MTL - Asking About Longevity

Chapter 645 Spirit Distinguishing Painting Formation

 The cliffs hanging in the sky, the solitary peaks and mountains.

 Across the sea of ​​clouds, there is an invisible stone bridge.

Four monks, three large and one small, with their figures hidden, were walking on the bridge step by step, as if they were walking through space, walking on the edge of the sky, with an endless ravine at their feet.

　A few people were inevitably shocked.

Mo Hua is okay, it’s not his first time leaving.

Although this time the cliff is higher, the road is longer, and the opposite side is more dangerous, he is followed by three "bodyguards".

One of them is Uncle Gu from the Golden Core Realm.

 It’s actually quite safe.

 The stone bridge was empty, with no one around.

　A few people walked forward step by step.

 In the middle of the solitary peak is a huge and long and narrow cave entrance.

　　It’s just that he has always been a little arrogant and could not speak for a while, especially in front of Gu An and Gu Quan.

“But the noise is so loud that it will definitely alert Fire Buddha and the others..."

 …

“Although the Devil’s Cave sounds eerie and scary, in the final analysis, it is also a monastic building that requires the use of architectural formations..."

 Otherwise, they would be walking on thin ice walking on a stone bridge densely covered with formations, and they might not be able to reach the other side.

Halfway through this journey, the sky suddenly turned dark above the stone bridge.

After another cup of tea, the few people who were hiding their bodies stepped onto the stone steps of the opposite cliff and arrived at the other side without anyone noticing.

 This is Uncle Gu asking himself what to do with these formations.

 In front of you is a solitary peak, surrounded by empty space and shrouded in clouds.

Gu Changhuai looked indifferent, but Gu An and Gu Quan were a little nervous.

Mo Hua thought for a while and shook his head:

 These formations are either early warnings or traps, and the locations are very obscure.

“This is an evil formation, and the formation is closed, so you can’t see through the formation patterns inside. In addition, it is a second-grade high-level evil formation, so it cannot be solved..."

The ink painting stops on the stone bridge.

 He is a Diansi or a son of the Gu family, so he always wants to save face.

However, nature cannot hide the spiritual consciousness of Mo Hua.

The formation master under Fire Buddha is a second-grade high-level evil formation master...

 The hole is closed, like the closed eyes of an evil beast.

Mo Hua thought for a while and said without waiting for Gu Changhuai to ask:

Mo Hua pointed the way, and Gu Changhuai and the other three followed the ink painting honestly.

“Then there must be various formations built in this solitary peak.”

Gu Changhuai glanced at the ink paintings with a calm expression, and felt lucky that no trace of the ink painting touched his body despite the thousands of "formations" passing by.

Mo Hua understands.

The rocks on both sides are ferocious, and the protruding stones fit into each other like the eyelashes of evil beasts, covering up the bright red blood in the eyes.

The formations along the way were all seen through by Mo Hua.

Mo Hua’s eyes narrowed slightly, “The evil formation…”

 Gu An and Gu Quan frowned.

 Zui Xiu had indeed set up many formations on the stone bridge.

I don’t know whether it was Gu An or Gu Quan who asked.

 “At least I can’t figure it out yet…”

 Gu Changhuai's handsome eyes were silently looking at the ink paintings.

 Fortunately, I brought this child...

 In the gloomy evil atmosphere, after walking for an unknown amount of time, I finally saw a cliff in front of me.

Like an isolated island in a sea of ​​clouds, without any human habitation.

"If you can't break the formation, you can only use brute force to break the formation..."

 “Young Master, can this door be opened?”

They looked at each other with firm eyes and continued to move forward.

 The road behind you is like a cloud, the sky is bright and the sun is clear.

 The road ahead is full of evil spirits, and the solitary peaks are like ghost caves, gloomy and oppressive.

 Ink painting lets go of consciousness, observes and perceives all the way, and occasionally reminds aloud:

 Where is the Xiaoyuan Magnetic Array, where is the earth explosion array, where is the early warning array, where is the violent wind array...

“I want to take a look at the structure of the entire solitary peak from the outside first, then speculate on the formation inside, and then consider how to get in...”

 “Okay.” Gu Changhuai nodded.

So Mo Hua put his hands behind his back and held his head high, as if "inspecting", he walked around the solitary peak while sensing the formation inside.

Gu Changhuai and three others followed silently behind, looking wary and looking around, like three "followers".

After walking around for a while, Mo Hua found a quiet place, used a stone as a table, covered it with formation paper, and began to initially restore the formation structure on the outermost edge of the Demon Cave.

While recalling the magical traces of the formation he had just sensed from the rocks, he drew formation patterns on the paper.

Occasionally, he raised his head to take in a panoramic view of the entire solitary peak, correcting the connection between the formations...

 After a moment, a formation outline composed of formation patterns on the outside of the devil's cave emerged on the paper little by little...

Gu Changhuai’s pupils shrank, he looked at the ink painting and murmured:

 “Spirit Distinguishing Painting Formation…”

 “Spirit Distinguishing Painting Formation?” Mo Hua was a little surprised and asked Gu Changhuai, “What is the Spirit Distinguishing Painting Formation?”

Gu Changhuai was startled, "This is what you are doing..."

Mo Hua was stunned for a moment, and then understood.

  Distinguishing the spiritual power of the formation from the outside and restoring the internal formation structure is called "distinguishing the spirit and painting the formation".

He always thought that this was just the basic formation calculation, but he didn't expect that there were so many fancy names...

Mo Hua praised: "Uncle Gu, you know a lot..."

 Gu Changhuai: “…”

If it weren't for Mo Hua's serious face and clear eyes, he almost suspected that Mo Hua was "sarcastic" on himself...

 It took more than half an hour to finally restore the outer formation diagram of the "Devil's Cave" in Mo Hua.

 On paper, it’s a devil’s cave.

But this "Devil's Cave" seems to be "see-through" by divine consciousness. It does not have the appearance of mountains, rocks, grass and trees, but reveals the inner "skeleton" of various formations and pivots.

Although it was only the outer surface of the formation structure, Gu Changhuai was still extremely shocked.

 He was in a daze.

Is this really something that an early-stage formation master can do?

This is completely different from all the formation masters he has known in the past...

Gu An and Gu Quan on the other side also couldn't understand, and at the same time they felt more and more that people cannot be painted by their appearance.

 This little formation master is really no small matter...

He is worthy of being a person who can bargain with the young master who always speaks his mind, and even make the always stubborn young master have to make concessions.

Mo Hua didn’t know what they were thinking, but continued:

“The formation of the Demon Cave is very strict, but since it is a monastic construction formation, in order to save costs, we have to make some 'compromises'..."

“For the main part, a formation with nineteen patterns of the second grade is used, but in some corners, the grade of the formation will be lowered and the number of patterns will also be reduced..."

“Eighteen lines, seventeen lines, and even the second-grade mid-level sixteen lines will all be used..."

“Even some parts will use the first-grade formation to make up the numbers…”

“The weak points of these formations are the flaws.”

“The larger the scale of the monastic construction formation, the more magnificent it looks from the outside, but in the eyes of insiders, there are more flaws..."

 In the eyes of an insider…

Gu Changhuai and the others looked at the ink paintings and nodded in agreement.

Mo Hua looked at the "Devil's Cave" array diagram from beginning to end again, and then led the three of them to a hillside on the back of the solitary peak.

 At the foot of the hillside, there is a solid rock with rugged gravel.

“The rock here is solid and difficult to excavate and construct formations, so the formation masters who built the Demon Cave were lazy and cut corners..."

Mo Hua let go of his consciousness again, his eyes were deep, he looked at it for a while, and pointed to an ordinary stone slope:

 “The flaw here is the biggest.”

Gu Changhuai stared at the stone **** and couldn't tell why it had the biggest flaw here.

 But once it comes to formations and ink paintings, he always has an unquestionable feeling.

“Then we... dig through the rocks and sneak in secretly?”

 One of the two Gu brothers suggested.

Mo Hua guessed that he should be "Gu An".

The two brothers look the same and have similar voices, but their spiritual power flows differently. One is biased toward the left meridian, and the other is biased toward the right meridian.

  Like a left-hander and a right-hander.

 Left-handed people are Gu An, and right-handed people are Gu Quan.

Mo Hua shook his head, "The movement is still too big. For digging holes, just use formations..."

This is what he just learned, a type of Bagua Gen Formation, called Kaishan Formation.

The second-grade and fourteen-pattern mountain-opening formation can turn rocks into powder. It is not very powerful and has little movement. It is best used for digging such dark pits.

 Mo Hua took out his pen and ink and began to draw a mountain formation on the stone.

 He painted very quickly, and he finished the painting in a short time.

 Then on the formation, the gray lighted up, the formation took effect, and the rocks dissolved, turning into fine powder, which was blown away by the wind.

Gu Changhuai watched from the side, always feeling that something was very inconsistent.

 After looking at it for a while, he suddenly understood.

too fast…

He had seen the ink painting formation before, but he didn't pay much attention to it at that time.

Now under his nose, the ink brush moved like a dragon and a snake, completely drawing the second-grade and fourteen-pattern Kaishan Formation.

Gu Changhuai was shocked to realize that this writing method was too fast.

 It was like time was ‘fast forwarding’, and his little hand had left an afterimage.

This hand speed is several times faster than the formation masters I have seen before.

Gu Changhuai frowned.

“Why is this kid, Mo Hua, just like the ‘Hexagonal’ formation master, with no shortcomings at all…”

"He couldn't have been snatched away by some formation 'old monster'..."

 …

During this period of time when he was puzzling, he painted the mountain formation one after another in ink paintings, dissolving the rocks layer by layer.

 Finally, the last bit of rock disappeared, and a dark cave entrance appeared in front of us.

 At the entrance of the cave, there was a gloomy wind, and there was a faint smell of rot.

Mo Hua glanced at Gu Changhuai.

Gu Changhuai understood, nodded slightly, and went straight into the cave entrance, followed closely by Gu An and Gu Quan.

A few breaths later, Gu Changhuai's voice came from the cave.

"come in…"

Mo Hua nodded and walked in.

His vision was dark for a while, and then slowly there was light. Mo Hua looked intently and found that he was standing on a protruding stone pillar.

Mo Hua lowered his head and looked down, his pupils suddenly shrank.

 This is a huge cave.

The stone pillars are jagged and hideous.

 The mountain peak was hollowed out, and underneath was a huge and formidable demon temple.

Hungry corridors intersect with each other, and there are white bone lamps in the corridors. The gloomy green light reflects the strange halls around it.

 In the middle of the hall is a huge stone skull.

 The skull’s eyes were empty and burning with green fire.

The ferocious fangs protrude outwards, and the mouth is wide open, as if it is selecting people to devour.

 But this skull was half missing, and it seemed that the construction had not yet been completed. It was impossible to tell whether it was a human or an animal bone.

 And above the skull, there is a gloomy demonic aura.

Gu Changhuai looked stern and said in disbelief:

 “The Demon Cult Stronghold…”

 “What a courage!”

Mo Hua was startled, "The demon sect's stronghold..."

 He looked at Gu Changhuai and asked in a low voice: "Is there any difference between the demon sect's stronghold and the general evil cultivator's stronghold?"

Gu Changhuai looked solemn and said slowly:

“The strongholds of evil cultivators are only used for temporary hiding, while the strongholds of evil cultivators are used for long-term ‘dwelling’…”

"Evil cultivators are just poisonous fruits, and the poison only kills one or two people, but the devil's cult is the 'root' that spreads the poison..."

“The presence of a Demonic Cult stronghold means that the Demonic Cult has ‘taken root’ here, or is preparing to take root..."

“Once the Demonic Cult’s stronghold is built and takes root, it will become a cancer of the Demonic Path and spread the Demonic Path’s techniques, causing endless harm.”

“And it is extremely difficult to remove it, and the price paid is also very high..."

Gu Changhuai’s eyes were solemn.

 He had previously thought that Fire Buddha's "Demon Cave" was just an exaggeration. But now it seems that this devil's cave is really a large-scale devil's den.

Mo Hua said: "Then it seems that the Fire Buddha is not only a sinful cultivator, but also an evil cultivator. He is also a demonic cultivator with an 'inheritance'?"

Gu Changhuai’s eyes were cold, he nodded slightly and said:

"should be…"

Mo Hua frowned, "I didn't even notice..."

Gu Changhuai’s eyes were somewhat meaningful and he said:

“What you can’t see is the real demonic religion.”

“Those demon cultivators who have done evil and are arrogant and domineering have long been slaughtered by the Taoist court..."

“The remaining demonic cultivators are sometimes more sanctimonious than the decent cultivators…”

Mo Hua was startled and thought of Lu Chengyun inexplicably.

  Kill people, refine corpses, use zombies to mine, and earn spiritual stones day and night.

 Then use spirit stones to bribe Daotingsi, buy off local forces, further exploit the ore cultivators, refine zombies, and develop and strengthen their own power.

 On the surface, he is a gentle and gentle head of the Lu family.

 But behind the scenes, he is a real evil corpse cultivator.

Once he is allowed to become the Corpse King, all the monks in Nanyue City, whether living or dead, will probably become his "zombies".

 And the same may be true in front of us.

Fire Buddha and the others are probably just a "pretense".

This "Bishan Demon Cave", I don't know what is hidden behind it, and I don't know who created it...

“Uncle Gu, what should we do now? Do we want to go back and call someone?”

Mo Hua asked in a low voice.

Now that the demon sect stronghold has been discovered, logically speaking, the best way is to go back and "shake people" and call more Daotingsi executives to "destroy" this stronghold.

Gu Changhuai frowned in thought and slowly shook his head.

“Let’s do some research first. If we can find the Fire Buddha, it would be best to kill him directly…”

“Go back and call for people to surround the devil’s cave. There are too many variables in the melee. If the Fire Buddha escapes, the result will be in vain..."

"and…"

Gu Changhuai’s eyes darkened and he didn’t say much.

But he knew in his heart that Bishan City could build a devil's cave, which meant that Daotingsi must not be clean either...

When he goes back to transfer people, I'm afraid some people will take advantage of it...

　　If the killing knife is rusty, you may be the one who dies in the battle of life and death.

 This is exactly the intention of ink painting.

　It is easier to get things done when there are fewer people.

In case of more people, mixed ears, they are not easy to do small movements.

Mo Hua raised his head and glanced at the dense devil's cave again.

No matter who created this devil's cave, the Fire Buddha must die first.

 His Fire Meteor Technique must also be obtained.

 "Let's go..." Gu Changhuai said.

 “Yeah.” Mo Hua nodded.

So a group of four people, hiding their figures, quietly descended along the surrounding stone walls and entered the Demon Palace.

 Once inside the Demon Palace, the terrain becomes complicated again, and the structure is very different from the structure seen from the outside.

 Many buildings are internally closed and cannot move around at all.

 There are dense formations all around, and there are more restrictions on movement.

There are also strangely dressed demon cultivators patrolling with several demon dogs.

If discovered by the patrolling Demonic Cultivating Demonic Dog, it would probably alert the snake and attract more Demonic Cave cultivators.

Being surrounded and killed in the Demon's Cave, Gu Changhuai of the Golden Core Realm may be able to escape, but Gu An and Gu Quan are probably in far worse danger.

Mo Hua might be able to escape, but don’t think about assassinating Fire Buddha anymore.

 So the four of them walked cautiously.

 In order not to be discovered, he did not even dare to kill a dog.

Walking around in the Demon Palace for most of the day, I didn't even find the shadow of the Fire Buddha.

These demonic cultivators also have a very strict tone of voice. They lead dogs like puppets of the "walking dead", scouting everywhere but rarely speaking.

Mo Hua couldn't even eavesdrop on some clues from them.

 If you continue to investigate like this, you will be like a headless fly.

 Let alone seven days, even seventeen days, it is estimated that the Fire Buddha will not be caught.

"what to do…"

Mo Hua frowned.

Gu Changhuai also felt that this was not a solution, so he whispered: "Let's go to the inner hall and have a look..."

 The place where they are now in Mo Hua is the outer hall of the Demon Palace.

If the Fire Buddha is not in the outer hall, he will most likely be in the inner hall.

 It's just that the further you go to the inner temple, the defense will definitely be tighter, there will be more people and dogs patrolling, and the risk will be greater.

 Once discovered, the probability of escape is also lower.

Gu An and Gu Quan looked as if they were ready to die.

Mo Hua also nodded.

A few people tried to walk into the inner hall, but after taking a few steps, three people walked towards them. The first one was leading a demon dog with green eyes and black hair and a smelly saliva.

The four of them hurriedly hid aside, holding on to the stone wall with their backhands, and hanging on the suspended corridor.

The demon dog walked nearby, suddenly bared its teeth, barked viciously, lowered its head and sniffed nearby.

Mo Hua sprinkled everyone with odorless powder.

This kind of powder is a common medicinal powder for monster hunters. When hunting monsters in Dahei Mountain, sprinkle some on your body when you are in danger to avoid being smelled by monsters.

This kind of medicinal powder is not used often, but Mo Hua still carries some with him to be prepared.

The demon dog couldn't smell it and barked a few times.

A demon cultivator said in a deep voice: "What's going on?"

 “What did the devil-sniffing dog find?”

A gloomy spiritual consciousness spread around, swept over the Mo Hua people, and then took it back.

"No…"

“This dog is in heat? Why is it still barking?”

“Who gave it the elixir that shouldn’t have been given?”

 Then there was a howl of a demon dog, as if someone kicked it.

 “Damn beast, don’t bark when it’s okay...”

 “It’s a waste of my time…”

　　A hoarse voice said: "Okay, let's continue patrolling..."

 “How could anyone come in here…”

"damn it…"

 After that, the three demon cultivators led the dogs and drifted away.

After confirming that they were gone, Gu Changhuai frowned: "It's not easy to go in..."

The Demon Palace is patrolled too closely.

There is also this **** dog that is more vigilant than people.

A few steps and a whistle, and you can't get in at all.

 Gu Quan—Mo Hua guessed that he was Gu An and whispered: "Then we kill these patrollers?"

Gu Changhuai's eyes narrowed slightly, but he still shook his head.

 “Can’t kill…”

“You can’t kill people, not even that dog…”

 When you take action, if there is a fluctuation in spiritual power and it is noticed by the demon cultivator;

Or maybe when killing people, their hands and feet were not sharp enough, causing them to shout and alert other demon cultivators;

 Or maybe after the attack, the body was not well hidden and was discovered by other demon cultivators.

 The whereabouts of myself and others were exposed...

 All four of them frowned.

Gu Changhuai sighed silently, "Let's search the outer hall again and try our luck to see if we can find any clues or a secret passage leading to the inner hall..."

“Yeah.” Mo Hua and others nodded slightly.

 Then four people came up from the corridor.

But before he took a few steps forward, Mo Hua's expression changed, "Someone is coming..."

Gu Changhuai also noticed it, and his face also darkened.

As a last resort, several people returned to their original positions and hid under the corridor.

The three demonic cultivators and a demonic dog left and came back.

 “There is movement here…”

 “Quick, search it again…”

 They searched harder this time.

 Several rays of consciousness, scanning back and forth.

The dog's nose was sniffing hard and he wanted to wipe the ground again.

Mo Hua felt a little nervous.

I don’t know how long it took before the three demon cultivators gave up.

 “Still nothing…”

"I read it wrong?"

“Is he playing tricks on us? Treating us like dogs and driving us around so casually for fun?”

 “Go to hell…”

　　"If you don't see him as...I will sooner or later..."

"Shut up!"

　　A hoarse voice said sternly, "Are you tired of living?"

The other two were silent and did not dare to speak.

 “Do your part!”

The demon cultivator warned sternly, and then his tone softened slightly, "This hall is closed, damp and gloomy. You are cultivating demonic skills, and your mind is easily unstable..."

"it will be fine after a while."

 “Be able to go out and vent…”

 There was a gloomy laughter.

 Then the three of them took the dogs and slowly left.

 Gu Changhuai and the others did not come out rashly, but remained hanging in place.

There was silence all around, and Gu An couldn't help but whisper: "The demonic beasts are not afraid of disturbing the grass and frightening snakes. They really should be killed..."

Gu Changhuai said calmly: "Business matters are important."

 “Yes, sir.”

After confirming that the three people and the dog were gone, the four people came out and were about to continue looking for a place to search, but Mo Hua suddenly stopped.

 “What’s wrong?” Gu Changhuai asked.

Mo Hua frowned, "Something's wrong..."

Gu Changhuai was slightly startled and thoughtful.

Mo Hua looked back and said, "There's something wrong with this place..."

“Those three people and one dog have obviously gone far away, why did they suddenly come back?”

“And from what they said, it seemed that there was a ‘person’ who told them that there was movement here, so they turned back again…”

 “How did this ‘person’ know that there was something going on here?”

 “Why did he notice the movement?”

Mo Hua was talking and thinking. At the same time, he let go of his consciousness and searched the surroundings carefully. Suddenly his eyes lit up and he ran to a corner of the corridor.

 There is a very hidden formation carved in the corner.

Mo Hua didn’t know what kind of formation this was, but he could tell based on his perception that it was a metamagnetic formation that he had never seen before...

 “Metamagnetic Array…”

Mo Hua murmured.

Suddenly he was startled again and closed his eyes to feel. He seemed to feel a "magnetic current" in the dark.

 This magnetic current is extremely weak.

If he hadn't had a very keen sense of consciousness and dealt with the secondary thunder patterns derived from "magnetic currents" every day, he wouldn't have been able to sense it at all.

 “Metamagnetic induction…”

Mo Hua suddenly realized it. He raised his head again and took in the entire Demon Palace. He gradually had a guess in his mind:

“This strict devil’s palace seems to be closely ‘monitored’ by a set of metamagnetic formations...”

 (End of this chapter)