Mo Hua nodded in agreement.
A fake contest between Formation Masters would settle who was better in Formations.
A real contest between Formation Masters was to kill the opponent first.
Then compare whose Formation was superior.
Even if I ultimately lose in Formations, the opponent would have already lost his life.
A win-win!
Mo Hua silently made up his mind,
"Find a way to kill that Evil Formation Master..."
But it seemed that he himself couldn't do it.
This Evil Formation Master was at the late stage of Foundation Establishment, his cultivation was much higher than Mo Hua's, plus it was essential not to make too much noise.
Mo Hua thought it over and felt that, maybe, he didn't need to take action himself.
"I can't kill him, but I have a 'bodyguard'..."
Mo Hua then slowly withdrew from the Formation Pivot passage.
While retracing his steps, he also released his Divine Sense, observing his surroundings, and, combining his understanding of the Demon Palace structure, he roughly determined the location of the "Yuan Magnetic Secret Chamber."
Mo Hua then followed the Formation Pivot passage back to the entrance of the outer hall.
Gu Changhuai and his two companions were waiting outside, and seeing Mo Hua return, they all felt relieved, then asked,
"How did it go?"
Mo Hua nodded and said, "Found it! There's a secret chamber, inside is the central control for the Formation Pivot, and there's an Evil Formation Master overseeing it..."
"To lay hands on the Yuan Magnetic Compound Formation, that Evil Formation Master must be killed stealthily..."
Gu Changhuai immediately asked, "Where's the chamber?"
Mo Hua answered, "I remember the way, just follow me..."
"But before we do that, we need a good plan on how to 'assassinate' that Evil Formation Master. The action must be quick, and no outsiders can find out..."
Gu Changhuai pondered for a moment and then said,
"I have a Second Grade Superior short knife with a Wind Blade Pattern cast inside the blade. Once stabbed into a cultivator's heart meridian, the Spiritual Power will turn into a Wind Blade and instantly shred the heart."
Mo Hua nodded.
Uncle Gu was reliable in matters like this.
But just to be safe, Mo Hua still suggested,
"Uncle Gu, how about... you get some poison as well? The extremely toxic kind, the blood-sealing kind, to coat the blade..."
Gu Changhuai silently looked at Mo Hua.
Mo Hua whispered, "I've never done this sort of thing, just as a precaution..."
After a moment of silence, Gu Changhuai silently took out a bottle of poison and silently applied it to the short knife...
This poison wasn't his, it had been confiscated from a Sin Cultivator.
Their Taoist Court didn't use poison.
Generally speaking...
Seeing Gu Changhuai apply poison to the knife, Mo Hua nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Gu An and said,
"Little Brother An, do you have a stick?"
Gu An was taken aback, "What kind of stick?"
"The kind used to hit someone over the head and knock them out."
Gu An shook his head, "No..."
"It's okay, I have one."
Mo Hua took out a thick iron rod from his Storage Bag, as thick as the mouth of a bowl.
This was the Thousand Jun Stick, though only a Second Grade one.
After Mo Hua reached the Foundation Establishment stage, he couldn't use the First Grade Thousand Jun Stick forged by Master Chen in Tongxian City anymore.
So he took the time to visit Tai Xu City, just beyond Taixu Gate, and spent over a hundred Spirit Stones to buy this Second Grade rod-shaped Spiritual Artifact.
Though it had a different form and another name,
Mo Hua, quite sentimental, and in order not to forget his original intentions, continued to walk the path of "knocking people unconscious" and thus also named it the "Thousand Jun Stick."
On the rod, Mo Hua had drawn a Second Grade Thousand Jun Formation.
Mo Hua handed over the Thousand Jun Stick to Gu An, "Try it and see if it feels right in your hand."
Gu An took it with a blank expression and swung it a few times, then slowly nodded and said,
"It's alright..."
"Let me tell you when the best time is to use the stick to knock someone out..."
Mo Hua began to impart the technique of "hitting with the stick to knock someone unconscious" to Gu An, who listened with a baffled expression.
After finishing, Mo Hua asked,
"Do you remember?"
Gu An nodded dumbly, "I remember..."
"Good!"
"And since he's a Formation Master, his Divine Sense is sharp. You must be careful when you assassinate him..."
Mo Hua went on to explain the other details of the "assassination" of the Evil Formation Master.
How not to be detected, how to cover his mouth to prevent him from making a noise, how to guard against him using formations, how to prevent him from communicating using the Yuan Magnetic...
Once they were properly prepared, Mo Hua nodded and said,
"Let's set out!"
Thus, three Taoist Court cultivators, with complex emotions, followed behind Mo Hua, embarking on the path to assassinate the Evil Formation Master...