The Quest for Immortality

But with strict management, Mo Hua did not fear. His greatest obstacle was still that he only had Foundation Establishment cultivation level, and his formation expertise could at most reach Second Grade.

With his Second Grade formation skills, it was simply impossible to infiltrate the Demon Sect’s ”Merit Vault.” Even using something like the Thunder Magnetic Miniature wouldn’t work.

Just like that, the only path was blocked again.

Mo Hua couldn’t help but sigh, feeling emotional.

His cultivation level was indeed too low.

There were many formations he couldn’t learn, and sophisticated methods he couldn’t use.

”When will I be able to form my Core, or even undergo Feather Transformation...”

By then, he would be able to learn Third Grade, even Fourth Grade formations. The effectiveness and power of formations would reach a higher level.

Even with a Golden Core, mastering Third Grade formations would place one in the upper-middle mainstream within the entire cultivation world’s formation system. Most high-difficulty formations could be explored if the opportunity arose...

Mo Hua was momentarily lost in thought. Coming back to his senses, he realized he was thinking too far ahead.

He should first consider the matter of the Green Dragon Array Map.

”Foundation Building Level, Third Grade Original Magnet...”

Mo Hua pondered for a moment more, and suddenly his eyes lit up as he thought of something.

Once the ten-day rest period arrived, he arranged another meeting with Elder Zheng.

The two sat in a teahouse, drank a cup of tea together, and Mo Hua said, ”Elder Zheng, by a stroke of luck, I obtained a complete set of Thunder Magnetic inheritance, but I discovered...”

”Wait,” Elder Zheng was taken aback for a moment, ”What did you say?”

Mo Hua continued, ”I said by a stroke of luck, I obtained a complete set of Thunder Magnetic inheritance, including the array plate, formation diagram, and some formation book insights...”

Elder Zheng opened his mouth, somewhat incredulous:

”You mean... a complete set of Thunder Magnetic inheritance?”

Thunder Magnetic inheritance, along with an array plate and formation diagram.

For a Formation Master, even one with a family legacy in Thunder Magnetic Arrays, this was a ”matter of life and death.”

Could this be obtained just by coincidence?

Elder Zheng’s expression immediately turned serious, his gaze deepened, ”Did you... kill a Thunder Magnetic Array Master?”

Without killing an orthodox Thunder Magnetic Array Master, you couldn’t have come by such belongings.

Mo Hua was also somewhat taken aback.

Elder Zheng was indeed perceptive; he quickly guessed the ”stroke of luck” process Mo Hua was describing.

Mo Hua corrected, ”It wasn’t me who killed him.”

”Then who did?”

”The Taoist Court.” Mo Hua spoke candidly.

”The Taoist Court?”

”Yes,” Mo Hua nodded, ”I provided a small clue, and the people from the Taoist Court followed it to locate a Thunder Magnetic Array Master, then killed him.” ɽ𝐚ΝՕВΕ𝘴

Elder Zheng’s expression suddenly became clear, immediately understanding why Mo Hua had come to ask him about ”Original Magnet positioning” earlier. It was for ”targeted killings.”

He was using his knowledge quite diligently...

Elder Zheng frowned.

”He was a Demon Cultivator, did many bad things, and deserved to die.” Mo Hua added, to ensure his ”upright and kind” image in Elder Zheng’s mind.

Elder Zheng’s expression was peculiar, and he curiously asked, ”The Taoist Court killed this Array Master, yet they allowed you to take possession of these array plates and formation diagrams?”

Mo Hua replied, ”I used a bit of, just a little bit of network.”

Mo Hua was very modest.

Of course, that network wasn’t small at all; it included the True Transmission Elder of the sect and an influential Supervisor from the Taoist Court. He maneuvered among them and thus took those things—no, retrieved the formation inheritance belonging to Taixu Gate and temporarily kept it with him.

Elder Zheng had no words left.

Sometimes, he really suspected that an ”old sly demon” resided in Mo Hua’s brain.

For a cultivator of his age to handle matters so impeccably was impossible.

Elder Zheng frowned, then advised, ”This matter ends here. Don’t mention it to anyone else.”

”This is no small matter. These Thunder Magnetic Array Masters with inheritance might have fellow sect members or mentors.”

”Thunder Magnetic Array Masters are secretive, and the teacher-disciple inheritance is closer. Killing a disciple might bring trouble, and if it’s exposed, you could be besieged by a group of Thunder Magnetic Array Masters. They’ll strip away all your personal information and find a thousand ways to harm you. You’ll be in big trouble...”

Hearing this, Mo Hua’s heart tightened, and then he emphasized a bit:

”I didn’t kill anyone.”

”Whoever has the items, the debt is theirs. Moreover...” Elder Zheng silently glanced at Mo Hua, ”Are you really not involved at all?”

Mo Hua felt somewhat guilty.

His involvement was extensive.

This ”Mr. Yuan” was precisely located by him, the ambush set by him, the Taoist Court called by him, leading to the encirclement and killing.

Considering it, he was the ”chief culprit.”

Yet, he hadn’t anticipated getting involved in such a clich of ”killing the small leads to the big, killing the big leads to the elder” cause-and-effect drama.

”Perhaps you won’t truly encounter it; I’m just reminding you to be careful.” Elder Zheng said.

”Okay, I’ll remember.” Mo Hua nodded.

Seeing this, Elder Zheng relaxed, took another sip of tea, and said, ”By the way, what did you want to ask me?”

Only then did Mo Hua recall the main issue, sincerely asking:

”Elder, in that Thunder... in that formation inheritance, especially the array plate, there are both Third Grade and Second Grade formations embedded in it. Why is that? Is it to ’lower the frequency’ of the formation?”

”That involves another type of formation knowledge.” Elder Zheng thought for a moment, then slowly said, ”Let me ask you, how do you differentiate between First and Second Grade formations?”

This question was too basic.

Mo Hua replied, ”By the number of formation patterns and the classification of formation patterns.”

”Have you ever tried using First and Second Grade formations together?” Elder Zheng asked.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then shook his head, ”No.”

As a Second Grade Array Master, why would he go back to drawing First Grade formations?

Moreover, his Divine Sense was much stronger than other cultivators of the same realm, and he had always been drawing high-rank formations, honing his Divine Sense in the process.

He hadn’t drawn First Grade formations in a long time.

”Can First and Second Grade formations be used together?” Elder Zheng asked again.

”Probably... yes, in a Compound Formation, using a formation pivot to accommodate both First and Second Grade formations is possible.” Mo Hua said, ”But such mixing doesn’t seem to have much point.”

Elder Zheng nodded, ”Mixing First and Second Grades isn’t very meaningful because they’re both quite basic, but above Third Grade, it’s different.”

”For many cultivators, forming a Golden Core is a major barrier.”

”For many Formation Masters, Third Grade formations are similarly a Heavenly Chasm.”

”Many Formation Masters remain stuck on the threshold between Second and Third Grades for life, unable to advance further.”

”And Third Grade formations are significantly more powerful compared to Second Grade.”

”Many formations, when using only Third Grade patterns, would be very powerful. But in the real cultivation world, Third Grade Array Masters are few, Third Grade formations are difficult, their cost is high, and they’re extremely inconvenient both in maintenance and repair.”

”Thus, the typical Third Grade formation is a ’mixed’ compound formation, containing some Second Grade formations.”

”This technique is referred to by Formation Masters as ’pattern lowering.’

”Its purposes are twofold: one is to lower the grade of formation patterns to reduce difficulty, control cost, and save on formation operation losses.”

”The second is to enable lower-realm formation masters to slightly activate some high-rank formation operations through mutual influence of formations...”