Chapter 117: Spiritual Ink
Among all spells under heaven, speed conquers all!
Mo Hua silently engraved this in his mind.
"Grandpa Kui, what spell should I learn next?" Mo Hua asked again.
He couldn't possibly rely on Fireball Technique for the rest of his life…
"Whatever."
Old Kui's answer was just as casual as ever.
"So, you mean as long as I understand the principle behind it, it doesn't matter what spell I learn…"
That was the only way Mo Hua could interpret it.
Old Kui soon returned to his usual taciturn, wooden state. Mo Hua didn't dare to press further and simply went back to practicing Fireball Technique.
From then on, whenever he had time, Mo Hua would practice.
He remembered Old Kui's advice clearly, the more accurate, the faster, the better!
Now he had Flowing-Water Step for defense and Fireball Technique for attack, barely enough to call himself "balanced in offense and defense," possessing at least some means of self-preservation.
As for other spells, Mo Hua wasn't in a hurry. Not yet, at least. Learning more wouldn't necessarily mean he could use them right now.
He turned his focus once again to formation arts.
Currently at the fifth layer of Qi-Refining, Mo Hua could draw eight formation lines. But he guessed that within the fifth layer, it was impossible to reach nine.
Just as Mister Zhuang had said, a person's Divine-Sense had limits.
Every night, Mo Hua continued to practice formations before the Dao Stele to sharpen his Divine-Sense, but now he could clearly feel its growth slowing to a crawl. His Sea of Consciousness felt almost… full.
Since that was the case, only by breaking through his realm could he hope to attempt drawing nine-lined formations.
Nine formation lines…
Mo Hua frowned, then suddenly froze in shock.
Nine lines, that meant a First-Grade Formation Master!
Had he really, unknowingly, gotten so close to becoming one?
His heart trembled slightly at the thought.
Though official recognition required Dao Court's examination and an open quota, being able to draw nine-lined formations meant that he already had one foot in the doorway of a First-Grade Formation Master!
Mo Hua sighed in admiration.
"Mister Zhuang was right, as long as I keep drawing formations, with a focused heart, no distractions… someday I'll become a First-Grade Formation Master."
The dumbest method… was sometimes the most direct one.
He had the urge to brag a little, but then remembered Mister Zhuang's teachings about humility and composure, so he reined his thoughts back in and calmed down.
The path of cultivation was long; momentary achievements meant little.
To reach the summit of immortality, one must be neither proud nor discouraged.
If he was going to show off, he'd wait until he actually drew nine lines and truly became a First-Grade Formation Master.
He nodded firmly at that.
However, there was a new problem: Spiritual Ink.
If he wanted to master nine-lined formations and become a First-Grade Formation Master, he'd need to practice not only on the Dao Stele but also on formation papers and other mediums.
He had to learn—and apply what he learned—to deepen his comprehension.
Moreover, Mo Hua's cultivation method, the Celestial Evolution Art, had its bottlenecks marked by "Puzzle Formations." If he couldn't solve them, he couldn't break through to the next level.
Solving these puzzles required vast experience in formation arts. To solve more, he needed to study more and practice more.
In other words, he needed a lot of Spiritual Ink.
Ordinary formation masters didn't need so much, their Divine-Sense was limited, and they could only draw a few formations a day.
But Mo Hua was different.
His Divine-Sense far surpassed others of the same realm, and with the Dao Stele continually strengthening it—plus the Celestial Evolution Art speeding up his formation drawing—and Mister Zhuang's secret Meditation Technique helping him recover quickly…
Mo Hua could draw nearly ten formations in a single day.
Several times more than any ordinary formation master.
And so, his Spiritual Ink was being consumed like flowing water.
Elder Yu occasionally had people bring him batches of Spiritual Ink.
In Elder Yu's opinion, that amount was already plenty for someone of Mo Hua's age and unstable Divine-Sense.
But for Mo Hua… it wasn't even close to enough.
He frowned in frustration. With no better options, a question arose in his mind:
"Just how is Spiritual Ink actually made?"
He wanted to ask Mister Zhuang, but the question didn't seem important enough to disturb his secluded cultivation. So instead, Mo Hua went to find Bai Zisheng.
Bai Zisheng was under the old pagoda tree, suffering through his studies.
Mo Hua glanced at the title of his book, 'The Control of Alchemical Flames and the Evaluation of Pill Quality'.
He didn't understand a word of it…
Alchemy really wasn't his strong suit, though he did understand the formation inside a pill furnace fairly well, having once helped Elder Feng repair a Water-Wood Spirit-Control Formation.
Bai Zisheng slammed the book shut and flopped onto the ground like a salted fish, stiff and motionless.
"Zisheng, I have a question."
"I've got a headache from all this reading. Ask Zixi, I need a moment to breathe…" Bai Zisheng groaned weakly.
"Oh." Mo Hua turned toward Bai Zixi.
Bai Zixi happened to close her book at that moment, her eyes clear and tranquil like autumn water.
"Are you free?" Mo Hua asked softly.
She nodded slightly.
Mo Hua hesitated, then asked, "How do you make the Spiritual Ink used for formations?"
"With demon blood, spirit liquid, spiritual herbs, or spirit ore."
Bai Zixi's voice was crisp, concise, and melodious.
But Mo Hua wasn't satisfied. "Can you be… more specific?"
Knowing only the ingredients didn't tell him how to mix them.
"Wait."
Bai Zixi opened her elegant white storage pouch, inlaid with faint golden phoenix patterns, and took out a book.
Mo Hua couldn't help but be curious, that pouch seemed to contain everything. She had a book for every topic!
Bai Zixi's pale, delicate fingers handed the book to him.
He accepted it and glanced at the cover.
It read: Record of First-Grade Spiritual Ink.
Inside were recipes and detailed methods for preparing Spiritual Ink commonly used in formations of First-Grade and below.
On the cover, a line of smaller characters read: Bai Clan Archive – Not for External Circulation.
Mo Hua glanced up at her, uncertain.
"It's fine," she said calmly. "Not a classified secret."
Relieved, he continued reading.
The recipes for First-Grade Spiritual Ink were relatively simple, most used demon blood as a base, then mixed in powdered spirit stone or extracts of certain spiritual herbs to neutralize the ferocity of the blood, while enhancing and harmonizing the spiritual power within the ink.
The spiritual liquids and herbs were easy to find; the difficult part was the demon blood.
To make Spiritual Ink, the blood had to be taken while the demon beast was still alive, or within the time it takes to brew one cup of tea after its death.
If the beast's blood cooled and dulled, its efficacy dropped sharply. Leave it too long, and it would solidify completely, unusable as ink.
Moreover, extracting it required a special secret art that gently guided the blood out through the beast's veins, storing it in a jade vial to prevent coagulation.
This art was called the Blood-Extraction Technique.
(End of Chapter)