Strange

"This isn't meant for intellectual stimulation."

Kui Lao appeared from nowhere, quietly remarking. Then, he glanced at Mr. Zhuang and added with some hesitation,

"At least, not for normal people."

Mr. Zhuang frowned slightly. "Have you ever seen this kind of technique before?"

Kui Lao shook his head slightly. "I've seen even stranger techniques, but something as peculiar as this, never..."

"The bottleneck lies in the sea of consciousness array. This is the first time I've encountered such a situation," Kui Lao continued calmly. "These ancient and obscure techniques, only your ancient sects that cling to the past would have."

Mr. Zhuang sighed softly. "This complicates things."

"I've told you before, there's no need to stand out by learning obscure techniques. Mo Hua's spiritual roots aren't suited for this. Now that he's learning such a rare technique, his progress will be significantly hindered," Kui Lao's tone carried a hint of reproach.

"One must see things through to the end. I will find a solution," Mr. Zhuang replied.

"How about you? Don't forget you can't stay here for too long," Kui Lao's gaze turned slightly cold.

"I still need to teach him how to decipher the array, so he can understand and break through the puzzles in his sea of consciousness," Mr. Zhuang said. "Given Mo Hua's intelligence, it shouldn't take too long. After that, it will depend on his fate..."

"And what about those two children from the Bai family? You've abandoned them?" Kui Lao inquired.

"I've accepted them as named disciples, which is already an exception. I can't make them direct disciples. My senior sister has always been scheming against me; I can't let her manipulate everything," Mr. Zhuang explained.

"That's true. Your eye for picking disciples has always been poor, just like your choice of techniques," Kui Lao remarked.

Mr. Zhuang wanted to retort, but he realized Kui Lao was right, so he held back his words.

Mo Hua eagerly took the jade slip from Mr. Zhuang and began reading.

"The formation originates from the principles of heaven and earth, depicting all phenomena, capable of altering heaven and earth, unfathomable to gods and spirits. Mastery of the principles of heaven and earth and the logic of formations allows one to create and dismantle formations."

"Formation catalysts, formation patterns, formation pivots, and formation eyes constitute a formation. Damaging the formation catalyst, destroying the formation eye, is known as breaking the formation; unraveling the formation patterns, reversing the formation pivot, is known as unraveling the formation."

"All things have their cycles of generation and overcoming, and formation patterns are no exception. Yin and yang counteract each other, the three elements oppose one another, the four symbols restrict each other, and within the five elements, metal overcomes wood, wood overcomes earth, earth overcomes water, water overcomes fire, fire overcomes metal..."

The jade slip contained extensive information on dismantling formations, filling page after page.

Mo Hua seemed to understand some parts but found others perplexing. Frowning in contemplation, Bai Zisheng quietly leaned over, "Hey, why are you reading about dismantling formations?"

"Master instructed me to."

"Oh."

"Do you know how to dismantle formations?" Mo Hua asked.

"I know a bit, but I'm not particularly good at it."

Knowing a bit still counted as knowledge, which meant he knew more than Mo Hua.

Pointing to a section in the book, Mo Hua humbly asked, "What's the difference between breaking and unraveling formations as mentioned here?"

Bai Zisheng didn't hold back and explained, "Breaking the formation usually refers to using force to destroy the formation's catalysts and the formation eyes that sustain its existence, forcibly disrupting the formation. Without the catalyst, the formation struggles to persist; without the eyes, the formation cannot operate, naturally leading to its dissolution..."

"Unraveling formations is more complicated. It relies on understanding the generative and overcoming relationships within the formation patterns, drawing out counteracting patterns to nullify them. When the formation patterns are nullified, the formation naturally unravels. Generally, only formation masters have the ability to unravel formations."

"Do you not understand how to unravel formations?" Bai Zisheng finished explaining, then asked.

"Not really," Mo Hua replied somewhat shyly, "I'm not quite clear on the differences between formation eyes, formation pivots, and formation catalysts..."

Bai Zisheng exclaimed, "Wow, you don't know any of these?"

Mo Hua countered, "If I knew everything, why would I ask you? If I didn't ask you, how would it show that you know more?"

Bai Zisheng scratched his chin. "Hmm, that makes sense."

Turning to see his sister, Bai Zixi, smiling faintly, Bai Zisheng realized and called out, "That's still not right. I can't be so easily swayed!"

"How about I bring you a plate of beef tomorrow?"

Bai Zisheng snorted, "What do you take me for? I'm from the Bai family's main line, a prodigy. You think you can appease me with just a plate of beef?"

"Two plates?"

"...Fine."

"So, what are the differences between formation eyes, formation pivots, and formation catalysts?" Mo Hua took the opportunity to ask.

Pleased with securing two plates of beef, Bai Zisheng explained:

"The formation eye is the core of a formation, providing spiritual energy for its operation. Generally, in a single formation, the formation eye is a concentrated spiritual pattern. In a complex formation composed of multiple single formations, it uses a collective spiritual pattern. The more powerful the formation, the more spiritual energy it requires. Some major family sects even require an entire vein of spiritual ore as the formation eye's energy source..."

"The formation pivot is the hub and pattern of the formation, which involves principles like heaven and earth, yin and yang, the four symbols, and eight trigrams. Different attributes of formation patterns must be placed in their corresponding positions; otherwise, the formation patterns won't work..."

"Different schools and lineages of formations have distinct formation pivots. It's quite complex; you don't need to worry about that with our current knowledge of formations. It's impossible for us to unravel formations through their pivots..."

"The formation catalyst acts as the medium of the formation. Objects like formation paper, stone tablets, bronze, and wood that carry formation patterns become the formation catalysts once the formation is inscribed on them. Some spiritual instruments also act as formation catalysts when inscribed with formations..."

Seeing Mo Hua seemingly grasping but not fully understanding, Bai Zisheng gave an example:

"Simply put, the formation eye is like the heart vein, the formation pivot is the main artery of the qi and blood flow, and the formation patterns are the branches of qi and blood. The spiritual energy is supplied by the formation eye, passed through the formation pivot, and injected into the formation patterns, just like how blood flows from the heart vein, through the body's many blood vessels to circulate..."

Bai Zisheng rambled on, then felt thirsty. Mo Hua poured him a cup of tea.

"Are these... very basic formation knowledge?" Mo Hua asked timidly.

"Sort of. At least in our Bai family, this is common knowledge for studying formations," Bai Zisheng said with a hint of pride.

Mo Hua was glad he asked beforehand; otherwise, he would have been embarrassed to ask Mr. Zhuang about these basic things.

"Tomorrow, I'll bring you a jug of osmanthus wine."

"Mm-hmm!" Bai Zisheng nodded eagerly.

Mo Hua asked more about how formations are typically unraveled, how they are broken, and specific schools of formation pivots, among other things. Unknowingly, as the sky darkened, Mo Hua bid farewell to Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi, packed his things, and prepared to return home.

"Mo Hua," Bai Zisheng suddenly stopped him, looking serious. "Don't forget the most important thing..."

"What?" Mo Hua looked at him puzzled.

"The beef must be spicy!" Bai Zisheng said solemnly.

(End of the Chapter)