The Quest for Immortality

He is a Body Cultivator and dreams of participating in the Sword Discussion Conference.

The Sword Discussion Conference is held in a specially designated area on Mount of Tao.

The terrain is varied, with mountains and waters, and complex landscapes. It is purposefully constructed to allow teams of five disciples to engage in martial arts competition.

Above the arena, there are also Formations.

Mo Hua’s Divine Sense swept across briefly, his gaze shook, and he seemed a bit absent-minded.

”Fifth grade...”

These Formations are indeed genuine Fifth Grade Arrays, and not just any ordinary kind.

They are Fifth Grade Void Formations!

Encompassing Spatial Power, Fifth Grade Void Formations!

But just...

Mo Hua frowned, somewhat puzzled, ”Why would Fifth Grade Formations be needed here?”

Cheng Mo naturally did not know, and Hao Xuan also shook his head.

Situ Jian then explained to Mo Hua: ”These Formations are used to protect the disciples participating in the sword competition.”

He may not understand much about Fifth Grade Formations, but Situ Jian is very familiar with the facilities related to the Sword Discussion Conference.

In the entire Qianxue State Boundary, there isn’t a single disciple who doesn’t long to participate in the Sword Discussion Conference.

Situ Jian is no exception.

More so because he is a Sword Cultivator, and his name even contains the character ”Sword.”

If he could secure a good ranking in the Sword Discussion Conference, not only would he be highly valued by the elders in his Sect, but even upon returning to his family, he would be celebrated as bringing honor to his ancestors and would have boundless prospects.

Situ Jian continued, ”The Sword Discussion Conference is merely for sparring, not for disciples to fight to the death.”

”But everyone is a Foundation Establishment Disciple, with comparable Cultivation. Once they go all out, nobody can really pull their punches.”

”Therefore, some old seniors of Qianxue State Boundary have joined hands in constructing these Fifth Grade Void Formations, to ensure the safety of the disciples.”

”After all, those who can enter a Sect of Qian State either possess excellent talent, come from a distinguished background, or both. Should anything untoward happen, it would be difficult to explain.”

Mo Hua was a bit unclear, ”How does this ensure safety?”

The real competitions of the Sword Discussion Conference are very complex.

With his current understanding of Formation principles, he couldn’t quite grasp how it was possible to protect the disciples’ safety under the sword competition’s rules.

Situ Jian pointed towards the disciples participating in the sword competition, ”Before entering the arena, each person will have a ’Life Rune’.”

”The Life Rune is integrated with the Fifth Grade Formation, and it will take injuries instead of the disciple. Once the damage exceeds a certain threshold, the Life Rune will shatter, and the disciple will be deemed defeated.”

”At the same time, the Fifth Grade Formation will forcefully activate, using the power of the Void to forcibly transport the defeated disciple out of the competition arena, ensuring their safety...”

Mo Hua was startled and then suddenly understood.

So that’s how Fifth Grade Void Formations are used.

”Then, is this ’Life Rune’ somewhat similar to the special Eternal Life Rune?” Mo Hua asked.

”Indeed it is similar, but actually, it’s quite different,” Situ Jian said seriously. ”Although this kind of Life Rune also involves Fifth Grade Void Power, it cannot be compared to the special Eternal Life Rune at all.”

”In the entire Qianxue State Boundary, only a few of the top direct lineage prodigies from the pinnacle families are qualified to receive an Eternal Life Rune planted by the Heaven Void Ancestor, even at the cost of depleting their origin.”

”And such disciples are mainly concentrated in the Four Great Sects.”

”Our Situ Family, while barely touching the threshold of the Fifth Grade, is still not qualified to plant such a special Eternal Life Rune...”

Situ Jian sighed.

Mo Hua’s brow furrowed slightly.

Eternal Life Rune...

Before he could contemplate further, Cheng Mo already yelled out, ”It’s starting, it’s starting, Mo Hua, Junior Brother, look quickly!”

Mo Hua looked in the direction of the sound, and saw that in an arena separated and protected by Formations, two teams of disciples had already begun their battle.

This kind of five-on-five confrontation is quite complex.

It requires not only personal Cultivation and Taoist Skill but also coordination, cooperation, and tactical strategy, among others.

Once the fight happens, the situation becomes complicated, and the developments are ever-changing.

As Mo Hua watched for the first time, he couldn’t fully understand many of the rules.

He could only watch and try to remember.

But, to be honest, it was indeed more exciting than the previous discussions on pills, devices, and runes, among others.

Especially when it came to the confrontations involving disciples of Taixu Gate with those from other Sects.

Due to vested interests, there’s a natural sense of anticipation.

No one doesn’t wish for their own Sect to win.

Thus, the two teams crisscrossed, grappling in close combat; Body Cultivators with their sharp swords and blades, as fierce as tigers, relentlessly advanced on the Spiritual Cultivators.

The Spiritual Cultivators retreated while casting spells.

The decisive moment of battle hinged on the thinnest of margins, coming and going in a flash.

A moment’s negligence could lead to a series of unforeseen events, extremely perilous, causing one’s emotions to fluctuate unpredictably.

Mo Hua quickly became engrossed in the spectacle.

In the blink of an eye, it had already turned dark.

Unbeknownst to him, he had been watching for an entire day.

Mo Hua sighed.

This Sword Discussion Conference was indeed exhilarating.

Time flew by swiftly.

However, considering the event only came once every three years and the opportunity was rare, Mo Hua found it acceptable to ”indulge” himself and joined Cheng Mo to watch the sword duels when he was free.

As he watched, Mo Hua began to notice some subtleties.

Although it was supposed to rely on cooperation between fellow Sect members, many Sects did not exhibit much ”tacit understanding” amongst themselves.

In most cases, each fighter acted independently.

Then, they would seize opportunities to gang up on the few.

This became a form of tactic.

The main purpose of team cooperation was to ”outnumber the enemy.”

The goal of tactics was also most often to ”outnumber the enemy.”

Although the fights were spectacular, there was indeed a lack of variety, with tactics being too simplistic.

These strategies were even less sophisticated than those of the Monster Hunter uncles in Tongxian City, who would work together to hunt monsters, luring enemies deep into traps and combining long-range and close-quarter combat to encircle and eradicate their prey.

Mo Hua furrowed his brows in thought and gradually came to an understanding.

Monster Hunters hunted monsters in a fight of life and death, prioritizing practicality and using all means necessary.

Whereas the Sword Discussion Conference was essentially a form of ”competition.”

Even among fellow Sect disciples, not all had the same intentions, and there was competition among them.

Moreover, it seemed that some Great Sects were intentionally allowing one or two of their core disciples to stand out.

During the grand battle, they would have other Sect members wear out the opponent first.

After the opponent’s spiritual power and physical strength had been significantly depleted, these core disciples would then take action, accomplishing the ”feat” of fighting two or even three opponents at once, reaping victory and earning the admiration and praise of other disciples.

Mo Hua felt disdainful.

Using the Sword Discussion Conference as a stage to promote core disciples.

But the key point was that since the Conference was all about sparring, such tactics weren’t too much of an issue.

But what about in the future? When facing malicious Evil Cultivators or fierce Demon Cultivators, would they still employ the same tactics?

Those Evil Demon Cultivators were like centipedes, never dying even when cut in half.

By playing this way, weren’t they just giving their enemies a chance for a counter-kill?

Or could it be that these core disciples would later directly enter the high ranks of the Taoist Court or noble families, never having to face Evil Demons on the front line?

Mo Hua shook his head.

However, all this had nothing to do with him.

He was merely an observer for the time being.

With the philosophy of knowing oneself and one’s opponent, Mo Hua would still frequently attend the Sword Discussion Conference.

To learn what kind of Cultivation Techniques and Taoist Skills other Sects practiced, what tactics they favored.

To see what the atmosphere of the Sect was like.

To observe whether the disciples were harmonious only on the surface while scheming against each other in secret.

At the same time, Mo Hua pondered in his mind.

If he were to fight up there, what should he do? What tactics could he use?

Mo Hua cataloged all this, thinking that it might come in handy someday if the opportunity arose.

In addition to watching the Sword Discussion Conference, Mo Hua also diligently continued his own cultivation.

After tireless efforts day and night, the Mystery Formation within Mo Hua’s Sea of Consciousness was finally completely unraveled, the bottleneck was broken, and everything fell into place naturally.

As the Sword Discussion Conference neared its end, Mo Hua’s cultivation finally broke through.

Moving past the early stage and stepping into the middle phase.

His spiritual power flowed like mercury, becoming ever more profound.

From then on, he became a young Cultivator in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.