Immortality Through Array Formations

Master Chen pondered before asking:

“Mo… young brother, is there something not quite right with this Formation…?”

“What part do you find incorrect?”

“I don’t really understand, but this Formation Pattern, it seems… it seems there is one extra?”

Mo Hua’s eyes brightened, “You’ve noticed?”

“Well…” Master Chen inquired, “then this Formation… is it still the Melting Fire Formation?”

“Of course!” Mo Hua explained: “This is the Melting Fire Formation with six Formation Patterns. I just learned it from the Gentleman. It is indeed the Melting Fire Formation, but because there’s an additional Formation Pattern, its effect is significantly stronger…”

“Have you ever drawn it before?”

“Rest assured, I have drawn it many times on paper!” Mo Hua confidently declared.

“But have you ever drawn it on an Artifact Furnace before?”

This question Master Chen did not voice out loud, but without thinking, he knew this youngster certainly hadn’t actually drawn on an Artifact Furnace before.

Master Chen’s heart chilled, “It’s over, my Artifact Furnace has been used by this little child for practice!”

But the deed was done, there was no turning back now.

Master Chen looked at the dismantled Artifact Furnace, glanced at the erased Formation, and steeled himself, “Then go ahead and draw it, I believe in you, old man that I am.”

Mo Hua, not detecting Master Chen’s insincerity, felt even more encouraged and began to draw with a sweep of the Formation Pen.

Master Chen watched anxiously on the side, sweating nervously every time Mo Hua paused in his drawing or frowned in thought.

This furnace was his entire possession; if anything went amiss, he truly would have to face the biting north wind.

The ordeal lasted nearly four hours until Mo Hua had completed the entire Formation, and only then did Master Chen heave a sigh of relief. But before he could catch his breath, he heard Mo Hua say:

“Done.”

Master Chen’s heart leapt into his throat.

“The Formation… is it drawn wrongly?” Master Chen’s voice trembled a bit.

“The Formation… is actually correct, but the Formation Patterns cannot become effective, the Spiritual Power cannot be conducted…” Mo Hua rubbed his chin, frowning in thought.

“Then… what should we do?”

“Don’t worry, Uncle Chen, let me think.”

“Oh, okay.”

Master Chen hurriedly nodded his head, pacing anxiously in circles, yet not daring to interrupt Mo Hua’s train of thought.

“The Formation matches the one on the Formation Diagram completely; the Formation Pivot is correct, the Formation Patterns are correct, the Formation eye is a Spirit Gathering Array. When the Spirit Gathering Array begins to absorb Spiritual Power, it should be able to light up the entire Formation…”

Mo Hua muttered to himself.

Normally, after drawing a Formation on an Artifact, one needs to inject some Spiritual Power into it to light up the Patterns and verify whether the Formation can be effective.

Mo Hua placed his hand on the Spirit Gathering Array, faint Spiritual Power flowing from his palm into the Array. The Spirit Gathering Array glowed faintly, the Spiritual Power gradually seeping into each Pattern, but the entire Formation showed no response.

After waiting a moment, Master Chen couldn’t help but interrupt, “How about, let me give it a try?”

Mo Hua thought, if I can’t light up my own drawn Formation, how could someone else make a difference? However, seeing Master Chen’s anxious expression, he agreed to his request.

Master Chen placed his palm on the Spirit Gathering Array, circulated his Spiritual Power, and then the entire Formation lit up…

Mo Hua’s mouth fell open, and he looked at Master Chen, baffled:

“Strange, why can’t I light it up, but you can?”

“Is there a possibility,” Master Chen gently suggested, “that your Spiritual Power is too weak…?”

Mo Hua: “…”

“You’re only at the third level of Qi Refinement, aren’t you…?”

“If it weren’t for an unexpected reason, I would already be at the fourth level of Qi Refinement!” Mo Hua explained.

If it weren’t for mastering Tianyan Jue, he indeed should have reached the fourth level of Qi Refinement by now.

Master Chen comforted him, “It’s alright, it’s alright, for your age, being at the third level of Qi Refinement is very commendable. My disciples were only at the second or third level of Qi Refinement when they were your age.”

“Mm-hmm!”

Apprentices nodded in agreement, although it was unclear if they truly believed it or not.

Mo Hua didn’t feel like explaining further and simply said, “Install the Refining Furnace, let’s see if it works.”

“Right, right! Almost forgot the real business at hand, let’s quickly set it up and check.”

Master Chen’s spirit was lifted, and he hurriedly called a group of apprentices to install the Refining Furnace. Then, he took out two Spirit Stones and embedded them into the back of the furnace.

After igniting it, flames leaped out immediately.

Master Chen’s eyes brightened. He retrieved a knife-shaped Spiritual Artifact embryo and put it into the fire. In a moment, the embryo was glowing red-hot. Master Chen took it out, struck it with a hammer a few times, and beamed with a smile he couldn’t close.

“Great! This fire is excellent! The intensity of the fire from this furnace is almost on par with the large-sized Refining Furnaces.”

Mo Hua also let out a sigh of relief. Although he was confident, he still feared something unexpected happening. If he really damaged Master Chen’s Refining Furnace, that wouldn’t be good.

“Then, Master Chen, I’ll head back now.”

“As for the Spirit Stones for the Formation Painting…”

Mo Hua waved his hand, “We agreed I’d do it for free, don’t worry about the Spirit Stones.”

Master Chen still felt uncomfortable, so he gave Mo Hua all the leftover Spiritual Ink from the Melting Fire Formation drawing, along with several Formation Pens, firmly pushing them into Mo Hua’s hands.

The Formation Pens were brand new, likely made upon someone else’s request for Master Chen’s help, and were better than what Mo Hua used. Needless to say, the Spiritual Ink was even more impressive; Mo Hua, who was longing for high-quality ink, didn’t hesitate to accept them.

Mo Hua politely refused a few times symbolically, then gladly accepted them.

Master Chen added, “If you ever need to refine any Spiritual Artifacts, just come to me. As long as they aren’t particularly large items, I won’t charge you Spirit Stones.”

This promise was quite valuable.

“Thank you, Uncle Chen!”

Mo Hua happily headed home, thinking about which Spiritual Artifacts he might need in the future so he could ask Master Chen for help in refining them.

After Mo Hua had walked a distance, Dazhu quietly asked his master, “Master, is it really enough to give him just these things? If we had asked Master Jia to draw the formation, it would have cost a lot of Spirit Stones!”

Master Chen replied annoyedly, “I’d like to give more, but where would I find the Spirit Stones?”

“The settlement for the Spiritual Artifacts from the Shen Family hasn’t been completed, we need Spirit Stones for fueling the Refining Furnace, buying refined iron for artifacts also costs Spirit Stones, and you bunch of kids need Spirit Stones even for eating. Not enough to go around even if you split a Spirit Stone into ten pieces, so I have no choice but to shamelessly take a little advantage of the kid.”

Dazhu didn’t dare speak further, worried about upsetting his master.

Master Chen stood up, paced for a moment, and then looking back at the fire, he said with a determined bite of his teeth:

“Bring me that box of century-old Water Poria. Let’s send it to Mo Hua; I heard his mother isn’t well, suffering from internal heat, and this medicine will be just right for her.”

“But wasn’t that box of Water Poria meant for Formation Master Jia? If we give it to Mo Hua, what are we going to do about Master Jia?”

“Forget him. When it’s time to give gifts, he’s all smiles, but when you ask him to draw Formation, he’s arrogant, and he doesn’t miss a single Spirit Stone. Hungry for so much, he won’t choke.”

“If we stop giving gifts, he won’t be happy, and I’m afraid he won’t draw Formations for us anymore,” Dazhu voiced his concern.

“It doesn’t matter, we have Mo Hua now, don’t we?”

“To keep asking Mo Hua to draw Formations without ever giving Spirit Stones, isn’t that a bit improper…?”

Master Chen shot Dazhu a glare, “Is that the kind of person your master is? We simply don’t have Spirit Stones right now, but we’ll of course give some once we have them, won’t we?”

“That’s good, that’s good,” Dazhu nodded, but then hesitantly added:

“But I heard that Formation Master Jia might reach assessment in a few years, becoming a first-grade Formation Master… If we offend him, won’t that cause trouble?”

Master Chen scoffed disdainfully, “Assessment isn’t that easy; he’s simply bluffing people who don’t understand Formations, talking nonsense. When it comes down to actually Drawing Formations, he’s not as efficient as that little kid, Mo Hua. By the time Mo Hua reaches assessment, he probably won’t have made it yet.”

“Impossible. Mo Hua is only at the third level of Qi Refinement; assessment would take forever to reach.”

“Nonsense. Just take it if I tell you to, your master knows what he’s doing.”

Dazhu weighed it in his mind and decided he preferred giving gifts to Mo Hua rather than Formation Master Jia.

“I’ll go over in a bit.”

“What are you waiting for?” Master Chen asked in confusion.

Dazhu scratched his head, “If I go later, I can grab a meal. Aunt Liu’s cooking is too delicious to miss.”

Master Chen: