Chapter 67: The Compendium
Ever since obtaining the Compendium of a Thousand Formations, Mo Hua had scarcely let it leave his hands. Whenever he came across an intriguing formation, he would search Mister Zhuang's library for related texts and carefully jot down each of his questions.
In the mornings or evenings, he would then go consult Mister Zhuang.
For a wandering rogue cultivator, acquiring even a single formation diagram was no easy task. When Mo Hua used to copy arrays for Manager Mo, aside from basic ones like the Bright Flame Array, any slightly advanced formation cost extra spirit stones.
But now—Mo Hua held nearly a thousand formation diagrams in his hands. If he mastered all of them, becoming a First-Grade Formation Master would be well within reach. Just thinking about it made his heart race with excitement.
He studied formation after formation day and night, like a little mouse who'd fallen into a granary—determined to stuff his belly full.
By day, he read formation books, practiced drawing formations, and sought Mister Zhuang's guidance. By night, he trained repeatedly upon the broken Dao Stele within his Sea of Consciousness.
Since learning the Celestial Evolution Art, Mo Hua remembered Mister Zhuang's words—that in studying formations, one should value breadth over narrow mastery. Thus, he no longer sought to fully comprehend everything; as long as he could draw the formation, that was enough. Sometimes he would finish drawing one, only to immediately forget its name.
For months, his Divine-Sense continually cycled between fullness and exhaustion, again and again.
His cultivation realm made no progress—but his Divine-Sense grew ever deeper. His theoretical understanding of formations had not improved much, yet his practice in drawing them became smoother and more natural. The intricate lines that once seemed obscure now felt familiar and alive.
...
"What are you reading?"
One day, as Mo Hua was studying, Bai Zisheng peeked curiously over his shoulder.
Mo Hua had been so absorbed in formation study lately that he'd barely paid Bai Zisheng any attention. Aunt Xue, noticing Bai Zisheng's distraction, had tightened his schedule—formation study, alchemy, artifact refining—packed to the brim.
Although Mister Zhuang was their instructor, he never actively supervised the Bai siblings' training. It seemed their real purpose in apprenticing to him wasn't for direct instruction; and to avoid irritating him, they rarely disturbed him beyond their formal lessons.
So most of their cultivation was arranged by Aunt Xue, following the Bai Clan's ancestral training methods.
Back home, Bai Zisheng had found solitude easy to maintain. But out here, everything was new and interesting—and with someone like Mo Hua to talk to—his patience for dull cultivation was wearing thin.
Mo Hua, eyes still fixed on his book, simply tilted the cover upward so Bai Zisheng could see the title.
Bai Zisheng tilted his head, reading word by word: "Compendium… of… a Thousand… Formations…"
"What's so great about that?"
Mo Hua asked, "Don't you have one?"
Bai Zisheng shook his head. "The Bai Clan's library has one, sure, but it's just a compilation of the clan's formation records for disciples to study. It broadens one's knowledge and helps you find the right formation type when needed. Every disciple who studies formations gets a copy, it's not that rare."
Every disciple in a great clan gets one, not rare, huh…
The wandering rogue cultivator-born Mo Hua didn't feel like arguing with someone who could afford to say that. He just gave a polite "Oh."
Seeing Mo Hua uninterested, Bai Zisheng scratched his head. "Then, uh… could you lend it to me for a bit?"
"Didn't you just say your family has one?"
"Different clans and sects have different inheritances! The formations recorded in each collection vary. I just want to see what kind of arrays Mister Zhuang's collection includes."
Mo Hua hesitated.
"Just one look!" Bai Zisheng pleaded.
"…Fine then."
Mo Hua closed the thick Compendium of a Thousand Formations and handed it over.
Bai Zisheng took it, flipped through—and his eyes went wide.
"There really are over a thousand formations in here!"
Mo Hua rolled his eyes. "The title's not lying, is it?"
"You don't get it," Bai Zisheng said earnestly. "Compilers like to brag—if they record ten formations, they'll call it the Hundred Arrays Record. A thousand formations becomes the Ten Thousand Arrays Atlas. Same with cultivation manuals—add words like 'Heaven-Opening,' 'World-Creating,' or 'Divine Art,' and suddenly it sounds grand. But most of the time it's just low-grade stuff."
"Cultivators in the Dao world boast like that too?"
"They're still people until they ascend. And people love to brag."
"…Oh."
Mo Hua thought of his own cultivation art—the Celestial Evolution Art—which also had the word "Celestial" in it… and wasn't exactly high-tier.
Could it have been another case of false advertising?
Well… it was an ancient art. Surely the ancients were more honest… right?
He could only hope.
Meanwhile, Bai Zisheng kept flipping through the pages, his expression growing more and more astonished. "Zixi! Zixi, come look! There are so many formations here I've never even seen!"
Bai Zixi, who'd been quietly cultivating nearby, looked up and leaned over curiously.
Mo Hua asked in confusion, "Isn't your Bai Clan a big clan? Mister Zhuang's collection is actually larger than yours?"
Bai Zisheng huffed, "Only for formations below First Grade! When it comes to higher-grade arrays, that's another story."
Bai Zixi said calmly, "Though the Bai Clan has a formation heritage, formations aren't our specialty. It's perfectly normal for Mister Zhuang's collection to be broader."
"Hmph!"
Bai Zisheng grumbled but didn't dare retort, he just sulked in silence.
As Bai Zixi flipped through the compendium, her bright eyes began to sparkle. After a while, she lifted her gaze toward Mo Hua, her eyes as clear as autumn water.
She said nothing, but Mo Hua immediately understood that look.
He hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "You can borrow it for one afternoon."
Since they were fellow students, Mister Zhuang probably wouldn't mind.
A faint smile curved Bai Zixi's flawless face, soft as morning light on lotus petals—clear, serene, and radiant.
She took out a coverless booklet from her Storage Ring and handed it to Mo Hua. "This is the Bai Clan's collection of formations below First Grade. Take it. If there's one you'd like to learn, I can teach you."
Mo Hua's eyes lit up. Delighted, he accepted and flipped through it.
Though it contained fewer formations than Mister Zhuang's compendium, many of the basics were explained in far greater detail, clearly written for beginners. Handwritten notes filled the margins in elegant, graceful script—surely Bai Zixi's own annotations.
"Wouldn't this violate your clan's rules?" Mo Hua asked worriedly. He knew some clans guarded their formation legacies very tightly.
"Probably," Bai Zisheng said, nodding.
"Won't," Bai Zixi stated firmly.
"Why not?"
"Because I'm giving it to you."
She said it so casually, yet with such unshakable conviction, that Mo Hua couldn't help but think she looked… kind of cool.
After that, Mo Hua continued studying formations as usual, occasionally learning from Bai Zixi. He soon realized her understanding of formations was leagues deeper than his own. It humbled him—reminding him that the Path of Formations was boundless, and arrogance had no place in it.
When Bai Zixi encountered difficulties, Mo Hua would note them down, ask Mister Zhuang for answers, and then return to explain them to her. This, of course, meant he visited Mister Zhuang even more frequently.
One day, after Mo Hua left from yet another round of questions, Mister Zhuang frowned. "This won't do."
Old Kui, carving something nearby, lazily asked, "What won't?"
"That kid comes every single day with questions. I can't find time for meditation anymore."
"You mean for sleeping," Old Kui muttered, merciless as ever.
Mister Zhuang pretended not to hear. He gazed dreamily at the pavilion ceiling for a long while, then sighed.
"I'll have to come up with an excuse to sleep in…" he muttered.
(End of Chapter)