First Grade Compound Formation

"A first-grade Earth-Wood Combination Formation?"

Mo Hua's eyes lit up as he immediately began to look it over.

The so-called first-grade Earth-Wood Combination Formation is a compound formation that includes the first-grade Nine-Pattern Earth Stone Formation and the Five-Pattern Wood Qi Formation.

The highest single formation within this combination formation reaches first grade, so it is considered a first-grade combination formation.

This Earth-Wood Combination Formation includes only two single formations and does not have an independent Spiritual Gathering Formation as the core. Instead, it relies on the spiritual-gathering patterns within the single formations to gather spiritual power, making it somewhat weaker. However, its effectiveness is still significantly higher than that of a first-grade Earth Stone Formation.

After all, even if it is weaker, it is still a combination formation.

Moreover, because its structure is relatively simple, it isn't too difficult to learn.

If it included three or more single formations and used a Spiritual Gathering Formation as the core, the structure of the formation hub would be entirely different. Given Mo Hua's current level of formation mastery, learning it would be very challenging.

This combination formation includes two single formations, and Mo Hua already knows the Five-Pattern Wood Qi Formation. He also just learned the first-grade Earth Stone Formation.

To learn this combination formation, he just needs to master its formation hub.

Mo Hua decided that tonight he would practice this combination formation on the Dao Stele!

By midnight, Mo Hua had memorized the formation hub of the Earth-Wood Combination Formation. He then closed his eyes and fell asleep, his consciousness sinking into the Sea of Consciousness where the Dao Stele appeared.

Mo Hua began practicing the formation on the Dao Stele.

At first, it didn't go smoothly, but learning formations is a process of practice makes perfect. If one try doesn't work, try again. If two tries don't work, try three times.

Mo Hua practiced over and over.

However, being only at the sixth level of Qi Refining, his consciousness was sufficient for drawing a first-grade nine-pattern formation, but drawing a first-grade combination formation was still somewhat challenging.

Mo Hua practiced all night but still hadn't mastered the Earth-Wood Combination Formation.

The next day, Elder Yu looked at Mo Hua eagerly.

Although he didn't ask out loud, his eyes were full of anticipation.

Mo Hua thought for a moment.

To seal the cave entrance, a first-grade Earth Stone Formation should be enough, but the Earth-Wood Combination Formation would be more effective.

Since they weren't in a rush for a day or two, Mo Hua asked Elder Yu to wait a little longer.

Mo Hua practiced all day, exhausting his spiritual energy, then meditated to recover.

He practiced on the Dao Stele again that night and finally succeeded in drawing the Earth-Wood Combination Formation.

Mo Hua informed Elder Yu, who was overjoyed, and ordered the demon hunters to start sealing the cave.

But sealing this cave wasn't easy. Doing it openly would surely be noticed by the Qian family. If the Qian family harassed them daily, the cave entrance wouldn't be sealed.

Mo Hua asked Elder Yu if he had any ideas.

Elder Yu chuckled without answering and told Mo Hua to watch closely.

Elder Yu began by hurling insults.

Standing at the cave entrance, he acted furious, cursing the Qian family, Qian Hong, and Qian Zhongxuan, showing a violent temper as if he was fed up with being trapped.

Then Elder Yu ordered all the demon hunters to charge out, looking enraged, with a determination and momentum of fighting to the death.

Qian Hong didn't want a direct confrontation and could only retreat.

At this point, in Qian Hong's eyes, these demon hunters were just trapped beasts, ready to be slaughtered, not worth risking lives for.

If these hunters were pushed too hard, they might fight desperately, leading to mutual destruction, which wasn't worth it.

The Qian family had already suffered heavy losses, which couldn't be further increased, especially not under Qian Hong's watch.

So when the demon hunters acted desperate, the Qian family retreated immediately.

For three consecutive days, the demon hunters charged out as if ready for a final battle.

Qian Hong became more convinced that Elder Yu was out of tricks and became less anxious, ordering the Qian family cultivators to stay far away and avoid direct confrontations.

The initial momentum subsided, and Qian Hong didn't believe that the demon hunters' resolve would last long.

Once their fighting spiritual faded, it would be his time to reap the benefits, so he wasn't in a hurry.

This played right into Elder Yu's hands. He cursed Qian Hong as an "old turtle" and then ordered the cave entrance to be sealed.

The demon hunters used the rubble from the mining to block the cave entrance, while Mo Hua drew the Earth-Wood Combination Formation on the stone walls on either side. After finishing, the demon hunters filled another layer of rubble, and Mo Hua drew another Earth-Wood Combination Formation. They repeated this process multiple times, leaving only one entrance open halfway up the mountain.

This entrance was reserved for Elder Yu's taunting.

Elder Yu spent his free time sitting there, hurling insults, calling Qian Hong a coward and challenging him to a fight.

In reality, this was to distract the Qian family, preventing them from attacking recklessly.

The angrier Elder Yu seemed, the more at ease Qian Hong felt.

However, as time passed, Qian Hong started to sense something amiss.

He noticed that Elder Yu's insults lacked the previous intensity, as if he was deliberately hiding something.

Qian Hong grew wary but didn't want to act rashly. He sent a small group to test the cave entrance under the cover of night.

As soon as this group reached the cave, they were ambushed by the demon hunters.

Mo Shan, Yu Chengyi, and a few other demon hunters at the ninth level of Qi Refining were not inside the cave but lying in wait outside, ready to ambush the Qian family's cultivators.

Wearing iron armor and wielding large swords, their spiritual energy surged, and the Qian family cultivators were easily defeated and fled in disarray.

Qian Hong felt relieved, thinking to himself:

"Elder Yu is indeed bluffing about sealing the cave; the ambush was the real plan. Fortunately, I anticipated this and only sent a small group to test the waters. Otherwise, we would have suffered a major loss!"

The ambushing group, led by Mo Shan, then returned to the spiritual mine through the mid-mountain entrance.

This ambush could only be used once, but its purpose was to mislead, and once was enough.

Qian Hong's cautiousness bought the demon hunters and Mo Hua more time to seal the cave and complete the formations.

As this continued, Qian Zhongxuan sensed something was wrong. He approached Qian Hong and said,

"It seems like Elder Yu is really trying to seal the cave entrance."

Qian Hong replied indifferently, "I know."

Qian Zhongxuan frowned, "Are we just going to let him do that?"

Qian Hong seemed unconcerned, "He's bluffing about sealing the entrance; the ambush is the real plan."

"But what if he actually seals it? What then?" Qian Zhongxuan asked.

Qian Hong responded, "It's just some rubble. If the entrance is sealed, we'll just break through it!"

"And what if he digs another tunnel to escape?" Qian Zhongxuan questioned.

"He won't escape," Qian Hong sneered. "We've dealt with Elder Yu long enough to predict his moves. He'll either guard the entrance or dig another tunnel to escape."

"If we can break through the entrance, we'll trap them like fish in a barrel. If we find the new tunnel, we can ambush them halfway. All the spiritual mines they worked so hard to dig will be ours."

Qian Hong's eyes were cold as he sneered, "We'll kill them and take the spiritual stones without any effort—two birds with one stone."

Qian Zhongxuan outwardly praised, "Master, you're wise."

But inwardly, he cursed, thinking that Qian Hong was greedy and always looking to take the easy way out.

Elder Yu was incredibly stingy; he wouldn't make it that easy for Qian Hong to succeed.

Moreover, the formation master among the demon hunters hadn't made a move yet.

In these conflicts between cultivators, formations were a significant threat, and Qian Zhongxuan had suffered because of them before.

He knew the risks but didn't say anything.

He wanted to see whether Qian Hong's attempts at taking advantage would result in gains or failure.

He had already lost everything and held no standing in the family, so he was happy to watch the show.

If trouble came, everyone would suffer together—no one would have it easy!

Qian Zhongxuan thought bitterly.

(End of the Chapter)