The Quest for Immortality Chapter 2294: Shangguan Wang (3)

Mo Hua felt utterly content at last, gently shutting his eyes. Moments later, the sound of steady, soft breaths emerged.

Within the profound gloom teeming with malevolent hopelessness, in the Great Wilderness Prison yearned for by demonic 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 engaged in an intimate discussion with Shangguan Wang.

"I trust, Mr. Tu, that you won't renege on our deal. After it's all complete, and should we obtain..." Shangguan Wang hesitated, then forced out the respectful address, "should we gain the 'Divine Lord''s favor, I desire immortality..."

Mr. Tu assured him confidently, "Of course."

Shangguan Wang's face darkened, appearing uneasy, and he pressed again for confirmation:

"People chase the Dao, facing endless trials and perils, for just a slim chance at immortal ascension."

"Immortals endure as long as the heavens and earth, they gleam like sun and moon, embodying true eternal life."

"But I, stuck at the Feather Transformation realm, remain distant from Immortality—through faith in the 'Divine Lord', can immortality truly be mine?"

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

Shangguan Wang's look softened a bit, nodding faintly, yet another doubt surfaced, prompting him to inquire:

"By devoting to the Divine Lord and gaining immortality, will my mind stay intact?"

This weighed heaviest on him; he refused to forfeit his reason and turn into a savage, blood-hungry monster post-immortality.

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

Shangguan Wang's face shifted abruptly.

Mr. Tu laid a hand on Shangguan Wang's shoulder, stating evenly:

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

"Humans often act more deranged than beasts when chasing desires; is that sanity?"

"Fueled by fame, wealth, power lust, and greed for possessions, even courting self-ruin, does that qualify as sane?"

Shangguan Wang's eyebrow quivered faintly.

"Humans thrive on avarice and delusion, propelled by cravings and urges, not reason." Mr. Tu proceeded deliberately, "So what value does sanity hold?"

"Be it swayed by fame and fortune or the Divine Lord's will, where lies the distinction?"

"Clinging to fame and fortune yields, after centuries, nothing but dust."

"Yet faith in the Divine Lord allows, amid apocalypse, a shift in form, escape from flesh, and eternal life."

"Which path would you take?"

Shangguan Wang stayed quiet, though the frenzied, dauntless ambition in his gaze intensified, revealing his resolved choice.

Mr. Tu nodded subtly.

"How much more time?" Shangguan Wang questioned, "When does the Divine Lord revive?"

Typically calm, Mr. Tu furrowed his brow in irritation.

Every step had been flawlessly orchestrated.

The Grand Array, the Divine Fetus, the sacrifices... all positioned perfectly.

However, surprises from the Sword Discussion Conference forced an early activation, resulting in the Shen Family destroying a flawlessly grown corpse body, cultivated across ages.

And complications arose with the sacrifices now.

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

But critically, they got rescued by that cursed Taoist Court Officer and Gu Changhuai.

Countless Evil Formation Masters fell too.

All these setbacks together gravely hampered the Desolate Heaven Blood Sacrifice Formation's activation.

It substantially deferred the Divine Lord's resurrection and worldly return.

Shangguan Wang, involved throughout, sensed this somewhat, thus remarking coldly:

"I've long suspected these mishaps indicate a hidden force blocking us."

Mr. Tu nodded faintly, face impassive:

"From securing the Shangguan Family's Divine Fetus onward, I sensed a strange 'shadow' lurking, faintly obstructing the Divine Lord's revival scheme..."

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

Sometimes, he deemed their realm lofty, as only high cultivators could join this contest; other times, he doubted the strength, since potent ones could resolve matters simply, sans convoluted plots.

Occasionally, he viewed them as a shadowy puppet master, scheming covertly, yet wondered if merely a frontline slayer, a "executioner" tasked with demon purging.

He at times figured an ancient fiend, trained for centuries or millennia.

But then suspected a novice just starting out...

Mr. Tu's thoughts muddled whenever pondering it.

Not even the Divine Lord granted clearer insight.

He yearned to consume more cultivator brains per feast for sharper clarity.

The sole lead now targeted Mo Hua.

By his guess, Mo Hua linked intimately to this elusive, pervasive "shadow".

"Mo Hua..."

"That Mo Hua..." Shangguan Wang's eyes glinted, declaring gravely, "I say we eliminate him to prevent troubles."

Mr. Tu shook his head, "He holds vital purpose for me."

Shangguan Wang scowled, "What purpose?"

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

Mr. Tu explained, "His karma runs vast and deep, unwise to tamper rashly."

"A person's death snuffs karma like a lamp's flame," Shangguan Wang's stare chilled.

"His status is unique, lofty rank, deeply cherished by the Taixu Ancestor..."

"You don't grasp the Taixu Gate or its Taixu Ancestor." Shangguan Wang shook his head, "Taixu Gate's fame wasn't prominent before, but they wield Divine Thought sword transformation, champion justice, discern good from evil sharply, and shun deals with Demon Cultivators."

"No favoritism bends rules."

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

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

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

Shangguan Wang knit his brows, "You want this kid sketching arrays for you, refining the Blood Sacrifice Formation?"

Mr. Tu offered no confirmation or denial.

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

"Recall the Sword Discussion Conference," Mr. Tu remarked. "Solo, using Divine Sense to guide ink, he inscribed ground arrays at astonishing pace, matching... nay, exceeding dozens of elite Second Grade Formation Masters."

Shangguan Wang pondered briefly but shook his head still, "We retain Formation Masters. Slower progress is fine, better than needless risks."

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

Primarily, due to their bad blood, with Mo Hua nursing eternal grudges.

Secondly, having embraced darkness and pledged to the Great Wilderness God Master, if Mr. Tu later swayed Mo Hua to the Divine Lord, his standing before the God Master couldn't eclipse Mo Hua's, a prodigy in Divine Sense and arrays.

Even at Feather Transformation, his rank wouldn't falter much.

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

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

This would shatter his prior schemes.

Hence, his killing intent toward Mo Hua burned without restraint.

Mr. Tu perceived this, not wholly intent on sparing Mo Hua, yet a peculiar aura around him oddly restrained hasty action.

"I suspect... embedded in him... by some mysterious powerhouse..."

Mr. Tu halted, eyes narrowing, uttering deliberately:

"A unique Eternal Life Rune..."