As they often visited Mr. Zhuang, Mo Hua and the Bai siblings had spent more time together.
Aunt Xue assigned fewer chores, and Bai Zisheng would practice his Taoist skills with Mo Hua when he had nothing else to do.
Bai Zisheng was at the Qi-refining Ninth Level with profound cultivation and exquisite martial arts. In past sparring sessions with Mo Hua, he always suppressed his cultivation, competing solely in movement techniques or Taoist skills.
But now that Mo Hua had his Divine Sense built upon his foundation, skills like the Water Passing Step, Concealment Technique, and Fireball Technique became even more powerful. He could now spar head-on with Bai Zisheng and didn’t need him to hold back anymore.
The two of them practiced with each other, exchanging blows back and forth in an even match.
After tiring themselves out, they lay down to rest under the large pagoda tree.
Mo Hua lay on the soft grass, his body drenched in sweat, heaving great gasps of breath.
His Taoist skills, relying on powerful Divine Sense, actually had an advantage over Bai Zisheng.
The problem was that his physical body and Spiritual Root were too weak.
Often after a few exchanges, either his Spiritual Power was depleted or his limbs lacked strength, and Bai Zisheng would catch a flaw, closing in and controlling him.
Bai Zisheng also lay on the ground gasping for breath.
He thought that he could easily defeat Mo Hua by going all out.
But it wasn’t as simple as he had imagined.
Mo Hua’s Water Passing Step was slippery and elusive, making it impossible to grasp any flaws; his Fireball Technique was also extremely powerful, striking quickly and accurately, and not to be underestimated.
Furthermore, Mo Hua still had a concealment technique he hadn’t deployed, and if he used it to launch a stealth attack, he would be even harder to deal with.
Bai Zisheng could only use a "shameless tactic", depleting Mo Hua’s spiritual power until he could no longer sustain his physical strength, and only then could Bai Zisheng find a sliver of opportunity to get close and subdue him.
Though he could win, it would indeed be a hollow victory.
It seemed he had to push himself further. He couldn’t allow Mo Hua to outstrip him, or else he would never be able to become his elder brother in this lifetime!
Bai Zisheng’s fighting spirit was ignited.
The two lay under a tree, resting and staring at the blue sky and white clouds, their thoughts drifting freely.
Suddenly, Mo Hua remembered the matter of the pill furnace.
Over the past few days, both the Taoist Court and the Taoist soldiers had scoured both Tongxian City and Black Mountain Stronghold. All the pill furnaces with differing designs and obscure functions were summarily destroyed.
Better to kill a thousand by mistake than to let one slip through; they aimed to eliminate any possibility of the Patriarch of the Qian Family concocting evil pills from the root.
Zhang Lan also said to Mo Hua:
"All the suspicious pill furnaces are destroyed on the surface. Even if the Patriarch of the Qian Family wants to concoct, he has no pill furnaces to do so."
"Moreover, the Lifespan Transformation Elixir requires a hundred-year nurturing period, and the time to concoct it is too long to afford any mistakes. Sects specializing in crafting demon pills might not even be able to produce it, let alone the Patriarch of the Qian Family. Perhaps we are just worrying over nothing."
Mo Hua felt that Zhang Lan made sense and was somewhat reassured.
Yet, he still harbored an indistinct unease.
He always felt he was forgetting something, but could not recall what exactly he had forgotten.
It was like the fog of Black Mountain, visible yet intangible, yet undeniably there.
As Mo Hua pondered deeply, he suddenly realized that Bai Zixi was quietly watching him.
Mo Hua turned to look. Their eyes met—not just any eyes, but a pair clear as water and as incisive as eyes that could cut through water.
Both were slightly startled.
The snow-white locust flowers fell, dancing between them.
Time seemed to freeze.
As they gazed at each other, how much time passed they did not know, before both silently looked away again.
For some reason, Mo Hua felt an inexplicable sense of loss springing up within him, as memories surged uncontrollably. Bai Zixi’s words, her crisp and melodious voice, also emerged sentence by sentence in his mind.
There were times when she pointed out formation methods to him, times when she imparted secret techniques to him, and times when she praised his mother’s pastries for their delicious taste...
In the midst of fluctuating thoughts, suddenly a phrase surfaced abruptly in Mo Hua’s mind:
"Evil Formations and Demon Formations generally use flesh and blood as the formation media, draw formation patterns with evil thoughts, and use defiance of the Dao as the pivot..."
Generally use flesh and blood as the formation media...
Use "flesh and blood" as the formation media...
Mo Hua was startled and suddenly stood up.
He knew why he always felt something was wrong.
He had indeed forgotten something.
He had forgotten... the fat and large pig in the blood-red pill room!
Evil Formations use flesh and blood as the formation media...
The pig covered in bloodstains was the media of the Evil Formation.
The bloodstains on its body were not mere bloodstains, but the formation patterns of the Evil Formation.
The Evil Formation was inscribed atop the pill furnace.
This meant that the pig was the real pill furnace!
Inside its body, the pill that could aid the Patriarch of the Qian Family in breaking through his cultivation level was being concocted... the Lifespan Transformation Elixir!