The Quest for Immortality

In the evening, Mo Hua went to the Dao Room and found Elder Yi, who specializes in teaching Taoist skills within the Taixu Gate.

Elder Yi was idly flipping through the roster, and upon seeing Mo Hua, he was somewhat surprised and a little cautious:

”You’re here to practice spells again?”

Mo Hua had once practiced the Fireball Technique and injured himself, causing Elder Master Xun to give him the cold shoulder for two months, a fact Elder Yi remembered vividly.

Thus, every time Mo Hua came to practice spells, Elder Yi prepared himself thoroughly.

”No,” Mo Hua waved his hand, ”I want to ask you some questions...”

”Ask questions?” Elder Yi was slightly taken aback, then slightly relieved, ”Asking questions is good...”

As long as he didn’t practice those dangerous spells, Mo Hua was considered a good child.

”Tell me, what questions do you want to ask,” said Elder Yi.

Mo Hua handed over a jade slip containing transcribed records about the Water Prison Technique to Elder Yi and asked:

”Elder, do you know about the Water Prison Technique?”

Elder Yi took the jade slip, glanced at it, and nodded: ”Of course.”

He was the Elder of Daoist Law.

The Yi family was also known for their expertise in spells.

Elder Yi knew more or less about all the spells recorded within the Taixu Gate.

Even though the Water Prison Technique was somewhat obscure and had limited uses with only a handful of disciples learning it, as the Elder of Daoist Law, he needed to be knowledgeable.

”I was looking through the sect’s records, and it’s said that this Water Prison Technique was an ultimate technique of the Water Prison Sect in the past?” Mo Hua quietly asked, ”Elder Yi, do you know about it?”

Elder Yi furrowed his brows.

”Why are you asking about this?”

Mo Hua could tell from Elder Yi’s expression that he knew something.

After some thought, Mo Hua explained, ”I learned this Water Prison Technique within the sect. But recently, when I used it outside, someone recognized it and said it was something from the Water Prison Sect, so I became curious and came to ask.”

”Oh...”

Elder Yi nodded slightly, not suspecting anything.

Mo Hua’s explanation was simple, so he assumed it was nothing special and didn’t think about why or on whom Mo Hua used the Water Prison Technique.

He couldn’t have imagined that the person now regarded Mo Hua as a ”survivor of the Water Prison Sect,” desperately wanting to kill him.

”I do know a bit about the Water Prison Sect...”

Elder Yi contemplated for a moment, then continued, ”A thousand years ago, the Water Prison Sect was quite prominent. At that time, the sect structure of the Qian Learning State Boundary was different from today’s Four Great Sects and Eight Great Gates.”

”Back then, in terms of strength, the Water Prison Sect was not top-tier, but it could rank among the ’Twelve Streams’ level sects.”

”Additionally, the Twelve Streams sects of that time were genuinely top-notch in a particular field of Taoist cultivation.”

”Unlike today, where many Twelve Streams sects are even inferior to some of the Four Great Sects in their core skills. The most typical example is the Ten Thousand Formations Sect...”

Elder Yi sighed, ”I don’t even know how they pass down their Formation, each generation worse than the last...”

Mo Hua asked, ”So, the Water Prison Sect back then had perfected the Water System Dao Law?”

”I wouldn’t say perfected,” Elder Yi shook his head, ”There are always higher mountains, and the Great Dao is vast. No one dares claim they can achieve perfection. But at least within the Qian Learning State Boundary, and even most of Qian State, the Water Prison Sect’s Water System Dao Law was among the best.”

”And not only that, in terms of Water System Dao Law, the Water Prison Sect had specializations. Their transmitted Water System Spells focused on precision over variety...”

Precision over variety?

Mo Hua pondered slightly and slowly said, ”The ’Prison’ in Water Prison Sect’s name suggests they specialize in control and imprisonment type of Water System Spells?”

”Furthermore, from the name, the sect might have connections with the Court Officials?”

Elder Yi looked slightly surprised.

This child is indeed quick-witted.

Perhaps it’s because he studies Formation, which tends to attract clever individuals.

But then again, some who study Formation in the sect do seem rather dull...

Elder Yi thought to himself.

”Correct, the Water Prison Sect was specialized in control, restraint, imprisonment, including penal-type Water System Spells. Some spells were even forbidden techniques...”

Elder Yi continued, ”Most of the disciples who graduated from the Water Prison Sect also joined various Taoist Courts, and these cultivators from the Water Prison Sect were proficient in Water Prison techniques, delighting in using harsh punishments to torment people, even though they tormented only Sin Cultivators. But this resulted in a bad reputation for the Water Prison Sect.”

”Later on...”

Elder Yi frowned, ”I’m not too clear about what happened after that, but it’s said that something fundamentally went wrong with the Water Prison Sect’s cultivation techniques. Those who delved deeply became sinister and cruel.”

”At that time, there were also scandals of Water Prison Sect disciples falling into the Demon Path, abusing their power in the Taoist Courts to indiscriminately kill innocents.”

”The Taoist Court conducted a thorough investigation, and this investigation uncovered a significant issue that infuriated the Taoist Court.” .

”What exactly it was, the Taoist Court did not disclose, and the truth is likely sealed in the files of the Central Dao Court.”

”In any case, after that, many people of the Water Prison Sect died, and the remaining disciples were all imprisoned. All their core inheritances were sealed, and some fragmented techniques, like the ’Water Prison Technique,’ scattered throughout the Cultivation World as an obscure Daoist cultivation method, were preserved...”

Elder Yi lamented.

Mo Hua’s expression turned grim.

He hadn’t expected that behind the name ”Water Prison Sect” lay such an unknown secret.

The matters of the Cultivation World are indeed perilous and complex, shrouded in mystery.

For such a Great Sect to vanish so suddenly...

”Then the Water Prison Technique, being a spell of the Water Prison Sect, might it have issues? Didn’t the Taoist Court seal it?” Mo Hua asked.