The Quest for Immortality

The matters of causality and fate were completely unknown to Mo Hua.

He only remembered one phrase:

"With a steadfast Taoist heart, no evil shall invade."

As long as he concentrated on learning Formations, comprehended the Great Dao, and remained resilient in his Taoist heart, continuously refining his Divine Sense to its ultimate strength, with thoughts profound and insights penetrating the principles of all things, then all malevolent spirits would pose no threat.

Mo Hua continued to cultivate and learn Formations just as before.

But the Taoist Demon clearly refused to give up.

The shadow of the Corpse King occasionally appeared inexplicably within his Sea of Consciousness, its gaze blood-red, looking at Mo Hua with a cruel expression.

This kind of existence was completely different from that of the Little Green-faced Ghost and the Divine Thought Body of the Ancestral Master of the Zhang Family.

It seemed existent yet nonexistent.

It didn’t seem like a real Divine Thought, and as Mr. Zhuang had said, it was more like a lingering thought of karma, residing in the past.

The shadow of the Corpse King appeared repeatedly.

At first, Mo Hua was somewhat surprised and worried, but then he recalled Mr. Zhuang’s words:

"Just maintain your equanimity, hold fast to your Taoist heart, you need not worry or be afraid, you don’t even have to think about it..."

And so, Mo Hua became nonchalant about it.

In his Sea of Consciousness, the Corpse King was just a Copper Corpse.

He had killed Copper Corpses before.

The Ancestral Master of the Zhang Family was consumed by him, though it was a situation of many against few and somewhat dishonorable, but now it was different.

Now, he was at the peak of the Thirteen Stripes of Divine Sense, far from what he used to be.

Even in a fair fight, one-on-one, he could subdue the Copper Corpse incarnate of the Zhang Family’s Ancestral Master.

And this Corpse King, he had controlled it once with the Spirit Pivot Formation.

"In life," it was under his command.

"In death," it couldn’t escape the palm of his hand.

Mo Hua didn’t know much about the matters of causality.

Fearing nothing from ignorance.

Because of "ignorance," there was "no fear."

And because of fearlessness, Mo Hua’s Divine Sense was unyielding, his aura strong, not giving any regard to this Corpse King tinged with the breath of a Taoist Demon.

The Corpse King let out a roar.

Mo Hua frowned and said, "Don’t bother me!"

Scolded by Mo Hua, the Corpse King instinctively trembled, then became infuriated, its gaze fierce, but it truly couldn’t do anything and could only growl lowly again, retreating unwillingly...

Every now and then, the Corpse King would surface in Mo Hua’s mind.

But Mo Hua paid it no heed, often full of disdain, occasionally even telling it to get lost.

The Corpse King could only glare violently and lurk in the shadows.

After that, the appearances of the Corpse King became less frequent...

Mo Hua’s Sea of Consciousness also became much clearer.

But what he didn’t know was that his own causality and fate had thereby become much more dangerous...

...

After the events of South Yue City, the Corpse King was subdued, Lu Chengyun died, and the Spirit Pivot Formation was learned. It was also time to leave.

Before leaving, Mo Hua entombed the ashes of the past Elders of the Minor Hidden Spirit Sect in the Gold Inlaid Black Jade Urn and handed it to Instructor Yan.

Grasping the ashes, Instructor Yan looked moved.

Then with a mixture of sighs and feelings of guilt, "I, as a disciple, failed to protect our Sect’s Elders from this disaster..."

Instructor Yan’s eyes reddened, tears welled up, and his emotions took a long time to calm down.

The anger, confusion, hardship, loneliness, and despair he had felt over the years surged in his chest.

Bringing the traitor to justice, reclaiming the legacy Formation of the Sect.

These were things he thought about day and night for so many years.

But he had never imagined the day when his dreams would indeed come true.

Instructor Yan turned to look at Mo Hua, filled with gratitude and self-reproach, he couldn’t help but sigh:

"I owe it all to you for this matter..."

Investigating the traitor, discovering his identity, disrupting his schemes, making him pay with his blood, comforting the spirit of his master and the ancestors of the Minor Hidden Spirit Sect in heaven...

These were things that he was supposed to do himself.

But it was all thanks to Mo Hua that this grudge was settled.

This matter also involved the Lu Family, the Corpse Mine, the Corpse King, and even lead to the Taoist Court, forcing them to dispatch Taoist Soldiers for suppression.

How much danger was involved, Mo Hua didn’t say, but he could guess.

These dangers were originally his to bear...

Yet they all fell upon the young Mo Hua.

He himself had hardly done anything.

Overwhelmed with shame, Instructor Yan lamented, "As an Instructor, I truly am ashamed to show my face..."

Mo Hua shook his head, "Instructor, you’ve done a lot already."

Instructor Yan was taken aback, then spoke with a wry smile:

"You don’t have to comfort me..."

Yet Mo Hua shook his head and said, "It’s not comfort, the master told me before, everything in this world has its causality, every drink and every peck has its rule."

"The subjugation of Lu Chengyun and the quelling of the corpse calamity result from the seeds of virtue you planted, which brought about this virtuous outcome."

Mo Hua had just learned the basics of causality from Mr. Zhuang and was now using it to console Instructor Yan.

Instructor Yan frowned, "What does this have to do with me?"

"Of course, it does!"

Mo Hua explained confidently:

"Without your initial teaching, I might not have chosen the path of Formation; without your introduction, I could not have taken Mr. Zhuang as my teacher; without taking Mr. Zhuang as my teacher, I wouldn’t have been so proficient in Formations, nor would I travel everywhere in search of them."

"And going to South Yue City was to seek Formations, but also to find you."

"Had you not been in South Yue City, I would not have come." Explore more at empire

"It was your clues that allowed me to unravel the mystery step by step, find out about Zhang Quan, Corpse Walking Stronghold, Corpse Mine, along with Lu Chengyun and the Corpse King’s schemes..."

"Finally, I was able to kill Lu Chengyun, subdue the Corpse King, allay the corpse disaster, and reclaim the stolen legacy of the Minor Hidden Spirit Sect."

"And with the Corpse King killed by the Spirit Pivot Formation, Lu Chengyun can be said to have died under the legacy of the Minor Hidden Spirit Sect."