Chapter 1424: Temp - Chapter 1422: Corpse Dissolution and Laws
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Chapter 1422: Corpse Dissolution and Laws
(TN: This is a temporary chapter. It will be updated when I receive the Raws.)
After that, Mo Hua’s days once again became visibly uneventful—reading books, studying formations, drinking tea, and accompanying his little senior sister.
Whenever he recalled those exhausting days in Qianxue Prefecture Boundary, resisting the Great Wilderness Evil God and unifying the Divine Dao in the Great Wilderness, Mo Hua would still occasionally feel a sense of daze and a subtle unreality.
But that was the nature of a minor blessed land—so leisurely it seemed almost unreal.
No matter the storms or calamities outside, here there was neither wind nor waves, only tranquility and peace.
Mo Hua could only try his best to adapt to such ordinary days.
Ordinariness was a blessing, and Mo Hua, having experienced famine and war, understood this deeply.
Though he didn’t know how long this peaceful life would last, at least he should cherish the present moment.
One morning, Mo Hua was sitting at the white jade table in the small courtyard, drinking tea and reading a formation book, when he suddenly looked up and saw Xiao Ju walking in from outside.
Her little face was flushed, and there was a trace of mud on her dress and the edges of her shoes.
Mo Hua asked, “Went to see the orange tree again?”
“Mm,” Xiao Ju nodded, walked to the table, picked up a clean cup, gulped down some tea, then slumped onto the table with a sigh, her little face full of worry.
“Still hasn’t grown?” Mo Hua asked.
Xiao Ju nodded again and sighed: “Oranges are eaten so quickly, just a few bites and they’re gone. But planting them yourself is so hard and takes so long.”
Mo Hua nodded and sighed slowly, “That’s why everyone wants others to plant the fruit while they pick it.”
Xiao Ju said, “I want to be the clever one who picks the fruit too.”
Mo Hua smiled, “If everyone wants to pick the fruit, who will plant it?”
Xiao Ju was taken aback, frowning in thought.
Mo Hua sighed softly: “In this world, those who plant the fruit are the honest ones, while those who pick the fruit are the clever ones.”
“But on the other hand, the clever ones are actually the dispensable ones—whether there are more or fewer of them doesn’t matter. But if the honest ones are gone, the world will truly be finished.”
Xiao Ju was a bit confused, “So should I be clever or honest?”
Mo Hua asked her, “What do you think?”
“Hmm…” Xiao Ju rested her chin on her hand, her little eyebrows furrowed together as she thought hard for a long time. Suddenly, her eyes lit up: “Then I’ll just plant the oranges myself and pick them myself, won’t that work?”
“If I plant the oranges myself, I’m honest. If I pick them myself, I’m clever. That way, I’m both honest and clever!”
Xiao Ju looked quite pleased with herself.
Mo Hua smiled and asked again, “But what if someone tries to pick the oranges you planted?”
“Who?” Xiao Ju became alert and glanced at Mo Hua, “You?”
Mo Hua shook his head, “Even if I picked your oranges, I’d still feed them to you. What difference does it make?”
Xiao Ju nodded, “That’s true.”
Mo Hua said, “Someone might steal your oranges, snatch them, or use all sorts of tricks to take the oranges you planted for themselves.”
Xiao Ju looked furious, “That person is really bad!”
Mo Hua asked her, “Then what should you do?”
Xiao Ju was stunned for a moment, looking a bit lost. She asked Mo Hua, “What should I do?”
“It’s simple,” Mo Hua smiled, “Whoever steals your oranges, snatches them… you just take them out.”
Xiao Ju was stunned again, murmuring blankly, “Take them out…”
Mo Hua nodded, “Get rid of it. Whoever planted the oranges owns them. The fruit one sows can only be harvested by oneself.”
Xiao Ju nodded with partial understanding, then sighed and said dejectedly: “But my oranges haven’t even sprouted yet, so I have nothing to harvest myself.”
Mo Hua said, “Take it slow.”
Xiao Ju asked Mo Hua, “Didn’t you say you were looking for Five Elements Earth Formations that could accelerate plant growth? Haven’t you found them yet?”
Mo Hua shook his head, “Third-Grade ones are hard to find. And they’re monopolized by the Earth Sect.”
Xiao Ju was a bit angry, “This Earth Sect, why monopolize earth formations of all things? They must have bad intentions, their conscience is truly wicked.”
Hearing this, Mo Hua’s eyes flickered slightly.
After pondering for a moment, Mo Hua asked again, “Xiao Ju, are oranges… quite valuable?”
Xiao Ju was quite knowledgeable in this area and nodded: “Sort of. Among various spiritual fruits, oranges are considered very rare, and golden spiritual oranges with high spiritual energy content are even rarer. Their requirements for soil, water, and spiritual plant formations are also much higher than ordinary crops.”
“Moreover, oranges can’t be grown just anywhere. Only fertile soil in Kun Province can potentially yield oranges. If planted elsewhere, what grows will be trifoliate oranges.”
Mo Hua nodded slightly, thinking to himself, no wonder.
In all his years of cultivation, especially while freeloading at the Gu Clan in Qianxue, he had eaten many spiritual melons and fruits, but oranges were rarely seen.
Mo Hua looked at Xiao Ju and suddenly asked, “Xiao Ju, do you want to learn formations?”
“Formations?” Xiao Ju was slightly taken aback and shook her head, “No, it’s too tiring, it gives me a headache.”
Mo Hua said, “You don’t need to learn too much. Just learn earth formations to grow oranges. It’s better to master one thing than to learn everything, and you only need to learn one type.”
“Formations for growing oranges…” Xiao Ju was somewhat tempted but also worried, “Won’t it give me a headache?”
“It’s fine,” Mo Hua smiled, “Take it step by step, go slowly, and your head won’t hurt too much.”
Xiao Ju glanced at Mo Hua, thinking that Sister Zixi was a formation expert, and this valuable Mo Hua also seemed quite skilled in formations.
If she didn’t learn anything at all, she would feel out of place and eventually wouldn’t be able to mix in their circle.
Xiao Ju then nodded and said, “I’ll only learn formations that can help me grow oranges. Formations that can’t grow oranges, I won’t learn!”
Mo Hua smiled, “Okay.” Then he asked, “You have some foundation in formations, right?”
Xiao Ju nodded, “I’ve learned a bit.”
Any cultivator from a good background, even if they don’t pursue the path of a Formation Master in the future, will at least learn some Formation Patterns during their early education.
Mo Hua then took out a Jade Slip, casually recorded some Five Elements Earth System Formation Patterns and formation theory explanations, and handed it to Xiao Ju.
“These are some basic First-Grade and Second-Grade Formation Patterns. Practice them first, just twice a day. Any more and your Divine-Sense won’t keep up, and you’ll get a headache.”
Xiao Ju took the Jade Slip and nodded seriously.
From then on, Xiao Ju, driven by her desire to eat and grow oranges, began learning earth formations under Mo Hua’s guidance.
Whenever she had free time, she would lie on the small table in the courtyard, meticulously drawing Formation Patterns according to the Jade Slip.
Seeing this, Bai Zixi was somewhat surprised and said to Mo Hua, “You actually managed to trick Xiao Ju into learning formations?”
Mo Hua corrected her, “It’s not tricking, it’s encouraging learning. I don’t deceive people.”
Bai Zixi gave him a strange look. “You’ve tricked plenty of people.”
Mo Hua sighed, not understanding why his little senior sister held such a misunderstanding of him. “At the very least, I’ve never tricked you, Senior Sister.”
Bai Zixi’s eyes brightened slightly, but she said nothing.
“By the way,” Mo Hua asked again, “Senior Sister, do you have any other Soil Formations?”
Normally, he wouldn’t ask, but he had searched for a long time and truly found it difficult to obtain Third-Grade earth-type formation diagrams, especially here in Kun Province.
Bai Zixi shook her head. “I’ve given you all I have.”
She knew what kind of Soil Formation Mo Hua wanted and that he wanted to help Xiao Ju plant orange trees.
However, the formations she had studied were all carefully selected “classic formations”—varied in type but few in any single category, and more for research purposes than practical application.
If they were in the Bai Clan, she could have found many earth-type formations in the clan’s scripture repository.
But here in Kun Province, where earth formations were monopolized, Bai Zixi couldn’t easily gather Third-Grade or higher Soil Formations in a short time.
Moreover, Third-Grade and higher formation diagrams were already scarce commodities.
Even ordinary Third-Grade formations were not casually disseminated, nor could they be learned by ordinary Formation Masters.
Throughout the entire cultivation world, there weren’t many Third-Grade formation diagrams circulating publicly, let alone the large quantity Mo Hua required.
Mo Hua nodded, deep in thought: “It seems I still have to start with the Earth Sect.”
“Or perhaps later, I can find a way to specifically decipher single-element formations from the Five Elements Source Diagram.”
Thinking of this, Mo Hua looked up at Bai Zixi and suddenly remembered something else. He lowered his voice and asked: “Little Senior Sister, do you know about ‘Corpse Dissolution’?”
“Corpse Dissolution?” Bai Zixi was slightly taken aback. “Why do you ask?”
“Nothing much, I’m just a little curious,” Mo Hua said slowly. “Do cultivators also use formations for Corpse Dissolution?”
Bai Zixi nodded. “Naturally.”
Formations were the most widely applied in the cultivation world, and many intricate and complex uses of power mostly relied on formations.
Mo Hua then whispered, “Then what is the principle behind the Corpse Dissolution Formation? Do you know, Senior Sister?”
Bai Zixi gave him a strange look. “Are you planning to do something bad again?”
Mo Hua shook his head repeatedly. “What bad thing could I possibly do?”
Bai Zixi silently watched him, sighed softly, and patiently explained: “The Corpse Dissolution Formation is a secret of the Dao Court. I only know some of its principles, not the actual formation diagram.”
“The principle of Corpse Dissolution is to use a formation to ‘dissociate’ the spiritual power and cultivation within a human body, dispersing it into heaven and earth. In spiritual power research, this method is called ‘Spiritual Dissociation.'”
“Spiritual Dissociation…” Mo Hua’s heart stirred. “Then… does the dissociation of spiritual power have any connection with the inverse collapse and disintegration of spiritual power?”
“Collapse…”
Bai Zixi’s mind flashed back to the scene in Tongxian City years ago when her little junior brother had triggered a “collapse.” She nodded but added: “There is a connection, but the methods and purposes differ.”
“Using the Corpse Dissolution Formation to drive Spiritual Dissociation is a gentle method—dissociating the spiritual power and naturally releasing it into heaven and earth.”
“Using the Inverse Spirit Formation to drive collapse is a brutal method—forcibly deconstructing spiritual power in reverse, causing changes in its structure, thereby releasing deeper spiritual power energy containing quantitative changes in Laws.”
Mo Hua was suddenly enlightened, thinking to himself, As expected of Little Senior Sister.
His own cultivation followed an unorthodox path, with many things he had figured out on his own, focusing on practicality above all else.
Many of the underlying principles, he didn’t fully grasp clearly.
But Little Senior Sister was different—not only was she knowledgeable, but her understanding ran deep.
This was perhaps the true learning of a prodigy from a prestigious family.
Mo Hua nodded repeatedly, praising, “Little Senior Sister, you really know a lot.”
This compliment was something Bai Zixi had heard many times before, but every time it came from Mo Hua’s mouth, she still felt a warm glow in her heart.
Mo Hua firmly committed Little Senior Sister’s explanation to memory, pondered for a moment, and then asked with renewed curiosity: “Senior Sister, you just said that Reverse Spirit Collapse is a spiritual power effect that contains quantitative changes in the Laws.”
“Back then, when I was at the Qi-Refining stage, I was already activating First-Grade Reverse Spirit Formations. Does that mean Qi-Refining cultivators actually possess the ability to activate the Laws?”
Bai Zixi nodded and said, “Theoretically, yes.”
“Theoretically?”
“You must have heard the saying, ‘The Dao gives birth to all things,’ right?”
Mo Hua nodded, “I’ve heard it.”
Bai Zixi explained, “The Dao gives birth to all things, and the Great Dao is inherent in all things. Since the Laws are the manifestation of the Dao, the Laws are naturally inherent in all things as well.”
“All cultivation power in the world inherently contains the power of the Laws, differing only in magnitude.”
“Even the faintest Qi-Refining spiritual power itself contains changes in the Laws.”
“So that’s how it is…” Mo Hua thought for a moment before adding: “But back then, when I used a First-Grade Reverse Spirit Formation to trigger spiritual power collapse and activate the power of the Laws, it only seemed to injure Foundation Establishment cultivators, not kill them.”
“The power of the Laws doesn’t seem as strong as I imagined.”
Bai Zixi gave him a light, reproachful glance and said, “You were only at the Qi-Refining stage, yet you could injure a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Isn’t that strong enough? How much stronger do you want it to be?”
Mo Hua chuckled awkwardly and nodded, “You’re right.”
Bai Zixi continued, “The Laws have their limits.”
“The power of the Laws uses spiritual power as a medium and relies on the cultivator’s realm as its foundation.”
“The spiritual power at the Qi-Refining stage inherently contains only faint traces of the Laws.”
“Using Qi-Refining spiritual power as a medium to activate the power of the Laws naturally makes it stronger, but at most, it can only elevate it by one realm—roughly reaching the early Foundation Establishment stage—without exceeding it by too much.”
“In the end, realm is the foundation. The amplification from the Laws must also adhere to the fundamental limitations of the major realms.”
Mo Hua suddenly understood.
No wonder… This way, many of the “rule-breaking” things he had learned before could be explained.
A cultivator’s cultivation is based on their realm.
Within the same realm, power differs only in magnitude, not in essence.
But the power of the “Laws” can achieve a temporary “realm-transcending” effect, though this “transcendence” still relies on one’s own realm.
The Absolute Formation seems to follow the same principle.
Taking it a step further in understanding…
Mo Hua mused, “Spiritual power is tangible, while the Laws are intangible. The intangible originates from the tangible. Changes in the intangible realm amplify the spiritual power of the tangible realm, but ultimately, they must be based on the ‘tangible’ spiritual power.”
Upon hearing this, Bai Zixi’s eyes lit up. She pondered Mo Hua’s words for a moment and nodded: “That’s right.”
Mo Hua then remembered something else and said slowly: “Ancient cultivators emphasized refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, refining spirit to return to emptiness… So, comprehending the Laws is essentially about mastering ’emptiness’?”
Bai Zixi was taken aback and couldn’t help but sigh softly, “Junior Brother, you truly are clever.”
Much of the knowledge regarding emptiness and reality was secret lore passed down within great families for cultivation.
She herself had to ponder for a long time to grasp even a little, yet her junior brother understood it instantly with just a hint.
No wonder Master doted on him so much…
Mo Hua smiled gently, then suddenly asked curiously: “If that’s the case, even at the Qi-Refining stage, one can already activate the Laws. So why don’t Qi-Refining cultivators study the Laws?”
Hearing this, Bai Zixi felt like knocking his head and said, “Is it because they don’t want to?”
Mo Hua was a bit confused.
Bai Zixi sighed softly, “The Laws are metaphysical. They cannot be taught; they must be contemplated and realized through one’s own understanding.”
“For Qi-Refining, Foundation Establishment, and even Golden Core cultivators, if they happen to gain some insight into the Laws by chance, that’s naturally good.”
“But if they cannot, no one knows how to teach them in a way that would make them understand.”
“Flesh, blood, and spiritual energy are tangible, part of the ‘realm of reality.’ This kind of cultivation can be learned step by step.”
“The Laws belong to the ‘realm of emptiness.’ They are elusive and intangible, relying heavily on chance and innate comprehension. Especially at lower cultivation levels, they are extremely difficult to grasp.”
Someone like her junior brother, who had already tinkered with spiritual energy disintegration at the Qi-Refining stage, was truly an unfathomable “anomaly” even in Bai Zixi’s eyes, despite her coming from a great family.
Mo Hua, however, didn’t dwell on that. He continued pondering the matter of the Laws.
“If one cannot comprehend the Laws at Qi-Refining or Foundation Establishment, they might barely reach the threshold at Golden Core… But if one cultivates to Feathered Ascension, they must comprehend the Laws, right?” Mo Hua asked Bai Zixi again.
Because the realm after Feathered Ascension… is about penetrating “emptiness.”