Mo Hua silently nodded. He thought he had considered everything, but he hadn’t expected that there were still so many things he hadn’t contemplated… After Mo Hua left with a belly full of thoughts, Mr. Zhuang stared at the thick blood qi over the deep mountains, lost in a trance. After an unknown period, Mr. Zhuang murmured in a low, wistful voice: "Is this my karma?" Old Kui silently appeared behind him and said indifferently: "Not everything is about you, don’t flatter yourself." Mr. Zhuang shook his head. Old Kui glanced at him and said lightly, "So, what? You don’t want to leave anymore?" Mr. Zhuang sighed, "Let’s wait until this matter is settled." "What are you waiting for?" "Once the dust has settled on this matter and the Taoist Demon’s affair has a conclusion, I will set off and leave, no longer entangled in the karma of this place." Old Kui reminded him, "The Taoist has already been here." "It was just a Taoist, not him in person." Old Kui frowned, "This place is tainted with Taoist Demon’s evil; the news has reached the Taoist Court, alarming the Heaven Shu Pavilion. Your whereabouts will also be calculated, and they have always been watching you closely…" "Let them calculate, it’s not like they haven’t calculated before," said Mr. Zhuang nonchalantly. Knowing he couldn’t dissuade him, Old Kui realized that Mr. Zhuang, put in a nice way, was someone with firm convictions. Put bluntly, however, he was as stubborn as a bull and held to his own views. Old Kui snorted coldly, "Good words can’t persuade the damned ghost." After saying that, Old Kui turned to leave, but Mr. Zhuang suddenly said in a low voice, "Thank you." Old Kui was taken aback, "Are you on the wrong medication?" Mr. Zhuang said with a bitter smile, "I always remember your kindness." Old Kui frowned, puzzled, "What? Do you think you’re going to repay me?" Mr. Zhuang smiled, "If there ever comes such a day." "It’s the living who can repay kindness. What can the dead repay? The dead can only return to the ghosts." Old Kui said without civility, then turned and left, his figure still carrying a hint of desolation. Inside the bamboo room, Mr. Zhuang was left alone. Mr. Zhuang still gazed quietly at the deep mountains, at the blood qi soaring to the sky. After a long while, he murmured in a low voice: "Brother, aren’t the sins you’ve committed enough?" And at this very moment, in the center of the Nine State, in the center of Taoist State, in the most prominent high pavilion of the Taoist Court: An old man with white hair and beard was playing chess. In front of him, there was only a chessboard, with no pieces. Across from him, there was only a meditation cushion, with no chess player. Above the cushion, there was no one, just as above his chessboard, there were no pieces. The old man just sat in silence, staring at the empty chessboard, expressionless, his whole being in a state of ethereal nothingness. He seemed both present and absent in the void. After a while, the old man slowly said: "Come in." A cultivator in white, who had been waiting outside for a long time, stepped forward respectfully and placed a jade slip on the table before retreating with equal deference. The old man stared at the chessboard for a long time and couldn’t help but complain: "No one plays chess anymore..." He shook his head, then shifted his gaze away to look at the jade slip on the table. The jade slip was inscribed with words drawn in faint gold spiritual power, and it contained a brief message in two lines: North of Li State, Second Grade Black Mountain State Boundary, Tongxian City. A Taoist Demon has appeared, taking the form of a Big Demon, named Feng Xi. The old man glanced at it and then paid no further mind, continuing to stare at his empty chessboard. Moments later, he sensed something: "Li State... Tongxian City..." The old man spread out his right hand, his palm shining brightly with spiritual power, solidifying into a substance that became a Heavenly Dao compass of the Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches, Eryi, and Four Symbols. The compass spun and calculated layer by layer, then fitted together perfectly. The old man was slightly startled, "Really here..." He then took out another jade slip marked with "Nine State Map," and according to the compass’s calculations, he traced a clear trajectory and ordered softly: "Pass it down." The cultivator in white at the door stepped forward to receive the jade slip and then exited. Before long, the jade slip was in the hands of the high-ranking cultivators of the Heaven Shu Pavilion, all of whom showed a shaken demeanor and thoughtful expressions. After a brief moment, cultivators began to leave the Heaven Shu Pavilion one after another, with expressions of gravity, excitement, or malice. All the movements of the Heaven Shu Pavilion were as clear as day in the old man’s Sea of Consciousness, but he remained indifferent, placing the first piece on the empty chessboard. After making his move, the old man grumbled: "You shouldn’t have let me calculate it, once calculated, it becomes troublesome for me..." "Wouldn’t it be better to stay quiet? It would be good for you and for me. Instead, you just have to cause trouble." "Whether you live or die now depends on your own fate..." … The old man muttered to himself, but there was no one to hear, and no one to respond. After finishing his words, the old man turned his head again, picked up the jade slip, and re-read the two lines of text, muttering to himself: "Tongxian... This name is somewhat interesting..." "Feng Xi? Who is feeding the pigs this time?" "Fortunately, it’s only Second Grade..." The old man placed this jade slip alongside some others of the same shape. On the other jade slips, similar words were written: Qian State, Second Grade Wendao Mountain State Boundary, Thousand Lamps City. Taoist Demon emerges, takes the form of a Great Evil, ancient name Huapi. Annotation: Remnants of an Evil God hidden within the Contemplation Map, Thousand Lamps City has migrated. ... Gen State, Third Grade Dragon Spine Mountain State Boundary, Dragon Mountain City. Taoist Demon emerges, takes the form of a Great Ghost, ancient name Impermanence. Annotation: Ghosts without form, by the time of discovery it’s too late, Dragon Mountain destroyed, turned into Ghost City, not a single Cultivator survived. ... Kan State, Fourth Grade Jingwei State Boundary, Three Rivers Ancient Ferry. Taoist Demon emerges, takes the form of a Big Demon, ancient name Xiang Liu. Annotation: Failed city migration, Xiang Liu’s poison floods Three Rivers, over half of the moving Cultivators dead or injured. ... Kun State, Fourth Grade Azure Cloud State Boundary, Azure Cloud City. Taoist Demon emerges, takes the form of a Great Corpse, ancient name Drought Demon. Annotation: Azure Cloud State Boundary destroyed, turned into a sea of corpses... ... The old man gradually furrowed his brows. In recent years, the emergence of Taoist Demons has become more frequent. "With Taoist Demons frequently emerging, chaos reigns between Heaven and Earth... Is it because the Great Dao is too oppressive, the balance of Heavenly Dao disturbed, causing people to conceive evil, or is there someone, or something not human, secretly scheming?" The old man pondered in silence. In the end, he looked up at the sky and, after a long examination, couldn’t help but mutter: "I look at this sky every day, where is any Formation? Is that kid surnamed Zhuang deceiving me?" ----------------- In the Mo Family’s eatery in Tongxian City, Mo Hua was still contemplating the Large Formation, but he noticed his parents had already started packing up. "Mom and Dad, are we migrating now?" Mo Shan nodded with a sigh, "The Taoist Court has already notified us, it’s time to prepare in advance." "Is everyone leaving?" "Yes." "Where to?" Mo Shan said, "The Court Leader is still discussing it, but it’s likely to be south of Li State, either a wasteland or a barren mountain, places uninhabited by Cultivators. We will have to start anew and settle down there." Mo Hua quietly said, "It must be hard..." "The cultivation itself is secondary, just a bit tough. What’s most difficult is the journey, it probably won’t be peaceful, and not all Cultivators will be able to safely reach the destination..." Mo Shan sighed. Mo Hua nodded. Along the way, there might be places like Big Black Mountain, with dangerous terrain, poisonous miasma, Monster Beasts, Sin Cultivators, and even Evil Cultivators. Even some of the Clans, Sects and the Taoist Court along the way aren’t necessarily benign. "What about Uncle Ji’s family?" "They’re also coming with us," Mo Shan replied, somewhat wistfully: "Your Uncle Ji’s family has no place to seek refuge. Initially, after arriving in Tongxian City, with Ji Li and Fu Lan married and the family together, they could live in peace for a while, but then the Big Demon appeared, and now they have to wander again..." And the future remained uncertain, with no guarantee of better days to come. After all, Qi Refinement Realm Cultivators stood at the very bottom of the Cultivation World, living a tough life, fragile and unable to withstand much risk. In the following days, all of the Loose Cultivators and former friends Mo Hua knew were preparing to migrate. Mo Hua sighed. The chances of learning and constructing the Large Formation were slim to none now... He guessed that he would have to migrate as well. Once the migration began, it would likely mean saying goodbye to Tongxian City forever, as well as saying farewell to Mr. Zhuang and his fellowship brothers Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi... Mo Hua felt somewhat downcast. In the evening, a guest suddenly came to the eatery, and it was Master Luo. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶 Mo Hua asked in confusion, "Master Luo? Aren’t you preparing to migrate?" Master Luo shook his head helplessly, "I do have to migrate, but not to the south of Li State. Instead, I’m relocating to the Third Grade Lanling State Boundary in the north of Li State. I have old friends there, and quite a few Sects have invited me to be their Elder." Mo Hua was startled. Master Luo explained to him: "Not just me, Cultivators with status and position within Tongxian City won’t be moving to the harsh lands with the city. Everyone has their connections." Master Luo handed an invitation to Mo Hua: "Young Master Mo, you also have connections."