Chapter 43

Mo Shan and his wife heard that Mo Hua had been recommended by Instructor Yan to study under a master of formation arts, but they were not pleased at all.

Mo Shan had originally harbored some concerns, but after thinking it over, he felt there was nothing to worry about.

Instructor Yan had taught at Tongxian Gate for many years and was widely respected; anyone he endorsed and recommended must surely be of no ordinary standing.

The Mo family were merely ordinary cultivators, with no spirit stones or property to speak of, so naturally there was no reason to suspect anyone sought to plot against them.

Moreover, a formation master of such stature would typically be someone they could never even hope to meet—this was a rare opportunity indeed.

Since Mo Hua now studied formation arts at home, eating and sleeping there, Liu Ruhua could see her son every day and cook for him, which made her even happier.

The next morning, after finishing the lavish breakfast prepared by Liu Ruhua, Mo Hua set out for Nanshan to seek instruction from Mr. Zhuang.

When Mo Hua arrived at the foot of the mountain and followed the narrow path to the bamboo gate, he finally noticed there was a plaque above the courtyard entrance.

The plaque bore the characters "Zuo Wang Ju," and he wondered why he hadn't seen it yesterday.

Mo Hua entered Zuo Wang Ju and found Mr. Zhuang idly seated by the pond, one hand propping his cheek, the other holding a fishing rod—its rod was merely a segment of emerald bamboo, the line dangling empty, without bait.

Mo Hua leaned over to inspect the pond and realized there were no fish in it at all.

Mo Hua thought Mr. Zhuang might have some deeper meaning, so he looked up again—and saw that Mr. Zhuang wasn't even fishing; he was merely propping his cheek, dozing off.

Fortunately, the old man from yesterday spotted Mo Hua and called him aside, saying:

"The Master often dozes off. When he sleeps, just ignore him—of course, don't disturb him either."

"Oh, okay."

Mo Hua nodded, nodding with a mix of awe and confusion.

The old man added: "I am the… steward here, attending to the Master's daily needs. You may call me Kui Lao."

Mo Hua bowed politely: "Kui Grandpa."

Kui Lao glanced at Mo Hua but said nothing, then pulled out a chessboard and asked: "Can you play chess?"

Mo Hua looked at the board: "Is this Five Elements Chess?"

There are many kinds of cultivation-world chess: Eight Trigrams Chess, Five Elements Chess, Tianyuan Chess, Sancai Chess, and more—Five Elements Chess is the simplest and most common, primarily used to启蒙 children in cultivation by memorizing the basics of the Five Elements' generation and overcoming.

The rules are simple: each side holds two types of pieces; the board randomly generates Five Elements pieces of varying attributes, revealed only when flipped—your own pieces that mutually generate each other are stronger, while those that overcome each other can capture one another.

Simple, fun, and requiring little thought, it is an excellent game for cultivating children's intellect.

Mo Hua had no trouble playing Five Elements Chess himself, but the weathered old man Kui Lao playing it too…

Kui Lao seemed to sense Mo Hua's thoughts: "Do you think Five Elements Chess is too simple?"

Mo Hua hesitated a moment, then lied: "The Dao is simplest; returning to the uncarved block—what seems simplest is often the most complex."

Kui Lao froze, pondered for a moment, then suddenly understood: "That's a good reason—I'll use it next time I play chess with someone."

Mo Hua: "..."

So Mo Hua began playing chess with Kui Lao.

At first, Mo Hua assumed Kui Lao was a master of the game and gave it his full attention—but after several rounds, he realized Kui Lao was his equal, evenly matched, neither better nor worse, so he relaxed and they played with great delight.

Unaware, noon arrived, and Mo Hua suddenly remembered why he had come here…

Mr. Zhuang, who had been napping by the pond all morning, opened his eyes, glanced at the sun, and nodded: "It's time for lunch."

Thus, Mo Hua, who had spent the morning playing chess and wasting time, got to pig out on another meal.

The food was prepared by Kui Lao: meat, vegetables, rice—all rich in spiritual energy, but the taste was hard to describe.

Judging by Kui Lao's demeanor, he clearly was not skilled in cooking.

Yet Mr. Zhuang didn't care: grains entering the belly become blood and qi; taste and appetite are illusions. No matter how the food tasted, he ate each chopstickful and spoonful with serene elegance, as if consuming not food, but the wind and dew of heaven and earth.

Mo Hua found Mr. Zhuang's posture truly refined and graceful, and felt a pang of envy.

Mo Hua tried to imitate Mr. Zhuang's slow, elegant eating style—but he couldn't manage it; everything felt awkward and forced, so in the end he simply picked up his bowl and dug in.

Though the food's flavor was poor, the ingredients were top-grade and rich in spiritual energy, and Mo Hua had never been picky about food anyway.

Watching Mo Hua eat with relish, Kui Lao added several more pieces of meat to his bowl.

After lunch, Mr. Zhuang finally seemed to remember why Mo Hua had come, and led him to a bamboo pavilion in the courtyard.

Gentle winds blew from all sides, with waves of rustling bamboo.

"I've taken disciples before, but their studies differed from yours—I can't generalize. Let me first see how far you've progressed in formation arts."

Mr. Zhuang asked Mo Hua several questions, and Mo Hua answered each one.

After Mo Hua finished answering, Mr. Zhuang fell silent for a moment, then retrieved a thick tome and pointed to it:

"Your knowledge of formation theory is far too weak; what you've learned consists mostly of basic formation patterns—fragmented and incomplete. With such unstable foundations, you'll struggle to comprehend deeper formation arts later, and won't progress far on this path."

Mr. Zhuang handed the tome to Mo Hua and said:

"You must start from the very basics. This contains the fundamental formation theories of the cultivation world—covering different schools, elements, and lineages. Memorize them thoroughly; understand what you can, and if you don't, come ask me. Once your theoretical foundation is solid, I'll teach you to draw formations."

Mo Hua took the thick formation tome and said: "Thank you, Master!"

Mr. Zhuang waved his hand: "Find any comfortable spot in the courtyard to read. I'm going to rest my eyes."

Mo Hua took his leave, then carried the "Origin Theory of Formation Arts" to a shady patch of grass beneath a tree, lay down on the soft turf, and began flipping through it.

The "Origin Theory" opened by stating that ancient immortals gazed upward at the heavens and downward at the earth, comprehending the Dao through the evolution of all things, manifesting it as formation arts—using formations to emulate the Dao's movement, thereby gaining unfathomable power.

Among all cultivation arts, formation arts are the most direct and fundamental path to comprehending the Dao, and also the most demanding on spiritual awareness.

Formation masters are ranked by nine grades, with those above ninth grade called Immortals—Immortal Formation Masters.

Yet Immortal Formation Masters are mere legend; in the past twenty thousand years, no one has truly become an immortal, and thus no one has become an Immortal Formation Master—no one knows what an Immortal Formation, capable of altering heaven and earth, truly looks like.

Not only Immortal Formation Masters—even ninth-grade masters are unrecorded; eighth-grade are legend. Only a few sixth- and seventh-grade masters are documented, all towering figures from ancient clans, primordial sects, or Grand Elders of the Dao Court—beings utterly beyond reach.

Records of formation masters become more numerous from fifth grade down to third grade; below that, none exist—clearly, masters below third grade are ineligible for historical records unless they make unprecedented breakthroughs in formation arts.

After documenting the history of formation arts, the text proceeds to a brief analysis of different schools and formation terminology.

Different clans, sects, and regions have vastly divergent formation schools—even the same formation lineage may split into multiple minor branches; each branch exhibits subtle differences in learning, research, application, and efficacy.

All major powers treat their core formation arts as secrets, studying and applying them in isolation, resulting in the cultivation world's formation arts flourishing in diversity yet each faction remaining isolated and stagnant.

Array formations are classified by their array hubs, and include the Two Forms Array, Three Talents Array, Four Symbols Array, Five Elements Array, Six Unions Array, Seven Stars Array, Eight Trigrams Array, and so on. The most widely circulated and commonly used are the Five Elements Array and the Eight Trigrams Array; the other different array formations each have their own uses.

……

Mo Hua spent the better part of a day roughly flipping through "Treatise on the Origins of Array Formations," and after finishing, he felt both suddenly enlightened and, at the same time, even more aware of how insignificant he was.

For Mo Hua, becoming a first-grade array master was already no easy feat, let alone seventh, eighth, ninth grade, or Immortal grade. The Dao of Arrays is like the vast ocean, and Mo Hua, who isn't even a first-grade array master, is now nothing more than a single grain within that ocean.