Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 595: Fourteen Patterns

Elder Xun was deeply shaken.

At the very start of Foundation Establishment, yet already possessing spiritual sense at the Fourteen Pattern level?

What kind of little monster is this?

No wonder the boy dared say he was "proficient in formations."

Turns out… he really had the qualifications to back it up.

"But this… shouldn't be possible…"

Elder Xun frowned.

A cultivator's spiritual sense had limits.

Blood and qi could be trained. Spiritual power could be cultivated.

But spiritual sense—there were no orthodox techniques to improve it directly.

Visualization diagrams could enhance spiritual sense, but they weren't reliable methods.

"Visualization" was essentially borrowing, not cultivating.

The spiritual sense gained from visualization wasn't necessarily one's own—and usually, it couldn't be considered stable.

So in this world, while a cultivator might sometimes break through limits in blood and qi or spiritual power,

spiritual sense was almost always constrained by one's realm.

Spiritual sense surpassing one's cultivation realm?

It wasn't entirely unheard of…

Across the twenty-thousand-year history of the Dao Court—even before that—there had been rumors and records of cultivators with transcendent spiritual sense.

But those cases… were either dubious myths,

or involved people who were hosts to mysterious "Dao Rhymes," "True Gods," "Evil Deities," or even "Heavenly Fiends."

Yes, their divine senses were powerful…

But their minds were either muddled, twisted, or simply no longer human.

But Mo Hua… was different.

Elder Xun looked at him.

This child was bright, clever, eyes clear and lively, mannerisms full of youthful innocence.

A perfectly normal young cultivator.

There were no traces on him of being parasitized by demonic forces or strange spirits.

So how in the world had he achieved such an astonishing spiritual sense?

Elder Xun thought for a moment, then asked:

"Do you… have a master?"

Mo Hua nodded.

He didn't lie—but didn't fully tell the truth either. He just said:

"My master lives in seclusion in the mountains. He likes quiet, and he's very skilled in formations, but he doesn't let me mention his name outside."

Elder Xun nodded. He didn't press.

Many experts who chose to live in seclusion and take disciples preferred to keep their identities hidden.

It wasn't unusual.

But curiosity still lingered in his heart:

"What kind of hidden master could train a disciple like Mo Hua?"

His spiritual sense was extraordinary—possibly even surpassing his cultivation realm.

His comprehension was unmatched.

His grasp of formation theory—especially the Five Elements—was deep-rooted and formidable.

Even his temperament was excellent: kind, sincere, and most importantly, genuinely passionate about formations.

He pursued the Dao with pure intentions, without arrogance or distraction.

To be this focused and humble at such a young age…

To study formations with such diligence and discipline…

Was nothing short of rare and precious.

"Who could've taught him?"

Elder Xun gazed into Mo Hua's eyes—then suddenly his expression shifted.

"Could it be… that person's disciple?"

He looked again at Mo Hua's eyes, recalling the figure from long ago—and was slightly startled.

On the outside, their appearance and temperament were nothing alike.

That person carried an overwhelming confidence, eyes brimming with rebellious arrogance.

But Mo Hua?

His gaze was clear and gentle, his demeanor pure and kind.

And yet—there was a glimmer of resemblance.

Especially when he looked closely—within the depths of Mo Hua's clear eyes…

There was sometimes a hidden depth, a faint gleam—like mysteries flowing through the heavens.

It was very much like… that person.

"But still… something doesn't add up…"

Elder Xun frowned again.

If Mo Hua really was that person's disciple… shouldn't he have gone to the Heavenly Dao Sect?

That was the lineage with the deepest roots in their tradition.

Surely the Heavenly Dao Sect hadn't fallen so far as to abandon such ancient bloodlines?

Elder Xun shook his head.

"Could he really be that person's disciple…?"

He looked at Mo Hua once more—and suddenly his heart skipped a beat.

In the depths of Mo Hua's eyes, there was something else—a wisp of strange blackness,

so subtle it was nearly invisible…

A strange, pure black, quietly hidden in that otherwise clear gaze…

"This is—?!"

Elder Xun gasped and shook his head immediately.

"No, no… That's even more impossible."

"That kind of thing couldn't possibly be true…"

Even if Mo Hua had a powerful master and some fated encounter with that person,

to say he'd learned from both of those two…

That would be an absurd level of fortune—absolutely impossible!

Even if the sun rose from the west, such a thing wouldn't happen!

Elder Xun paused.

If something was that impossible… then maybe, just maybe,

Mo Hua had no connection to those two at all.

"Must've been my imagination…"

He looked at Mo Hua again.

The strange color in his eyes was gone—leaving only that crystal-clear innocence.

"It must've been some other kind of fated chance…"

Elder Xun slowly nodded to himself.

Mo Hua likely just had an innate gift for divine sense, and through some fortuitous encounter, received the guidance of a reclusive master.

That would explain his rapid progress in formations.

And besides—if he were a disciple of those two…

He wouldn't be so one-sided.

He wouldn't only excel at Five Element Formations.

His foundation in the Eight Formation Paths wouldn't be so weak.

And clearly, he hadn't even learned Heavenly Array Flow yet…

"Yes, that makes sense. I was overthinking it."

Elder Xun relaxed, and his gaze toward Mo Hua turned warm and admiring.

"He's a fine seedling…"

He thoughtfully continued:

"A spiritual sense talent this rare…"

"If this child stays in our Great Void Sect… and one day uses his power to bring blessings to the cultivators of the Nine Provinces—then it'll be a blessing for the world."

"But if, in the future, his heart turns twisted and he uses his formations to bring chaos and suffering… that would be our sect's failure."

"So he must be properly guided. Not just in formations—but in heart and character."

"If his nature contains darkness, we must gently guide him to the light."

"If his nature is good, we must nurture and encourage it."

"With such a rare talent… if taught well, our Great Void Sect truly might've picked up a priceless treasure."

"The current Sect Master may have done something quite admirable after all…"

...

Elder Xun's expression shifted constantly in a short span of time—nodding, frowning, clearly wrestling with countless thoughts, his mood rising and falling like waves.

Mo Hua, having been stared at for so long, started to feel a bit uneasy. He had no idea what was going on and even felt a strange sense of guilt. He quietly called out:

"Elder Xun…"

That snapped Elder Xun out of his thoughts. He suddenly remembered Mo Hua's earlier request to learn a Fourteen Pattern formation. His face turned serious and solemn as he said:

"You may."

After giving his promise, Elder Xun thought for a moment more and added:

"But… what formation I will teach, I'll need to consider carefully."

Mo Hua's heart leapt with joy, and he smiled brightly:

"Thank you, Elder!"

Elder Xun gave a warm nod, then sent Mo Hua off.

He himself followed the jade-paved mountain path toward the back of the mountain, lost deep in thought. Along the way, several disciples greeted him, but he didn't even notice.

It wasn't until he passed by the Sect Master's residence that he encountered the Great Void Sect's Sect Master in full ceremonial robes.

The Sect Master greeted first with respectful cupped fists:

"Greetings, Elder."

But Elder Xun didn't even seem to hear him. Only after they'd already passed each other did he pause, turn back, and nod as he said:

"You've done well."

Then, he walked off.

The Sect Master was momentarily stunned. Receiving praise from Elder Xun was practically unheard of—it left him both flattered and bewildered.

"I did well…?"

"What did I even do?"

…

Back at the elders' residence, Elder Xun continued to frown in contemplation.

He had to teach properly.

Since Mo Hua could already study the Five Element formations to such depth, he couldn't afford to neglect the Eight Trigram system.

The other formation branches were more obscure, with narrow applications—those could wait.

Once the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams were thoroughly mastered, the foundation would be solid as a mountain. Only then would it be appropriate to branch into other systems.

But then Elder Xun's mind touched on a much more pressing concern:

"The Qianxue Prefecture realm… is far from peaceful."

His gaze grew solemn.

In recent years, noble clans had flourished while many sects became vassals. Disciples of various factions fought bitterly for status and influence. Conflicts had intensified.

And the long-silent Demonic Sects… were beginning to stir again, harboring unknown ambitions.

The situation was complex and filled with hidden dangers. The Qianxue Prefecture, for all its reputation as a land of scholarly cultivation, was no idyllic paradise.

Mo Hua… was just a rogue cultivator. No background, no faction behind him.

Elder Xun's thoughts darkened.

"I must find a way to protect him."

To ensure he could remain steadfast in his Dao heart—calmly cultivating and studying formations without being corrupted or led astray…

"And more importantly—not be bullied."

Elder Xun's face hardened.

A kind, innocent child like Mo Hua would be an easy target.

"But what would be the best method…"

He sank into deep thought.

No perfect solution came to mind for the moment, so he sighed:

"Let's leave that for later—for now, teach him formations first."

…

The very next day, Elder Xun handed Mo Hua a new formation diagram:

"Mountain Binding Formation"

An Eight Trigram formation of the Gen series, this was a 14-pattern, Second-Grade trapping formation rooted in the Gen trigram.

After explaining its technical difficulties, Elder Xun told Mo Hua to study it on his own and only come ask questions if needed.

Mo Hua nodded eagerly, his heart surging with excitement.

Fourteen patterns!

He finally had a proper Fourteen Pattern formation to study!

Once he mastered it and practiced day and night, he could further refine and sharpen his spiritual sense again.

Since reaching Foundation Establishment, his divine sense had plateaued at the Fourteen Pattern level for quite some time.

While his deduction techniques and deceptive calculations consumed divine sense and made it more durable and sensitive, they didn't seem to help with direct growth.

When it came to expanding spiritual sense, formational practice was still king.

The Mountain Binding Formation was of the Gen system.

Gen formations stemmed from the Eight Trigrams but aligned naturally with the Five Elements—especially the metal and earth elements.

At the same time, being based in the Eight Trigrams, it had strict requirements for formation anchors and directional placement.

The anchor points in an Eight Trigram formation differed significantly from those in a Five Element formation.

The arrangement of formation lines had to follow Trigram directions, and the spiritual flow needed to conform to the trigram's structure.

These principles could be confusing at first.

But with time and repeated practice, one would slowly grasp them and eventually integrate them fully.

There were still many Eight Trigram formations Mo Hua hadn't encountered.

And the more he learned, the more he looked forward to it.

In the Eight Trigrams:

Kan is Water,

Li is Fire—these two were close to their Five Element counterparts and had little difference.

But:

Gen is Mountain,

Dui is Marsh—these involved more nuanced interactions of metal and earth.

These differed quite a bit from standard Five Element formations.

"Young master, there's more in the next page—click to continue, the exciting part's still coming!"

Then there was Xun (Wind) and Zhen (Thunder).

Mo Hua had never studied Wind-based formations, so he didn't know exactly which Five Element transformations the Xun trigram included.

But Thunder?

Mo Hua's blood surged just thinking about it.

He had witnessed heavenly tribulation lightning with his own eyes!

Born from the great heavenly Dao array—capable of erasing all things—it emerged from a single thunder rune.

And that very rune—containing the essence of tribulation thunder—Mo Hua had personally seen… and etched into his sea of consciousness, onto his Dao Stele!

That lightning rune… was utterly terrifying.

Even his senior uncle couldn't withstand it—just one glance, and he was turned to dust.

Mo Hua had tried to warn him, but… well, some people really don't listen when you're trying to save their lives.

"Senior uncle didn't appreciate my good intentions…"

Mo Hua nodded solemnly to himself.

Lightning-based formations—just the name sounded awesome.

He was especially curious about whether heavenly tribulation lightning and the thunder formations from the "Zhen" trigram of the Eight Trigrams were similar… or completely different.

Beyond that, there were still the Qian and Kun trigrams.

Kun symbolized Earth. It likely evolved from the Earth element in the Five Elements, but it was probably more complex and broader—bearing all things, encompassing all phenomena. It might even involve the deeper Dao resonance of the land itself…

"But I'm already pretty chummy with Earth's Dao resonance," Mo Hua thought smugly, "so that's not a problem."

And finally, there was Qian—the Trigram of Heaven.

Qian represents Heaven.

To Mo Hua, it brought to mind two things:

The "Heaven" of the Heaven–Earth–Human Trinity.

And the other… the "Heaven" that no one else believed in, but which he had glimpsed with his own eyes—an existence tied to that terrifying Heavenly Dao Formation.

He wondered what a Qian-trigram formation—imbued with such heavenly symbolism—would actually look like.

These thoughts danced through his mind until Mo Hua gave himself a little shake and pulled his attention back.

"Anyway, there's so much to learn!"

"Every last formation—none of them are escaping me!"

But for now, he grounded himself and focused on the task at hand—starting with the Gen Trigram's Second-Grade Fourteen-Pattern Mountain Binding Formation.

As always, Mo Hua began by memorizing the formation lines and anchor points. Then he tried a few quick practice runs. At night, lying in bed, his consciousness sank into his Sea of Consciousness, where he began truly training with the pattern carved on his Dao Stele.

With a divine sense at the Fourteen Pattern level, learning Fourteen-Pattern formations wasn't as breezy as the Twelves or Thirteens, but it also wasn't especially hard.

And Mo Hua noticed something odd—

His Fourteen-Pattern divine sense… didn't quite feel the same as others'.

Maybe it was because his divine sense had undergone a qualitative change.

Now it felt incredibly refined and resilient.

In fact, it seemed like he had more spiritual power than most others at the same level.

But even more importantly—his strength couldn't be measured in simple numbers.

Other cultivators judged divine sense strength by pattern count. More patterns = more spiritual power = stronger.

But Mo Hua's divine sense had, in a way, opened up a new dimension.

It could be measured not only by quantity—but by quality.

Even though his pattern count was the same—Fourteen—his divine sense was denser, purer, and when he used it to study formations, it gave him a deeper, clearer comprehension.

His insights into Dao principles also became more profound.

And then—there was this strange elasticity to it.

Even when he exhausted his divine sense, it didn't feel like it was truly gone. It was as if he could squeeze more out from his Sea of Consciousness.

Like wringing water from cotton—it looks dry, but give it a squeeze, and a few drops come out.

…But it hurt. A lot.

It felt like his Sea of Consciousness was being wrung out—a deep, unbearable ache.

So Mo Hua learned to stop before overdoing it.

At most, he could use about 10–20% more than a normal Fourteen-Pattern capacity. Any more, and the migraine would be fierce enough to make him regret existence.

Despite all that, the Mountain Binding Formation wasn't difficult, and Mo Hua learned it smoothly.

The main challenge now was fully familiarizing himself with the Eight Trigram system:

Using the "Gen" formation lines he'd already memorized like the back of his hand.

Understanding the formation core based on the Eight Trigrams.

Constructing the formation eye (the central point of activation) that handled the trigram's flow.

And developing a big-picture grasp of how spiritual power flowed through Eight Trigram formations.

After about half a month, Mo Hua had it fully mastered.

He could now properly draw and activate a genuine Second-Grade Fourteen-Pattern Formation.

As for the Fifteenth Pattern…

His divine sense hadn't reached that level yet—so those formations were still off-limits.

When Elder Xun heard that Mo Hua had already learned the Mountain Binding Formation, he didn't even flinch.

He was past the stage of being surprised.

At this point, he just felt… numb.

And also quietly relieved.

"Finally… he's slowing down a bit…"

"Fourteen Patterns is enough… any more, and it'd just be excessive."

He gave Mo Hua a heartfelt warning:

"Even though you can now draw Fourteen-Pattern formations, you haven't learned that many of the Thirteens. Your foundation still needs work."

"So next, I'll prepare some Fourteen-Pattern formations that incorporate Thirteen-Pattern structures. You need to study all of them thoroughly."

Mo Hua beamed:

"Thank you, Elder!"

Elder Xun nodded slightly, thinking to himself:

"These Fourteen-Pattern formations should keep this little monster busy for a while…"

"Fourteen Patterns…"

He sighed.

"That's already the starting tier for Second-Grade Mid-Level formations…"

"Foundation Establishment Realm… already learning Second-Grade Mid-Level…"

"What's even the point of calling him a disciple anymore? He's practically ready to teach."

He quietly shook his head.

…

In the days that followed, Mo Hua continued to study like a man possessed—day and night.

He worked on both Thirteen- and Fourteen-Pattern formations.

Though naturally, the focus was on Fourteen.

His goal? To use these advanced formations to temper his Sea of Consciousness and push his divine sense even further.

"Grains of sand make a tower. Drops of water wear down stone."

One diagram at a time, over and over, he practiced and practiced…

And slowly, without even realizing it—

His divine sense began to ascend… toward Fifteen Patterns.

(End of Chapter)