The Quest for Immortality

Mo Hua pointed at Murong Caiyun, "Sister and I have come to claim the bounty."

Gu Changhuai furrowed his brow, "What bounty?"

Mo Hua said, "The one you just mentioned..."

Gu Changhuai's eyelids twitched as he looked at Mo Hua, who still had a touch of youthful naivety, and said somewhat puzzled, "You've just entered the sect, haven't you?"

How could someone who had just joined the sect already be undertaking missions?

And to find senior disciples to mix with?

Does this child... have such a big face?

Gu Changhuai did not understand.

Mo Hua shook his head to correct him, "Not just joined, I've been a disciple for half a year!"

Gu Changhuai looked on, feeling a headache.

But in front of so many people, he was too embarrassed to "catch up" with Mo Hua any further, and with a stern expression, he nodded coldly.

"I understand."

Gu Changhuai glanced at Mo Hua again out of the corner of his eye, then began to discuss the serious matters:

"The perpetrator likely has mid-phase Foundation Establishment cultivation, specializes in concealment, is calm and ruthless in their methods, extremely secretive, unpredictable..."

"Even cultivators who have just reached the late phase of Foundation Establishment would be in grave danger encountering such an expert in 'concealed killing'."

"Caught off guard by their stealth, one wouldn't be able to defend against their lethal techniques..."

"All of you are sect disciples, with shallow experience. It'll be tough to match wits with such a cunning and venomous cultivator."

"And this murderer is certainly a habitual offender."

"I looked through the archives, and among the sin cultivators who specialize in stealthy killings, with a history of heinous acts, one fits the bill. We don't have his real name in Taoist Court records, but it's said that he is known amongst cultivators as 'Hidden Elder-Second'..."

Hidden Elder-Second...

Ouyang Feng and others all wore contemplative expressions.

Only Mo Hua silently nodded, knowing his guess was correct.

Gu Changhuai noticed this, and was even more surprised.

Could it be... Mo Hua had known all along that the murderer was this Hidden Elder-Second?

He himself had to rummage through the confidential archives of the Taoist Court to unearth this information. How could Mo Hua, a junior cultivator residing deep within the sect, know this?

This child was very peculiar...

Gu Changhuai took a long, hard look at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua, feeling Gu Changhuai's gaze, immediately looked serious and pretended to be innocent.

Gu Changhuai continued:

"Such an experienced and deceitful sin cultivator, who also specializes in concealment, should normally be dealt with by a Third-Grade Supervisor with swift, thunder-like actions..."

"However, the Taoist Court is short of hands, and cultivators of a certain rank are tasked with apprehending sin cultivators of the same rank."

"A sin cultivator at Foundation Establishment is not at the level to be captured by those of the Golden Core."

"But this individual is indeed troublesome, difficult to handle, so I want to inform you that there will be no penalty if you choose to cancel the mission."

Ouyang Feng and the others glanced at each other and shook their heads.

They were all chosen children of heaven, each with a sense of pride.

A sin cultivator at mid-stage Foundation Establishment, no matter how thorny, was not enough to deter them.

With a hint of approval in his gaze, Gu Changhuai passed out several archives:

"This is the dossier on that Hidden Elder-Second; it contains his place of origin, cultivation techniques, Taoist skills, and so on. Take a good look so you can be prepared."

Murong Caiyun took the archives and bowed, "Thank you, Supervisor Gu."

Gu Changhuai nodded slightly and turned to leave, but as he did, he glanced at Mo Hua, and couldn't help but frown upon seeing Mo Hua's casual, ignorant look.

Hidden Elder-Second was sly and tricky to deal with.

Even the seasoned Enforcement Leaders might not be able to see through Hidden Elder-Second's concealment, let alone defend against his sudden attacks.

Gu Changhuai didn't know what kind of commotion Mo Hua, this little devil, was joining.

Finding Mo Hua, the little devil, cute but oddly peculiar, Gu Changhuai preferred not to bother with him.

But after some thought, considering the fact that Mo Hua had saved Yu Er, and he was much cared for by his cousin, Gu Changhuai sighed softly and warned:

"Be careful..."

Mo Hua was slightly taken aback.

The others were even more surprised.

Especially the Enforcement Leader of the Taoist Court, he never expected the always cold and distant Supervisor Gu to actually worry about someone...

It was truly unbelievable...

Mo Hua smiled, "Okay, Uncle Gu."

Gu Changhuai nodded and then left.

Once everything was settled, the group then set out to capture Hidden Elder-Second.

According to the archives, Hidden Elder-Second, who was over two hundred years old, was once a disciple of one of the hundred doors of Qian State, the Five Hidden Sect.

But the Five Hidden Sect had a very niche legacy, making it difficult to recruit disciples, and gradually declined until it was in debt. The sect sold its mountain gate and moved out of Qianxue State Boundary fifty years ago.

The rise and fall of sects were normal occurrences.

But after the Five Hidden Sect left, Hidden Elder-Second stayed behind and, relying on the sect's ultimate techniques, committed all manner of evil deeds.

This ultimate technique was a concealment spell point known as the Minor Five Elements Stealth Skill.

Mo Hua felt a burst of excitement in his heart.

Minor Five Elements...

His own Spiritual Root was also the Five Elements Spiritual Root; he felt as if this stealth technique was tailor-made for him.

Heavenly Secret Calculation was indeed useful.

The group left the Taoist Court.

Murong Caiyun and the others, remembering Supervisor Gu's words, still seemed somewhat grave.

Mo Hua, on the other hand, walked with a light step and a relaxed mood.

He felt that the Minor Five Elements Stealth Skill was already beckoning to him.

Mo Hua was unexceptional in all respects except for his extraordinarily strong Divine Sense.

Thus, his favorite and most proficient practice was bullying cultivators skilled in concealment—sneaking and skulking around secretively...

...

At this very moment, deep within Canglang Mountain.

In the woods, where there had been no one, a figure suddenly appeared.

It was a gaunt, short-statured cultivator with a shadowy and wrinkled face.

He looked around, then furrowed his brow.

After killing three people, he had fled to the depths of this mountain to lie low.

This was his usual routine.

But during these past few days, he had felt an unsettling fear.

As if some ill-intentioned "nasty thing" had set its sights on him...

Hidden Elder-Second was perplexed.

For no reason and without leaving any trace, who could possibly be watching him, and how?

Hidden Elder-Second shook his head.

Regardless, this was a critical moment; he had to endure and avoid causing further trouble.

Those three were already a slip-up.

Any more mistakes, and Mr. Tu would surely kill him, dismember him, and offer his pieces as a sacrifice to the Divine Lord's half-demon slaves.

Hidden Elder-Second shuddered.

He enjoyed disemboweling others but did not enjoy the thought of being disemboweled himself to feed those half-human, half-demon creatures…