``` When in doubt, it’s better to refrain from overconfidence and ask Mr. Zhuang for advice. Mo Hua then ran to the bamboo house to see Mr. Zhuang. Mr. Zhuang sat in a bamboo chair, brewing tea, enjoying the breeze, and squinting comfortably. After waiting outside for a while, Mo Hua suddenly looked up and saw Mr. Zhuang looking at him. His eyes lit up, and he ran forward, presenting the Formation he had restored, and asked: "Master, can I learn this Formation?" Without even looking, Mr. Zhuang nodded and said: "You can." Mo Hua was slightly stunned, "Isn’t this an Evil Formation?" Mr. Zhuang’s expression deepened as he asked: "Do you know how an Evil Formation differs from a normal Formation?" Mo Hua furrowed his brows in thought and shook his head honestly. He had never studied Evil Formations; he had only briefly glanced at a few Evil Formation Patterns and was unclear about the differences between them. To know is to know, not to know is not to know. Since he was unclear, he didn’t feel comfortable making things up in front of Mr. Zhuang. "What about their commonalities?" Mr. Zhuang asked again. Mo Hua pondered for a moment and tried to say: "Whether it’s a proper Formation or an Evil Formation, the basic framework of the Formation is the same, consisting of Formation media, Formation eye, Formation pivot, Formation Patterns..." "It’s just that the specific composition of the Formation is different, the Evil Formation is more bizarre, and the methods are more bloody and cruel." Mr. Zhuang nodded slightly, "Not bad." He then picked up the Ultimate Formation with the twelve Patterns that Mo Hua had restored, his eyes showing a hint of appreciation as he pointed out: "So this Formation, apart from the White Bone Formation medium, Human blood Formation pattern, and Human heart Formation eye, the other parts of the Formation principle are indeed manifestations of the Heavenly Dao and fall within the range of normal Formations. In other words..." Mr. Zhuang looked at Mo Hua. Mo Hua’s eyes gradually brightened as he continued: "In other words, is this actually a proper Ultimate Formation that someone used bizarre methods to draw?" Mr. Zhuang spoke with satisfaction, "Exactly." Mo Hua frowned again, "If it’s a proper Ultimate Formation, why not use it correctly? Why resort to these heretical Demons’ methods?" Mr. Zhuang’s expression grew obscure: "Because he couldn’t draw it the proper way..." Mo Hua was slightly taken aback. After a moment of silence, Mr. Zhuang sighed and said: "Following the Righteous Dao is actually very difficult..." "Among the so-called cultivators of the Righteous Dao, while there are those who seek fame and pretend to be virtuous, there are also truly determined and upright people." "Such cultivators have temperaments, methods, and breadth of spirit far beyond ordinary people, and the effort they put in, the refinement they experience, the hardships they endure, and the criticism they face are equally extraordinary." "It is the same with Formations." "The deeper one goes in the Formations of the Righteous Dao, the harder they become. You might put in ten times the effort and see only a tenth of the result." "Therefore, many cultivators start looking for shortcuts." "This shortcut is the Evil Formation." "If the Divine Sense is insufficient, they blindly visualize and borrow the Divine Thought of others and other objects without discernment and purification." "If the Formation is not well-practiced, they draw on skin compatible with Spiritual Power to reduce the difficulty of the Formation." "If the understanding of the Formation pivot is shallow, they use human blood as ink and human hearts as eyes to forcibly promote the flow of the Formation’s power ..." "The so-called Evil Formations, just like conventional Formations, are based on the same Formation principle." "However, some cultivators don’t want to think, learn, practice, or comprehend. They take shortcuts by using human lives and flesh as the framework and pivot of the Formation to draw Formations they otherwise couldn’t..." After finishing, Mr. Zhuang looked at Mo Hua and spoke meaningfully: "That’s why I didn’t teach you the principle of Evil Formations before, to let you learn the Formations patiently, practice over and over, and not to be hasty or to think about taking shortcuts." "You have great talent and a high aptitude. If you think about taking shortcuts and learn Evil Formations, falling into the Demon Path, your level of Formation mastery might skyrocket rapidly, advancing by leaps and bounds daily." "But by doing so, once you taste the sweetness of shortcuts, you will no longer practice Formations diligently or be able to glimpse the true Great Dao." "Learning Evil Formations is like trying to help the shoots grow by pulling them upward—it won’t last long." "In front of a true Formation Master who understands the Heavenly Dao, these so-called Evil Formation Masters are just opportunistic small fry…" "The so-called Evil Formations are merely filthy with blood Qi, superficial imitations, the Righteous cannot be overwhelmed by the evil, they are vulnerable!" Mr. Zhuang’s eyes sharpened, and his entire presence became like a sheathed immortal sword, emitting an astonishing aura. "You must remember, we cultivators do not follow the path of Heretical Demons, not because we cannot, but because we disdain it!" Mo Hua was deeply moved and full of admiration. Not following the Demon Path is not because we can’t, but because we disdain it! Mr. Zhuang’s words were deeply engraved in his mind. It was as if someone had inscribed these words onto his Taoist Heart with a sword. Mo Hua’s gaze grew steadier, and his expression became more resolute. As he looked at the Evil Formation in his hands, he felt a great peace of mind; even though it was a Formation of heretical Demons, filled with oddities and eeriness, he remained calm and untroubled. "Master, your disciple remembers!" Mo Hua nodded earnestly with a serious face. In the following days, Mo Hua began to study this Ultimate Formation. To extract the essence of the Formation principle and discard the dross. Focusing only on the most fundamental principles of the Formation itself while neglecting its opportunistic methods, like human skin Patterns, flesh and blood pivots, and human heart eyes. Thus, the difficulty of the Formation increased exponentially. For a first-grade twelve-Pattern Formation, Mo Hua’s Divine Sense strength had just reached the threshold. And Divine Sense was just the threshold. With this Divine Sense, one still needed to practice the Formation’s Patterns, analyze the layout of the Formation, and grasp the principles of the Formation. This required a great deal of time and extensive practice. The process was tedious and dull. The Divine Sense would be exhausted over and over, then slowly recover, only to be exhausted again... With the Taoist Stele not yet restored, Mo Hua could only rely on his ability, taking more time and consuming more energy, to practice over and over, slowly comprehending. He kept Mr. Zhuang’s teachings in mind, and though progress was slow, he was neither arrogant nor impatient. Cultivation requires perseverance, as if dripping water penetrates stone. It’s the same with practicing Formations. Each practice session is a drop of water, each contemplation is like raindrops falling on the stone. ``` As long as one persists, even a dripping water drop will wear through a stone. The principles of Formation too could be deciphered, thoroughly understood, and mastered. After such contemplation over a number of days, Mo Hua gradually grasped some essence. He had gained some understanding of the ostensibly "Corpse Refinement" Evil Formation. But this understanding wasn’t profound; it was hazy, as though obscured by a layer of gauze, unclear. "It seems that my practice is not sufficient, my thoughts are not deep enough, and my realizations are not profound enough..." Mo Hua sighed inwardly. Just when he thought he needed more time, a tremor suddenly echoed within the Sea of Consciousness, and the Taoist Stele began to slowly recover. Mo Hua was delighted and quickly sank his Divine Sense into the Sea of Consciousness. The grey on the Taoist Stele faded away gradually, and that ancient and profound aura began to fill the space with vigor once more. Mo Hua tried drawing a few Formations and found that the Taoist Stele was usable, although its effects were not as strong as before. After drawing the Formations and erasing them, he could only recover half of the Divine Sense he had used. Mo Hua felt somewhat regretful. It seems it hasn’t fully recovered yet. Nevertheless, it could still be barely used, which was, at least, better than having nothing. Mo Hua touched the Taoist Stele and said affectionately, "I won’t put you through this again." The Taoist Stele remained as silent as ever, seemingly a bit petulant, not accepting Mo Hua’s apology. Find your next adventure on empire Now that he had the Taoist Stele, although it was only a "incomplete" version, Mo Hua’s practice of the Ultimate Formation saw a direct two or threefold increase. His comprehension of the Ultimate Formation sped up significantly as well. A few more days passed, and Mo Hua finally managed to draw the Ultimate Formation. Within the Formation, Spiritual Power transformed into fine threads, moving independently and yet complementing each other, converging... However, at the same time, Mo Hua furrowed his brows. Something was off... "This Ultimate Formation… is incomplete..." Or rather, it was only a part of the entire Ultimate Formation. Mo Hua had drawn it, but still felt it was lacking something. The Spiritual Power could flow and undergo special changes, but it was quite disparate, as if it were an abandoned segment. "Why is it incomplete?" Mo Hua didn’t understand. The Formation eye, Formation pivot, and Formation Patterns were all intact. And what exactly was the effect of this Ultimate Formation? Spiritual Power in the Formation was split into even finer filaments, like threads twisted together, each with a special flow. Looking fascinating yet baffling... What’s the purpose of drawing this Formation on a Zombie’s circulatory paths? Mo Hua could not figure it out and, thinking that two heads are better than one, went to consult Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi. Bai Zixi said with a slight frown, "Perhaps, it’s for Corpse control..." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞 "Corpse control?" Mo Hua asked doubtfully, "Don’t Corpse cultivators have their own methods to control zombies? Why would they need to use an Ultimate Formation?" If one strictly needed an Ultimate Formation to control zombies, then there wouldn’t be many Corpse cultivators in the world, nor many Cultivators capable of refining zombies. After all, only a handful of Formation Masters know the Ultimate Formations. Yet, Corpse Refinement and Corpse control are a relatively prominent school on the Demon Path. Corpse cultivators engaged in Corpse Refinement are not rare in the Demon Path. Bai Zixi pondered and said, "Controlling zombies is easy, but the quantity is an issue." "Quantity?" Mo Hua was slightly startled. Bai Zisheng, however, remembered something and nodded, "Right, an ordinary Corpse cultivator can’t control so many zombies." "A few dozen zombies, that Zhang Quan controls with ease, is indeed curious. Moreover, he may have refined even more zombies. That’s not right..." Mo Hua became enlightened. If a Corpse cultivator could control so many zombies, then leveraging the tactic of a ’zombie sea’, no other Cultivator of the same rank could possibly be his match. This was clearly too overpowering. Bai Zixi continued, "Normally, a Corpse cultivator controls a few to a dozen zombies, never dozens like that." Mo Hua’s gaze sharpened. That said, Zhang Quan could possibly control so many zombies thanks to the Ultimate Formation. Where’s the other part of the Ultimate Formation then? Mo Hua pondered briefly, then his eyes brightened: "That copper bell?" Bai Zixi and Bai Zisheng also nodded slightly. Zhang Quan uses a copper bell to control zombies. If the Ultimate Formation is incomplete, it’s likely that the other part of the Formation is inscribed on the copper bell. As for the principle behind this Formation, one has to wait until Mo Hua can find the complete Formation and study it to understand it. "It seems that I need to find Zhang Quan..." Mo Hua nodded and muttered to himself. At the same time, he had another doubt. The Ultimate Formation for controlling zombies, with a rank of one and twelve patterns, could it be... that Ultimate Formation of the Minor Hidden Spirit Sect? Mo Hua furrowed his brows, thinking carefully. A Formation with one rank and twelve patterns, exceeding limits, is extremely rare. It seems very unlikely for the Minor Wilderness state boundary to coincidentally have two Ultimate Formations of one rank and twelve patterns. Moreover, the Spirit Pivot Formation, the Spirit pivot, the Spiritual Power pivot point... It also sounds like the effect of controlling zombies. If this Formation truly is the Spirit Pivot Formation, then who drew it? Who can master an Ultimate Formation and is willing to draw it for Zhang Quan for corpse control? Could the one who drew the Formation be the traitor from the Minor Hidden Spirit Sect? Or perhaps... Instructor Yan? Mo Hua’s heart chilled, his expression turning complicated.