During the journey that followed, Mo Hua would occasionally stick his little head out the window to gaze at the scenery of heaven and earth.
He looked amidst the mountains, at the Immortal Cities, and within the ruins of broken temples, searching for any shadows of formations.
If there were any signs, he would release his Divine Sense to perceive them.
He then immersed himself in calculation.
If he deduced the trajectory of the spiritual power in the formation, he would halt the carriage and personally seek it out.
He would inquire local cultivators, visit local Formation Masters, or ascend to solitary mountain tops to gaze upon an ancient stele towering above...
In this way, with stops and starts, two months passed.
Mo Hua indeed found some special formations, even two ultimate formations.
But one was incomplete, and the other had only ten stripes, which were simple ones at that, containing rather elementary Taoist meanings.
Even without the aid of the Taoist Stele, Mo Hua learned it in a few days.
Afterward, there was no shadow of any ultimate formations to be found.
There were none with the First Rank Thirteen Stripes, not to mention formations with the First Rank Eleven or Twelve Stripes.
Mo Hua sighed.
The Taoist Stele in his Sea of Consciousness had "gone on strike" and not yet recovered, and every day he practiced the formations far fewer times.
He could only rely on drawing the Thick Earth Formation to enhance his understanding of formations and hone his Divine Sense.
But his Divine Sense was already at twelve stripes.
The eleven-striped Thick Earth Formation was too easy for him to draw; it no longer did much to hone his Divine Sense.
These days, his Divine Sense had grown exceedingly slowly.
He was far from reaching the thirteen-striped Divine Sense.
By contrast, his cultivation progress was much faster.
It was quite possible that by the time he reached the peak of the Qi Refining Ninth Level, his Divine Sense would still be stuck at twelve stripes, not reaching thirteen stripes, let alone the mid-phase of Foundation Establishment Divine Sense.
Establishing the Foundation with a twelve-striped Divine Sense...
Mo Hua sighed again, this was much worse than expected.
It seemed he needed to think of a solution...
After a brief contemplation, Mo Hua went to find Mr. Zhuang and asked,
"Master, are the twelve-striped formations really that scarce?"
Mr. Zhuang leisurely sipped his tea and said,
"Every ultimate formation is rare. Whether or not you encounter one depends partly on fate and partly on insight."
"Without the right fate, you won't come across one; without the insight, even if you do, you won't recognize it."
"Your encounter with the Thick Earth Formation shows you are deeply fated. It's not possible to find an ultimate formation in every place you visit."
"Seeking formations requires a long time and patience."
Mo Hua nodded, then with a furrowed brow, he sighed and said,
"But at this rate, by the time I establish my foundation, my Divine Sense will only be at twelve stripes..."
Mr. Zhuang tapped Mo Hua's forehead with a smile and said,
"Just speak directly, don't beat around the bush with your master."
Mo Hua chuckled, "I have heard of a twelve-striped formation before."
Mr. Zhuang nodded slightly, "Let's hear it."
"Master, do you remember Instructor Yan?" Mo Hua said.
Mr. Zhuang's eyes flickered, "The Spirit Pivot Formation Chart?"
Mo Hua was surprised, "Master, you knew about it?"
Mr. Zhuang, seeing Mo Hua's shocked expression, revealed a hint of amusement in his eyes:
"I have met Instructor Yan once. It was because of that formation that I saw him in a different light."
Mo Hua pondered and gradually understood.
Mr. Zhuang, profound and unfathomable, lived reclusively in the mountains, concealing his traces. Ordinary cultivators couldn't possibly meet him.
In Tongxian City, aside from himself, no one had seen Mr. Zhuang.
Even Mo Hua's parents, Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua, only knew Mr. Zhuang's name but had never met him, much less knew what he looked like.
But Instructor Yan was different.
Mo Hua always thought that Instructor Yan's mastery of formations was extraordinary.
But that was because he was once a disciple of Tongxian Gate, had received guidance in formations from Instructor Yan and felt grateful in his heart.
In truth, Instructor Yan was just a Qi Refining cultivator, not even a First Rank Formation Master.