his voice shook.

Mo Hua lowered his voice, "I noticed it looked like your 'family heirloom' and happened to come across it, so I brought it back for you." As he spoke, Mo Hua peeled back a corner of the cloth.

With just one look, Lord Yellow Mountain shuddered violently, and his eyes filled with tears. "You... you actually retrieved it for me?"

"Yes!" Mo Hua confirmed with a nod.

Lord Yellow Mountain’s chest grew tight, leaving him nearly breathless. Looking at Mo Hua again, he felt the boy’s features were as majestic as distant peaks, his eyes like shimmering stars, and his appearance exceptionally handsome and refined. To him, no god or immortal in existence was more beautiful than Mo Hua at this moment. Mo Hua was so radiant he seemed to be draped in a golden glow.

This young cultivator had actually... recovered his "Lifebound Divine Statue"?! From the clutches of that ancient evil god, from the depths of the evil embryo's temple, and from the bottom of Solitary Mountain City where the evil spirit reigned—he had brought it back?! To the Mountain God, such a profound favor was equivalent to being granted a second life by a parent. This Little Ancestor truly lived up to the name "Ancestor."

Simultaneously, Lord Yellow Mountain was struck by immense shock. He could not fathom how Mo Hua, possessing only Foundation Establishment cultivation, had managed such a feat. The depths of Solitary Mountain City were a burial ground of ten thousand corpses and home to an evil embryo's temple. Lord Yellow Mountain couldn't even imagine the terrors and barriers within. Even if he, as a Mountain God, was fortunate enough to cultivate for another millennium to reach the peak of the Third Grade, it would likely still be impossible for him to infiltrate that place and recover his Lifebound Divine Statue in one piece. How had Mo Hua done it?

Lord Yellow Mountain remained in a daze, completely stunned. Seeing his frozen state, Mo Hua kindly nudged him, "Quickly put it away, and try not to lose it again."

Lord Yellow Mountain snapped back to reality, remembering the urgency of the situation. He reached toward the Lifebound Divine Statue without further delay, though he hesitated for a split second, wondering if he should hide his actions from Mo Hua. But he quickly realized that since Mo Hua had found it and returned it, the boy could have kept it if he wanted to. Hiding anything now would be ungrateful and dishonorable. He hesitated no more; his form flickered as he merged into the Lifebound Divine Statue. moments later, he stepped out, his body half-shrouded in a golden radiance.

His look had transformed; his garments appeared more regal, his posture more commanding, and the sallow tint of his face had been replaced by a spirited vitality. Overall, his presence was far more majestic, and his origin had become significantly more profound.

"Have you merged with the Lifebound Divine Statue?" Mo Hua asked with curiosity.

Lord Yellow Mountain answered, "We were parted for too long, so it requires some time to be nurtured. After that..." He paused, choosing to be honest, "Once my origin is stabilized, I will seek out a new hidden location to safeguard this lifebound object."

Mo Hua nodded and dropped the subject. Noticing that Lord Yellow Mountain’s offering table still held only a cracked bowl of rainwater and a plate with a stale bun, he saw that the god's circumstances hadn't improved. He reached into his storage bag and pulled out chicken, duck, fish, and meat, arranging them on the table. He then uncapped a small flask of wine and invited the god: "Come, let's have a meal and a chat."

Deeply moved, Lord Yellow Mountain cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, "Then I shall accept your kindness rather than decline."

And so, a human and a god sat atop the divine platform, sharing meat and wine while they talked. Mo Hua’s main goal was to learn about the history of Solitary Mountain City. Lord Yellow Mountain spoke openly, hiding nothing. Unfortunately, it seemed that the loss of his origin had cost him part of his memory; much of what he recounted was already known to Mo Hua.

Regarding the Taixu Gate senior who had struck him down in the past, he could only recall a faint figure dressed in white wielding an incredibly sharp Tai Xu Sword. Everything else was a blur, including the person's face. This struck Mo Hua as quite peculiar.

Mo Hua frowned, his intuition suggesting two paths. One was that Lord Yellow Mountain’s memory of the senior had simply vanished when his divine body was severed. The other was that the Taixu Gate senior or someone else had intentionally erased those traces for the sake of secrecy. It was even possible that the cause and effect of the past had been wiped away by some unknown power. This would explain why Lord Yellow Mountain couldn't remember the face. However, these were merely Mo Hua’s theories based on his study of the Dao of Cause and Effect; the actual truth remained a mystery.

Moving on, Mo Hua raised other questions—doubts that had been building up during his cultivation of the path of Divine Thought. He asked about the progression of a cultivator's Divine Sense, the evolution of a deity, the correlation between a deity's grades and stages, and the nature of Dao transformation. Specifically, he wanted to know if a deity's Divine Thought experienced a "qualitative change" as their grade increased.

He recalled encountering a Third Grade blood-colored divine body that was as hard as iron, and a Third Grade evil embryo protected by an indestructible "Demon Armor." Yet, a cultivator’s Divine Sense did not seem to undergo such a transformation. Mo Hua himself only possessed a tiny hint of such a change. He wondered if he had missed a specific direction of "enhancement" in his Divine Thought cultivation. Because his own Divine Thought was a messy blend of human and divine elements, he couldn't figure it out on his own. He hoped that by consulting Lord Yellow Mountain, he could gain the insights needed to further fortify his Divine Thought.