Chapter 166: Chapter 166 - 166 Earth Stone Formation (Part 5)_1

The next day, Qian Hong met with Elder Yu.

Mo Hua peered into the mining tunnel and sneakily looked on, instantly recognizing Qian Hong.

Qian Hong was Qian Xing’s father, whom Mo Hua had blasted with an Earth Fire Formation. Knowing what Qian Xing looked like and noting the father-son resemblance made Qian Hong easy to identify.

Besides, even without looking at faces, the only two Foundation Building Cultivators among the Qian family’s cultivators stood out at first glance.

Qian Zhongxuan stood right by Qian Hong’s side, and though both were Foundation Building Cultivators, Qian Hong clearly had a more imposing presence.

Qian Zhongxuan only had deep wrinkles, which gave him a stern face, far less authoritative than the high-ranking Qian family head Qian Hong.

Mo Hua asked curiously, “Elder, why do you call Qian Hong an ‘old tortoise’?”

At least at a glance, Qian Hong appeared proud and handsome, with an extraordinary demeanor.

Elder Yu said, “You want to know?”

Mo Hua nodded his head.

“Alright, just watch.”

Watch what?

Mo Hua was somewhat puzzled.

After a while, the two sides faced off. Elder Yu stood at the mouth of the tunnel on the hillside, with a saber in hand and striding like a warrior, and began to curse directly at Qian Hong and Qian Zhongxuan.

He cursed the two of them from head to toe.

Qian Zhongxuan trembled with rage, but Qian Hong’s expression remained unchanged as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

Once Elder Yu had cursed enough to tire himself out, he stopped to rest and said to Mo Hua, “Understand now?”

Mo Hua nodded and exclaimed in amazement,

“Truly an ‘old tortoise’ indeed—he really can endure!”

To be cursed like that by Elder Yu and yet remain unfazed, not uttering a word, not even a twitch of the eyebrow.

“Putting it nicely, that’s called being deep and cunning. To put it unpleasantly, it’s being shameless.” Elder Yu said.

Mo Hua then said, “Elder, isn’t it a bit bad to provoke him like this?”

Elder Yu said disdainfully, “Provoking him or not makes no difference; as long as there are benefits to be had, he recognizes neither kin nor kith, so don’t think that by not provoking him, he would suddenly grow a conscience.”

Mo Hua nodded and then asked, “Are we going to fight them next?”

Elder Yu sighed, “Ideally, we would not fight. We have been at war for far too long, weary from prolonged battle, while they keep sending wave after wave of fresh troops. To engage in another head-on clash would be to our disadvantage. Moreover, our food supplies and the pills for healing wounds are also running low.”

“So, we’re running?”

“That’s right.”

“How are we going to run? With so many Qian family cultivators around, we won’t be able to escape easily, will we?” Mo Hua furrowed his brow.

“Initially, I planned to defeat the Qian family so we could openly transport the spiritual mines out. But now, with the Qian family cultivators pouring in like locusts, wave after wave, and the old tortoise Qian Hong himself coming, that approach is impossible,” Elder Yu said.

“Our only option is to dig another mining tunnel and slip away quietly,” Elder Yu continued.

Mo Hua was taken aback, “A mining tunnel? Can we dig one in time?”

Elder Yu sighed, “Hard to say; we need to do our best to hold the tunnel entrance and buy as much time as possible.”

Mo Hua nodded, but he felt the defense would be difficult.

Defending the mining tunnel was indeed difficult.

Afterward, the Qian family attacked the tunnel at irregular intervals each day, not seeking glory or reluctant to retreat, purely wearing down the Monster Hunters’ fighting spirit.

They also aimed to tie down the Monster Hunters, preventing them from making other moves.

Elder Yu needed people to defend the mouth of the tunnel, to mine for spiritual mines, and to dig an alternative tunnel for escape.

For a moment, it was an overwhelming situation.

Mo Hua was also worried, but he had no better solutions.

One day, Elder Yu suddenly sought out Mo Hua and asked, somewhat helplessly, “Mo Hua, do you have a Formation that can seal the mine?”

If they couldn’t hold it, it would be better to seal it off completely. This way, the Qian family couldn’t get in, and they could escape after digging out the mining tunnel.

“Seal it off completely?”

“Just leave one or two openings,” Elder Yu said.

After thinking for a moment, Mo Hua’s eyes lit up, “It’s possible!”

He thought of a Formation that could reinforce earth and stone, sealing the cave entrance, which he had seen in the Formation Books given to him by Mr. Zhuang.

Elder Yu’s spirits lifted, “Can you draw it now?”

“No,” Mo Hua shook his head, “I haven’t learned it yet.”

Elder Yu let out a sigh, “Then I’ll ask everyone to hold on a bit longer, you learn it first. There’s no need to rush…”

In fact, Elder Yu was very anxious inside.

It would be bearable for a short time, but enduring in the long term, competing with the Qian Family day after day, would be tortuous. The Qian Family had supplies and manpower; they did not.

But Elder Yu didn’t want to put the pressure on Mo Hua. Mo Hua had already been a great help.

Elder Yu also knew that learning Formations was not easy, many Formation Masters spent ten days to half a month as normal. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so few of them.

Elder Yu felt somewhat hesitant in his heart.

He didn’t know how long it would take Mo Hua to learn this Formation. If it took ten days to half a month, they might not be able to hold out and would have to find another way.

Elder Yu stood up to leave, but in the end, he couldn’t help asking in a soft voice:

“Mo Hua, I’m not rushing you. I just want to ask, how long will it take for you to learn this Formation?”

Mo Hua thought for a moment and said tentatively:

“If it goes well, by tomorrow morning; if not, then the morning after.”

As it wasn’t an obscure First-grade Formation Method, Mo Hua was learning quite fast now. He would memorize the Formation Patterns during the day and practice at the Taoist Stele at night. If he couldn’t learn it in one night, two nights would be enough.

Elder Yu opened his mouth.

He felt that his numerous cautious thoughts from just a moment ago were somewhat superfluous. His emotions had soared and plummeted, leaving him with a complex expression, “Do all you Formation Masters learn Formations this quickly… ”

Mo Hua chuckled, “Probably not all.”

“Then it is this child Mo Hua who learns quickly…” Elder Yu cast a glance at Mo Hua and silently thought to himself.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Regardless, by tomorrow or the day after, there would be enough time.

Elder Yu breathed a sigh of relief, “Then learn at your own pace, I won’t disturb you any further.” He then walked away with a relaxed expression.

Mo Hua then opened the Thousand Formation Catalog, flipping through to find a certain Formation containing nine Earth Series Formation Patterns, known as the First-grade Earth Stone Formation.

The Earth Stone Formation was one type among First-grade Earth Series Formation Methods, which could meld earth and stone together, making them even more solid.

The Formation Patterns were not difficult; Mo Hua remembered the gist after a few glances. And it was still early, several hours away from 1 p.m.

It was not until 1 p.m. that Mo Hua could enter his Sea of Consciousness and practice the Formation at the Taoist Stele.

“What shall I do now?”

Mo Hua propped his cheek, thinking.

He had already memorized the Formation Patterns, looking over them a few more times wouldn’t make much difference.

Mo Hua decided to take out some paper and consolidate his learning by trying to draw the First-grade Earth Stone Formation a few times.

Usually, when learning a Formation Method, Mo Hua would practice on the Taoist Stele until he was adept and only then draw it on paper, to not waste paper and ink.

But it seemed like now was not the time to worry about wasting these materials.

Mo Hua began to directly draw the First-grade Earth Stone Formation on paper.

As expected, the first drawing failed.

Mo Hua felt a bit disappointed but was not too distressed, considering he had previously saved up more than a thousand bottles of Monster Blood and currently didn’t lack for Spiritual Ink.

Mo Hua started on the second drawing, which failed as well.

The third drawing, another failure.

Mo Hua reflected for a moment, calmed his mindset, and continued drawing. Then, while drawing, he found himself successfully completing it as if by a natural convergence…

Mo Hua tried to infuse some Spiritual Power, and the Formation Patterns lit up, emitting a faint gray glow.

That was a success?

Mo Hua first felt elated, then found himself somewhat…unexcited.

He had originally planned to spend an entire night practicing the Earth Stone Formation, but it hadn’t even reached evening, and he had already mastered it.

“What shall I study tonight then?”

Mo Hua scratched his head, flipping through the messy Formation Books beside him, when he accidentally saw another Formation:

The First-grade Earth-Wood Compound Formation.