Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 942 - Geomancy

"Just one glance from him, and you nearly died?"

Shen Qingsheng held his breath, throat tight and chest heavy, unable to utter a single word.

Shen Shouxing gave him a disappointed look, then his expression turned stern. "Tell me the truth—did you secretly learn something behind my back?"

The idea that someone could kill with just a glance—Shen Shouxing naturally found it unbelievable.

Mo Hua was late Foundation Establishment, and his son was at the same level.

Their cultivation was comparable. In fact, if you compared spiritual roots, spiritual power, techniques, and Dao methods, his son should have had the upper hand.

How could he lose his mind, babble like a madman, and completely lose composure just from being looked at?

No Foundation Establishment cultivator should be capable of such a feat.

Most likely, the problem lay with his own son.

Shen Shouxing stared deeply at him.

He had always been too busy.

His high position meant endless affairs, with eyes watching his every move. Even just maintaining his own power and interests took every ounce of cunning and effort—how could he spare time to watch over his son?

He had no idea what his son did day to day.

But he wasn't ignorant of how the younger generation of noble families behaved—spoiled and reckless.

Thinking back to that demon-possessed-like state, Shen Shouxing truly suspected his son might've practiced some shady, forbidden Dao technique just to chase a thrill. Maybe in the middle of a clash, his meridians backfired and his mind broke.

And that sort of thing… was a huge taboo!

If it stayed hidden, fine. But once exposed and discovered, his son would be ruined.

Forget expulsion from the sect—at worst, he might even be erased from the clan registry or thrown into the Dao Prison.

If that happened, his only son… would essentially be sentenced to death.

All his decades of hard work—his legacy—would have no heir, no continuation. All of it would go to waste.

Shen Shouxing's gaze grew even harsher.

Shen Qingsheng's face turned pale, eyes panicked. "Father, I didn't… I'm your son! How can you not believe me and instead believe the nonsense of that little bastard?"

Shen Shouxing snapped, "Shut your mouth! Watch your words! Little bastard this, little bastard that—do you even know who he is?"

"Isn't he just some random disciple of the Great Void Sect?"

Shen Shouxing sneered, "The head of the Array Path, favored by the ancestor, and you call that just a disciple?"

Shen Qingsheng, still defiant, scoffed, "Head of the Array Path? He just got lucky, had an ancestor pulling strings. If not for that, how could a mid-Foundation brat beat my senior brothers from the Heavenly Dao Sect?"

Shen Shouxing scolded, "Then why weren't you the one with that luck? Why weren't you the Array Path leader?"

"I…" Shen Qingsheng choked, then stiffly raised his head. "If an ancestor had backed me, I could've easily gotten that title too!"

Shen Shouxing took a deep breath.

This son of his… was truly ruined.

Raised in luxury, arrogant from birth—everything had come too easily. So he never learned to value anything.

He had never truly struggled, so he looked down on others' efforts and couldn't even recognize real talent.

Shen Shouxing sighed, now too weary to argue. He just warned seriously, "I don't care about anything else. But that Mo Hua—you are not to provoke him again."

"But Father, he—"

"Shut it!"

"Father!" Shen Qingsheng was indignant. "We're the Shen family! Nobles of the Heavenly Dao Sect! Why should we fear the likes of the Great Void Sect?"

Shen Shouxing roared, "We may be the Shen family, but the Shen family doesn't belong to us! You're a disciple of the Heavenly Dao Sect—nothing more!"

"Where do you get the gall to look down on one of the Eight Great Sects? To disrespect their ancestor?"

"You truly have no sense of your place!"

Shen Qingsheng remained scornful, clearly not taking any of it to heart. He muttered darkly, "That brat from the Great Void Sect has history with Young Master Lin. If he dares ignore Lin Gongzi's face, I'll be sure to teach him a lesson."

Shen Shouxing said coldly, "I sent you to Young Master Lin to build connections and climb upward—not to pretend you're his equal."

"Young Master Lin is a true noble. Don't think for a second you're the same kind of person."

Shen Qingsheng said nothing, jaw tight with rebellion.

Shen Shouxing was done talking. "I've said all I need to. From now on, stay away from Mo Hua of the Great Void Sect. If you disobey, I'll lock you up and cut off your spirit stone allowance for three months."

Shen Qingsheng panicked. "Father! I'm your own flesh and blood! You won't help me, fine—but now you're siding with that little—"

Shen Shouxing's expression darkened sharply—he didn't even need to speak, and the pressure made Shen Qingsheng go stiff.

He knew his father was truly angry this time and dared not speak again, though he still looked stubborn.

Shen Shouxing sighed and waved him away. "Go."

"Yes…" Shen Qingsheng gave a half-hearted salute and left.

Shen Shouxing watched his son's back, brows furrowed deeply. Once the boy was gone, he called over a trusted aide.

"Keep an eye on him. Don't let him stir up trouble."

"Yes, Elder."

The aide departed.

Shen Shouxing stood alone in his luxurious yet empty study, overwhelmed with fatigue, yet feeling hollow inside.

"All these years of hardship… I've paid countless prices, swallowed endless humiliation, sacrificed so much…"

"In the end… what was it all for?"

His eyes were bleak as he muttered to himself.

Great Void Sect.

Mo Hua continued his usual cultivation—attending lectures, drawing formation diagrams.

In his free time, he sent a message to Gu Changhuai, asking about Fan Jin.

"Inspector Fan?"

"Yeah," Mo Hua said. "During the campaign against the Demonic Sect, even if he didn't make major contributions, he worked hard. He should've earned a lot of merit. So why won't the Dao Tribunal let him transfer out?"

Gu Changhuai didn't answer immediately. Instead, he asked curiously, "How do you even know Inspector Fan?"

It would make sense if Mo Hua knew a few elders in the sect. He was a disciple, after all, and even favored by the sect ancestor.

But how did he know a magistrate from a backwater town?

Was this guy's networking ability… a little too terrifying?

Mo Hua replied, "We bumped into each other, had tea and a meal. That's all."

Gu Changhuai went silent.

Mo Hua pressed again, "So why won't they approve his transfer?"

Gu Changhuai thought for a moment. "I asked around. Apparently… someone 'gave word from above.'"

"'Gave word'?" Mo Hua frowned. "You mean someone deliberately said Fan Jin couldn't leave Lone Mountain City?"

"Possibly. But there's another possibility…" Gu Changhuai said gravely, "That none of the current Executors, Inspectors, or Supervisors in Lone Mountain City are allowed to transfer."

Mo Hua's heart chilled.

More and more, it seemed there was something seriously wrong with Lone Mountain City.

He asked, "Who gave the order? The Shen family?"

"Not necessarily," Gu Changhuai replied.

Mo Hua looked confused, so Gu Changhuai explained, "The Dao Tribunal touches on the Tribunal's core authority. The people involved… are complicated. Sometimes you can't tell someone's purpose or allegiance just by appearances."

"Some people don't bear the Shen name—but still serve the Shen family."

"Others do bear the Shen name—but might be working for someone else entirely."

"Power shifts. Interests shift. And people's loyalties change with them. Truth and lies are hard to distinguish."

"Oh…" Mo Hua mumbled.

Uncle Gu might seem like a blockhead, but he actually knew quite a bit.

Gu Changhuai asked, "Why are you so curious? Did Fan Jin ask you to look into this?"

"No, I'm just curious. So I figured I'd ask you," Mo Hua said.

Gu Changhuai didn't say anything more.

Then Mo Hua remembered something. "By the way, Uncle Gu—what do you think of Inspector Fan, as a person?"

"Which aspect are you asking about?"

"His character, abilities, and prospects within the Dao Tribunal."

Gu Changhuai pondered for a moment before replying, "Fan Jin is a clever man. Hardworking, resilient, and willing to risk his life—he definitely has capability."

"If he were in a noble family, with that kind of drive and ambition, he wouldn't have done badly."

"But the issue is—he comes from a poor background, has no connections in the Dao Tribunal, and his own aptitude is average. The techniques he cultivates and the artifacts he uses are all middling at best. Without some major opportunity, it'll be very hard for him to have any real future."

Gu Changhuai spoke very objectively.

As a magistrate from a noble lineage who often led from the frontlines and met all kinds of people, he had a solid sense of who had a future and who didn't.

Mo Hua nodded thoughtfully.

"Do you have some other plan in mind?" Gu Changhuai asked.

From what he knew of Mo Hua, this young man never took interest in anything without reason. If he asked about something, he definitely had an angle.

"It's nothing much, just…" Mo Hua paused for a second, then came up with an explanation. "Just trying to sow a good karma."

Back in the dining building, Fan Jin had stood up to the Shen family pressure to help him—Mo Hua naturally remembered that favor.

If someone treats him kindly, he returns the kindness.

If someone wrongs him, he returns that too.

Repay virtue with virtue, repay grievance with justice.

That was his basic principle.

So, as long as it was within his power, helping Inspector Fan was perfectly reasonable.

At the same time, the matter of Elder Shen Xiuyuan had made Mo Hua understand something even more clearly: do more good, accumulate hidden merit, build karmic ties, plant cause and effect.

If Elder Shen hadn't helped out in Nanyue City back then—hadn't met Mo Hua, the walking definition of "Nice Guy"—he might have been finished when he ran into that Martial Uncle later.

So, sow more good causes to reap more good results.

The righteous path gains support; the unrighteous loses it.

That way, if danger comes one day, others might be willing to help—and he won't end up alone with no way out.

His master had suffered precisely because of this mistake.

Mo Hua was determined not to repeat it.

Gu Changhuai nodded.

"Building good karma" sounded like a reasonable excuse, though he didn't realize how deep Mo Hua's intent actually went.

"Right," Mo Hua remembered something else. "Uncle Gu, are there any leads on the leader of the Demonic Sect?"

He still hadn't forgotten about that Four Symbols Azure Dragon Array Diagram.

Hearing this, Gu Changhuai's expression darkened. "Nothing yet. That Demonic Sect leader has vanished without a trace. No one can find him."

Mo Hua frowned slightly.

Such a powerful demon cultivator—just where could he be hiding…?

"The Dao Tribunal will keep investigating. You just focus on your cultivation," Gu Changhuai said out of habit.

"Mm." Mo Hua nodded.

He also understood—someone in the late Golden Core realm was absolutely not someone he could deal with yet. But that array diagram's opportunity was still tied to that demon.

There was nothing he could do right now—just ask around and hope for a lucky break.

Maybe he could fish in troubled waters and pick up some leftovers.

Of course, it was a very slim hope.

And the longer time passed, the slimmer it became.

Mo Hua sighed.

"Let's get to the bottom of the Lone Mountain situation first…"

The next day, Mo Hua called for Xie Ling.

Xie Ling hailed from the Xie family of Gen Prefecture, a clan known for its ancestral expertise in geomancy and yin-yang feng shui formations.

The moment he heard Mo Hua was looking for him, Xie Ling happily rushed over, greeting with enthusiasm:

"Senior Brother Mo! You called for me?"

As the junior disciple, he'd received a lot of care from Mo Hua. Whether it was bounty hunts, spirit beast hunting, or array formation practice—he'd benefited from Mo Hua's guidance more than once.

So he was eager to return the favor whenever he could help.

Mo Hua said, "I wanted to ask you about tomb robbing."

Xie Ling jumped, startled. "Senior Brother—you want to rob tombs?!"

"No," Mo Hua quickly motioned for him to lower his voice. "The Dao Tribunal encountered a group of tomb raiders, but the clues are sparse. I don't know much about tomb raiding, so I came to ask you."

"Ohh," Xie Ling nodded, then added solemnly, "Just so we're clear—my Xie family doesn't rob tombs."

"Your parents told you to say that?" Mo Hua asked.

"Yes!" Xie Ling nodded immediately—then caught himself and added hastily, "But it's true! The Xie family doesn't rob tombs!"

After all, they practiced geomancy—reading the qi flow of mountains and rivers, designing burial grounds, and passing down secret yin-yang feng shui formations.

But flipped around, that same knowledge made them perfectly suited for tomb raiding.

The Xie family may well have done such things in the past, but outwardly, they'd absolutely deny it. Otherwise, it would bring serious trouble.

Mo Hua understood. He patted Xie Ling on the shoulder. "I get it. I'm just asking about the methods used in tomb raiding."

Since it was "in the blood," Xie Ling thought for a moment, then began:

"Tomb raiding—uh, I mean, geomancy—is vast and profound. It covers a wide range of knowledge."

"First, you have to learn how to read the flow of heaven and earth's qi, the intersection of yin and yang, how to assess mountain formations, dragon veins and hidden tigers. Only by understanding all that can you locate the most auspicious sites for burial."

"And once you bury someone, naturally… you build a tomb."

"And within the tomb, there are tons of details:"

"Overall layout, coffin orientation, deadly traps, guardian statues, corpse transformation formations…"

"… and more."

Xie Ling listed off a bunch of things, then scratched his head awkwardly. "But I only know the basics. I'm not really an expert."

"I wasn't allowed to study it properly back home—I wasn't of age yet. My parents didn't teach me. What I know is just from overhearing them."

"You're already incredible," Mo Hua praised.

Without Xie Ling sharing this, Mo Hua would've had no clue—total darkness.

Each art has its masters.

Specialization exists in every craft.

Especially in these cultivation clans, knowledge passed down through generations is always tightly guarded from outsiders.

Receiving praise, Xie Ling was thoroughly encouraged and started wracking his brain, pouring out everything he knew like spilling a jar of beans.

"The layout of tombs requires secrecy and durability, which inevitably involves array formations.

"With the support of these formations, tombs can last for centuries or even millennia without decaying.

"Furthermore, it's through the use of such array structures that one can conceal qi fluctuations, merge yin and yang, obscure karmic traces, and allow the tomb to become one with the earth. Even after lying dormant in the earth veins for tens of thousands of years, it wouldn't be discovered.

"After all, the tomb of a cultivator, once found, will surely attract greed. Unless it's the ancestral grave of a noble family, guarded by a powerful expert, being looted is only a matter of time.

"Among all the formations in tombs, the most important is the Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Formation—a Xie family secret. I haven't studied it yet, so I don't even know what the formation diagram looks like.

"Besides that, there are also Yin Formations and Earth Formations, both quite important..."

Mo Hua's mind stirred.

Yin Formations—could those be related to the dual-polarity Yin-Yang formations?

And Earth Formations… likely tied to the Dao of the Earth itself?

Mo Hua silently pondered, feeling a surge of insight.

The world is vast, and the path of array formations is endless.

Sure enough, in the corners of this boundless land, there were still many strange and profound formation types he had never studied—some he had never even encountered before.

Unfortunately, Xie Ling had no real ambition in array cultivation, and his knowledge of these formations was shallow at best—mostly just names and vague concepts.

No matter how much Mo Hua asked, he didn't get much more out of him.

Still, Xie Ling's words gave Mo Hua plenty of new ideas.

"Feng shui, mountain terrain, burial grounds…"

"Fortified with formations to conceal qi…"

"Lone Mountain. Tomb raiders…"

"The evil fetus…"

Mo Hua furrowed his brow. He faintly felt that these matters were connected in some way.

In this world, things rarely happen as mere coincidence.

Where there's coincidence, there's always causality.

But the clues were far too few, and the threads of karma far too tangled—Mo Hua couldn't make sense of them just yet.

In the days that followed, Mo Hua continued attending classes and cultivating.

Two days later, he headed once again to Beast-Taming Mountain.

The selection rounds for the Sword Competition were proceeding steadily and progressing step by step.

Where previously it had been one-on-one duels, the disciples of the Great Void Sect were now sparring in five-on-five team matches.

Because of the group format, the battlefield was even larger, spiritual tools and spells flying everywhere. The combat was fiercer, and the unpredictability much greater—sometimes the outcome hinged on a single move.

Mo Hua, however, remained just a spectator.

Everyone was busy training, but he alone sat quietly off to the side—looking somewhat out of place and solitary.

As he watched, Mo Hua couldn't help comparing in his heart.

His fellow disciples were all steadily growing stronger. With this level of dedicated training, by the time of the Sword Competition, they'd surely be a level stronger.

In cultivation, in technique—they would surpass their current selves.

But he wouldn't.

If he kept doing nothing like this, by the time of the competition, his raw strength would be no different than it was now.

At best, he'd have refined his spiritual power through one or two more full cycles—useless in the grand scheme.

While others advanced, he remained still.

Which meant… in effect, he was falling behind.

Mo Hua's expression grew solemn.

"As Heaven maintains its vigor through movement, a gentleman should constantly strive for self-improvement."

He had come to Qianzhou to study. He should be pushing forward—not stagnating.

He could not allow himself to become the kind of person who not only fails to improve but actually regresses.

Mo Hua fell into deep reflection.

A few days later, the monthly rest period arrived. He prepared everything, packed his storage pouch, and once again left the sect—heading back toward Lone Mountain City.

Elders' Residence.

Xun Ziyou came to pay respects to Venerable Elder Xun, sighing:

"That boy's running off again."

Elder Xun furrowed his brow, fingers flicking through a divination calculation as he gazed at the compass before him. After a long pause, he finally said quietly:

"Forget it. A shallow pond cannot raise a true dragon."

"Let him go… let him play."

(End of this Chapter)