Immortality Through Array Formations

Master Chen was shocked, “How long has it been, and you’re already able to draw first-grade Formation Methods?”

“That’s nothing much.” Mo Hua waved his little hand and continued,

“With a first-grade Refining Furnace, plus the first-grade Melting Fire Formation, we should be able to attract a good number of Artifact Refiners, right?”

Drawing a first-grade Formation Method isn’t a big deal…

Master Chen had mixed feelings and sighed, “Don’t worry, a first-grade Refining Furnace combined with a first-grade Formation Method, no Artifact Refiner would be able to resist.”

The skill level of an Artifact Refiner heavily depends on the Refining Furnace. There are only a few first-grade Refining Furnaces throughout Tongxian City, let alone one inscribed with a first-grade Formation Method.

If someone refused that, what would they be if not a fool?

“That’s great,” Mo Hua was then reassured.

Soon after, he remembered another question. “Master Chen, how are the grades of artifact refining determined?”

“Grades?”

“Yes,” said Mo Hua with a nod, “like for a Formation Master, nine Formation Patterns constitute a first-grade Formation Method. What are the standards for a Spiritual Artifact to be considered first-grade?”

A Refining Furnace is actually a type of Spiritual Artifact, only it’s used for the production aspects of Tao Cultivation, different from the Spiritual Artifacts used by Cultivators for attack or defense.

The Loose Cultivators of Tongxian City can’t forge a first-grade Refining Furnace; the one promised by Elder Yu also had to be bought from the outside.

But there should also be first-grade Artifact Refiners among the Loose Cultivators, so why can’t they forge first-grade Spiritual Artifacts?

“That’s a long story…” Master Chen began.

Mo Hua sat down on a small stool, ready to listen to a story.

Master Chen took a sip of his drink, organized his thoughts, and started,

“First of all, the most difficult to determine is that of a Formation Master. Only a Cultivator in the Qi Refining Ninth Level can become a first-grade Formation Master…”

Master Chen looked at Mo Hua and coughed, “Generally, ah, generally only those in the Qi Refining Ninth Level can become first-grade Formation Masters.”

Then he continued, “Compared to Formation Masters, the standards for becoming an Artifact Refiner, Alchemist, including Talisman Maker, are much more lenient. As long as one reaches the later stages of Qi Refinement, goes through practice, accumulates experience, and reaches a certain skill level in artifact crafting, capable of crafting a first-grade Spiritual Artifact, they can generally be considered a first-grade Artifact Refiner.”

“So why can’t Loose Cultivators rarely craft first-grade Spiritual Artifacts?” Mo Hua asked.

“There are many reasons. For example, first-grade Spiritual Artifacts are expensive to make, the materials are rare, and ordinary Loose Cultivators can’t afford them. There’s also a lack of heritage; many Loose Cultivators simply don’t have the Artifice Manuals for various Spiritual Artifacts, and they don’t get to learn some of the artifact crafting techniques…”

Master Chen sighed, “Of course, the most important reason is that we don’t have good Refining Furnaces.”

Mo Hua’s eyes lit up, “Are Refining Furnaces really important?”

“Of course,” lamented Master Chen, “the Refining Furnace is the weapon of an Artifact Refiner, just like the sword in the hands of a Sword Cultivator. Without a sword, what swordsmanship can you learn? Without a Refining Furnace, what Spiritual Artifact can you refine?”

Mo Hua nodded repeatedly, feeling that made a lot of sense.

Master Chen pointed at his Refining Furnace and spoke, “Don’t look down on my old and battered Refining Furnace. It may not be big, but among the Refinery Shops run by Loose Cultivators in Tongxian City, it’s considered quite good already.”

Master Chen felt a bit proud, “Many people are jealous of my Refining Furnace, wanting to borrow it to refine Spiritual Artifacts, but I haven’t agreed. It’s my livelihood—how could I lend it out just like that?”

“So, a lot of Loose Cultivators can’t become first-grade Artifact Refiners because they don’t have good Refining Furnaces, and they can’t craft first-grade Spiritual Artifacts?”

“Exactly,” said Master Chen, “Without a Refining Furnace, there’s no chance to craft a first-grade Spiritual Artifact, so how could one become a first-grade Artifact Refiner?”

Mo Hua was a bit curious, “Is the Artifact Refining Furnace really that crucial?”

Master Chen said, “In the Cultivation World, fine iron ores and even monster beast bones are exceptionally tough and need to be first melted by furnace fire before they can be forged. In the Qi Refinement Realm, there is no Pill Fire, so one has to rely on furnace fire. If the furnace’s grade is low and the fire power is weak, the materials can’t be melted and naturally can’t be forged…”

Mo Hua understood, then asked again, “Then, if one had a good Artifact Refining Furnace with strong fire, how would one forge a first-grade Spiritual Artifact?”

Master Chen sighed, “That, I have to say, gets a bit troublesome.”

Mo Hua poured him a cup of wine, “Take a sip of wine, and take your time.”

Seeing Mo Hua’s curious eyes, Master Chen felt somewhat helpless, “Since you want to hear, then I’ll just give a simple explanation.”

“The grade of a Spiritual Artifact is determined by the standards set by the Taoist Court. A first-grade Spiritual Artifact, how much fine iron or equivalent materials it contains, how many processing steps it’s gone through, how many times it’s been forged, all these are standards for measurement.”

“Among those, the most important is the number of times it’s been forged. Generally, a first-grade Spiritual Artifact is based on being forged a hundred times. Then, depending on the hardness of the materials, the special shape of the artifact, and whether the forging technique is complex, appropriate adjustments are made. After a consensus by most Artifact Refiners, it becomes a customary practice, then the Taoist Court officially stipulates it and records it in the assessment standards.”

“It sure sounds troublesome…”

“That’s because you aren’t an Artifact Refiner, so it seems complicated to you. If you were to become an Artifact Refiner, swinging a big hammer for a few days according to the Artifice Manual, and forging fine iron for a few days, you would naturally understand it all.”

Mo Hua looked at his own thin arms and legs, thought it over, and decided to forget about it.

Master Chen laughed, “Simply put, it’s about how many times you can strike iron. The more times a Spiritual Artifact is forged, the higher its grade naturally won’t be. There’s a saying, ‘A thousand hammerings and a hundred refinements make a successful artifact,’ and that’s precisely what it means.”

“Then it’s pretty much like Drawing Formations. The more times a formation is drawn, the more Formation Patterns it contains, and the higher its grade. It seems that the principles of this world are all interconnected,” Mo Hua nodded.

Master Chen also laughed, “I don’t understand formations, but based on what you’re saying, it indeed seems so.”

Mo Hua asked again, “How about Alchemy and Rune making, are they pretty much the same?”

“Alchemy and Rune making… I guess they’re similar, but I haven’t studied them, and I’m not clear about the intricacies. After all, every field has its own specialized knowledge, and it’s not good to make careless assertions.”

Mo Hua nodded; this was the truth.

Although he was fairly proficient with formations, when it came to Artifact Refining and Alchemy, he only knew the very basics. Many of the fine points within he had never studied firsthand or practiced, so thinking about them was quite puzzling.

Not just with Alchemy and Artifact Refining, even in formations, the difference between Compound Formations and Single Formations was quite significant. He was more familiar with Five Elements Formations, but when it came to other Formation Pivots structures or attribute types, he wasn’t particularly clear either.

For example, the Three Talents Formations, and the others mentioned by Mr. Zhuang, such as the Eryi Formation, Four Symbols Formations, Seven Stars Formations, Eight Trigrams Array, and so on.

He estimated that truly studying and using these would be vastly different from Five Elements Formations.

Not to mention that Mo Hua had also heard about some cruel and bizarre techniques such as Demon Formations, Monster Formations, Evil Formations, Ghost Formations, and Corpse Formations, which were expressly forbidden by the Taoist Court.

Immediately after, Mo Hua had another question, “Master Chen, are you familiar with the making of Talismans?”

“Not very,” Master Chen replied truthfully.

“You must know a little, though.”

Master Chen asked with some confusion, “What do you want to know?”

“What’s the difference between making Talismans and Drawing Formations?”

While cultivating at the Tongxian Gate, Mo Hua had also studied some basic courses about Runes, but those were too elementary and theoretical, diverging from the practical aspects of Tao Cultivation.

When learning about formations, Mo Hua always felt that the formations he drew on paper were very similar to the “Runes” from another world he vaguely remembered.

He never quite understood the exact differences between the two.