Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 901: The Token

"Senior Brother! Senior Brother! Do you still want this token?"

It was lunchtime, and the disciples were eating in the dining hall. Cheng Mo ran up to Mo Hua, looking like he was offering a rare treasure.

By now, everyone in the Tai Xu Sect knew—

their Little Senior Brother had a quirky hobby of collecting tokens.

"Is it a message token?" Mo Hua asked.

"Yup." Cheng Mo nodded, then handed over a token, stained with blood and engraved with the head of a savage, fanged beast.

Mo Hua paused.

"Where did this come from?"

Cheng Mo didn't hide anything and explained the whole story:

"A few days ago, during the rest period, I teamed up with Situ, Hao Xuan, and Brother Yang. We accepted a bounty mission to capture a wanted criminal."

"The task wasn't too hard. After finishing it, we were on our way back to the sect, and on the road, we saw a group of cultivators under demonic arrest, fighting with Dao Court enforcers."

"Did you help them out?" Mo Hua asked.

"Nope." Cheng Mo answered honestly. "There were too many of them. We couldn't take them. Plus, you taught us, Little Senior Brother—if the reward is low and the risk is high, don't bother."

Mo Hua blinked.

"Did I say that?"

"You definitely did." Cheng Mo nodded solemnly.

"Oh." Mo Hua shrugged. "Okay. Then what?"

"Then, the demonic cultivators lost. Some were captured by the Dao Court, but three escaped."

"And you chased them?"

"Exactly," Cheng Mo nodded. "All five of us put on cloaks of concealment—just like you taught us—and tailed them quietly."

Mo Hua: "…"

"Then? What happened?"

Cheng Mo continued:

"They ran into an old courtyard in a remote village and locked the door behind them. We followed your teachings and disabled the outer array, then snuck inside…"

"Nothing seemed unusual at first. But when we searched, we found that the soil under the courtyard was dark red—soaked with blood. That's when we realized these guys weren't just any demonic cultivators—they were likely practicing evil arts."

"Dark red blood…" Mo Hua murmured, already forming a guess.

Most likely, these were vampiric demonic cultivators—lower-tier disciples from that bloodthirsty sect.

Cheng Mo added,

"We followed your standard procedure: when the enemy nests up inside and the situation is unclear, we just plant an array and blast the whole house."

Mo Hua nodded in approval.

"But… there was a small accident," Cheng Mo said.

Mo Hua bit into a chicken leg.

"Go on."

Cheng Mo looked a little awkward.

"We had just finished setting the array, but before we could activate it, something happened inside. The three demonic cultivators started… eating each other."

"Eating… each other?" Mo Hua froze. "What kind of eating?"

"Like… gnawing on elbows kind of eating," Cheng Mo winced. "They were biting each other's necks, tearing skin and flesh, like wild beasts—sucking each other's blood…"

Bloodsuckers.

Mo Hua's expression cleared—it confirmed his theory.

These must have been the "low-tier agents" spread out by that vampiric demonic sect.

Cheng Mo went on:

"They ended up covered in blood and half-dead from biting each other. So, we held our fire until they were down to one injured survivor. Then we detonated the formation—blew two of them apart and crippled the last one."

"All five of us jumped him together. Took him down with zero effort—and not a scratch on us!"

Cheng Mo beamed proudly.

"Well done." Mo Hua nodded in praise.

His little junior brothers were getting more and more reliable—not a bad result for all his "mentoring."

Cheng Mo continued:

"Only problem was—those demonic cultivators were dirt poor. We looted them clean, and the only thing even remotely valuable was this token."

"We handed the guy over to the Dao Court, but I secretly kept the token and brought it back for you."

Mo Hua looked at the blood-stained token with a bestial sigil and asked,

"It looks pretty evil. Didn't the sect elders confiscate it when you returned?"

"They did," Cheng Mo nodded. "But I said it was for Little Senior Brother Mo. Elder Song hesitated for a bit, then agreed."

Right now, Mo Hua's reputation in the Tai Xu Sect was practically stronger than some of the elders.

After all, if it weren't for this sudden-rising "number one in array formations," the Tai Xu Sect might not even still be in the Eight Great Sects.

Now that the three sects had merged with Tai Xu Sect in the lead, everyone knew deep down—it was thanks to Mo Hua.

"Still, rules are rules," Cheng Mo added. "Elder Song said when you have time, you should go register it with him."

Tokens saturated with demonic energy had to be documented—even for Mo Hua.

And Mo Hua wasn't the type to disregard regulations. He nodded.

"I got it."

He transferred 200 contribution points to Cheng Mo.

"Good job. Split it among your team."

"Ah—this isn't necessary…" Cheng Mo waved his hands.

"Even brothers keep clear accounts. You gave me a token, I can't take it for free." Mo Hua replied.

Of course, his contribution points were already capped—he had more than he could ever spend. Naturally, he had to reward his junior brothers.

Cheng Mo stopped pretending and grinned ear to ear.

"Thanks, Little Senior Brother! Then I'll graciously accept!"

If it were something else, he'd be polite. But contribution points? Different story.

Unlike "filthy rich" Mo Hua, the rest of the disciples were practically living on spiritual coupons.

Especially now that they were in late Foundation Establishment, with their second-grade techniques nearing completion… soon they'd need to forge life-bound magic weapons and prepare for Core Formation…

Contribution points vanished like water.

What Mo Hua gave wasn't much—but it felt like a warm bonus on a cold day.

"By the way, Little Senior Brother…" Cheng Mo leaned in, whispering, "When will you finally reach late Foundation Establishment?"

The nearby "little brothers" perked up and stared at Mo Hua expectantly.

Mo Hua sighed.

He wanted to too, alright?

But this bottleneck…

The pain of cultivating the Heavenly Derivation Technique—they'd never understand.

"Eat," Mo Hua waved his hand.

"Oh…" everyone obediently lowered their heads and dug into their food.

After lunch, Mo Hua went to the mountain gate and found Elder Song to register the bloodstained, beast-sigil token—clearly from a demonic sect.

Elder Song didn't give him any trouble—in fact, he was practically glowing with friendliness.

A while ago, when Mo Hua asked for leave, Elder Song still grumbled.

Now? Mo Hua could skip class and Elder Song would probably praise him for his "unorthodox approach to cultivation," "independent path," or "refusal to follow the herd…"

Mo Hua had always believed in mutual respect.

You treat me well—I return the favor with interest.

And Elder Song was indeed kind and courteous—so Mo Hua responded in kind.

Elder Song, delighted, turned to the other elders after Mo Hua left:

"Humble yet firm, respectful and refined. I dare say—this one is destined for greatness."

The other elders nodded in agreement.

But one familiar elder teased,

"Elder Song, you weren't always so complimentary. I remember a few years ago, you said this kid was just coasting on Elder Xun's support, skipping class, always stirring up trouble, definitely not destined for anything big?"

Elder Song kept a straight face:

"That was the old me. The current me has nothing to do with the past me."

The elders burst into laughter.

...

Mo Hua, after registering the token with Elder Song, brought the beast-inscribed token back to his quarters, intending—as usual—to dismantle it and decipher the hidden script inside.

At first, it was just routine for Mo Hua.

He didn't think much of it.

But the moment he skillfully pried off the token's lid—

his expression changed.

Beneath the beast-inscribed token, a framework of white bone encased an intricate structure of Primordial Magnetic Array Runes,

and a token design unlike anything he had seen before.

"This… isn't a message token?"

Mo Hua froze for a second—

then his pupils shrank.

"This is… a Sect Command Token?!"

He inhaled sharply.

A Sect Command Token…

If he wasn't mistaken, those blood-drinking, flesh-gnawing demonic cultivators were disciples from a branch of the demonic sect currently being hunted down by the Dao Court.

Which meant—

This Sect Token… belonged to a demonic sect?

His junior brothers… had accidentally brought back a genuine Demonic Sect Command Token?

Mo Hua was stunned.

He could barely believe it.

Then his heart leapt with joy.

A Demonic Sect Command Token!

Now this—was a once-in-a-lifetime treasure.

Every sect had a unique and highly symbolic token—their Sect Command Token.

In Ganxue Prefecture, things were a little more relaxed.

Sect culture leaned toward teaching and passing on the Dao, so rules weren't overly strict.

But Mo Hua had heard—

Many other sect types—like Hidden Sects, Family Clans, Spiritual Merchant Sects, Industrial Sects, or even Outlaw Sects—had brutally strict rules about Sect Command Tokens.

In some of them, it was literally:

"When the token exists, the person exists. When the token is gone, the person dies."

Losing your Sect Token could mean losing your identity as a disciple—often punished with severe consequences.

In extreme cases?

Cultivation crippled. Expelled from the sect.

And this was no ordinary token.

This was a Demonic Sect Token.

Losing one of those?

The poor soul holding it might not even get to die a clean death.

This token… was extremely significant.

Mo Hua's heart thumped wildly, and he immediately began carefully dismantling the token.

It resembled the Tai Xu Token in some ways.

It integrated Magnetic Messaging Arrays—from the outside, it really looked like just another message token.

But inside?

There was definitely a whole sect-level system—internal organization, hierarchical transmission, maybe even a reward-and-task system like Tai Xu Sect's Merit Ledger.

Small token, vast design.

In terms of quality, the demonic sect's token definitely couldn't match the Tai Xu Token.

But structurally?

It was even more complex.

The Tai Xu Token was too high-end—its internal magnetic array system might be a Fifth-Grade formation, likely built atop a grand foundational array.

The core could either be hidden deep in Tai Xu Mountain or sealed inside the token itself.

What Mo Hua had access to from the Tai Xu Token was merely the surface.

But this Demonic Sect Token?

Because it was lower quality, the internal formations couldn't be sealed.

So ironically, it looked far more complex and cluttered.

Mo Hua carefully disassembled the token, isolating its static and dynamic magnetic runes,

and began parsing the static ones.

He worked at it for a while…

But no matter what he tried, he couldn't make sense of it.

The internal structure was far more intricate than he expected.

The dynamic runes were too volatile, and even among the static patterns, a huge portion was simply beyond his comprehension.

The real issue?

He didn't understand the core principle behind Sect Command Tokens.

He couldn't figure out what fundamentally distinguished them from message tokens at the foundational logic level.

And without that, he couldn't reverse-engineer the token's functional architecture.

For the first time in a long while, Mo Hua was confronted by a frustrating feeling—

His array knowledge just… wasn't enough.

The path of learning has no end.

After some thought, Mo Hua decided—

"I'll go ask someone."

If he didn't know, he'd learn.

If he didn't understand, he'd ask.

Even if he was now the #1 Array Specialist in Ganxue Prefecture, the top of the Dao Theory rankings,

that didn't mean he knew everything.

Array Dao was vast.

He still had far to go.

As for who to ask—Mo Hua already had someone in mind.

He took some time to track down Zheng Fang, and asked him to check whether Elder Zheng had any free time for a visit.

Soon enough, word came back—

Elder Zheng was available.

A few days later, in a private room at a teahouse in Tai Xu City—

Mo Hua and Elder Zheng sat down for tea.

After a bit of polite small talk, Mo Hua got straight to the point and asked about Sect Command Tokens.

Elder Zheng was a little surprised.

This wasn't just an "advanced" question—it was practically out-of-syllabus.

He looked serious and said,

"Let me warn you first—Sect Command Tokens involve sect-level secrets. If you're caught dismantling another sect's token, they'll hunt you to the ends of the earth. No mercy."

Mo Hua froze.

"It's just dismantling a token… is it really that serious?"

He knew that losing a Sect Token was a big deal for disciples.

But he didn't expect that even dissecting a token could be such a crime.

Elder Zheng replied,

"A casual peek, sure, maybe you're just breaking the token…

But you—do you really call that a 'casual peek'?"

He gave Mo Hua a look, brow raised.

Mo Hua scratched his cheek awkwardly, not denying it.

After a moment of thought, Elder Zheng asked,

"Did Elder Xun ever teach you about this?"

Mo Hua shook his head.

Elder Xun had taught him some Primordial Magnetic Formations, but nothing this deep.

And honestly, Mo Hua didn't think Elder Xun would—

Which was why he came to ask Elder Zheng instead.

Elder Zheng thought for a bit, then nodded slightly.

"It makes sense. This is beyond the normal scope. Elder Xun not teaching you—totally reasonable. Besides… this kind of formation really isn't Elder Xun's specialty either."

Mo Hua asked in confusion,

"But Elder Xun is a Fifth-Grade Array Master—doesn't he specialize in Primordial Magnetic Arrays?"

Elder Zheng shook his head,

"Every craft has its specialty. Array Dao is vast and profound—even the most accomplished Array Master can't possibly master it all."

"And besides, the Sect Command Token involves far more complex and specialized principles. Its significance is immense."

"This is an issue more serious than you think. Elder Xun probably avoided teaching it to you to keep you from getting into trouble."

Mo Hua nodded, half-understanding, half-pondering.

Elder Zheng gave him a long look.

Then, with a flick of his fingers, a few array flags shot out and planted themselves around the room.

He lowered his voice.

"If you want to learn this array, I can teach you. But you must think carefully. Once you learn it—you must never tell a soul. You must never let anyone know."

"If this leaks, you'll likely be blacklisted by most sects—treated as taboo. No matter where you go, people will be wary of you. Some will covet your knowledge, others will want you dead…"

Mo Hua felt a chill. His expression grew serious.

"Still want to learn it?" Elder Zheng confirmed again.

Mo Hua paused to consider, then nodded solemnly.

"Yes. I want to learn it."

The more forbidden it was, the more secretive—

That only meant it was more powerful.

And powerful arrays? Of course he'd learn them.

Besides, he already had plenty of hidden inheritances. One more wouldn't hurt.

Elder Zheng nodded.

"Good."

Mo Hua then thought of something and asked,

"Senior Zheng, you said whoever learns this mustn't let others know. But… haven't you learned it? Aren't you afraid of being found out?"

Elder Zheng answered calmly,

"They don't know."

Mo Hua blinked.

Elder Zheng said,

"In this world, the number of people who know I've mastered Thunder-Magnetic Arrays… doesn't exceed five fingers."

Mo Hua was stunned.

He hadn't expected Elder Zheng—with his upright appearance—to be hiding something this deeply.

Mo Hua hesitated,

"You're telling me something this confidential… are you sure that's alright?"

Elder Zheng nodded,

"If I trust you, I won't doubt you. If I doubt you, I wouldn't trust you in the first place. Since I told you, then I've already made my decision."

Mo Hua felt genuinely moved. There was a rare warmth in being trusted.

"Don't worry," Mo Hua said earnestly, "I won't tell a soul."

Elder Zheng nodded in satisfaction.

"As long as you understand. I'll now teach you the underlying principles behind the Sect Command Token. You can study them, but before reaching Golden Core, there's no need to invest too much time."

He paused, took a sip of tea, gathered his thoughts, and began explaining:

"My Zheng Clan's legacy is the ancient Thunder Arrays, rooted in the Eight Trigrams of Thunder."

"This 'Thunder' character… touches the very heavens. The knowledge runs deep. My clan has studied the Thunder Dao for generations and has identified two primary branches: Thunderstrike, and Thunder-Magnetism."

"Above the Nine Heavens, thunder is born—its power is boundless. It can annihilate all things, destroy heaven and earth."

"Within the world below, Thunder-Magnetism pervades all. Omnipresent, yet without form—able to send messages over a thousand miles, convey sound with a single thought."

"The world only knows… that my Zheng Clan studies the Dao of Thunderstrike."

"But this path is pure yang, utterly domineering and destructive. To walk it requires an unyielding Dao Heart, righteousness beyond reproach—very few can manage. Even then, it can't be used lightly."

"As for the livelihood of most array cultivators in the Zheng Clan? That lies with the Thunder-Magnetic Arrays."

"Thunder-Magnetism is a branch of Thunder Dao. It's widely applicable and can be learned by most Zheng disciples."

Mo Hua nodded.

He remembered how Zheng Fang once challenged him for the title of "Little Senior Brother" using a basic Thunder-Magnetic Array diagram from his family.

"But," Elder Zheng's gaze turned heavy,

"Most cultivators—and even most array masters—misunderstand Thunder-Magnetic Arrays."

"Crossing domains in array theory is like crossing mountain ranges. Especially in Array Dao—one branch difference, and it's like a world apart."

"Basic Five Elements and Eight Trigrams are manageable—they share overlaps. But the deeper esoteric trigrams—like Qian Arrays, Kun Arrays, Thunder Arrays—require deep scholarship. Without dedicated study, they're practically incomprehensible."

"As for others—Yin-Yang, Three Talents, Four Symbols, Seven Stars—don't even get me started."

"All array cultivators are called 'array masters,' but the gap between them is immense. The knowledge barriers are like the difference between man and mutt."

"The entire Eight Trigram Thunder Array system—especially Thunder-Magnetism—is the same."

"Ordinary array masters confuse Primordial Magnetism with Thunder-Magnetism, lumping them together. But they don't realize—they're completely different frameworks."

"Primordial Magnetism is just a surface-level application."

"But Thunder-Magnetism… involves the true, unspeakable, classified secrets of the array world."

Mo Hua's eyes were bright with intensity.

He listened with full focus.

And Elder Zheng, seeing this, taught with equal seriousness.

At this moment, neither of them realized—

Elder Zheng was opening a door for Mo Hua—

A door that would one day let him sense the world, command Thunder-Magnetism, and comprehend the source of all things.

(End of this Chapter)