The Quest for Immortality

Sun Ze scrambled to say, “Yes… ”

Sun Yi was somewhat disoriented and murmured after a long while:

“I misjudged him…”

He originally thought that the least conspicuous little cultivator was only good for serving tea and water, attending to his master as a junior disciple.

But he had not expected that he not only knew about formations, but his spells were also so formidable.

Moreover, his mind was nimble, facing many opponents alone with considerable experience in spell duels.

Sun Ze said with hatred, “Father, we must avenge this!”

Sun Yi did not respond, but coldly looked at his son, “Have you told him all about our Sun Family’s secrets?”

“No! Father, you must believe me!” Sun Ze swore confidently.

Sun Yi snorted coldly.

He trusted this son too much; surely, he had told everything, both what should have been said and what should not.

Sun Yi’s eyes flickered, and after some contemplation, he slowly said:

“For now, we hold our forces.”

“But Father, I can’t swallow this insult,” Sun Ze said with hatred.

He had seen the Pill Master, who said that both his arms were severely burned by the fire, and he would not be able to use his spiritual power for a short period. Other parts of his body were also more or less injured.

Especially his head, which had been hit several times by Mo Hua, was still buzzing.

What was most important was that his appearance had been ruined.

When the Fireball Technique hit his face, even though Sun Ze had covered his face, he was still injured by the flames, leaving several burn marks on his face.

Sun Ze could not swallow this affront.

“You can’t bear it, you have to,” Sun Yi snorted coldly.

Sun Ze’s anger had not subsided when he suddenly frowned.

This was not like his father’s usual way of doing things.

In Thousand Families Town, the Sun Family always exacted revenge for the smallest grievances; when had they ever held back?

“Father, do you have some other plan?” Sun Ze asked.

Sun Yi stroked his chin and counter-asked:

“Do you think that kid could really find the ancestral formation of our Sun Family?”

Sun Ze immediately sneered, “Impossible!”

Sun Yi gave him a cold look.

Sun Ze settled down, used his head to think for a moment, and felt a thump in his heart:

“Seems like… it’s actually possible.”

Sun Ze then pondered in detail:

“This kid’s identity is not ordinary, his spells are not ordinary, and his mastery of formations seems to be also quite extraordinary.”

“I destroyed all the formations he had drawn. I didn’t pay attention at that time, but now that I think about it, those formations were quite well drawn. And they were drawn both quickly and well, even better than you, Father…”

Sun Ze stopped mid-sentence, not daring to continue.

“Go on,” Sun Yi snorted coldly.

“Better than you, Father… they were drawn better…”

Sun Yi was not angry; instead, his heart skipped a beat, thinking to himself that it was indeed so.

This kid, with an innocent face, was actually a rare formation genius.

Among this group, perhaps this kid was the real key figure.

The key point was that he was still so young.

“There’s always someone better,” Sun Yi sighed.

“So, Father… are we just going to let this go?” Sun Ze ventured.

“Why let it go?”

“A formation genius… Is it not wise for us to provoke him?”

“So what if he’s a formation genius?” Sun Yi sneered, “In this vast cultivation world with countless cultivators, there are innumerable geniuses. Even with great talent, if one cannot grow, they are no different from mediocrity.”

Sun Ze was somewhat confused and questioned:

“Father, what exactly do you want to do?”

Sun Yi’s gaze sharpened, “We wait.”

“Wait?”

“We wait for that kid to find the ancestral formation of our Sun Family, then catch them all in one fell swoop, to reap the fisherman’s benefit.”

Sun Yi sneered, “At that time, the Sun Family’s formation will return to its rightful owner, and that kid capable of drawing formations will also serve our Sun Family.”

Sun Ze was a bit worried:

“But what if there are Foundation Building Cultivators among them?”

Sun Yi said, “I have planned these past few days. Among them, even if there’s a Foundation Building, there’s at most one…”

“Within our Sun Family, there’s me, a Foundation Building Cultivator, and in addition, there are hundreds of Qi Refinement disciples.”

“When the time comes to take action, I’ll hold off that Foundation Building Cultivator, while the hundreds of Sun Family disciples, can they not handle the remaining few Qi Refinement cultivators?”

Sun Yi snorted again, “Even if that kid’s spells are formidable, he can beat eight or nine at most, which would be the limit. Dozens, or even hundreds, of cultivators could exhaust his spiritual power just by attrition.”

“Once his spiritual power is exhausted, he won’t be able to escape even with wings.”

Sun Ze still had some reservations, “Even if we catch him, will he listen to our Sun Family?”

Sun Yi smiled and then continued:

“We’ll capture them all and use his master, or his senior and junior fellow disciples as threats; we won’t have to worry about him disobeying.”

“When he grows up a bit, we’ll pick a girl from the Sun Family and force a marriage. Once they have a child, he’ll be bound to our Sun Family.”

“With children carrying the Sun Family bloodline, connected by kinship, he’ll be considered half a Sun Family member and naturally devote himself wholeheartedly to serving our Sun Family…”

Sun Ze was shocked, “Father, you’re really cunning… astute.”

Sun Yi smiled complacently. He turned his head to look at the distant Spirit Fields, his eyes filled with anticipation:

“Keep looking, find that lost formation for our Sun Family…”

…

Mo Hua was indeed searching for formations, but after half a day, he still had no clue.

So, he went to ask Mr. Zhuang:

“Master, is the Formation in the Spirit Field?”

Since the Sun Family could no longer be stayed with, Mr. Zhuang took up residence at Old Ding’s house.

Although Old Ding’s house was poor, the courtyard was quite spacious.

Mr. Zhuang then placed a set of bamboo chairs in the courtyard and sat leisurely on them when he had nothing to do, leisurely watching the green mountains and waters, the blue sky and white clouds.

Upon hearing Mo Hua ask him, Mr. Zhuang smiled inscrutably, “What do you think?”

Mo Hua nodded, “I think it is.”

“Since you have a guess, then keep looking patiently.”

Mr. Zhuang spoke leisurely, not in a hurry at all.

Mo Hua was somewhat worried.

He had already been searching for many days, yet there were still no clues.

In the Spirit Field, there were only the Cultivating Soil Formation with six Formation Patterns and some other water and soil-related Formations.

There was not even a single first-level nine-pattern Formation, let alone an Ultimate Formation with more than nine patterns.

Seeing Mo Hua frowning, Mr. Zhuang offered some guidance:

“What are the key elements of a Formation?”

“Formation media, Formation Patterns, Formation Pivot, Formation eye.”

These were basic Formation questions, and Mo Hua naturally replied fluidly.

“Then you should continue to think from these perspectives, but don’t limit yourself to the existing knowledge of Formations.”

Mr. Zhuang said, and then he looked into the distance, his expression profound:

“Formation method is vast and profound; what you see and learn is still just the tip of the iceberg. There is much unknown mystery yet to be discovered.”

“You must learn to use existing knowledge to ponder, but you cannot be restricted by it.”

Mr. Zhuang instructed.

Mo Hua seemed to understand and slowly nodded.

In the following days, Mo Hua still ran to the Spirit Field every day.

Ding Miao followed behind him every day, running back and forth.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi had nothing else to do and also followed Mo Hua, helping him search for the Formation.

Bai Zisheng would still go out for a stroll nearby when he was free, to see if the Sun Family would come looking for trouble again.

Aunt Xue was strict in her discipline; she generally did not allow him to fight with others.

Otherwise, back when they were in Tongxian City, he had wanted to follow Mo Hua into Big Black Mountain for Monster Hunting, eager to show his prowess.

Now that Aunt Xue was not by his side, Mr. Zhuang did not indulge him but neither did he restrain him, Bai Zisheng had long wanted to find someone to spar with, to test his skills.

Especially since as the eldest disciple, helping his junior in a fight was only natural, and Mr. Zhuang would not blame him.

So Bai Zisheng had the air of being eager to try and wandered around the Spirit Field every day, occasionally looking up to see if any sensible cultivators from the Sun Family would trouble them and give him a chance to prove his mettle.

Unfortunately, the Sun Family did not take the chance, and they never came.

Since the Sun Family didn’t come, naturally no one disturbed Mo Hua.

But after searching for several days with no progress, he sat cross-legged by the edge of the field, supporting his small chin, lost in thought.

Formation media, Formation Patterns, Formation Pivot, Formation eye…

If there truly were an Ultimate Formation within the Spirit Field, then the boundaries of the field should serve as the Formation media.

Stones piled atop the field boundaries are hard and suitable for inscribing Formations.

Formation Patterns should also be present on top of the field boundaries.

But Mo Hua had almost searched the entire Spirit Field and still had not found any trace of an Ultimate Formation.

Besides, there was the Formation Pivot.

The Formation Pivot of an Ultimate Formation should be somewhat different from ordinary Formations.

Mo Hua could not find anything in the Spirit Field that indicated the presence of any special Formation Pivot.

Most crucially, there was no Formation eye.

A Formation needed a Formation eye to provide Spiritual Power, yet there was nothing in this Spirit Field that could serve as the Formation eye for an Ultimate Formation to operate.

Mo Hua scratched his head, unable to figure it out.

Looking at the basic framework of a Formation, there should be no other Formations within this Spirit Field.

Yet, given Mr. Zhuang’s demeanor, Mo Hua was convinced that there must be an Ultimate Formation hidden within this Spirit Field…

Mo Hua’s thoughts were a bit chaotic.

A breeze blew by, waving the rice plants.

The wind carried a hint of the fresh sweetness of the rice seedlings.

Mo Hua calmed his heart and found a tree stick to start drawing something on the ground.

He drew all the Formations involved in the Spirit Field, including the Cultivating Soil Formation, Water Storage Formation, Pest Extermination Formation, and so on, one by one.

He wanted to find some connections among these Formations.

But after looking them over again and again, these Formations were just as they were, with nothing special about them.

Mo Hua sighed and looked up to see Ding Miao also sitting on the ground, clutching a stick and imitating Mo Hua, drawing something unknowable.

However, what Miao drew seemed like a Formation and yet not like one.

Mo Hua looked a few times, puzzled, and asked:

“Miao, what are you drawing?”

Miao pointed forward with his small hand, “Drawing the Spirit Field.”

Seeing Mo Hua drawing Formations, he also followed along.

But Formations are complex and Patterns are numerous; Miao couldn’t draw them, so he just drew whatever else he could.

He had drawn cows, chickens, and now it was the Spirit Field’s turn.

Miao was drawing the Spirit Field, but imitating Mo Hua’s drawing style, what he created looked both like a Formation and not like one.

Mo Hua nodded slightly, then suddenly paused, a thought dawning on him.

Formation… Spirit Field…

Mo Hua frowned, as if he was on the verge of grasping something.

Just then, another breeze swept through the mountains, stirring the rice seedlings, creating waves of green that connected all the Spirit Fields into one, rippling off into the distance.

All the Spirit Fields seemed as one, echoing each other.

Mo Hua suddenly stood up, a tumult of realization rising in his heart.