Drawing Formations

The next morning, after finishing breakfast, Mo Hua set down his chopsticks and returned to his room. He took out pen and paper for copying, relying on his clear memory of the Minghuo Array to meticulously reproduce it stroke by stroke.

Using the cheapest ink and paper for copying, which lacked spiritual energy, the drawn formations were merely patterns without any effect. Therefore, the consumption of spiritual consciousness was minimal, and there was no worry about wasting spirit stones in case of failure.

Relying on memory, Mo Hua swiftly copied the formation without much pause due to the low expenditure of spiritual consciousness.

Mo Hua took out the Minghuo Array diagram and carefully compared it with his copied formation, finding three mistakes.

Setting aside the incorrect formation paper, Mo Hua took out another sheet and continued drawing. This process repeated for three sheets until he finally copied a flawless Minghuo Array diagram.

Mo Hua breathed a sigh of relief, stretched lazily, and glanced at the small sundial on the table, realizing it was already noon and feeling hungry.

Li Ru Hua had already prepared a meal—spirit rice cooked into rice, a few stir-fried vegetarian dishes, and the only meat dish was from the egg of a demonic chicken. The quality of spirit rice was low, but it was sufficient for filling the stomach.

The meal was simple yet delicious, and Mo Hua ate heartily. After finishing, he hurried back to his room to continue practicing copying the Minghuo Array.

Seeing Mo Hua's figure, Li Ru Hua worriedly said, "This child is working too hard; he looks much thinner."

Mo Shan nodded and said, "Hard work is a good thing, but I'm afraid he might strain himself. Hua Er has always been physically weak with a thin foundation, so it's not good for him to overexert."

Li Ru Hua sighed, "It's a pity he didn't inherit your talent for refining the body. Instead, he takes after me—weak and sickly."

Mo Shan gently embraced Li Ru Hua's slender shoulders. "How can that be your fault? When Hua Er was born, his spiritual consciousness was strong, which made his body weaker. Even though Mo Hua is physically weak now, which neighbor's child is as smart as he? He's not only smart but also good-looking. Isn't that all thanks to you?"

Li Ru Hua couldn't help but smile. "You always know what to say."

Seeing his wife's relaxed expression, Mo Shan continued, "This morning, I talked to Old Zhou from the demon-hunting team. I heard they happened to kill a young fire chicken a few days ago. It's not a demonic beast, but its meat has some spiritual essence. I'll buy some for Mo Hua to try. It'll also help you recover."

Li Ru Hua asked, "Is there enough spirit stones at home?"

"No need," Mo Shan replied, "We're all brothers who've hunted demons together, so we have good relationships. I'll take it on credit for now, and we can settle it after the New Year."

Li Ru Hua handed over her storage pouch to Mo Shan. "Take whatever you need. If it's not enough, we can pay them back after the New Year. It's almost the year-end, and everyone needs to earn some spirit stones for the New Year."

Mo Shan thought for a moment and nodded. "Alright."

While Mo Shan and his wife chatted, Mo Hua focused single-mindedly on copying the Minghuo Array. By evening, he had become quite proficient.

Mo Hua also hurried through dinner, then eagerly returned to his room. After taking a moment to rest and focus, he promptly fell asleep and entered his sea of consciousness.

In the vast expanse of his sea of consciousness stood an ancient stone stele amidst a blank void.

Using his finger as a brush, Mo Hua formally drew the formation on the stone stele. The formation lines on the stele gradually became complete, and Mo Hua's spiritual consciousness poured out.

By the time his spiritual consciousness started to run low and Mo Hua could barely sustain it, he finally completed the Minghuo Array.

Mo Hua stopped, and a warm white light emitted from the formation on the stone stele.

The Minghuo Array was a formation that only cultivators at the third level of Qi Refining could draw. Mo Hua was only at the second level, so although it was a stretch, he managed to draw a complete Minghuo Array diagram.

This meant that Mo Hua's spiritual consciousness was no less than that of a third-level Qi Refining cultivator.

Mo Hua felt a small sense of satisfaction in his heart. Then, he erased the completed Minghuo Array, and immediately his spiritual consciousness replenished itself.

Mo Hua continued drawing the Minghuo Array. He needed to use tonight to thoroughly master the Minghuo Array diagram and begin formal formation drawing tomorrow.

In his empty and silent sea of consciousness, Mo Hua repeatedly drew the Minghuo Array, summarizing and reflecting on various issues he encountered.

Unknowingly, dawn broke, and Mo Hua involuntarily withdrew from his sea of consciousness.

Feeling completely refreshed, Mo Hua immediately got up, meditated on his bed for a while, and after breakfast, he deliberately washed his hands and solemnly took out the formation materials given by Steward Pang.

Among the materials were ten formation papers made from demon beast skins and some scraps of spirit herbs, as well as ten small bottles of pale red ink. The formation papers were imbued with spiritual energy, unlike the ordinary paper and ink Mo Hua used for copying, making them much more expensive.

Steward Pang also included a roughly crafted pen, though it was new, it was nowhere near as good as Mo Hua's usual pen. Mo Hua left it sealed and continued using his own pen.

Mo Hua spread the formation paper on the table, carefully poured the ink into the inkstone. The inkstone could preserve the spiritual power of the ink longer, preventing it from dissipating quickly.

Mo Hua reviewed the Minghuo Array formation lines in his mind once again before formally starting to draw the formation.

The process of drawing the formation went smoother than Mo Hua expected. Apart from using real ink and formation paper, everything felt exactly like drawing on the stone stele in his sea of consciousness, including the rate of spiritual consciousness consumption.

However, due to some nervousness, a few strokes were slightly off, resulting in a somewhat less aesthetically pleasing formation, although it didn't affect the formation's functionality.

Mo Hua expended his spiritual consciousness tirelessly and finally completed the Minghuo Array, but unfortunately, he made one mistake.

Just as he started, he lost a spirit stone...

Mo Hua felt a pang of heartache.

With his spiritual consciousness depleted, Mo Hua couldn't continue drawing formations and could only rest with his eyes closed.

"I wonder if there's a quick way to recover spiritual consciousness..." Mo Hua thought to himself. He deeply missed the ease of practicing formations on the stone stele, but sadly, it wasn't feasible in reality.

Resting, Mo Hua realized that the morning had already passed by the time his spiritual consciousness began to recover. Li Ru Hua had already called him for lunch.

During lunch, Mo Hua hastily scooped a few bites of rice and then ran back to his room, laying out another formation paper.

Staring at the blank formation paper before him, Mo Hua stabilized his emotions, summarized his experiences, silently recited "failure is the mother of success," and began drawing the second Minghuo Array.

This time, Mo Hua was more focused and careful. Each stroke was carefully considered, and he visualized the subsequent formation lines beforehand. While resting his eyes after depleting his spiritual consciousness, he continuously recalled the Minghuo Array diagram.

Mo Hua drew slowly, but time passed quickly. By dusk, although it was still intermittent, he finally succeeded in drawing the Minghuo Array.

Mo Hua could hardly contain his excitement. However, the fatigue from consuming spiritual consciousness overwhelmed him. Mo Hua lay contentedly on his bed and soon fell asleep, breathing heavily.

Mo Hua woke up to find that it was already dark outside and felt extremely hungry. Suddenly, he caught a whiff of a tantalizing aroma. Following the scent, he walked into the main hall and saw a large bowl of meat on the table!

(End of Chapter)