Immortality Through Array Formations

Mo Hua was also curious, so he followed to watch the excitement.

While Yu Chengwu was interrogating inside, Mo Hua sat outside with Elder Yu, drinking tea.

After a while, the screams from inside the room stopped, and Yu Chengwu came out, with some blood on him, but it wasn’t his own. He also looked thoughtful.

Mo Hua’s eyes brightened, “Did you find out anything?”

Yu Chengwu glanced at Mo Hua, not too willing to respond.

Elder Yu simply said, “Speak.”

Yu Chengwu pondered for a moment, then said:

“Those two confessed that they are sin cultivators.”

“Sin cultivators?” Mo Hua was briefly stunned.

Elder Yu explained, “It refers to cultivators who have violated the Taoist Court’s laws, committed serious crimes, and are wanted by the Taoist Court officials.”

“What crime did those two commit?” Mo Hua asked curiously.

Yu Chengwu shook his head, “They didn’t say. I guess the crime is not small. Even if they did say, it would be a death sentence for them, so I didn’t ask. After all, we are not Taoist Court officials; it’s not our responsibility.”

Elder Yu asked, “Is there anything else?”

“Yes,” Yu Chengwu nodded and said, “According to those two, there are more than twenty people in their group, most of whom are sin cultivators wanted by the Taoist Court officials. With nowhere to turn, they banded together to rob and kill, earning some spirit stones.”

Elder Yu snorted coldly, “A bunch of beasts.”

Mo Hua asked, “So, what should we do?”

Elder Yu said, “First, we send these two scoundrels to the Taoist Court officials. If they are really wanted, we can claim some reward money. Afterwards… ”

Elder Yu put down his teacup, thought for a moment, and said, “After that, we’ll wait and see what the Taoist Court officials do. It’s their job to capture sin cultivators, and we shouldn’t interfere without their word.”

“However, if we encounter any in the mountains, don’t be polite. Act if you can, and if you capture them alive, take them to the Taoist Court for a reward. If you can’t capture them alive, slaughter them and throw their bodies into the gullies to feed the monster beasts.”

“A bunch of scoundrels, they’re all just wasting spirit stones by living!”

Elder Yu cursed again.

Yu Chengwu nodded but his brow was still furrowed, “I suspect those two didn’t tell the whole truth.”

Elder Yu raised an eyebrow, “How so?”

“Such cultivators who have been around in the cultivation world are slippery fish, accustomed to mixing lies with truth. He said they have more than twenty people, but in reality there may be more. He said they banded together to rob and kill, but their plans are probably not so simple.”

Elder Yu nodded, “Spread the word about this. For the time being, monster hunters entering the mountains should be more cautious, stay alert, and act according to the situation.”

“Yes,” Yu Chengwu bowed and said.

Elder Yu also warned Mo Hua, “You need to be more careful as well. Don’t go into the Inner Mountain unless necessary. And even if you must, stay extra vigilant.”

“Don’t worry,” Mo Hua nodded.

He still had to enter the Inner Mountain, but indeed, he had to be more cautious.

Otherwise, with the speed at which he used formation paintings, he would quickly run out of spiritual ink.

High-grade spiritual ink was too expensive to buy with spirit stones.

Although Mo Hua was not short of spirit stones, that was only in comparison to the Qi Refinement Realm. To reach Foundation Establishment, he still needed a large amount of spirit stones, which he had to start saving early on.

In the following days, monster hunters became more cautious when hunting in the mountains.

And whenever a monster hunter entered the mountain, either Yu Chengyi or Mo Shan would bring their Compass Disk and patrol nearby.

Should a battle occur, they would immediately verify the situation and provide timely support if there was danger.

After seven or eight days like this, all was peaceful.

They did encounter a few suspicious cultivators, but those only dared to glance from a distance before quietly withdrawing.

That day, like usual, after draining the blood from a few monster beasts, Mo Hua sat alone by the stream to wash his hands.

“`

After washing his hands, Mo Hua looked up and suddenly saw fog pervasive, with no one in sight within a hundred feet.

Mo Hua felt a chill in his heart, suspecting that something was about to happen.

He released his Divine Sense, and in it, he found the fog laced with extremely thin strands of light blue Spiritual Energy, mixed with dense miasma and heavy fog.

These elements jumbled together, mottled and chaotic, obstructing the perception of his Divine Sense.

Mo Hua remembered the instruction from Mo Shan.

If he encountered dense fog, he should not rashly move; otherwise, straying into the deeper mountains could mean fatal danger.

But standing still on the spot also posed some risks.

Mo Hua took out his writing brush and ink and drew several Formations nearby, covering them with soil and stones to hide any traces, then he sat down cross-legged in the middle and waited patiently for the fog to dissipate.

Half an hour passed, and then the fog suddenly cleared.

The fog of the Inner Mountain came quickly and left just as fast.

Mo Hua packed up his things and was about to leave when he suddenly saw a Cultivator covered in blood running towards him from a distance.

Upon seeing Mo Hua, the Cultivator showed a look of great alarm and cried out urgently, “Run quickly!”

Only then did Mo Hua recognize that the blood-covered Cultivator was Ji Li!

Ji Li was pale, covered in wounds, and his breath was weak. He hadn’t run a few steps before a black-clothed brute came striding over and chopped a blade down on his back.

Blood gushed like a fountain, and Ji Li gradually slumped to the ground, but still he kept looking at Mo Hua, muttering,

“Quick… run.”

The black-clothed brute glanced disdainfully at Ji Li and then turned to look at Mo Hua with a hoarse voice, “You two know each other?”

Mo Hua nodded.

The brute sneered, “Good, then you’ll have company on your journey to death.”

After saying that, the brute stepped forward toward Mo Hua.

After a few paces, the brute frowned suddenly, looking down to see Ji Li’s bloodied hand gripping his ankle tightly, preventing him from advancing towards Mo Hua.

Ji Li tried to say something, but he couldn’t speak, only coughing up a mouthful of fresh blood from his throat.

The black-clothed brute sneered with contempt, crushed Ji Li’s hand under his foot, and continued to stride towards Mo Hua.

Meanwhile, Mo Hua still stood motionless on the spot, not moving an inch.

“Scared stiff, are you?”

The black-clothed brute sneered internally.

No wonder, a child of such young age, on the brink of death, it was normal to be panic-stricken.

The black-clothed brute’s eyes gleamed cruelly as he continued to walk forward.

Just as he was about to step within an arm’s reach of Mo Hua, a sudden doubt arose:

How did this child survive in the Inner Mountain?

The Inner Mountain had Monster Beasts, miasma, dense fog, poison marshes, and Sin Cultivators like himself committing all manner of wicked deeds.

This child, all alone, should have died long ago.

The brute harbored some doubts in his heart, but his feet had already taken the step and firmly landed on the ground.

Immediately, he frowned, sensing something was off.

It seemed like something had shattered beneath his feet, the sound crisp and delicate, similar to that of a Spirit Stone, and there was a sensation of Spiritual Energy flowing as well.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the stone underfoot faintly glowing red.

He looked up again, only to find Mo Hua had already drifted back, no longer with the dazed and panic-stricken look from before; instead his young face was calm, the clear eyes even carried a hint of mockery.

The brute was first puzzled, then woke up to the reality with a shock, “No good!”

“`