Immortality Through Array Formations

Mo Hua returned home in the evening and couldn’t fall asleep in bed.

For one thing, he was a bit worried about Da’hu and the other two; for another, he thought that despite being a cultivator, he seemed to have no means of attack or self-defense.

The cultivators in Tongxian City were simple and honest, and having grown up there, he hadn’t encountered any dangers. But the absence of danger didn’t mean that danger would never come.

In the face of real danger, one should have some means of self-protection; it wasn’t an option to just sit and wait for death.

Mo Hua was not a Body Cultivation practitioner; his Blood Qi was weak, so he couldn’t learn the martial arts of Tao Cultivation. That left him with only the option of learning spells. However, Mo Hua’s Spiritual Power wasn’t strong either, and what’s more, as a fourth-level Qi Refinement practitioner with low Cultivation, it was a bit early for him to learn spells…

After much thought, the only choice left was formations…

“Is there any formation that can attack?”

Mo Hua rolled out of bed, fetched Mr. Zhuang’s “Thousand Formation Collection,” and started searching through it:

“The ‘Ice Cone Formation,’ seven Formation Patterns, but I’ve never learned the ice-series patterns, and the Spiritual Ink used for drawing formations is quite rare…”

“The ‘Thunder and Fire Formation’ should be pretty powerful… Nine Formation Patterns, let’s not even consider that…”

“The ‘Wood Prison Formation’ is not meant for attacking…”

“The ‘Fire Breath Formation,’ three Formation Patterns, but it seems a bit weak in power…”

Mo Hua flipped through again and again and finally chose the ‘Earth Fire Formation.’

Seven Formation Patterns, the ink required was inexpensive, the setup was simple, and he was quite familiar with the fire-series Formation Patterns. The formation would self-destruct upon activation, so its power shouldn’t be weak.

Mo Hua was satisfied, and after 1 p.m., he began practicing the ‘Earth Fire Formation’ on the stele in his Sea of Consciousness.

The formation wasn’t difficult, and Mo Hua spent the whole night practicing it several times until he was familiar with it. The next day when he awoke, he used paper to draw it, and after trying a few times, he was successful.

Just as Mo Hua was attempting to activate the formation, he suddenly remembered something:

Once he infused Spiritual Power, would the Earth Fire Formation take effect and explode immediately? Then wouldn’t his house be gone, and given his frail body, he probably wouldn’t die but would be badly injured…

Mo Hua broke out in a cold sweat.

He flipped through the “Thousand Formation Collection” again for notes on the ‘Earth Fire Formation’ and read: Infuse Spiritual Power into the formation, and after three breaths, it explodes, causing fire-series spiritual injuries.

“So that means I infuse Spiritual Power and after three breaths… well, about three seconds, the formation will self-destruct, and the power of the formation’s explosion is similar to the spell power of a fire-series cultivator.”

So this is basically a landmine…

Mo Hua muttered under his breath.

But in any case, he couldn’t try this formation at home.

Taking advantage of the free time in the morning, he drew two more Earth Fire Formations and, in the afternoon, left home to place the formation under a tree in a quiet grove on the outskirts of town, and then tentatively infused a bit of Spiritual Power.

The formation lit up, but it didn’t explode.

Mo Hua squatted on the ground, his small hand propping up his chin, “It lit up, indicating there’s no issue with the formation, but no explosion means that the infused Spiritual Power wasn’t enough?”

If I infuse enough Spiritual Power, would the formation explode directly?

Mo Hua felt somewhat unsure, as he was not a practitioner of Body Cultivation and probably couldn’t withstand the power of the Earth Fire Formation explosion.

Mo Hua took out the “Thousand Formation Collection” again and read through it word by word to confirm that it would indeed explode after three breaths, and only then did he feel reassured, “A Formation Master wouldn’t deceive another Formation Master, and besides, this book was given by Mr. Zhuang, so it couldn’t be wrong.”

Mo Hua circulated the Spiritual Power in his Qi Sea and infused a large amount directly into the Earth Fire Formation, which caused the Formation Patterns to emit a blinding red light.

Mo Hua covered his head and ran, then jumped into a pit a few yards away, hiding his entire body in it.

It was specifically because of this pit that Mo Hua chose this spot to detonate the ‘Earth Fire Formation.’ He even rehearsed several times beforehand to ensure that with his small arms and legs, he could successfully hide in the pit within three breaths.

The Earth Fire Formation exploded, fulfilling Mo Hua’s expectation, and he was very satisfied.

But even though it exploded, it only blasted a gap in the large tree, with slight burn marks. The noise was loud but the effect was minimal, and Mo Hua wasn’t entirely satisfied.

Looking at it this way, setting off the Earth Fire Formation didn’t seem like detonating a mine, but more like setting off firecrackers.

“A Formation with seven Formation Patterns should be stronger…”

Mo Hua felt he shouldn’t blame the Formation but rather look for the cause within himself, “Could it be that, because my cultivation is low, the Spiritual Power I infuse isn’t enough?”

If there wasn’t enough Spiritual Power, then he could only use Spirit Stones.

Mo Hua took out an Earth Fire Formation, placed it under another tree, and then with a pang of pain, he took out a Spirit Stone, crushed it, and injected the Spiritual Power from the Spirit Stone into the Earth Fire Formation.

This time, the Formation Patterns on the Earth Fire Formation shone even more dazzlingly.

Mo Hua hurried back to the pit just in time to hear a loud bang that made his ears ache. Then, following the rumbling sound and the noise of branches snapping off, the big tree targeted by the Earth Fire Formation collapsed with a crash.

When Mo Hua ran over to check, he couldn’t help but gasp in astonishment.

The big tree, bearing the brunt of the Earth Fire Formation’s self-destruction, had a large chunk blown out of the trunk, which then toppled to the ground. The chunk bore obvious scorch marks, as if it had been blasted by intense flames.

“The power of a single Spirit Stone, is it really so strong? Or is it that my own Spiritual Power is just that weak…”

Mo Hua felt somewhat disheartened.

However, the power of the Earth Fire Formation driven by a single Spirit Stone satisfied Mo Hua a great deal. It wouldn’t hurt to draw a few more to have on hand in case of emergencies.

After ensuring that there were no signs of fire on the tree blasted by the Earth Fire Formation, Mo Hua returned home satisfied.

Only the blasted big tree was left standing alone in its place.

The next day, Elder Yu from the Monster Hunting Team came by and, upon seeing the signs of the blasted tree, couldn’t help but rage:

“Go back and check which damn fool from the Monster Hunting Team did this. Having the energy and not going Monster Hunting, but instead blowing up trees here, do they think their cultivation is so remarkable that they have nowhere else to show off?”

The burly men of the Monster Hunting Team all shrank back, not daring to utter a word.

Elder Yu had quite a bad temper and was known for his strictness; they didn’t dare to say even half a word of dissent.

After attending the Monster Hunting festival, Da’hu and his two friends became busy. They were either sparring Martial Dao at home or following senior Monster Hunters into the mountains to learn the experiences of Monster Hunting.

On the evening of the second day of the Monster Hunting festival, Mo Hua could only wander around by himself. Without his friends, even the bustling atmosphere felt somewhat tasteless to him.

Who would have known that on the third day, after Mo Hua had visited Mr. Zhuang and asked his questions, Bai Zisheng grabbed hold of him persistently.

“Take me with you!!”

Bai Zisheng’s handsome eyes stared intently at Mo Hua.

“What…”

“The Monster Hunting festival!” Bai Zisheng said, “I’ve inquired about it. The Monster Hunting festival lasts for three days, and today is the last day. If we don’t go now, we’ll miss it.”

“It only happens once a year.”

“Who can tell what will happen next year? What if Zixi and I have to go somewhere else? Then I might never get to see it… No, you must take me!”

“But… even if I want to take you, that won’t help, Aunt Xue won’t agree.” Mo Hua said.

“I’ve thought it through,” Bai Zisheng’s eyes lit up, “we’ll sneak out without letting Aunt Xue know. At worst, we’ll take a beating when we get back. A man should be able to stand tall under the heavens and not fear punishment; even if it means getting beaten, it will still be worth it!”

“Then think about it, how are you going to keep it a secret from Aunt Xue?”

After thinking for a moment, Bai Zisheng slumped down, looking dejected, “Yeah, there’s no concealing it. From childhood till now, I’ve never once been able to hide anything from her.”

Seeing him downcast like a frostbitten eggplant, Mo Hua sympathized and suggested, “Then why don’t you negotiate with Aunt Xue? Finish your day’s work, and then take a stroll in the streets in the evening?”

“That’s the only option left…” Bai Zisheng nodded.

“Then start working on your tasks now. If you don’t finish them, you won’t even have the right to speak to Aunt Xue.” Mo Hua reminded him.

Suddenly energized, Bai Zisheng flipped open the book on his desk, glanced at it twice, then asked Mo Hua, “If Aunt Xue agrees, how do I find you?”

“Today, at 5 p.m., I’ll wait for you under the big tree on the street. If Aunt Xue agrees, I’ll take you around. If she doesn’t, I can only go by myself.”

“Agreed!” Bai Zisheng perked up.

“Yes, it’s a deal.”