The Quest for Immortality

Mr. Zhuang spoke with reverence:

”This array embodies the true laws of the Dao of Heaven. Under the array, all beings are equal. Anyone who violates the taboos of this array, regardless of their status or cultivation level, will be eradicated without exception.”

”Hence, this array is also called: ’Heavenly Dao Array’!”

”Heavenly Dao Array...” Mo Hua murmured, imprinting the name deeply in his mind, and feeling a sense of anticipation.

He hoped that one day, he too could draw such an all-encompassing array.

Mo Hua couldn’t help but ask, ”Then, sir, who drew this array? Was it an immortal?”

Mr. Zhuang shook his head and said, ”When the Dao Court was founded, this array already existed. No one knows its origins, nor who created it. Even if the one who drew it was not an immortal, they must have been a powerful cultivator who had entered the path of immortality.”

”Therefore, people also call this array the ’Innate Grand Array,’ implying that it was born with the heavens and earth.”

”The Dao Court used this Heavenly Dao Array to delineate the ranks of the states. The array in each state limits the cultivation levels allowed, thus determining its rank.”

Mr. Zhuang sighed, ”However, only a few cultivators are aware of the ’Heavenly Dao Array.’”

”Many array masters don’t even believe that the vast sky is actually an array.”

Mo Hua couldn’t help but ask, ”Is it because there is no inheritance, so people don’t know?”

Mr. Zhuang shook his head, ”Even if there were records, they still wouldn’t believe it.”

Mo Hua was slightly taken aback, ”Why?”

Mr. Zhuang pointed to the sky and asked Mo Hua, ”What can you see from the sky?”

Mo Hua tilted his head and looked at the sky for a long time until his neck ached, then hesitantly said, ”There are clouds...”

”And what else?”

Mo Hua shook his head, ”Nothing else.”

Mr. Zhuang nodded, ”Exactly, nothing else... No array patterns, no array hubs, not even the array mediums are visible, let alone the array eye. How can it be called an array then?”

”Sir, can you not see it either?”

Mr. Zhuang looked at Mo Hua and smiled warmly, ”Like you, I see nothing...”

”Not only me, but even those cultivators who are much more advanced in cultivation and array mastery than I am can see nothing.”

”If we can’t see anything, if there is nothing there, how can it be called an array?”

”But aren’t there records in the Daoist texts?” Mo Hua asked.

”Records in the world may contain errors; even Daoist texts shouldn’t be fully trusted,” Mr. Zhuang explained.

”I see...”

Mo Hua nodded, then looked up at the sky again, feeling the boundless, ever-changing mysteries.

Mo Hua seemed to grasp something, and with a determined expression, he said, ”Sir, this must be an array!”

Mr. Zhuang smiled slightly, ”Why do you say that?”

Mo Hua shook his head, ”I don’t know, but I feel it is.”

Mr. Zhuang was slightly stunned, then gently patted Mo Hua’s head and said softly, ”An array master’s intuition is sometimes very important for understanding the Dao of Heaven. I hope one day you can truly see the array in the sky...”

Mo Hua was encouraged by Mr. Zhuang’s hope and nodded earnestly.

Then he asked with some confusion, ”Sir, if there really is a Heavenly Dao Array in the sky, what is its purpose, or rather, what is the significance of such a Dao law?”

Mr. Zhuang’s gaze deepened, and he said four words solemnly: ”Balance of Heaven’s Dao.”

Mo Hua seemed to understand but couldn’t fully grasp it.

Mr. Zhuang raised his head, looking at the vast sky, and slowly said, ”Like you, I also believe that the Heavenly Dao Array exists. It’s just that our divine senses are not strong enough, our array mastery is shallow, so we can’t see it.”

”Suppose the Heavenly Dao Array really exists...”

Mr. Zhuang looked at Mo Hua and continued, ”If the states’ ranks were not determined, if cultivation levels were not limited, without the balance of the Heavenly Dao Array, what would the cultivation world be like?”

Mo Hua thought for a while and then said cautiously, ”Would it be chaotic?”

”Why would it be chaotic?” Mr. Zhuang asked again.

”Because the power of the cultivators would be unchecked?”

Mr. Zhuang nodded, ”Never overestimate human nature. Humans are a species that will kill for profit, for grudges, or even for amusement.”

”Without cultivation restrictions, high-level cultivators would slaughter low-level cultivators indiscriminately.”

”The human Dao heart is never firm. It is restless, wavering, indulgent, like duckweed on the waves, rising and falling with the flow, hard to settle. Even the most upright person can have evil thoughts.”

”Among a hundred high-level cultivators, even if only one harbors evil thoughts, it would be a catastrophe for low-level cultivators.”

”Without the balance of the Heavenly Dao, high-level cultivators could easily massacre low-level cultivators.”

”Qi refining cultivators could face slaughter from Golden Core, Ascended, or even Void-returning cultivators, and they would have no power to resist.”

”A Golden Core cultivator could slaughter a city, an Ascended cultivator a realm, and a Void-returning cultivator a state.”

”Some demonic cultivator leaders might act even more recklessly, perhaps refining the entire population of a state to forge magical treasures...”

Mr. Zhuang sighed and continued, ”The strength of the cultivation world lies in high-level cultivators, but its longevity lies in low-level cultivators.”

”Once the low-level cultivators are slaughtered, the cultivation world will inevitably decline.”

”Over time, the entire cultivation world would be destroyed by killing.”

”But with the balance of the Heavenly Dao Array, high-level cultivators dare not act recklessly, giving low-level cultivators a chance to survive. This allows the cultivation world to thrive and endure...”

Mo Hua nodded, gradually understanding the significance of the balance of the Heavenly Dao.

For example, Tongxian City is a second-grade state. If a Foundation Building cultivator causes trouble, there will be other Foundation Building cultivators to deal with it. If not, even Qi Refining cultivators can unite to resist.

But without the balance of the Heavenly Dao, if they were invaded by high-level cultivators, they would be unable to resist.

Mo Hua then asked, ”But if that’s the case, if there is a demonic threat in the state, wouldn’t the cultivators also be unable to resist?”

Because demonic threats are so powerful, and they can kill and absorb blood, almost ”endlessly.”

”Yes,” Mr. Zhuang nodded, ”Everything has pros and cons. With the Heavenly Dao Array, high-level cultivators are restrained, but demonic threats become invincible within a state;”

”But without the Heavenly Dao Array, while there are ways to subdue demonic threats, it easily allows high-level cultivators to commit endless killings...”

”Between two evils, we choose the lesser. A demonic threat can at most destroy a state, but unrestricted high-level cultivators can destroy the entire cultivation world.”

Mr. Zhuang sighed deeply, saying meaningfully, ”After all, the ones who kill the most are always humans, not beasts.”

The ones who kill the most are always humans, not beasts...

Hearing this, Mo Hua felt a complicated mix of emotions.

Mo Hua pondered for a long time, hesitated for a while, and finally asked the question he was most concerned about: ”Is there any way to deal with the great demon?”

He grew up in Tongxian City and couldn’t bear to see the cultivators there flee to the wilderness, living a life of hardship.

Nor could he bear to see Tongxian City destroyed by the great demon.

Mr. Zhuang looked at Mo Hua with some relief, ”You already have an idea, don’t you?”

”Yes,” Mo Hua nodded, ”I’ve thought it over. The only way to deal with the great demon is with a grand array...”

From the records he obtained from Zhang Lan, he learned that some families or sects had subdued great demons relying on protective arrays.

Mo Hua looked up, hoping, ”Sir, can I learn the grand array?”

Mr. Zhuang’s expression showed a moment of emotion.

He had anticipated this day but hadn’t expected it to come so soon...

Mo Hua, at the first grade of Qi Refining, wanted to learn the grand array from him.

This wasn’t an issue.

The grand array is the ultimate pursuit of array masters. Every array master in the world wants to learn the grand array.

Even if they don’t become the chief array master, just participating and adding a few strokes to the array patterns is already considered a great honor.

But Mo Hua was different because he truly had the qualifications to learn the grand array.

His divine sense intensity, his control over his divine sense, his array mastery experience, and his array proficiency were already among the best of first-grade array masters.

But the grand array is not that simple...

Mr. Zhuang sighed, ”You need to think it through.”

”I’ve thought it through!” Mo Hua nodded.

”You haven’t really thought it through.” Mr. Zhuang shook his head, his expression stern, and said slowly, ”The grand array is the most complex, the most difficult, and the largest construction project among arrays. It’s not something you can learn just because you want to, nor can you build it alone.”

”Building a grand array requires a lot of manpower and resources

...”

”The array mediums of a grand array need to be refined by artifact refiners and constructed by craftsmen. The array hubs, you can draw yourself after learning, but within the grand array, there are thousands of individual arrays. You can’t draw them all by yourself; other array masters must assist you.”

”In addition to manpower, there are also resources. The materials for constructing the array mediums, the spirit ink for drawing the arrays, and the spirit stones to activate the array are all enormous in quantity.”

”Moreover, the array hub of a grand array is extremely difficult, consuming a lot of divine sense. Learning it is not easy.”

”The most crucial point is...” Mr. Zhuang’s expression grew serious as he looked at Mo Hua and said slowly:

”Even if you exhaust all efforts to build the grand array, what if it still can’t withstand the great demon?”

”After spending so much manpower and resources, depleting spirit stones, and still failing to subdue the great demon, what will the cultivators of Tongxian City do? In such a case, migrating the city would be almost impossible. How would they survive?”

”Have you considered all these things?”

With each of Mr. Zhuang’s words, Mo Hua’s heart grew colder, and finally, he looked disappointed, his head hanging low.

Mr. Zhuang gently patted Mo Hua’s head and said softly, ”Think these things through before deciding whether to learn the grand array or build it.”