Chapter 20 Formation_1

Mo Hua went back and tried drawing several formation patterns according to Instructor Yan's instructions. Sure enough, he felt a sudden clarity.

At night, before sleeping, he practiced on the stele, and his comprehension had noticeably improved.

There were some parts he didn't understand, but by drawing them multiple times, he gradually grasped the key points.

As long as the foundational formation patterns were solidly mastered, learning some variations in formation patterns wouldn't be too difficult. The harder part was not having guidance; Mo Hua wouldn't think in certain directions naturally and would find himself mentally stuck.

After familiarizing himself with the material for another day, on the third evening after class, Mo Hua began formally drawing the Solid Earth Formation.

The initial stroke wasn't smooth, but after some trial and error, he finally managed to complete it. However, it took him a considerable amount of time.

To draw a four-pattern Solid Earth Formation, Mo Hua needed an hour and a half. Upon finishing, his Divine Sense was so drained that he had to rest for another hour.

By the time he completed the Solid Earth Formation, it was already 1 a.m.

Upon checking, Mo Hua discovered—as he'd expected—that there were indeed mistakes in his drawing.

He sighed heavily.

*One whole night spent on just one formation, and it turned out wrong.*

*If he wanted to finish ten formations in five days, the time would be extremely tight.*

"What should I do?"

Mo Hua thought for a moment and, left with no choice, decided he had to skip some of his cultivation lessons.

Courses like Cultivation History and Basic Knowledge couldn't be skipped, as they were valuable for broadening one's horizons and improving cultivation experience.

As for Alchemy and Rune Making, these required spending Spirit Stones to buy herbs and rune jade stones, as well as renting the sect's alchemy furnaces. Since learning them was expensive, Mo Hua selectively skipped some classes.

*After all, when it came to these Spirit Stone-intensive areas of cultivation, he wasn't likely to make significant progress in this lifetime anyway.*

Next were Body Refinement classes, which he could completely skip.

Cultivators cultivated Spiritual Power through techniques and used Taoist skills to wield and attack with that power.

Taoist skills were divided into two major categories: spell-based skills and martial arts skills.

Spells utilized Divine Sense to sculpt Spiritual Power into attacks, while martial arts awakened the latent potential of the flesh using Spiritual Power and relied on physical prowess to engage in combat.

Those who cultivated spells were called Spiritual Cultivators, while those who cultivated martial arts were known as Body Cultivators.

During the Qi Refinement Realm, Spiritual Cultivators were fewer, while Body Cultivators were more common. Especially among the cultivators in Tongxian City, most pursued monster hunting as a living. Spiritual Cultivators, being physically frail, were unsuitable for such dangerous tasks, leaving most loose cultivators to opt for the Body Cultivation path.

To address this, Tongxian Gate opened up a Body Refinement class, allowing disciples to start training their bodies early.

But Mo Hua was destined to be incapable of Body Refinement.

He hadn't inherited his father, Mo Shan's, aptitude for Body Refinement. Instead, he resembled his mother, Liu Ruhua, who had been frail since childhood—and his condition was even worse than hers.

According to Old Mr. Feng, the Pill Master at Apricot Forest Hall, cultivators are born under the Heavenly Dao, with a balance between their Divine Sense and physical body.

When Mo Hua was born, he came into the world with memories from two prior lifetimes. His Divine Sense was inherently too strong, which caused an imbalance between it and his physical body. As one grew at the expense of the other, Mo Hua's body grew increasingly frail and prone to illness from birth.

*While others could effortlessly lift a hundred-kilogram stone cauldron, Mo Hua couldn't even budge it, no matter how hard he tried.*

*Cultivators his age were generally a head taller than him and visibly more robust.*

Although Mo Hua's figure was thin and weak, he was fortunate to possess delicate features, a mild temperament, and fair skin, appearing as fragile and porcelain-like at the age of ten.

While his appearance wasn't bad, Mo Hua still believed that a true man should look tall and mighty.

Take his father, for instance—a towering frame, chiseled features, and an impressive demeanor that exuded authority.

In Mo Hua's dreams, his ideal self wore flowing white robes, wielded supreme cultivation techniques, and charged forth with a spear like a dragon, holding a position of strength that could repel countless adversaries.

*Sadly, such a scene could only be seen in dreams.*

"Oh, right."

Mo Hua suddenly remembered that upon falling asleep, his Divine Sense automatically entered his Sea of Consciousness, leaving him incapable of dreaming...

The instructor responsible for teaching disciples Body Refinement had initially intended to be strict with Mo Hua. However, after Mo Hua repeatedly failed to push a stone cauldron—even injuring his arm in the process—the instructor became much more lenient toward him.

*Cultivation is just like that; sometimes hard work alone can't solve the problem.*

The instructor sympathized with Mo Hua.

*If the Heavenly Dao shuts one window for you, perhaps it's intending for you to enter through another door rather than stubbornly forcing your way through it.*

Thus, Mo Hua selectively skipped some of his classes. Using the time he freed up, he locked himself in his room and focused on drawing the Solid Earth Formation.

By the sect's five-day rest period, Mo Hua finally used up all ten sets of materials. Out of the ten formations, six were successful.

Not only had he avoided losses, but he also earned four Spirit Stones, leaving Mo Hua quite satisfied.

He took advantage of the day-long break to visit Fated Gathering on North Street and hand over the completed formations to Fatty Steward.

Fatty Steward looked them over and said to Mo Hua, "Your brother's foundation in formations is honestly quite poor, but he does learn quickly. These formations obviously improve, one visibly better than the last. However..."

The steward pulled out the first formation and criticized it further: "This formation was drawn like a complete novice. Even some of the foundational formation patterns were clumsily executed..."

Mo Hua was already used to the steward's grumblings, letting them go in one ear and out the other.

Besides, the steward was referring to his "brother." What did that have to do with him?

He didn't even have a brother.

Mo Hua skipped right to the point and asked bluntly, "Can I exchange these for Spirit Stones?"

The steward shot an annoyed look at Mo Hua but still handed him four Spirit Stones, grumbling, "Tell your brother to draw better next time."

"Got it, got it," Mo Hua nodded repeatedly as he accepted the Spirit Stones.

With those four Spirit Stones, Mo Hua bought pastries—and while he ate two pieces himself, he saved the rest for Da'hu and the others.

The three of them were overjoyed at seeing so many pastries and asked Mo Hua if he still wanted to eat meat. They mentioned that a colorful duck kept by an elder looked particularly plump.

Mo Hua felt a headache coming on and told them to drop the idea, warning that if the sect notified their parents, they'd surely be beaten to within an inch of their lives upon returning home.

Reluctantly, the three finally gave up the thought.

Afterward, Mo Hua continued practicing drawing the Solid Earth Formation for another couple of months.

With so much practice, his grasp of the formation grew more precise and profound.

Previously, completing a single formation, including breaks to recover his Divine Sense, would take him about three hours. Now, it only took him one and a half hours.

The improvement was due to two factors. First, familiarity made him more adept, and his understanding of the formation patterns deepened, reducing the time needed to draw them. Second, the constant cycle of practicing formations, exhausting his Divine Sense, recovering, and using it again gradually strengthened his Divine Sense, making it significantly more refined and robust than before.

An enhanced Divine Sense had obvious benefits when it came to painting formations.

Now, his success rate for the Solid Earth Formation had reached 80–90%, occasionally achieving perfection across all ten attempts. Each formation earned him two Spirit Stones, and after accounting for daily expenses, Mo Hua managed to save up as much as one hundred Spirit Stones in two months.

Mo Hua planned to save up two hundred Spirit Stones so he could select a mid-grade, lower-tier cultivation technique from the sect.

He decided to make the selection first before informing his parents; otherwise, they would doubtlessly insist on footing the cost themselves, urging Mo Hua to keep his Spirit Stones for cultivation or future expenses—like marrying a Dao Companion or purchasing a cave mansion.