Chapter 249: Magic
Chapter 249: Magic
After the matter with Zui Xiu was resolved, Mo Hua spent his time learning two new spells - one for invisibility and another for a water prison technique.
In the Mo family's courtyard, Liu Ruhua, now with some free time due to the quieter restaurant, sat sewing clothes for Mo Hua. Meanwhile, Mo Hua practiced his invisibility spell by her side.
After a while, Mo Hua asked, "Mother, can you see me?" Not knowing what to expect from the invisibility spell, he wanted to confirm its effects with his mother.
Liu Ruhua found this amusing and said, with a smile, "Yes, I can see you," without looking up from her sewing.
"How about now?" Mo Hua asked.
"Yes."
"And now?"
"Yes, I can still see you."
...
"Can you see me now?"
Liu Ruhua looked up, her eyes widening in surprise. "Hua'er, I can't see you!"
Mo Hua was delighted, but then he realized something was amiss. His mother was looking directly at him, yet she claimed she couldn't see him.
When he looked down at himself, he could still clearly see his body and the clothes he was wearing.
Mo Hua sighed in dismay, "Mother..."
Liu Ruhua covered her mouth, her eyes sparkling with laughter. "Keep practicing, I'm not teasing you."
Mo Hua sighed again, feeling a mix of emotions. However, seeing his mother's happiness, he couldn't help but feel glad as well.
He tried the invisibility spell a few more times, but to no avail.
Mo Hua retrieved the spellbook and studied it once more, carefully going over the key points and the spiritual energy channels. Then, he attempted the invisibility spell again.
His spiritual energy flowed from the Qi sea, coursing through his meridians and enveloping his skin and clothes.
Gradually, Mo Hua's body began to transform.
Liu Ruhua's eyes widened in surprise, and this time, her expression of astonishment seemed genuine.
"Mother, can you see me now?" Mo Hua asked.
Liu Ruhua furrowed her brows, "It's strange, it's like I can see you, yet I can't..."
"What does that mean?" Mo Hua asked, confused. He lifted his arms and saw that they had turned transparent, with a faint blue hue, almost like they were made of water.
It seemed he had achieved partial invisibility, but not complete.
Mo Hua pondered for a moment and soon understood the issue.
The key to the invisibility spell lay in one's spiritual root. Those with a single water spiritual root were well-suited to learn this spell and could effectively turn invisible.
Mo Hua, on the other hand, possessed a minor five-elemental spiritual root, which included water, but it wasn't pure. As a result, he could learn the spell, but its effects were less than ideal, turning his body into a watery form that was still partially visible.
Mo Hua couldn't help but feel disappointed.
Liu Ruhua thought for a moment, and an idea came to her. "If you hide in water, others won't be able to see you!"
That made sense, but there weren't many places with water near Dahuishan Mountain...
Mo Hua sighed, "I'll think of something else." At least for now, this invisibility spell wasn't very practical.
With the invisibility spell proving less useful than hoped, Mo Hua turned his attention to learning the water prison spell.
The water prison spell wasn't particularly powerful, one might even say it was dispensable. However, its purpose was to restrain enemies, so its actual power wasn't the main concern.
When cast, the water prison spell transformed one's spiritual energy into watery chains that temporarily bound an opponent, preventing their escape.
The binding usually lasted for about three breaths, longer if used against lower realm cultivators, and shorter against those of higher realms, often only restraining them for a breath or two.
While it might not seem like much, in life-or-death battles or desperate pursuits, this obscure spell could prove to be a lifesaver.
The challenge with the water prison spell lay in its complexity - it was difficult to learn and use, and hard to aim accurately.
The spiritual energy required to cast the spell was intricate, involving numerous acupoint nodes, making it hard to master.
Additionally, due to the complex energy manipulation, the spell was slow to cast, and as a result, difficult to land on a target.
Especially against cultivators with agile body techniques, by the time the spell was ready, they would often be long gone.
Hence, few spiritual cultivators bothered to invest time in learning this obscure and challenging spell that offered little in terms of offensive power.
This Water Prison technique was, therefore, a perfect fit for him to learn.
Furthermore, due to his strong spiritual sense, Mo Hua picked it up with minimal effort.
Mo Hua wanted to test the effects of the Water Prison technique, so he casually tossed a wild fruit into the air and locked onto it with his spiritual sense. His right hand clenched into a fist, and his spiritual energy condensed into a faint blue chain, trapping the fruit in mid-air.
After a few breaths, the fruit fell to the ground.
The effect was pretty good, but he still needed to test it on a living creature.
Mo Hua then thought of the fish in Mr. Zhuang's pond.
The next day, Mo Hua woke up early and went to Zuwang Ju to greet Mr. Zhuang. Afterward, he went to the pond and cast the Water Prison technique on the swimming fish.
The water grass was a lush green, and the pond water was clear.
The fish swam leisurely at the bottom of the pond until suddenly, a faint blue watery light appeared, trapping them. No matter how they turned or twisted, they couldn't escape.
The pond bottom suddenly erupted into chaos.
The other fish were startled and swam faster and more frantically.
Mo Hua kept casting the spell, and one by one, the fish were locked down by the watery light.
After playing for a while, Mo Hua got a little bored and felt it was too easy.
He released the fish one by one, and after realizing there was no danger, they calmed down and swam leisurely again, the pond bottom gradually returning to its previous tranquility.
After wreaking havoc on the pond fish, Mo Hua felt he still hadn't mastered the Water Prison technique well enough, so he went to the big locust tree and found Bai Zisheng.
Under the towering locust tree, Bai Zixi read quietly while Bai Zisheng remained bored.
"I've learned a new spell," Mo Hua whispered to Bai Zisheng.
Bai Zisheng's eyes lit up, and he sneaked a glance at Bai Zixi.
Without lifting her eyes from her book, Bai Zixi said in a clear voice, "You can play after you finish your work."
"I'm almost done. It won't take even half a shichen," Bai Zisheng said.
Bai Zixi lightly hummed in acknowledgment.
Delighted, Bai Zisheng turned to Mo Hua and said, "Come on, let's spar and see."
Mo Hua and Bai Zisheng moved to the side so as not to disturb Bai Zixi's reading.
"What spell did you learn?" Bai Zisheng asked.
"Water Prison technique."
Bai Zisheng frowned. "It sounds a bit weird, and not particularly powerful."
"This technique can trap enemies, but it's not very destructive," Mo Hua explained.
"Then isn't it a bit boring?" Bai Zisheng lacked enthusiasm, but he asked, "So how do we compete?"
"You use your body movement technique to run, and I'll use my spell to trap you," Mo Hua suggested.
"Isn't that just me getting beaten up?" Bai Zisheng looked at Mo Hua doubtfully. "How is that sparring?"
"Sparring with a purpose is true sparring," Mo Hua argued. "Sparring without a purpose is just fighting. This is to train my spellcasting and your body movement technique."
"Okay, that makes sense," Bai Zisheng nodded in agreement.
Having something to do was better than nothing, and he was curious about the effects of the Water Prison technique.
Mo Hua marked off a large patch of grass. "We'll do this within this circle. I'll use the Water Prison technique on you."
"Alright."
Thus, under the big locust tree, one practiced their spell while the other trained their body movement technique. Bai Zisheng dodged, and Mo Hua tried to trap him with the Water Prison technique.
After practicing for about a shichen, the two took a break, sitting on the grass.
The Water Prison technique involved intricate spiritual energy manipulation, so it was actually slower to cast than the Fireball technique.
At first, Mo Hua could only successfully trap Bai Zisheng about once out of three attempts. Gradually, he became more familiar with the technique, and he could trap Bai Zisheng about once out of every two attempts.
Bai Zisheng was the pride of a noble family, and whether it was cultivation technique or magical technique, he was top-notch. Ordinary cultivators would have hardly been able to escape Mo Hua's Water Prison technique.
"To be honest, this technique of yours is a bit disgusting," Bai Zisheng blurted out.
(End of Chapter)
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