The Quest for Immortality

Foundation Establishment Initial Stage, Second-grade Junior Formation Master...

The Merit Elder inwardly marveled.

No wonder... Elder Master Xun valued this child so highly, even going so far as to bend the rules and grant him special access...

With such astonishing talent in Formation, he indeed deserved cultivation.

Moreover, he was neither arrogant nor impetuous and worked hard on his tasks.

Even though he had taken a backdoor and had special privileges granted, the Formations were all drawn by his own hand, and the Merit Points were all earned by himself.

The Merit Elder nodded, his attitude toward Mo Hua becoming increasingly amiable, and his gaze filled with growing admiration.

Even at times, he would spare Mo Hua some of the more tedious formalities.

Thus, Mo Hua found accepting and completing tasks increasingly convenient.

Typically, a Thirteen Patterns Formation would earn about twenty Merit Points per task.

Such tasks were not always available, but whenever they were, Mo Hua could complete them within half a day; hence, his Merit Points accumulated like a rising tide.

With the Merit Points hoarded, Mo Hua exchanged them for many sets of Sixteen Patterns Formations.

Now his Merit Points were plentiful, nearly enough for him to be self-sufficient in learning the various types of Eight Trigrams Formation archived by the Taixu Gate, and he even had a surplus.

The types of Formations that Mo Hua knew grew increasingly numerous, and his Divine Sense likewise became stronger.

Moreover, as the number of captured Sin Cultivators increased, the Spells confiscated were also not few, and Mo Hua, picking and choosing, learned several new Spells.

Such as the Golden Blade Technique, Wood Poison Art, Quicksand Skill, and so on.

These Spells, while all of lower rank, were nevertheless closely guarded by various Sects within the Qianxue State boundary, refined of their dross and kept in their purest essence... they encompassed the essential subtleties of the Spells.

So, in a sense, they could be considered an exceptional legacy.

Moreover, because they were lower-tier Spells, Mo Hua could use them boldly and without fear of causing trouble.

The only issue was that these Spells weren’t very powerful.

They were even weaker than Mo Hua’s original Fireball Technique.

Lower-tier Spells were not known for their power—Mo Hua understood this, but it still left him disappointed.

Now, he seemed to lack any Spells with significant destructive power.

Techniques like dismantling a Large Formation were too cumbersome, with too much power and too many restrictions, and far too conspicuous to be used as a regular means of attack.

Divine Sense controlling the ink to lay out a Killing Formation...

It required the right opportunity, an element of surprise, and deliberate design—after all, it was a somewhat slow process.

Furthermore, this method of laying out Formations was quite distinctive and far too attention-grabbing; it wasn’t discreet.

Creating a Formation also consumed Spiritual Ink and burned Spirit Stones.

Using it occasionally was manageable, but frequent use would lead to ”bankruptcy”...

”It would be best to learn a Spell with decent power, one that is not of a high tier, doesn’t consume too much Spiritual Power, casts quickly, can be used openly, and doesn’t fear being displayed in front of others...”

Mo Hua pondered for a long time but came up with no ideas.

One evening, after dinner, Mo Hua lay down with Yu Er on the grass, watching the splendor of the twilight, like splattered ink, over Taixu Mountain.

Mo Hua was still thinking about Spells.

Unknowingly, as evening deepened and the twilight dimmed, the sun set behind the mountains.

As it receded and lost its brilliance, in the last moment, it seemed as though a myriad of flames intertwined within it, and the glow of the sunset suddenly brightened before fading away into darkness.

Flames intertwining... the sunset...

A flicker passed through Mo Hua’s eyes as a long-buried memory suddenly resurfaced in his mind.

It was a memory from his wandering days, by the side of Si Water, when he had sought spell instruction from Grandpa Gui...

Grandpa Gui spread open his palm, and a Fireball appeared...

The Fireball manifested as a pale red gaseous form, and then, guided by Divine Sense, the Spiritual Power compressed inward, solidifying into a deep red fiery thread.

This fiery thread contained astonishing Spiritual Power, floating in the air.

Then, in Grandpa Gui’s palm, another Fireball formed, which he also condensed into a fiery thread.

Again, he turned a Fireball into a fiery thread...

After about ten such repetitions, Grandpa Gui’s palm no longer held Fireballs, instead, there were over a dozen deep red, intensely hot threads.

These threads finally intertwined into a small Fireball.

This Fireball Technique, with Spiritual Threads interwoven, was less like a Fireball and more like a ball of Spiritual Power threads woven from flame.

Multiple compressions, restructured Spiritual Power.

It seemed to be a simple Fireball Technique, yet it hinted at something more devious.

With a casual flick, Grandpa Gui sent the Fireball flying swiftly into the river, causing the surface of the water to boil instantly.

A large river, a vast expanse of water, was evaporated by the mere Fireball Technique, creating a massive hole.

Surrounding water Qi formed mist and steam rose.

Moments later, the river water rushed back.

A huge whirlpool now formed on the previously calm surface of the river...

...

This sequence of events played over and over in Mo Hua’s mind.

Simultaneously, Grandpa Gui’s words echoed in his ears: ”Complex principles of Spells often hide in the simplest, most common things...”

Multiple compressions, restructured Spiritual Power, condensed into a Fireball, containing immense power...

Mo Hua was astounded:

”What kind of Fireball Technique is this...”