Immortality Through Array Formations

Mo Shan had just hunted a monster beast yesterday, skinned it, picked its bones, and collected its demon core. After tidying everything up, he was about to descend the mountain and head home when a monster hunter with whom he was somewhat acquainted approached him, acting quite courteous.

“Brother Mo, there’s something I’d like to ask for your help with…”

This monster hunter’s surname was Zhou, first name Cheng, of average height, with a somewhat lean build.

Mo Shan was always generous, so thinking Zhou Cheng had hit some difficulty, he said, “Spill it, if I can help, I surely will.”

Zhou Cheng seemed a bit embarrassed, “It’s not that I need Brother Mo to take action; it’s just a small matter for which I would like to ask your son for help…”

Mo Shan was stunned, “My son, Mo Hua?”

“That’s right, that’s right,” Zhou Cheng said, “I suppose I have some acquaintance with Brother Mo, but when it comes to your son, I’ve never even seen his face, so it wouldn’t be proper for me to approach him out of the blue. That’s why I’ve come to you for help…”

Mo Shan looked at him suspiciously, “My son, Mo Hua, is only at the fourth level of Qi Refinement. What help can he provide to you?”

“He can! He surely can!” Zhou Cheng hastily replied, “I have a young son, around fifteen or sixteen, at the sixth level of Qi Refinement, and he’s just become a Monster Hunter not long ago. But with his mediocre talent and subpar martial arts from his Tao cultivation, I worry that he might encounter some stubborn monster beasts on the mountain. If something unexpected happens, then…”

Zhou Cheng sighed, “He’s been lucky so far, not having met any troublesome monster beasts and has stayed safe. But all of us fathers, also being Monster Hunters, certainly understand that anything could happen once you enter Big Black Mountain. Just thinking about it makes me lose sleep.”

Mo Shan deeply related and nodded.

“The other day, I heard that there’s a Junior Formation Master in your area who can put a Formation on the rattan armor which, at a critical moment, could take a hit from a monster beast, essentially saving a life. Later, I inquired and discovered this Junior Formation Master’s surname is Mo, with a father named Mo Shan. I thought that was quite a coincidence, so I decided to come and ask you for help.”

Zhou Cheng looked at Mo Shan with hopeful eyes, terrified that Mo Shan might refuse.

After hesitating, Mo Shan said, “It’s not that I don’t want to help you, but… I only know Mo Hua is learning Formation Painting. As for Formation arts, I don’t understand much, nor do I know how well he’s learned. The Formation you’re talking about seems quite complex, and Mo Hua may not even know how to paint it.”

“He does! He surely does!” Zhou Cheng quickly added.

“How do you know he can paint it?” Mo Shan asked, puzzled.

“I heard it from Old Xu, the one who often goes monster hunting with me in the mountains—the same Old Xu who wasn’t very polite to you before, wanted to challenge you, and got knocked down by your punch…”

Zhou Cheng smiled and continued, “He said that old Meng Family’s son, Da’hu, was stabbed in the chest by a Scorpion Demon a while back. Because his rattan armor was painted with a Formation, it didn’t damage his vital meridian, and it saved his life. He also said you’re lucky to have a good son, though his words were a bit sarcastic, but don’t hold it against him, after all, you’ve beaten him…”

“Oh, Old Xu, huh…” Mo Shan remembered now.

He had also heard about Da’hu’s injury, but at the time, he was in the mountains himself, and after coming down, he learned Da’hu was no longer in serious danger, so he didn’t pay much attention to it.

It’s common for Monster Hunters to get injured. As long as they don’t lose arms or legs, don’t damage their meridians, and don’t lose their lives, it’s nothing serious, for this is the very livelihood they chose.

If it was Da’hu, then it’s indeed possible; Mo Hua had grown up playing with them. For him to paint a Formation on Da’hu’s rattan armor would be normal.

Such were the thoughts running through Mo Shan’s mind.

Zhou Cheng grasped Mo Shan’s hand, “Brother Mo, you must help me with this. Otherwise, I really won’t be able to rest easy about my young son!”

After thinking for a moment, Mo Shan replied, “I’ll go back and ask. If Mo Hua truly knows how to paint the Formation you mentioned, he will surely paint it for you. But if he doesn’t know how, then there’s nothing to be done…”

Zhou Cheng was overjoyed and promptly said, “Thank you, Brother Mo! If he really can paint it, any amount of Spirit Stones will do.”

Then, his face showed a hint of guilt, “But lately… I am running low on Spirit Stones. If it’s not enough, could I possibly owe you, and pay you back after I go Monster Hunting in the mountains next month and split the Spirit Stones?”

Mo Shan waved his hand dismissively, “It’s a small matter, we’ll talk about it later.”

If it were him helping, charging or not charging Spirit Stones would be fine, but it was about finding Mo Hua, and he had to go back and consult his son’s opinion first.

Still, he wondered, did Mo Hua truly know how to paint such armor Formations?

With doubts in his mind, Mo Shan returned home and directly asked Mo Hua, “Can you do it?”

“Of course.” Mo Hua nodded.

“Then do you have time these days?”

“Yes.”

“Can you help him draw?”

“Sure.”

Mo Shan hadn’t expected things to go so smoothly.

When someone had begged him the day before, with the utmost sincerity, he thought it must be a difficult task. Why did it seem like a trivial matter to Mo Hua?

“How long will it take to draw?”

“It’ll be quick, half a day.” Mo Hua said.

In fact, it wouldn’t even take two hours, as Mo Hua’s divine sense was strong and his control over it was strong; plus, he was so familiar with drawing the Iron Armor Formation that there was basically no difficulty in it. However, it was always good to allow a bit of extra time.

Mo Shan nodded, then asked, “Then… how much is the usual compensation for Drawing Formation?”

Seeing Mo Shan’s hesitant look, Mo Hua said, “Dad, is there something else you want to say?”

After giving it some thought, Mo Shan said, “His family isn’t well-off either. His youngest son is a Monster Hunter and needs to prepare everything. I guess he doesn’t have many Spirit Stones. It would be good if you could charge him less. But it’s still your decision, as you are the one who will be drawing the formation.”

Previously, Mo Shan thought that Mo Hua’s cultivation wasn’t high, and thus the formations he learned were probably not very profound. Fixing formations for the neighborhood, whether he charged Spirit Stones or not, didn’t matter much; even a bit of a loss was fine.

But now, Mo Shan realized it was different. The formations that Monster Hunters could use were definitely not the simple kinds with just two or three patterns.

That Mo Hua could draw such formations meant he was almost at the level of those average Formation Masters in the city.

Mo Shan knew how difficult it was to become a Formation Master. Even the most ordinary Formation Masters spent a decade or two devotedly studying.

And Mo Hua was only eleven or twelve years old, which showed he almost devoted all his available time to learning formations. While other children were still complaining about cultivating and thinking about where to play every day, Mo Hua was learning formations day and night.

Mo Shan remembered that every time he returned from hunting monsters in the mountains, Mo Hua was almost always drawing formations. Occasionally when Mo Shan returned late, the light in Mo Hua’s room was still on.

Mo Shan felt a bit distressed and didn’t want his son to suffer any loss because of it.

Mo Hua hadn’t noticed Mo Shan’s deep thoughts. After calculating a bit, he said, “Just bring over the Rattan Armor and prepare a bottle of metallic Spiritual Ink. The better the ink, the more effective the formation will be. But if you can’t afford the better ink, ordinary ink is also fine. As for the compensation… Dad, how many Spirit Stones can you hunters earn in a day?”

“About five Spirit Stones each, I guess.”

Five a day, but one can’t be in the mountains every day, nor can they encounter Monster Beasts every day. Even if they do, it’s not certain they can kill them. If they encounter a tricky one and get injured, they have to spend on Pills as well. So the Spirit Stones really aren’t much, especially considering how dangerous Monster Hunting itself is.

“Then let’s settle on five Spirit Stones.” Mo Hua said.

Mo Shan nodded and couldn’t help asking, “Five Spirit Stones… aren’t you at a loss?”

Asking a Formation Master to draw a formation usually costs a lot of Spirit Stones. Although Mo Shan had never hired one and didn’t have the Spirit Stones to do so, having lived in Tongxian City for so long, he knew a bit about these matters.

Mo Hua said, “I’m still learning to draw formations. Earning more or less doesn’t matter much to me, as long as I have the opportunity to practice more. Besides, Dad, don’t you always tell me that Loose Cultivators should look out for one another? When our family was in trouble before, these uncles and aunts helped us a little. Now that we have the means, it’s right to help them too.”

With a smile, Mo Hua added, “Being able to help others, practice formations, and earn some Spirit Stones all at once is a good deal, isn’t it?”

“Right,” Mo Shan agreed, patting Mo Hua’s head, “I’ll have him prepare everything tomorrow for you to draw the formation.”

After dinner, Mo Hua went back to his room to rest.

Mo Shan sat alone, feeling increasingly content the more he thought about it. Remembering what his son had just said, and realizing his son could now be considered a Formation Master, the usually composed Mo Shan couldn’t hide the smile on his face.