Mo Hua was confused and asked, "Whatâs wrong?"
Bai Zisheng hesitated, "The thing you drew... is it a Formation Pivot?"
Mo Hua nodded, "Yeah."
"What kind of Formation Pivot?"
Bai Zisheng asked curiously, and Bai Zixi also looked at Mo Hua with curiosity.
After thinking for a bit, Mo Hua played coy, "Youâll find out later."
Bai Zisheng muttered discontentedly, "Stingy..."
Then he remembered something, his expression worried, and he asked softly, "Are you going to relocate the city?"
"Itâs possible."
"What do you mean itâs possible," Bai Zisheng asked, "If a Big Demon appears, isnât relocating the only solution..."
Without thinking, Mo Hua asked, "What if itâs not the usual case? Is there another way?"
He wanted to know what else Bai Zisheng knew, whether there were other methods to deal with a Big Demon.
"How would I know..." Bai Zisheng just shook his head, "I asked Aunt Xue, and thatâs what she told me."
Bai Zixi also said in her clear voice:
"The Bai Family has cultivators serving in the Heaven Shu Pavilion, who have seen such records. Usually, with disasters like a Big Demon, being able to relocate is already the best option."
There are others who were eaten by the Big Demon, or turned into corpse slaves, or became ghosts and spirits... All of these are human tragedies.
Thinking about this, all three of them grew serious.
Mo Hua glanced at Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi and asked:
"If the city is relocated, will you have to leave too?"
Bai Zisheng nodded, "Once the city is relocated, Mr. Zhuang will definitely go. From the looks of it, he doesnât seem willing to take me and Zixi as disciples."
"But we must become his disciples!" Bai Zisheng declared with determination.
"Why?" Mo Hua was puzzled.
Bai Zisheng hesitated, then glanced at Bai Zixi. Seeing she didnât speak up to stop him and had no displeased expression, he solemnly looked at Mo Hua again.
Mo Huaâs expression became serious, and he leaned in to listen.
Bai Zisheng lowered his voice, whispering, "I donât know either..."
Mo Hua was startled, then looked at Bai Zisheng with disdain.
Bai Zisheng quickly said, "I havenât finished yet."
He lowered his voice again, "Normally, this isnât something to be told to outsiders, but since weâre from the same sect... sort of, I wonât hide it from you..."
"My mother instructed me and Zixi to find Mr. Zhuang and to take him as our master, to learn a special Formation."
"This Formation can only be taught to direct disciples, not nominal ones."
"Oh," Mo Hua nodded.
So that was it...
No wonder Zisheng and Zixi were so insistent on taking Mr. Zhuang as their master.
Maybe it wasnât them who were insistent, but their mother, or even, their family behind them, the Bai Familyâ¦
Then this Formation must be of great significance...
"Donât you want to ask what Formation it is?"
Bai Zisheng saw that Mo Hua just "oh"-ed, seeming a bit dissatisfied, feeling his reaction was too calm, especially since he shared such a "confidential" matter with him.
Shouldnât you be a little shocked?
Just an "oh," what does that even mean?
Mo Hua glanced at him and said indifferently, "Didnât you say you donât know?"
Bai Zisheng was taken aback, "How do you know I donât know?"
"You just said yourself, âI donât knowâ... That should mean you donât know. What Formation youâre supposed to learn from Mr. Zhuang..."
"Besides, even if you knew, you couldnât tell me, could you?" Mo Hua added.
Bai Zisheng, resting his chin in his hand, shook his head at Mo Hua and said:
"Mo Hua, this is no fun, we canât even have a conversation."
If you finish saying everything, how can I play coy?
Bai Zisheng felt somewhat unsatisfied.
"Alright then." After a moment, Mo Hua thought of something else and asked:
"So, if Mr. Zhuang leaves and doesnât take you as disciples, what do you plan to do?"
Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi looked at each other and both sighed softly.
Bai Zisheng said with a bit of bitterness:
"I donât know, maybe we will just keep looking for Mr. Zhuang, until he is willing to accept us..."
Thatâs going to be tough, Mr. Zhuang is elusive like a dragonâseen in head but not the tailâand who knows where he might go.
They would have to travel over mountains and through rivers, braving the wind and the dew. Forget becoming his disciples, even finding Mr. Zhuang would be fraught with difficulties.
Mo Hua felt sympathy for them and harbored some dissatisfaction toward their mother and the Bai Family behind them.
Such a large clan, yet they didnât handle their own affairs, instead relying on Zisheng and Zixi to find a master.
To leverage these two children to soften Mr. Zhuangâs heart.
It seems An Xiaofu was right; the bigger the family, the thinner the kinship.
Bai Zisheng thought for a moment, then suddenly asked Mo Hua:
"Mo Hua, do you think Mr. Zhuang would take you as his disciple?"
Mo Hua was startled, pondered for a moment, and shook his head, "You two have a history with the master, good family backgrounds, good talents. Heâs not willing to take you, so why would he take me?"
Bai Zisheng murmured, "Thatâs not necessarily true..."
Mr. Zhuang treated Mo Hua much better than them...
If it werenât for the fact that Mo Huaâs Spiritual Root was really poor, he wouldâve suspected that Mo Hua was a blood-related descendant of Mr. Zhuang...
But the descendant of Mr. Zhuang couldnât possibly have such poor Spiritual Roots!
Therefore, Mo Hua definitely had no blood relation to Mr. Zhuang.
Mo Hua stared at Bai Zisheng, like a displeased cat narrowing its eyes,
"Are you bad-mouthing me in your head?"
Bai Zisheng was startled, "You can know that too?"
Mo Hua snorted, "I learned it from Mr. Zhuang."
Every time he spoke ill of someone in his heart, Mr. Zhuang could tell what he was thinking, and over time, he learned to know when others were speaking ill of him too.
Bai Zisheng said helplessly, "What youâve learned... what are all these things..."
"As long as it works!"
...
The two of them bickered a bit more.
Mo Hua happened to be restoring his Divine Sense, so chatting with Bai Zisheng was just the right rest he needed.
As they talked, Bai Zisheng suddenly bowed his head, his expression somewhat forlorn.
"Whatâs wrong?" Mo Hua asked.
Bai Zisheng glanced at the great pagoda tree, then at Tongxian City in the distance, and sighed,
"If the city is relocated, will all these be gone too...?"
Mr. Zhuangâs mountain residence would be gone, the great pagoda tree gone, the bamboo groves, the pond, and the fish in the pond... all gone.
The Cultivators of Tongxian City would be gone, the eateries, the bustling streets, the bright fireworks, and the dramas of demon fighting... all gone.
And after they had parted, he might never again taste the wine and meat delivered by Mo Hua, or savor the pastries personally made by Aunt Xue...
If they were to seek to become disciples of Mr. Zhuang, it would be a long and arduous journey.
If they returned to the Bai Family, it would be back to a dazzling but dull prison of still water.
The days spent in Tongxian City were the happiest days of his life so far.
If Tongxian City still stood, he could think about coming back for a visit.
But if it were gone, he would lose even a place for his thoughts to linger on...
The more Bai Zisheng thought, the more downcast he became.
In Bai Zixiâs bright, beautiful eyes, there was also deep desolation.
For a moment, Mo Hua was at a loss for words.
After thinking for a bit, he suddenly said with conviction, "That wonât happen!"
Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi were both taken aback, "What wonât happen?"
"Tongxian City wonât be gone!"
"But..."
Mo Hua stood up abruptly, "Youâll understand after a while!"
Having said that, he packed his things and dropped a line, "Iâm going to find Mr. Zhuang," then ran off again like the wind.
Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi, brother and sister, looked at each other in confusion, unsure what Mo Hua was planning to do.
Mo Hua went to Mr. Zhuang again, to consult about several problems on the Formation Pivot of the Large Formation, and then returned home to continue studying the Large Formation day and night.
The cityâs relocation was still in the preparation phase.
Before the actual moving of the city began, he must master the Formation Pivot of the Large Formation!
As long as he mastered the Formation Pivot, it was like holding the core of the Large Formation.
Subsequent issues such as compatibility with Single Formations and constructing Formation media could be addressed gradually while building, while also continuing to learn.
In the days that followed, Mo Hua locked himself in his house, practicing Formation drawing over and over.
His Divine Sense also unknowingly grew stronger bit by bit.
The pattern of the Formation Pivot also became clearer and clearer in his mind.
The Formation Pivots he drew became more and more complete with each stroke.
But it still wasnât enough...
Mo Huaâs Divine Sense was still insufficient.
Every time he came close to depletion, then he would backtrack and go on until he was exhausted again, repeating the cycle over and over.
Yet he was still far from being able to draw the Formation Pivot completely.
Mo Hua kept trying and failing repeatedly.
He seemed like someone trying to cross a river, always able to see the other bank but drowning just short of it every time.
"Can the Divine Sense consumed by a ten-pattern Large Formation really be this substantial?"
Mo Hua couldnât help but feel despondent.
But Mo Hua still didnât lose heart.
He became like a puppet wound up, tirelessly, unceasingly, mechanically repeating the same actions.
Drawing Formation Pivots, wiping them away, then drawing again, wiping away again...
Monotonous, repetitive, and tedious.
Yet Mo Hua still focused entirely, forgetting time, forgetting everything, utterly absorbed in Formation drawing.
As the saying goes, hard work pays off. Finally, after a month, Mo Hua had an epiphany, and for the first time, he managed to draw out the complete Formation Pivot of the Five Elements Slaughter Demon Great Formation on the Taoist Stele in his Sea of Consciousness!
At that moment, Mo Hua was stunned.
There was no joy in his heart, only numbness, and a trace of self-doubt.
"Did I really manage to draw it?"
This couldnât be a dream, could it?
Mo Hua looked over the Formation Pivot again.
It was seamless, orderly, and the finely drawn patterns, layer upon layer, interwoven and filled, formed the grand mainframe of the Formation Pivot.
Profound, abstruse, complex, yet there was an indescribable beauty in its complexity.
Mo Hua emerged from his numb, mechanical "puppet" state, and joy slowly seeped into his heart like rain.
"I finally managed to draw it!"
Mo Huaâs heart swelled with joy, his eyes bright.
Being able to draw the complete Formation Pivot of the Large Formation on his own meant he had the ability to draw the Large Formation. He could officially start constructing the powerful Five Elements Slaughter Demon Great Formation!
To build the Large Formation, slay Feng Xi, and save Tongxian City!