Chapter 249: Spells
With the matter of the criminal cultivators settled, Mo Hua turned his attention to learning the two spells.
One was the Concealment Technique, the other the Water Prison Technique.
In the Mo family courtyard, since the eatery was quieter, Liu Ruhua had time to sit in the yard and sew clothes for Mo Hua.
Mo Hua, meanwhile, practiced the Concealment Technique beside her.
After a while, he asked, "Mother, can you see me?"
He didn't know what it would look like once the concealment spell was fully mastered, so he wanted his mother to check.
Liu Ruhua found it amusing. As she sewed, she looked up and said, "I can see you."
"Now?"
"Yes."
"Now can you still see me?"
"Yes."
…
"Now can you see me?"
Liu Ruhua looked up, stunned, and exclaimed, "Hua'er, I can't see you anymore!"
Mo Hua's heart leapt with joy, but then he realized something was off. His mother was looking at him, and yet she claimed she couldn't see him.
He looked down and could still clearly see his body and the clothes he was wearing.
Mo Hua sighed helplessly, "Mother…"
Liu Ruhua covered her mouth, smiling, her eyes full of warmth. "Keep practicing, I'm not tricking you."
Mo Hua laughed wryly. Seeing his mother happy made him feel good.
He tried the concealment spell several more times, but still with no effect.
Mo Hua then picked up the spell manual, reviewed the key points, and carefully recalled the meridians through which his spiritual energy flowed, then attempted the spell again.
Spiritual energy flowed from his Qi Sea, circulating through his meridians, covering his skin and clothing.
Mo Hua's form gradually began to change.
Liu Ruhua watched in surprise, this time genuine.
Mo Hua asked, "Mother, can you still see me?"
Liu Ruhua frowned. "It's like I can see you, and like I can't…"
"What does that mean?"
Mo Hua didn't understand. He lifted his hands and saw that his arms had turned a faint, translucent blue—looking almost like water.
He was partially invisible, but not completely.
Mo Hua thought it through and understood.
The key to the Concealment Technique lies in the spiritual root.
Pure Water spiritual roots are ideal for this art and can fully realize its effect.
Mo Hua had minor Five-Element roots, which included water but were not pure. He could learn the spell, but the effect would be weaker, his body flowing like water, yet not entirely invisible.
He felt a bit disappointed.
Liu Ruhua pondered for a moment, then her eyes lit up. "If you hide in water, no one will see you."
That made sense, though near Great Black Mountain, water was scarce…
Mo Hua sighed. "I'll figure something out. For now, this concealment spell won't be useful."
Since the Concealment Technique wasn't practical yet, Mo Hua turned to learning the Water Prison Technique.
The Water Prison Technique wasn't particularly powerful, almost negligible in raw damage.
But this spell was meant for restraining enemies, so raw power wasn't the point.
When cast, spiritual energy formed watery chains that temporarily bound enemy cultivators, preventing their escape.
The duration was generally about three breaths. For lower-level cultivators, it could last longer; for higher-level cultivators, only one or two breaths.
It seemed minor, but in life-or-death battles or desperate pursuits, this obscure spell was extremely valuable.
The difficulty of the Water Prison Technique lay in its complexity.
Casting it required precise spiritual energy circulation across many acupoints, making it difficult to learn. The complexity also slowed the casting, making it hard to hit targets.
Agile cultivators could easily escape by the time the spell was formed.
Few spiritual cultivators bothered with such a hard-to-learn, hard-to-use, and low-damage spell.
For Mo Hua, none of these were issues.
His Divine-Sense was naturally strong, his cultivation method was the Celestial Evolution Art, and he had been taught to lock targets with Divine-Sense, making his spell both fast and precise.
The Water Prison Technique was perfect for him.
Thanks to his strong Divine-Sense, Mo Hua learned it almost effortlessly.
To test the spell, he tossed a wild fruit into the air. Using Divine-Sense to lock it, he formed a faint blue chain of spiritual energy that held the fruit suspended.
After a few breaths, the fruit finally fell to the ground.
It worked well enough, but he needed something alive to test it properly.
He thought of the fish in Mister Zhuang's pond.
...
The next morning, Mo Hua went to the Forgetful Meditation Abode, greeted Mister Zhuang, then went to the pond and cast the Water Prison Technique on the swimming fish.
The water was clear, the aquatic plants green.
The fish swam leisurely, until faint blue chains appeared, trapping them. No matter how they struggled, they couldn't escape.
The pond erupted in chaos.
Other fish panicked, swimming faster and more frantically.
Mo Hua pointed and locked each fish in turn with the water chains.
After a while, he grew bored, it was too easy.
He released the fish one by one. The freed fish swam frantically at first, then, realizing there was no danger, resumed their leisurely swimming, and the pond gradually calmed.
Having finished with the fish, Mo Hua realized he still hadn't mastered the spell fully, so he went to the Great Pagoda tree to find Bai Zisheng.
Under the towering tree, Bai Zixi read quietly, while Bai Zisheng still looked bored.
"I learned a new spell," Mo Hua whispered to Bai Zisheng.
Bai Zisheng's eyes lit up, and he glanced at Bai Zixi.
Bai Zixi didn't look up from the book, calmly saying, "Finish your homework first."
"I'm almost done. In less than half an hour, it'll be finished," Bai Zisheng said.
Bai Zixi simply replied, "Mm."
Bai Zisheng grinned and said to Mo Hua, "Come on, let's spar a bit."
Mo Hua and Bai Zisheng moved aside, not disturbing Bai Zixi.
"What spell did you learn?" Bai Zisheng asked.
"Water Prison Technique."
Bai Zisheng frowned. "Sounds weird, and doesn't seem very powerful."
"This spell restrains enemies, but has little destructive power."
"That sounds boring." Bai Zisheng lost interest but asked, "So how do we spar?"
Mo Hua said, "You run, I try to trap you."
"That's not sparring," Bai Zisheng said, suspiciously. "I'm just getting hit, aren't I?"
"Purposeful sparring is real sparring. Sparring without purpose is just fighting," Mo Hua said confidently. "This trains my spell and your agility."
"Fair enough, that makes sense," Bai Zisheng nodded.
Better to have something to do than nothing, he wanted to see how the Water Prison Technique worked.
Mo Hua marked out a large patch of grass. "Here, I'll use Water Prison on you."
"Alright."
On the grassy patch under the Pagoda tree, one trained a spell, the other trained agility. Bai Zisheng dodged while Mo Hua tried to trap him.
After about an hour, they stopped to rest.
The Water Prison Technique's complex energy circulation made it slower than a fireball, initially needing three attempts to trap Bai Zisheng once. Gradually, he improved, needing only two attempts per trap.
Bai Zisheng was a young master of a prestigious Clan, top-tier in both cultivation and skills. Most ordinary cultivators wouldn't escape Mo Hua's Water Prison lock.
"This spell of yours… honestly, it's kind of disgusting," Bai Zisheng admitted.
(End of chapter)