Old Kui appeared silently behind Mr. Zhuang and said indifferently, "If you keep teaching him, I’m afraid you won’t be able to leave."
Mr. Zhuang responded with a wry smile, "I didn’t expect him to learn so quickly."
"How much longer?"
Mr. Zhuang’s expression grew somber, "It should be... soon..."
"Aren’t you waiting for the kid Mo Hua to learn how to collapse Compound Formations?"
Mr. Zhuang shook his head, "This is already beyond the scope of what he should be learning at this stage, it doesn’t matter whether he learns it or not."
"I was worried that once I left, there would be no one to teach him these things. That’s why I’ve taught him everything ahead of time. I just didn’t expect that whatever I taught him, he could actually learn, and moreover, learn it really well..."
Mr. Zhuang’s expression was somewhat complex and full of emotion. He then continued in a different tone:
"However, the collapse of a Compound Formation is different, it requires the consumption of a great deal of Divine Sense. Mo Hua shouldn’t be able to learn that in a short time."
"Really?" Old Kui said woodenly.
Mr. Zhuang nodded but stopped as the words reached his lips.
Could he really not learn it?
Mr. Zhuang hesitated, recalling all that Mo Hua had done so far, he was suddenly not so sure.
This named disciple of his seemed indeed not to conform to common logic...
After returning, Mo Hua began eagerly to try collapsing Compound Formations, as well as performing Calculations for the Life-gate.
The harder the Formation, the more interesting it was.
Moreover, the collapse of a Compound Formation was something that could harm Foundation Building Cultivators!
However, Mo Hua only realized after trying that performing Calculations for Compound Formations indeed required too much Divine Sense.
Even with the help of the Taoist Stele, which allowed retrospective tracking of Divine Sense after completion, it still required a lot of time, and was not something that could be finished overnight.
Mo Hua felt somewhat regretful, but quickly adjusted his attitude.
If the power of collapsing a Compound Formation was truly that strong, then it was only right to spend more Divine Sense and time on it.
Mo Hua then began patiently calculating the Formation Patterns of the Compound Formation, one by one.
Several days later, Mo Hua was sitting in a food establishment calculating Formations when a burly Cultivator with square brows and eyes walked in.
Mo Hua’s Divine Sense stirred, and he looked up to see, a bit surprised, "Leader Yang?"
Leader Yang revealed a friendly smile, "Little Mr. Mo, Drawing Formations, I see?"
"Yes," Mo Hua nodded, then called out, "Leader Yang, please have a seat."
Leader Yang took a seat next to Mo Hua and pretended to be displeased:
"I’ve said there’s no need to be so formal, just call me Uncle Yang."
"Oh, oh," Mo Hua remembered and smiled while calling out "Uncle Yang."
Leader Yang grinned and nodded.
Mo Hua asked, "Uncle Yang, do you need something from me?"
"I’m about to leave and wanted to hold a farewell banquet, so I especially came to invite you," Leader Yang stated his purpose.
"Uncle Yang, you’re too kind." Mo Hua said, and then realized something was amiss, "Shouldn’t we organize a banquet for you and then invite you?"
How did it become you holding a banquet and inviting me...?
Leader Yang waved his hand, "That’s a trivial matter, don’t mind it."
Mo Hua looked puzzled and glanced at Leader Yang skeptically, "Is there something going on?"
"A small matter, I’ll tell you later."
Leader Yang didn’t want to speak, so Mo Hua didn’t press further.
He remembered another issue and asked in a low voice, "Were the Householder and the third one captured?"
After Black Mountain Stronghold was destroyed, most of the Evil Cultivators were either killed or captured; the rest, being insignificant figures, even if they fled, couldn’t stir up much trouble anymore.
But the Householder and the third one were different.
One was the leader of Black Mountain Stronghold, the main culprit who established the stronghold, gathered Evil Cultivators, and reigned over an area, committing evil deeds for hundreds of years.
The other was a genuine Second Grade Evil Formation Master, with Foundation Establishment Realm strength, skillful in Drawing Evil Formations, and possibly other unknown techniques at his disposal.
Without capturing these two, Mo Hua always felt somewhat uneasy.
Leader Yang’s expression darkened and he spoke in a lower voice to Mo Hua:
"We’ve searched the mountains for days, capturing most Evil Cultivators, with hardly any slip-ups. But the Householder and the third one, not a single trace found."
Mo Hua’s gaze sharpened, and he furrowed his brows, "They’re in the mountains, could they still have a place to hide?"
Leader Yang nodded, "That’s what I’m thinking too. But the mountain is vast, there are Second Grade Monster Beasts, and we are not familiar with the terrain, so we can’t search too boldly."
"Moreover, they’re both at the Foundation Establishment, and if they want to evade our search, it’s all too easy."
Leader Yang sighed, "The deployment of the Taoist Soldiers has a time limit, and now that time is nearly up, we can’t continue to search indefinitely."
"The rest is up to the Taoist Court and Elder Yu."
Mo Hua nodded, "I understand, thank you, Uncle Yang!"
"What are you thanking me for?"
Mo Hua expressed his gratitude, "Without Uncle Yang leading the Taoist Soldiers in this eradication of Black Mountain Stronghold, there would likely be numerous casualties among the Loose Cultivators of Tongxian City. Now that we’ve successfully breached the stronghold, naturally I owe a great deal of thanks to Uncle Yang."
"It’s what I should do, there’s no need for thanks!"
Leader Yang appeared indifferent, but he was nonetheless pleased to be appreciated by Mo Hua, and the corners of his eyes betrayed a hint of pride he couldn’t quite hide.
After talking casually for a few moments, Leader Yang stood up to leave.
"Tomorrow at noon, at the Spiritual Meal Building in the north city, make sure you remember to come!"
Mo Hua nodded, "Certainly, certainly!"