The Quest for Immortality

Elder Ji slightly raised his head, glanced at Mo Hua, and asked, ”You... pulled me out, for what purpose?”

Mo Hua did not hide it, ”I want to ask you something.”

Elder Ji frowned, ”What is it?”

Mo Hua said, ”The wound on your chest, where did it come from?”

Elder Ji said, ”I told you before, it was from a fiendish beast.”

”What fiendish beast?” Mo Hua asked.

Elder Ji’s face changed slightly, then he slowly said, ”A... tiger demon...”

Mo Hua raised an eyebrow and asked again, ”What did it look like? Where did it injure you?”

Elder Ji was silent for a moment, frowning, and asked, ”Why do you ask these questions?”

Mo Hua’s face showed no smile, ”You’re questioning me?”

Elder Ji froze, then a slight anger rose in his heart. He looked up and met Mo Hua’s eyes, which were as dark as ink and as deep as an abyss, making his courage instantly vanish.

”It was... outside Tongxian City, in Big Black Mountain, a second grade middle phase tiger demon, with black and white patterns, extremely fierce, it took the lives of at least ten of my brothers before being subdued...”

Mo Hua’s gaze turned a bit grim, ”And then?”

”Then...” Elder Ji’s eyes flickered, ”Then naturally, we killed the tiger demon, divided its body, and avenged my brothers...”

Mo Hua’s expression turned icy, and he asked again:

”Why would you go to Tongxian City to kill a second grade tiger demon for no reason?”

Elder Ji said softly, ”Because there was a Sect task to handle, we just happened to pass Tongxian City, stayed overnight in Big Black Mountain, lit a fire, and this fiendish beast blindly charged at us, we had no choice but... to kill it...”

Mo Hua slowly nodded.

He took out a strangely shaped iron plate, threw it on the ground, and then ordered Elder Ji, ”Kneel on it.”

There was no way Elder Ji would kneel.

Mo Hua’s eyes turned cold, revealing a murderous intent.

Elder Ji had no choice but to voluntarily kneel on the iron plate.

But the moment his knees touched the iron plate, Elder Ji let out a scream, his expression changed drastically, an indescribable pain pierced into his muscles and bones.

Elder Ji’s face turned ashen immediately, struggling he attempted to stand up.

Mo Hua pointed a finger, a Water Prison Technique landed, binding Elder Ji’s limbs, firmly restraining him on the iron plate with the Formation.

Elder Ji only felt thousands of needles piercing his knees.

These needles were mixed with the Power of the Five Elements, roasting with fire, blistering with water, stabbing with gold, intoxicating with wood poison, stiffening with earth... circulating endlessly, the levels of pain were intricate and rich, cleverly designed.

Elder Ji wanted nothing more than to die.

He had never suffered such pain in his lifetime.

”Mo, Young Master Mo... please...” Elder Ji’s voice trembled, the pain made it hard for him to speak.

Mo Hua ignored it, leisurely poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip, and moistened his throat, then slowly said:

”I don’t like being lied to.”

”Think it over, when you’re ready to tell the truth, speak up. Otherwise, what you say doesn’t sound as good as your screams...”

In his heart, Elder Ji increasingly felt that Mo Hua was like a ”ghost” who had just crawled out of the Netherworld.

Mysterious, sinister, and malicious.

Clearly with an innocent face, yet taking pleasure in torturing people.

The Formation’s torture device was still running, the pain continued.

Elder Ji couldn’t hold it any longer and hurriedly shouted:

”I will speak! I will speak!”

But Mo Hua kept drinking tea, as if he was ”deaf” to his words, ignoring them.

Elder Ji shouted, ”I’m speaking! I’ve told you!”

Mo Hua still didn’t hear.

The pain only deepened.

Elder Ji’s heart was on the verge of collapse, ”Young Master, Lord... Ancestor, I will say! I will tell everything!”

Mo Hua seemed to finally hear this, withdrew the Water Prison Technique, turned off the Formation on the torture device, and sighed lightly:

”See, if you had spoken earlier, all would have been fine. Suffering so much pain, was it necessary...”

Elder Ji was both hateful and frightened.

He completely understood that there was no room for bargaining while in this lad’s hands.

If he truly annoyed him, this lad could indeed ”play” him to death.

His previous assessment seemed correct.

This Young Master Mo, either abstains from lowly pleasures with noble character; or is someone with an abnormal mind, conducting himself unscrupulously, a ”pervert”.

Mo Hua said, ”The question I asked you earlier, answer it again. Did you really kill that tiger?”

Elder Ji, this time, dared not to hide anything and said, ”I... don’t know.”

Mo Hua looked at him calmly.

Elder Ji shuddered, ”I really don’t know, I sold it to someone else.”

”Sold?”

”Yes,” Elder Ji said anxiously, ”I sold it!”

Seeing Mo Hua didn’t believe him, Elder Ji said, ”About ten years ago, a cultivator of unusual status arrived in Canglang City, I... I... catered to his... vices...”

”He was very happy, so he made a deal with me... asking me to capture ’tigers’ for him.”

Mo Hua’s gaze sharpened, ”Capture tigers?”

Elder Ji nodded, ”Yes, capture tigers, especially those who dominate the forests and are strong tiger demons, preferably with unique bloodlines, with the ’King’ character on their foreheads...”

”But Young Master, you also know, tiger demons are the kings among monster beasts, extremely rare, those with the ’King’ character on their foreheads, even rarer.”

”I initially didn’t want to agree, but that person said if it succeeded, they would offer me many benefits. They would also provide a huge opportunity for Canglang Sect.”

”I was uncertain, so I spoke with the Sect Leader. The Sect Leader agreed and even dispatched a team to assist me in hunting tiger demons.”

”Later, I inquired everywhere and learned that in the depths of Big Black Mountain outside Tongxian City, there was a large tiger with black and white patterns residing.”

”So, I exerted tremendous effort, lost about ten men, only then captured this tiger demon...”

”After capturing it, I delivered this tiger demon to that distinguished ’guest’.”

”And that guest indeed fulfilled the promise and gifted me many things, including Cultivation Techniques, Spirit Stones, and beauties...”

Mo Hua’s gaze flickered, ”And what about the great opportunity for Canglang Sect they mentioned?”

Elder Ji shook his head, ”I don’t know about that, you’d have to ask the former Sect Leader about it.”

Anyhow, having Spirit Stones and beauties was enough for him.

Mo Hua asked again, ”Who is this guest and where are they now?”

Elder Ji shook his head, seeing Mo Hua’s displeased look, he quickly added:

”Young Master, I truly don’t know. Since they were a ’guest’, I wasn’t authorized to ask their identity; I was just in charge of hosting them, accompanying them for meals, drinks, and entertainment, everything else was none of my business.”

”Can you find him?” Mo Hua asked.

”This...” Elder Ji frowned, carefully remembered, and slowly said, ”I only have one clue...”

”At the time I captured the tiger demon, I had it tied up and escorted to a small Immortal City south of Canglang City called Little Post City, then handed it over personally to a steward at the local post station as per the ’guest’s’ instruction...”

”But this was all ten years ago...”

”Little Post City...” Mo Hua’s eyes narrowed, then pointed at Elder Ji, ”Lead the way to Little Post City now.”

Elder Ji showed a troubled expression.

Mo Hua said coldly, ”If you find this person, I will spare your life. If not, there’s no need for you to live on.”

Elder Ji, helpless, could only reply with a bitter expression, ”Understood...”

After that, Elder Ji changed out of his prison clothes, removed the chains, draped himself in a gray robe, sat at the front of the carriage, and drove Mo Hua towards Little Post City in the south...