Chapter 270: Discovery
Chapter 270: Discovery
Mo Hua revealed himself, surprised, "When did you notice me?"
Elder Yu wore a half-smile, "Naturally, from the moment you stepped through the door."
Mo Hua's expression turned a little dejected. It seemed he couldn't hide anything from a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"Was it your spiritual sense that detected me?" Mo Hua asked.
Elder Yu shook his head slightly, "No, it was my hearing."
Mo Hua was taken aback, "Hearing?"
"Indeed." Elder Yu replied, "I've been a demon hunter for many years, spending most of my time in these mountains, hunting demons and beasts. The slightest rustle of leaves or crunch of twigs underfoot is enough to alert me."
"Moreover, this is my home. When I have free time, I often sit and drink tea in this very room. So, when there's suddenly an additional presence in an otherwise empty room, how could I not notice?"
Elder Yu looked at Mo Hua, his smile gentle as he explained.
Mo Hua nodded, finding his words reasonable. Then, his eyes lit up as he thought of something.
"Then, what if the surroundings were noisier, and I remained crouched, neither moving nor making a sound? Could you still find me then?"
"Well..."
Elder Yu stroked his beard, hesitating.
To say he couldn't would be a slight loss of face for a Foundation Establishment cultivator like him.
But to confidently assert that he could was also a bit of a stretch.
In truth, when Mo Hua had first entered, Elder Yu hadn't noticed him right away.
It was only when Mo Hua started moving, despite his light footsteps, that the faint sounds reached Elder Yu's ears.
He pinpointed the location through sound, and then swept the area with his spiritual sense, finally discovering a vague figure—a young cultivator using a concealment technique.
That aura was very familiar.
And to be able to use a concealment technique at such a young age, bold enough to play hide-and-seek in his living room, it could only be Mo Hua.
Elder Yu had simply pretended not to notice, indulging the young cultivator's playful antics.
But now, he realized that if he hadn't heard the sounds and deliberately swept the area with his spiritual sense, he might not have discovered Mo Hua at all.
Elder Yu furrowed his brows, thinking it over, before finally answering honestly:
"In that case, it's hard to say."
Mo Hua's eyes lit up, "Elder Yu, why don't we give it a try?"
Elder Yu wanted to say that he had other matters to attend to, but when he saw the eager gleam in Mo Hua's eyes, he couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"It's not like I have anything urgent to do. I might as well take a break and indulge this curious child."
Elder Yu thought to himself, also curious to see just how effective Mo Hua's concealment technique truly was.
"Alright, let's find a place to test it out and see if I can find you." Elder Yu nodded with a smile.
The two of them went outside Transcendent City and found a quiet spot at the foot of a mountain.
The area was lush with trees and vegetation.
"I'll go hide in the forest first, and you try to find me."
Mo Hua walked into the forest and hid himself in the grass behind a large tree. He then used his concealment technique to hide his figure, neither moving nor making a sound.
Elder Yu silently counted to fifteen before following suit. As he released his spiritual sense, his brows furrowed.
At first glance, it seemed Mo Hua's figure was truly elusive.
Elder Yu took a deep breath and started searching, combing through the grass and bushes one by one from the edge of the forest.
After spending the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Elder Yu finally sensed a tiny figure hiding behind a large tree in the grass.
Elder Yu's eyebrows arched, and he breathed a silent sigh of relief.
He had finally found Mo Hua; otherwise, he would have lost face.
Clearing his throat, Elder Yu looked at the patch of grass where Mo Hua was hiding and said nonchalantly, "Come out now."
Mo Hua revealed himself, his expression not one of disappointment but rather anticipation. He asked Elder Yu, "Elder, how do you rate my concealment technique?"
Being found was expected, as Mo Hua merely wanted to test how effective his technique was against a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"It's impressive." Elder Yu nodded in approval, "If you remain still and silent, most Foundation Establishment cultivators would not be able to detect you unless they deliberately released their spiritual sense to search the area thoroughly."
Mo Hua's face lit up with joy.
"However," Elder Yu added a word of caution, "the strength of spiritual sense varies among Foundation Establishment cultivators. Just because I couldn't find you doesn't mean others won't. So, always be cautious."
As these thoughts crossed his mind, Elder Yu suddenly asked, "How did you learn the Concealment Technique?"
He had been curious about this for a while but hadn't had the chance to ask. If he recalled correctly, the Concealment Technique should only be learnable by those with a single water spirit root or an extremely unique yin spirit root.
Mo Hua possessed a small five-elemental spirit root, with a mixed water attribute, so he shouldn't have been able to learn it.
Mo Hua smiled mysteriously. "I drew an array."
"Oh." Elder Yu suddenly understood.
After all, Mo Hua was an array master, so it was only natural that he would rely on arrays to solve problems.
"Is this array very rare?" Elder Yu asked.
In his impression, he had never heard of an array master who could create an array for concealment, nor had he seen any spiritual artifacts with such an ability. He had only encountered a few cultivators who knew the Concealment Technique, like that crafty Lao San, but such cultivators were also rare.
Mo Hua nodded. "Yes, it's very difficult to learn."
Although the Concealment Array was a Nine-Pattern Array, its brushwork was unique, and the spiritual sense required to draw it was almost at the level of nine and a half patterns.
Most first-rate array masters wouldn't be able to reach this threshold, so it was understandable that the array was rare.
Elder Yu gave a slight nod, acknowledging Mo Hua's words. If Mo Hua found it challenging to learn, then the array must truly be difficult, and it was no wonder he had never come across it before.
Elder Yu's curiosity piqued, and he asked, "With this array, can people truly see nothing at all?"
Mo Hua then activated only the Concealment Array, and although his body turned invisible, his hands and small head still retained faint outlines.
Seeing this, Elder Yu frowned, slightly disappointed. "This array still has some flaws. The concealment effect isn't perfect."
"Yes," Mo Hua agreed. "That's why I learned a half-baked Concealment Technique and combined it with this flawed Concealment Array to become invisible."
When used individually, neither method was very effective, but together, they achieved invisibility.
"This is a double concealment... well, one and a half layers, to be precise," Mo Hua explained.
Elder Yu stroked his chin thoughtfully. "It seems that the combination of these two methods is even more effective than a simple Concealment Technique, especially at night."
During the night, when it was dark, even if someone saw through one layer of concealment, they wouldn't suspect the presence of another layer, and a regular cultivator wouldn't expect someone to be using two layers of concealment.
Mo Hua smiled proudly. The fact that even a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Elder Yu praised his concealment effect made him feel that all his efforts had been worth it.
As they chatted, the sky gradually darkened, and Elder Yu suddenly snapped his fingers, exclaiming, "I almost forgot! There's still something I need to do."
"Is it important?" Mo Hua asked.
"It's a minor matter." Elder Yu smiled. "It's getting late. Let's head back."
"Okay," Mo Hua agreed.
Elder Yu then escorted Mo Hua back, and when they reached the intersection of South Street, he gave Mo Hua some instructions before turning toward the Refining Artifact shop.
Mo Hua headed home alone, his heart filled with joy. With the Concealment Technique, he now had more options for ambushing, escaping, or sneaking up on others. After all, they couldn't see him.
Mo Hua couldn't help but laugh out loud, humming a little tune as he walked. Suddenly, he paused, a thought striking him, and his heart skipped a beat.
'Can't be seen...'
Elder Yu's earlier words echoed in his mind:
"With this array, can people truly see nothing at all..."
'Concealed... can't be seen...'
Mo Hua's mind suddenly flashed back to the cliff and the abyss below.
"Could it be... that it was concealed by the Concealment Array...?"
Mo Hua's pupils contracted as he murmured to himself.
(End of Chapter)
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