Immortality Through Array Formations Chapter 2091 - 993: Odds of Victory (2)
Previously on Immortality Through Array Formations...
The Sect Master of Taixu thought briefly before speaking:
"Ouyang Xuan stands as the top genius and strongest disciple in the Tai’a lineage for this era, yet his personality doesn't appear too favorable, and he's got a rather stubborn streak..."
He hoped Mo Hua would prepare his mind to prevent any clashes.
Mo Hua replied: "Sect Master, no need to fret. My own temper's pretty foul too, and I'm stubborn as well. We'll probably hit it off."
Taixu Sect Master: "..."
"Truly... no issues?" the Taixu Sect Master asked deliberately.
"None at all," Mo Hua affirmed with a nod, "I actually prefer folks who are 'unyielding'."
The Taixu Sect Master stayed quiet for quite some time, then let out a sigh: "Fine then..."
And so, the decision was finalized.
By adding Ouyang Xuan from the Tai’a Sect, Mo Hua's group was now fully assembled.
Still, Mo Hua hadn't laid eyes on this "Ouyang Xuan" yet, so he remained unaware of his character, cultivation base, or how well he'd mesh with the team, which made planning tricky. He'd have to sort that out once they met.
Within the Disciple’s Residence, a stack of maps lay spread out in front of Mo Hua.
These maps illustrated diverse landscapes like peaks, streams, marshes, sheer cliffs, ancient ruins, caverns, and more.
Senior Sister Murong had handed all of them over to him.
Such landscapes could very well appear at the Sword Discussion Conference.
On top of that, he had assorted strategy blueprints, Formation Diagrams, and diagrams for forging Spiritual Artifacts.
They represented combat tactics he'd run through in simulations.
Even with such thorough groundwork, Mo Hua couldn't shake off his anxiety.
Sword discussions differ greatly from formation debates.
Formations were his forte; no matter the foe, he'd never feel daunted, particularly against disciples from sects in the Qian Learning State Boundary.
But sword discussions? He lacked any real battle experience there.
Just watching from the sidelines wouldn't cut it without hands-on fights.
Besides, his viewing was limited to a single past event—and that was prior to the overhaul.
Post-sect reform, the sword discussion rules and setup had shifted entirely.
Back then, Mo Hua poured all his energy into readying for the Formation Competition, skipping the live event.
He'd caught wind of alterations through hearsay, but never seen them firsthand.
As a result, his strategies went untested, leaving him doubtful of their success.
The Sword Discussion Conference featured hordes of entrants, intricate landscapes, shifting layouts, and loads of unknowns.
Plus, surrounded by so many talents, even alongside Xiaoxiao, chasing the top spot felt like grasping at the heavens.
"This doesn't bode well, perhaps... time for a divination?"
Mo Hua paused briefly, pulled out a Copper Coin, performed a quick divination, and his brows furrowed tightly.
Heavenly secret Calculation links "cause" to "effect."
In the present circumstances, despite his strategies, setups, and advantages, none pointed to the "effect" of claiming first in the sword discussion.
The gap spanning this cause and effect stretched enormously.
It signaled that securing first place in the sword discussion was all but a pipe dream.
Mo Hua looked pensive.
This reflected "Heavenly secret," a verdict on cause and effect.
For others, "Heavenly secret" could come across as vague and hard to pin down.
Yet as Mo Hua delved deeper, he grasped that Heavenly secret's core was built on immense chains of causality, with causality forming the root of everything.
Still, Heavenly secret's profundity and causality's flux made it seem slippery.
Its hidden patterns, though, could be unraveled.
Sufficient solid "causes" alone pave the way to the sought-after "effect."
Having mastered "Heavenly secret Calculation," "Tricky Calculation," and "Back Origin Calculation," boasting superior Divine Thought, and attaining the Dao via Divine Sense, Mo Hua neared a "Heavenly secret intuition" by immersing in real events and probing causality's rules.
It amounted to a basic gut feeling.
Thanks to his potent Divine Sense and profound grasp of Divine Thought, though, it resembled an "innate" perception.
No need for full divinations or deep probes; a mere reflection showed the route was blocked.
He aimed to seize first in the Formation Competition.
Yet that "effect" dangled far away, suspended high above.
Mo Hua let out a soft sigh.
"It still won't pan out..."
"Just how do I snag first place in the Formation Competition?"
This puzzle had nagged at Mo Hua for days; whether dining or strolling, his mind circled it.
The harder he mulled, the more stuck he got in a rut.
His personal power remained fairly constrained.
Xiaoxiao packed a punch, sure, but he stood alone.
The elite youths from the Four Great Sects made up an entire squad.
Without puffing up his ego and viewing things straight, it was obvious: first place in the sword discussion lay way beyond his grasp.
Save for some miraculous stroke of fortune.
Fortune, however, proved fickle and unworthy of trust.
Beyond the Disciple’s Residence, amid a modest thicket, Mo Hua mulled over this dilemma while treading the trail after lessons.
He missed the sound of someone hailing him.
"Junior Brother..."
"Junior Brother?"
Mo Hua jolted awake, snapping back to see Xie Ling summoning him.
Xie Ling passed over several Jade Slips, "Junior Brother, you said earlier you're keen on cultivators' 'tombs' and yin residence formations, so I've collected a few for you to review."
"Oh..." Mo Hua murmured distractedly.
Following his trip to the Solitary Mountain City graveyard, he saw that tomb formations and related lore were holes in his Dao path.
Despite entering a tomb before, plenty of specifics eluded him.
Thus, he turned to Xie Ling of the Gen State’s Qiongyin Realm, bearer of ancestral geomancy arts, for guidance and material hunts.
The cultivation realm spans endlessly, yet a cultivator's years are finite, limiting their wisdom and tales as well.