The Sect’s life was monotonous, yet it was also quite comfortable.
Tongling Peak was picturesque, with lush greenery and occasional mists, frequented by birds and surrounded by the fragrance of flowers.
After classes, the disciples of the Outer Gate would often wander through the mountains; the female disciples, pretty and graceful, enjoyed flower-watching together.
The male disciples chased after spirit beasts across the mountains while nascent pairs of male and female cultivators whispered sweet nothings in secluded flower-strewn brooks, and jealous disciples occasionally fought.
However, all this had nothing to do with Mo Hua, who dedicated his entire focus to formations. Aside from eating and attending classes, he spent all his time researching formations, even practicing formation markings on the stone stele in his sleep.
Among familiar peers, Da’hu had reached the fifth layer of Qi Refinement, and Shuanghu and Xiaohu had already attained the fourth layer; they were cultivating on Tongxuan Peak. Although the two peaks were not far apart, knowing that Mo Hua was focused on learning about formations, they generally didn’t disturb him without good reason.
With his innocent and intelligent face, coupled with a harmless appearance and amiable demeanor, Mo Hua was quite well-liked on Tongling Peak, and nobody thought of bullying him.
Moreover, Mo Hua’s achievements in formations were impressive, drawing the attention of Instructor Yan. Anyone trying to bully Mo Hua would face serious consequences once Instructor Yan found out. Instructor Yan despised strife among disciples and lack of focus on cultivation, dealing extremely severe punishments upon discovery.
Furthermore, Da’hu and the others had always looked out for Mo Hua. They were tall and strong, following the path of body cultivation and planning to enter Big Black Mountain to become Monster Hunters.
In their free time, they would look for opportunities to spar. Whenever there was trouble on Mo Hua’s end, they were quick to roll up their sleeves and hurry over from Tongxuan Peak.
Mo Hua, undistracted in his cultivation, had had interactions with only one other disciple—An Xiaopang.
Mo Hua returned the ten spirit stones he had borrowed from An Xiaopang before the New Year.
When Mo Hua gave him the spirit stones, An Xiaopang was stunned, clearly having forgotten about the loan. It took him a while to remember.
As a scion of the An Family from Tongxian City, he truly didn’t care much about the ten spirit stones; it was also possible he just had a poor memory.
After ruminating with furrowed brows for a while, An Xiaopang’s expression became complicated as he said, “I’ve grown up like this, and you’re the first one who has actually thought of returning the spirit stones after borrowing them.”
Mo Hua sighed inwardly, thinking this must be the naivety of a landlord’s silly son.
Some of the lent spirit stones might have been forgotten by him, while others might have been deliberately not returned by the borrowers. He really didn’t lack spirit stones, so over time, he had simply gotten used to it.
“You’re so… kind, be careful not to be deceived by others.”
Mo Hua changed his words mid-sentence, from “silly” to “kind,” and patted An Xiaopang’s shoulder, advising him euphemistically.
An Xiaopang’s expression grew even more complicated, with a hint of being moved:
“Little Mo bro, everyone says I’m stupid, but only you know that I’m just kind-hearted. Out of all the disciples I’ve met, you are the smartest, no wonder you’re so good at drawing formations!”
For a moment, Mo Hua was at a loss for words.
After a month or so, the Sect had a ten-day break, granting a two-day holiday.
Mo Hua left the Sect and went to Fated Gathering on North Street, where he handed over the Bright Fire Formation he had drawn to Manager Wang, then asked:
“Do you have a formation that’s a bit harder than the Bright Fire Formation, something that could exchange for more spirit stones?”
Manager Wang cast a glance at Mo Hua, “Did your elder brother ask you to inquire?”
“Yes!” Mo Hua nodded.
“There is one,” Manager Wang dipped his head and rummaged behind the desk, then drew out a formation diagram, which had several unfamiliar formation markings on it.
“The Solid Earth Formation, which can solidify earth and stone. It’s commonly used by cultivators when constructing houses or reinforcing doors and windows. The Solid Earth Formation is a bit more difficult than the Bright Fire Formation, and the compensation for each Solid Earth Formation Method is two spirit stones.”
Two spirit stones… that’s double the Bright Fire Formation’s reward.
“May I take a look at the formation method map first?”
Manager Wang gave Mo Hua a look that said, “What’s the use of you looking? Your brother should be the one to see it.”
Still, despite his words, he handed the map to Mo Hua. These basic formation method maps weren’t particularly rare items anyway, so it didn’t hurt to show them to others.
Mo Hua glanced over the map and realized that indeed many of the formation markings were ones he had never seen before, and they were also not taught by the instructors at his Sect.
“I wonder how long it will take to learn this formation…”
The fees for inheriting techniques from the Sect were too expensive; it would take a long time to save up for them by earning through Bright Fire Formation.
Mo Hua wanted to draw a new formation, but he hesitated a bit. If the quality was not good, he might lose spirit stones, and if he couldn’t learn it, failing to finish within the deadline, the Formation Pavilion would deduct the entire deposit.
“Well, you can’t catch a wolf without risking the sheep!”
Mo Hua made his decision. Even if he didn’t learn it within the deadline and all twenty spirit stones were deducted, he could just go back to earning them by drawing the Bright Fire Formation.
To become a Formation Master, he would have to draw formations much more difficult than this. After all, he couldn’t spend his lifetime just drawing the Bright Fire Formation.