Chapter 393: The Thick Earth Formation

The elders have decided to rebuild the spirit fields.

Mo Hua has also begun further planning of the formation diagrams.

In ordinary formations, the formation lines are drawn upon the medium, the two fit together yet remain independent, with little connection.

The medium is merely a conduit.

But now, drawing the Thick Earth Formation means reconstructing the land itself through the formation.

Using the natural terrain as a foundation, supplemented by carved formation lines, coordinating the overall layout so the formation merges seamlessly with nature.

Cultivators contemplate formations by studying all things under heaven and earth.

Then they construct formations within all things.

Mo Hua, lost in thought, was inspired, and looked up at the sky again.

The Heavenly Dao Formation above should operate on the same principle.

Borrowing heaven to comprehend the formation, then merging the formation into heaven—heaven and the great formation become one.

What I am now building—the Thick Earth Formation—is also about uniting formation with nature.

But my formation is only first-rank, and the spirit field is no more than a hundred hectares.

A hundred hectares of fertile land may seem vast, but compared to the boundless earth and endless sky, it is negligible.

Yet a journey of a thousand li begins with a single step.

Even the heaven-piercing formation is built stroke by stroke, line by line.

Mo Hua's gaze was resolute.

I will gradually comprehend, step by step learn, walk firmly on the ground, and one day, I will glimpse the truth of the Heavenly Dao Formation above the nine heavens.

I will also, with my own strength and supreme spiritual awareness, merge formations into heaven and earth, constructing a formation that reaches from earth to sky.

Beside him, Bai Zisheng, seeing Mo Hua gaze at the sky with an inexplicably determined expression, couldn't help but look up at the blue sky too.

But he saw nothing…

Bai Zisheng quietly asked Mo Hua: "What are you looking at?"

"The formation!"

"Where is any formation?"

"There is one!"

"Really?"

"Yes." Mo Hua nodded. "My master said so."

And he had seen it himself.

Bai Zisheng was half-skeptical: "Can you see it now?"

Mo Hua said: "Not yet."

"If you can't see it, why are you still staring…"

Bai Zisheng muttered, yet an inexplicable sense of rivalry stirred—he too lifted his head, motionless, gazing at the sky.

Bai Zi Xi passed by, also looking puzzled: "What are you two looking at?"

"The formation!"

Mo Hua and Bai Zisheng answered in unison.

Bai Zi Xi looked up too, glanced once, saw nothing—but seeing Mo Hua and Bai Zisheng so seriously intent, he tilted his head and joined them in staring.

The sky was vast, white clouds shifting.

On the ground, emerald spirit rice swayed with the wind, turning into endless waves.

The three of them stood on the earth, gazing upward.

Their figures were tiny, yet their aspirations soared high.

…

The reconstruction of the spirit fields continued methodically.

Mo Hua spent two days designing the spirit field's formation diagram.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zi Xi helped as well.

On the newly constructed diagram, the spirit fields were no longer neat, uniform squares, but shaped to better conform to nature and follow the terrain.

Tian Geng crisscrossed, dividing the fields yet connecting them together.

Near the Tian Geng, the carved formations were marked.

These formations were primarily the Soil-Nourishing Formation, meant to assist the Thick Earth Formation, nourish soil and water, and simultaneously supply spiritual energy to the Thick Earth Formation.

The Tian Geng formed the formation lines, the layout the formation's pivot—viewed as a whole, it was a complete, first-rank, eleven-line Thick Earth Ultimate Formation.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zi Xi were utterly amazed.

Mo Hua took the diagram to Mr. Zhuang for his review.

Mr. Zhuang nodded in approval.

Only then did Mo Hua seek out the elders of Dongshan Village to discuss how to construct this formation.

Mo Hua held two diagrams in his hands.

One was the Thick Earth Formation diagram; the other was the current spirit field acreage map.

What the Dongshan Village cultivators must do is alter the spirit field acreage map so its layout matches the Thick Earth Formation diagram.

This involved many issues.

Which spirit fields to leave untouched, which to modify.

Although the spirit fields would change, each household's total acreage must remain unchanged, and so on…

The elders consulted others, planned thoroughly, then assigned each household their tasks, followed by a unified inspection.

In addition, they needed to buy Spirit Ink.

Spirit Ink required Spirit Stones.

The Spirit Farmers of Dongshan Village each contributed a few Spirit Stones to make up the total amount.

A dozen strong and sturdy Spirit Farmers carried the Spirit Stones to Shangtai City, bought the Spirit Ink, and brought it back to the village.

Mo Hua went along on this trip.

First, the Spirit Ink was of critical importance—it had drained most of Dongshan Village's wealth and could not be lost.

Second, the quality of Spirit Ink varied greatly, with prices ranging from high to low.

The Spirit Farmers knew no arrays and could not tell good from bad; they were easily deceived into buying inferior Spirit Ink.

The third reason was the Sun family.

The Sun family would not let this go.

And as Mo Hua had predicted, he indeed encountered Sun family cultivators on this trip.

As the dozen Spirit Farmers left Dongshan Village and passed beyond Qianjia Town, they were soon followed by several sneaky Sun family cultivators.

They wore the clothes of Spirit Farmers, thinking they had concealed themselves well.

But they could not possibly hide from Mo Hua.

Mo Hua possessed an eleven-stripe spiritual sense, comparable to Foundation Establishment.

These men trying to track Mo Hua were like stealing with a lantern—he could not help but notice them.

Mo Hua was too lazy to fight; he simply led the group down several side paths and lost the Sun family cultivators.

On their return, the Sun family sent more cultivators to block the road.

But Mo Hua led the group along a remote mountain trail, and they returned safely.

This astonished the accompanying Spirit Farmers.

Ding Dachuan even asked in a whisper:

"Young Master, do you know fortune-telling…?"

How could he possibly know exactly where the Sun family cultivators were?

Mo Hua was half-amused, half-exasperated:

"I just have a slightly stronger spiritual sense—I spotted them early."

Ding Dachuan nodded, but clearly didn't believe him.

Young Master was merely a Qi Condensation realm cultivator; no matter how strong his spiritual sense, how much could it really amount to?

He thought the fortune-telling explanation made more sense…

Then they began setting up the array properly.

While setting up the array, some Spirit Farmers patrolled nearby to prevent the Sun family cultivators from causing trouble.

The most eager among them was Bai Zisheng.

Originally, Mo Hua had asked him to help draw the array.

He had indeed drawn some.

But after drawing for only a short while, he heard they needed patrols to guard against the Sun family's mischief, and he looked at Mo Hua with eager eyes:

"I want to fight… no, patrol!"

Mo Hua disagreed: "Drawing the array is the main task."

Bai Zisheng sighed.

He was the senior brother; if it were any other matter, he wouldn't ask this junior brother—he'd decide for himself.

But now they were drawing an array, and even as the senior brother, he had to listen to Mo Hua.

Bai Zisheng stayed to draw the array, but his expression was listless, sighing heavily, lacking energy.

Seeing this, Mo Hua felt helpless and said:

"Go patrol. The Spirit Farmers of Dongshan Village aren't a match for the Sun family cultivators."

Bai Zisheng's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Really."

Bai Zisheng felt a bit guilty and hesitated:

"Aren't you going to have me help you draw the array anymore?"

Mo Hua gave him a look. "Fine. Why don't you stay and draw the array then?"

Bai Zisheng immediately jumped up. "No, no—I'm not as good as you at arrays. You draw the array, I'll patrol—keep those nasty Sun family bastards from disturbing you!"

After saying this, his face lit up with excitement, and he ran off boldly and energetically.

Mo Hua chuckled.

From then on, Bai Zisheng patrolled near the Spirit Fields, watching for any Sun family cultivators coming to cause trouble.

One night, several Sun family cultivators indeed crept in quietly to investigate.

Without a word, Bai Zisheng moved like the wind and charged straight at them.

These cultivators were no match for Bai Zisheng; they were swiftly subdued, each with black eyes and swollen faces, fleeing in panic.

Bai Zisheng remembered Mo Hua's warning: he could fight, but not kill—otherwise the matter would escalate.

So he only struck just enough to disable them, taking no lives.

The Sun family cultivators, beaten black and blue, fled back in disgrace to the Sun family and met with the patriarch, Sun Yi.

Sun Yi asked: "Did you find out anything?"

But before his men could answer, seeing their injuries, he already knew the answer.

Clearly, they had found nothing—and had been beaten up instead.

Sun Yi could only helplessly wave his hand and said:

"Go tend to your wounds."

The Sun family cultivators withdrew, but Sun Ze entered and said to Sun Yi:

"Father, could it be they've truly found our Sun family's ancestral formation?"

Sun Yi looked solemn. "It's not impossible… that brat isn't ordinary, and the spirit fields have been in such turmoil—likely they've discovered something…"

"What should we do? Strike now?" Sun Ze asked. "Our Sun family's legacy cannot fall into outsider hands."

Sun Yi said nothing.

Sun Ze said: "Father, you're not still waiting, are you?"

Sun Yi frowned. "I don't know what they're doing right now."

"Could it be," Sun Ze speculated, "that the boy has learned the Ancestor's formation and is trying to redraw it?"

Sun Yi gave Sun Ze a cold glance. "What nonsense are you spouting?"

Sun Ze was puzzled. "Isn't it…?"

Sun Yi snorted. "You have no idea how profound my Sun family Ancestor's formation truly is…"

"Do you think the formation he left behind is so easy to learn?"

"Forget that brat—he's barely ten or so, and even if you count every single year, he's studied formations for only a decade."

"Even if he studied for ten more lifetimes, his formation skill could never reach one or two percent of my Sun family Ancestor's level."

Sun Ze exclaimed in shock:

"Our Ancestor was truly that powerful?"

Sun Yi looked down at his son with contempt:

"You're ignorant and lazy—you've only picked up the barest scraps of formations and have no idea how deep the knowledge truly runs."

"Even among First-Rank Formation Masters, the gap is immense—let alone between First and Second-Rank Formation Masters."

"Spiritual sense, understanding of formations, and mastery—all differ by heaven and earth."

Sun Ze nodded involuntarily.

He had originally thought the Sun family's formation legacy had declined, and that their ancestors couldn't have been much better.

He never imagined he had overestimated others while underestimating his own Sun family's Ancestor.

"But what is that boy doing now? What formation is he drawing?"

Sun Yi thought for a moment, then shook his head:

"I don't know. Wait until they're done."

Sun Ze grew anxious. "Are we really just going to let this go?"

"You don't understand."

"What don't I understand?"

Sun Yi's gaze sharpened, and he said calmly:

"No matter what they do, in the end it will only benefit our Sun family."

Sun Ze froze, lost in thought.

Sun Yi continued: "These people are outsiders. No matter what they accomplish, they will eventually leave."

"Once they're gone, these spirit farmers will still be entirely at our mercy."

"The benefits they give the farmers will remain in the farmers' hands—but ultimately, they'll all end up in our Sun family's possession."

"This Qianjia Town is our Sun family's Qianjia Town. Everything here belongs to us!"

"Moreover, the formations in the spirit fields ultimately serve only to enrich the land."

Sun Yi gave a cold smile. "If we're patient, we'll recover our ancestral formation—and with this fertile spirit land, ensure our Sun family's descendants live in comfort forever…"

Something came up, sorry for the delayed update~

(End of Chapter)