Immortality Through Array Formations

Chapter 22 – Clues_1

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Instructor Yan left the Formation Pavilion and returned to Tongming Peak of the Tongxian Gate.

Instructors of the Tongxian Gate all had individual living quarters on Tongming Peak, with three rooms and a living room, together with a small courtyard where they could cultivate Spirit Flowers and Spirit Grass, or raise Spirit Beasts.

Instructor Yan’s living quarters were clean and tidy, with Formation Diagrams meticulously pasted on the walls. There were no other decorations beside them.

He reviewed the basic Formation texts and prepared several Formation Patterns he was going to teach in the following days, and then began correcting the assignments of Qi Refinement Realm disciples.

There were nearly a thousand disciples in the Qi Refinement Realm from Tongxian Peak, and Instructor Yan would correct each of their Formation assignments and mark the errors.

It was time-consuming and took patience, but Instructor Yan nonetheless did it with meticulous care.

This was his habit, also reflecting the teachings of his master over the years.

His master used to correct their Formation assignments with the same meticulous attention and patience back in the day.

Instructor Yan’s master was a first-grade Formation Master; in the entire Tao Cultivation World, he might not be considered a remarkable Formation Master. However, throughout his life, he devoted himself to teaching and imparting the Formation Arts that adhered to the Heavenly Dao Laws.

Now that his master had passed away, and he had become an instructor himself, he could appreciate his master’s painstaking efforts.

As night fell, Instructor Yan lit a lamp and continued correcting the Formations.

After all, the Tongxian Gate was still a remote small sect, with a weak Tao Cultivation heritage. Of the nearly thousand disciples, there were only a few who could draw basic Formation Patterns properly.

Those who drew them fairly well were usually from scholarly families or from wealthy homes that could afford to spend Spirit Stones on their education, such as the children of cultivators working in the Taoist Court, Sect Elders’ offspring, or disciples from Tao Cultivation Clans within the city.

There were very few who came from poor Loose Cultivator backgrounds and could still draw Formation well.

Regardless of their background, Instructor Yan treated them all equally, focusing only on their Formations.

Those who didn’t draw well but showed serious attitude received more annotations for explanation; those who neither drew well nor showed due diligence received harsher comments, and their names were noted by Instructor Yan.

Occasionally, when he came across a well-drawn Formation, Instructor Yan felt gratified and wrote a “superior” next to the Formation as encouragement.

Tirelessly, Instructor Yan kept on correcting until he turned to one Formation and his eyes lit up.

The strokes were extremely practiced, clearly the result of hard work, and they had a certain style. Even if used for an official Formation, this Formation Pattern would be considered up to standard.

Instructor Yan looked up and saw the name “Mo Hua” at the corner. He nodded, and then wrote a “superior” next to the Formation.

This “superior” was written a bit larger than the others.

Instructor Yan flipped the page and continued correcting.

As he did so, he flipped back again to find Mo Hua’s Formation Pattern, furrowing his brows.

The strokes of this Formation Pattern were a bit too polished, even seeming a bit… effortlessly skilled?

A Qi Refinement second or third level Cultivator being able to draw a complete Formation Pattern was already impressive enough.

Thinking of encountering Mo Hua in the Formation Pavilion today, Instructor Yan fell silent, pondering, when a question suddenly surfaced:

“Does Mo Hua have an elder brother?”

“If his elder brother is good at drawing Formation, and so is he, then it should be a family skill. But if I remember correctly, Mo Hua is from a poor Loose Cultivator background. Anyone with a bit of Formation heritage wouldn’t have such poor family circumstances…”

“His elder brother can help the Formation Pavilion draw Formations, so in the Tongxian Gate, he must also have a talent for Formation. I’ve been teaching here for nearly ten years, and I don’t seem to have taught this person…”

“In other Sects? That’s also unlikely; brothers from the same family generally join the same sect, especially since Tongxian Gate is already the largest sect in the city…”

Instructor Yan tapped his fingers on the desk, pondering, then temporarily set these thoughts aside and focused on finishing correcting the Formations.

The next morning, Instructor Yan got up early and found Fatty Steward from Tongming Peak, requesting the origins of the disciples. He found Mo Hua’s entry and saw it read:

Mo Hua: Age 10, Qi Refinement Level 3, mediocre Small Five Elements Spiritual Root…

Father: Mo Shan, Monster Hunter; Mother: Liu Ruhua, Meal Master.

Besides his parents, there were no other relatives; not even an elder brother.

A suspicion formed in Instructor Yan’s mind, but he felt it was improbable.

During the Formation class that morning, Instructor Yan announced additional homework: to draw all the Five Elements Formation Patterns they had learned, due in three days.

The disciples, upon hearing this sudden bad news, looked as downcast as frostbitten eggplants.

Mo Hua, on the other hand, was nonchalant; he had already helped the Formation Pavilion with Formation Painting, so drawing a few Formation Patterns now wasn’t much trouble at all.

But why had Instructor Yan suddenly assigned this homework?

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This didn’t seem like something the Instructor would normally do.

Mo Hua was a bit perplexed.

Then, An Xiaopang came to ask Mo Hua for help.

“Mo Hua, you have to help me!!” An Xiaopang was on the verge of tears.

Who knew why the Instructor had suddenly assigned homework? Normally, it was every few months that assignments were given to test the disciples’ proficiency in formations.

An Xiaopang was caught off guard. He couldn’t draw a single formation pattern and time was tight, so he had no choice but to turn to Mo Hua for help.

To Mo Hua, it didn’t matter; these basic formation patterns were no longer challenging for him at his current level.

Mo Hua helped An Xiaopang draw the formation, even only charging a friendly price. Several other classmates from well-off families, but not skilled in formations, also sought Mo Hua’s help, and he agreed to help them as well.

Mo Hua had formation diagrams to draw and spirit stones to earn, so he had no interest in thinking about anything else.

Three days later, the formation homework was handed in. Instructor Yan singled out the formation patterns drawn by Mo Hua, examined them carefully, then put them into his storage bag and went to Fated Gathering to find Fatty Steward.

When Fatty Steward saw Instructor Yan, he became a little wary, “Are you here to have tea with me this time, or are you here to ask me to do something?”

Instructor Yan said, “Not for tea, nor to ask you to do anything, just to ask you about something.”

Fatty Steward breathed a sigh of relief, “Oh, that’s fine.”

“Do you still have the formation diagrams Mo Hua handed over to you?”

“Mo Hua?” Fatty Steward paused for a moment, “Ah, that young man. Yes, I have them. What are you going to do with them?”

“How many do you have?”

“Both the Bright Fire Formation and Solid Earth Formation, I have several copies. I keep them for backup.”

Fatty Steward took out one copy each of the Bright Fire Formation and Solid Earth Formation that Mo Hua had previously delivered and handed them to Instructor Yan.

Instructor Yan looked them over and then took out the formation homework submitted by Mo Hua, comparing the patterns with those on the drawings one by one.

After looking them over, Instructor Yan took a deep breath.

Fatty Steward leaned in to see and asked, “What are you looking at?”

Instructor Yan pointed at the formation patterns and the drawings at hand and asked,

“Do you think these formation patterns and these two drawings were done by the same person?”

Fatty Steward took the patterns and drawings, looked at them closely with a frown, and nodded, “The brushwork looks quite similar. Unless there’s a surprise, they should come from the same person…”

The Fatty Steward paused and then suddenly asked, “Have you met Mo Hua’s older brother?”

Mo Hua doesn’t have an older brother.”

“No older brother? Then who drew these formations?”

Instructor Yan looked meaningfully at Fatty Steward.

Fatty Steward hesitated for a moment, “You don’t mean to say he drew them himself, do you?”

Instructor Yan nodded.

Fatty Steward was silent for a moment, then scoffed,

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Let’s not talk about the Bright Fire Formation; there’s a chance he might be able to draw it, but the Solid Earth Formation contains four formation patterns. Where would he get so much divine sense from? Does he have two heads and two seas of consciousness or something?”

Fatty Steward looked suspiciously at Instructor Yan and continued,

“Are you trying to say you’ve taught a Qi Refinement third layer genius who can draw formations? Are you trying to glorify your own face… I’ve known you for so many years, you’re not that kind of person!”

Instructor Yan looked at him coldly and pointed to the formations before him, “You said these formation patterns and the two drawings came from the same person’s hand. These patterns were drawn by Mo Hua, so who drew these two formations then?”

Fatty Steward was stumped and couldn’t find the words to respond.

After staring long at the formation patterns on his left and the drawings on his right, he finally murmured, “That can’t be…”