Immortality Through Array Formations Chapter 2294 - 1056: Shangguan Wang (3)

Mo Hua felt utterly content at last, gradually shutting his eyes. Moments passed before the soft rhythm of his breathing filled the air.

Surrounded by profound blackness teeming with malevolent hopelessness, within the Great Wilderness Prison desired by wicked spirits, Mo Hua just pulled a thin blanket over himself and drifted into a deep sleep...

...

In a hidden chamber of the Evil God Temple.

Mr. Tu held an intimate discussion with Shangguan Wang.

"I trust you won't renege on our pact, Mr. Tu. When all is complete, and should we gain..." Shangguan Wang hesitated, then with forced respect continued, "should we earn the 'Divine Lord's' grace, I seek the gift of immortality..."

"Of course," Mr. Tu assured with firm confidence.

Shangguan Wang's visage darkened with unease, and he pressed the matter again:

"Cultivators chase the Dao, facing endless trials and perils, for just a slim chance at immortality."

"Immortals endure as long as the heavens and earth, radiating like sun and moon—that's true eternal life."

"But I linger merely at Feather Transformation realm, distant from Immortality—can faith in the 'Divine Lord' really grant it to me?"

"Elder Wang, do you know my age?" Mr. Tu murmured gently.

Shangguan Wang's features softened a touch, nodding faintly, yet another doubt surfaced as he inquired:

"With faith in the Divine Lord bringing immortality, will my mind remain intact?"

This weighed heaviest on him; he refused to trade reason for eternity, devolving into a savage, blood-hungry monster.

Rather than comfort Shangguan Wang, Mr. Tu sneered, "What good is sanity anyway?"

Shangguan Wang's face shifted abruptly.

Mr. Tu rested a hand on Shangguan Wang's shoulder, his voice steady:

"Elder Wang, do you truly believe 'sanity' exists in this world?"

"Humans commit acts wilder than beasts when chasing desires— is that sanity?"

"Chasing fame, wealth, power, and greed to the brink of ruin—such behaviors sane?"

Shangguan Wang's brow furrowed faintly.

"Humans thrive on greed and delusion, propelled by cravings rather than reason," Mr. Tu intoned deliberately. "So what value does sanity hold?"

"Be it lured by riches or the Divine Lord's command—what sets them apart?"

"Clinging to worldly gains leads, after centuries, to dust and oblivion."

"Yet devotion to the Divine Lord lets one survive cataclysms, shed the mortal shell, and claim eternal life."

"Which path would you take?"

Silence gripped Shangguan Wang, but frenzy and audacity blazed ever brighter in his gaze, revealing his resolve.

Mr. Tu nodded subtly.

"How much more time?" Shangguan Wang demanded. "When does the Divine Lord revive?"

The usually poised Mr. Tu creased his brow in irritation.

Every detail had been flawlessly arranged.

The grand array, the Divine Fetus, the sacrifices... all positioned perfectly.

But chaos from the Sword Discussion Conference forced an early activation, resulting in the Shen Family destroying a flesh body flawlessly grown over ages.

Now sacrifices posed further problems.

Those sect geniuses had been confined, soon to be forged like "Gu" bugs, where the mightiest survivor, refined through combat and Dao heart trials, would serve as the Divine Lord's devotee upon revival.

Yet at the vital juncture, that cursed Taoist Court Officer and Gu Changhuai rescued them all.

Evil Formation Masters fell in droves too.

This cascade of setbacks gravely hampered his Desolate Heaven Blood Sacrifice Formation's activation.

It pushed back the Divine Lord's resurrection and worldly return by a wide margin.

Shangguan Wang, involved throughout, sensed this and remarked coldly:

"I've long suspected these mishaps mean someone lurks in the shadows, thwarting us."

Mr. Tu inclined his head faintly, face impassive:

"From seizing the Shangguan Family's Divine Fetus onward, I sensed a strange 'shadow' lingering, subtly blocking the Divine Lord's revival scheme..."

Still, this shadow's moves across events baffled him.

Sometimes he deemed their realm lofty, for only high cultivators could join this contest; other times, their power seemed modest, or victories would come simply without convoluted plots.

At moments, he saw them as a hidden puppet master scheming unseen, yet wondered if they were merely a frontline slayer, a "executioner" dispatched against demons.

He occasionally pictured an ancient fiend with centuries or millennia of cultivation.

But then suspected a novice just starting out...

Mr. Tu's thoughts tangled into chaos whenever he pondered it.

Not even the Divine Lord provided sharper insight.

He yearned to consume more cultivators' brains at meals for clearer thinking.

The sole lead now targeted Mo Hua.

By his reckoning, Mo Hua linked tightly to this elusive, pervasive "shadow".

"Mo Hua..."

"That Mo Hua..." Shangguan Wang's eyes glinted as he stated gravely, "We should eliminate him to prevent troubles."

Mr. Tu shook his head. "He holds great value to me."

Shangguan Wang scowled. "What for?"

Mr. Tu preferred silence, but with Shangguan Wang's pivotal role, he couldn't risk disloyalty.

"His karma runs vast and deep—tamper rashly at peril," Mr. Tu explained.

"Death snuffs karma like a lamp's flame," Shangguan Wang replied with chilling eyes.

"His standing is unique, exalted and cherished by the Taixu Ancestor..."

"You grasp neither the Taixu Gate nor its Taixu Ancestor," Shangguan Wang countered, shaking his head. "Though Taixu Gate's fame was once subdued, they wield Divine Thought as sword, champion justice, split good from evil sharply, and shun deals with Demon Cultivators."

"No favoritism bends their rules."

"Indeed, if he strays to darkness, Taixu Gate would first purge their own with sorrow..."

As Shangguan Family Elder tied deeply to the Three Tai Xu Sects, Shangguan Wang knew Taixu Gate's principles intimately.

"Too many Evil Formation Masters perished, stalling the array's finish," Mr. Tu noted.

Shangguan Wang furrowed his brow. "You plan to make this youth inscribe formations, refining the Blood Sacrifice Formation?"

Mr. Tu offered no confirmation or denial.

"He's only one individual," Shangguan Wang insisted.

"Witness the Sword Discussion Conference," Mr. Tu countered. "Solo, using Divine Sense to guide ink, he etched ground formations at blazing speed—matching, nay, exceeding dozens of elite Second Grade Formation Masters."

Shangguan Wang pondered briefly yet persisted in refusal. "Allies supply Formation Masters aplenty. Slower progress we endure, but dodge needless dangers."

Regardless, Shangguan Wang was dead set on slaying Mo Hua.

First, bad blood simmered between them, with Mo Hua nursing eternal grudges.

Second, now turned to shadow, pledging to the Great Wilderness God Master, any future sway Mr. Tu held over Mo Hua to serve the Divine Lord would eclipse his own standing before the Great Wilderness God Master, given Mo Hua's genius in Divine Sense and formations.

His Feather Transformation realm promised solid rank.

But Mo Hua neared late Foundation Establishment, inches from Golden Core, and the Divine Lord knew myriad dark arts to hasten his Core Formation.

Then, a Golden Core Demon Path cultivator, backed by vile arrays and formation prowess, shielded by the Great Wilderness God Master, would rampage unchecked—even his Feather Transformation self would yield.

All prior schemes would crumble.

Thus, unbridled killing intent toward Mo Hua surged within him.

Mr. Tu perceived this keenly, though preserving Mo Hua's life wasn't his aim; rather, an uncanny aura around the boy restrained hasty action.

"I suspect... embedded in him... by some hidden master..."

Mr. Tu halted, eyes slitting as he uttered deliberately:

"A unique Eternal Life Rune..."