Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 931: Ominous Dream

Divine punishment was still intensifying—this was the consequence of multiple sins combined.

Mr. Tu's bones shattered inch by inch, his flesh twisted like rope, blood seeping into the floor. Yet he dared not resist, dared not plead. He could only endure.

His hatred for the Great Void Sect deepened with every wave of pain, down to his marrow.

If not for the Great Void Sect… the Ten Thousand Demons Valley wouldn't have fallen, the Rouge Boat wouldn't have been wiped out, and his grand plans wouldn't have been hindered at every step.

Now, the one spearheading the siege on the Demon Sect was still the Great Void Sect—with twenty Golden Core elders in the lead!

Mr. Tu was consumed with hatred, grinding his teeth so hard he nearly shattered them.

At the same time, divine punishment was reaching its end.

After enduring pain akin to being ground into dust, suffering the tortures of the Great Wilderness's three thousand hells, and the full force of spiritual torment, Mr. Tu finally had a moment to breathe.

He had plotted for a thousand years to become master of the Great Wilderness.

Yet the divine punishments he'd suffered over the past few years far surpassed the torment of the preceding millennium.

All of it, courtesy of the Great Void Sect and their worship of that savage deity.

This hatred, he would never forget.

Mr. Tu's flesh squirmed, white bones regrew muscle, muscle regrew skin—he returned to human form. Crawling on the ground, he bowed deeply to the massive statue of a ram's skull ahead, and devoutly reported:

"I spent so much effort… but the evil dragon meant for your divine incarnation has escaped. He grew rebellious, thought his bloodline too noble to serve as a vessel for the Divine Lord."

"I will find him and flay him alive."

"Blood Refining Sect, Ten Thousand Demon Mountain… I borrowed their lineages to spread Your Name, which has stirred their greed. They too seek to claim a share of the Ganxue Province…"

"But that matters not. Once the great calamity begins, letting those true demon sects stir up chaos will only bring richer offerings for Your awakening…"

"At that time, the faithful will live. The faithless—die. Even the demon sects will not be spared."

"These demon cultivators, used to killing and lawlessness, have no idea that there are terrors in this world far beyond their imagination."

"The Divine Embryo at the Dragon King Temple… has gone silent."

"The Great Void Sect's vicious god—worthy enemy of the Divine Lord—was actually able to suppress the Divine Embryo's power. Truly formidable. But… that's all."

"I still have contingencies. I will find a more suitable 'Divine Embryo' to serve as the vessel for Your descent."

"The situation is growing urgent…"

"The Dao Court suspects something. The noble clans are becoming cautious. The Great Void Sect opposes us directly, and even their god watches us like a tiger stalking prey."

"Now, the Demon Sect hasn't even had time to grow before being utterly wiped out…"

"Someone is forcing my hand—pushing me to accelerate the plan."

"In that case… I will wait no longer."

Mr. Tu's expression twisted with malice. "At the next Dao Discourse Assembly…"

"I shall turn Ganxue Province into a river of blood—slaughter tens of thousands of cultivators, turn this land into a hellscape… and welcome the descent of the Divine Lord!"

His fanaticism seemed to revive him. Even his injuries began to recover rapidly, as though some ancient evil had heard his vow and was rewarding his loyalty.

Kneeling and trembling beneath the ghostly green candlelight, Mr. Tu looked truly demonic.

"The next Dao Discourse Assembly… a river of blood…"

...

Great Void Sect, Disciples' Residence.

Mo Hua jolted awake, drenched in cold sweat.

He felt as though he had just foreseen something utterly terrifying. Though fully awake, lingering fear still clung to his heart.

"What was that? Did I… have a nightmare?" Mo Hua murmured.

"That's not right. I don't dream. And more importantly…"

"Who would dare make me have a nightmare?"

Frowning, he touched his forehead—ice cold, damp with sweat.

Something felt wrong. He tried to trace the cause with his spiritual sense, but as soon as he tried, it was like plunging into a boundless, endless sea. He had no idea where to even begin searching for the source of this ominous sensation.

He didn't even know what this "cause" really was.

"Was it an illusion? Or… am I just too tired?"

Mo Hua stayed silent for a moment, but still found no answers. So he lay back down, hoping to sleep a little more.

But he didn't sleep often. And after being startled awake like this, there was no falling back asleep.

"Forget it. I'll just practice formation arts…"

When the mind is unsettled and decisions are unclear—train formations first. That was Mo Hua's habit.

He sank his divine sense into his consciousness sea and began consolidating and reviewing several 19-pattern formations on the Dao Stele, even some peak-level 19-pattern ones.

Practice makes perfect, even with formations.

Following his plan, he practiced several second-grade, high-level 19-pattern arrays a dozen times to warm up. Then he began working on a second-grade, 20-pattern Inverse Spirit Array.

He still couldn't fully master this one—it was beyond his current skill to complete—but practice would help.

Besides, his formation skills had reached a bottleneck. Aside from training rare and ultimate arrays, there wasn't much left to learn at the moment.

And so he practiced until dawn, only then opening his eyes.

Bathed in morning sunlight, he cultivated as usual, refining a full cycle of spiritual stones, gathering a bit of spiritual energy—and then, like always, went to class.

He sat in the Dao Lecture Hall, listening attentively to the elder's teachings.

Just like that, Mo Hua transformed from the "hidden hand behind the Demon Sect's downfall" into a diligent little disciple of the Great Void Sect once more.

A few days later, Mo Hua met with Gu Changhuai to inquire about what happened after the Demon Sect's fall.

They sat in a restaurant in Great Void City, drinking and eating together.

The restaurant belonged to the Gu family.

Having seen Mo Hua pour so much effort into the campaign, Gu Changhuai treated him to a meal as a token of appreciation.

Mo Hua was not shy.

He knew Uncle Gu was a "big spender," so he didn't bother saving him any spirit stones.

While Mo Hua dug into the food, Gu Changhuai sipped his wine and said:

"The leader of the Demon Sect escaped. The Dao Court has sealed off the entire third-grade province and is pursuing him with full force, but…"

He frowned.

"They won't catch him," Mo Hua said.

Gu Changhuai nodded. "A late Golden Core stage leader of the Demon Sect, empowered by evil dragon bloodline—even several late-stage Golden Core elders from the Great Void Sect couldn't kill him. Trying to hunt him down… is nearly impossible."

Mo Hua didn't like how that sounded, so he defended his sect:

"That demon was too strong—not because our Great Void Sect elders were weak!"

Gu Changhuai agreed.

That Demon Sect leader, empowered by the evil dragon, had absorbed tremendous blood essence and possessed terrifying strength. No ordinary cultivator could subdue him.

Conversely, if not for the Great Void Sect's elders working together to suppress him and force him to flee, the consequences would've been catastrophic. The Dao Court would've suffered countless deaths at his hands.

That wasn't something they had anticipated either.

Gu Changhuai nodded. "The Great Void Sect has deep foundations. The elders are virtuous and powerful. Without them, the Demon Sect couldn't have been defeated."

Only then did Mo Hua nod with satisfaction.

Uncle Gu had been hanging around him so long—he was finally learning how to say the right things.

"What about the other Demon Sect elders? All dead? Any survivors?" Mo Hua asked.

Gu Changhuai listed them one by one: "The gluttonous, meat-loving Ninth Elder you mentioned is dead. The skinny, serpent-like demon elder was slain by Elder Xun. The senior-most Second Elder is also dead. The rest of the elders are pretty much gone too. Only that Bear Demon Elder remains—and the one you mentioned… Elder You…"

"I had people investigate. Around the Demon Sect's location, no bodies of those two Golden Core elders were found. The Bear Elder at least showed his face once—Elder Xun slashed his arm.

But as for that Elder You, he never showed up at all. From start to finish—completely vanished."

Mo Hua's pace of gnawing on his pork elbow slowed noticeably.

That Elder You really isn't simple...

Did he catch wind of it early through the Dao Court?

Or did he suspect something was wrong with Mo Hua's impersonation of "Mister Yuan," and, using Thunder-Magnetic arrays, picked up a trace of evidence, prompting him to flee ahead of time?

How did he escape? Where is he now?

Mo Hua's mind flooded with doubts, staring blankly into space.

Gu Changhuai glanced at him, took a sip of wine, and said, "Enough. Don't overthink it—that's the Dao Court's business."

After pausing for a moment, he added:

"If there's any trace of those two, I'll let you know."

In other words: Don't waste time on this. Focus on your cultivation. Hunting down Demon Sect remnants is the Dao Court's job. If there's news, I'll tell you.

"Mhm." Mo Hua nodded.

"Oh, and one more thing," Gu Changhuai said.

"The merit for helping eliminate the Demon Sect is currently being calculated by the Dao Court. Everyone who participated will receive their share—including you. Once finalized, it'll be issued through the Great Void Sect and deposited into your disciple token.

Since this was a major event, your merit reward will likely be substantial."

Mo Hua didn't react much.

Mainly because he was already a "merit tycoon."

He had so much, he'd long since lost track.

A bit more or less didn't make a big difference to him.

And as for the Dao Court's efficiency—he knew it all too well. By the time that merit showed up, it could well be the year of the monkey.

After they finished chatting and the meal was done, Mo Hua prepared to return to the sect for class.

Just before they parted, Gu Changhuai said:

"My cousin asked me to tell you—if you'd like, come to the Gu family's New Year banquet again this year."

"New Year banquet?"

Mo Hua was momentarily stunned, then suddenly remembered—just over a month from now, it would be New Year again.

Another year, gone in a flash.

A vague sense of urgency crept into Mo Hua's heart. It felt like time was slipping by too quickly, as if something was about to happen. But that was just a feeling—he couldn't pinpoint why.

"Uncle Gu, your New Year's banquet this year... shouldn't be too busy, right?" Mo Hua asked.

Gu Changhuai looked at him, slowly exhaled, and said:

"Thanks to you, the Demon Sect crisis was handled ahead of time. The Dao Court can finally rest for a bit and enjoy a proper New Year."

"No need to be polite," Mo Hua said with a satisfied nod.

"Then I'll come play at your place for New Year."

Gu Changhuai was silent for a moment, then sighed:

"Alright."

After parting with Gu Changhuai, Mo Hua returned to the sect.

That night, in his residence, he stayed up reading under lamplight. After getting tired, he rested his head on the desk and began to reflect.

The Demon Sect calamity was temporarily over.

Aside from the early planning and behind-the-scenes coordination—efforts which took quite a bit of thought—he didn't actually have to do anything during the real extermination phase.

No Golden Core stage demon ever came for him.

Most of the tricks he had prepared were never even used.

Mo Hua felt a twinge of regret.

But on the flip side, this was probably a good thing. A cultivator should be cautious when necessary—no need to fight recklessly.

With the Demon Sect wiped out and most of its members dead, the few survivors had been thrown into the Dao Prison.

Innocent cultivators in the region would no longer be slaughtered or threatened by the Demon Sect. That was, in itself, a kind of merit.

The only problem that still lingered… was his Life-Bound Treasure—that Four Symbols Azure Dragon Formation.

Just thinking about it made Mo Hua sigh.

Getting that formation diagram… is just too damn hard…

Now the ruthless and powerful Demon Sect leader had escaped—like a flood dragon slipping into the sea. Mo Hua had absolutely no clue where to even begin searching.

And after witnessing the Demon Sect's depravity—and that massive blood pool—Mo Hua began to wonder:

Was this Four Symbols Azure Dragon… really "proper"?

If it wasn't righteous—how could he make it his Life-Bound Treasure?

Was this formation really his destined weapon?

Mo Hua furrowed his brow.

"Should I… divine it?"

With no leads and the situation at a deadlock, he really had no better option than fortune-telling.

Mo Hua took out the copper coins left by his master, arranged a Spirit Mist Array to conceal his spiritual presence, calmed himself, and began a Heaven's Will divination.

The copper coins flew into the air, stirring the threads of cause and effect. Then they landed softly in his palm.

Mo Hua silently asked in his heart:

"What is my Life-Bound Treasure?"

Then he opened his eyes and looked at the coins.

They lay there peacefully—no sign, no ripple of cause and effect.

What the…?

Mo Hua frowned in confusion.

"Did it fail?"

He stared at the coins for a long while but saw no signs of omens. Just as he was about to give up and set them down—

His consciousness suddenly flared in pain. An immense surge of spiritual sense rushed toward the copper coins like a tidal wave.

At the same time, fate churned, and causality began to flow.

But the karmic current this time was too massive. Even with Mo Hua's divine sense, he couldn't bear it.

Within moments, his spiritual awareness was completely drained.

His eyes rolled back—and with a thud, he collapsed face-first onto the table.

Without the support of spiritual will, the karmic ripple on the copper coins faded. The divination's success was unclear—but even so, a faint omen was imprinted deep into Mo Hua's consciousness.

In a daze… he seemed to dream again.

In the dream—was a dragon.

An azure dragon.

But the dream was fragmented. He could only glimpse its silhouette—yet still feel its boundless majesty and overwhelming power. Dragon cries echoed in his ears, clear and resonant, rising and falling.

Mo Hua felt a resonance in his heart.

"This… is a karmic dream from divination?

Dreaming of the Azure Dragon… does that mean my Life-Bound Treasure is the proper Four Symbols Azure Dragon Formation?"

Mo Hua let out a sigh of relief.

If that was the case, then he just had to stick to his original plan—track down that Demon Sect leader and find a way to claim the Azure Dragon Formation from him.

That thought had barely taken root when—

Suddenly, the dream shifted.

Something strange and alien invaded the dreamscape, causing it to collapse inch by inch. The Azure Dragon grew furious and roared in rage.

Moments later, a vague, shadowy mass—like black mist—rushed at the dragon like a violent storm.

A grotesque, warped, and indescribable thing enveloped the Azure Dragon, tore it apart—and then, horrifyingly…

Swallowed it whole.

In the blink of an eye, the dream shattered completely. Mo Hua jolted awake, the scene still vivid in his mind—his heart in utter turmoil.

"A dragon… was eaten by something…"

"What… what does this mean?"

"Was that also part of the karmic omen?"

"Then what exactly is my Life-Bound Treasure...?"

Mo Hua muttered softly to himself, growing even more lost and confused.

In the days that followed, life instead became unusually peaceful.

He still remembered the omen from his dream—the one where the dragon was swallowed. He pondered over it again and again, but could never make sense of it. In the end, all he could do was carry the thought with him from time to time.

He even tried subtly asking some of the elders—dropping it into casual conversation, as if making small talk—about what kinds of things in this world could possibly eat a dragon.

But the question was far too absurd.

The elders couldn't make heads or tails of it and just assumed Mo Hua still had a childlike imagination, asking whimsical and fantastical questions.

Unable to get any useful answers, Mo Hua returned to diligently attending classes and cultivating.

And just like that, a month passed. Another year came to an end.

During the sect's annual assessment, Mo Hua made surprising progress.

His usual unchanged grade of "One A, Six C's" became "One A, One B, Five C's."

His Dao techniques improved—from a "C" to a "B".

Apparently, Elder Yi, after playing "hide and seek" with him and sparring in movement techniques, acknowledged Mo Hua's attainments in that area and made an exception by giving him a "B."

Truthfully, in terms of movement techniques alone, Elder Yi thought even giving him an "A" would've been more than fair.

Even when suppressing his cultivation to the early Golden Core stage, there were very few disciples in the entire Great Void Sect who could last more than twenty rounds against him—let alone someone like Mo Hua, who could trade blows back and forth.

Giving a "B" was simply to avoid drawing attention.

After all, no matter how good Mo Hua's movement techniques were, it was only movement techniques.

His weak spiritual energy limited how far he could go in spell arts—at least by the sect's evaluation standards, he'd always struggle to earn high marks.

But Mo Hua didn't care too much about the "B."

What unsettled him was the change itself.

An unchanging score suddenly shifting—this set off alarm bells for Mo Hua, who had some grasp of cause and effect. It made him feel like some unknown change or disaster was quietly taking shape.

And then—it was New Year again.

This was his seventh New Year at the Great Void Sect. Mo Hua was gradually growing accustomed to it.

Uncle Gu had already invited him ahead of time, so Mo Hua simply went along with the flow and headed to the Gu family to mooch a good feast.

There was still some time before the banquet began.

Mo Hua strolled through Qingzhou City with Yu'er.

The city was bustling with celebration. Yu'er was all smiles too, though his cheerfulness carried a faint trace of worry.

It was subtle, something most wouldn't notice—but it absolutely didn't escape Mo Hua's eyes.

Mo Hua bought a few skewers of candied hawthorn, handed one to Yu'er, and gently asked:

"Yu'er, is something on your mind?"

Yu'er's smile froze slightly, and his face gradually filled with unease.

He was young, and not good at hiding his thoughts.

Mo Hua gazed at him warmly.

After hesitating for a long while, Yu'er finally stammered:

"Brother Mo… I… had another dream."

Mo Hua blinked in surprise.

Another dream...

"A nightmare?" Mo Hua asked.

Yu'er nodded slightly—then shook his head.

"Not exactly… it wasn't like the nightmares from before."

"What kind of dream?"

Yu'er looked a little timid, but as he met Mo Hua's eyes, he slowly began to speak:

"I dreamed of… myself."

Mo Hua was surprised.

"Yourself?"

Yu'er's gaze trembled. He spoke in fragments:

"It was me… but not quite me…"

"And then?"

"Then… there were three of me. One in the mountains. One in the water. One in my heart.

They just silently watched me… I was really scared. They said… they said…"

Yu'er's eyes brimmed with tears as he looked at Mo Hua.

"They said Mother would die… and they said… you would too."

These words seemed to have weighed on his little heart for a long time.

Kind and simple, Yu'er had wanted to speak but never dared to.

Mo Hua looked into his tearful eyes, filled with fear and worry, and gave a gentle smile. His voice was soft:

"Demons and evil spirits can take on human forms to deceive and terrify.

Those three versions of you were nothing more than illusions conjured by them to frighten you."

Yu'er's face still had tear stains.

"Really?"

"When have I ever lied to you?"

Yu'er thought for a moment, then nodded. Brother Mo had always treated him well—he never lied.

Mo Hua patted his head, his voice as warm as ever:

"Whatever appears in your dreams—you don't need to fear them.

No matter what they are—if they dare to show themselves, I'll strike them down.

One strike per monster. Every last one."

No matter what—one sword per creature. I'll kill them all...

That single sentence gave Yu'er tremendous courage.

His eyes gradually lit up. A smile returned to his little face. He looked at Mo Hua and gave a fierce nod: "Mm!"

(End of this Chapter)