Immortality Through Array Formations

Mo Hua thought to himself, I intentionally wrote the book’s title so large that it could be seen from several zhang away, and you still ask what book this is. This pretentious act, could it be any more fake?

“No need, I’m just looking,” said Mo Hua.

The more Mo Hua refused, the more curious Zhang Lan became. He leaned in to take a look and then pretended to notice the book title, saying,

“‘Qi Refining Technique Compilation,’ not bad huh, interested in learning spells? Reached the fifth level of Qi Refinement?”

“Just reached the fifth level, I’ll take a look first, no rush,” Mo Hua said, feigning calm.

“How about it? Want me to teach you?” Zhang Lan raised an eyebrow.

“Uncle Zhang, are you a Spiritual Cultivator?”

“Well, sort of,” he responded.

“Sort of… What does that mean, oh, a half-baked one?” Mo Hua said.

Zhang Lan’s face darkened, “What half-baked? At such a young age, where did you learn these messy terms?”

“Your Blood Qi doesn’t seem weak though, and I haven’t detected much strong Spiritual Power from you. Am I just not seeing it right?” Mo Hua asked.

Zhang Lan said proudly, “I used a spell to conceal my aura, of course, you can’t detect it. If a youngster like you could, then wouldn’t all my years of cultivation be in vain?”

“Oh, so is this considered Dual Cultivation of Spirit and Body?” Mo Hua asked curiously.

“Dual Cultivation of Spirit and Body is not that easy. I’ve just cultivated my body somewhat, to avoid being at a disadvantage when fighting cultivators who practice Body Cultivation at close range. My main focus is still on spells. A cultivator who practices Dual Cultivation of Spirit and Body needs exceptional natural talent, a prestigious family lineage, and a wealth of resources. You might not even meet one in your entire life,” Zhang Lan lamented.

Mo Hua clicked his tongue. Talent, lineage, and resources – each of these requirements seemed as insurmountable as the heavens to Mo Hua, so even if he were reborn ten thousand times, he might not meet the criteria once.

“Then, Uncle Zhang, are you good at casting spells?”

Zhang Lan replied with pride, “Not bad, just so-so, I guess.”

“So that means you’re not very good, right?”

Zhang Lan, extremely irritated, tapped Mo Hua’s head, “I’m being modest, you understand? Modest!”

Mo Hua rubbed his head and asked, “Then between you and Aunt Xue, who is more impressive?”

“That, well,” Zhang Lan hesitated, “how would I know without having sparred with her?”

“Do you know any Illusion Techniques?”

“Of course… not,” he admitted.

Mo Hua said, “Aunt Xue knows Illusion Techniques, but you don’t, so surely you can’t be as capable as her! I’ll ask Aunt Xue when I have time, see what spells I should learn.”

Unconvinced, Zhang Lan retorted, “I just don’t know Illusion Techniques, but other spells are not necessarily weaker than hers.”

“Really?” Mo Hua looked at Zhang Lan skeptically.

“For spells of the Qi Refinement Realm, you can ask me anything.”

“Alright then, if I want to learn spells now, which one should I start with?”

“Do you have any in mind?” Zhang Lan asked.

Mo Hua handed Zhang Lan the ‘Qi Refining Technique Compilation,’ “I picked out a few spells; you tell me which one I should learn first.”

Zhang Lan took the book, flipped through a few pages, and saw several spells circled with a pen.

Fireball Technique, Water Arrow Technique, Golden Blade Technique, Earth Stone Technique…

All could be learned in the middle stages of Qi Refinement. The spells were not difficult and the spiritual power required was not excessive.

Zhang Lan nodded. Starting from the basic spells and not aiming too high, Mo Hua’s choices were pretty good.

Many cultivators, when first learning spells, only want to learn those of high grade, great power, or rarity. But they do not realize that with high grade comes the need for more spiritual power, greater power means longer casting time, and the rarer the spell, the more stringent the requirements for learning it.

Let alone mastering the spell, even if they did, using up more than half of their spiritual power for one spell, if they miss their target, would essentially leave them sitting ducks.

Zhang Lan stared at Mo Hua for a while and suddenly realized a problem, “The spells you’ve picked, they’re all attack-oriented?”

Mo Hua was stunned for a moment, “If I don’t learn attack spells, then what should I learn?”

“Don’t you think about how to save your life?”

“Oh right,” Mo Hua had a sudden revelation, “I need to be able to save my life first. If I can’t even save my own life, who am I going to attack?”

The incident with Qian Xing had also made him understand that cultivators must have means to save their own lives. Otherwise, in sudden danger, without the power to protect themselves, they would fall into a passive deadlock.

“What are the life-saving spells then, Golden Bell Shield?” Mo Hua humbly asked for advice.

“Golden Bell Shield is not bad, but it’s not very useful for you.”

“Why?” Mo Hua didn’t understand.

Zhang Lan looked at Mo Hua with a somewhat disdainful glance, “Haven’t you realized that your spiritual power is actually not strong?”

“That’s because my cultivation is low,” Mo Hua argued with reason.

“Part of it is because your cultivation is low, but isn’t the quality of your spiritual root itself just mediocre? If I’m not mistaken, the cultivation technique you’re learning doesn’t add much to your spiritual power either. So the spiritual power within your Qi Sea must be weaker than others at the same realm.”

Although Mo Hua was reluctant to admit it, it seemed that this was indeed the fact.

Zhang Lan thought to himself that it was a good thing that Mo Hua’s spiritual root talent was average. If his spiritual root talent were as good as his talent for Formation, what would happen in the future?

Indeed, the Heavenly Dao is relatively fair.

Zhang Lan continued to explain, “If your spiritual power is weak, even if you use a defensive spell like Golden Bell Shield, it won’t last long. Once your spiritual power is exhausted, you’ll still be sitting ducks.”

“Moreover, Golden Bell Shield requires prior knowledge of danger and the pre-emptive mobilization of spiritual power to cast. If you are ambushed and don’t have time to cast it, the spell might as well be unlearned.”

Mo Hua became worried, “Then what should I learn?”

So you do have moments of worry, huh? That’ll teach you for not wanting to ask me!

Zhang Lan secretly gloated in his heart for a while.

Every problem at the Qi Refinement Realm is a minor one… as long as it doesn’t involve Formation.

Zhang Lan put on a bit of an act and then said to Mo Hua, “You can learn movement techniques.”

“Movement techniques?”

“If you learn a defensive spell like Golden Bell Shield, facing an attack, you’d only be able to take it head-on,” Zhang Lan glanced at Mo Hua, “but your physical body and spiritual power can’t take much of a beating.”

Mo Hua nodded in deep agreement.

“So that’s why you learn movement techniques. You can advance to attack and retreat to dodge, and if it really doesn’t work out, you can still run,” Zhang Lan said.

“Won’t there be any drawbacks?”

“There will definitely be drawbacks. If you use a defensive spell, you can at least take a few hits before your spiritual power runs out. But if you use movement techniques to dodge, you either have to move cleverly without a scratch or if not, as soon as you are caught off guard, and someone finds a flaw, you are more often than not doomed.”

“So it’s like, if I make a mistake, I’ll be hit by an attack without any defenses. Is that what you mean?”

“Exactly.”

Mo Hua hesitated for a moment, then said, “Defensive spells—once my spiritual power runs out, I’ll be at the mercy of others. Movement techniques—if someone catches a flaw, I’ll be just as vulnerable. But at least with movement techniques, I can attack or retreat. If I learn Golden Bell Shield, then if it doesn’t hold up, I can’t block or run away…”

“Have you made up your mind?”

“Yes, I’ll learn movement techniques.”

Zhang Lan nodded, “That’s wise of you. Since you can’t have the best of both worlds, you should play to your strengths and avoid your weaknesses.”

Zhang Lan picked up the “Qi Refining Technique Compilation”, flipped through it, then took up a pen from the table and marked several movement techniques, ready to let Mo Hua choose one to practice, when he suddenly realized something was amiss.

These movement techniques were common at the Qi Refinement Realm. It was fine for Mo Hua to learn them, but if they were common, others could teach them too. How would that show that he was superior?