Chapter 43 Studying

Mo Shan and his wife were very happy to hear that Mo Hua had been introduced by Instructor Yan and had become a disciple of a master of formations.

Mo Shan had some concerns at first, but after thinking about it, he felt that there was nothing to worry about.

Instructor Yan had taught at Tongxian Sect for many years and had a good reputation. Those who could be recommended by Instructor Yan were naturally of extraordinary status.

Mo Shan's family were just ordinary casual cultivators, with neither spiritual stones nor property, so they naturally did not have to suspect that others were plotting against them.

Moreover, they might not even meet a formation master of this status, so this was a rare opportunity.

Mo Hua was now learning formations, and he lived and ate at home. Liu Ruhua could see her son every day and cook for him, which made her even happier.

The next morning, after Mo Hua had a hearty breakfast prepared by Liu Ruhua, he set out for the Southeast Mountain to visit Mr. Zhuang to study.

This time, when Mo Hua arrived at the foot of the mountain, he followed the path and came to the bamboo gate. Only then did he discover that there was actually a plaque in front of the courtyard.

The plaque reads "Zuowangju". I don't know why I didn't see it yesterday.

Mo Hua entered Zuowangju. Mr. Zhuang was sitting by the pool bored, holding his chin with one hand and fishing with the other. The fishing rod was just a piece of green bamboo, and the fishing line was empty without bait.

Mo Hua looked down at the pool and found that there were no fish in the pool.

Mo Hua thought that Mr. Zhuang might have some deep meaning, and looked up at Mr. Zhuang again, and found that Mr. Zhuang was not even fishing, but just dozing off with his chin in his hand.

Fortunately, the old man yesterday saw Mo Hua, called Mo Hua aside, and said:

"Mr. Zhuang often dozes off. When he dozes off, just ignore him, and of course don't disturb him."

"Oh."

Mo Hua nodded in a dignified manner.

The old man said again: "I am the housekeeper here... I take care of the gentleman's daily life. You can call me Kui Lao."

Mo Hua said politely: "Grandpa Kui."

Kui Lao glanced at Mo Hua, but didn't say anything. He took out a chessboard and asked: "Do you know how to play chess?"

Mo Hua looked at the chessboard and said, "Is this five-element chess?"

There are many types of chess in the world of cultivation, including Bagua chess, five-element chess, Tianyuan chess, Sancai chess, etc. Five-element chess is the simplest and most popular one. It is mainly used to enlighten children to cultivation and memorize the common sense of the five elements.

The way to play chess is very simple. Both sides hold two types of chess pieces. Five-element chess pieces with different attributes will be randomly generated on the chessboard. They will be displayed after they are turned over. The chess pieces of your own five elements are stronger, and the chess pieces of each other's five elements can eat each other.

It is simple, interesting and thought-free. It is an excellent game for cultivators and children.

It's nothing for Mo Hua to play Five Elements Chess by himself, but it's also okay for Kui Lao, who looks like he's worn out, to play...

Kui Lao seemed to see what Mo Hua was thinking, "Do you think Five Elements Chess is too simple?"

Mo Hua hesitated for a moment, and said against his conscience, "The way to simplicity is to return to the original nature. The simpler things are, the more complicated they are."

Kui Lao was stunned, and after thinking for a moment, he suddenly realized, "This is a good reason. Next time I find someone to play chess with, I'll tell them the same thing."

Mo Hua: "..."

So Mo Hua started playing chess with Kui Lao.

At first, Mo Hua thought Kui Lao must be a master, so he was very excited. But after a few rounds, he found that Kui Lao and himself were evenly matched, and neither of them was worse than the other, so he lost his burden and played happily.

Before he knew it, it was noon, and Mo Hua remembered why he came here...

Mr. Zhuang took a rest by the pond while fishing. He had slept for the whole morning. At this time, he opened his eyes, looked at the sun, and nodded, "It's time for lunch."

So Mo Hua, who had played chess for the whole morning and wasted half a day, had another meal.

The meal was made by Master Kui. There were meat, vegetables, and rice. The spirit was rich, but the taste was hard to describe.

Looking at Master Kui, he really didn't look like he was good at cooking.

But Mr. Zhuang didn't care. The five grains entered his stomach and turned into blood and qi. The senses of the mouth and stomach were all illusory. No matter how the food tasted, every chopstick and spoon were quiet and elegant, as if he was not eating grains, but the wind and dew between heaven and earth.

Mo Hua felt that Mr. Zhuang's posture was really decent and chic, and he was a little envious.

Mo Hua wanted to learn how to eat slowly and elegantly with chopsticks like Mr. Zhuang, but he still couldn't learn it. He felt a little awkward, so he finally picked up the bowl and ate the rice.

Although the food didn't taste very good, the ingredients were all excellent and contained spiritual energy. Besides, Mo Hua was not a picky eater.

Old Kui watched Mo Hua eat sweetly and picked up a few pieces of meat for Mo Hua.

After the meal, Mr. Zhuang seemed to finally remember what Mo Hua was doing, so he led Mo Hua to a bamboo pavilion in the yard.

There was a breeze and waves of bamboo waves on all sides.

"I have accepted disciples before, but they learned differently from you, so it's not easy to generalize. Let me see how far you have learned the formation."

Mr. Zhuang asked Mo Hua a few questions, and Mo Hua answered them one by one.

After Mo Hua answered, Mr. Zhuang pondered for a moment, took out a thick book, and pointed at Mo Hua:

"Your knowledge of formation theory is too weak. What you have learned are basically some basic formation patterns, which are fragmentary and not comprehensive. With such an unstable foundation, it will be difficult to understand the more difficult formations later, and you will not go far in the formation path."

Mr. Zhuang handed the book to Mo Hua and said:

"You still have to start with the most basic things. Here are some basic formation theories about formations in the cultivation world. Different schools, different attributes, and different veins are included. You should memorize them first. If you can understand them, understand them. If you can't understand them, ask me. When your foundation in formation theory is solid, I will teach you to draw formations."

Mo Hua took the thick formation book and said, "Thank you, sir!"

Mr. Zhuang waved his hand, "You can find a comfortable place in the yard to read it. I want to close my eyes and rest."

Mo Hua said goodbye, then held the "Origin of Formation Theory", found a shady grass under the tree, and lay on the soft grass to read it.

The opening of "Origin Theory" states that the ancient immortals looked up at the sky and looked down at the geography, comprehended the way of heaven from the evolution of all things in the world, and manifested it into formations, and imitated the operation of the way of heaven with the formations, so that they had unpredictable power.

Among the hundreds of cultivation professions, only the formation is the most direct and fundamental way to comprehend the way of heaven, and it is also the most demanding category of cultivation for spiritual consciousness.

The division of formation masters is based on the ninth grade as the most respected, and those above the ninth grade are immortals, called immortal formation masters.

However, immortal formation masters are only legends. In the past 20,000 years, no one has truly become an immortal, and naturally no one has become an immortal formation master. No one knows what the immortal formation that can change the world looks like.

Not only immortal formation masters, even the ninth grade formation masters are not recorded, and the eighth grade is also a legend. There are records of several sixth and seventh grade formation masters, all of whom are giants such as aristocratic families, ancient sects, or the great elders of the Dao Court. They are already some cultivators who are out of reach.

After the fifth rank, until the third rank, there are more records of some formation masters, and there are no records of lower ranks. Obviously, unless the formation masters of lower ranks have unprecedented innovations in formation, they are not qualified to be included in the book.

After recording the history of formation, there are some formation schools and various formation terms.

The formation schools vary greatly from family to family, from sect to sect, and from region to region. Even the inheritance of the same formation may sometimes be subdivided into multiple small veins. The inheritance of different veins will have subtle differences in the learning, research, use and effectiveness of formations.

All major forces regard the core formations as confidential, and each studies and applies them, resulting in a situation in which the formations in the cultivation world are flourishing but each is self-contained.

The formations are divided into two types according to the formation hub, including the two-element formation, the three-talent formation, the four-image formation, the five-element formation, the six-combination formation, the seven-star formation, the eight-diagram formation, etc. The most widely spread and used are the five-element formation and the eight-diagram formation. Other different formations also have their own uses.

…

Mo Hua spent most of the day roughly flipping through the "Theory of the Origin of Formation". After reading it, he felt suddenly enlightened, but also felt more insignificant.

For Mo Hua, it is not easy to become a first-grade formation master, let alone the seventh, eighth, ninth, or even immortal grades. The formation is like the ocean, and Mo Hua, who is not even a first-grade formation master, is now just a drop in the ocean.

There will be a test push tomorrow, hehe~(=^_^=)