The Quest for Immortality

In the world of magic, speed is unbeatable!

Mo Hua silently engraved this in his heart.

”Grandfather Gui, what kind of magic should I learn next?” Mo Hua asked Elder Gui.

He couldn’t possibly use the Fireball Technique forever...

”Whatever you like.”

Elder Gui answered casually.

”Does that mean as long as I understand the principles, I can learn anything...”

That was the only way Mo Hua could interpret it.

Elder Gui then reverted to his usual reticent self, and Mo Hua, feeling it improper to pry further, simply went back to practicing his Fireball Technique.

Whenever he had spare time, Mo Hua would practice the Fireball Technique.

He remembered Elder Gui’s words: to practice with greater accuracy and speed!

Now, with the Passing Water Step for defense and the Fireball Technique for offense, he barely managed a balance of ”attack and defense,” securing some ability to protect himself.

For future magic, Mo Hua was not in a rush anymore; at least, there was no urgency for now, as learning more might not be immediately useful.

Mo Hua then shifted his focus back to array formations.

At the fifth level of Qi cultivation, Mo Hua could now draw eight array patterns, but he estimated that within the fifth level, drawing nine patterns would be impossible.

As Mr. Zhuang had said, spiritual awareness has its limits.

Every evening, Mo Hua still practiced at the Dao Stele to enhance his spiritual awareness, but he felt that its growth was minimal, as if gradually reaching a bottleneck; his sea of consciousness was already overflowing.

Thus, only a breakthrough in his realm would allow him to attempt drawing nine array patterns.

Nine array patterns...

Mo Hua frowned in thought and suddenly shuddered.

Nine array patterns would mean becoming a First-Rank Array Master!

Was he, unbeknownst to himself, on the verge of becoming a First-Rank Array Master?!

A slight tremor of shock passed through Mo Hua’s heart.

Although it still required the Dao Court’s assessment and a vacant First-Rank Array Master position, being able to draw nine patterns meant he had one foot in the door of becoming a First-Rank Array Master!

Mo Hua felt moved, ”Mr. Zhuang was indeed correct; as long as one is undistracted and keeps drawing arrays, keeps drawing, and keeps drawing, one will eventually become a First-Rank Array Master.”

The simplest method is often the most straightforward!

Mo Hua felt a slight urge to boast, but recalling Mr. Zhuang’s teachings of ”being neither arrogant nor rash” and ”humble and low-profile,” he restrained himself and calmed his mind.

The path of cultivation is long, and a momentary achievement means little.

Remaining humble and undiscouraged is the key to pursuing the great path of longevity.

Even if he wanted to boast, he would wait until he could draw nine array patterns and become a First-Rank Array Master!

Mo Hua nodded to himself.

However, Mo Hua’s supply of Spirit Ink was becoming an issue again...

To learn and master the nine-pattern array and become a First-Rank Array Master, not only did he need to practice on the Dao Stele, but he also had to draw on array papers and various other array mediums.

Not just to learn, but to apply what was learned, to grasp the array deeply.

Moreover, Mo Hua’s cultivation technique was the Heavenly Proliferation Technique, whose bottleneck was the Riddle Array. Without solving the Riddle Array, he could not break through the bottleneck and advance his realm.

Solving the Riddle Array depended on his experience with arrays; to solve it, he needed to observe and practice many arrays.

Whether to become a First-Rank Array Master or to solve the Riddle Array, Mo Hua needed to study and practice numerous arrays.

This meant he needed a lot of Spirit Ink...

A normal Array Master wouldn’t need so much Spirit Ink because their limited spiritual awareness meant they could only draw a few arrays each day.

But Mo Hua was different.

His spiritual awareness was significantly higher than cultivators of the same level, and with the Dao Stele, it was still gradually increasing.

Due to the Heavenly Proliferation Technique, he could draw arrays much faster than others, and with the Meditation Techniques taught by Mr. Zhuang, his spiritual awareness recovered quickly.

Thus, from morning till evening, Mo Hua continuously drew, capable of completing nearly ten arrays.

This was several times more than an average Array Master.

This led to Mo Hua’s Spirit Ink being used up like flowing water.

Elder Yu occasionally had someone bring some Spirit Ink to Mo Hua.

In Elder Yu’s view, considering Mo Hua’s young age and unstable spiritual awareness, this amount of Spirit Ink should have been sufficient.

But for Mo Hua, it was far from enough.

Mo Hua was

somewhat troubled but had no better solution, which made him wonder:

”How exactly is Spirit Ink concocted?”

Mo Hua thought to ask Mr. Zhuang, but considering the question wasn’t too profound and not worth disturbing his mentor’s peace, he decided to ask Bai Zisheng instead.

Bai Zisheng sat under a large locust tree, looking painfully at his homework.

Mo Hua glanced at it; it was ”Pill Concoction Fire Control and Pill Quality Classic.”

Mo Hua didn’t understand...

He wasn’t very skilled at pill concoction, though he was quite familiar with the Water-Wood Spirit Control Array inside the pill furnace, having once helped Elder Feng repair it.

Bai Zisheng closed the book and lay down on the ground, stiff as a salted fish, motionless.

”Zisheng, I have a question for you.”

Bai Zisheng replied weakly, ”This book is giving me a headache, ask ZiXi instead, let me rest a bit.”

”Oh.” Mo Hua turned his head to Bai Zixi.

Bai Zixi had just closed her book too, her eyes like autumn waters looking at Mo Hua.

”Do you have a moment?” Mo Hua asked softly.

Bai Zixi nodded slightly.

Mo Hua carefully asked, ”How is the Spirit Ink used in arrays concocted?”

”Using demon blood, spirit liquid, spirit herbs, or spirit minerals.”

Bai Zixi answered succinctly, her voice clear and melodious.

But Mo Hua didn’t quite understand, ”Is there a more specific method?”

Just knowing these materials, Mo Hua wasn’t sure how to mix them...

”Wait a moment.” Bai Zixi opened a nearby storage bag, white with delicate, light gold phoenix embroidery, and took out a book.

Mo Hua watched as Bai Zixi, with her elegant but exquisite storage bag, piqued his curiosity.

He wondered what else was stored in that bag that seemed to have every kind of book.

Bai Zixi’s slender, fair hand handed the book to Mo Hua.

Mo Hua took it and flipped through.

The cover of the book read ”First-Rank Spirit Ink Record,” containing information about Spirit Ink commonly used in arrays of First-Rank and below, including types of Spirit Ink, formulas, and specific mixing methods.

The cover also had a line: ”Bai family ancestral collection, not to be disseminated.”

Mo Hua couldn’t help but glance at Bai Zixi.

Bai Zixi said indifferently, ”It’s fine, it’s not top secret.”

Mo Hua was reassured and continued to flip through the book.

The methods for concocting First-Rank Spirit Ink were relatively simple, mostly using demon blood as the base, mixed with a certain proportion of spirit stone powder in spirit liquid, or some juice of spirit herbs, to neutralize the malicious nature of the demon blood and activate its potency, harmonizing the spiritual power of the ink.

Spirit liquid and spirit herbs were not used much, so it wasn’t too troublesome; the most challenging part was actually the demon blood.

The demon blood used in Spirit Ink must be drawn from the demon beast while it was still alive or within a short time after its death.

Once a demon beast died and time passed, the demon blood would either cool and dim, greatly reducing its effectiveness, or completely solidify, rendering it unusable as Spirit Ink.

Moreover, the extraction of demon blood required a special technique to slowly guide the blood out of the demon beast’s veins and into a specially prepared jade bottle for preservation to prevent the blood from solidifying.

This special technique for extracting demon blood was called the Blood Drawing Technique.