Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 978: The Lone Mountain Formation

Atop Lone Mountain, the Gu family's massive spiritual machinery towered high.

With a thunderous hum, enormous mechanical arms—like the limbs of giants—were excavating the mountainside, digging out mine shafts, leveling the collapsed Lone Mountain, and reshaping the terrain according to Mo Hua's plans. This would serve as the foundation for a great formation.

Mo Hua intended to construct a grand formation atop Lone Mountain.

Of course, this formation had not yet reached the level of a true "great array."

To construct a second-grade great formation would still far exceed Mo Hua's current divine sense capacity.

Moreover, the enormous manpower, resources, extended construction time, and the immense consumption of spirit stones and spirit ink were all far beyond what Mo Hua could bear. What he was constructing was a large-scale compound formation.

However, this compound formation was massive in scale—spanning more than half of Lone Mountain, incorporating a variety of formation types, and fully encompassing the five elements and eight trigrams. It needed to integrate a vast array of formation patterns. In a certain sense, it could be regarded as the prototype of a great array.

Mo Hua was using this as practice.

Since he couldn't yet construct a genuine second-grade great array, he had taken a step back, choosing to stack together a large-scale compound formation to simulate one. Despite being a "pseudo-great array," its sheer size and complexity made it highly difficult.

This required deep foundational knowledge in formations, extensive theoretical understanding, and mastery over a wide variety of second-grade formations.

More than that, building a large compound formation required the array master to have a grand strategic vision—the ability to oversee the layout of the entire formation, manage its core components, central nodes, and structural compatibility, and coordinate all of these from a macro perspective.

Very few formation masters truly had that level of skill or experience.

Ever since leaving Lone Mountain and returning to the sect, Mo Hua had been pondering this matter.

Whenever he had free time, he was planning the formation blueprint for Lone Mountain.

And finally, after much consideration, he finished drawing the large-scale compound formation diagram.

Once the formation diagram was complete, Mo Hua, still feeling uncertain, specifically sought out Venerable Elder Xun's opinion.

When Elder Xun saw the blueprint for the Lone Mountain formation, his inner emotions were hard to put into words.

He could immediately tell—it was, in truth, the prototype of a great formation.

It was only due to current limitations in ability, manpower, materials, and funding that it had been downgraded into a compound formation.

But the grand conception, and the skeleton of a great formation, were unmistakable.

Especially with Elder Xun's vast knowledge as a fifth-grade formation master, he could see at a glance that there were techniques of great formations embedded within it.

He recalled the rumors he had once heard in Tongxian City… and a tidal wave surged through his heart.

"This child... back then… was it really possible that he was the chief constructor of a first-grade great formation?"

A chief formation master… of a first-grade great array…

And at that time… how old had he even been?

Elder Xun was momentarily dazed.

With a quiet sigh, he reviewed Mo Hua's Lone Mountain diagram several times, pointed out a few flaws, improved several nodes, and removed a few redundant control links. Then, like a final brushstroke bringing a dragon to life, he made the entire blueprint more refined and complete.

Mo Hua studied it deeply and gained tremendous insight. His admiration for Elder Xun's formation mastery only deepened.

And with Elder Xun's "corrections," Mo Hua finally felt confident enough to proceed.

He officially began following the diagram to implement his plan—bringing his concept for a large-scale compound formation to life step by step, as a foundation for someday constructing a true second-grade great array.

Under Mo Hua's comprehensive management, the Lone Mountain Compound Formation was officially underway.

This project had received special authorization from the Dao Court.

A major spiritual engineering project like this was considered a "political achievement," and the Lone Mountain Dao Court fully supported it.

Supervisor Xia even used his authority to allocate some spirit stones to support the construction.

The Gu family also contributed many resources.

Most of the second-grade spiritual machines used on-site had been supplied by the Gu family.

Partly, this was because the Gu family did operate some artifact-forging businesses in Lone Mountain.

Though small, under Master Gu's efforts, this industry had become the backbone of Lone Mountain City's economy.

Without the Gu family's workshop, a large portion of Lone Mountain's population would likely starve.

Given the Gu family's upright principles, they could not simply stand by.

Besides, since this was a "formation project" organized by Mo Hua—if not for the Gu family's sake, then at least out of respect for Mo Hua himself—they couldn't refuse to help. Wenren Wan, devoted to Mo Hua, also lent a great deal of aid.

As both the Wenren clan's direct daughter and the young madam of the Shangguan clan, she even spent her own money to cover part of the construction expenses.

As for labor—most came from the city's scattered cultivators.

These Lone Mountain cultivators were desperately poor, many living meal to meal.

So Mo Hua initiated a "work-for-food" program, using the construction of the compound formation to give them jobs.

As long as they contributed, no matter how little, they would get food.

Even weak, helpless orphans—if they could move a few stones—would get a warm meal.

The next hurdle… was the formation work itself.

A compound formation of this size required a vast number of individual formations—far more than any standard project.

Even for Mo Hua, drawing all those formations would take a long time.

But he didn't have that much time, nor could he stay in Lone Mountain forever.

Hiring other formation masters would be expensive in spirit stones—and he wouldn't feel comfortable relying on outsiders.

After some thought, Mo Hua came up with a great idea.

He went back to Elder Xun and expressed his wish to give the younger disciples of the sect a chance for practical formation training.

Elder Xun immediately understood, and after some reflection, his eyes lit up. He gladly agreed.

It truly was a golden opportunity.

Formation theory alone wasn't enough—what mattered most was learning by doing.

But in the sect, such chances were rare.

Lone Mountain City was a perfect opening.

At the same time, it was a meaningful, philanthropic undertaking—very much in line with the Great Void Sect's ideals.

Elder Xun nodded:

"Make whatever arrangements you see fit."

So, a few days later—during regular class hours—Mo Hua led a group of junior disciples from the Great Void Sect to Lone Mountain for "off-campus formation practice."

These disciples were all specially talented in formation arts, and aspired to become elite formation masters one day.

Though they came from prestigious families, their experience was limited to drawing formation diagrams on paper. This was most of their first time actually taking part in a real spiritual engineering project of this scale.

They were both amazed and excited.

This entire event was organized by their senior brother Mo Hua.

Mo Hua even dipped into his own surplus of contribution points—which he had in abundance and had no use for—and set aside a portion as payment for their formation work.

As a result, every disciple worked with full dedication.

They already had solid foundations from their family backgrounds, were elite talents accepted into the Great Void Sect, and trained diligently. So their formation work was fast and excellent.

Some even started to secretly compete—trying to outdo each other in speed and quality.

Everyone's morale was sky-high.

But soon… they witnessed Mo Hua drawing formations with their own eyes.

Back in the sect, Mo Hua's drawings—no matter how fast—didn't seem that special when done on paper.

But here on the site of a massive formation project, where hundreds of arrays were required—they finally saw the true terror of Mo Hua's skill.

With brush in hand, Mo Hua's strokes flowed like water, dancing like serpents and dragons. While others were still sketching a few lines of array patterns, he had already outlined entire sequences.

His brushwork was masterful. The formation patterns were precise and elegant—like copies directly traced from formation scrolls. Not a single error.

Each array was etched into his mind, second nature—he didn't even need to look.

And his speed was jaw-dropping. No matter the type of array, a few breaths later it would already be complete, as spiritual ink flowed from his brush into intricate formations. A natural aura circulated through them, dazzling and awe-inspiring.

All the disciples were stunned.

Only now did they realize—Senior Brother Mo Hua had always been holding back.

His true formation skill... was far scarier than they had ever imagined.

And all the junior disciples... fell into a quiet, collective crisis of confidence.

All the junior disciples were a little disheartened.

But after that discouragement, a fighting spirit rose within them.

With their "senior brother" as a role model—even if they couldn't catch up, they couldn't fall too far behind and let him look down on them.

Every disciple, staring at Mo Hua's back, focused their full attention and gave it their all, trying to draw their assigned formations as quickly and flawlessly as possible.

Mo Hua, tired from drawing, paused to catch his breath. He originally wanted to give them a few words of encouragement—only to turn around and find that everyone was already giving it their all, meticulously inscribing their formations. He was surprised, but also deeply gratified.

"All of them… are truly talented."

With Mo Hua, this "great genius," leading a group of Great Void Sect's "little geniuses," the construction of the Lone Mountain compound formation progressed at an astonishing speed. In less than ten days, the main structure was completed.

The remaining minor formations could be casually drawn by Mo Hua himself, so he planned to take his junior brothers back to the Great Void Sect.

Coming down from the mountain into Lone Mountain City, the scenery along the way was far from pleasant.

The mountain was barren, the city dilapidated.

Along the street were wandering cultivators in ragged clothes and sallow faces, and orphans as thin as charcoal sticks.

Zheng Fang furrowed his brow tightly. After hesitating for a long time, he finally asked Mo Hua,

"Senior Brother, how can these cultivators be this poor?"

When they arrived, they were riding in carriages, and the construction site atop Lone Mountain was sealed off—so they hadn't actually seen the city for themselves.

Now, all the other Great Void Sect disciples turned to look at Mo Hua, their eyes filled with discomfort and sympathy.

Mo Hua was momentarily stunned. He asked,

"You all… haven't seen cultivators like this before?"

Zheng Fang nodded with a soft "mm," and the rest of them followed suit.

Mo Hua paused, then suddenly understood.

Zheng Fang and the others were all children of prestigious clans. Even if their backgrounds weren't the most glamorous, they still had family support. They had been raised in comfort and surrounded by fellow aristocrats. The places they frequented were either great clans, prestigious sects, or bustling immortal cities.

They had seen the poor before.

In large and small immortal cities, there were always humble cultivators—those who dressed plainly, ate simply, couldn't afford expensive artifacts, and had little to no spirit stones for cultivation. To these disciples, that already counted as being poor.

But true poverty…

was far beyond their imagination.

Just as the poor can't fathom what true wealth really means—

The rich also can't comprehend how deep real poverty can go.

Mo Hua's emotions turned complicated.

Zheng Fang asked again,

"Senior Brother, are there… many people this poor?"

Mo Hua remained silent for a moment, then conservatively answered:

"In this world… at least half of all cultivators live like this."

Of the remaining half, most were only slightly better off—and even they struggled for survival, worked hard for every scrap of cultivation.

True noble-born cultivators were only a tiny minority.

But the Nine Provinces are vast. There are so many cultivators.

Even if noble cultivators are few in proportion, in numbers, they're still considerable. They cluster together, intersect socially, and it creates the illusion that everywhere one looks, it's all glory, and the halls are full of noble families.

But that glory is only one corner of the world.

Beneath that corner lies a far harsher truth.

These junior disciples…

had just torn open a sliver of that illusion

—and caught their first glimpse of the brutal reality beneath.

Everyone fell silent.

Seeing this, Mo Hua sighed softly.

These disciples were children of noble clans. As they grew older, perhaps they too would become obsessed with status and fame.

But at least for now, they were still young, still untainted by the world, and still had a heart of compassion—they could still feel pity for the suffering of others.

Mo Hua smiled gently and comforted them:

"The formations you drew atop Lone Mountain will serve as the foundation for a massive mining project—one that will give these poor scattered cultivators a future, and help them slowly live better lives."

"Comprehend the Heavenly Dao, and bless all living beings..."

"Your formations are changing their circumstances. You're changing the fate of not just this generation—but possibly generations to come."

"This… is the mystery of formation arts, and the true Dao that every formation master should seek."

Zheng Fang and the others were all momentarily stunned.

Then, gradually, their eyes lit up.

"Comprehend the Heavenly Dao, and bless all living beings…"

That sentence stirred something deep in their hearts, like a seed being planted—one that would slowly take root and sprout.

After seeing them off, Mo Hua didn't return to the Great Void Sect. Instead, he headed to the artifact workshop in Lone Mountain City.

The large-scale compound formation in Lone Mountain was only the first step.

Originally, most of Lone Mountain's ore had already been mined. But the Shen Family had recklessly blown up half the mountain, which exposed veins that were previously buried deep underground or too difficult to access.

These ores, while not as valuable as Brightgold Ore, could still yield decent returns once refined—enough for Lone Mountain's scattered cultivators to make a living.

The key, however, lay in that word: "refinement."

The Lone Mountain compound formation was designed to rebuild the mine, just like Mo Hua had once done in Nanyue City.

But Lone Mountain was already extremely poor, and any ore they managed to extract would need to be further refined.

And for that—advanced formations were necessary.

All of these formations, without exception, were high-level second-grade formations, and some even included nineteen-pattern second-grade arrays.

Currently, among all the disciples in Mo Hua's generation at the Great Void Sect—only he could draw them.

These formations were to be inscribed within a massive smelting furnace.

From then on, all the ore mined from Lone Mountain would be sent to the artifact workshop and refined in this enormous furnace into purer spiritual minerals before being further processed into artifacts.

Master Gu and his team of artifact forgers had already completed the preliminary construction of the furnace.

The massive furnace resembled a beast capable of devouring ore, taking up nearly half the workshop's space.

Once Mo Hua inscribed the necessary formations onto the furnace one by one, the project would be complete.

Nineteen-pattern formations are considered the pinnacle of second-grade formations within the mainstream classification. For most second-grade formation masters, inscribing this kind of formation is extremely difficult. But Mo Hua had already condensed his divine sense into a Golden Core, so to him, inscribing these formations was about as difficult as eating or drinking—hardly a challenge at all.

Though the furnace was massive, its scale still didn't compare to the compound formation on Lone Mountain.

Thus, even though it required a considerable number of formations, for Mo Hua—this "formation freak"—it was a task he could easily handle alone.

After spending several days finishing the main set of formations on the furnace, Mo Hua asked Master Gu to dismiss everyone else. He stayed behind alone to inscribe the final formation.

This formation was a deadly array—

A second-grade, twenty-pattern Secondary Thunderflow Array.

It was the same Primordial Magnetic Absolute Formation that Wenren Wan had secretly given him from the Shangguan Clan—Mo Hua's first mastered second-grade absolute formation. Perhaps it was because he had already traced the source of the Thunder-Magnetic Array stream, gaining some insight into the fundamental nature of thunder-magnetic energy…

Surprisingly, he had found learning this Secondary Thunderflow Absolute Formation unusually smooth. It didn't even take him much time.

The array itself had a straightforward function: through the formation, it generated Secondary Thunderflow in a specific direction.

But Secondary Thunderflow was extremely versatile and had a wide range of applications.

Mo Hua had sought out Elder Zheng to consult with him, only then learning that this formation was actually an industrial-grade absolute array. The Secondary Thunderflow it produced had only one purpose: to magnetize ink-type ores and produce Magnetic Ink.

Magnetic Ink was a highly valuable material.

As such, formations capable of producing it were exceedingly rare.

Mo Hua had never expected that the Secondary Thunderflow Array Wenren Wan gave him from the Shangguan Clan would actually be used to produce Magnetic Ink.

Then again, major clans operated all kinds of businesses, so it wasn't surprising for the Shangguan Clan to possess this kind of industrial array.

Apparently, the formation had originally been a reward from the Dao Court, and there were likely deeper reasons behind it—but anything involving the Shangguan Clan and the Dao Court was beyond Mo Hua's reach. All he needed to do was learn the array and make good use of it.

Besides—this absolute array was a gift from Aunt Wan.

Now, using this array in Gu Clan's artifact workshop, a portion of the profit generated would go back to Aunt Wan—his way of repaying kindness with kindness.

Having thought it through, Mo Hua began inscribing the Secondary Thunderflow Array, a second-grade, twenty-pattern absolute array, onto the final furnace.

From this moment forward, this last furnace would become a Magnetic Ink Furnace.

Only—on the surface, no one could tell.

No one knew that Mo Hua had quietly and secretly drawn an absolute array inside the Lone Mountain artifact workshop's furnace.

Not even Master Gu knew.

Mo Hua simply told him that this final furnace could produce a small amount of rare Magnetic Ink.

There were many ways to produce Magnetic Ink, and the methods were typically highly classified. Master Gu didn't understand much of it himself—he was simply astonished at Mo Hua's unfathomable formation mastery, turning the ordinary into the miraculous.

Mo Hua also instructed him carefully:

"Behind the Magnetic Ink Furnace, where the magnetization occurs, there's a jade slip. Replace it about once a month. Be sure to store the old jade slips properly and bring them to me when you have the chance."

"A jade slip?" Master Gu didn't quite understand, but didn't ask further.

Even though Mo Hua was still just in the Foundation Establishment Realm, in Master Gu's eyes, he was already an unfathomable master.

Especially after the Lone Mountain events—Mo Hua had become even more awe-inspiring in his eyes.

Master Gu solemnly said,

"Young Master, don't worry. I'll remember."

Mo Hua nodded in satisfaction.

Those jade slips would be of great use to him.

The Magnetic Ink Furnace used spirit stones to power the array, which generated Secondary Thunderflow to magnetize ore and produce Magnetic Ink.

Naturally, the generation of Secondary Thunderflow would leave behind Secondary Thunder Runes.

These runes formed and reacted within the furnace and would eventually be recorded onto the jade slips by Mo Hua.

These Secondary Thunder Runes were a completely new branch of array patterns.

Mo Hua intended to use these jade slips —to deepen his study of the Thunder-Magnetic Array stream from a completely different angle.

In other words, once the Magnetic Ink Furnace was activated, it would generate Magnetic Ink and increase profits for the artifact workshop…

But more importantly, it would provide Mo Hua with a continuous stream of Secondary Thunder Runes.

These runes would offer a wealth of thunder-magnetic material, allowing Mo Hua to trace the Thunder-Magnetic Array stream even more rapidly and conveniently —and further strengthen his "Thunder-Magnetic Little Man".

(End of this Chapter)