Immortality Through Array Formations Chapter 2083 - 990: Rebirth (3)
Previously on Immortality Through Array Formations...
"She's my blood sister, and I simply can't shove her straight into that fiery abyss..."
"Fine, fine, fine, as fellow brothers, you owe me an explanation today—what in blazes does 'fire pit' even mean?"
...
In the midst of the boisterous uproar, the dining hall's energy surged with even greater vibrancy.
Nearby, Mo Hua sank into profound reflection.
While plenty of it rang with humor, the words from these disciples held a kernel of truth.
"Why exactly am I joining the Sword Discussion Conference?"
This query demanded serious deliberation and a firm resolution.
That night, back at the Disciple’s Residence, Mo Hua continued mulling over this very issue.
Most disciples chased top spots in the Sword Discussion Conference for glory, clan advantages, contribution credits, Inner Sect promotions, or a solid union...
What drives me?
Glory—I've garnered plenty of notoriety already.
The tallest beam decays first; the fattest hog gets butchered soonest. For someone like me, excessive fame could spell trouble rather than fortune.
Contribution credits? I've got ample supply, and zero desire to step into the Inner Gate.
As a Loose Cultivator, I carry no clan rivalries or heirloom duties like becoming a family patriarch.
Marriage, though...
That's a distant prospect, unworthy of current worry.
Moreover, knowing little senior sister as Mo Hua does...
Should I actually enter the Sword Discussion Conference, she'd fret over my safety far more than any placement I snag.
My standing won't alter my role as her junior brother.
After tallying it up, Mo Hua saw that he truly lacked any pressing wants.
The sole potential draw might lie in the top prize of the Sword Discussion Conference.
Yet those prizes stood fixed, and Mo Hua had already reviewed them.
One option: select a supreme cultivation method legacy from the Four Great Sects and Eight Great Gates.
Another: pick a premier Taoist art legacy from the Four Sects and Eight Gates.
Plus, sect-supplied treasures like high-quality elixirs and talismans.
These offerings screamed elite quality, tailored for genuine "heaven’s chosen." For Mo Hua, hampered by his frail base, they offered scant real use.
Not even those cultivation methods or Taoist arts aligned with his Spiritual Root.
Beyond that, the last motive for entering the Sword Discussion Conference could be aiding Elder Master Xun and bolstering Taixu Gate through this tough patch.
After all, he'd soaked up immense favor from Elder Master Xun and Taixu Gate.
Naturally, it would also ease the Sect Leader's balding woes...
But that's the extent of it; nothing meriting full-throttle commitment.
Furthermore, Mo Hua weighed that this venture carried hefty dangers.
Elder Master Xun had nailed it earlier: diving into the Sword Discussion Conference meant exposure under countless gazes, peeling back his secrets layer by layer.
This flaw proved downright lethal.
Many of his secrets begged to stay buried.
Without deploying those secrets, he'd lack the chops to compete in such a massive Sword Discussion spectacle.
The Sword Discussion Conference isn't kid stuff; it draws heaven’s chosen and hordes of powerhouses.
This demands a grueling, drawn-out clash.
Mo Hua wasn't foolish enough to believe a strong showing came without total dedication.
Even pouring out every ounce of effort and baring all secrets, survival to the finish line stayed iffy...
Towering challenge, massive peril, meager gains.
Mo Hua mulled it over endlessly, only to ruefully conclude the reality stood just so.
Best to join the Sword Discussion Conference in a laid-back fashion.
Push Taixu Gate to climb a few extra notches.
Leave the rest aside.
Mo Hua let out a quiet sigh.
He ruminated on it repeatedly, even tapping causal divination for a tentative forecast, confirming that regardless of angle or inference, "letting things unfold naturally" emerged as the optimal path.
Mo Hua sensed a dip in enthusiasm.
Yet circumstances dictated as they did, causality flowed unchanging.
One couldn't drift beyond the tangible world.
Mo Hua released his grip on the worry, his spirit settling into tranquility, adopting a nonchalant stance toward the Sword Discussion Conference.
As fellow disciples hustled in frantic prep for the Sword Discussion Conference, Mo Hua stuck to his routine of drilling the Ultimate Formation and delving into array tenets.
Time slipped past like serene streams...
...
Over in Taoist State.
Heaven Shu Pavilion.
The lofty tower, veiled in fog and barred to outsiders, sheltered an elder with flowing silver locks, lost in slumber.
Amid swirling vapors, the elder slumbered in blissful peace.
No telling how much time elapsed before the elder stirred from his doze, lifting his lids leisurely to eye the chessboard before him.
Crafted from withered timber, the board held no standout features, yet under the elder’s murky, bottomless stare, it shimmered with subtle glows, harboring celestial mysteries amid tangled causality.
The elder fixed on the chessboard, his tone resonant like a fading chime, murmuring deliberately:
"The board... is laid, pieces arrayed, yet... one element lingers absent."
These pieces lacked vitality, advancing solely along preset paths.
The game thus stagnated, serene and devoid of spark.
It craved a wildcard, a "vital piece" to ignite the entire board...
So... who possessed the potential to serve as this "vital piece"?
The elder’s gaze plunged into depths, Divine Thought swelling as causality streamed without cease.
At the same time, his gnarled digits delved into the chess vessel, groped briefly, and plucked a plain black stone.
A flicker of astonishment crossed the elder’s eyes, striking him as odd even now.
"In this vast game, might someone truly fill the role of vital piece?"
Intrigued, the elder probed to uncover this "vital piece’s" essence.
But mere moments in, he abandoned the effort.
For a "vital piece" by nature defied fixation; pinning it down would render it a "static piece."
"No matter, let it be..."
"With a vital piece comes the catch; to hook the catch, 'lure' must draw it forth unaided..."
What "lure" to deploy?
The elder resumed his divinations, scheming the "angling" approach.
Heaven Shu Pavilion’s vast array legacies cascaded through his thoughts like flowing rivers, yet causality stirred not a ripple...
The elder skimmed past the arrays, then probed Taoist arts, elixirs, talismans, formations...
Yet despite endless trials, even choice legacies as "lure" failed to tempt this "catch."
The elder stayed composed, unperturbed.
In this colossal design, a "vital piece" embodying flux couldn't be commonplace—a genuine "prime catch."
For a prime catch, run-of-the-mill "lure" held no pull.
The elder upped the ante, drawing "lure" from Heaven Shu Pavilion’s hidden vaults.
This round, causality indeed quivered.
But only that.
This "prime catch" appeared to merely sample the faint scent, briefly stirred by longing, only to cling to its essence, shun avarice, retreat to shadowed depths, and coil in wait.
At last, the elder betrayed a touch of marvel.
"Not even this could hook it?"
"Such impressive 'standing'..."
"Am I angling for a mere fish, or a dragon?"
The elder inwardly winced with regret: "Spare the cub, snare no wolf..."
He clenched his jaw, his digit tearing space asunder, commencing a hunt through Heaven Shu Pavilion’s locked primordial legacies.
Amid a torrent of legendary titles, the elder sifted for ages until unearthing a legacy aglow with radiant golden causality.
This legacy, causality gleaming like molten gold, signaled that deploying it as lure would assuredly summon the "prime catch."
The elder revealed the primordial legacy.
The legacy took form as an antique jade tablet, etched with five primordial, singular runes:
"Yin Yang Rebirth Formation."
These five runes pulsed with chaotic origins, yin and yang wheeling, life and death inverting, instantly thickening the chamber’s air.
The elder’s face hardened progressively, his eyes sharpening to terrifying depths.
Yin Yang Rebirth...
Whose "rebirth"?
Could it possibly...
A steadfast resolve wavered under waves of astonishment.
The elder’s gaze delved like an endless void.