Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 645: Spirit-Sensing Formation Drafting

Suspended cliffs pierced the sky, and a solitary peak floated among cloud-bound ridges.

Above the sea of clouds stretched an invisible stone bridge.

Three tall figures and one small—all hidden by stealth—walked step by step along this bridge. It felt as if they were walking through the heavens, suspended above a boundless abyss.

All of them couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.

Mo Hua was relatively calm—this wasn't his first time doing something like this.

Sure, the cliff was taller, the path longer, and the danger greater—but this time, he had three "bodyguards" with him.

One of whom was none other than Uncle Gu—a Core Formation cultivator.

So really, it was still pretty safe.

The stone bridge was eerily empty, with no figures in sight.

The group advanced step by step.

Mo Hua extended his spiritual sense, sweeping the area as they moved. Occasionally, he would speak up to warn them:

Where the small Primordial Magnetic Arrays were...

Where the Earth Burst Traps lay hidden...

Where the Alert Arrays waited...

And even where the Wind Gale Arrays were set...

The evil cultivators had indeed laid down numerous formations along the bridge.

Some were meant for warning, some were traps—each one hidden with careful intent.

But none of them could escape Mo Hua's spiritual perception.

He detected and identified them one by one.

Gu Changhuai glanced at Mo Hua's calm face as the boy walked through the dense forest of arrays completely unscathed. A wave of gratitude welled up in his heart.

Good thing we brought this kid…

Otherwise, crossing this formation-packed bridge would've been like walking on a tightrope—they might not have even made it across.

Mo Hua led the way, and the three others obediently followed behind him.

Halfway across, the sky above the bridge suddenly darkened.

Mo Hua stopped.

Behind them, the sky was still bright and clear, clouds drifting peacefully.

Ahead, however, was a sinister fog, and the solitary peak loomed like a haunted cave—gloomy and oppressive.

They exchanged looks, their gazes steady, then continued forward.

Through that suffocating evil aura, they didn't know how long they walked. At last, the opposite cliff appeared in view.

After another short trek, the hidden group silently set foot upon the stone steps of the far cliff—completely undetected.

Ahead was the solitary peak, isolated and surrounded by a swirling storm of dark clouds.

Like a lonely island in a sea of mist, it showed no trace of human life.

At the center of the peak was a massive, narrow cave entrance.

It was shut tight—like the closed eyelid of a wicked beast.

The jagged stones to either side jutted out grotesquely, interlocking like the lashes of that beast, covering the blood-red glint hidden within.

Mo Hua narrowed his eyes.

"An evil formation…"

The formation master under Fire Buddha… was a high-level second-rank evil formation master.

Gu Changhuai's expression remained calm, but Gu An and Gu Quan were clearly a little tense.

"Young Master, can this door be opened?" one of them asked.

Mo Hua thought for a moment and shook his head.

"It's an evil formation, and it's sealed. I can't see through the internal formation lines. Since it's high-level second-rank, I can't crack it—at least not for now."

"If we can't unlock it, that leaves brute force—breaking it by sheer power."

"But that'd make a lot of noise and would definitely alert Fire Buddha and the others…"

Gu An and Gu Quan both frowned deeply.

Gu Changhuai quietly looked at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua understood.

Uncle Gu was asking him—what now?

But with his usual pride, he couldn't bring himself to ask outright—especially not in front of Gu An and Gu Quan.

He was a Dao Bureau commander and the Gu family's heir, after all. Face was a thing.

Mo Hua thought a bit, then spoke before Gu Changhuai could.

"Though it's called a Devil's Den, in the end, it's still a kind of spiritual architecture. And spiritual buildings always rely on architectural formations."

"So within this solitary peak, there must be a large array system."

"I'll examine the peak's structure from the outside, try to deduce the interior formation layout, and then figure out how to get in."

"Alright," Gu Changhuai nodded.

Mo Hua clasped his hands behind his back and lifted his chin like a true formation inspector, circling the mountain while sensing for energy fluctuations.

The three followed silently behind, alert and watchful—like obedient attendants.

After the round, Mo Hua picked a quiet spot, used a stone slab as a desk, spread out formation paper, and began reconstructing the outer structure of the Devil's Den's formation.

He recalled the spiritual traces he sensed from the surrounding rocks and began sketching formation patterns one by one onto the paper.

Occasionally, he'd raise his head and study the peak again, calibrating the connections between the patterns.

A short while later, the outline of the external formation of the Devil's Den slowly emerged on the paper…

Gu Changhuai's pupils shrank. He stared at Mo Hua and muttered in disbelief:

"Spirit-Sensing Formation Drafting…"

"Spirit-Sensing Formation Drafting?" Mo Hua was a little confused and turned to Gu Changhuai.

"What's that?"

Gu blinked.

"…It's what you're doing."

Mo Hua paused, then realized—

Using spiritual sense to analyze a formation from the outside and reconstruct its internal structure… was called "Spirit-Sensing Formation Drafting."

He'd always thought this was just basic array deduction…

Didn't know it had such a fancy name.

Mo Hua exclaimed,

"Uncle Gu, you really know a lot!"

Gu Changhuai: "…"

If Mo Hua's wide-eyed sincerity hadn't been so pure, he would've assumed the kid was mocking him.

After another half-hour or so, Mo Hua finished the rough draft of the Devil's Den's exterior formation.

The paper showed the den's shape—but rather than showing cliffs or vegetation, it revealed the skeletal structure beneath: formation patterns and array cores.

Even though this was just the outermost layer, Gu Changhuai was deeply shaken.

He suddenly felt dazed.

Could a Foundation Establishment cultivator really do this?

This was leagues beyond every formation master he had ever seen.

Gu An and Gu Quan were just as lost—but the more they looked, the more they realized…

This "little formation master" was anything but ordinary.

No wonder he could haggle with their usually-stubborn Young Master. No wonder their master gave in.

Mo Hua, unaware of their thoughts, continued:

"The Devil's Den's formations are tight and precise. But since it's a spiritual building, they must have cut costs somewhere."

"The main parts use top-tier second-rank formations—nineteen-pattern ones. But the corners and edges use lesser-grade arrays: eighteen, seventeen, even sixteen-pattern versions."

"Some spots even use first-rank formations just to fill space."

"And those weak points… are the vulnerabilities."

"The bigger and more magnificent a structure looks on the outside, the more flaws it hides—at least to those who know where to look."

"To those who know…"

The three silently nodded.

Mo Hua reviewed the diagram, then led them to a small slope behind the peak.

Below the slope was a solid patch of jagged rock.

"This area is tough to carve into—makes it hard to set up formations. The formation master here slacked off, cutting corners."

Mo Hua activated his spiritual sense and stared deeply. After a moment, he pointed at an unremarkable stone slope:

"This spot has the biggest weakness."

Gu Changhuai stared. He couldn't see anything odd about it…

But when it came to formations, Mo Hua's words had an unquestionable weight.

"So we… dig through here and sneak in?" one of the Gu brothers suggested.

Mo Hua guessed it was Gu An.

They looked alike and even sounded similar, but their spiritual flow differed—one favored the left meridians, the other the right.

Left-handed: Gu An.

Right-handed: Gu Quan.

Mo Hua shook his head.

"Too noisy. No need to dig—just use a formation."

This was something he'd just learned—part of the Eight Trigrams "Gen" system, called the Mountain-Splitting Array.

A Second-Rank, fourteen-pattern formation, it could dissolve rock into dust—low in power and low in noise. Perfect for stealthy digging.

Mo Hua took out his tools and started drawing on the stone.

He was fast—blindingly fast—and completed the formation within moments.

The array flashed gray, activated, and the rock began to dissolve into fine powder, scattering on the wind.

Gu Changhuai watched and felt something off.

Then it hit him.

Too fast…

He'd seen Mo Hua draw before but hadn't paid attention. Now, under his watchful eye, Mo Hua's brush danced like a dragon—flawlessly completing a Second-Rank array in moments.

His hand speed was outrageous.

It was like time had been fast-forwarded—his little hand moved so fast it left afterimages.

Way faster than any formation master Gu had ever seen.

Gu frowned.

"This kid… is like a hexagonal formation master—no weaknesses at all."

"Don't tell me he's been possessed by some ancient formation monster…"

...

While Gu Changhuai was still puzzling things over, Mo Hua had already drawn one Mountain-Splitting Array after another, dissolving the mountain stone layer by layer.

Finally, as the last bit of rock crumbled away, a pitch-black cave entrance appeared before them.

From within the cave, gusts of cold wind blew, carrying with them a faint stench of blood and rot.

Mo Hua looked toward Gu Changhuai.

Gu understood, nodded slightly, and stepped directly into the cave. Gu An and Gu Quan followed closely behind.

A few breaths later, Gu Changhuai's voice came from inside.

"Come in."

Mo Hua nodded and entered as well.

His vision was consumed by darkness for a moment, then gradually brightened. As his sight adjusted, he realized he was standing on a protruding stone pillar.

He looked down—and his pupils shrank sharply.

It was a massive underground cavern.

Jagged stone pillars jutted out like twisted fangs, exuding an eerie malice.

The mountain had been hollowed out, and below was a sprawling demonic palace.

Suspended walkways crisscrossed mid-air, with lanterns made of white bone hanging between them. Their ghostly green light cast a sinister glow over the strange, otherworldly halls.

At the center of the hall stood a giant stone skull.

Its eye sockets burned with green fire, hollow and lifeless.

Jagged fangs jutted outward from its massive jaws, open wide in a perpetual snarl, as if ready to devour anything in its path.

Yet this skull was only partially constructed—clearly unfinished—and it was impossible to tell whether it had once been human or beast.

Sinister demonic energy radiated from the skull.

Gu Changhuai's expression turned cold, his voice low and disbelieving:

"A demon cult base…"

"How brazen!"

Mo Hua froze for a moment.

"Demon cult base?"

He looked at Gu Changhuai and asked softly:

"Is there a difference between a demon cult base and an ordinary evil cultivator hideout?"

Gu Changhuai's expression turned solemn.

"Evil cultivators only build hideouts—temporary shelters."

"But a demon cult… builds a home. A permanent stronghold."

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Gu continued:

"An evil cultivator is just a poisonous fruit—maybe deadly to a person or two."

"But a demon cult is the root that spreads the poison itself."

"The presence of a cult base means they've either already taken root in this place—or they're about to."

"Once fully established, it'll grow like a cancer—spreading demonic arts and corrupting everything around it."

"Eradicating one takes tremendous effort—and a steep price."

Gu's gaze turned sharp and grim.

He had thought "Demon Den" was just an exaggerated nickname for Fire Buddha's lair.

But now?

This was a full-blown demon cult nest, grand in both scale and danger.

Mo Hua said quietly,

"So that means Fire Buddha isn't just an evil cultivator… He's a hereditary demon cultivator? Someone with actual legacy?"

Gu Changhuai's eyes gleamed coldly as he nodded:

"Seems likely."

Mo Hua frowned.

"But I couldn't even tell…"

Gu gave him a meaningful look:

"The ones you can't spot… that's what real demon cultists are."

"The loud, violent ones? Already purged by the Dao Court."

"The ones who remain… often look more righteous than the righteous themselves."

Mo Hua was stunned. His mind involuntarily drifted to Lu Chengyun.

That man killed people, refined corpses, used zombies to mine day and night, making mountains of spirit stones.

Then he used those stones to bribe the Dao Court's local offices, buying out regional powers, squeezing the miners dry to refine more corpses, and strengthen his own base.

Outwardly, he was the graceful and refined head of the Lu family.

In truth, he was a terrifying demon path corpse-refiner.

If he had succeeded in refining a Corpse King, every cultivator in Nanyue City—living or dead—would've become his zombie puppet.

Now, staring at this place…

It might be the same story again.

Fire Buddha and his men might just be a smokescreen.

This Bishan Devil's Den—who built it? What truly lurks behind the scenes?

Mo Hua asked quietly,

"Uncle Gu… What do we do now? Should we go back and call for reinforcements?"

Since they had found a demon cult base, the logical choice would be to "rally the squad" and bring Dao Court enforcers to raze the place.

Gu Changhuai frowned, deep in thought, then slowly shook his head.

"Let's investigate a little further. If we can find Fire Buddha—we'll kill him on the spot."

"If we go back and surround the den… a chaotic battle could cause too many variables."

"If Fire Buddha escapes, we've failed."

"And besides…"

Gu's eyes turned dark. He didn't finish that sentence.

But in his heart, he knew—if Bishan City could host a demon den, then the Dao Court wasn't clean either.

If he went back to request reinforcements, it might give certain people an opportunity.

A rusty blade kills its wielder in a duel.

This suited Mo Hua just fine.

Fewer people means fewer problems.

More people meant more ears, more mouths, and less room for "creative tactics."

Mo Hua looked up at the terrifying Devil's Den once more.

Whoever built this place…

Fire Buddha dies first.

And his Falling Flame Technique must be acquired.

"Let's move," Gu Changhuai said.

"Mm." Mo Hua nodded.

The four of them cloaked themselves once more and carefully descended along the stone walls into the depths of the demonic palace.

Inside, the terrain was far more complex than it had appeared from outside.

Many buildings were completely enclosed—no paths connecting them at all.

The area was laced with countless formations, and their movement was highly restricted.

Strangely dressed demonic cultivators patrolled with demonic hounds on leashes.

If discovered, they'd likely alert the entire nest—and once surrounded, only Gu Changhuai might have a chance of escape.

Gu An and Gu Quan would likely die.

Mo Hua might make it out alive—but the mission to assassinate Fire Buddha would be over.

So the group moved with extreme caution.

They didn't even dare kill a dog.

They searched the Devil's Den for half a day… but still saw no sign of Fire Buddha.

The demon cultivators were tight-lipped, moving like zombie puppets with leashed dogs, silently patrolling and speaking barely a word.

Mo Hua couldn't even eavesdrop for clues.

At this rate, they were like headless flies—searching aimlessly.

Even with seventeen days, they might not catch Fire Buddha.

"What now…" Mo Hua frowned.

Gu Changhuai also felt this was a dead end. He whispered,

"Let's try moving toward the inner hall."

Right now, they were in the outer chambers of the demon palace.

If Fire Buddha wasn't there, then odds were he was in the inner sanctum.

But that also meant more guards, more dogs, and much greater danger.

If discovered there, the odds of survival would plummet.

Gu An and Gu Quan exchanged glances, their eyes filled with grim resolve.

Mo Hua also nodded.

The group began cautiously making their way toward the inner sanctum. But they had barely taken a few steps when three figures came walking toward them, one of whom was leading a black-furred, green-eyed demonic hound with foul-smelling drool dripping from its fangs.

The four of them quickly pressed themselves against the wall, clutching the stone tightly and hanging beneath the suspended walkway to hide.

As the demonic hound approached, it suddenly bared its teeth and let out a vicious snarl, lowering its head to sniff the area.

Mo Hua quickly scattered a scent-masking powder on everyone.

It was a special powder carried by demon hunters—used during beast hunts in the Black Mountain. When danger loomed, they'd scatter this powder to mask their scent and avoid being tracked by beasts.

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Though he rarely used it, Mo Hua had always kept some on hand—just in case.

The demonic hound couldn't catch a scent and barked furiously at nothing.

One of the demon cultivators frowned and asked,

"What's going on?"

"Did the scent hound pick something up?"

A cold and eerie divine sense swept the surroundings, brushing over Mo Hua and the others—then withdrew.

"Nothing…"

"Is this dog in heat or something? Why's it barking like crazy?"

"Who fed it the wrong pills again?"

Then came a sharp yelp from the dog—someone had clearly kicked it.

"Damn mutt! Don't bark for nothing!"

"Wasting my time…"

A hoarse voice grumbled,

"Enough, let's keep patrolling…"

"No one could possibly sneak in here."

"Damn it all…"

Eventually, the three demon cultivators and their dog wandered off into the distance.

Once they were sure the patrol had left, Gu Changhuai frowned.

"This isn't going to be easy…"

The patrols in the demon palace were far too tight.

And these damn dogs were even more alert than the cultivators.

There were sentries every few steps—no way to sneak through.

Gu Quan—Mo Hua guessed it was Gu An, just using a fake name—whispered,

"Then how about we kill the patrols?"

Gu Changhuai's eyes narrowed slightly—but he still shook his head.

"We can't."

"We can't kill anyone—not even the dog."

If they attacked, they risked generating spiritual energy fluctuations that would be sensed by other cultivators.

Or, if the kill wasn't clean and someone managed to shout, it would alert the rest.

Or, if they left a body improperly hidden, any clue left behind could expose them completely.

The four of them all frowned deeply.

Gu Changhuai sighed softly.

"Let's keep searching the outer halls. Maybe we'll get lucky—find a clue, or a secret passage to the inner sanctum…"

"Alright." The others nodded slightly.

They climbed back up from beneath the walkway.

But after only a few more steps, Mo Hua's expression changed.

"Someone's coming!"

Gu Changhuai noticed too, his face darkening.

They had no choice but to return to their hiding spot—hanging once again beneath the walkway.

The three demon cultivators and their hound had come back.

"There was movement here."

"Search the area."

This time, they were thorough.

Multiple waves of divine sense swept the surroundings again and again.

The dog sniffed around frantically, almost rubbing its nose raw against the floor.

Mo Hua felt a surge of tension.

It was unclear how much time passed before the three finally gave up.

"Still nothing…"

"Did we imagine it?"

"Is someone playing us? Treating us like dogs for their amusement?"

"Screw that bastard…"

"If he weren't—Tch, one day I swear—"

"Shut up!"

The hoarse voice snapped.

"You tired of living?"

The other two went quiet immediately.

"Just do your job."

Then, softening slightly, the same voice continued:

"This palace is sealed and gloomy. With your demonic cultivation, it's easy for your temperament to become unstable…"

"It'll pass soon."

"You'll be able to vent soon enough."

Sinister laughter followed.

Then the three left again, dog in tow.

Gu Changhuai's group remained hanging, not daring to move prematurely.

The area was quiet again.

Gu An couldn't help but mutter,

"Damn demon scum… If we weren't worried about alerting them, I'd have butchered them already."

Gu Changhuai calmly replied,

"The mission comes first."

"Understood, young master."

Once they were certain the patrol was truly gone, the four emerged and prepared to continue searching—when Mo Hua suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" Gu Changhuai asked.

Mo Hua frowned.

"Something's not right…"

Gu Changhuai paused, thoughtful.

Mo Hua turned and looked behind them.

"This place… something's wrong."

"Those three and that dog were clearly leaving—so why did they turn back so suddenly?"

"And from what they said… it sounded like someone told them there was movement here."

"But who?"

"And more importantly—how did they detect it?"

Mo Hua spoke as he thought aloud, releasing his divine sense to search carefully.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up. He darted over to a corner of the walkway.

There, carved into the shadows, was a very well-hidden formation.

Mo Hua didn't recognize the type—but based on his instincts, he could tell this was a Primordial Magnetic Array he'd never seen before.

"Primordial Magnetic Array…" he murmured.

Then he paused again, eyes closing as he focused.

In that moment of clarity, he sensed it—a subtle magnetic current.

So faint that no ordinary cultivator could have noticed.

If not for his extremely sharp divine sense—and the fact that he dealt with magnetic currents and Secondary Thunder Runes daily—he would've missed it too.

"Magnetic resonance…"

Mo Hua's eyes widened with realization.

He raised his head and looked out across the entirety of the demon palace.

A guess took root in his heart:

"This entire fortress-like demon palace… is likely being monitored by a massive Primordial Magnetic Array."

(End of Chapter)