The Quest for Immortality

Thousand Families Town, East Mountain Village.

Not long after Mo Hua had left, a group of uninvited visitors arrived outside the village.

They stood on the mountain, gazing down at East Mountain Village, then took out a golden compass, as if searching for something.

The needle on the compass wavered uncertainly, pointing in no clear direction.

Frowning, they detected nothing and eventually left as quietly as they had come.

The cultivators came quickly and left just as fast, without disturbing the local cultivators.

The Spirit Farmers of East Mountain Village had no idea that outsiders had been spying on them.

They were still preoccupied with the Spirit Fields, concerned with the harvest and livelihood, and were thinking of ways to compete with the Sun Family.

Several days later, three more cultivators arrived.

An emaciated old man, a middle-aged cultivator with a scholarly appearance holding a paper fan, and a young man in white with a clear and bright look.

The emaciated elder flipped a Copper Coin into the air and caught it in his palm.

He looked at the divination result of the Copper Coin and whispered something to himself, sighing after a long while,

”It seems to be here, and yet the divination is not clear...”

The middle-aged cultivator said, ”Pavilion Elder has divined that the person is within this state boundary; it should just be a matter of time before we find him.”

The elder let out a sneer, ”What are you thinking?”

The middle-aged cultivator was taken aback.

The elder sighed, ”Great sound is silent, great form is shapeless.”

”At his level, not to mention being in the same state, even if we were in the same Little Immortal City, if he concealed his movements, you would not detect him.”

”What has no sound cannot be heard, what has no form cannot be seen, what has no Tao cannot be known.”

”If he hides his vital energy, we stand no chance.”

”Heavenly secret Calculation, is it something we cultivators can truly fathom?”

The middle-aged cultivator furrowed his brow,

”Don’t we have the Three Talents Divination Copper Coins given by the Pavilion Elder?”

The elder weighed the Copper Coin in his hand and sighed,

”These Three Talents Divination Copper Coins are valuable, but it also matters who uses them and on whom they are used.”

”My cultivation is not sufficient; I can use them to divine others, but using them to divine that person is just showing off in front of an expert...”

The middle-aged cultivator did not understand. ”Wasn’t it said that his Sea of Consciousness shattered, his Dantian destroyed, and his vital energy all but gone? Why is he still so difficult to deal with?”

The elder glanced at him, ”Because he is a Formation Master, one whose natural talent is nearly monstrous, and whose understanding of Formations is close to attaining the Dao.”

In the middle-aged cultivator’s eyes emerged a deep wariness, followed by a sigh,

”Then why has he fallen to such a state?”

”You need not concern yourself with that, and you better not ask. Such matters are beyond our purview,” the elder stated indifferently.

”We just need to do the task we’ve been given.”

The middle-aged cultivator scoffed, ”But if we go by what you say, if we can’t divine his whereabouts, doesn’t that mean we’ll never find him?”

”Even lions nap.”

”Moreover, we’re not the only ones after him.”

”If we just follow along and muddy the waters, it’s fine not to find him, but we can’t let anyone else find him.”

Having said that, the elder turned back and instructed the young man in white,

”Young Master, I didn’t want to take you out originally, but your father wanted you to gain some experience and you wanted to see the world, so I reluctantly agreed to bring you along.”

”But unless absolutely necessary, do not take action.”

”You must be cautious in your actions. Even though you carry a special Eternal Life Rune, do not let your guard down.”

”Things here are overly complicated, involving too many powers. I might not be able to protect you...”

The elder spoke gravely, aiming to ensure the young master kept to himself, not trying to be clever or doing anything inappropriate.

Otherwise, he might not be able to cope.

Immediately after, he regretted his involvement.

Why did he have to deal with such a mess?

The young master was only twenty-three, already a Second Rank Formation Master in the initial stage of Foundation Establishment, his prospects limitless.

Instead of treasuring him like a jewel at home, why send him out to gain experience?

Cultivating the Tao is perilous; was it so easily gained through experience?

For Loose Cultivators who are poor, it’s one thing not to travel, endure hardship, and later struggle for food.

You, however, a Noble Family Descendant, need not worry about food or cultivation; wouldn’t it be better to stay safe and comfortable in your wealthy home?

Yet you insist on wading into these muddy waters.

And as for how deep these waters run, even he was unsure.

If anything significant were to happen, the special Eternal Life Rune might not even be enough to save his life.

Thinking of this, the elder wanted to smack himself.

It was all because of his big mouth.

After being plied with a few jars of fine wine by the young man’s father, he got confused, and carelessly agreed to this task.

He regretted it as soon as he sobered up.

But by then it was too late...

The young man in white, still unaware of the complexities, simply said earnestly,

”Rest assured, I have taken your words to heart.”

The elder, looking at the young man as naive as a blank sheet of paper, couldn’t bear to say more and just sighed.

The young man’s resolve shone through.

His reasons for coming were two-fold: he wanted to gain experience and see what the Tao Cultivation World beyond the Noble Clans was really like.

The other reason was to meet that renowned Mr. Zhuang.

In his family, he was recognized as a Formation Genius.

At a young age, he had already become a Second Rank Formation Master.

He once self-satisfyingly believed that Formations were nothing much; that even if there were Formation Masters stronger than him, they could not be much stronger.

High-grade Formation Masters were just older and had painted more Formations than he had.

In time, he was certain he would surpass them all.

That was until he inadvertently saw the Formation Patterns created by Mr. Zhuang in his early years and learned of Mr. Zhuang’s deeds, that he realized his own insignificance and ignorance.

There are heavens beyond heavens, and people beyond people.

In this world, there exist profound Formations he had never studied, and brilliant Formation Masters he had never encountered.

The way of Formation is vast and profound.

What he had learned so far was but the tip of the iceberg.

Beneath the iceberg lay the true nature of Formations, as well as the Great Dao contained within.

With increased dedication to studying Formations, the young man in white had become a Second Rank Formation Master at such a young age.

```

He was the youngest Second-Rank Formation Master in the clan’s eight hundred years.

He was somewhat grateful to Mr. Zhuang and also full of longing, and his curiosity was growing.

He wanted to know just what kind of bearing Mr. Zhuang had.

Was he, as the rumors said, supremely talented, peerless, proud, and arrogant, looking down upon all creation?

He also wondered if he could ever have a conversation with Mr. Zhuang…

The young man was thinking quietly to himself.

The gaunt old man cast the Copper Coins a few more times.

Still, he couldn’t figure out anything.

He only vaguely knew that the person had been here.

Why he had come, what he had done, and when he had left, all were mysteries with no clues.

With no leads at this location, the three were ready to leave.

Suddenly, the young man in white exclaimed with a ”huh”.

The middle-aged cultivator asked:

”What’s wrong?”

The young man in white pointed at a distant Spirit Field and said, ”There is a Formation there.”

The middle-aged cultivator frowned, ”That’s a Spirit Field, there are naturally Formations inside…”

The young man in white shook his head, ”It’s different.”

The middle-aged cultivator was slightly taken aback and released his Divine Sense. After perceiving for a moment, his brow gradually furrowed.

Indeed, it was somewhat different...

Just a first-grade Spirit Field, why would it have such a rich vitality?

This didn’t seem like a result that a first-grade Formation could achieve...

The gaunt old man also noticed the anomaly, but as he was not well-versed in Formations, he asked:

”What did you find?”

This young master’s talent for Formations was extraordinary, and Mr. Zhuang was also a Formation Master. Perhaps he really had discovered something.

The young man in white frowned and shook his head:

”I only know that the Formation in this Spirit Field is out of the ordinary, but I can’t see what’s unusual about it. It will take some time to study it.”

The middle-aged cultivator asked the old man, ”Do we still have time?”

The old man said, ”Whether we have time or not doesn’t depend on us, but on his mood. If he wants to give us time, we have time; if not, then we don’t.”

After pondering for a while, the old man continued:

”Since you want to study it, go ahead and study it. Anyway, we’re not in a rush these few days.”

The young man in white showed a look of joy, ”Thank you, senior.”

In the following days, the three of them stayed in Thousand Families Town.

When he had nothing else to do, the young man in white also went to the Spirit Field. He wanted to know what kind of Formation was drawn there.

But after a few days, there was still no progress.

What was drawn in the field were clearly simple Formations like the Cultivating Soil Formation, yet the entire Spirit Field radiated distinct vitality.

The young man was baffled.

It wasn’t until one day, when he climbed a mountain and looked far off, taking in the entire Spirit Field at a glance, that he suddenly had a revelation, an epiphany.

The entire Spirit Field turned out to be one large Formation!

The young man in white told the old man and the middle-aged cultivator about this discovery.

Both were equally astonished.

The gaunt old man nodded and said:

”Indeed, this kind of unimaginable Formation is indeed like his handiwork.”

The middle-aged cultivator asked the young man, ”Do you know what kind of Formation this is?”

The young man shook his head.

”Isn’t it a first-grade Formation?” the middle-aged cultivator asked.

”It’s first-grade.”

The middle-aged cultivator was somewhat surprised, ”You’re a Second-Rank Formation Master, is there a first-grade Formation you don’t know?”

The young man spoke awkwardly, ”This should be a unique first-grade Ultimate Formation.”

”Ultimate Formation?” The middle-aged cultivator didn’t understand, ”Even if it’s Ultimate, isn’t it still just first-grade?”

The young man in white shook his head, ”It’s different.”

But he didn’t elaborate.

Explaining such esoteric matters about Formations to cultivators who aren’t Formation Masters is incomprehensible, no matter how you explain it.

”What do we do now?” the middle-aged cultivator asked once more.

The gaunt old man said, ”This Formation can prove that the person indeed came here. We just need to keep searching.”

Then he muttered to himself:

”Being pursued by so many, yet still having the leisure to draw a Formation? The actions of a true expert are indeed inscrutable...”

The middle-aged cultivator felt slightly disheartened, ”Spent all this time searching, isn’t it the same as not having searched at all? What does one Formation prove?”

The middle-aged cultivator brushed his sleeve and left.

The old man said to the young man in white:

”He’s impatient, don’t mind it. Finding an Ultimate Formation is a great discovery in itself, and this is very likely a Formation personally laid out by him, which is extraordinary...”

”Carefully copy down the Formation Patterns, make no mistakes, and then we can set off.”

”Mhm.” The young man in white nodded.

Afterward, he spent a day copying down all the Formation Patterns of the Spirit Field, then, out of curiosity, he attempted to study them himself.

But he found he couldn’t master it in a short time...

”It seems this must be Mr. Zhuang’s handiwork...”

The young man in white sighed and put the matter aside for now.

The next day, the three set out, leaving Thousand Families Town and continued their search in the direction pointed by the Compass and the Three Talents Divination.

The accuracy of the Three Talents Divination Copper Coin might not be reliable, but it was their only clue.

...

After the three had left, and some time had passed, a strange and oddly shaped person came walking up the mountain road to Thousand Families Town.

He wore a conical hat, covering his face.

There wasn’t the slightest hint of breath around him.

As he walked, his footsteps were uneven, as if someone on stilts hadn’t gotten used to the bamboo poles under their feet.

Passersby looked at him as if they saw nothing, as though he didn’t exist at all.

The person followed the mountain path, passed through Thousand Families Town, passed East Mountain Village, and arrived in front of the Spirit Field. He took off his conical hat and stripped off his straw coat.

He revealed a Taoist’s attire.

At the same time, a strange breath emanated from him.