Chapter 723: Secondary Thunder Current
Chapter 723: Secondary Thunder Current
The Water Yama? !
Mo Hua's heart chilled, and he furrowed his brows.
"Who is the Water Yama?"
He had been operating in the Qian Xuezhou jurisdiction and the surrounding immortal cities for over two years, capturing rogue cultivators and demons, and dealing with many demonic cultivators. He knew more secrets than the average cultivator.
Yet, he had never heard of the name "Water Yama."
Mo Hua lowered his head to look again.
On the list, the three characters for "Fire Buddha" had already faded and were thoroughly erased. They had been replaced by "Water Yama."
This meant... Fire Buddha was dead, so the Evil God had promoted another demon to take his place as the leader of the Tu family's extermination?
Since this Water Yama could replace Fire Buddha, did it mean that his strength, even if not as strong as Fire Buddha's, would not be far behind?
Mo Hua's brows furrowed deeply, and his heart grew heavy. Soon after, he couldn't help but curse inwardly.
If it wasn't just Water Yama, would there be an endless stream of replacements like Golden Luohan, Wood Yaksha, and Earth Ksitigarbha popping up...?
When would it end...?
Mo Hua shook his head, feeling a slight headache, and his confusion only deepened. After a moment of thought, he wondered:
What exactly is the background of this Water Yama?
Is he a criminal cultivator wanted by the Dao Court, or an evil demonic cultivator?
If he is a chosen pawn of the Evil God, will he also have a legacy comparable to forbidden arts?
Could there be more clues about the Evil God?
Since Mo Hua couldn't figure it out, he could only ask others.
In his free time, Mo Hua sent a message, secretly asking Gu Changhuai, "Uncle Gu, do you know the name 'Water Yama'?"
Gu Changhuai was clearly taken aback. "Water Yama?"
"Yes."
Gu Changhuai pondered for a long time before replying, "I've never heard of it."
Mo Hua was surprised, finding it somewhat unexpected that even Uncle Gu, a judge of the Dao Court, hadn't heard of it...
Could it be that this Water Yama was a newcomer?
Gu Changhuai asked, "Why do you ask about this name?"
Before Mo Hua could answer, Gu Changhuai continued, "Is it related to the extermination of the Yu family's water village?"
Mo Hua nodded slightly.
As expected of Uncle Gu, a judge of the Dao Court, his mind worked quickly.
As long as it didn't involve formations, Uncle Gu was indeed very smart.
"Yes," Mo Hua replied.
Gu Changhuai frowned, puzzled, "How did you come to know this name?"
That was a long story, and many things were complicated and inconvenient to explain, so Mo Hua just vaguely said, "I obtained a message talisman, and it mentioned this name..."
Gu Changhuai frowned.
Another message talisman?
Message talismans weren't that omnipotent, were they? They couldn't possibly uncover all secrets.
Demonic cultivators wouldn't be so foolish as to write everything on a message talisman...
He felt that Mo Hua was definitely hiding something from him.
However, this child was crafty, and if he didn't want to say something, he wouldn't be able to pry it out of him.
"Hmm..." Gu Changhuai replied nonchalantly, "Your message talisman... Are there any other clues?"
"No," Mo Hua said, "Just this one name."
Gu Changhuai thought for a moment before replying, "Okay, I'll remember it. I'll find someone to look into it when I have time."
"Mm-hmm." Mo Hua nodded.
"Right, Uncle Gu," Mo Hua suddenly remembered something and asked, "Did you go to the Yu family's water village? Were there any other clues there?"
Gu Changhuai remained silent for a long time. After a moment, he replied solemnly, "The Yu family's water village... It was a grim sight."
"I went there once. The entire village was drenched in blood, with bloodstains everywhere, and the soil was crimson. However, the corpses were all gone, and only some meat scraps and remains were left at the scene..."
"On the ground, you could see kneeling bloodstains, traces of rolling heads, and fragments of chains..."
"From the limited traces, it seemed like the fisher cultivators in the water village were all locked up with iron chains, kneeling on the ground, and beheaded to death."
"It was like..."
Gu Changhuai paused, using an apt analogy, "Like sinners being judged and beheaded in an execution ground..."
Mo Hua's expression turned solemn.
Judgment... Beheading...
This "Water Yama" seemed to have a rather peculiar preference.
Or perhaps this method of extermination held some other hidden meaning?
Mo Hua really wanted to visit the slaughtered Yu family's water village to see if there were any clues in the karma, but he couldn't disobey Mr. Xun's instructions.
Gu Changhuai understood and said, "Regarding the Yu family's water village and this Water Yama, I'll look into it. You stay put in the sect, and I'll let you know if there's any news."
He didn't really want to tell Mo Hua about it.
But if he didn't, Mo Hua would definitely try to find out by all means necessary. It was better to inform him himself and save Mo Hua from wasting time, neglecting his cultivation, or putting himself in danger out of curiosity.
Their conversation ended there.
Gu Changhuai had to get back to work.
In the following days, Mo Hua cultivated and studied in the sect, and from time to time, he paid attention to any news from the Dao Court.
However, everything remained calm.
Nothing happened.
Even the group of demonic cultivators decreased their activities.
There was no news of Water Yama either.
The Dao Court was investigating the matter of the Yu family's water village, but there was still no progress.
After all, the remote water village wasn't a prominent location.
The cultivators there were all poor fisher cultivators who kept to themselves and had little interaction with the outside world.
After the extermination, the Dao Court had blocked the news to avoid alerting the culprits.
Thus, this tragic incident only caused a brief stir in the surrounding areas of Yanshui River before gradually fading into a strange tale told during idle chatter.
With the Yu family's water village gone, the nearby fisher cultivators continued their hard lives.
The Dao Court continued their investigation but to no avail.
Beyond the Yanshui River, the immortal cities and the major families carried on with their luxurious lives as if nothing had happened.
Mo Hua's feelings were mixed.
These solitary cultivators in remote areas were as insignificant as floating duckweeds in water; whether they lived or died, no one really cared.
The karma of blood deepened in color once more.
The Great Wilderness' Evil God would undoubtedly gain another place to preach his doctrine.
Mo Hua heaved a deep sigh.
But for now, he was powerless.
All he could do was what he had been doing—cultivate diligently and strive to break through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage as soon as possible.
In the unseen, the winds of change were brewing.
Every bit of improvement in his cultivation, spiritual sense, and array mastery could make a difference.
In addition, his research and application of arrays and spiritual artifacts, especially the refinement of the Five Elements Origin Armor with its amplifying power, were also of utmost importance.
During his next break, Mo Hua found time to visit Gu Shi again.
He wanted to discuss with his master the "open-source" method of connecting his spiritual sense to control the Five Elements Origin Armor.
Gu Shi was taken aback, his eyebrows knitting together like twisted braids.
"This kind of armor... I've never heard of it, nor has the Lonely Mountain Artifact Forge ever refined anything like it."
"Your ideas, young master, are indeed extraordinary..."
It was hard to tell if he was praising Mo Hua or not.
Mo Hua took a sip of tea, clearing his thoughts before slowly explaining, "Because this array is rather unique, we can't follow conventional artifact refinement standards. We need to modify the structure so that the array within the spiritual artifact can be controlled by a cultivator's spiritual sense..."
Gu Shi considered this carefully before speaking, "If the array within the armor can be controlled by a cultivator's spiritual sense... then there's no way to limit which cultivator can use it."
"Once the array in the armor is 'open-sourced,' any cultivator, regardless of their allegiance, can use their spiritual sense to control the array within the armor..."
"This poses a significant disadvantage."
"In a life-and-death battle, if another cultivator with a strong spiritual sense forcibly intervenes with their spiritual sense and manipulates the array to close, reverse, or even self-destruct, it would be like handing a weapon to the enemy and crippling yourself..."
Mo Hua frowned.
Indeed, that seemed to be the logic.
He thought about it some more, his eyes brightening slightly before he shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter."
The array on the Five Elements Origin Armor was the Five Elements Origin Array.
It was an ultimate array, and even if it was "open-sourced," hardly anyone would know how to use it, let alone compete with him for control through spiritual force.
Seeing Mo Hua's confident expression, Gu Shi slowly nodded.
He was only responsible for providing suggestions and references; the final decision was still Mo Hua's to make.
"Then this type of armor is somewhere between a 'spiritual artifact' and an 'array medium,' combining the functions of both," Gu Shi concluded.
Gu Shi soon understood the concept.
"Yes," Mo Hua nodded.
"Alright," Gu Shi pondered, "I'll think about it some more and experiment further..."
"However, due to the unique design of this armor and the lack of precedents, refining it may be time-consuming and challenging. I estimate that it will take at least half a month to refine another set to test its effectiveness..."
"Don't worry," Mo Hua smiled, "Thank you for your hard work, Master Gu."
"Young master, there's no need for such formality. It's what I should be doing," Gu Shi smiled back.
"By the way," Gu Shi invited warmly, "The Immortal Crane Tower in Qingzhou City has just acquired several fresh and high-quality spiritual fish. Would you like to go and try them?"
"Spiritual fish..."
Mo Hua was a little tired of eating fish.
Especially after eating the River God with a fish head in his nightmare and then a bunch of fish demons, the mere mention of "fish" made him feel a bit stuffed.
However, it was hard to refuse Gu Shi's enthusiasm.
Not wanting to dampen his master's kindness, Mo Hua nodded, "Sure, why not."
The Immortal Crane Tower had a serene and elegant ambiance.
On the table were several spiritual fish—shaped like coral, with exquisite flavors, golden broth, and a delightful aroma.
Mo Hua enjoyed the meal immensely.
However, as he ate, he suddenly thought of the fisher cultivators from Little Fishing Village.
He wondered if these fish were caught by those fisher cultivators, risking their lives in the midst of storms, with great difficulty.
Mo Hua's mouth suddenly felt a bit tasteless.
He flipped through the menu again.
The Immortal Crane Tower charged exorbitant prices for their fish.
Yet, the fisher cultivators who risked their lives to catch them barely earned enough spirit stones to get by.
Mo Hua pondered for a moment, thinking to himself, "I wonder if there's a way for those fisher cultivators to earn more spirit stones..."
After finishing the fish, Mo Hua bid farewell to Gu Shi.
Gu Shi was returning to the Lonely Mountain Artifact Forge to research the refinement of the "open-source" structured Five Elements Origin Armor.
Meanwhile, Mo Hua headed back to the Gu residence.
He wanted to greet Aunt Wan first before returning to the sect.
However, when he arrived, he found that Wen Renwan was entertaining guests—seemingly relatives from the Wen Ren family who had brought her some gifts.
Mo Hua sat in the main hall, quietly drinking tea and waiting.
Before long, Wen Renwan appeared at the doorway, beckoning to Mo Hua with a mysterious smile.
Mo Hua was taken aback, "Aunt Wan?"
Wen Renwan beckoned again, her eyes smiling as she whispered, "Come here, I have a few things for you."
Mo Hua was puzzled, but he put down his tea cup and followed Wen Renwan into a side room.
The room was surrounded by an array that prevented eavesdropping.
Wen Renwan took out a storage bag and secretly handed it to Mo Hua, softly instructing, "Keep this safe and don't let anyone know about it."
Mo Hua was stunned. He slowly opened the storage bag and probed it with his spiritual sense, his eyes widening in surprise.
There were so many array diagrams...
And most of them were complete sets, encompassing initial array patterns, first-grade, and even second-grade high-level arrays.
Mo Hua exclaimed, "Aunt Wan, what is this...?"
"I know you like to study arrays..." Wen Renwan smiled, "These are some array books and diagrams that I asked your Uncle Shangguan to bring from the Shangguan family. Some others are treasured collections from the Wen Ren family, only delivered recently. Keep them all and study them when you have time."
Mo Hua still wanted to decline.
So Wen Renwan blinked and said, "Since you called me 'Aunt Wan,' I'm giving these to you, so take them."
"But," Mo Hua hesitated, "what about the Shangguan and Wen Ren families...?"
"Don't worry," Wen Renwan reassured him, "these formations have been given to you through your Uncle Shangguan and me. No one will trouble you over them."
"Of course, you shouldn't go around telling people about them either."
"Okay!" Mo Hua stopped refusing and laughed crisply, "Thank you, Aunt Wan!"
Wen Renwan's eyebrows curved like a crescent moon, and she smiled gently, "See if these formation charts are to your liking."
"Yes!"
Mo Hua began to carefully look through the formation charts.
These charts were quite extensive.
Most of them were still Five Elements and Eight Trigrams formations.
The Five Elements and Eight Trigrams formations were the most common and widely used in the cultivation world, and they were also the first formations that almost all formation masters learned.
However, the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams formation traditions of the Shangguan and Wen Ren families were somewhat different from those of the Tai Xu Sect.
Tai Xu Sect was a sect that focused on imparting teachings and doctrines. Their formations emphasized "instructional inheritance."
The Shangguan family managed cultivation industries, and their formations were geared towards "practical applications."
The Wen Ren family seemed to have a more profound heritage, and their formations focused on "formation theory."
Each had their strengths, and they could complement each other, making up for their respective shortcomings.
Mo Hua's expression lit up with delight.
Seeing Mo Hua's enthusiasm, Wen Renwan couldn't help but smile slightly.
As Mo Hua continued flipping through the charts, he suddenly paused, his eyes widening in surprise.
Primeval Magnetic Formations!
Aside from the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams formations, this collection also included primeval magnetic formations!
The first was a book titled "Collection of Fixed Magnetic Patterns," bearing the seal of the Shangguan family's Formation Pavilion.
Following that was another book, "Supplement to Fixed Magnetic Patterns," with the Wen Ren family's Formation Pavilion seal on its cover.
Below that were several secondary high-grade primeval magnetic formations.
These formations were completely new to Mo Hua.
They were alternative primeval magnetic formations outside of the Tai Xu Sect's tradition.
Mo Hua was astounded.
"Aunt Wan, this is..." he said, his voice trailing off.
Wen Renwan smiled and explained, "I asked Chang Huai since he's closer to you, about what kinds of formations you usually study."
"But Chang Huai is so focused on his work at the Dao Court that he's not very proficient in formations, and he couldn't give me a clear answer. I had to ask him repeatedly, and all he could tell me was that you seemed interested in primeval magnetic formations, so I gathered these magnetic pattern commentaries and primeval magnetic formation charts for you..."
Then, Wen Renwan frowned slightly, "However, primeval magnetic formations are quite niche, and the Shangguan and Wen Ren families don't have many records of them. Not many disciples are willing to study them, so I'm not sure if these charts will be sufficient..."
"They're more than enough!" Mo Hua nodded repeatedly, his face beaming with gratitude as he said, "Thank you, Aunt Wan!"
Wen Renwan was pleased to see that Mo Hua genuinely liked them, and her heart warmed.
Mo Hua held the charts in his hands, cherishing them as if they were treasures, his heart overflowing with joy.
Aunt Wan was truly a wonderful person! He couldn't put the charts down, flipping through them again and again. Suddenly, his expression froze as he noticed something odd about one of the formation charts.
It seemed to have... quite a few formation lines?
Mo Hua swept his spiritual sense over it and counted carefully.
One, two, three... a total of twenty lines.
Twenty lines? Mo Hua paused, feeling that something was amiss, and then he suddenly realized what was unusual about it, his eyes widening in shock.
A secondary formation... with twenty lines?! An ultimate formation?!
He immediately pulled out the chart and saw ancient and peculiar seal characters written on it: "Secondary Thunder Current Formation."
Mo Hua drew in a sharp breath, looking at Wen Renwan with disbelief:
"Aunt Wan, this..."
Wen Renwan was perplexed by his reaction and looked down at the chart before nodding, "This is a precious formation from the Shangguan family. I asked your Uncle Shangguan to bring it out. It's said that the Shangguan family accomplished a great feat and received this formation's legacy as a reward from the Dao Court. However, it's extremely difficult, and no one knows how useful it is, so it's been left untouched and gradually forgotten..."
"Is this formation very valuable?" Wen Renwan asked, curious about Mo Hua's reaction.
Mo Hua nodded, his voice trembling slightly, "It's incredibly valuable!"
It was even more precious than Aunt Wan could imagine...
It was a secondary ultimate formation among primeval magnetic formations, the closest to the secondary thunder pattern in the primeval magnetic essence!
Even a formation master who wasn't well-versed in primeval magnetic formations or someone who was proficient but hadn't witnessed the primeval magnetic essence and knew nothing about the secondary thunder pattern wouldn't be able to understand the meaning behind the words "Secondary Thunder Current Formation."
Secondary Thunder Current Ultimate Formation!
Mo Hua's heart raced, and he couldn't calm down for a long time.
However, Wen Renwan didn't think too much about it. She saw how shocked Mo Hua was when he saw the formation, how his eyes couldn't move away from it, and she knew that this formation was incredibly precious to him. She was satisfied that she had given him something so valuable.
"Keep it safe and study it when you're back at the sect," Wen Renwan said with a gentle smile.
"Yes!"
Mo Hua immediately put the formation chart into his storage bag and then tucked the bag into his clothes, close to his heart.
If Aunt Wan weren't here, he would have put this ultimate formation into his storage ring for absolute safety.
Seeing that Mo Hua had safely kept the formation chart, Wen Renwan felt relieved and said, "It's getting late. You should head back to the sect. Also, please take good care of Yu'er. He's like a little brother to you now."
"Aunt Wan, don't worry!"
Mo Hua nodded solemnly.
From now on, Yu'er was like a younger brother to him.
No one, not even the Great Wilderness Evil God, would be allowed to harm Yu'er. If anyone dared to lay a finger on him, Mo Hua would destroy their godly remains, slay their incarnations, turn them into "snacks," and devour them one bite at a time!
(End of Chapter)
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