https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-167-Earth-and-Stone-Array-Part-Five-/12540976/
Chapter 168: The Earth and Wood Restoration Array
Chapter 168: The Earth and Wood Restoration Array
A first-grade Earth and Wood Restoration Array?
Mo Hua's eyes lit up, and he immediately flipped through the pages to take a look.
The so-called First-Grade Earth and Wood Restoration Array is a combination of the First-Grade Nine Pattern Earth and Stone Array and the Five Pattern Wood Qi Array.
The highest single array in the restoration array reaches the first grade, so it can be considered a first-grade restoration array.
This set of earth and wood restoration arrays only includes two single arrays and does not have a separate spirit-gathering array as the array eye. Instead, it relies on the spirit-gathering array patterns within the single arrays to converge spiritual energy. Therefore, its power will be slightly weaker, but its effect is still considerably stronger than that of a first-grade earth and stone array.
After all, no matter how weak it is, it's still a restoration array.
Moreover, because of its relatively simple structure, it shouldn't be too difficult to learn.
If it includes three or more single arrays in the restoration array, and one also needs to use a spirit-gathering array as the array eye, then the array core structure will be completely different. With Mo Hua's current level of knowledge in array techniques, learning it would be extremely challenging.
This set of restoration arrays includes two single arrays, one of which is the Wood Qi Array with only five array patterns, something Mo Hua already knew. As for the First-Grade Earth and Stone Array, he had just learned it as well.
To master this restoration array, he would only need to grasp the array core of the technique.
Mo Hua made up his mind to practice this restoration array on the Dao Tablet that very night!
By the hour of Zi (midnight)
, Mo Hua had already memorized the array core of the Earth and Wood Restoration Array. He then closed his eyes and fell asleep, his spiritual sense sinking into his sea of consciousness, where the Dao Tablet appeared.
Mo Hua began to practice the array technique on the Dao Tablet.
It wasn't exactly smooth sailing at the start, but learning array techniques was always a process of repetition and refinement. If one attempt didn't work, he would try again, and if that failed, he would persist with a third try.
Mo Hua drew the array over and over.
However, he was only at the sixth layer of Qi Refinement, and while his spiritual sense was sufficient to draw a first-grade nine-pattern array, attempting a first-grade restoration array was still a bit of a stretch.
Mo Hua drew the array throughout the night but still couldn't master the First-Grade Earth and Wood Restoration Array.
The next day, Elder Yu looked at Mo Hua expectantly.
Although he didn't ask outright, his eyes were full of anticipation.
Mo Hua thought for a moment.
Sealing the cave entrance with a first-grade earth and stone array should be sufficient, but using the earth and wood restoration array would likely produce better results.
Since there was no rush to get it done in the next day or two, Mo Hua asked Elder Yu to wait a little longer.
Mo Hua practiced the array all day, exhausting his spiritual sense, and then meditated to recover.
That night, he continued practicing on the Dao Tablet and finally managed to draw the First-Grade Earth and Wood Restoration Array successfully.
Mo Hua informed Elder Yu, who was overjoyed and immediately instructed the demon hunters to begin sealing the cave.
However, sealing this cave wasn't going to be easy, and taking such overt action would undoubtedly alert the Qian Family. If that happened, the Qian Family would harass them incessantly, making it impossible to seal the cave entrance.
Mo Hua asked Elder Yu if he had any ideas to counter this problem.
Elder Yu smiled slyly without answering directly, only telling Mo Hua to watch carefully.
Elder Yu started by hurling insults.
He stood at the entrance of the mine, pretending to be in a fit of rage, cursing the Qian Family, Qian Hong, and Qian Zhongxuan. His temper seemed volatile, as if he couldn't take being trapped any longer.
Then, Elder Yu ordered all the demon hunters to charge out, their faces filled with sorrow and indignation, as if they were determined to fight to the death, their backs against the wall.
Qian Hong didn't want to engage in a direct confrontation, so he could only retreat.
At this point, in Qian Hong's eyes, these demon hunters were like trapped beasts, mere lambs to the slaughter, not worth risking his men's lives over.
If the demon hunters were now putting up a desperate struggle, they might go as far as to break the net and escape, which would be a loss for the Qian Family.
The Qian Family had already suffered heavy losses, and this loss couldn't be further exacerbated—at least not under Qian Hong's watch.
Thus, when the demon hunters displayed their determination to fight to the death, the Qian Family immediately retreated.
For three consecutive days, the demon hunters swarmed out, putting on a show of fighting to the bitter end.
Qian Hong was even more convinced that Elder Yu had run out of tricks up his sleeve, so he became even less anxious. He directly ordered the Qian Family cultivators to retreat to a distance, avoiding direct confrontation with the demon hunters.
Strike while the iron is hot, for if one waits too long, the iron will grow cold, and the opportunity will be lost.
Qian Hong didn't believe that the demon hunters could maintain this desperate fighting spirit for long.
Once their fighting spirit waned, it would be the perfect time for him to reap the benefits of their struggle, so he wasn't worried.
Once Mo Hua finished drawing the array, the demon hunters would fill it with another layer of rubble, and he would draw another set of the array. This process was repeated several times.
All the other cave entrances were sealed, except for the one left at the highest point on the mountainside.
This particular entrance was left open for Elder Yu to continue his verbal assaults.
Elder Yu would sit there and hurl insults at Qian Hong, calling him a "shriveled turtle" and accusing him of being "ball-less" and too afraid to face them in a decisive battle.
In reality, these insults served to distract the Qian Family, preventing them from launching a rash offensive.
The more enraged Elder Yu seemed, the more reassured Qian Hong felt.
However, as time passed, Qian Hong began to sense that something was amiss.
He felt that Elder Yu's curses lacked the previous fervor and seemed to be deliberately covering something up.
Qian Hong grew suspicious but dared not act rashly. Instead, he dispatched a small group of cultivators under the cover of night to investigate the mine entrance.
As soon as this group of Qian Family cultivators arrived at the mine entrance, they were ambushed by the demon hunters.
Mo Shan, Yu Chengyi, and several other Qi Refinement Ninth Layer demon hunters had been lying in wait outside instead of staying in the mine. When the Qian Family cultivators arrived to test their defenses, they launched a sudden attack.
Wearing iron armor and wielding large blades, their spiritual power surged as they fought. The Qian Family cultivators were no match for them and fled in disarray.
Qian Hong, however, was relieved. He thought to himself:
"That old geezer, Elder Yu, is indeed more focused on ambushing than sealing the cave. Fortunately, I anticipated this and only sent a small group of cultivators to test them, or else we would have suffered another big loss!"
Mo Shan and the others who had participated in the ambush returned to the spirit mine through the mountainside entrance.
This ambush could only be used once, but it had served its primary purpose of diverting attention. Once was enough.
Qian Hong was cautious, and as long as he remained so, they could continue sealing the cave, giving Mo Hua more time to draw his arrays.
As time dragged on, Qian Zhongxuan felt that something was amiss. He approached Qian Hong and said, "It seems Elder Yu intends to seal the cave entrance."
Qian Hong replied nonchalantly, "I know."
Qian Zhongxuan frowned, "Are we just going to let him do that?"
Qian Hong shrugged, "Sealing the entrance is just a front. Their real intention is to ambush us."
"What if they actually manage to seal the entrance? What will we do then?" Qian Zhongxuan asked.
"It's just soil and stones," Qian Hong said dismissively. "Even if they seal the entrance, we can break it open."
"What if they dig another tunnel and escape?" Qian Zhongxuan persisted.
Qian Hong coldly smiled, "They won't get away. Dealing with Elder Yu isn't something new to us. We can easily guess his next move. He'll either guard the entrance or dig another tunnel to escape."
"If we can break through the entrance, we can trap them like turtles in a jar. If we find their tunnel, we can intercept them halfway. Either way, the spirit mine they've worked so hard for will be ours."
Qian Hong's eyes turned cold, and he sneered, "We can kill them, take the spirit stones for ourselves, and achieve twice the result with half the effort."
Qian Zhongxuan said, "Your plan is brilliant, Patriarch."
But in his heart, he cursed him, thinking that a dog couldn't change its habit of eating feces. No matter what he did, he always wanted to gain some advantage.
That stingy old geezer, Elder Yu, wouldn't let him get away with it so easily. And there was also that array master among the demon hunters who hadn't made a move yet.
In a confrontation between cultivators, arrays could be extremely troublesome. He had suffered losses due to arrays before.
Qian Zhongxuan understood the stakes, but he chose not to voice his concerns!
He wanted to see how Qian Hong's attempt at gaining an advantage would play out—whether it would bring him benefits or trouble.
Since his own resources had been depleted, and his standing in the family had diminished, he was content to sit back and watch the show.
If things were going to go wrong, he wanted everyone to suffer together. No one would get out of this unscathed! Qian Zhongxuan thought bitterly.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
