The Quest for Immortality

Although the Danque Tribe won another battle, the situation turned somewhat dire.

After the battle ended, both sides returned to their camps.

Mo Hua also returned to the Stone Palace.

He briefly explained some precautions to Dan Zhu and others, then hurried to his own stone chamber to continue researching the Taotie Formation.

Nothing was as important as formations.

Moreover, this was the Taotie Formation, a twenty-three patterns Ultimate Formation, closely related to whether he could achieve Core Formation.

But after researching for a while, Mo Hua found it still didn’t quite work...

He still couldn’t understand these Taotie Patterns.

Taotie, a legendary fierce beast, using Taotie as Formation Patterns to construct a formation was inherently an extremely difficult task.

The Taotie Formation itself was an extremely rare category of formations. To comprehend it would undoubtedly be fraught with difficulties.

On top of the inherent difficulty of the Taotie Formation, adding a Second Grade twenty-three patterns Ultimate Formation.

This added difficulty made this Taotie Ultimate Array incredibly challenging, almost defying the heavens.

Even Mo Hua, racking his brains, still found himself completely in the dark, unable to fathom the mysteries within.

His current Divine Sense was only at twenty-two patterns.

His Divine Sense hadn’t reached the threshold required to comprehend this unknown Taotie Ultimate Formation.

”Is it because it’s too difficult that I can’t learn it? Or is it simply because my Divine Sense hasn’t reached the threshold for learning this formation, so I can’t comprehend it?”

Mo Hua frowned.

His Divine Sense was at the peak of twenty-two patterns, just a hair’s breadth from twenty-three patterns.

Moreover, his Divine Thought Taoism surpassed ordinary people in both insight and strength, logically speaking, this slight gap shouldn’t hinder understanding the formation.

He had previously been able to learn some ordinary formations by slightly surpassing his level.

But the Ultimate Formations seemed different.

”Is the threshold for Ultimate Formations really that strict, not allowing the slightest discrepancy?”

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, his brows furrowing more tightly.

It wasn’t just the problem of the Taotie Formation...

Apart from the formation itself, he had many other related doubts, which he couldn’t quite understand.

”Could Bi Jie attacking the Shugu Skill Department possibly be for this Taotie Formation?”

Mo Hua was somewhat uncertain.

It’s not that he underestimated Bi Jie.

This Taotie Formation was incredibly difficult to comprehend even for him, the Divine Sense Proving the Dao, Leader of Qian Academy, a Shaman at the peak of twenty-two patterns Divine Thought.

What does Bi Jie have to learn it?

Even if he got the Taotie Patterns, could he comprehend them with his level of Divine Sense?

If he couldn’t comprehend it at all, why would he go to such lengths to obtain the Taotie Patterns?

And then...

”What about the Shugu Tribe? Do they know the secret within this Barbarian God’s statue?”

”Why did the Bi Fang Tribe attack the Shugu Skill Department, and their main, primary, and secondary branches haven’t reacted after so long?”

”Do they not know the importance of the Skill Department? Or is it that they’re also in chaos internally, unable to take care of such matters?”

What piqued Mo Hua’s curiosity the most was...

”Who painted this twenty-three pattern Taotie Ultimate Array inside the head of the Shugu Barbarian God statue?”

Was it the ancestor of the Shugu Tribe?

Or someone else?

This unknown Taotie Ultimate Formation should be different from the Twelve Scripture Gluttonous Spirit Corpse Formation, but what exactly is its use?

Why is the Taotie Ultimate Array painted inside the head of the Barbarian God statue?

What happens when it’s painted inside the head of the Barbarian God statue?

Also...

Mo Hua’s gaze narrowed slightly.

Previously, he thought the ”residual patterns” on the Shugu Tribe’s Barbarian Armor were used to imply some powerful ”Holy Pattern.”

In the head of the Barbarian God, Taotie Patterns were hidden.

Does this mean these residual patterns are used to imply ”Taotie Patterns”?

But which type of ”implying” method is this?

Mo Hua had studied Dragon Transformation among Myriad Monsters and had achieved a certain level of mastery, having some understanding of the tracks within.

But Myriad Monsters becoming Taotie?

Why was he previously unable to ”imply” anything at all?

Was it a methodological error, or did he fail to comprehend certain Laws, leaving him unable to grasp the concept?

Furthermore, if these ”residual patterns” were used to imply ”Taotie Patterns,” it would mean the Shugu Tribe had successfully ”implied.” Why not directly use ”Taotie” Patterns? Why go to such lengths to continue research on the Barbarian Armor?

What relationship do these ”residual patterns” have with ”Taotie”?

What exactly is the Shugu Tribe researching?

These matters are intertwined, with countless threads.

Mo Hua thought and thought, making his head ache.

The more he thought, the more problems he found, more points of confusion, shrouded everywhere by a layer of mist.

Mo Hua’s expression was grave.

”I must take the time to ponder... I have to understand the problems within...”

He felt there had to be great secrets hidden within, possibly related to his Core Formation, or no, not just Core Formation, but perhaps even his Life Chart, and future Dao path could all be significantly impacted.

Of course, the current situation didn’t permit Mo Hua to spend too much energy on this.

The crisis of the Bi Fang Tribe was yet unresolved.

Bi Jie was still watching from the sidelines, ready to pounce.

Bi Jie was in the Golden Core Middle Stage, with a high status and strong power, not to be underestimated.

Moreover, if he really intended to compete for the ”Taotie Formation,” it would be even more troublesome...

...

In the following days, Bi Jie indeed remained relentless, continuously harassing, with battles and slaughters unending.

Mo Hua had to consider whether to bet everything on a single action, setting a trap to ensnare Bi Jie inside, and then ”forcefully kill” him.

Resolving Bi Jie, leading Dan Zhu and the others to a safe place, would allow him to focus on contemplating the Taotie Formation.

Even if he couldn’t kill him, at least severely injure him and give a well-learned lesson.

But Bi Jie was no small character, such a forced strike on him would certainly lead to heavy casualties in the Danque Tribe.

Chi Feng, Ba Shan, and Ba Chuan might perish in Bi Jie’s counterattack, which would not be surprising.

He was still exploring his Causality Skill, its impact on warfare only establishing a limited amount of ”foreknowledge.”

He couldn’t yet obliterate all traces of life from Bi Jie, eliminating him completely through causality.

After all, Bi Jie was a cultivator at the Golden Core Middle Stage.

Controlling causality across a major realm was highly difficult with many variables.

He couldn’t afford to spill blood; otherwise, a single mistake would send him to see Uncle.

But Bi Jie couldn’t be left unaddressed...

Mo Hua was somewhat conflicted.

As he contemplated whether to launch a decisive battle, to engage Bi Jie in a life-and-death struggle to resolve the current predicament, something unexpected occurred.

And this event altered the situation in a bizarre way.

This day, Mo Hua was inside a secret chamber, deducing causality and planning strategic layouts, when he suddenly heard Dan Zhu calling him from outside:

”Gentleman!”

Mo Hua walked out and saw Dan Zhu with a serious face, ”Something happened.”

”What is it?” Mo Hua frowned.

Dan Zhu, unsure how to describe it, took Mo Hua to a towering mountain cliff outside the Stone Palace.

Mo Hua gazed out, his pupils shrinking rapidly.

He saw that the once dense vegetation in the distance had almost withered overnight.

In the mountains lay monster beasts, starved to death, with only skin and bones left.

A desolate aura of half-yellow, half-red spread from afar, everywhere it reached, blood Qi decayed, vitality withered, the earth silent and dead.

”This is...”

Mo Hua’s pupils trembled slightly.

”The famine has come...”