The Quest for Immortality

”Just make do with it for now; when there’s a chance later, I’ll learn the complete ’Divine Thought into Sword’.”

”Having managed to master it to this extent through those few sparse scenes and fragmented words from the causal retrospection is already pretty good.”

Mo Hua comforted himself silently, and then he quietly put away the golden mini sword, but he felt some doubts in his heart.

”I wonder how powerful this Divine Thought into Sword really is; I need to find something to test it on...”

Mo Hua exited his Sea of Consciousness, put away the broken sword, and looked around—no Evil Spirit to be seen.

Neither the River God nor the Evil God were in sight either.

It seemed that after the immense battle of that year, which was tragically won by the Divine Thought into Sword from a senior Sword Cultivator, the River God had hidden away, leaving behind only a barren temple here.

The broken sword was submerged in the Blood Pool, tarnished by flesh and blood.

Not because of what the old coot said about ”serving as a warning,” but simply out of fear.

It had been stabbed through the chest and was scared.

It feared being stabbed again, so it hid.

Mo Hua empathetically pondered and felt it was quite likely the case.

”So, in that case,” Mo Hua frowned, ”where exactly has the River God, or rather, the Great Wilderness Evil God, hidden?”

The River God Temple was empty, but certainly not truly vacant.

Mo Hua shifted his gaze towards Master She, his expression carrying a hint of intrigue.

Master She had already set up the altar, and on it were items that were either bloody or eerie—undeniably not the sort of things one would call conventional.

”The moment has come to commence the ritual.”

Master She turned back, his eyes dark and ominous.

Gu An looked towards Mo Hua.

Yu Dahe too, his expression excited, eagerly awaited Mo Hua’s move.

Mo Hua nodded.

Gu An then grabbed two men in black and threw them in front of the altar, pressing them to kneel.

The bodies of Yu Dahe’s two sons were placed on the altar.

Master She then began to chant:

”Exalted River God above, your faithful devotee sincerely sets forth this offering and sacrifice...”

”Heaven moves in cycles, sacrifice has its order.”

”One life for another life, one soul for another soul.”

”Today we sacrifice grown men, both man and beast, in exchange for the lives of two young boys, praying for the River God’s mercy...”

Following this, Master She prostrated himself on the ground, praying with fervor.

Yet Mo Hua’s gaze shifted ever so slightly.

He sensed a whiff of a Formation’s essence.

Beneath the table, unseen due to his concealed movements and sleeves, Master She rubbed his finger raw on a slab of stone, using his blood as ink to inscribe an unknown Formation.

His actions went unnoticed by Gu An and the others.

Mo Hua silently contemplated, keeping his thoughts to himself.

After some time of silent prayer, Master She’s ritual and the Formation beneath the table were complete, he slowly looked up, revealing an unabashedly sinister smile.

At that moment, Mo Hua saw that the two men in black were in agony, their Divine Senses instantly drained dry, leaving them as two lifeless corpses.

And with the sacrifice of the two men in black, the ambiance within the River God Temple suddenly grew oppressive.

At the center of the Divine Temple, the Divine Statue of the River God seemed to come to life, its gaze imposing and fierce as it looked down upon the Cultivators in the temple.

A dense fog of blood spread out rapidly from all directions.

With a ”bang,” the Pure Heart Mirror on Gu An shattered, the repelling evil hairpin on Gu Quan’s head snapped, and the Soothing Jade on Yu Dahe’s body also cracked.

The expressions of Gu An and the others changed dramatically, and just as they were about to draw their swords to attack Master She, their bodies involuntarily froze, their eyes grew vacant, and they gradually lost consciousness, collapsing to the ground one by one.

Mo Hua also felt overwhelmingly sleepy.

And it seemed as though a force was attempting to pull away his Divine Sense.

Mo Hua silently glanced at Master She, then offered no resistance, letting his Divine Sense be pulled from his body.

He soon passed out as well.

The entire River God Temple was left with only Master She standing.

His eyes full of resentment, he sneered:

”Blind fools, unaware of the Divine Lord’s mighty power.”

”In this grand nightmare... I will slaughter each and every one of you in your dreams...”

After saying this, Master She scoffed sinisterly, slowly closed his eyes, and his Divine Sense left his body as he too collapsed to the ground.

...

After an experience of the world turning upside down and Divine Thoughts being inverted,

Mo Hua opened his eyes.

A faint mist floated around him, as if in a dream.

Before him stood a magnificent River God Temple.

The real temple outside was false.

The illusory temple within the dream was the truth.

At the deepest part of the Divine Temple, there was an intensely strong presence of a deity, as well as a very subtle scent of an Evil God.

The corners of Mo Hua’s mouth curled into a slight smile.

”Found it...”