Asking About Longevity

Chapter 24 Seeking the Way

When Mo Hua went to see the fat manager again, he was told that the market had changed.

 The Open Fire Formation and Solid Earth Formation are no longer accepted by Youyuanzhai.

Mo Hua looked stunned and said suspiciously: "The open fire array is used for lighting, and the solid earth array is used for building houses. Unless no one lives in Tongxian City, there will be no sales."

The fat steward complained about Mo Hua in his heart. It was not a good thing that the child was smart and he was not easy to deceive. I simply stopped making excuses. The more excuses I found, the harder it became to justify them. I just waved my hand:

“How do I know this? The market is just like this, and there’s nothing I can do about it!”

Mo Hua was speechless. He had only saved half of the spiritual stones for learning the exercises, so he had to ask: "Then what formations are you collecting?"

The fat steward coughed and took out a formation diagram with the words "Golden Stone Formation Diagram" written on the cover.

“The current gold-collecting stone formation also contains four formation patterns, which is not much different from the earth-solid formation.”

Mo Hua looked at the formation map and asked, "Steward, what is the metal and stone formation used for?"

The fat steward said: "It is a bit similar to the solid earth formation. It is also used to build caves or monks' residences to reinforce doors, windows and walls, but one is to reinforce earth and wood, and the other is to reinforce gold and stone."

Mo Hua frowned, "It has similar functions to the Solid Earth Formation. No one uses the Solid Earth Formation, so does the Golden Stone Formation have people using it?"

The fat steward glared at Mo Hua and said stiffly: "This is the market price, you kid, don't ask so many questions!"

“Is this formation also a set of three spirit stones?”

ˆOriginally it was…

 The fat steward felt a little distressed, but he still increased the price and said:

“Normally speaking, this is three spiritual stones, but it has been relatively scarce recently, so the price has been increased a bit, and it is painted as a set of four spiritual stones, but the collection is not much, only five pairs every half month.”

 It’s relatively scarce, why don’t you let me draw more?

Mo Hua felt that it was a bit strange for the fat manager to be in charge, but this was Youyuanzhai's business, and he didn't have to interfere too much, as long as he could earn spiritual stones.

If all the paintings are successful, you can earn twenty spiritual stones every half month, which can be said to be quite rich.

 “Okay, deal!”

The fat steward breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out a storage bag from under the counter, handing it to Mo Hua as if he had prepared it in advance.

Mo Hua took the storage bag, checked it, and confirmed that it was the "Golden Stone Formation Diagram" and five pieces of paper and ink, and then said goodbye to the fat steward.

As he was about to reach the door, the fat steward couldn't help but call him:

 “Ink painting.”

Mo Hua turned around. The fat steward hesitated and asked, "Is this formation difficult for you?"

Mo Hua thought about it and realized that they were all four formation patterns, similar to the solid earth formation. It was not particularly difficult, so he said: "It's okay."

Mo Hua turned around and took a few steps, then turned back and added: "My brother should be able to draw it."

“Oh,” the fat steward looked at him with a complicated expression, nodded and said, “Have a good time painting.”

"By the way," the fat steward called Mo Hua again and said, "My surname is Mo. Don't be angry at Mo. Just call me Mo Steward."

Mo Hua nodded, "Okay, don't interfere, I'll remember it."

 Mo Hua returned to Tongxianmen and took the time to study the Golden Stone Formation. Because it is similar to the Solid Earth Formation, and thanks to the fact that I had previously consulted Yan to learn how to draw the Solid Earth Formation, it was not too difficult to understand.

One day before the formation class, Yan Jiaoxi asked someone to send down the corrected formation homework. The formation diagram drawn in ink only received a "B" grade.

Looking at the ink painting left and right, and comparing it with the sect's "Detailed Explanation of Formation", I found that I didn't make a mistake in the painting. Why was it just "B"?

 Ink painting is a bit confusing.

The disciple sitting next to him saw the word "B" on the Mo Hua formation diagram and shouted: "Wow, Mo Hua, you only got a B."

Mo Hua looked at the word "C" on his formation diagram and said nothing.

The disciple hurriedly covered his "C" mark with his hand, smiled, and then asked curiously: "How come you only got a B grade?"

Mo Hua was also confused and said: "I drew it correctly, I don't know why there is only B."

 “You drew it correctly, how could the teacher only give you B?”

Mo Hua showed him the formation map and asked, "Can you see what's wrong?" The disciple said confidently: "If I could see it, I wouldn't just get a "C"!"

 Other disciples sitting around also stretched their necks, looked at the formation diagram drawn in ink, and then said one after another:

 “It doesn’t look like there’s anything wrong with it.”

“Mo Hua, have you offended your teacher?”

 “Be careful to teach and punish you.”

"Yan Jiaoxi is not such a person..."

Before he finished speaking, Yan Jiaoxi walked into the monastery room. A group of disciples quickly retracted their necks and acted quietly like quails, not daring to let out any air.

 Yan Jiaoxi attended class as usual, and said after class:

“Cultivation of the Tao is like sailing against the current. If you don’t advance, you will retreat. The same is true for the Tao of Formation. You must not slack off and waste your time and talents.”

After Yan Jiaoxi finished speaking, he glanced around sternly, finally looked at Mo Hua, and said, "Mo Hua, come with me."

“Yes.” Mo Hua stood up respectfully and followed Yan Jiaoxi out of the monastery.

Seeing that Yan Jiaoxi left, the disciples in the room gathered their heads together again:

“It’s over, it’s over, Mo Hua is miserable now.”

“The teacher said that someone is slacking off, is he talking about ink painting?”

 “But I’m also lazy, why don’t you teach me?”

"How can you compare with ink painting? How good the ink painting formation is, it needs to be taught and valued."

“Fortunately, the teacher doesn’t value me, so don’t value me...”

Mo Hua followed Yan Jiaoxi out of the monastic room, walked through the alchemy room, the weapon refining room, and finally left Tongxuan Peak.

Jiaoxi Yan didn’t say a word along the way. Occasionally, a disciple or other teacher would greet the elders of the sect, and they would either nod or raise their hands in response.

 Yan Jiaoxi brought the ink paintings to his room at Tongming Peak.

Tongming Peak is the place where the leader, elders, teachers and inner disciples live and practice. This is Mo Hua’s first time here. The environment is indeed very clean and beautiful. Many courtyards are planted with colorful spiritual flowers and spiritual grasses, as well as some spiritual animals such as golden pheasants. The beast is taking a leisurely walk.

 Only at Tongming Peak can these golden pheasants be so leisurely. If they are placed at Tongxuan Peak, they will never see the sun the next day.

Mo Hua thought of the burnt chicken leg that Shuanghu handed him.

There is a formation outside Yan Jiaoxi's living room, and there is a small Bagua tray on the door. This should have been arranged by Yan Jiaoxi himself. There is no such thing at the door of other courtyards or living rooms.

Yan Jiaoxi's fingers made a few strokes on the Bagua plate, and a light flashed on the door before it opened.

After entering the house, Yan Jiaoxi sat in front of the desk and asked Mo Hua directly:

 “Do you want to be a formation master?”

Mo Hua said humbly: "My disciple's talent is limited, so I'm afraid I won't be able to be a formation master."

Yan Jiaoxi frowned and said: "Whether you want to think about it or not is one thing, but whether you have talent is another. Don't just look at the results and lose your original intention. All living beings in the world are mortal, so don't they all live?"

Hearing this, Mo Hua said seriously: "This disciple wants to be a formation master!"

 “Why do you think?”

“Cultivation is difficult, but formation can make a living.”

"anything else?"

“Monks seek the way of heaven and become immortals, and they can seek the way of heaven by understanding the formation.”

Yan Jiaoxi frowned and said: "The way of heaven is so far away that monks may spend their entire lives unable to catch a glimpse of it."

Mo Hua said: "As the teachings say, it is up to heaven to find the way, and it is up to people to seek the way. Since monks seek the way to heaven, they must not lose their desire to seek the way, no matter whether they finally obtain the way or not."

Yan Jiaoxi was silent for a moment and nodded, "From now on, you will come to me after class every day. You can go back today."

"Yes." Mo Hua didn't know why, but he still saluted and said goodbye.

Yan Jiaoxi watched Mo Hua leave and breathed a sigh of relief after a long time:

 “It’s a good seedling.”

 (End of this chapter)