Chapter 307: Chapter 306: Invitation_1 On the edge of the Foggy Forest, Leader Yang had been waiting for a long time. With some concern, he asked, “Nothing’s gone wrong, has it…” Zhang Lan thought for a moment and said, “There’s been no movement in the Foggy Forest; it should be fine.” Leader Yang nodded, then curiously asked, “Aren’t you worried?” “I’d be a bit worried if he went into Black Mountain Stronghold, but the Foggy Forest is so vast; he could run, he could hide. We’re still here to back him up. There’s nothing to worry about.” Leader Yang hesitated, “He’s been to Black Mountain Stronghold before?” Zhang Lan nodded, “The intelligence you’ve received, all those pieces of information, were gathered by that kid as he sneaked in and eavesdropped around the corners…” Leader Yang gasped, “Didn’t you say that this intelligence was provided by your ‘Taoist soldiers Court’…” “Oh…” Leader Yang didn’t finish his sentence before he realized, “Zhang Lan, you shameless guy, you’ve claimed him as one of your Taoist Court’s own again, haven’t you?” Zhang Lan corrected him, “He originally is one of the Taoist Court’s people, even if in an unofficial capacity.” Leader Yang fell into thought for a moment, then frowned and said: “The intelligence was gathered by him, the map was drawn by him, the formation was broken by him. What have the other people in your Taoist Court actually done?” Zhang Lan was rendered speechless and after a bit, awkwardly laughed, saying: “Well… we reported the intelligence to the Taoist Court and had you all called over…” But even as he spoke, he himself had little confidence in his words, so his voice got lower and lower. Leader Yang looked at him with disdain, “You guys are really something…” Zhang Lan sighed, “There was no choice. By the time we found out, Mo Hua had already snooped around everything so thoroughly and also…” Zhang Lan then looked at Leader Yang with a serious expression: “Apart from him, nobody else could infiltrate Black Mountain Stronghold undetected, nor could they draw a map of it.” Leader Yang paused, thinking it through more carefully; he had to admit it seemed true. To achieve all of that, one would need to know the Concealment Technique, the art of formations, possess strong Divine Sense, and also have courage and quick wit. Even the most experienced scouts among their group of Taoist soldiers couldn’t infiltrate Black Mountain Stronghold and find out anything. Let alone the formations; that was definitely not something an average cultivator could master. The more Leader Yang thought about it, the more he was struck by admiration for the kid. Truly a talent indeed! Brave and strategic, decisive in action, versed in concealment, skilled in formations… Leader Yang kept silent, attentively pondering something. Zhang Lan looked at him suspiciously, “Are you plotting something sneaky now?” Leader Yang shook his head expressionless, “No.” Behind the rocks, bored out of their minds, Zhang Lan chewed on a grass root and imitated Mo Hua, drawing something on the ground. But whereas Mo Hua drew formations, he drew Leader Yang, fat and ugly, running around in disarray after being beaten up. Leader Yang ignored him, focusing intently on the Foggy Forest, on guard for any emergencies. The surrounding teams of Taoist soldiers were also fully alert. After an indeterminate amount of time, Leader Yang’s eyebrows twitched; he sensed someone approaching. Invisible to the eyes, imperceptible to the Divine Sense, but the faint sound of footsteps could be heard, and the pebbles on the ground appeared to be slightly sinking. It was as if someone was walking towards them, step by step. Soon, as the person came close to him, they materialized right before his eyes. Small and fair, with a clear and handsome visage, it was Mo Hua. Leader Yang breathed a sigh of relief. Mo Hua grinned, raised a hand towards him, holding a map with the forest paths and the various Fog Formations laid out. “Done!” Leader Yang took a look and his eyes brightened, he couldn’t help expressing his feelings: “It’s a good thing we have a Formation Master like you; otherwise, we’d probably have no way of figuring out the ins and outs of this Foggy Forest.” Mo Hua smiled happily in response. Leader Yang put away the map, gazing at Mo Hua, then suddenly displayed a smile – it was very kind, exceptionally warm, and even… somewhat obsequious. This smile baffled Mo Hua; in his memory, Leader Yang wasn’t that sort of person. It looked as though he had suddenly become possessed or something. Zhang Lan, watching from the side, felt his skin crawl as well. “Little Mo, would you like to take a look at the formations our Taoist soldiers use?” Mo Hua hesitated, “Aren’t they classified? Can I really take a look?” Leader Yang quickly nodded, “Though they are classified, there’s absolutely no problem if you want to look.” Mo Hua looked skeptical, “Really?” “Really, truly!” Zhang Lan also asked, “Truly?” Leader Yang spoke dismissively, “You go aside, it’s none of your business. Even if I showed you, you wouldn’t understand.” Zhang Lan retorted, “Who would want it anyway.” Under the escort of Leader Yang and several teams of Taoist soldiers, Mo Hua returned to Nameless Peak, to the mining cave where the Taoist soldiers were stationed. Leader Yang truly took out a set of spare armor and a spear, handing them to Mo Hua: “These are spares; feel free to look them over. You can take them apart too. Just report the damages later, and we’ll send them off to the Taoist soldiers Court for repairs.” “Is that really okay to do?” Leader Yang waved his hand, “There’s nothing bad about it. Armor and weapons are meant to be used; it’s normal for them to get damaged.” With those words, Mo Hua felt reassured. He glanced at the long spear and then touched the armor. Both were first-grade Spiritual Artifacts, forged from refined iron which had a higher content than the iron used by Monster Hunters, and were made with a more special forging technique, resulting in better quality. “As expected of the standard Spiritual Artifacts of the Taoist Court…” Mo Hua silently thought to himself. He exerted some effort, trying to disassemble the armor to examine the Formation inside, but found his strength inadequate to budge it. Mo Hua glanced at Leader Yang. Leader Yang personally stepped in to help Mo Hua disassemble the armor, revealing the Formation inside. However, as soon as the armor was taken apart, the brilliance of the Formation inside dimmed, indicating that it had also been damaged. Mo Hua was somewhat surprised. Leader Yang then explained, “This is a traditional Formation of the Taoist Court. To prevent the leakage of the Formation, once the armor is forcibly disassembled, the Formation inside is designed to be destroyed.” So that’s how it is… Mo Hua nodded in understanding. Though the Formation was destroyed, the general layout of the Formation Patterns could still be made out. Spread out the armor, Mo Hua began to study the Formation within. The Formation embedded in the armor was of the Golden Series, and while it appeared to be a first-grade formation, it included more than nine Patterns. “A Formation beyond first-grade?” Mo Hua was taken aback, but after mentally simulating the flow of Spiritual Power, he realized that it was indeed just an ordinary first-grade formation after all, with only nine effective Patterns. The additional Patterns were redundant, probably intended as a decoy to protect the real Formation from being deciphered. Furthermore, this wasn’t a Single Formation, but likely a part of a Compound Formation. After some thought, Mo Hua roughly understood. When Taoist Soldiers fought in unison, a team wearing identical armors would have their Single Formations combine to form a Compound Formation, enhancing the effect through resonance. The Single Formations used by Taoist Soldiers were not rare; they were just standard Five Elements Gold Series Formation Method. The most essential aspect was actually the pivot of this Compound Formation. Based on the proximity, it coordinated the Single Formations to resonate with each other. This pivot structure was something Mo Hua had never studied before and was very curious about. However, since a Taoist Soldiers team consisted of ten members, in other words, this pivot also connected ten sets of armor. To examine this pivot structure, he might need to take apart all ten sets of armor. Taking apart one set already made Mo Hua feel somewhat embarrassed; dismantling ten would be far too excessive. After finishing his examination, Mo Hua looked up and asked, “Should this armor be sent for repair?” Leader Yang nodded, “Yes.” “May I try to fix it?” Mo Hua queried. Leader Yang appeared surprised, “You want to fix it?” Mo Hua nodded. After some thought, Leader Yang agreed, “Sure, feel free to repair it. It’s already damaged anyway.” Mo Hua then took out a Formation Pen and Golden Series Spiritual Ink from his Storage Bag. Following the trajectory of the existing Patterns, he began to meticulously mend them. In just a short while, Mo Hua completed the repair. Leader Yang reassembled the armor and activated it with Spiritual Power, only to pause in astonishment, “It’s actually fixed?” “Lucky guess,” said Mo Hua, bashfully. Leader Yang looked at Mo Hua with greatly increased interest and then asked, “Mr. Little Mo, what do you think of this Formation?” “It’s very intricate,” Mo Hua honestly replied. “Would you like to learn it?” Mo Hua was taken aback, “Is that something I can learn?” “Of course! There’s just one small condition…” Mo Hua couldn’t help but ask, “What’s the condition?” “Join the Taoist Soldiers Court!” Leader Yang’s face revealed a warm and enthusiastic smile, “As long as you join the Taoist Soldiers Court, you will naturally be able to learn these formations used by the Taoist Soldiers! And you can learn as much as you want!” Upon hearing this, Zhang Lan spat out disdainfully, “So that was your game all along, kid.” Leader Yang snorted, “If he can enter the Taoist Court, why can’t he join the Taoist Soldiers Court?” “The Taoist Soldiers Court isn’t exactly a nice place, it’s all about fighting and killing.” “Better than your Taoist Court with its seniority system and internal scheming anyway.” Zhang Lan scoffed, “As if your Taoist Soldiers Court is any better, still dominated by the noble clans. Without the right status and background, can anyone really make something of themselves?” “That’s only at the higher levels. The real brothers on the battlefield fight side by side, thick as thieves, their worth proven by true skill. The Taoist Court, on the other hand, is all about collusion and cronyism…” 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶 “Quit spouting bullshit!” “See, hit the nail on the head, now you’re all riled up and embarrassed,” Leader Yang mocked and then suggested, “As for status and background, that’s not a big deal at all. As long as you marry into my Yang Family…” Zhang Lan spat again, “What wild dreams are you having? If it comes to marrying into a clan, your Yang Family wouldn’t be the first pick. My Zhang Family hasn’t even spoken yet, has it?” Mo Hua is studying the Water Passing Step from his Zhang Family, so if there’s going to be any marriage, it should be into the Zhang Family. What right does your Yang Family have? Because Yang Jiyong has a big face?