The Quest for Immortality - Chapter 20 (Patreon)

Chapter 20: Completing the Array

Mo Hua went back and tried to draw the array patterns as instructed by Yan Jiaoxi and indeed felt a sudden enlightenment.

At night, while practicing on the stele, he found that his comprehension improved significantly faster.

Some parts he didn't understand at first became clear after drawing them multiple times.

Once he firmly mastered the basic array patterns, learning the variable patterns wasn't too challenging. The real difficulty was the lack of guidance; without it, Mo Hua wouldn't think in that direction and found himself at a dead end.

After practicing for another day, on the evening of the third day, Mo Hua started to formally draw the Earth Solidification Array.

His initial attempts weren't smooth, but after some stumbling, he finally completed it, though it took a bit long.

The four-patterned Earth Solidification Array took Mo Hua one and a half hours to complete, and he needed another hour to rest due to the excessive consumption of his spiritual sense.

By the time Mo Hua finished drawing the Earth Solidification Array, it was midnight.

After checking, to no surprise, he found a mistake—he had drawn it wrong.

Mo Hua sighed.

In one night, he only managed to draw one, and it was incorrect.

He only had five days to complete ten arrays, which made his time extremely tight.

"What should I do?"

Mo Hua thought for a moment and, with no other options, decided to skip some of his cultivation classes.

History and general knowledge classes on cultivation, of course, couldn't be skipped, as they were crucial for broadening his horizons and enhancing his cultivation experience.

Alchemy and talisman making, which required spending spirit stones to purchase herbs and talisman jade stones and renting the sect's alchemy furnace, were expensive, so Mo Hua selectively skipped some of these classes.

After all, he never saw much future for himself in these expensive branches of cultivation.

He could skip all the physical training classes.

Cultivators train their spiritual power through techniques and utilize spiritual power to attack through Daoist laws.

Daoist laws are divided into two types: spell-based and martial-based.

Spells involve manipulating spiritual power with spiritual sense to form attacks, while martial techniques use spiritual power to enhance the body's potential for physical combat.

Those who train in spells are called spiritual cultivators, and those in martial techniques are known as physical cultivators.

During the Qi cultivation phase, there are fewer spiritual cultivators and more physical ones, especially in Tongxian City, where most cultivators earn their living by hunting demons; spiritual cultivators are weaker and less suited for demon hunting, thus, many unaffiliated cultivators take the path of physical cultivation.

For this reason, Tongxian Sect specifically opened a physical training course to allow inner sect disciples to train their bodies early.

But physical training was not meant for Mo Hua.

He didn't inherit his father Mo Shan's talent for physical training; instead, he was more like his mother Liu Ruhua, naturally frail from childhood and even weaker in constitution than Liu Ruhua.

According to old Master Feng from Xinglin Hall, a cultivator's spiritual sense and body are supposed to be balanced as they are born adhering to the way of Heaven.

Mo Hua was born with the memories of two lifetimes, his innate spiritual sense was too strong, causing an imbalance with his body; as one flourished, the other waned, making him frail and frequently ill since birth.

While his peers could easily lift a hundred-kilogram cauldron, Mo Hua could hardly move it, even with all his might. Most cultivators his age were a head taller and significantly more robust than him.

Though Mo Hua was thin, his handsome appearance and gentle demeanor, with rosy lips and white teeth, made him look like a porcelain doll at the age of ten.

This appearance wasn't bad, but Mo Hua felt that a true man should be robust and imposing.

Like his father, who was tall, ruggedly handsome, and imposing.

In Mo Hua's dreams, he envisioned himself in a white robe, practicing peerless martial arts, his spear striking like a dragon, standing valiantly alone against thousands. Unfortunately, such scenes were only possible in his dreams.

"Oh, right."

Mo Hua remembered that after falling asleep, his spiritual sense would automatically enter his sea of consciousness, making dreaming impossible...

The instructor initially wanted to be strict with Mo Hua during physical training, but after seeing him struggle several times with the cauldron without moving it and injuring his arm, he became much more lenient.

That's how cultivation is sometimes; effort alone can't solve everything.

The instructor was quite understanding of Mo Hua.

When one door closes, Heaven might want you to try a different path, not keep hitting the same obstacle.

Thus, Mo Hua selectively skipped these classes and spent the freed-up time locked in his room, focusing on drawing the Earth Solidification Array.

After

 five days of intensive work during his break, Mo Hua finally used up all ten sets of materials, successfully completing six arrays.

Not only did he break even, but he also made a profit of four spirit stones, which pleased him.

Taking advantage of the day off during the break, Mo Hua went to Destiny's Shop on North Street and handed over the completed Earth Solidification Arrays to the chubby manager.

The manager examined the arrays and commented, "Your brother's foundation in array formation is really weak, but he learns quickly. Each of these arrays is visibly better than the last. However..."

The manager critiqued the first array again, "This array is like that of a beginner, even some basic patterns are shaky..."

Mo Hua was used to the manager's grumbling, it went in one ear and out the other.

Moreover, the manager was talking about his brother, which had nothing to do with him. He didn't even have a brother.

Mo Hua got straight to the point, "Can they be exchanged for spirit stones?"

The manager gave Mo Hua a look but still counted out four spirit stones for him, "Tell your brother to do better next time."

"Sure, sure," Mo Hua took the spirit stones, nodding repeatedly.

He spent the four spirit stones on pastries, eating two himself and saving two, giving the rest to Da Hu and the others.

Da Hu and the two were deeply moved by the abundance of pastries, and asked if Mo Hua wanted more meat. They had seen an elder raising a colorful and plump duck.

Mo Hua had a headache and told them to stop stealing, or else the sect would notify their parents, and they'd be skinned alive at home.

Reluctantly, Da Hu and the others gave up on the idea.

Afterward, Mo Hua continued to draw the Earth Solidification Array, doing so for over two months.

As he drew more, he gradually mastered the technique.

Initially, each Earth Solidification Array, including the time for breaks and recovery of spiritual sense, took about three hours; now, he needed only one and a half hours.

This improvement was due to practice making perfect, a deeper understanding and mastery of the array patterns reducing the time needed to draw them, and his continuous practice of array formation, constantly consuming, recovering, and applying his spiritual sense, invisibly strengthening his spiritual sense. His spiritual sense was much more robust than before.

A strong spiritual sense had clear benefits for array formation.

The success rate of the Earth Solidification Array reached eighty to ninety percent, occasionally achieving success with all ten arrays. Each array earned him two spirit stones. Over these two months, after deducting his daily expenses, Mo Hua had saved up a total of one hundred spirit stones.

Mo Hua planned to save up two hundred spirit stones and then select a mid-grade lower-tier technique from the sect.

After choosing, he would discuss it with his parents, who would surely say they could pay for the spirit stones and that he should keep his for cultivation or future expenses, such as acquiring a partner or buying a cave residence.

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