The Quest for Immortality

”Some Formation Masters are stuck in rigid thinking, only familiar with the standard paradigms, not flexible...”

”There are already few Formation Masters, and when you add these strict requirements to the selection process, there are hardly any who meet the criteria.”

”They must be well-versed in Formation Studies, have broad knowledge, and be adaptable, practical, quick to draw, and draw well...”

Situ Jian sighed, ”Such Formation Masters are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns and very hard to enlist.”

”Mmm-hmm!”

Mo Hua nodded repeatedly.

Cheng Mo also nodded, but halfway through, he suddenly felt something was amiss and looked suspiciously at Situ Jian, ”Why do I feel like you’re beating around the bush and flattering Mo Hua?”

The more Cheng Mo thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

You sly, big-browed Situ Jian!

So you’re that kind of person too!

Situ Jian glanced at Cheng Mo, ”I’m telling the truth, do you think I’m like you?”

Cheng Mo proudly claimed, ”When I flatter, I never beat around the bush!”

Mo Hua looked somewhat helpless and asked Situ Jian, ”And then?”

This interruption by Cheng Mo had caught Situ Jian off guard; he took a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing:

”Besides Formation Masters, there are also Artifact Refiners.”

”Artifact Refiners must be skilled and experienced, and their thinking also needs to be flexible but not too eccentric. They must still adhere to the necessary standards...”

”Customizing spiritual tools doesn’t follow a fixed format, yet it must adhere to certain rules.”

”Moreover, there are problems across the Tao Cultivation industry, such as Refining Furnaces, refining materials, and various artifact crafting processes... ”

”In short, it’s very troublesome...”

Situ Jian sighed, ”Our Situ Family once hired some Formation Masters to collaborate with our family’s Artifact Refiners to craft a batch of customized Armor-breaking Spirit Swords.”

”But the Formation Masters found the Artifact Refiners crude, and the Artifact Refiners thought the Formation Masters were arrogant, neither could see eye to eye.”

”In practice, the Artifact Refiners felt that the Formation Diagrams created by the Formation Masters were problematic here and there and didn’t match the spiritual artifacts at all.”

”The Formation Masters felt that nothing is bigger than the Formation Diagram. The diagrams couldn’t be changed, as any alteration would weaken their effectiveness. If the spiritual artifacts didn’t match the formations, that was the problem with the artifacts themselves, and Artifact Refiners had to figure out a solution on their own.”

”With both sides passing the buck back and forth, workflow changes, and countless Spirit Stones and Formation Spiritual Ink wasted...”

Situ Jian bitterly smiled, ”In the end, after spending a significant amount of money, the batch of Spirit Swords was forged, but most of them were defective, and only a few were usable...”

Mo Hua was shocked to hear this.

He knew there would be issues, but didn’t expect it to be this troublesome...

Understanding Mo Hua’s sudden question about customized spiritual tools, Situ Jian realized that this was indeed a problem.

Mo Hua pondered for a while and then said:

”Well then, for this rest period, you go ahead and try to catch the thief as planned. If you can catch him, great. If not, let him go for now. Next time, I’ll prepare some Array Plates and spiritual tools for you to bring along.”

”Okay.” Cheng Mo nodded, then thumped his chest and declared, ”As long as we catch that damned thief, I’ll pay double for the Formation and spiritual tools!”

Having said that, Cheng Mo added in a weaker voice, ”Spirit Stones only...”

”Deal!”

Mo Hua squinted and smiled.

Afterwards, Mo Hua wrote a letter and had it sent to Solitary Mountain City, briefly explaining the situation to Master Gu in advance.

At the time of the rest period, Mo Hua made another visit to the Gu Family.

Master Gu was already waiting for Mo Hua at the Gu residence early on.

Compared to usual, Master Gu maintained his usual steadiness, but there was a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

The two found a teahouse in the city.

Mo Hua handed several special Formation Diagrams to Master Gu.

These diagrams included not just the layout of the formations but also illustrations for artifact crafting, a type of Refinement Array Map that integrates both formations and forging.

”Master Gu, I’d like to ask you to refine a few items... ”

”These are two simple spiritual tools, one is a stone needle, and the other is a silver needle, along with two types of special Array Plates...”

Mo Hua spread out the Refinement Array Maps and explained each one to Master Gu.

After Mo Hua finished explaining, Master Gu took the diagrams and studied them carefully, raising some cautious questions.

Such as what materials would be used for refining, and the dimensions required.

Some artifact shapes, while fitting the formations, were very complex in the production process, which would increase costs.

Mo Hua answered all these concerns one by one.

Regarding issues with some artifact production steps and the structure of the diagrams, Mo Hua just pondered for a moment and then quickly revised them with a pen on the spot.

After spending more than an hour, the Refinement Array Maps were preliminarily finalized.

Although it was just a preliminary draft, since these Array Plates and spiritual tools were not complex, it was almost ready to be definitive.

Back at home, he could use the Refining Furnace to create a batch and see how they turned out.

After the discussion, Mo Hua said:

”Master Gu, when you go back, calculate the total cost for the refining materials and labor.”

Master Gu hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said: