Immortality Through Array Formations Chapter 2083 Chapter 990: Rebirth (3)

"She's my flesh and blood sister, and I simply can't shove her straight into that blazing inferno..."

"Fine, fine, fine! As fellow brothers, you owe me a clear explanation today—what exactly do you mean by this 'fire pit'?"

...

In the midst of the boisterous uproar, the dining hall's energy surged with even greater excitement.

Nearby, Mo Hua sank into profound reflection.

Although the disciples' words carried a tone of banter, a kernel of truth lay within them.

"Why exactly am I joining the Sword Discussion Conference?"

This query demands serious deliberation and a firm resolution.

That night, back at the Disciple's Residence, Mo Hua continued mulling over the same puzzle.

Most disciples chased top spots in the Sword Discussion Conference for glory, clan advantages, contribution points, entry into the Inner Sect, or a promising union...

But what drives me?

Glory? I've garnered plenty of notoriety already.

The tallest tree catches the wind; the fattest hog faces the knife first. For someone like me, excessive fame could spell trouble rather than fortune.

I'm flush with contribution points and harbor no desire to enter the Inner Sect.

As a Loose Cultivator, I have no clan rivalries to fight over, no patriarch role awaiting inheritance.

Regarding marriage...

That's a distant prospect, unworthy of current concern.

Moreover, from what Mo Hua knows of the little senior sister...

Should I actually enter the Sword Discussion Conference, she'd likely fret over my safety far more than any rank I might claim.

My placement won't alter my status as her junior brother.

After weighing it all, Mo Hua concluded that he truly lacked any pressing wants.

The sole potential draw could be the prize for topping the Sword Discussion Conference.

Yet these prizes were fixed long ago, and Mo Hua had already reviewed them.

One option: select a supreme cultivation technique legacy from the Four Great Sects and Eight Great Gates.

Another: pick a supreme Daoist skill legacy from the Four Sects and Eight Gates.

Additionally, various sect treasures like high-grade elixirs and talismans.

These offerings are unquestionably elite, tailored for genuine "heaven's favored" talents. For Mo Hua, burdened by his frail base, they hold little real value.

Not even those cultivation techniques or Daoist skills align with his Spiritual Root.

Beyond that, the remaining motive for entering the Sword Discussion Conference might be aiding Elder Master Xun and bolstering Taixu Gate through this trial.

After all, he owed immense gratitude to both Elder Master Xun and Taixu Gate.

Naturally, it would also prevent the Sect Leader from shedding more locks of hair...

But that alone wouldn't justify pouring in excessive toil.

Furthermore, Mo Hua recognized the venture's inherent dangers.

Elder Master Xun had spoken truly before; stepping into the Sword Discussion Conference meant exposure under countless gazes, gradually unveiling all concealed aces.

This vulnerability proved disastrously critical.

Many of his secrets remained utterly taboo to reveal.

Without deploying those secrets, he lacked the prowess to compete in such a majestic Sword Discussion spectacle.

The Sword Discussion Conference isn't mere playtime; it assembles heaven's prodigies and myriad powerhouses.

It demands a grueling, drawn-out clash.

Mo Hua wasn't so foolish as to believe a strong showing could come without total commitment.

Even pouring every ounce of effort and baring all secrets, survival to the finish line stayed in doubt...

Vast challenge, immense peril, meager gains.

Mo Hua pondered endlessly, only to ruefully accept the reality as it stood.

The wisest path was to join the Sword Discussion Conference without overreaching.

Push Taixu Gate to climb a few extra positions.

Leave other factors aside.

Mo Hua let out a quiet sigh.

He revisited the dilemma repeatedly, even employing causal divination for a tentative forecast, confirming that regardless of angle or inference, "letting things unfold naturally" emerged as the optimal route.

A wave of disinterest washed over Mo Hua.

Yet the circumstances were fixed, the causal threads unyielding.

One couldn't defy the tangible world.

Mo Hua released his grip on the issue, his spirit settling into tranquility, adopting a detached stance toward the Sword Discussion Conference.

As fellow disciples strained every nerve in readiness for the Sword Discussion Conference, Mo Hua stuck to his routine, honing the Ultimate Formation and delving into array doctrines.

Time slipped away like serene streams...

...

At the same time, within Taoist State.

Heaven Shu Pavilion.

The lofty tower, veiled in fog and beyond reach, sheltered an elder with flowing silver locks, lost in slumber.

Amid swirling vapors, the elder slumbered in peaceful repose.

No telling how much time elapsed before the elder stirred from his doze, lifting his lids languidly to gaze upon the board before him.

Crafted from withered timber, the board held no remarkable features, yet under the elder's misty, bottomless stare, it shimmered subtly, harboring celestial mysteries with tangled causal lines.

The elder fixed his sight on the board, his tone resonating like a fading chime, murmuring deliberately:

"The board... is arranged, the pieces placed, yet... an element lingers absent."

These pieces lacked vitality, advancing solely along preset paths.

The game thus stagnated, serene and devoid of spark.

It craved a wildcard, a "living piece" to ignite the entire field...

Thus... who possessed the potential to serve as this "living piece"?

Depth filled the elder's eyes, and as his Divine Sense swelled, causal currents streamed ceaselessly.

At once, his gnarled digits delved into the piece jar, groped briefly, and plucked a plain black stone.

A flicker of astonishment crossed the elder's look, deeming it odd even for himself.

"Within this vast game, might someone truly emerge as the living piece?"

Intrigued, the elder sought to divine the "living piece's" essence.

Yet after a brief effort, he abandoned it.

For a true "living piece" must evade prediction; to divine it would render it a mere "dead piece".

"No matter, let it be..."

"With a living piece comes the fish; where fish swim, 'bait' must follow to draw it forth unaided..."

What form of "bait" to deploy?

The elder resumed his divinations, contemplating the "angling" method.

Heaven Shu Pavilion's vast array legacies paraded through his thoughts like flowing rivers, yet causality stirred not...

The elder bypassed the legacies, shifting to probe Daoist arts, elixirs, talismans, arrays...

But round after round of trials, even deeming rare legacies as "bait", failed to hook this "fish".

The elder stayed composed, unperturbed.

In this colossal design, one fit to embody the "living piece" as the wildcard was no common soul, but a authentic "grand catch".

For a grand catch, commonplace "bait" held no allure.

The elder escalated, drawing "bait" from Heaven Shu Pavilion's hidden reserves.

This round, causality indeed rippled.

Yet that sufficed not.

This "grand catch" merely caught a whiff of the faint scent, stirred faintly by longing, only to cling to its essence, shun avarice, retreat to shadowy depths, and coil in wait.

At last, a trace of genuine wonder etched the elder's face.

"Not even this could tempt it?"

"Such impressive 'standing'..."

"Am I angling for a fish, or perhaps a dragon?"

A twinge of regret stirred within as the elder inwardly sighed: "To snare the wolf, one must forgo the cub..."

Clenching his resolve, his digit tore through emptiness, commencing a hunt within Heaven Shu Pavilion's vaulted ancient legacies.

Amid a torrent of legendary titles, the elder sifted for moments before unearthing a legacy aglow with radiant golden causality.

This legacy, causality gleaming like molten gold, signaled that deploying it as bait would assuredly summon the "grand catch".

The elder disclosed the ancient legacy.

It manifested as a relic jade slip, inscribed with five archaic, singular glyphs:

"Yin Yang Rebirth Formation."

These five glyphs exuded primordial disarray, yin and yang in ceaseless spin, life and death in reversal, instantly thickening the chamber's air.

The elder's features hardened progressively, his gaze plunging to terrifying depths.

Yin Yang Rebirth...

Whose "rebirth" did it portend?

Could it possibly be...

A steadfast resolve quivered with cascading astonishment.

The elder's gaze plunged abyssal depths.