The Quest for Immortality

Yanluo Mountain, eight hundred miles long.

The waterways are intricate, marshes are everywhere, with toxic mists and vapors engulfing the sky. Wild geese often fall victim to the poison and die, plummeting into the marshes, turning into putrid water, which is why it’s called ”Yanluo Mountain”.

A branch of the Mistwater River flows through the mountains.

The river water carries a fishy smell.

The depths of the mountain are treacherous and complex.

The Demon Sect is built here.

At this time, outside the deep mountains, in the perilous environment, many Righteous Cultivators have long been lying in wait among the mountain forests and marshes.

This encirclement of the Demon Sect is a grand affair.

The Taoist Court has dispatched fifteen Golden Core Stewards, as well as six hundred Enforcement Leaders at Foundation Establishment Late Stage, up to the Peak.

The Taixu Gate, allied with the Taoist Court, has dispatched twenty Golden Core Elders.

The Taixu Gate, with the unification of the Three Sects, has many cultivators and elders, therefore they dispatched as many as twenty elders, surpassing even the Taoist Court.

However, the Inner Gate Disciples are not many, only a hundred were sent.

Encircling the Demon Sect, particularly a Third Grade Demon Sect, and engaging with Golden Core Demons is extremely dangerous in combat.

For a Great Sect like the Taixu Gate, the disciples who can enter the Inner Gate are the very elite among the Heavenly Pride, the future pillars of the sect. Naturally, they wouldn’t let them risk their lives in a premature deadly battle with the Demon Sect.

Inner Sect Disciples are not ”cannon fodder,” they are ”seeds.”

Their participation in the encirclement of the Demon Sect is to temper their mindset, to let them witness the brutality of the Demon Sect, and to adapt to the bloody battles with Demon Cultivators, so they really can stand on their own in the future and become the pillars of the sect.

The only Outer Disciple in the field is Mo Hua.

Of course, he’s not here for training.

He’s the ”Hidden Hand.”

The hidden hand pushing for the destruction of the Demon Sect.

The Qianxue State Boundary is a great state with many sects, any Demon Sect daring to show its head here is bound to be destroyed—it’s just a matter of time.

With or without Mo Hua, this result wouldn’t change.

Mo Hua merely accelerated this process, pushing the progress of the Demon Sect’s destruction from start to finish in one go.

And now, Mo Hua is on-site, personally witnessing the results of this action.

The only downside is that his position is a bit far from the Demon Sect, so he can’t see clearly.

He couldn’t help it; this was already the biggest compromise.

Uncle Gu from the Taoist Court, Sister Xia, Elder Master Xun of the Taixu Gate, and various elders, all unanimously disagreed with him joining this excitement.

Especially Elder Master Xun.

”A precious son should never sit under the eaves.” (An idiom meaning one should avoid unnecessary risks.)

Exterminating the Demon Sect and surrounding the Golden Core Demon is extremely dangerous. If something goes wrong, Mo Hua’s life would be in jeopardy, and by that time, it would be too late to regret. ꞦÄŊΟ𐌱Ɛ𝙨

But Mo Hua insisted strongly and promised to behave honestly and stay far away, not causing any trouble. Besides, with so many sect elders around, he thought it unlikely they couldn’t protect him.

Only then did Elder Master Xun reluctantly nod in agreement.

Therefore, while Mo Hua could participate in the extermination of the Demon Cultivators, he could only watch from afar, and he lost his ”personal freedom,” having to mingle with the elders and not allowed to act independently.

Besides, there’s practically no need for him in exterminating the Demon Sect.

As the ”middleman,” having connected and bridged this, his task was considered complete.

Other matters are taken care of by the Taoist Court and the sect elders, and he couldn’t intervene.

He lacks the strength to surround and kill the Golden Core Demon.

The formations near the Demon Sect are also handled by Elder Xun Zixian and other Formation Elders, requiring no input from him.

Moreover, most formations near the Demon Sect are Third Grade, beyond his Formation Method Classification, so even if he wanted to help, he couldn’t.

The only thing he could do was stand by obediently and learn humbly while Elder Xun Zixian broke the Demon Sect formations, getting an early understanding of the application and breaking rules of Third Grade Arrays.

After breaking the formations, it’s time to prepare for the battle.

A large number of Taoist Court cultivators secretly encircle the Demon Sect according to the set plan.

The elders of the Taixu Gate also began to act.

In the thin mist, everything unfolds urgently.

Located at the edge of the battlefield, Mo Hua instead found himself ”idle,” watching silently with deep thoughts.

He is now staying in a temporary camp.

Near the camp, there’s another person as ”idle” as he is.

This person is tall and strong, with a face full of whiskers, wearing a Taoist Court Supervisor’s robe, it is Fan Jin.

Fan Jin is responsible for the ”rear guard.”

Such a big event as the encirclement of the Demon Sect is extremely dangerous, and with his Initial Golden Core cultivation, he’s not yet qualified to be at the forefront, charging and fighting.

Being behind the vanguard, as the main force of the great tribe to kill demon cultivators and earn merit points.

Such good deeds are not his turn.

Furthermore, things like reconnaissance, eavesdropping, and formation breaking, he doesn’t have the skills for those.

Therefore, he can only perform the ”rear guard” duties. If the encirclement fails, he must cover the retreat. If the demon cultivators scatter and flee, he must stop and kill them. Some messy and tiring tasks afterward are also his responsibilities.

At this moment, still in the preparation stage, people come and go in the camp.

Fan Jin couldn’t help but look around, troubled by his thoughts.

Transferring from a small place to partake in the big event of encircling the Demon Sect is actually a good opportunity to meet and socialize with other fellow cultivators.

Tao Cultivation also cultivates relationships.

To progress, one must strive to find opportunities.

But after looking for a long time, he couldn’t find anyone to speak with.

The coming and going Golden Core cultivators were either Supervisors from families, stationed at the Qianxue State Boundary, inherently higher in status than him, a Supervisor from a remote state boundary.

Or they were True Transmission Elders from one of the Eight Great Gates of Qianxue State, the Taixu Gate, with profound cultivation and superior Taoist inheritance, so he didn’t dare try to network with them.