Immortality Through Array Formations - Chapter 249:
Chapter 249: Chapter 248 Spell_1
The matter with the Sin Cultivator came to a close, after which Mo Hua devoted his time to learning two Spells.
One was the Concealment Technique, and the other was the Water Prison Technique.
In the courtyard of the Mo Family.
Since the eatery was less busy, Liu Ruhua had some free time and sat in the courtyard sewing clothes for Mo Hua.
Mo Hua was learning the Concealment Technique nearby.
After a while, Mo Hua asked, “Mother, can you see me?”
He didn’t know what the mastered Concealment Technique looked like, so he wanted his mother to help him see.
Finding it amusing, Liu Ruhua continued to sew as she looked up and said, “I can see you.”
“How about now?”
“I can see you.”
“Can you still see me now?”
“Yes.”
…
“Can you see me now?”
Liu Ruhua looked up, her expression one of astonishment as she exclaimed,
“Huar, I can’t see you!”
Mo Hua was delighted, but then he realized something was wrong; his mother was looking at him and yet said she couldn’t see him.
He looked down at himself and could still clearly see his own body and the clothes he was wearing.
Mo Hua said, somewhat helplessly, “Mother…”
Liu Ruhua covered her mouth and laughed, her eyes filled with mirth, “Keep practicing, I won’t fool you anymore.”
Mo Hua sighed and couldn’t help but be amused. However, seeing his mother happy also made him feel joy.
Afterward, he tried the Concealment Technique a few more times, but to no effect.
Mo Hua then picked up the book of the Concealment Technique again for a review, carefully considering the key points and the meridians through which the Spiritual Power had to flow as he performed the Technique again.
Spiritual Power flowed out from the Qi Sea, running through the meridians and covering the skin, as well as the clothes he wore.
Mo Hua’s form began to change gradually.
Liu Ruhua watched and showed a surprised expression.
This time, her astonishment didn’t seem feigned.
Mo Hua then asked, “Mother, can you still see me?”
Liu Ruhua frowned, “It’s as if I can see you, and yet I can’t…”
“What does that mean?”
Mo Hua didn’t understand and raised his hands to see that his arms had become a faintly blue, transparent hue.
They looked like they were made of water.
You could say he was invisible, but not completely so.
After some contemplation, Mo Hua understood.
The key to the Concealment Technique lay in the Spiritual Root.
Those with a single Water Spirit Root were well-suited for the Concealment Technique and could utilize its effects effectively.
As a bearer of the Small Five Elements Spiritual Root, Mo Hua indeed had the element of water, but it wasn’t pure, so although he could learn the Concealment Technique, its effect was weaker—his form became like that of flowing water but couldn’t be completely hidden.
Mo Hua felt some disappointment.
Liu Ruhua thought for a moment, her eyes lighting up, “If you hide in the water, others won’t be able to see you.”
It seemed to make sense, but near Big Black Mountain, there weren’t many places with water…
Mo Hua sighed, “I’ll think of something else.”
At least, for now, the Concealment Technique was of no use to him.
Since the Concealment Technique wasn’t effective, Mo Hua began studying the other Spell—the Water Prison Technique.
The Water Prison Technique wasn’t very powerful, it could even be considered negligible.
However, this Spell was intended to trap the enemy; whether its power was great or small didn’t matter much.
When the Water Prison Technique was employed, Spiritual Power would transform into water-shaped lock chains, temporarily binding the enemy Cultivator, preventing their escape.
The duration of the binding was generally around three breaths. It would last longer when used against lower realm Cultivators and shorter, perhaps only a breath or two, against higher realm Cultivators.
It might seem of little use, but in life-or-death struggles or desperate pursuits, this obscure Spell became crucial.
The difficulty of the Water Prison Technique lies in its challenging learning curve, hard to use, and unreliable precision.
Executing the Water Prison Technique requires complex manipulation of spiritual power and numerous acupoint connections, making it hard to learn.
And because the flow of spiritual power is complicated, the spells are cast slowly, and due to the slow casting, they are hard to land accurately.
Especially for cultivators with good movement techniques, by the time your spell is fully conjured, they have long since made their escape.
Therefore, few spiritual cultivators are willing to spend the effort to learn such a difficult, weak, and unpopular spell.
But none of these were problems for Mo Hua.
Mo Hua’s Divine Sense was strong to begin with, his cultivation technique was the Heaven Yan Jue, which specializes in Divine Sense manipulation, and Old Kui had taught him Divine Sense locking; hence, his spells were both fast and accurate.
This Water Prison Technique was particularly suitable for him to learn.
Moreover, because his Divine Sense was so powerful, Mo Hua learned it almost effortlessly.
Mo Hua wanted to test the effectiveness of the Water Prison Technique, so he casually tossed a wild fruit into the air, locked it with his Divine Sense, and with a gesture of his right hand, spiritual power condensed into pale blue chains that locked the fruit in midair.
A few moments later, the fruit finally fell to the ground.
The effect was not bad, but he still wanted to test it on some living creatures.
That led Mo Hua to think of the fish in Mr. Zhuang’s pond.
The next day, Mo Hua rose early and went to Forgetful Residence, greeted Mr. Zhuang, then went to the pond to cast the Water Prison Technique on the fish swimming inside.
The aquatic plants were a lush green, and the pond water was crystal clear.
The fish leisurely swam at the bottom of the pond when suddenly a pale blue gleam of water appeared, trapping a fish so that no matter how it darted, it could not escape.
Suddenly the pond bottom was in disarray.
The other fish, startled, swam even faster and more frantically.
Mo Hua’s fingers moved rapidly, and one after another, the fish were locked by the shimmering water.
After playing for a while, Mo Hua grew somewhat bored, finding it too easy.
Mo Hua released the fish one by one, and after being freed from their bindings, the fish swam frantically for a while until they sensed no more danger and slowly resumed their leisurely swimming, restoring calm to the pond bottom.
After troubling the fish in the pond, Mo Hua felt that his mastery of the Water Prison Technique was still not quite refined, so he went under the big locust tree to find Bai Zisheng.
Under the towering locust tree, Bai Zixi was quietly reading a book, while Bai Zisheng was still listlessly lazing about.
“I’ve learned a new spell,” Mo Hua quietly told Bai Zisheng.
Bai Zisheng’s eyes lit up, and he immediately stole a glance at Bai Zixi.
Bai Zixi didn’t lift his eyes from the book, but in a clear voice, he simply said, “Just make sure you finish your homework.”
“I’m almost done; in less than an hour, I’ll be finished,” Bai Zisheng said.
Bai Zixi uttered a soft “mm.”
Bai Zisheng looked glad and said to Mo Hua, “Come on, let’s have a little competition to see.”
Mo Hua and Bai Zisheng went to the side, careful not to disturb Bai Zixi’s reading.
“What spell did you learn?” Bai Zisheng asked.
“Water Prison Technique.”
Bai Zisheng frowned slightly, “Sounds a bit odd, but not particularly powerful.”
“The spell can trap an enemy, but it’s not very powerful.”
“Doesn’t that sound rather dull?” Bai Zisheng’s interest seemed lacking, then he asked, “So how shall we compare?”
“You run with your movement technique, and I’ll try to trap you with the spell,” Mo Hua proposed.
“That’s not really a spar, is it?” Bai Zisheng looked at Mo Hua skeptically, “Isn’t that just me getting beaten up?”
“A spar with a purpose is called a spar; without a purpose, it’s just fighting,” Mo Hua asserted confidently, “This will train my spellcasting and your movement technique.”
“All right, you make sense,” Bai Zisheng nodded.
Having something to play with was always better than nothing, and he also wanted to see for himself what the Water Prison Technique could do.
Mo Hua marked out a large space on the grass, “Within this circle, I’ll use the Water Prison Technique on you.”
“Okay.”
The two of them were on the grass under the big locust tree, Mo Hua practicing the spell and Bai Zisheng practicing his evasion techniques; Bai Zisheng dodged, and Mo Hua tried to trap him with the Water Prison Technique.
After about two hours, they stopped and sat down on the grass to rest.
When casting the Water Prison Technique, the flow of spiritual power is complex, so the release is actually slower than the Fireball Technique.
At first, it took Mo Hua about three attempts to trap Bai Zisheng once. After some practice, it took about two attempts to succeed once.
Bai Zisheng was a prideful member of the noble clans, versed in top-tier cultivation techniques and Taoist skills. An average cultivator would hardly be able to evade Mo Hua’s Water Prison Technique.
“To be honest, this spell of yours is somewhat disgusting,” Bai Zisheng couldn’t help saying.
