The Quest for Immortality

After Mo Hua left, in the quiet chamber, Old Kui slowly became visible again.

He looked at Mr. Zhuang, whose expression was calm, and said discontentedly,

”The things you teach him, why are they all so devious?”

Mr. Zhuang raised an eyebrow, ”Devious is about right, better for oneself to be devious than for the enemy to be.”

Old Kui frowned, musing to himself,

”If Mo Hua continues to learn like this, I’m beginning to find it hard to understand...”

Super Divine Sense, Divine Thought Slaughter, exceptional talent, Formation Visualization...

Just thinking about it feels incredibly tricky.

And I wonder whether cultivating Divine Sense like this is ultimately good or bad...

Suddenly, Old Kui remembered something, and with a chilling tone, he said solemnly,

”Aren’t you afraid he’ll follow in your senior brother’s footsteps to become the second Gui Tao’s person?”

Mr. Zhuang fell silent, his gaze somewhat dim, and after a long time, he responded slowly,

”Who can be certain about the future?”

”Cultivators have long lifespans, and so do their lives.”

”In this life, one will meet many people, encounter many things, face many choices; whether or not one can adhere to their original intentions and stay resolute in their Taoist Heart is something he must manage on his own, I... can’t accompany him for that long...”

Mr. Zhuang’s demeanor was one of melancholy as he sighed,

”He is my little disciple.”

”All I hope for is that he can live well, keep cultivating, keep learning about Formations, keep adhering to his own heart, and pursue the Heavenly Dao...”

”To keep living is enough...”

”Even if he becomes the second ’Gui Tao’s person’... it’s still better than becoming a Taoist who falls into Gui Tao’s clutches...”

To become the second Gui Tao’s person, at least he would still be alive.

But if he became a ”Taoist,” that would mean falling prey to Gui Tao, his Divine Sense annihilated, reduced to a puppet.

Old Kui understood, and he too fell silent.

After a moment, he sighed and said no more, gradually disappearing from view.

...

Mo Hua then went back to his room to start learning Divine Thought Manifestation.

His room was not big, but it was well-furnished, delicate and elegant, adjacent to his senior brother and sister’s rooms, and with the same layout.

Mo Hua sat cross-legged on the bed and first carefully read through the ”Divine Thought Manifestation Bullet Points” given to him by Mr. Zhuang, grasping the general idea.

The key to manifestation was actually visualization.

First, through visualization, one would discern external objects; then inside the Sea of Consciousness, Divine Sense would manifest their physical form.

Having grasped the basic spell point, Mo Hua began attempting to manifest.

He first tried to manifest others and discovered that it didn’t work.

Be it his parents, Mr. Zhuang, Junior Brother, Junior Sister, or Elder Yu of Tongxian City, Da’hu, Dazhu, none could be manifested.

So people don’t work...

No, that’s not right; it’s more that people other than oneself don’t work.

At least not for now.

If people can’t be manifested, what about Monster Beasts?

Mo Hua thought of the Little Demon Cat he had captured, and the Big Tiger it had transformed into, only to find he still couldn’t manifest them.

Mo Hua thought about Feng Xi... better not...

If the Little Demon Cat doesn’t work, then there’s even less hope for a Big Demon.

If Monster Beasts don’t work, then what about Spirit Beasts?

Mo Hua then thought of Big White.

He tried, and found he couldn’t manifest Big White either.

Mo Hua sighed, realizing that for now he couldn’t manifest any living things.

So, he could only try to manifest inanimate objects.

Mo Hua attempted to manifest objects in his room like stools, tables, screens, Formation Pens, Formation Paper, tea cups, and so on.

But to no avail.

Probably because he wasn’t familiar enough with them.

Mo Hua thought it over and proceeded to try manifesting the Thousand Jun Stick.

He was very familiar with the Thousand Jun Stick; he had watched Master Chen forge it and had drawn all the formations on it himself. Mo Hua had also used the Thousand Jun Stick to land many a surprise blow.

Mo Hua took out the Thousand Jun Stick, stared at it intently for a while, and memorized its shape, structure, and formations completely in his mind.

Then he closed his eyes, sank into his Sea of Consciousness, and tried to manifest the Thousand Jun Stick.

After a while, a shadowy image of a stick appeared in Mo Hua’s hands.

Mo Hua was delighted.

Though it was only a shadow, it still marked significant progress.

Now, within the Sea of Consciousness, he could hit people with a surprise stick as well.

Mo Hua swung it a few times, trying out the moves ”Sweeping Thousands of Armies” and ”Like a Thousand Pounds,” feeling even more adept than when using it outside.

After playing with it for quite a while, Mo Hua reluctantly put away the ”Thousand Jun Stick.”

He had spent the better half of the day experimenting, confirming that among all external objects and people, he could only initially manifest a nascent form of the ”Thousand Jun Stick.”

What he needed to attempt next was the manifestation of his own Spiritual Power and Spells, as well as Formations.

Mo Hua first tried to manifest his own Spiritual Power.

He visualized himself, simulating the circulation of Spiritual Power through his meridians, and soon felt a mysterious energy flowing around his body.

Mo Hua was invigorated and concentrated further on visualizing and manifesting.

Several hours later, Mo Hua in the Sea of Consciousness opened his eyes to find that his body was wrapped in a faint Spiritual Power.

This power wasn’t actually Spiritual Power.

It was produced by Divine Sense Manifestation.

On the surface, it appeared to be Spiritual Power, but its essence was still Divine Sense.

Although it was Divine Sense, its effects closely resembled those of Spiritual Power.

It was as if it were both real and fake, both solid and void.

There was a profound sense in which one might see a mountain as a mountain, then as not a mountain, yet in the end, the mountain is still a mountain.

Spiritual Power is the foundation of Spells.

With Spiritual Power manifested, Mo Hua began trying to simulate Spells with it.

It seemed as if, within the virtual image of Mo Hua’s Divine Sense, he could see the light blue Spiritual Power flowing along the meridians in the Dantian and arms, converging at the fingertips, and eventually forming a Spell.

However, the Spark from the Fireball Technique fizzled out after a few flashes.

The first attempt had failed.

Despite this, Mo Hua was not discouraged.