"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.
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."