Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then answered: "I felt that the power of a single Fireball Technique wasn't sufficient, so I wanted to 'fuse' two Fireball Techniques together to enhance the power, and then... it exploded..." The Elder of Daoist Law frowned, "Nonsense, who does 'fusion' like that?" Mo Hua replied humbly, "Then how should one fuse them?" "You've misunderstood," the Elder of Daoist Law shook his head. "So-called spell 'fusion' isn't about mixing two spells together like dough..." "Spell fusion is essentially the fusion of skill patterns." "Moreover, it's not about fusing after casting; rather, it's about having a 'fused' skill pattern before even casting. It just appears as if it's 'fusing'..." Mo Hua had an epiphany. He remembered how Grandpa Gui showed him the Fireball Technique, consecutively condensing the fire threads and then weaving them to form the spell. Essentially, it wasn't about merging several Fireball Techniques. Rather, it was in itself a complete, separate spell. He had practiced according to Grandpa Gui's method, but because of working behind closed doors, he had gotten a bit sidetracked amidst the confusion... Even though he'd veered off course, the power seemed very strong... It was even stronger than he had imagined... Why was that? Mo Hua blinked and glanced at the Elder of Daoist Law. The Elder of Daoist Law felt a bit uneasy under Mo Hua's gaze, wondering what schemes the boy was concocting in his mind... "Elder..." Mo Hua spoke softly, "Suppose there is a possibility..." "That there are two 'twin' Cultivators, with identical Divine Sense and Spiritual Root, casting the exact same spell..." "There are no such 'twin' Cultivators..." the Elder of Daoist Law said. "I mean suppose..." Mo Hua said earnestly, "...If there were, what would happen when their spells collided? Would they fuse?" Mo Hua was full of curiosity. The Elder of Daoist Law felt a headache coming on; he dreaded encountering disciples with such wild imaginations and bizarre questions. Their questions had some logic to them. But to answer them was truly taxing on Divine Sense. The Elder of Daoist Law massaged his forehead and, following Mo Hua's train of thought, pondered for a moment before slowly speaking: "If their Divine Sense and Spiritual Root are identical, then those two spells might not be exactly the same due to the sequence in time..." "For a Cultivator, time is also a kind of Law." "The moment of spellcasting, like the configuration of the spell's Spiritual Power, is an inherent characteristic. It's just that most Cultivators completely overlook this point..." "Then let's say the timing of the spellcasting is also exactly the same..." Mo Hua said. "In that case..." the Elder of Daoist Law murmured, "then these two spells would be nearly identical, sharing the same origin. If they came into contact..." "There would be two possibilities..." The Elder of Daoist Law speculated based on the principles of spells: "Either they would instantly 'fuse' into a large fireball..." "Or they would be in a state where they are close to each other, not exploding, yet not fusing, a sort of 'attraction and repulsion'..." "Like the Taixu's Eryi, coexisting yet repelling each other..." Mo Hua's eyes sparkled with admiration. As expected of the Elder of Daoist Law from the Taixu Gate, able to deduce the reality with just the theory of spells. "What if these two fireballs are 'attracting and repelling' each other but not fusing?" Mo Hua asked again. "Well..." the Elder of Daoist Law had barely started speaking when he suddenly paused, "How do you know?" Because I've tried it! And I hurt myself in the process! Mo Hua silently said to himself. But it was not the sort of thing he could openly discuss, so he equivocated, "I guessed..." Before the Elder of Daoist Law could regain his composure, Mo Hua continued to press with his questions, "If that's the case, why would there be repulsion?" Indeed, the Elder of Daoist Law continued down the path of Mo Hua's line of thought... "Because the essence of their skill patterns is different." "The structure of the skill pattern is the structure of the spell's Spiritual Power; it's the essence of the spell." "Skill patterns naturally repel one another." "Generally, even if the same Cultivator casts the same spell, the structures of the skill patterns are similar, yet each is distinct and independent." "It's like the creation of Standard Spiritual Weapons; all weapons use the same 'template.' When forged, they seem identical, but in reality, each Spiritual Artifact is a different entity..." "Your mentioned 'twin' fireballs are the same—they may be identical in every other way, but their fundamental 'skill pattern structures' are independently separate..." Mo Hua nodded. Unquestionably, the Elder of Daoist Law had reached the same conclusion as Mo Hua had! Mo had also guessed that the repulsion between fireballs was an intrinsic issue with the spell's skill pattern structure. Then Mo Hua asked another question, "Can these two 'twin' fireballs form a 'fusion' with different spells?" The Elder of Daoist Law shook his head, "Impossible, the structure of the skill patterns repels each other. They can't merge together..." "Is there a way to make them merge?" The Elder of Daoist Law actually gave it some serious thought before shaking his head again. Mo Hua blinked, "Suppose..." "By using brute force, with a mighty Divine Sense to control the fireballs for a rapid collision, would that result in a fusion..." "Collision?" The Elder of Daoist Law shook his head again, "It still probably wouldn't lead to a fusion..." "At most, it would be considered an 'aggregation,' but this kind of aggregation is very risky as it jeopardizes the stability of the spell's skill pattern..." "With the Divine Sense exerting sudden pressure to force the fireballs to aggregate, a powerful repulsion would instantly be generated, causing the intrinsic structure of the skill patterns in both fireballs to collapse, the Spiritual Power to lose its constraints, resulting in a mutation, the internal potency is released, and thereby..." As the Elder of Daoist Law was speaking, his voice became softer and softer, then suddenly, he paused, his eyes showing astonishment. He looked at Mo Hua, too shocked to speak, "You didn't ... " You couldn't have actually used the collision of fireballs, causing the skill pattern structure to collapse, thus creating a powerful destructive force to destroy the spell puppet... Then he became puzzled, "How did you..." How did you manage to do it? "Twin" fireballs of the same essence... Divine Sense forcefully controlling, aggregating the fireballs... Is that even possible at the Foundation Establishment Initial Stage? Mo Hua spoke softly, "I was just thinking wildly, just asking casually..." The Elder of Daoist Law silently looked at Mo Hua, thinking to himself, I'll believe you when hell freezes over. At the same time, he also reflected inwardly. Truly worthy of Elder Master Xun. Such a keen eye for talent! The disciple he valued not only had talent in Formation, but also could blaze new trails in spells, with such in-depth research... However... since this was a disciple valued by Elder Master Xun, it wasn't his place to inquire further. The Elder of Daoist Law thought for a moment, his gaze growing intense as if he had made up his mind, then shared with Mo Hua the "Principles of Spells," something originally not to be imparted: "Spiritual Power radiates outward to form a spell, which is the garment of Spiritual Power." "But within the Spiritual Power itself, its intrinsic nature changes, which also contains powerful potency..." "Ordinary spells are made with Spiritual Power forming the skill patterns to establish the spell, thereby possessing the Power of Killing..." "But conversely..." The Elder of Daoist Law's gaze sharpened, his voice grew heavy: "Through a spell, provoking changes in the structure of the skill pattern will result in a mutation of the Spiritual Power, releasing a great amount of unstable spiritual force, similarly causing extremely strong destructive power..." Mo Hua's eyes widened in realization. Could this not be... Formation Collapse! Though the methods differed, one used Formation and the other used spells, and even the mutations in Spiritual Power varied—one disintegrating and the other aggregating, their underlying principles were the same! Seeing how quickly Mo Hua understood, the Elder of Daoist Law was a bit stunned. This child... he might have done this sort of thing before... Why did it feel like he grasped it immediately? The Elder of Daoist Law felt it wasn't right to continue on this topic and coughed before standing up, "It's getting late, I should be going back..." Mo Hua responded with the utmost politeness, "Elder, please take care." But there was one thing he was very curious about, that he had thought over and over again, yet couldn't resist asking. "Oh, one more thing, Elder..." Mo Hua asked softly, "...What is your esteemed surname?" On hearing this, the Elder of Daoist Law appeared as if he had been struck by lightning, completely stunned. He was somewhat angry, but also somewhat incredulous and sad, "After all this time, you don't even know my surname?!" Mo Hua felt rather embarrassed. There was no helping it; there were too many Sect Elders, including substitute teachers who occasionally changed, and there were some Elders he only recognized by face but couldn't recall by name. Mo Hua gave an awkward smile. The Elder of Daoist Law helplessly said, "My surname is Yi..."