Chapter 229: Movement Technique
After Mo Hua returned home, he began studying formation dissolution in accordance with Mister Zhuang's teachings.
He lay over his small desk, roughly flipped through Collected Discourses on Formation Dissolution, and then cross-referenced it with what he had previously learned, comparing and checking for omissions.
He skimmed past the concepts he already understood and carefully noted down those that were unfamiliar, unclear, or confusing, planning to revisit them later for detailed study and reflection.
After an hour, he had gained a general impression and put the Collected Discourses on Formation Dissolution away.
That was enough for now, he had built a mental framework. When he encountered specific problems during actual dissolution work, he could come back to review them.
Afterward, Mo Hua carefully unfolded the ancient formation diagram and began studying the Spirit-Reversal Formation.
The Spirit-Reversal Formation did not belong to the Five-Element formations, it was a special type altogether, one Mo Hua had never learned before.
Its runic patterns, formation pivots, and brush techniques all had their own unique principles. Though it was still a formation, the feeling of drawing it was completely different.
Mo Hua was both nervous and excited.
Nervous: because the Spirit-Reversal Formation was indeed much more difficult, and he wasn't sure if he could learn it.
Excited: because, though it was also a formation, it was utterly different from the Five-Element ones, and even from most ordinary first-grade formations.
A first-grade formation with ten runes, an anomaly within the Dao of Heaven—unbound by the limits of grade—this completely overturned Mo Hua's previous understanding of formation hierarchies.
At the same time, a sense of anticipation welled within him.
There were countless categories of formations in this world that he had yet to know, many of them extraordinary, "Heaven-defying anomalies."
Such formations were collected by great clans, sects, and the Dao Court, or hidden within ancient sect ruins, cultivator tombs, the Great Wilderness, the boundless seas, or some inconspicuous corner of the Nine Provinces.
Would he one day be able to travel the Nine Provinces, seeking out ancient formations?
If he could learn them all, would he truly gain the divine powers to alter the heavens and the earth?
Mo Hua indulged in that vision for a moment, then quickly reined in his thoughts and reminded himself twice: Don't aim too high. Don't aim too high!
Then, he honestly resumed learning the Spirit-Reversal Formation.
He first memorized its runic patterns, then, after midnight, closed his eyes to rest, allowing his Divine-Sense to sink into his Sea of Consciousness to practice formations upon the Dao Stele.
The Spirit-Reversal Formation Mister Zhuang had given him contained nine and a half runes.
Mo Hua managed to draw a little over nine before his Divine-Sense was fully depleted and he could no longer continue.
He erased the formation, withdrew his consciousness, and frowned in thought.
Though the formation only had nine and a half runes, it consumed far more Divine-Sense than any ordinary nine-rune formation.
Nine runes marked the limit, beyond that lay a depth of Divine-Sense vastly more profound.
Mo Hua sighed.
Still, this was within his expectations. As Mister Zhuang had said, with his current Divine-Sense, it was natural he couldn't fully draw a Spirit-Reversal Formation.
His real purpose in practicing it was to temper his Sea of Consciousness and strengthen his Divine-Sense.
Whether he could actually master the formation was secondary.
So long as his Divine-Sense grew stronger, he would have the foundation for breaking through to Foundation Establishment. And with strong enough Divine-Sense, given enough practice, there was no formation he could not learn.
If he couldn't learn it, he would just practice more, dozens of times, hundreds of times, even thousands of times. Eventually, he would succeed.
Thus, Mo Hua practiced the entire night. By dawn, he had become generally familiar with the Spirit-Reversal Formation, and his Divine-Sense had strengthened, not by much, but enough to satisfy him.
Ordinary first-grade formations were no longer challenging for him and offered almost no tempering effect for his Divine-Sense.
The Composite Formation could train Divine-Sense to a degree, but its numerous lower-grade runes made it time-consuming and inefficient, offering limited insight into the essence of runic patterns.
In contrast, the Spirit-Reversal Formation provided far greater tempering for the Divine-Sense.
Now, a single night of practice with it improved his Divine-Sense more than two nights of his previous training.
Though his Divine-Sense still felt full, his mind was somewhat fatigued after a night's effort.
He emptied his thoughts for a brief rest, and soon, dawn arrived.
The morning sun rose; a new day had begun.
Cherishing the early hours, Mo Hua cultivated for a while as usual. Gazing at the rising sun and the glow painting the sky, his heart lightened.
If he could continue comprehending the Spirit-Reversal Formation, study Composite Formations, and practice formation dissolution, his Divine-Sense would grow along with his spiritual power, and one day, Foundation Establishment would come.
Spiritual power refined, Divine-Sense doubled... the foundation of the Great Dao thus forged.
So long as he could establish his foundation, he would have truly stepped into the path of cultivation.
To that end, Mo Hua began tempering his Divine-Sense, though he knew this could not be achieved overnight.
Apart from that, there was one more thing he had to do, enter the Inner Mountain.
He was already very familiar with the Outer Mountain—he had mapped it, gathered herbs, ores, and incense materials, and even slain beasts there (though always through the aid of formations).
Returning there held no more interest for him.
Meanwhile, Mo Hua also sought the blood of late first-grade demonic beasts.
The Outer Mountain beasts were mostly at the mid first-grade stage; their blood essence, when used for refining Spirit Ink, weakened the power of first-grade formations.
The Inner Mountain was different—there, the beasts were primarily late first-grade, with denser blood essence and higher-quality blood, producing stronger formations.
The quality of Spirit Ink directly affected the formation's effectiveness.
Although Mo Hua had not yet received an official grade, he was already a first-grade formation master, nearly at the pinnacle of that level.
His formation skill would not improve much further in the short term, so the only way to enhance his formations' power was to improve his Spirit Ink.
Thus, Mo Hua went to find Mo Shan, stating his desire to enter the Inner Mountain.
At Qi-Refining seventh layer, Mo Hua was now a late-stage Qi-Refining cultivator, technically qualified to enter.
Mo Shan, however, refused.
The Inner Mountain was far more perilous: its beasts were fiercer, and beyond that, there were unknown cultivators of uncertain intent—friend or foe, no one could tell.
Treacherous terrain, savage beasts, but the most dangerous thing was still the human heart.
"Father, my body movement technique has improved. I can protect myself," Mo Hua said.
Since his breakthrough, both his Divine-Sense and spiritual power had increased, further amplifying the effects of the Celestial Evolution Art.
By channeling his Divine-Sense to guide spiritual power, and spiritual power to drive his body, his movement art—the Flowing-Water Step—had reached a new height.
Mo Shan was momentarily surprised. After thinking for a while, he said, "Then let's spar again. I'll try to catch you, and you'll dodge with your body movement technique. If you can evade me, I'll permit you to enter the Inner Mountain."
Mo Hua nodded. "Alright!"
That afternoon, father and son sparred in the small courtyard for an hour.
Mo Shan was already at the ninth layer of Qi-Refining, and lately, with ample spirit stones and diligent cultivation, his strength was close to perfection at that level.
His body movement technique came from years of hunting spirit beasts, forged through life-and-death combat: simple, practical, swift, and precise.
Even so, Mo Shan found that he could no longer catch Mo Hua. In fact, even sensing his son's position was difficult.
Mo Hua's Divine-Sense was simply too strong. The stronger one's Divine-Sense, the more concealed one became, and the harder to perceive.
If Mo Shan tried tracking Mo Hua with his eyes, he was easily deceived by the fluid, unpredictable movements of the Flowing-Water Step.
The only way he could think to catch Mo Hua was to wear him down, wait until Mo Hua's spiritual power was nearly exhausted, then, relying on his familiarity with his son's aura, strike based on intuition.
It wasn't so much a "method" as it was bloodline suppression…
After an hour of circling each other, Mo Shan only managed to catch Mo Hua twice using this approach. The rest of the time, he couldn't even touch the corner of his robe.
Mo Shan was finally convinced, unless a Foundation Establishment cultivator took action, no late-stage Qi-Refining cultivator could do anything to Mo Hua.
Unless Mo Hua completely ran out of spiritual power and couldn't perform his body movement technique anymore.
But his son was clever, if his power ran low, he'd simply retreat early.
A body movement technique invincible beneath Foundation Establishment…
Mo Shan was both astonished and proud. With a sigh, he finally agreed to let Mo Hua enter the Inner Mountain.
(End of Chapter)