The Quest for Immortality

At the same time, on the other end of the desert.

Inside another secret chamber in an oasis.

An old man in black-and-green robes was speaking in a low voice to a slightly chubby, prosperous-looking middle-aged Cultivator:

”Lugu must have found out something; that’s why he’s come at us again and again, trying to wipe us out... I reckon he wants revenge.”

”He should also know what I did to his elder brother...”

”And the news the Young Master sent back earlier wasn’t wrong—the Shugubu really does have something going on in secret with the Danque Tribe...”

...

The old man in black-and-green robes rambled on at length.

The slightly chubby, prosperous-looking Cultivator merely shook his head and said:

”None of that has anything to do with me. You killing each other is your own tribal business. I only do business; I don’t meddle in any grudges.”

The old man in black-and-green robes nodded. ”Yes.”

The cultivation of the old man in black-and-green robes was Late Golden Core Stage.

Yet the prosperous middle-aged Cultivator before him was only Initial Golden Core.

But this Late Golden Core old man, in his words and manner, showed considerable respect to this Initial Golden Core middle-aged Cultivator, not daring the slightest negligence, which made it clear his status was anything but ordinary.

If at this very moment Mo Hua were hidden here, he would recognize that this slightly chubby, prosperous Initial Golden Core middle-aged Cultivator was precisely one of his old acquaintances:

Elder You.

At this moment, Elder You was leafing through the accounts while saying to the old man in black-and-green robes:

”There cannot be a next time...”

Elder You lifted his head, his gaze solemn, and said: ”In this batch of goods, we’ve lost nearly forty percent of the Fasting Pills. That loss is far too great.”

”How precious the coming Fasting Pills will be, I trust I don’t need to spell out.”

”A single Fasting Pill might save a single life. Saying it’s worth its weight in gold is no exaggeration. If handled properly, a few hundred Fasting Pills in exchange for the legacy of a small tribe’s ancestor wouldn’t be a problem at all.”

”And as the famine worsens, these Fasting Pills will only become more and more precious.”

Speaking to this point, Elder You sighed. ”All the roads outside have already been cut off by the famine; no more Fasting Pills are coming in. Every Fasting Pill we sell is one less; every one that gets eaten is one less. So we must make the most of them.”

”This time the oasis was taken, it was an accident, so I don’t blame you. Doing business, sometimes you earn, sometimes you lose—that’s normal.”

”But...”

Elder You looked at the old man in the black-green robe, his expression sunk to something almost frighteningly dark:

”There must absolutely not be a next time... I really dislike people who make me lose Spirit Stones. Even if you are the Chief Elder of the Bi Fang Tribe...”

”You must remember, Spirit Stones are the most precious thing in this world. Making me lose Spirit Stones is the same as making me lose my life...”

Under Elder You’s pair of shrewd, almost inhuman eyes, the old man in the black-green robe felt an enormous pressure and quickly said:

”Please be assured, Elder, there won’t be a next time. Rarity makes things precious; we will definitely safeguard the remaining Fasting Pills well, and we’ll certainly sell them for a good price.”

At the words ”good price,” Elder You nodded, and only then did his expression ease somewhat.

”All right, hurry and tidy things up and leave early...” Elder You said. ”This place is no longer suitable to stay in. The famine is still closing in; before desolation spreads across the Great Wilderness, we have to quickly move our supplies to somewhere safe. What comes next is the real big deal...”

The old man in the black-green robe nodded, then suddenly furrowed his brows in some worry. ”That oasis was taken. Will anything be exposed?”

Elder You asked, ”Did you destroy the Great Wilderness Famine Map?”

The old man in black-and-green robes said, ”Destroyed.”

”And the other things?”

”We brought everything that needed bringing,” the old man in black-and-green robes said. ”Only quite a few Fasting Pills were left behind.”

”In white bottles?”

”Yes.”

Elder You pondered for a moment, then said, ”That’s fine then. With the map destroyed, a few Fasting Pills and a few bottles aren’t much of a trail.”

”Will anyone be able to see anything from it?” The old man in black-and-green robes frowned.

Elder You let out a cold laugh. ”A few bottles—if he can really see something from that, that would truly be miraculous. With eyesight like that, he might as well come be an old ancestor in the Hua family...”

The old man in the black-green robe thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. ”True enough.”

”All right, no more chatter. One mustn’t slack when doing a ’big deal’; get ready early,” Elder You said.

”Yes, I’ll go make preparations at once.”

The old man in black-and-green robes, Chief Elder of the Bi Fang Tribe, cupped his hands and withdrew.

Elder You continued checking the accounts, calculating the upcoming route and trading process.

But after a while of calculations, his heart suddenly clenched; he felt a vague unease, even a kind of ”heart pounding in fear.”

As though the road ahead was unpredictable, with some ”creditor” waiting for him there.

”Creditor?”

Elder You frowned and pondered for a moment.

He’s a businessman—where would a creditor come from?

Every Spirit Stone was earned by his own ability.

Whether by cheating, robbing, borrowing, or making others work for him for free... as long as it ended up in his hands, that meant he’d earned it, that was profit.

In his world, there simply was no such thing as ”debt”.

Anyone who could be tricked, borrowed from, or freeloaded off was nothing but a fool.

Not to mention, this was his first time in the Great Wilderness; how could there be any old ”creditors” here?

Elder You let out a cold laugh, utterly unconcerned.

...

Elsewhere, under Mo Hua’s guidance, everyone finished packing their luggage, stowed away the supplies, gathered up the large stockpile of Fasting Pills, and then set out, stepping into the boundless yellow sands.

The route had already been marked out by the Hua family’s patriarch on that Famine Map.

Mo Hua only needed to follow the causal lines the Hua patriarch had calculated, and head toward the heart of the Barbaric Wilderness.

As they walked, when they were about to leave the desert behind, Mo Hua couldn’t help glancing back.

He seemed to sense that within this desert, there was still a faint familiar aura lingering.

And this person seemed to be deeply entangled with him, still owing him something.

Mo Hua frowned; for the moment he couldn’t think of anyone in the Great Wilderness who might owe him anything, so he didn’t dwell on it.

The way ahead was perilous, and he still had to focus on leading the way.

Those who truly owe him will not escape in the end.

...

In the days that followed, the six thousand Barbarian Soldiers of the Danque and Shugu tribes, under Mo Hua’s guidance, marched without pause, day and night.

With the famine spreading, the environment of the Great Wilderness had grown exceedingly harsh.

Fortunately, Mo Hua could perform Divination on cause and effect, seeking fortune and avoiding disaster.

And having captured a large stock of Fasting Pills, at least for a certain period, they were not lacking for food.

Thus, although the journey was grueling, shadowed by calamity, with dangers frequent and killings encountered more than once, under Mo Hua’s guidance, they suffered no deaths or injuries.

Yet everyone’s hearts remained deeply confused.

They did not know the road ahead, did not know where the Shaman lord intended to lead them, and even less where, in this apocalyptic famine, any path of survival might still exist.

Only after they had traveled like this for over half a month and crossed a mountain range did their view suddenly open wide. .

They saw before them a vast land ”teeming with vitality,” incredibly expansive—a large basin encircled by several enormous mountain ranges in the Barbaric Wilderness, stretching across dozens of Mountain Realms.

Those dozens of Mountain Realms, including Second Grade and Third Grade, lay side by side. Even from far away one could see all sorts of tribal totems scattered among the mountains, the human presence so flourishing that no other region of the Barbaric Wilderness could compare.

It resembled a ”peach blossom paradise” in the end times.

Everyone’s faces lit up with joy; they burst into cheers.

Mo Hua, however, could not bring himself to smile.

For he understood better than anyone that this vast basin, like a ”peach blossom paradise,” had been deliberately reserved for them by his Uncle.

It was a living haven his Uncle had carved out within the famine, specifically for the sake of proving Gui Tao.

Gathering all the remaining Cultivators in the Great Wilderness together.

Concentrating all remaining vitality to its utmost.

Then turning this immense ”life” into a vast, surging ”death”.

This was...the method by which a Taoist proves the Dao.

And behind this, there was not only his Uncle, but also the Hua family, and even the schemes of other aristocratic families.

These survivors of the Great Wilderness would be exploited for profit by the Hua family while alive, only to then starve to death amid the famine.

In death, they likely would not find peace either.

Only once they were dead would they become his Uncle’s true ”playthings”.

The Great Dao is ruthless; all beings are Straw Dogs.

Standing atop the mountain, looking at the scene around him, Mo Hua could not help but give rise to such a sigh.

And ”Heaven and Earth are like a game of chess, the common folk like its pieces” was being presented before Mo Mian in an even more direct form.

All those mighty Cultivators, perched above the clouds or hidden in dark mists, were using these living beings to prove their own Dao and pursue their own gain.

”This game played in the Great Wilderness... the Taoist Court is playing, the aristocratic families are playing, the Demon Gate is playing, and my Uncle is playing as well...”

”And now...”

”I am entering the board myself, to play this game too.”

Mo Hua took a deep breath, gaze deep as the sea. Turning, he said, ”Let’s go,” then led Dan Zhu and the others, along with the six thousand Barbarian Soldiers under his command, into this endgame ground where the fate of all living beings in the Barbaric Wilderness would be decided.