Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 568: Shortage

After that, Mo Hua went to visit Director Zhou.

Director Zhou was warm and welcoming to Mo Hua—and deeply grateful.

He was an old man who had served as Tongxian City's director for many years. Though diligent and conscientious, his accomplishments had always been modest, and he had originally planned to retire and enjoy his twilight years in peace.

But he never expected that in just a few short years, Tongxian City would undergo such dramatic changes.

The opening of the artifact refinery, the construction of the alchemy hall, the establishment of grand formations, the slaying of great demons, and the protection of the city's peace…

His track record as director could now genuinely be described as "distinguished."

Though busy with affairs, Director Zhou still took time out of his schedule, brought out some of his treasured tea, and sat down with Mo Hua to brew and sip it while they chatted.

Most of their talk was about the various happenings in Tongxian City over the past few years while Mo Hua had been traveling.

Casually chatting, Mo Hua eventually brought up Zhang Lan.

He still missed that "nameless but kind-hearted uncle who happened to pass by."

Director Zhou was comforted by this and told Mo Hua everything he knew about Zhang Lan.

Zhang Lan had already returned to his clan.

His Zhang clan was far away from Tongxian City.

He had originally chosen this out-of-the-way small immortal city to hide from the Zhang clan's internal strife and live a quiet life as a recordkeeper.

But now that he had established his Foundation, there was no more hiding—he had no choice but to return.

As for what happened within the Zhang clan after that, Director Zhou didn't know.

Mo Hua felt a bit disappointed.

He had wanted to see Uncle Zhang again—and "incidentally" brag about having formed his Foundation…

But now that he'd returned to the clan, who knew when they might meet again?

Would Zhang Lan have found a Dao companion by then…?

Hopefully he hadn't been forced into a political marriage with someone he didn't love… only to later fall hopelessly for someone he couldn't have…

As Mo Hua chatted with Director Zhou, his little head started imagining a dramatic tale of love and heartbreak based on the cliché romance stories he'd read…

After finishing the tea, Mo Hua got up to say goodbye.

Director Zhou was very busy with his duties, and Mo Hua didn't want to take up more of his time.

Director Zhou personally escorted him to the door, then returned to his office. A while later, still thinking about Mo Hua, he shook his head with a mix of admiration and concern.

"Boundless potential…"

"Only… Tongxian City is too small a pond to raise a dragon…"

After leaving Director Zhou, Mo Hua made time to visit his childhood friends.

Most of them had become demon hunters, gradually growing up and shouldering more responsibility.

Dazhu was still apprenticing under Master Chen in artifact forging, and his craftsmanship had greatly improved—Master Chen was very pleased with him.

But Da Hu and the other two boys were no longer in Tongxian City.

When Mo Hua asked Dazhu about it, he finally learned the reason.

As Tongxian City grew more prosperous, more cultivators passed through. One day, some elders from a sect noticed the three boys had good physical roots for body cultivation and accepted them as disciples, taking them back to their sect for training.

The sect was called the Great Wilderness Sect, located far to the south of Lì Prefecture, near the wild lands—an extremely remote place. It might be several years, even over a decade, before they could return.

"Great Wilderness Sect…"

Mo Hua silently committed the name to memory. He didn't know if he'd ever get the chance to visit them there and see the boys again…

Mo Hua wandered around for a few more days. After visiting everyone he wanted to see, he found himself with nothing urgent to do—and remembered the big tiger.

He asked his mother to help him make a batch of large dried fish.

The little cat demon had grown into a massive tiger now—already a second-rank demon beast. Normal dried fish weren't even enough to fill the gaps between its teeth, so big dried fish it was.

Tongxian City had many mountains but few rivers, so large fish weren't raised locally.

These fish were brought in from elsewhere—some big, some small. The largest were taller than Mo Hua, and even the smallest were over a foot long.

Their scales were thick, their shapes strange, and they had a strong fishy odor.

Cultivators rarely ate them, so they were plentiful and cheap.

But based on his demon-hunting experience, Mo Hua was pretty sure that big cat-like tiger would enjoy them.

Living creatures couldn't be stored in storage bags—but dead fish could.

Mo Hua packed several large bags full, and at sunrise, he slung the fish over his shoulders and headed for Great Black Mountain.

He searched deep into the mountain and eventually found the tiger inside a cave, gnawing on some unidentified demon beast bone.

Sensing someone's presence, the tiger instantly became alert, its eyes fierce and wary.

But when it saw it was Mo Hua, the tiger froze, then went back to licking its bone.

Mo Hua handed over the dried fish. The tiger sniffed it, frowned, and even let out a low "rawr", showing some clear dislike.

He was a great tiger, not a housecat.

And a tiger had pride.

"Not to your taste?"

Mo Hua was confused.

He remembered that when the tiger was small, it had really liked dried fish.

But the tiger ignored him and just kept licking its bone.

Mo Hua didn't force it. With nothing better to do, he sat by the cave entrance and admired the mountain scenery.

After licking for a while and getting no more meat from the bone, the tiger glanced at the fish, then looked back at Mo Hua.

Seeing Mo Hua wasn't paying attention, it sneakily grabbed a fish and gulped it down…

It ate too fast to taste anything. Glancing up and seeing Mo Hua still distracted, it grabbed another…

Then couldn't resist another…

And another…

Eventually, when it looked up again—it met Mo Hua's gaze. Mo Hua was smiling, eyes squinting into crescent moons.

The tiger hesitated, its gaze shifty. Then it used both paws to quietly cover up the fish near its mouth—as if trying to hide the evidence.

Mo Hua laughed and tossed the rest of the fish over.

"Eat slowly. I'll bring you more next time I'm free…"

The tiger no longer held back. It chomped down happily, eyes squinting with contentment, and even rubbed its big fuzzy head against Mo Hua…

And so, life in Tongxian City gradually settled down for Mo Hua.

Each day, he cultivated, studied formations, spent time with his parents, had tea with friends, and occasionally ventured into the mountains to clear his mind and feed the big tiger with dried fish.

Only when he was alone did a trace of loneliness occasionally show in his eyes.

This loneliness might escape others' notice, but not Liu Ruhua's.

She thought about it for a moment, then gently asked:

"Hua'er, you came back alone. What about Zisheng and Zixi?"

Mo Hua paused, and his gaze dimmed.

"Senior Brother and Senior Sister… they went home. To the Bai Clan. It's very, very far away…"

Liu Ruhua looked regretful, then asked:

"And… what about Mister Zhuang?"

Mo Hua shook his head, unsure how to explain. After a long while, he finally said quietly:

"Master… also went to a very distant place. He probably… won't be able to come back."

A hint of sorrow flashed in Liu Ruhua's eyes.

She gently pulled Mo Hua into her embrace, speaking softly:

"You're still young. You have a long road ahead. If fate allows… you'll meet them again someday."

"…Mm."

Mo Hua gave a soft response.

The sadness in his heart eased a little.

The next day, he made his way again to Nanshan, just outside Tongxian City.

Nanshan was remote, with beautiful scenery.

On its slopes was once a place called "Abode of Sitting and Forgetting."

It was where Mister Zhuang had lived in seclusion, and where Mo Hua, along with his senior brother and sister, had once studied.

But now… it was all gone.

The once familiar little path now led to nothing.

No more mountain hut, no great pagoda tree, no bamboo grove, no pond—and no more fish in that pond.

He would no longer meet his senior brother and sister on the way up or down the mountain.

There was no one resting in the bamboo hut, no one waking as the breeze stirred to teach him formations or answer his endless questions…

Under the pagoda tree, he and Senior Brother would spar and joke around while Senior Sister read nearby…

His master would nap… and Old Kui would play chess…

Those scenes were fading now.

Like a dream, veiled in mist—half real, half illusion.

All things of the past… fade with time.

Mo Hua's heart was heavy. A soft melancholy colored his usually clear eyes—but only briefly, before it vanished again.

Like morning mist, scattered by the rising sunlight.

"We'll all meet again…"

Mo Hua murmured.

He still had many things to do.

The road ahead was long. The Great Dao stretched endlessly before him. What he needed to think about now… was the path after Foundation Establishment.

Mo Hua sat quietly on the mountaintop, letting his heart settle as he began to think deeply.

He had reached Foundation Establishment…

His divine sense had only fourteen patterns—technically the mid-stage—but due to a qualitative transformation, it was as dense and heavy as mercury, fundamentally different from others'.

As for how this "difference" might be applied, Mo Hua hadn't yet studied it in detail.

But at the very least, it had laid a solid foundation for his path of attaining Dao through divine sense.

And this path… was utterly distinct from all others.

However, aside from his divine sense, Mo Hua realized that his Foundation Establishment stage was basically… a mess.

His spiritual power was weak.

His spiritual roots weren't strong, and his cultivation method didn't emphasize spiritual power.

So even though he'd advanced to Foundation Establishment, his spiritual power was far below that of other cultivators in the same realm.

Let alone those blessed prodigies like his senior brother and sister…

And where his spiritual power was weak, his physical body was even weaker.

That didn't surprise him.

He had been physically frail from birth. After reaching Foundation Establishment, his vitality did improve somewhat—but only compared to his Qi Refining days. Among Foundation cultivators, he was still at the bottom.

Then there were Foundation-level spells—another major headache.

Mo Hua walked the path of a spiritual cultivator, which meant he had to rely on spells to fight.

Now that he was in Foundation Establishment, he needed to learn 2nd-grade spells.

But… he had nowhere to learn them.

So far, the only 2nd-grade spell he had learned was Fireball.

That was because Fireball was a basic, widely available spell—practically everywhere, at every tier.

Whatever level a region's cultivation system reached, there would be a Fireball spell to match it.

While returning from the Dali Mountain Region, Mo Hua had collected a number of Fireball manuals along the way. By cross-referencing and studying them, he managed to understand the 2nd-grade version.

It was far from reaching the same mastery he had with the 1st-grade version, but it was noticeably more powerful—and would do for now.

With time and study, he could refine it further.

But beyond Fireball, none of the spells he excelled at could be upgraded.

Drifting Water Step was a Zhang clan secret technique.

When Zhang Lan had taught it to him, he'd only taught the 1st-grade version—without ever thinking about a 2nd-grade version.

At the time, Zhang Lan had only been at the 9th level of Qi Refining, and couldn't have imagined Mo Hua would break through to Foundation so quickly.

Water Prison Spell was an obscure technique.

Mo Hua had no 2nd-grade manual for it.

Concealment Spell was even rarer.

Again, no 2nd-grade version in his collection.

In the end, a cultivator's strength still mostly came down to realm.

Mo Hua likewise had no 2nd-grade concealment technique manuals.

A cultivator's strength was, after all, largely determined by their realm.

1st-grade spells could still be used, but in terms of power and effectiveness, they were significantly inferior to 2nd-grade spells.

Even the incredibly refined Drifting Water Step was, at best, only on par with the lower-tier movement techniques among 2nd-grade spells.

The 1st-grade Water Prison Spell could trap Qi Refining cultivators, restricting them for a few seconds.

But when used on Foundation Establishment cultivators, it could only disrupt them for an instant—it couldn't bind or restrict their movements.

The 1st-grade Concealment Spell was slightly better.

Because the effectiveness of a concealment technique mainly depended on the strength of a cultivator's divine sense.

And Mo Hua's divine sense was extremely powerful—so the concealment effect was strong and difficult to detect.

But from the perspective of his current Foundation-level cultivation, he could already see many flaws in his concealment spell.

Usable—but just barely.

If the opportunity arose, he would definitely need to find and learn a 2nd-grade concealment technique.

A 2nd-grade Water Prison Spell, a 2nd-grade Concealment Spell, a 2nd-grade Drifting Water Step…

These spells were either obscure or secret arts. Even if Mo Hua wanted to learn them, he had no way to do so.

Mo Hua sighed.

Once again, he deeply felt the importance of inheritance in cultivation.

Most clans or sects built "Scripture Pavilions," "Library Halls," or "Formation Archives" to collect and preserve cultivation knowledge—from the lowest grades to the highest: rare, ancient, obscure, or common Daoist manuals.

Cultivation methods, spells, formation techniques, pill recipes, forging blueprints—everything imaginable.

The greater the power of the sect or clan, the broader and deeper their collection—and the more profound their heritage.

Disciples born into these sects or families could focus solely on cultivation without wasting time searching high and low for rare manuals.

Scattered cultivators, however, had no such luxury.

Everything—techniques, spells, formations—had to be searched for and learned alone.

Even if one managed to find something, learning it often required a heavy price.

Prominent clans and sects monopolized these inheritances, using them for profit—and to block the cultivation path for most scattered cultivators. In doing so, they consolidated their own power and stood above all others, unshaken for thousands of years.

Without inheritance, it's hard to take even a single step.

Mo Hua sighed again.

He had known all this before—but hadn't truly internalized it. Now, as his cultivation improved and his worldview broadened, he felt it more deeply than ever.

This issue also applied to formation techniques—but the situation was slightly different.

Mo Hua had, in fact, inherited an extraordinarily profound formation lineage.

Heavenly Pattern Deduction and Heavenly Pattern Paradox—one analytical, one deceptive—together pushed the limits of divination and deduction. These were not only techniques for divine sense cultivation but also peerless methods for mastering and controlling array formations.

These were methodologies that could be used regardless of grade or tier.

Though Mo Hua's cultivation was still low, and his experience limited—his formation mastery not yet deep—he believed these two methods still had deeper realms waiting to be explored.

But being able to cultivate both Heavenly Pattern Deduction and Heavenly Pattern Paradox already made him an extraordinary anomaly.

Not to mention—Heavenly Pattern Paradox was the core inheritance of the Paradox Daoist, the same master Mo Hua called his martial uncle.

That Paradox Daoist, once part of the Demonic Sect, was a terrifying figure of legend—known for his mastery of deceptive formations and the "Heart-Planting Demon Dao." Even righteous Dao Court cultivators trembled at his name.

Even learning a fraction of his teachings would be of great benefit.

But Heavenly Pattern Paradox was far from "just a fraction."

In addition to these divine sense deduction arts, Mo Hua also possessed the Five Elements Array Flow Diagram…

Within this, countless ancestral elders of the Five Elements Sect had sealed the deduced Five Elemental Source Patterns, refined over generations through the Origin Calculation Method.

These Source Patterns formed the foundation of a vast and intricate array formation system—one that encompassed the entire Five Elements.

Each and every one of these was a top-tier formation inheritance.

But the problem was—they were too top-tier.

What Mo Hua actually lacked now were the most basic, most elementary types of inheritances—in other words:

Introductory-level 2nd-grade formations.

He needed to know:

What exactly defined a 2nd-grade formation?

How were its array patterns drawn?

How were array cores arranged?

How were formation eyes (array nodes) constructed?

What were the essential differences between 2nd-grade and 1st-grade formations?

He had encountered these concepts before, but had never studied them deeply.

Now that he was standing at this threshold, Mo Hua finally realized just how many gaps and shortcomings he still had.

And now, he had to figure out a way to become a 2nd-grade Formation Master—and draw formations that were truly ranked at the 2nd grade.

(End of Chapter)