The Quest for Immortality

”What’s wrong?” Mo Hua asked, puzzled.

Bai Zisheng hesitated, ”Is this... an array hub?”

Mo Hua nodded, ”Yes.”

”What kind of array hub?” Bai Zisheng asked curiously, while Bai Zixi also looked at Mo Hua with curiosity.

Mo Hua thought for a moment and then played coy, ”You’ll find out later.”

Bai Zisheng muttered discontentedly, ”Stingy...”

Then, remembering something, he asked worriedly in a low voice, ”Are you planning to relocate the city?”

”Possibly.”

”What do you mean by possibly?” Bai Zisheng asked, ”When a great demon appears, isn’t relocating the city usually the only option?”

Mo Hua asked, ”Isn’t it usually the only option? Are there other ways?”

He wanted to know if Bai Zisheng had any other methods to deal with the great demon.

”How would I know...” Bai Zisheng shook his head, ”I asked Aunt Xue, and she told me.”

Bai Zixi’s clear voice added, ”The Bai family has cultivators working at the Tian Shu Pavilion who have seen such records. Usually, relocating the city is the best option when facing a disaster like a great demon.”

Some people are devoured by great demons, turned into corpse slaves, or become ghosts... all are human tragedies.

Thinking of this, the three of them looked solemn.

Mo Hua glanced at Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi, then asked, ”If the city relocates, will you leave too?”

Bai Zisheng nodded, ”Once the city relocates, Mr. Zhuang will definitely leave. He doesn’t seem willing to take Zixi and me as disciples.”

”But we must become his disciples!” Bai Zisheng said firmly.

”Why?” Mo Hua was very curious.

Bai Zisheng hesitated, glancing at Bai Zixi, who didn’t stop him or look unhappy. He then solemnly leaned toward Mo Hua.

Mo Hua’s expression tensed as he leaned closer.

Bai Zisheng whispered, ”I don’t know either...”

Mo Hua was stunned, then looked at Bai Zisheng disdainfully.

Bai Zisheng hurriedly said, ”I haven’t finished yet.”

He lowered his voice even more, ”Originally, I wasn’t supposed to tell outsiders, but since we share the same sect... sort of, I won’t hide it from you...”

”My mother instructed Zixi and me to find Mr. Zhuang, become his disciples, and learn a special array.”

”This array can only be learned by direct disciples, not registered disciples.”

”Oh,” Mo Hua nodded.

So that’s it...

No wonder Zisheng and Zixi were so determined to become Mr. Zhuang’s disciples.

Perhaps it wasn’t their determination but their mother’s, or even the Bai family’s...

This array must be very important...

”Don’t you want to know what kind of array it is?” Bai Zisheng was dissatisfied with Mo Hua’s indifferent reaction, feeling that he should be more shocked.

Just saying ”oh”? How could that be?

Mo Hua glanced at him, ”Didn’t you say you didn’t know?”

Bai Zisheng was stunned, ”How did you know I didn’t know?”

”You just said ’I don’t know,’ which means you don’t know what array you need to learn from Mr. Zhuang, right...”

”Besides, even if you knew, you couldn’t tell me, right?” Mo Hua added.

Bai Zisheng shook his head, ”Mo Hua, you’re no fun. We can’t have a conversation like this.”

”You’ve said everything, how can I keep any secrets?”

Bai Zisheng was a bit dissatisfied.

”Alright.” Mo Hua thought for a moment and asked, ”If Mr. Zhuang leaves without taking you as disciples, what will you do?”

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi looked at each other and sighed.

Bai Zisheng said bitterly, ”I don’t know, maybe we’ll keep looking for Mr. Zhuang until he accepts us...”

That’s difficult, as Mr. Zhuang is elusive, and no one knows where he will go.

They might face many difficulties just finding Mr. Zhuang, let alone becoming his disciples.

Mo Hua felt sympathy for them and a bit of resentment towards their mother and the Bai family.

With such a big family, why not solve their problems themselves? Why make Zisheng and Zixi find a master?

They wanted to use these two children to soften Mr. Zhuang’s heart.

It seemed An Xiaofu was right, the bigger the family, the weaker the family ties.

Bai Zisheng suddenly asked Mo Hua, ”Do you think Mr. Zhuang will take you as a disciple?”

Mo Hua was taken aback, thought for a moment, and shook his head, ”You have a connection with Mr. Zhuang, good family background, and talent, yet Mr. Zhuang doesn’t want to take you. Why would he take me?”

Bai Zisheng muttered, ”That’s not necessarily true...”

Mr. Zhuang treated Mo Hua better than them...

If it weren’t for Mo Hua’s poor spiritual roots, he would have suspected that Mo Hua was Mr. Zhuang’s blood relative...

A blood relative of Mr. Zhuang wouldn’t have such poor spiritual roots!

So Mo Hua definitely had no blood relation with Mr. Zhuang.

Mo Hua stared at Bai Zisheng, like a cat narrowing its eyes, ”Are you bad-mouthing me in your heart?”

Bai Zisheng was shocked, ”You can tell?”

Mo Hua snorted, ”I learned it from Mr. Zhuang.”

Every time he secretly cursed Mr. Zhuang, Mr. Zhuang could see through him. Over time, he also learned to see if others were bad-mouthing him.

Bai Zisheng said helplessly, ”What did you learn...”

”As long as it works!”

...

The two bantered for a while.

Mo Hua needed to restore his spiritual awareness, so chatting with Bai Zisheng was a good break.

As they talked, Bai Zisheng suddenly lowered his head, looking a bit down.

”What’s wrong?” Mo Hua asked.

Bai Zisheng looked at the big locust tree and the distant Tongxian City, sighed, ”If the city relocates, will everything be gone...”

Mr. Zhuang’s mountain home, the big locust tree, the bamboo forest, the pond, the fish in the pond...

The cultivators in Tongxian City would leave, the eateries would be gone, the bustling streets, the brilliant fireworks, the exciting demon-fighting plays...

And after parting, they might never taste the wine and meat Mo Hua brought, or Aunt Liu’s handmade pastries...

If they went to find Mr. Zhuang, it would be a tough journey.

Returning to the Bai family meant returning to a gilded but stifling cage.

Their days in Tongxian City were the happiest.

If Tongxian City remained, they could always think of coming back.

If it were gone, there would be nothing to remember...

The more Bai Zisheng thought, the more dejected he became.

Even Bai Zixi’s bright eyes showed deep loneliness.

Mo Hua, for a moment, couldn’t find words.

He thought for a while and suddenly said firmly, ”It won’t happen!”

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi were stunned, ”What won’t happen?”

”Tongxian City won’t disappear!”

”But...”

Mo Hua stood up, ”You’ll see soon!”

He packed his things and said, ”I’m going to find Mr. Zhuang,” then ran off like the wind.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi looked at each other, puzzled by what Mo Hua intended to do.

Mo Hua went to find Mr. Zhuang, asking about the array hub, and then returned home to study the grand array.

The city relocation was still in preparation.

Before the actual relocation began, he had to master the array hub!

Mastering the array hub meant mastering the core of the array.

The individual arrays’ compatibility and array mediums could be built while learning.

In the following days, Mo Hua locked himself in his room, practicing the array repeatedly.

His spiritual awareness unknowingly grew stronger.

The array hub’s structure became clearer in his mind.

The array hub he drew also became more refined.

But it wasn’t enough...

Mo Hua’s spiritual awareness was still lacking.

Every time, he would exhaust his spiritual awareness, then recover, and exhaust it again, repeating the cycle.

Yet, he still couldn’t draw the complete array hub.

Mo Hua tried and failed repeatedly.

Like a person crossing a river, he could see the shore but always drowned before reaching it.

”Does a ten-pattern grand array really consume this much spiritual awareness?”

Mo Hua couldn’t help but feel discouraged.

But he didn’t give up.

He continued tirelessly, like a puppet wound up, repeating the same task mechanically and numbly.

Drawing the array hub, erasing, drawing again, erasing again...

Monotonous, repetitive, and dull.

But Mo Hua remained focused, forgetting time and everything, completely immersed in the array.

Heaven rewards diligence, and after a month, Mo Hua had a breakthrough and for the first time, drew the complete array hub of the Five-Element Demon-Slaying Grand Array in his sea of consciousness!

At that moment, Mo Hua was stunned.

He felt no joy, only numbness and a bit of self-doubt.

”Did I really draw it?”

Was it a dream...

Mo Hua looked at the array hub again.

It was flawless, orderly, with intricate lines, layered and interwoven, forming the grand structure of the array hub.

Profound, obscure, complex, yet with an inexplicable, intricate beauty.

Mo Hua emerged from his numb, mechanical ”puppet” state, and joy slowly seeped into his heart like rain.

”I finally

drew it!”

Mo Hua’s eyes lit up with joy.

Drawing the complete array hub alone meant he could create the grand array, and he could formally begin constructing the powerful Five-Element Demon-Slaying Grand Array!

Build the grand array, kill Feng Xi, and save Tongxian City!