Chapter 344: Decision
“I… where should I go?”
Mò Huà felt uncertain. He sat in the eatery, watching the coming and going of cultivators, observing the entire Tōngxiān City.
The city was no longer bustling; instead, it carried a solemn quiet, like the calm before a storm.
Even the cultivators on the streets had thinned out.
Those who could find a way out did so. Those wandering cultivators who couldn’t, had only one path:
Follow the main group of scattered cultivators in relocating the city, move to the harsh and barren lands, reclaim it, and build a place to settle.
With great demons appearing in the world, even some of the larger cultivation factions had no strength to resist, let alone wandering cultivators.
They had no choice.
No status, no background, no connections, no one willing to shelter them—if they wanted to survive, they had to carve out a new path for themselves, enduring hardships step by step.
Mò Huà sighed.
Perhaps the world had always been like this.
In any disaster, those in higher ranks always have a way to escape.
In the end, it’s the cultivators at the bottom who face all the difficulties and bear all the pain.
Even if the disaster is entirely accidental.
Mò Huà went to see Elder Yú again.
Elder Yú was moving with the scattered cultivators.
As a Foundation Establishment (Zhùjī) cultivator, he could have freed himself.
But precisely because he was a Zhùjī cultivator—the only one among the scattered cultivators—he had to protect and escort their southern migration.
Without a Foundation Establishment cultivator to lead, countless cultivators could die or be injured along the way.
“Don’t come along.”
Elder Yú had been busy day and night recently, and his face showed fatigue. Seeing Mò Huà, he spoke directly.
Before Mò Huà could respond, Elder Yú continued:
“We’re relocating, not building a city. Even when we arrive, it’s all barren land. You won’t need your formation arrays for now.”
Mò Huà understood Elder Yú’s intentions and had nothing to say.
Elder Yú looked at him, speaking softly:
“You have a better future ahead—learn more arrays, accomplish more. You don’t need to follow us to suffer hardships.”
Mò Huà whispered, “It’ll be dangerous along the way, right?”
“Everything has risks. But you can’t avoid doing what’s right because it’s dangerous. This concerns the lives of an entire city of scattered cultivators,” Elder Yú sighed.
“Then… I’ll go too,” Mò Huà said.
Elder Yú glared at him irritably:
“What are you joining in for? Even if you go, it won’t change anything. Your most important task is to study arrays properly, not to suffer alongside us.”
Elder Yú was stubborn; Mò Huà knew he couldn’t argue.
He turned to glance at the vast Refining and Alchemy shops, feeling a bit disheartened:
“Will these also be abandoned?”
Elder Yú sighed helplessly and nodded, “We can’t carry such huge Refining and Alchemy shops with us…”
“Will you sell them?”
Elder Yú nodded, “I’ve already contacted Chief Zhōu. The refining and alchemy furnaces here, with your array formations, are valuable. Dao Court Division will convert them into spirit stones to compensate us. Moving and reclaiming land will require spirit stones—they’re the real currency.”
“Oh, right,” Elder Yú remembered something and handed Mò Huà a jade token:
“This is a warehouse ID token, with over ten thousand spirit stones inside. They’re for you; go claim them when you have the time.”
Mò Huà froze. “Over ten thousand… all for me?”
Elder Yú nodded. “These are for your Foundation Establishment stage.”
Looking at Mò Huà, Elder Yú’s expression carried some regret:
“I should have given you more. Without your arrays, the scattered cultivators of Tōngxiān City wouldn’t have lived well, and Black Mountain Bandit Camp wouldn’t have been eliminated. But since we’re relocating, the spirit stones are limited. This is all I can give you…”
Mò Huà shook his head. “It’s already a lot.”
He took the jade token. It felt heavy. As he opened his mouth to speak, Elder Yú interrupted:
“Don’t give me false modesty. Whoever gives you spirit stones, you take them. Anyone who refuses them is a fool.”
Holding the jade token, Mò Huà felt an unexpected sense of guilt.
Elder Yú patted his shoulder:
“Whatever choice you make, just hold your head high and do it with dignity. You owe no one anything!”
Mò Huà nodded slightly, walking away deep in thought.
Watching him leave, Elder Yú felt reluctant, yet could only sigh.
Mò Huà had already helped them so much; they could no longer hold him back.
He should go to a broader world, learn advanced arrays, and pursue the Dao more far-reachingly.
Not remain with these impoverished scattered cultivators—there would be no future there.
The appearance of great demons was, perhaps, an opportunity.
Elder Yú then looked at the empty Refining and Alchemy shops, feeling a sudden emptiness.
Everything felt like a dream.
Occupying spirit mines, building the Refining and Alchemy shops, providing comfort for scattered cultivators—it all seemed like a dream.
Eliminating Black Mountain Bandit Camp, removing the threat of evil cultivators, even uncovering the root of trouble by exposing the Qian family patriarch, all felt like another dream.
Everything had been heading in a good direction; their lives could have improved…
But now, it was all gone.
Like waking from a dream.
They would leave their hometown, and Tōngxiān City might no longer exist.
Elder Yú sighed deeply, bitterly.
The lives of scattered cultivators…
They don’t even dare hope for immortality; they just want to live properly, safely for a century or two. Why is it so difficult?
…
Mò Huà walked around once more, seeing familiar faces, and then returned home, sitting silently in the courtyard.
Everyone was leaving.
Elder Yú, Yú Chéngyì and Yú Chéngwǔ—his uncles—and other familiar demon hunters;
Uncle Jì’s family, Uncle Mèng’s family, Uncle Chǔ’s family;
Master Chén from the Refining shop, childless, would move with them;
Elder Féng, aged and respected, had saved many lives with his alchemy—others had paths, but he worried about scattered cultivators traveling without alchemists to care for them, encountering poison and injury, so he would go along. No one could persuade him otherwise.
The three Dà Hǔ brothers, friends from childhood, along with Dà Zhù and Dà Píng, who had fought or played with Mò Huà, would also leave with their families…
His parents would stay with him, but the others—people he knew, grew up with, or watched him grow up, whom he helped and protected—would all leave Tōngxiān City.
They would walk into an unknown future, start over in a harsh new place.
Perhaps sleeping outdoors, facing hunger and cold, and potentially oppressed by unknown families, sects, or Dao Court officials.
And he probably would not go with them.
He would walk a path completely different from theirs.
Mò Huà thought quietly.
With his Divine Sense unblocked and enough spirit stones, he could soon reach Foundation Establishment.
He could join a family or sect, even Dao Court Division or Dao Soldier Division, train in peace until Foundation Establishment, then advance to Golden Core, learning higher-level arrays and seeking greater realms…
The path of scattered cultivators was full of thorns, while his own path blossomed with opportunity.
…
But was this truly what he wanted?
Mò Huà asked himself honestly.
Why was he learning arrays in the first place?
He had changed some things, but in the end, it felt like nothing had changed.
Facing disasters, he could survive this time—but what about next time?
Would he always act for self-preservation when difficulties arose?
“Over time, will I become numb and cold?”
“Will I forget my original intentions, lose my heart, extinguish my Dao mind, and become completely selfish?”
Could such a self truly become an immortal? Truly seek the Dao?
Truly grasp the essence of arrays and understand the ultimate Dao?
If he lost his Dao mind, even if he succeeded and became famous, could he achieve true longevity?
Unable to answer, Mò Huà lay in the courtyard, staring up at the sky.
“What is my Dao heart?”
“What Dao am I seeking?”
“What should I do?”
…
The sky stretched high, clouds vast, seeming to contain endless vitality and principles.
If the Dao exists, the heavens manifest it.
If a great array exists, the Heavenly Dao Great Array is the ultimate array.
This is what an array master should pursue!
Mò Huà’s eyes brightened gradually.
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
“I can’t deploy such a Heaven-reaching, Earth-penetrating array to regulate all cultivators and propagate the cultivation world.”
“Then I’ll start with the simplest First-Rank Great Array, learn it, and set down my first First-Rank Great Array. I’ll exterminate a local Dao-devil and protect the peace of one immortal city!”
Mò Huà suddenly felt enlightened. His expression grew resolute, his gaze shining like stars.
He lay in the courtyard, hand stretching toward the sky.
His small palm seemed ready to grasp the entire firmament.