Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 975: Celestial Phenomenon

Within the Sea of Consciousness, beneath the Dao Stele.

Mo Hua sat in deep meditation, calming his spirit. Only when his Dao Heart became like a clear mirror—free of joy or sorrow, serene and without flaw—did he reach out and grasp the golden, radiant thread of Grade-3 Divine Marrow, swallowing it in one gulp and instantly refining it.

Though it seemed only a single strand, the Grade-3 Divine Marrow was boundlessly vast and incomparably pure.

A surge of extremely refined divine sense flooded his entire body.

That golden marrow essence seeped into every corner of Mo Hua's spiritual incarnation, mending the divine essence he had lost during the battle with the demonic fetus in Lone Mountain.

Thread by thread, strands of innate laws—unconscious principles birthed from heaven and earth—merged into Mo Hua's origin.

It was as though the marrow was repairing a "divinely flawed" god.

Or perhaps, completing the transformation of something not quite a god—into something godlike in essence.

Mo Hua's spirit became clearer, his divinity more complete. His spiritual incarnation was slowly nourished by the marrow, gradually made whole.

The bottleneck that had long hindered his divine sense began to loosen.

The pressure of the Heavenly Dao… lifted.

It was as if the will of Heaven itself had finally permitted him to break through.

In a flash of clarity, Mo Hua understood.

Why had he, despite being a single step away, been unable to break through the 20-rune threshold—no matter how much he honed his sea of consciousness or devoured divine will?

It was because, strictly speaking, his divine sense was already approaching the realm of a demigod.

All things in the world evolve in accordance with the Heavenly Dao.

But the paths of humans and gods differ.

His body was still human.

But his divine sense… had long since surpassed the scope of mortals.

Thus, Heaven demanded more of him than it would of an ordinary person.

A normal cultivator who trained in formations daily and refined their sea of consciousness—consuming enough soul power—would have long reached the 20-rune level.

But not Mo Hua.

He needed to devour Grade-3 Divine Marrow, enrich his divine mind, complete his Dao transformation, and elevate the very quality of his spirit to reach godlike standards.

Only then would the Heavenly Dao allow his breakthrough.

Upon realizing this, Mo Hua felt a bit… annoyed.

"I'm clearly just a human. Why's breaking through a divine sense stage this ridiculously strict?"

This was just blatant species discrimination by Heaven.

But alas, he was merely a little Foundation Establishment cultivator—he couldn't exactly file a complaint.

So he could only abide by Heaven's law and allow his divine sense to evolve step by step.

Where this transformation would ultimately lead, he couldn't say.

But given that his path now aligned with that of the gods… it surely wouldn't be weak.

He calmed his heart once more, continuing to refine the divine marrow, slowly digesting it—transforming the divine will, laws, Dao transformation, and divine nature it contained into nutrients to strengthen his spirit.

His divine sense gradually expanded.

His divine origin was also tempered by Dao laws, purging impurities and becoming ever purer.

Even its color changed—undergoing a cleansing akin to "refining marrow and washing tendons"—slowly approaching a state of pure gold.

"There is no perfect gold, no flawless man…"

But Mo Hua's divine mind was being honed, step by step, toward flawless golden purity.

It was a slow process.

And the closer he got to perfection, the slower the refining.

But Mo Hua was in no hurry.

"The Dao of Heaven flows in constancy."

"When the fruit ripens, it will fall; when the water flows deep enough, a channel will form."

He embraced this natural rhythm with a tranquil heart and a clear mind, using the opportunity to carefully comprehend the transformation of his divine mind.

To understand how a god's spirit undergoes Dao transformation through refinement.

Innate gods were born with this—it came naturally to them. No effort, no learning.

But Mo Hua was not a god.

What gods took for granted was for him a vast ocean of the unknown.

So he watched, he studied, he contemplated… he learned.

He sought to understand these divine laws.

To probe the essence of the god-path.

This, too, was something only a human could do.

And in this insight, Mo Hua's understanding of Dao transformation deepened.

Some laws within the divine marrow merged into his subconscious—until finally, the last impurity within his divine sense was completely refined.

It turned into spotless gold.

At that moment, his entire divine mind became pure gold—flawless, radiant, dazzling.

The bottleneck shattered completely and disappeared without a trace.

A golden Divine Path descended from the heavens, laying itself upon Mo Hua's Fate Path.

It intertwined with his human Dao, fusing together.

Divine Dao and Human Dao—blended into resonance.

And so, Mo Hua's divine sense… finally reached 20 runes.

20 runes – Divine Sense Core Formation!

In that instant, a great celestial omen erupted.

A beam of divine golden light shot skyward, streaking like a rainbow through the day, piercing the heavens and illuminating the night sky of Mount Taixu.

The golden light spread outward, unfolding like branches and leaves, manifesting into a towering Tree of Divine Authority, radiant with laws, forged of pure gold.

This tree bore no ordinary foliage—it bloomed with formation runes!

Its leaves were runes. Its trunk was the core. Its heart was an eye of innate law—

A formation tree of golden brilliance, reaching sky and earth.

Laws of the Great Dao circulated through it.

The golden radiance expanded—thousands of formations, tens of thousands of arts, bloomed like snow-white pear blossoms, overwhelming the heavens and blanketing all of Mount Taixu.

But this astounding scene occurred within the realm of spiritual consciousness.

Most Foundation Establishment disciples couldn't see it.

They slept on in dreamland. The few who looked to the sky saw only a calm mountain, a cool moon, serene gardens, and a peaceful night.

Golden Core elders felt a vague unease.

When they looked up, they caught only faint flickers—ungraspable glimmers of light.

Only cultivators of the Nascent Soul (Feathered Ascension) Realm and above could perceive traces of divine will—

They saw dazzling golden streaks. They saw shapes like branches, like formation runes.

Inside the small academy, the Sect Master of Taixu, who was reading by candlelight, furrowed his brows, gazing outside with confusion.

"What… is that?"

"A celestial phenomenon?"

"No, it's fragmented… It's strange."

"Why would something like this appear in my Taixu Sect? Who caused this…?"

He frowned deeply.

Outside the academy, the big white dog jolted awake—then barked madly at the sky in shock.

In the Elder's residence—

Venerable Elder Xun was still studying his compass, pondering the Shen Family's situation. In the next instant, it was as if the blazing dawn had shattered the night—golden light poured through the window, flooding the room in brilliant radiance.

He froze and turned to look outside—then immediately went blank, stunned.

His Hollow Void divine sense let him see everything.

He saw—within the sea of radiance—the enormous golden tree of laws, its branches spanning heaven and earth, cloaking all of Mount Taixu.

Every branch and leaf on that divine tree was a formation. Every pattern, every rune, connected in mysterious complexity.

This spectacle—sublime, sacred, profound beyond words—left even this ancient Hollow Void elder in stunned awe.

Venerable Elder Xun stared, not even blinking.

Only when the glorious vision finally faded, the mountain returned to night, and silence reclaimed the world, did he return to his senses.

That lingering image still burned in his mind, though now it had vanished.

A sense of loss rose in his chest.

And alongside it… came a growing sense of disbelief.

"What just happened?"

"Was that… a celestial omen?"

"What kind of omen…?"

"What kind of celestial omen was that?"

"Someone forming a Golden Core? No… Impossible. How could a Core Formation phenomenon be that grand?"

"Then… could it be someone ascending to Nascent Soul or even Hollow Void?"

"But our Taixu Sect doesn't have anyone of that level...?"

Venerable Elder Xun stood frozen by the window, staring at the tranquil night sky and the peaceful courtyards of Mount Taixu. Suddenly, his expression stiffened—he sensed something was… off.

"No… something's not right."

"With an omen that overwhelming, why is the entire mountain so quiet?"

There was no commotion from the disciples, no elders flying out to investigate. Mount Taixu remained as it always was—calm, silent, bathed in moonlight.

"Don't tell me… they can't see it?"

"Was that… a divine sense phenomenon?!"

A spiritual omen—a celestial vision composed purely of divine will—one that only cultivators of Nascent Soul or Hollow Void Realm and above could perceive?

Elder Xun's chest tightened, his breath slowing.

"What in the world is going on?"

"Why would such a divine sense omen appear… in my Taixu Sect?"

He hadn't even finished digesting that question when a name leapt instinctively to his mind:

"Mo Hua!"

Within the Taixu Sect, the only one with a divine sense bizarre and out of the ordinary… was Mo Hua.

"Did something happen to Mo Hua? Is this omen… related to him?"

Elder Xun didn't want to believe it, but his tightly furrowed brows revealed his unease. Unable to sit still, he tossed aside his compass. In a flash of light, his figure vanished.

Within the disciples' residence—

Mo Hua, focused entirely on breaking through, remained completely unaware of the celestial spectacle outside.

Gold light filled the skies; the night burned like day.

The divine tree bloomed in waves, covering the heavens and earth.

This glorious, divine vision—Mo Hua didn't see a single bit of it.

His consciousness had been wholly immersed in his Sea of Awareness, breaking through.

He had only… quietly, sneakily… eaten a bit of Divine Marrow to enhance his divine sense.

Now that he'd refined the marrow, completely absorbed its essence, he had finally succeeded in shattering his bottleneck—raising his divine sense to the 20-rune threshold.

More than that, his divine sense had transformed—into true flawless gold, pure and radiant, unmarred by any impurity.

Mo Hua was overjoyed.

He couldn't resist trying out a few rounds of Divine Sense Sword Manifestation in his Sea of Awareness. After admiring his new golden Dao-transformed spirit form for a while, he finally, very satisfied, withdrew his consciousness.

Only to open his eyes—and find a pair of cloudy yet piercing eyes staring right at him.

Mo Hua jolted. Startled, he blinked and finally saw who it was.

"Xun… Elder Xun?"

Elder Xun gazed at him with a complicated expression, choosing his words carefully.

"Are you… alright?"

"Uh… what do you mean?" Mo Hua looked confused.

"Your divine sense…"

Mo Hua froze—and then instantly realized.

Elder Xun had noticed his divine sense breakthrough!

He was stunned.

He'd made absolutely no noise, secretly breaking through his divine sense bottleneck to 20 runes in the middle of the night. Not a peep escaped.

Yet Elder Xun had sensed it immediately?

"Truly worthy of being a Hollow Void Patriarch," Mo Hua thought, "his cultivation is terrifying."

What he didn't know was—the phenomenon he caused lit the skies gold and nearly blinded Elder Xun.

If Elder Xun hadn't noticed, that would've been the real supernatural event.

But Elder Xun wasn't an outsider—and he had always been kind to him.

So, after thinking for a moment, Mo Hua didn't hide it and softly admitted:

"Elder… I think I just… formed a core."

"A core?" Elder Xun blinked. He looked at Mo Hua's still-Foundation-level cultivation and frowned.

"What kind of core could you have formed?"

Mo Hua whispered, "My divine sense… formed a core."

Divine sense Core Formation?

Elder Xun paused. It took a second before the meaning registered.

And when it did, a chill shot to the top of his skull, his scalp tingled, his mind buzzed, and even his voice began to tremble.

"You… your divine sense… formed a core?"

Mo Hua nodded honestly, a little puzzled.

"Didn't you come because you sensed I broke through?

Why are you so shocked?

Wait…

Don't tell me…

You didn't know I formed a core??

Then… why did you even come here?!"

Elder Xun released his divine sense, carefully sensing the aura emanating from Mo Hua.

He could feel it—far more condensed, pure, and deep than before—and even carried a transformation in substance.

Only then did he fully confirm it.

It really was… Divine Sense Core Formation!

Elder Xun's breath caught. Even the hand hidden in his sleeve trembled slightly.

Core Formation itself wasn't that big of a deal. Taixu Sect had many disciples forming cores each year.

To most cultivators, Golden Core was a significant milestone.

But to an ancient Hollow Void cultivator like him—it was just the beginning.

He had seen countless cultivators form cores in his long life.

But divine sense core formation… at the Foundation Establishment Realm??

That wasn't just rare—it was unheard of.

Not just in his lifetime.

In the thousands of years of Taixu Sect history—going back even ten thousand years to before the Three Sects merged—this had never happened!

Divine sense cannot be cultivated independently. It is judged by one's cultivation realm.

Normally, if your divine sense surpassed your cultivation by one major level, that was already considered extraordinary talent.

Surpassing by two or three levels? That was miraculous.

But Mo Hua?

He just leapt an entire major realm.

That's not a matter of one or two runes—that's a complete doubling in scale.

Even Elder Xun—an ancient Hollow Void Patriarch—found it terrifying.

He had known Mo Hua's talent in divine sense was good… but this good?

He had never even dared imagine.

Elder Xun looked at Mo Hua again.

His gaze was clear and penetrating, divine light glowing within—yet there was a youthful depth, a hint of otherworldly clarity.

A blend of qualities that made him—at once—like a pure-hearted little demon,

a juvenile godling,

and a freakishly intelligent monster.

Even Elder Xun… began to question what species Mo Hua truly was.

"Can a human… really have this kind of talent?"

"The Taixu Sect might have just accidentally raised… a little divine ancestor…"

Elder Xun's heart quaked.

"Elder… is something wrong?" Mo Hua still looked confused.

From his expression, Elder Xun could tell—Mo Hua hadn't the faintest clue just how serious this was.

In fact… it might be far more dangerous than he originally feared.

"When… did your divine sense form a core?" Elder Xun asked solemnly.

"Just now…"

"Who else knows?"

Mo Hua shook his head.

Elder Xun breathed a sigh of relief—then his voice dropped into grave seriousness:

"This matter—you must never tell a soul. Never. Ever.

No matter what happens, deny everything. Even if someone suspects, deny it to your death!"

A Foundation Establishment cultivator forming a Divine Sense Core, leaping an entire major realm, completely shattered the known laws of the Heavenly Dao.

If this news got out, it would cause an absolute storm in the cultivation world—countless sects and forces would eye him like wolves.

He'd be envied, targeted, recruited, tempted, assassinated, imprisoned—

perhaps even captured, dissected like a lab rat, and studied in secret.

Just imagining it sent a chill through Elder Xun's soul.

Mo Hua now looked a little scared too, and solemnly nodded.

"No matter what, you keep your mouth shut."

"Got it!"

Seeing Mo Hua's serious face, clearly understanding the gravity of the situation, Elder Xun finally relaxed a little.

But then another thought came to him:

"When your divine sense formed a core… did you trigger any kind of phenomenon?"

"Phenomenon?" Mo Hua frowned. "What phenomenon?"

He truly had no idea.

Elder Xun furrowed his brow, uncertain.

The image of that vast golden tree, bathing the heavens in radiant light, flickered through his mind again.

"That golden tree just now… could that have been Mo Hua's Divine Sense Core Formation omen?"

"It… shouldn't be. It was just Core Formation. There's no way a vision that grand came from that..."

"But again… Divine Sense Core Formation at Foundation Establishment… is already a defiance of the Heavenly Dao itself. From that perspective… maybe it's not impossible..."

"Could that vision really have come from Mo Hua?"

Seeing that Mo Hua was clearly clueless, Elder Xun quietly sighed in his heart.

"Forget it. Whether it's related or not, I'd better find a way to cover it up—so no one gets suspicious."

Elder Xun forced his expression back to normal and said casually:

"Nothing. Just asking."

"Oh." Mo Hua nodded, not thinking much of it.

"Just remember what I said. Don't overthink. Get some rest," Elder Xun reminded him again.

"Yes, sir. I'll remember everything."

"Good."

Elder Xun gave a slight nod, took one last deep look at Mo Hua, and then vanished in a blink of light.

A crack in space opened and Elder Xun reappeared in the Elders' Quarters. He hadn't even sat down when a visitor arrived.

It was the Sect Master of the Taixu Sect.

"Ancestor, there seemed to be something strange in the sky just now…" the Sect Master frowned.

Elder Xun's heart skipped, but he remained composed.

"What did you see?"

"There were strands of golden light… and some scattered, mysterious patterns…" the Sect Master replied.

Elder Xun could tell they hadn't seen the full extent of it. He exhaled slowly, then after a moment's thought, replied:

"Yes, there was a minor celestial sign. Nothing serious. It's already been taken care of.

Just let the other Elders who noticed it know—not to overreact, but also to avoid spreading word."

Not overreact, but also don't speak of it?

The Sect Master felt that was… odd. But since the Ancestor said so, there must be a reason he couldn't speak of.

"Understood. I'll go inform them."

"Mm." Elder Xun nodded.

"Then I won't disturb you further." The Sect Master bowed and withdrew.

Elder Xun sat down, poured himself a cup of tea—but just as he lifted it—

A piercing sound of shattering space echoed across the hall.

Three spatial cracks burst open in the Elder's chamber.

The Patriarchs of Tai'a Sect, Chongxu Sect, and Taixu Sect's own Elder Murong all appeared at once.

The room filled with chaotic chatter:

"Brother Xun… did I wake up too hard, or was I seeing things?"

"I swear I saw a tree…"

"That gold light nearly blinded me!"

"A celestial omen… beyond absurd!"

Elder Xun let out a long sigh, head beginning to ache.

The Taixu Sect Master was still young, only at the Nascent Soul Realm. His vision had been incomplete—easy to brush off.

But these three old monsters? All were Hollow Void Realm cultivators. Their spiritual senses saw everything—clearly.

Add in their centuries of scheming experience and cunning—they weren't going to be fooled so easily.

"Mo Hua, that little rascal… he's really stirred up a storm this time." Elder Xun thought, already feeling the incoming headache.

(End of this Chapter)