Immortality Through Array Formations

After Mo Hua returned home, he cultivated while drawing Formation Diagrams.

According to Mr. Zhuang, since Mo Hua had learned Heaven Yan Jue, his Divine Sense manipulation had strengthened, and with the learning of the Meditation Technique, his Divine Sense recovery had also become faster.

As a result, Mo Hua now could draw Formations faster during the day, his Divine Sense also recovered more quickly, and he could draw even more Formation Diagrams each day, which naturally made him feel more exhausted.

Occasionally, when he felt tired from drawing Formations, he would take out the Formation Books titled “Initial Understanding of Compound Formation” given by Mr. Zhuang for diversion, to relieve the fatigue.

One day, Mo Hua was sprawled on the table in the courtyard of the eatery, poring over Formation Books, when a man wearing a cyan robe walked in. The man ordered a pot of wine, a plate of beef, and two dishes of fruits and vegetables, and then sat down to eat.

As it was not yet noon and it wasn’t the usual mealtime, there were only a few sparse Cultivators eating in the eatery, all living in the vicinity; some were Monster Hunters, others merchants or similar, all dressed in relatively plain clothes.

The man in cyan, spotless and unstained, stood out conspicuously among these ordinary folks.

Mo Hua gave a glance and noticed that the man was handsome, likely in his thirties, but clearly well-nurtured and looking much younger. He wore a Jade Pendant, and his clothes were primarily cyan. Although not flashy, the materials seemed rather expensive, and Mo Hua could vaguely see Formation Patterns on the man’s clothes.

The fabric used for making Taoist Robes were very soft and not suitable as Formation media, and the materials that could be used were not cheap.

The man in cyan might have also sensed someone observing him, and when he looked up, he saw a plainly dressed but incredibly picturesque young boy with eyes that were clear as day and night, sizing him up.

The man offered a slight smile and gestured to Mo Hua.

Mo Hua closed his book and approached. The man said warmly, “Little friend, what would you like to eat? It’s my treat.”

Mo Hua shook his head, “This is my family’s place; I can treat you.”

The man was slightly taken aback, then glanced at the sign at the doorway and laughed, “Is your name Liu?”

Seeing no ill intent from the man, Mo Hua replied, “My surname is Mo, my mother’s surname is Liu.”

The man nodded, then noticing the book in Mo Hua’s hands, he asked, “What are you reading? Is there something you don’t understand? I can teach you.”

Mo Hua, suspicious, gave the man who seemed a bit idle a glance and asked, “Do you know about Formations?”

“Of course, Formation knowledge touches on all aspects of Tao Cultivation. Even if one doesn’t follow the path of a Formation Master, the basics are essential. I do not claim to be very proficient, but I certainly know more than you, little friend,” the man said.

Mo Hua, feeling his boast was too big to be false, handed over “Initial Understanding of Compound Formation.”

The man in cyan received it and when he saw the words “Compound Formation” on the cover, his eyelids involuntarily twitched.

Mo Hua, still doubtful, looked at him and asked, “Do you really understand it?”

“Of course.”

The cyan-clad man replied calmly, though his fingers trembled slightly as he pinched the book, internally he couldn’t help but grumble,

“What in the hell, Compound Formation! Which adult is so idle that they’d let a kid read a book on Compound Formation? Aren’t they afraid of exhausting his Divine Sense?”

Of course, he couldn’t lose face in front of the child, so he buckled down and flipped open “Initial Understanding of Compound Formation.”

“This kid is probably just skimming, probably doesn’t understand much, I can just bluff my way through a few answers,” the man in cyan thought to himself. Then he turned the first couple of pages and asked, “What don’t you understand? Go ahead and ask.”

Unexpectedly, without even a glance, Mo Hua flipped a few pages further and pointed to a certain part, asking, “‘Gather Formation Patterns to make a Single Formation, gather Single Formations to make a Compound Formation’, why not simply accumulate Formation Patterns to enhance the effectiveness of the Formation instead of using Single Formations to reconstitute into a Compound Formation? Wouldn’t that be redundant?”

The cyan-clad man’s heart tightened, and he struggled to recall the words of the Formation Master from his clan’s lessons.

Fortunately, he had been fairly attentive at the time; those things hadn’t been forgotten.

“Within the same realm, a Cultivator’s Divine Sense is limited, the number of Formation Patterns a Formation of the same rank can contain is also limited. Once the number of Formation Patterns in a Formation exceeds a certain amount, if the Cultivator’s Divine Sense is insufficient, it becomes impossible to draw these Formations. One could even die from Divine Sense exhaustion by forcefully drawing Formations…”

“To break through the limitation of Formation Patterns, one must recombine Single Formations to form a Compound Formation. This not only enhances the power of the Formation but also allows different Formations to interact, yielding a greater variety of effects…”

“Oh, oh, I see…” Mo Hua couldn’t help but nod in understanding.

The man in cyan wiped a metaphorical bead of sweat from his forehead.

Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, Mo Hua’s pale hands swiftly turned a few more pages and pointed to another section, saying,

“‘The pivot of a single formation is simple, the pivot of a compound formation is complex,’ would there be any difference between the pivot of a single formation and compound formation? Formation patterns are arranged according to the pivot to constitute a single formation; single formations are arranged according to the pivot to constitute a compound formation, the differences between the two kinds of pivots shouldn’t be that big, right?”

“Cough cough, well… that’s quite a long story. Monster beasts vary from one another, cultivators differ from each other, naturally formation pivots also differ from each other—you can’t assume they’re all the same just because they’re both pivots…”

As the man spoke this rather irrelevant nonsense, his sea of consciousness was working overtime, and then he said:

“The pivot of a single formation is simple, generally only serving to connect the various formation patterns; but the pivot of a compound formation is much more troublesome, not only because it has to connect single formations but sometimes it also needs to mediate the opening and closing of spiritual power… as well as its strength and weakness, to smooth out the conflicts between different types of spiritual powers, and also… to stabilize the entire structure of the compound formation…”

It took the man scratching his head to finally complete his explanation.

Books are only appreciated when needed. How true that is!

He has lived so long, yet now he was being forced by a young cultivator to relearn this!

“Oh, I see.”

Mo Hua nodded, and then his little hand resumed flipping briskly through the pages.

With each page he turned, the man’s heartbeat quickened by a beat. He nearly wanted to grab Mo Hua’s hand to make him stop flipping. If Mo Hua continued, he might really be unable to answer any more questions.

Finally, Mo Hua’s hand came to a stop, his fingertip resting on a formation diagram.

The man’s heart sank.

It’s over, a formation diagram.

He only knew some theoretical stuff; he had never actually drawn one. Besides true cultivators determined to become formation masters, who would bother drawing these things?

“Ahem, this formation diagram… is not something you should be drawing at your age…” the man in the blue robe tactfully said.

Mo Hua replied, “I tried drawing it, but I don’t know why, the compound formation always fails to activate…”

The man’s vision darkened.

Tried drawing it?

What does that mean?

What cultivation level are you at, what cultivation stage have you reached, how profound is your divine sense, and how audacious are you, to dare to draw compound formations?! Who gave you the courage?!

Mo Hua took out a piece of paper from his storage bag, on which a formation was painted. It was clearly freshly drawn not long ago, and although it wasn’t activated, it had all the necessary formation patterns, not a single one missing.

The man in the blue robe was speechless.

Once he calmed down a bit, he took a closer look at the formation in Mo Hua’s hand and suddenly felt a surge of happiness.

“Although it’s a compound formation, I recognize all the single formations within it, and they’re all very simple, consisting only of two or three patterns, not exceeding my level in formations.”

The young man settled himself down, coughed, and cleared his throat, speaking with some composure:

“Formation theory is one thing; actually picking up the brush to draw is not so simple. The problem with this is the pivot, you’ve used the pivot of a single formation for a compound formation, naturally the formation can’t be activated…”

Mo Hua suddenly understood, nodding repeatedly, feeling that he had underestimated the man in the blue robe, and then…

With a stretch of his little hand, he prepared to flip further.

The man’s just regained composure dissipated like snow under hot soup, instantly crumbling.

Please stop flipping…

Fortunately, Mo Hua flipped to the next page, saw that he hadn’t read it either, and didn’t continue. Instead, he closed the book, and with an admiring tone said, “Uncle, you really know a lot.”

The man in the blue robe sighed with relief.

Mo Hua pointed with his little hand at the wine jug on the table, saying, “I’ll treat you to this jug of wine.”

The man finally let go of his worries and couldn’t help but drink a cup to calm his nerves.

The moment the wine entered his mouth and reached his heart, the man felt that he had never tasted such a refreshing and sweet wine in his life.