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"Did you deceive him?"
"I didn’t lie," Mr. Zhuang declared with confidence, "I only said the Large Formation starts from a first-grade with ten Patterns, but I didn’t say that the Large Formation given to him was a ten-Pattern one."
"A Large Formation with eleven Patterns still counts as starting from ten Patterns!"
Mr. Zhuang argued with reason.
Old Kui’s facial skin twitched, feeling that Mr. Zhuang’s actions were outrageous, and he beca even more incredulous:
"So, what he drew was actually not a first-grade ten-Pattern Large Formation Pivot, but... a first-grade eleven-Pattern?"
Mr. Zhuang sighed, "That’s why I was shocked."
"The Jade Slip for the Large Formation was given by you, what are you shocked about?"
"Because I gave it to him, that’s why I’m shocked," Mr. Zhuang said with a sigh, "It’s very difficult to draw, generally even a Second Grade Formation Master wouldn’t be able to learn it."
Yet Mo Hua managed to draw it within a month...
And given the looks of it, his technique is exceptionally skillful; who knows how many tis he’s practiced...
"Why didn’t you say so at the beginning?" asked Old Kui.
"What difference would it make if I had?" Mr. Zhuang replied indifferently.
Mr. Zhuang turned his head, looking into the night where the deep mountains were stained with blood-red, and spoke thoughtfully:
"This Big Demon is not an ordinary one, a first-grade Large Formation with ten Patterns would not be able to trap and kill it, so we could only use one with eleven Patterns to kill it."
"Ten or eleven Patterns, Mo Hua was determined to learn either way, so the specifics of the Large Formation were actually not that important."
"If he could learn it and construct a Large Formation with eleven Patterns, he can attempt to trap and kill the Big Demon. If he can’t learn it, he’ll naturally give up without futilely wasting labor and resources in such a useless struggle."
Old Kui frowned, "Can a Large Formation with eleven Patterns really kill it?"
Mr. Zhuang said with a half-smile, "In this world, is there anything that is certain? Even when a Formation collapses, there is still a slim chance for a Life-gate, so there’s never a situation of certain death."
"The Five Elents Slaughter Demon Great Formation with eleven Patterns, in terms of lethality alone, is enough to trap and kill a Big Demon. But a Big Demon is a Taoist Demon, an anomaly of the Heavenly Dao, and no one knows what will happen until the very end..."
"What if it doesn’t kill the demon?" Old Kui asked further.
"Don’t worry," Mr. Zhuang assured, "as long as the Great Formation is successfully constructed, even if the Big Demon is not ultimately killed, it will deplete most of its Blood Qi and leave the Big Demon severely wounded."
"No one dares to provoke a full-strength Big Demon, but plenty are interested in a badly wounded one."
"The Taoist Court, the Great Clans, and Sects would all try to take action, after all, this is a living... Taoist Demon."
"If all else fails," Mr. Zhuang said, looking at Old Kui with a half-smile, "you could also take action; it’s just dying once after all."
"A body in exchange for a Taoist Demon is still worth it."
Old Kui’s gaze lowered, he stood with his hands folded in his sleeves, and a hint of sharpness flitted through his downcast eyes.
Mr. Zhuang muttered softly, "Such an age, yet still not frank, what’s the point of acting so profound..."
Old Kui paused, sighed, and then asked him:
"You really don’t want to take a Direct Disciple?"
Now it was Mr. Zhuang who was caught off-guard, he hesitated for a long ti before he finally sighed, "I’ve already said, in this lifeti, I will not take any disciples again."
Old Kui spoke indifferently, "The number of tis you’ve gone back on your word, I can’t even count. Why pretend your word is as good as gold..."
Mr. Zhuang paused, then sighed,
"Talking to you really isn’t fun, too easy to be exposed."
Old Kui ignored him.
Mr. Zhuang thought of Mo Hua, his heart wavering for a mont.
If it had been before, he would have taken this disciple, but now, things were different...
After a mont of silence, Mr. Zhuang murmured to himself:
"It’s enough to make him a registered disciple. Taking him as a Direct Disciple would harm him and as well..."
Mr. Zhuang stood shrouded by the vast night, enveloped in darkness, with the desolate moonlight spilling onto the ground but failing to touch his face.
"After all, the number of people who want dead is countless..."
...
After returning ho, Mo Hua began to seriously consider constructing the Great Formation.
He first sought out Elder Yu and imdiately said:
"Elder, I want to slaughter that pig!"
Elder Yu was taken aback, "Which pig?"
Mo Hua stretched out his small hand and pointed towards the deep mountains, indicating the sky-reaching and heart-throbbing aura of Blood Qi.
Elder Yu gave a start, "Don’t talk nonsense!"
That was Feng Xi, the legendary Big Demon said to be capable of devouring an entire Immortal City. Such a creature was not sothing they could kill.
Even if it could be killed, it wouldn’t be their turn to do so as Loose Cultivators.
They simply lacked the background and strength for it.
"It can be killed!" Mo Hua insisted.
Elder Yu wanted to say sothing, but looking at Mo Hua, he suddenly fell silent.
He knew that Mo Hua did not want to leave Tongxian City, nor did he want them to be uprooted from their hos.
They too did not want to leave, but they had no choice.
With the impending disaster, they, the Loose Cultivators, had no alternatives but to go with the flow—they could only depart from their holand and seek other paths.
Just as Elder Yu was about to speak again, he suddenly felt reluctant.
Once the city was moved, he didn’t know if he would see Mo Hua again.
Although Elder Yu valued him because Mo Hua was a Formation Master, he also genuinely liked the boy.
Elder Yu felt a hint of bitterness in his heart and patted Mo Hua on the shoulder, speaking earnestly:
"Take these Spirit Stones and find a good path near the state boundary. Establish your foundation securely. With your talents, you’ll inevitably beco a respected Great Formation Master in the future."
"As for the Loose Cultivators of Tongxian City, I’ll look after them. You can rest assured."
"Moving south will indeed be hard, but as long as we are self-reliant, hardship is bearable. After all, what Loose Cultivators fear the least is hardship."
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