Immortality Through Array Formations Chapter 2086 Chapter 991: Wood's Rejuvenation (Part 3)
Previously on Immortality Through Array Formations...
"Haven't I already made it clear? I don't want you nurturing any notions of 'seeking slaughter and victory'... Besides, the Heaven, Earth, and Man Three Talents Formation—the Taoist Court may boldly present it, but do you possess the courage to master it?"
"You're right..."
"I still think it's a bit odd..."
The disciples chattered animatedly among themselves.
While they conversed, Cheng Mo turned to Mo Hua and inquired, "Junior Brother, your skills with formations are remarkable—do you have any idea what this array might be?"
Mo Hua wrinkled his forehead and shook his head, "The Wood Revitalization Formation—it seems like a restorative array... Yet formations hold deep mysteries, and numerous ones bear similar titles. Without examining the exact Formation Diagram, I can't say for sure."
"Ah..." Cheng Mo acknowledged with a nod.
After some more talk, the group largely brushed the topic aside.
Among the sword competition's prizes, this formation held the least appeal for them.
Things like Cultivation Techniques, Taoist Skills, precious artifacts, Pills, and the like proved far more useful in practice.
Moreover, securing the top spot in the sword competition to claim such a reward felt incredibly remote to them.
They might spark with excitement over the discussion for a moment, but once that enthusiasm waned, the matter slipped from their minds.
Mo Hua, though, kept turning the formation over in his thoughts.
He deemed it quite unusual.
"Wood Revitalization Formation"...
Wood falls under the Five Elements category, while Revitalization describes the array's function.
Based on the underlying principle, it ought to serve as a healing formation.
A healing formation... up to now, Mo Hua had scarcely explored such arrays in depth.
He had immersed himself in Killing Formations, Trapping Formations, Sword Arrays, Industry Formations... and more, but healing formations? He'd barely encountered them.
Healing formations remain exceedingly scarce, with few inherited patterns available.
However, this scarcity doesn't stem from their complexity; instead, most healing formations have long been "obsolete."
Not the formations themselves supplanted healing arrays, but rather Alchemy.
As the Dao cultivation industry advanced and alchemical methods perfected, the wounds and ailments afflicting cultivators could typically be mended straightaway via Spiritual Medicines or refined Pills.
Most cultivators favored Pills for recovery too, since they cost less and offered swift, straightforward relief.
When hurt, why labor over erecting a formation when swallowing a Pill does the trick?
Consequently, occasions demanding formations for healing grew exceedingly uncommon.
Healing formations once bore a distinct title: "Medical Formations."
Mo Hua had come across this detail in certain histories of formations.
But with their decline in circulation, the term "Medical Formation" seldom surfaces anymore.
This aspect captivated Mo Hua's curiosity.
As a prize for triumphing in the Formation Competition, why select such an arcane, antiquated, and thoroughly "phased out" branch of formations?
This puzzle haunted Mo Hua's mind.
The phrase "Wood Revitalization" carried an enigmatic allure, relentlessly pulling at the depths of Mo Hua's soul.
That evening, as Mo Hua sat at the desk in the Disciple's Residence, flipping through formation tomes, his mind inevitably drifted back to the issue.
"Wood Revitalization Formation... something secretive must lurk inside it..."
"What exactly could it be?"
Mo Hua mulled it over time and again, grasping no answers, yet unwilling to release it, until he resolved to divine the truth.
Given its origin in the Dao Court Tian Shu Pavilion, he refrained from probing too far, merely drawing forth a Copper Coin to "skim the surface" and catch a hint of the causal links.
The essence of the Causality Copper Coin began to circulate.
Mo Hua murmured "Wood Revitalization Formation" inwardly, and suddenly, his heart clenched fiercely.
In a misty apparition before him, a elegant, erudite, and ethereal silhouette emerged.
This silhouette loomed proudly amid heaven and earth, keen as a blade, radiating an unyielding aura of supremacy.
But as it pivoted, that sharpness withdrew entirely, revealing a soft demeanor, eyes curved in a faint smile, gazing upon Mo Hua with tender hesitation.
Mo Hua struggled to accept it, left in a brief stupor.
"Master..."
Shrouded in a soft yellow reminiscence, tracing back through causality.
Mo Hua appeared to witness every scene from Tongxian City.
He beheld his master beaming warmly at him.
He saw himself lingering outside the bamboo dwelling, awaiting his master's repose to seek guidance on formations.
He observed himself and his fellow junior brothers and sisters tackling assignments beneath the grand locust tree, while master watched from the bamboo house in the distance...
He also glimpsed, on his journeys, the harsh days and nights braving the wilds, the folks and happenings met along the path.
He viewed, within the Five Elements Sect, the Demon sword hanging poised and the heavens draped in crimson banners, the final parting encounter with his master, filled with solemn, lingering counsel...
A sharp, aching sorrow welled up in his chest.
Mo Hua's eyes grew moist.
A single tear trailed down his face.
After an age that felt endless, Mo Hua gradually regained his composure, his eyes sharpening with clarity.
"The Wood Revitalization Formation... ties into master's causal thread..."
"Could this array... rescue master?"
Mo Hua's face hardened with resolve.
If so...
Then he had to seize this formation, no matter the price.
Every barrier in his path would be crushed.
Every foe, even the finest prodigies from the Four Great Sects across the Qian Learning State Boundary, would be slain without mercy!
Mo Hua's gaze blazed with brilliant golden sword radiance, sharp and fearsome.
"This formation shall be mine, without fail!"
...
Meanwhile, distant in the Taoist State.
Heaven Shu Pavilion.
The dozing Pavilion Elder jolted awake, his eyes snapping open, only to behold the black game piece before him shimmering with the purest golden glow, echoing with draconic roars, bringing a touch of ease.
"At last... you've taken the bait..."
The Pavilion Elder whispered, then let out a sigh.
"It looks like... quite the formidable dragon..."
The Pavilion Elder stared at the black piece, scrutinizing the golden luminescence upon it, noting the dragon-like form coiled within.
As he observed, the Pavilion Elder's countenance shifted subtly.
Within the black piece, it resembled a dragon, yet a faint, ferocious energy seemed to ensnare the dragon there.
"This isn't a dragon...?"
The Pavilion Elder hesitated, his stare intensifying, a strange aura emanating from him.