The Quest for Immortality Chapter 2274: Taoist Heart (3)

~5 minute read · 1,279 words
Previously on The Quest for Immortality...
Mo Hua detailed how the Evil Path Great Formation fuels demonic transformation with evil spirits and a weak Daoist Heart, where unchecked desires lead cultivators to degenerate into demons. He challenged the heavenly prides on their true righteousness, revealing that demons arise from the heart itself, profoundly shaking their convictions. As they quieted and focused inwardly, Mo Hua pondered escape strategies, suspecting an Evil Formation Master like Mr. Tu monitors and controls the intensifying array.

This was an Evil Path Great Formation conjured within the Qianxue State Boundary, right under the noses of the Great Families and Great Sects. Once activated, the pervasive Blood Qi would undoubtedly provoke a severe crackdown from all factions in Qianxue, including the Taoist Court.

Even if Mr. Tu could handle it, he would certainly be stretched thin.

Moreover, Mo Hua didn’t need to think to know the purpose of this Evil Path Great Formation was undoubtedly linked to the resurrection of the Master of the Great Wilderness.

To resurrect the Master of the Great Wilderness, a massive dark god ritual must be involved.

As the "chief array master" of the Evil Path Great Formation and the "chief ritualist" of the dark god ritual, Mr. Tu must be extremely busy, and there’s no guarantee he can oversee everything.

The place where I’m located is certainly not the entirety of the Evil Path Great Formation.

Since it’s an Evil Path Great Formation, it cannot be this small. The current scene, including the withered forest and Blood Swamp, is at most a part of a closed compound formation area within the entire Evil Path Great Formation.

Furthermore, this area is truly "sealed off"; otherwise, my numerous actions should have already been detected.

The minions of the evil god should have long taken action...

This "sealing" is likely related to the dark god’s own ritual.

The evil god’s "feeding" surely doesn’t want anyone to witness it.

However, because it is completely sealed, some formation patterns and array structures are quite obscure, difficult to detect, and hard to tackle immediately.

We, as a group, are also not easy to get out.

"This is a bit troublesome..."

Mo Hua calmed his mind and, based on his formation knowledge, began to ponder step by step:

"The corruption is just a facade; the internal logic of the formation won’t change..."

"The internal arrays of the Great Formation cannot be completely sealed, there must be some connection between them..."

"If this compound formation is part of the Great Formation, then there must be an array pivot connecting to the main pivot of the Great Formation..."

"And this array pivot must have a corresponding formation media."

"The formation media of the Evil Path Great Formation should be..." Mo Hua’s heart trembled, "White Bone Stele?"

Those White Bone Steles he and Elder Xun Zixian had seen in Yanluo Mountain?

Mo Hua’s eyes lit up.

He sat cross-legged on the ground, releasing his divine sense, meticulously calculating, sensing the flow of evil power, fathoming the nodes of the array, and the path of the evil power’s carriage, after a while, he stood up, walked directly to a withered tree beside the forest, pointed to a blood-colored withered tree, and said to the crowd:

"Cut down the tree, uproot the roots, dig three feet down, and find a bone stele..."

Although the crowd didn’t understand, they still did as Mo Hua instructed.

As for why, they did not ask Mo Hua to explain, since even if he did, they might not understand.

The celestial prodigies joined forces, severed the large tree in no time, burned the roots, then dug three feet down, uncovering the White Bone Stele buried underground.

The earth veins appeared scarlet.

The White Bone Stele was submerged in the blood color, hidden by the evil power of the earth veins, making it impossible for ordinary people to detect it.

Mo Hua carefully observed the constantly wriggling blood-colored formation patterns on the White Bone Stele, after a moment his heart skipped a beat, discovering these evil patterns were actually derived from the Four Symbols Monster Pattern, and even a portion were variants of the Four Symbols "Dragon Pattern".

This was indeed the handiwork of Mr. Tu.

And from Mo Hua’s research over time on the Dragon Map regression, the Four Symbols Monster Pattern, and the Four Symbols Dragon Pattern were by now "old friends" to Mo Hua, simplifying both deconstruction and tracing processes significantly.

Although Mo Hua could not draw the Evil Formation, identifying the formation pivot through pattern connections was no major issue.

Subsequently, as Mo Hua walked along, he kept calculating, uncovering all the White Bone Steles used to bear the formation pivot along the way.

After finally digging up over a dozen bone steles, Mo Hua, having comprehended the flow of the formation pivot, arrived at the "root" of these bone steles, the node connecting to the Evil Path formation pivot.

A plain and unremarkable cave.

Mo Hua scanned with his divine sense, confirmed safety, and entered the cave.

The cave was narrow, surrounded by stone walls.

After sensing slightly, Mo Hua found the right stone wall, marked several big "X"s with a pen, then turned to Ao Zheng and other body cultivators and said:

"Tear it down for me, and keep it quiet."

Although unwilling, Ao Zheng complied with Mo Hua’s command.

He was the second most talented after Ao Zhan in Longding Sect, profoundly skilled in Dragon Cauldron Body Refining Skill, vigorous and powerful, seemingly impenetrable stone walls were reduced to "tofu" in his hands.

The stone wall was thus dismantled by Ao Zheng and the others.

With the stone wall crumbling and stones tumbling down, a sudden flash of scarlet appeared, and a horrifying blood-red maw swiftly lunged at the group.

This was the giant maw of a monstrous evil spirit.

Ao Zheng saw nothing but felt a penetrating chill, unsure where to retreat.

At this moment, the well-prepared Mo Hua pointed a finger to his brow, sharp light flashed in his eyes, and his divine thought transformed into a sword slashing through.

A flash of golden light, the evil spirit was instantly obliterated.

The scarlet vanished, along with the penetrating chill, Ao Zheng slowly turned to Mo Hua. Though not understanding what had transpired, he was shaken, his eyes filled with astonishment.

"I’ll go take a look inside," Mo Hua said.

Ao Zheng and the others said nothing.

However, Linghu Xiao and Situ were worried, "Junior Brother, we’ll go with you."

Mo Hua shook his head, "Don’t worry, it’s safer if I go alone. You stay here, don’t move."

After giving his instructions, Mo Hua’s form gradually faded and disappeared in front of everyone.

The crowd had grave expressions, feeling uneasy.

Meanwhile, Mo Hua advanced through the tunnel within the stone walls, encountering numerous evil spirits, grotesque and frightening, exceedingly ferocious.

Had it been any other cultivator, the moment they entered, their Sea of Consciousness would be devoured by the evil spirits in an instant.

Yet the scenario had reversed.

Concealing his aura intentionally, Mo Hua appeared as an ordinary, frail, harmless boy cultivator, full of divine sense, pure and sweet.

Countless evil spirits, mad with desire, surged towards his unguarded Sea of Consciousness.

But all were seized by Mo Hua’s golden spirit within the Sea of Consciousness, swiftly extinguished and refined into pure telekinesis, nourishing his divine sense.

Thus, Mo Hua, with himself as bait for "fishing enforcement," stealthily proceeded toward the end of the tunnel.

After walking for an unknown duration, Mo Hua finally reached the tunnel’s end.

The tunnel’s end was sealed by an array.

With divine sense controlling the ink undetected, Mo Hua quietly dispelled the array, then looked ahead, seeing a Formation Core Hall connected to the tunnel’s end.

Inside the grand hall, eerie and bloodstained, crowded with Evil Path Formation Masters wielding Human Bone Pens, dipping them in Human Blood Ink, painting blood-red and hideous formations on human skin as parchment.