Immortality Through Array Formations

He lay propped up at his small desk, first cursorily flipping through “Analysis on Formation Breakdown,” and then comparing it with what he had learned previously, checking for any gaps in his knowledge.

He skipped over the concepts that he had already mastered, jotting down those he was unfamiliar with, did not understand, or found utterly confounding. He then went back to pore over them slowly and ponder them at length.

After spending two hours and forming a rough impression, Mo Hua packed away “Analysis on Formation Breakdown.”

It was enough for now; he had a framework in mind. He could look up specific issues when he encountered them during formation breaking.

Afterward, Mo Hua carefully opened an ancient Formation Diagram and began to study the Reversed Spirit Formation.

The Reversed Spirit Formation did not fall under the category of Five Elements Formations; it was a special type of formation that Mo Hua had never learned before.

The Reversed Spirit Formation Patterns, Formation Pivot, and technique of drawing were all particular, and even though it was still formation-related, the sensation of drawing it was completely different.

Mo Hua felt both nervous and intrigued.

He was nervous because the Reversed Spirit Formation was indeed much more difficult, and he did not know if he could learn it.

He found it intriguing because, though the Reversed Spirit Formation and the Five Elements Formation were both formations, they were entirely different, even fundamentally diverging from the typical first-grade formations.

“First-grade ten patterns, Heavenly Dao’s anomalies, not confined by grade,” this subverted Mo Hua’s established understanding of formations.

At the same time, Mo Hua felt expectant.

There were many formation categories and super-grade formations considered “Heavenly Dao’s anomalies” in this world that he had yet to discover.

These formations were kept by clans, sects, the Taoist Court, or some unknown forces.

Or they could be remnants in ancient schools, cave dwelling relics, tombs of old cultivators, the Wildland, the boundless seas, or perhaps in some inconspicuous corner within the vast Nine State.

He wondered if he would one day be able to travel through the Nine State and seek out ancient formations.

If he could learn all these formations, could he really possess the divine power to turn the heavens and earth on their head?

Mo Hua indulged in the prospect for a moment before he reined in his thoughts, admonishing himself twice: Do not aim too high, do not aim too high!

Then he began to earnestly study the Reversed Spirit Formation.

Mo Hua started by memorizing the Formation Patterns, and after the hour of 1 p.m., he closed his eyes to rest.

His Divine Sense sank into his Sea of Consciousness, practicing the formation on the Taoist Stele.

The Reversed Spirit Formation that Mr. Zhuang had given Mo Hua had only nine-and-a-half patterns.

Mo Hua had only drawn a little more than nine patterns before his Divine Sense was exhausted, preventing him from continuing.

Mo Hua erased the patterns and retraced his Divine Sense, frowning in thought.

Although this Reversed Spirit Formation was only nine-and-a-half patterns, the amount of Divine Sense it consumed was indeed much more than typical nine-pattern formations.

Nine patterns is the limit, and beyond this limit lies an unfathomable chasm of Divine Sense.

Mo Hua sighed.

But this was within his expectations, as Mr. Zhuang had said, with his current level of Divine Sense, he was not supposed to be able to draw the Reversed Spirit Formation just yet.

Mo Hua’s goal was still to use the practice of the Reversed Spirit Formation to hone his Sea of Consciousness and strengthen his Divine Sense.

Whether he could master the formation method was of secondary importance.

As long as his Divine Sense was strong enough, Mo Hua would have the means to break through to the Foundation Establishment. And as long as his Divine Sense was strong enough, with enough practice, there would be no formation he could not learn.

If he couldn’t learn it, he would practice more: dozens of times, hundreds of times, or even thousands of times. Eventually, he would be able to master it.

Mo Hua practiced like this throughout the night, becoming basically familiar with the Reversed Spirit Formation and enhancing his Divine Sense—although not by much, he was already very satisfied.

Ordinary first-grade formations presented no challenge for Mo Hua now, and they provided minimal training for his Divine Sense.

For Compound Formations, the intensity of Divine Sense was sufficient, but since it focused on the Formation Pivot with many low-grade patterns, it was a long, inefficient process, not offering a deep understanding of patterns.

By contrast, the training of Divine Sense provided by the Reversed Spirit Formation was already strong.

Now practicing the Reversed Spirit Formation, a single night’s enhancement of his Divine Sense was more than what he would have gained in two nights before.

After practicing the formation method all night, his Divine Sense was still vibrant, but mentally he felt somewhat tired.

Mo Hua emptied his mind and rested for a while, and soon it was 6 A.M.

The morning sun was just rising, marking the start of a new day.

“The plan for a day lies in the morning,” Mo Hua practiced as usual for a while, and then looked out the window at the slowly rising morning sun and the glow that filled the sky, feeling cheerful as well.

After that, as long as he meditated on the Reversed Spirit Formation, casually studied the Compound Formation, and practiced breaking formations, his Divine Sense would grow slowly along with his Spiritual Power, and ultimately the day for Foundation Establishment would come.

The concentration of Spiritual Power, the doubling of Divine Sense, laying the foundation for the Great Dao.

As long as he could establish his foundation, he would have taken a big step on the path of Tao Cultivation.

In order to establish his foundation, Mo Hua began to refine his Divine Sense, but this was not an overnight task.

Besides that, Mo Hua had another task to do, which was to enter the Inner Mountain.

He was very familiar with the Outer Mountain, had drawn maps, collected herbs, minerals, and spices, and killed Monster Beasts—although it was with the help of formations.

Going to the Outer Mountain held no more interest for him.

At the same time, Mo Hua also wanted the Monster Blood of later stages of the first grade.

The Monster Beasts of the Outer Mountain were mostly at the middle phase of the first grade, and using their blood to mix with Spiritual Ink to draw first-grade formations, the formations’ effectiveness would be diminished.

The Inner Mountain was different, the Monster Beasts were mainly of the later stages of the first grade, with robust Blood Qi and better quality Monster Blood, making the formations drawn even stronger.

The quality of Spiritual Ink affects the effectiveness of formations.

Although Mo Hua had not yet had an assessment, he was a first-grade Formation Master, and in terms of formation standards alone, he was close to the peak of first-grade Formation Masters.

In the short term, Mo Hua’s formation skills would not see significant improvement, so the only option was to improve the quality of Spiritual Ink to enhance the power and effects of the formations.

Mo Hua went to find Mo Shan and told him he wanted to enter the Inner Mountain.

As a seventh-level Qi Refining Cultivator, Mo Hua was in the later stages of cultivation and already had the preliminary qualifications to enter the Inner Mountain.

Mo Shan naturally disagreed.

The environment of the Inner Mountain was more dangerous, Monster Beasts more fierce, and there were other cultivators with unknown identities and moral dispositions.

The mountain terrain was treacherous, Monster Beasts ferocious, but the most dangerous thing was still the human heart.

“Dad, my movement technique has improved, I can protect myself,” said Mo Hua.

Since his breakthrough, Divine Sense and Spiritual Power had grown, and the effects of the Heaven Yan Jue technique had further strengthened.

With Divine Sense controlling Spiritual Power and then using Spiritual Power to influence the body, the deployment of the movement technique Water Passing Step naturally improved.

Mo Shan was slightly taken aback and after a moment’s thought, said, “Then let’s have a sparring match. I’ll try to catch you, and you use your movement technique to dodge. If you manage to avoid me, I will allow you into the Inner Mountain.”

Mo Hua nodded, “Alright!”

In the afternoon, the father and son sparred for two hours in the small courtyard, practicing their movement techniques.

Mo Shan was at the ninth level of Qi Refining and had recently had an abundance of Spirit Stones. With diligent practice, his Cultivation had nearly reached nine-layer perfection.

His movement technique, born from years of Monster Hunting and life-and-death battles, was about simplicity and practicality, with clean and incisive movements.

Despite this, Mo Shan found that he could no longer catch Mo Hua, and even pinpointing his location had become very difficult.

Mo Hua’s Divine Sense was too strong. The stronger the Divine Sense, the more concealed and elusive its presence.

If he tried to capture Mo Hua’s figure with his eyes, he was likely to be deceived by the indeterminate Water Passing Step, which flowed like water.

The only method Mo Shan could think of was to wear down Mo Hua, waiting for his Spiritual Power to be exhausted, and for its circulation to become sluggish, then using his familiarity with his son Mo Hua’s breath, he would try to catch him by feel.

This was the only way Mo Shan could find a flaw in Mo Hua’s defense.

It was less of a method and more of a “bloodline suppression”…

After sparring for two hours, it was only by this means that Mo Shan could barely catch Mo Hua twice; the rest of the time, he couldn’t even touch the corner of Mo Hua’s clothes.

Mo Shan finally confirmed that unless a Foundation Building Cultivator made a move, an ordinary ninth-level Qi Refining Cultivator simply couldn’t cope with Mo Hua.

Unless Mo Hua completely exhausted his Spiritual Power, rendering him unable to execute his movement technique.

But his son was clever; if his Spiritual Power was insufficient and the situation seemed unfavorable, he would surely slip away early.

An invincible movement technique below Foundation Establishment…

Mo Shan was both shocked and relieved, he sighed and then agreed to let Mo Hua enter the Inner Mountain.