Chapter 332: Searching the Mountain

Mo Hua gradually understood.Why, when they broke into Heishan Stronghold, the pill furnace was broken, but the pig was missing, and there was no large bloodstain on the ground. This indicated that the pig had been moved away beforehand and had not appeared since.

The evil cultivators of Heishan Stronghold either died or were captured, but the pig was nowhere to be found.

This indicated that the pig was very important, even more important than Heishan Stronghold and all the evil cultivators.

Everyone, including Mo Hua, had ignored this fact.

Why did the evil cultivators feed people to the pig? Because the pig was the real pill furnace.

Feeding people to the pig was equivalent to putting people into the pill furnace as medicinal materials.

Heishan Stronghold had been feeding people to the pig, indicating that the pill was still being refined.

Or rather, the Life-Transforming Elixir had been in the process of refinement for a long time, and it might even have been completed.

After all, no one knew how long Heishan Stronghold had been feeding people to the pig.

If it had been for hundreds of years, then the Life-Transforming Elixir might already be perfected!

A chill surged through his heart, and Mo Hua's expression kept changing.

Bai Zixi noticed and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Mo Hua snapped back to reality and hurriedly said, "I just remembered something, something very important!"

After saying that, he ran down the mountain.

"Aren't we fighting anymore?" Bai Zisheng asked regretfully behind him.

Mo Hua waved his hand, "We'll talk about it later..."

Mo Hua used the Passing Water Step and quickly disappeared, leaving Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi staring at each other, not knowing what had happened.

Mo Hua found Commander Yang and saw that Zhang Lan was also there. He said, "The pig!"

Zhang Lan and Commander Yang were stunned, "Are you insulting us..."

Mo Hua, out of breath, shook his head and said intermittently, "That pig... is the pill furnace!"

Zhang Lan and Commander Yang were both taken aback. After thinking for a moment, their expressions changed dramatically!

"What did you say?!"

Mo Hua caught his breath and said solemnly, "Blood and flesh as the array medium, blood marks as the array patterns, the demon pill as the array eye, bones as the array hub..."

"So that pig is the pill furnace for refining the Life-Transforming Elixir! And it might have been refining for over a hundred years."

Commander Yang's pupils contracted sharply. He glanced at Zhang Lan, "Does that mean..."

Zhang Lan exclaimed, "The pill... is almost finished?!"

Commander Yang's face darkened, and he immediately called a Dao soldier, ordering sternly, "Quickly invite Elder Yu, Chief Supervisor Zhou, and Master An to come here at once; there's an urgent matter to discuss!"

The Dao soldier took the order and left swiftly. Within half an hour, everyone had gathered.

Commander Yang repeated Mo Hua's words, and everyone's faces changed, their hearts filled with fear.

"Where is the Qian family's ancestor now?"

"In Dahei Mountain."

"Dahei Mountain is too vast..."

"He is most likely in the deep mountains."

"What should we do?"

Elder Yu frowned and said coldly, "Find him! We must find the Qian family's ancestor. If he takes the pill and advances to the late Foundation Building stage, we won't be able to stop him."

In the second-grade state boundary, the late Foundation Building stage was already the pinnacle of cultivation. He could come and go freely within this state, and no one could do anything to him.

Trying to kill him would result in a great loss!

If they didn't kill him, the entire Tongxian City would face great danger!

Commander Yang nodded, "Then gather all Dao soldiers and thoroughly search the deep mountains!"

"Just relying on Dao soldiers won't do." Chief Supervisor Zhou shook his head, "The Dao Court, demon hunters, and all the cultivators in Tongxian City must search every grass, tree, stone, and soil."

"This matter concerns the safety of the entire Tongxian City; everyone must work together!"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Chief Supervisor Zhou then turned to Mo Hua and said, "We need your help with this matter."

"Alright!" Mo Hua agreed.

After the discussion, they returned to mobilize their forces. The next day, they entered the deep mountains of Dahei Mountain and began a thorough search.

The Dao soldiers, Dao Court, demon hunters, and cultivators from various families and sects all set out.

The dense crowd of cultivators started from the outer edges of the deep mountains, slowly advancing inward, not missing a single corner.

At the same time, under Mo Hua's arrangement, they removed the fog arrays in the deep mountains one by one and placed stone needles engraved with the Sima Compass Composite Array in various corners to monitor the movements in the mountains.

Mo Hua also began to draw a map of the deep mountains.

He wanted to capture every peak, stone, grass, and tree on the map.

He had done this in the outer mountains and the inner mountains, and now he was doing it again in the deep mountains.

The deep mountains had once been a forbidden zone in Dahei Mountain, a place of fear for all cultivators.

Most human fears stem from the unknown.

As long as all the secrets hidden in the deep mountains were uncovered and the fog dispersed, the once terrifying deep mountains would have nothing to fear.

The search progressed bit by bit.

The map of the deep mountains was also being perfected bit by bit.

However, there were still a few blank spots on the map, which were the habitats or lairs of second-grade demonic beasts.

With so many cultivators searching the mountains, the ordinary first-grade demonic beasts had long fled.

But second-grade demonic beasts were different, with thick blood and powerful demonic energy, not something Qi refining stage cultivators could provoke.

Even if they gathered everyone's strength to kill one or two second-grade demonic beasts, the losses would be considerable.

Moreover, the urgent task was to find the whereabouts of the Qian family's ancestor, not to waste time entangling with these demonic beasts.

Therefore, when searching the mountains, they had to avoid these second-grade demonic beasts.

It took nearly seven days for everyone to search the entire deep mountains, but they still did not find any trace of the Qian family's ancestor.

"Could the Qian family's ancestor not be in the deep mountains?" Commander Yang wondered.

Elder Yu shook his head, "Impossible. If he went to another immortal city, he would have been discovered long ago. Dahei Mountain is hidden, the best place for him to hide, especially since he has to take care of a pig and refine the pill..."

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Commander Yang looked at the blank spots on the map.

The blank spots on the map were the places they hadn't searched, which were... the lairs of second-grade demonic beasts!

Everyone's expressions became serious.

Second-grade demonic beasts were powerful, and their lairs were even more dangerous.

Demonic beasts of the same realm were much stronger than cultivators.

Even if Commander Yang, a Foundation Building cultivator, led the Dao soldiers into the lairs, once they angered the second-grade demonic beasts, there would be significant casualties.

"How did the Qian family's ancestor come up with this idea?" Chief Supervisor Zhou frowned.

Elder Yu sighed, "Before the Qian family's ancestor became wealthy, he was also a demon hunter."

So using demonic beast lairs, faking the elder's death, using demonic beasts as the pill furnace to refine pills, all these methods had a demon hunter's style.

Chief Supervisor Zhou regretted, "The Qian family's ancestor's methods are indeed clever, but it's a pity he didn't use them on the right path."

"What about the third master? Any clues?" Elder Yu asked.

"He keeps his mouth shut and says nothing." Commander Yang said.

"What should we do?" Zhang Lan frowned, "Should we search the lairs of second-grade demonic beasts?"

Searching would result in heavy losses, potentially many lives.

But if they didn't search, once the Qian family's ancestor refined the Life-Transforming Elixir, more cultivators would likely die at his hands.

No matter the choice, they were in a dilemma.

Mo Hua thought for a moment and said, "How about I take a look?"

Everyone was slightly stunned, and Commander Yang asked, "What will you look at?"

"I'll look at the arrays."

"Arrays?" Commander Yang was puzzled.

Mo Hua nodded and explained, "The Qian family's ancestor relies on arrays in his actions, whether it was building Heishan Stronghold or refining pills with cultivators, arrays are everywhere."

"If he is hiding in the lairs of demonic beasts in the deep mountains, he will definitely set up some arrays around, either for concealment, warning, or defense."

"I can see the traces of the arrays."

"If there are traces of arrays in the lairs of second-grade demonic beasts, it means a cultivator has been there. And the one who can enter the lairs of second-grade demonic beasts in the deep mountains is most likely the Qian family's ancestor!"

Everyone's eyes lit up at his words, and they agreed, "Let's try it!"

Elder Yu said, "I'll go with you."

He was a bit worried about Mo Hua and didn't want him to take risks.

Commander Yang shook his head, "We Foundation Building cultivators will all go together."

Although Mo Hua was good at hiding and acting cautiously, it didn't mean he wouldn't encounter danger.

Searching the lairs of second-grade demonic beasts meant facing either the second-grade demonic beasts or the Qian

family's ancestor directly.

Commander Yang still wanted Mo Hua to join his family, so he didn't want him to get hurt at all.

"Alright!" Everyone nodded in agreement.

So a group of Foundation Building cultivators surrounded Mo Hua and began searching for the lairs of second-grade demonic beasts in the deep mountains...