Chapter 533: Passing Down the Dao
Chapter 535: Passing Down the Dao
A Dao-Passing Elder of the Five Elements Sect?!
Mo Hua’s heart trembled.
The Dao-Passing Elder—one who imparts teachings and the Dao—held a special position in the sect. Though not the most powerful, he was certainly the most transcendent, the one who understood the sect’s heritage most deeply.
And this wooden-carved old man… was actually the Five Elements Sect’s Dao-Passing Elder…
Mo Hua’s thoughts spun rapidly.
The Dao-Passing Elder looked at Mo Hua, and his gaze suddenly sharpened.
“You are not a disciple of my Five Elements Sect.”
Mo Hua was curious. “How did you see through it?”
The Elder’s eyes grew obscure. “Your Divine-Sense is powerful, your Spiritual-Consciousness manifests… My Five Elements Sect has declined. With our current inheritance, we can no longer produce a disciple like you…”
Mo Hua nodded—reasonable enough. Then he asked,
“You are the Dao-Passing Elder. The Dao you pass on… is the Five Elements Spirit Array?”
The Elder did not hide it. “Correct.”
He looked toward the array disk at the center of the Dao Field.
“My body has perished, but my spirit remains. I guard this Spirit Shrine. If a disciple is acknowledged by the Five Elements Sect and sits upon the meditation cushions to contemplate the shrine, I manifest the Five Elements Spirit Array at the Dao Field’s center and pass down the array patterns and key principles…”
Mo Hua nodded, then asked, “Then you’ve seen me before?”
The Elder slowly nodded. “I have. Five days ago, when you came for the first time, I saw you.”
Mo Hua continued, “Then why didn’t you teach me when I contemplated the shrine that day?”
At this, the Elder’s face turned cold.
“You truly have no idea?”
Mo Hua blinked.
The Elder’s eyelids twitched. “Your Divine-Sense was too strong. You peered through the array disk. How was I supposed to teach you?”
“Oh.”
Mo Hua scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed.
The Elder sighed. “All these years guarding this Dao Field, you are the first cultivator to see through the array disk. I wanted to teach you, but could not…”
“I’m not a disciple of the Five Elements Sect—yet you still wished to teach me?” Mo Hua asked.
The Elder spoke solemnly:
“Anyone who reaches this shrine to contemplate the Dao Field is either a disciple of the Five Elements Sect, or one who shares a karmic bond with the sect, or one who is guided by destiny…”
“In any case, it is fate.”
“I am the Dao-Passing Elder. Naturally, I do not discriminate in whom I teach.”
“As long as the Dao of the Five Elements Sect can be passed on, that is enough.”
Mo Hua felt respect rise within him. He stopped being reserved and asked directly:
“Then can you teach me the Five Elements Spirit Array?”
The Elder pondered, then sighed. “Very well…”
“These past centuries, not to mention entering the Spirit Shrine— even those qualified to enter the Hidden Array Pavilion and contemplate the Spirit Shrine have grown fewer and fewer…”
“There is no Dao left to pass…”
“If this continues, I truly will become a wooden figurine, rotting here forever, never seeing the light of day.”
He looked at Mo Hua again, nodding approvingly.
“Your talent is excellent, your Divine-Sense strong, your Dao-heart clear. Entrusting the Five Elements Sect’s inheritance to you would not be a disgrace.”
“Only one thing…”
The Elder’s expression turned grave.
“If you learn the Five Elements Spirit Array, then should you one day have the opportunity, you must spread this array far and wide.”
“And if the Five Elements Sect ever faces calamity, you must lend your aid. Pay back this karmic debt.”
Mo Hua’s expression grew solemn. “I will.”
“Good.” The Elder relaxed slightly. “Have you already learned the Five Elements Spirit Array’s patterns?”
“I have,” Mo Hua nodded.
The Elder was a bit surprised. With a wave of his sleeve, brush and ink manifested.
“Draw them for me.”
“All right.”
Mo Hua dipped the brush and drew the gold, wood, water, fire, and earth Five Elements Spirit Arrays—all five patterns.
The Elder’s pupils contracted, though he forced down his shock and praised,
“Excellent. In such a short time, to learn the patterns of a top-grade Absolute Formation and draw them without a single flaw… remarkable…”
“But…”
His tone shifted.
“You should know—Absolute Formations are outside the usual ranks. They transcend structure.”
“Learning to draw the patterns does not equate to mastering the formation.”
“To truly comprehend the Five Elements Spirit Array, merely drawing is far from enough.”
Mo Hua replied humbly, “I understand, senior. Please guide me.”
The Elder stroked his beard, pleased. “Good child. I will now teach you how to truly comprehend the Five Elements Spirit Array. Listen well…”
Mo Hua nodded, listening intently.
The Elder’s expression turned solemn.
“The Five Elements Spirit Array is a pinnacle formation of the Five Elements category.”
“Its difficulty, depth, and scope rival that of grand formations.”
“The Five Elements Grand Formation excels in scale. The Five Elements Spirit Array excels in profundity.”
“In the past, our Five Elements Sect relied on this Spirit Array to reinforce elemental power, bolster killing formations, enhance artifacts, strengthen techniques—thus becoming a first-class formation sect…”
“The core of its amplifying power lies in understanding the true nature of the Five Elements.”
“That nature… is ‘strengthening.’”
“With identical elemental power, once strengthened by the array, your weapon, martial arts, or spells will all gain an increase of one or two tenths.”
Mo Hua frowned. “Then how do I comprehend it?”
The Elder said, “Simple to say, difficult to do. I can tell you the theoretical principles, but the essence must be comprehended by yourself.”
Mo Hua nodded.
The Elder continued,
“The essence of elemental strengthening lies in the transformation of spiritual power.”
“You must use array patterns to decompose spiritual power, then reconstruct it, then cause it to generate anew. After that, use the cycle of mutual generation among the Five Elements to amplify it.”
“In doing so, the spiritual power itself strengthens.”
“From spirit comes Dao…”
“One begets two, two begets three… endless derivation.”
“These principles contain the ‘birth’ aspect.”
“With ‘birth,’ there is unending self-strengthening…”
…
His words carried hidden meaning.
Mo Hua’s frown deepened—clearly he couldn’t understand immediately.
The Elder nodded slightly.
“Remember these words. Ponder them carefully. Once you grasp them, then try drawing the Five Elements Spirit Array again. Fuse the principles with the patterns, and you will gradually comprehend the mysteries…”
“Think well.”
After speaking, he closed his eyes.
Mo Hua frowned and pondered. After a long time, he suddenly looked up at the Elder with a strange expression.
The Elder sat upright, dignified and immortal-like.
Mo Hua quietly extended a small hand—and blasted him with a Fireball Technique.
The Elder, caught completely off guard, was sent flying.
He leapt up in fury. “What are you doing?!”
Mo Hua’s gaze grew firmer. Without hesitation, he fired Fireball after Fireball.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Each Fireball slammed into the Elder.
“St—stop!
“Ignorant brat—!
“Arrogant!
“How dare you—!
“Disrespecting a teacher—outrageous! I’ll make sure you—die without burial!”
The Elder roared threats.
Mo Hua only snorted coldly.
“And what trash dares to lie to my face?”
“You think you can fool me with nonsense?”
“These cheap tricks? I’ve seen a hundred of them. Petty tricks, and you dare to show off before me?!”
Whatever the Elder tried to say was drowned out by rapid-fire Fireballs.
Soon he was blasted full of holes.
His face was broken, his body broken, his robes torn.
Then—in a moment—his entire form melted into a pool of golden copper, and re-solidified into his true body.
He was not the Dao-Passing Elder.
He was a strange little ghost—yet wearing the same five-colored robe symbolizing the Five Elements.
A Five Elements Ghost.
It revealed its true form, glaring at Mo Hua.
“How did you see through me?!”
Here, in the Dao Field, it held innate advantage—its aura melded with the entire place. No other spirit, ghost, or entity should be able to see through it.
Centuries of resonance.
It was both the Five Elements Ghost… and the Dao-Passing Elder.
Mo Hua snorted.
“Because you were spouting nonsense. You don’t understand the Five Elements Absolute Formation at all. If you don’t understand it, how could you be the Dao-Passing Elder?”
The ghost sneered. “You don’t understand either. If you did, why come here to learn?”
Mo Hua calmly replied, “I don’t understand the Five Elements Spirit Array, but Absolute Formations? I know a thing or two…”
Then he critiqued line by line:
“In Absolute Formations, spiritual power decomposition is not called decomposition—it is called inverse-resolution.”
“Ordinary decomposition is not an Absolute Formation.”
“Inverse-resolution is entirely different—it belongs to another Absolute Formation.”
“Reconstruction of spiritual power involves the Spirit-Pivot. That’s a spiritual-power control array, not a Five Elements attribute array.”
“Spiritual-power generation belongs to earth-type Absolute Formations, but is unrelated to the Five Elements Spirit Array. The power it generates is not your own and is used to nourish all things—not strengthen yourself.”
“Within formation theory, ‘strengthening’ and ‘generation’ are different concepts. Related, but not interchangeable.”
“The Five Elements Array is about ‘strengthening,’ not ‘generation.’”
“And spiritual power will not increase on its own.”
“Your interpretation of ‘one begets two, two begets three’ is wrong.”
“Spiritual power changes form, but its nature is conserved.”
“The Five Elements reinforcement does not make spiritual power increase by itself—it must draw upon external force.”
…
Mo Hua spoke fluently and sharply, words flowing like a river..
The Five Elements Ghost stared blankly.
What… was this child talking about?
Reverse deduction? Spiritual-Pivot? Transformation? Generation?
Why were ‘strengthen’ and ‘generate’ suddenly different?
Spiritual power conservation? What nonsense was that supposed to be?
The little ghost pondered carefully, then its heart gave a heavy thump.
It was over.
It had run into an expert…
This messy, convoluted Absolute Formation stuff—this kid actually understood it!
The Five Elements little ghost was incredulous.
The whole explanation for the Five Elements Spirit-Formation inheritance was something it had cobbled together from bits and pieces, patched with spit and scrap, a total makeshift scam.
It had used this spiel for years, deceiving everyone—humans, ghosts, whoever—and never once had it failed.
Because nobody could understand Absolute Formations in the first place.
At most, others simply didn’t believe it or couldn’t make sense of it—but no one dared question it.
Yet today, the boat flipped.
Just who was this young array master, that he understood Absolute Formations so well?
The Five Elements little ghost stared at Mo Hua, shaken to the core.
Mo Hua, on the other hand, wasn’t interested in wasting time. He pointed at the ghost, Divine-Sense locking onto it. Scarlet flame surged on his fingertip as he said icily:
“Where is the inheritance of the Five Elements Spirit-Formation?”
The little ghost sneered. “Arrogant brat! You think I’d fear you?”
Mo Hua flicked his finger, and a scarlet fireball roared forth.
The little ghost tried to dodge—but realized it was locked by this little array master’s Divine-Sense. Unless it could outrun a Fireball Technique, there was no escape.
It was struck again.
The Fireball manifested by Divine-Sense exploded on its body. The flames burned its flesh—clearly illusory Divine-Sense fire, yet the scorching pain was vivid and real.
Time was limited; Mo Hua showed no mercy.
Fireballs blasted one after another, leaving the little ghost completely unable to defend.
It tried to charge Mo Hua, but doing so meant wading through a rain of fireballs.
Even when it barely escaped the bombardment, it was immediately trapped by Water Prison Technique.
If it didn’t close in on Mo Hua, it would just be worn down by his long-range attacks.
And this Fireball Technique was downright sinister—fast, accurate, and surprisingly powerful.
After just ten or so exchanges, the little ghost was utterly crushed.
It realized it had no chance of winning.
It was just a little ghost.
The kid in front of it, though, was a monster.
Human strength has limits; so do ghosts.
Those who understand the times are wise—
and ghosts who understand the times… can also be called “wise ghosts.”
The Five Elements little ghost—this former “Dao-Passing Elder”—fell to its knees with a thump and shouted:
“Little friend, spare me!”
Seeing how loud and energetic its scream was, Mo Hua didn’t stop. Clearly, the thing still had plenty of strength, so he decided to drain it a bit more.
The little ghost panicked and quickly upgraded Mo Hua’s seniority:
“Little bro! Little lord! Little ancestor!”
“Stop hitting me! Spare my life!”
When Mo Hua heard even “little ancestor,” he reluctantly stopped, then asked again:
“Where is the inheritance of the Five Elements Spirit-Formation?”
The little ghost stammered, unwilling to answer.
Mo Hua didn’t indulge it; another fireball blasted forth.
Only then did the little ghost behave, glancing nervously at Mo Hua’s expression as it said uneasily:
“I… I really don’t know…”
Mo Hua’s expression darkened, cold light flickering in his eyes.
The little ghost hurriedly said:
“Little ancestor, I swear! I truly don’t know!”
“You’ve stayed in this Dao-field for so long, impersonating the ‘Dao-Passing Elder’ for years, and you don’t know anything?”
Mo Hua clearly didn’t believe it.
The little ghost said: “I was originally just an ordinary ghost, living inside a torn painting, drifting around. Later the old Sect Master of the Five Elements Sect caught me, removed my evil thoughts, and threw me into this shrine to impersonate the ‘Dao-Passing Elder’ and fool cultivators who wanted to learn the Five Elements Spirit-Formation…”
“I’ve stayed in this Dao-field for a long time, but I know very little about formations.”
“As for a lofty Absolute Formation like the Five Elements Spirit-Formation, I’m completely clueless.”
“Little ancestor, please believe me!”
……
Mo Hua narrowed his eyes slightly.
The Five Elements little ghost spoke so casually—ordinary ghost, living in a broken painting, wandering everywhere…
But the truth was clearly not so simple.
Mo Hua remembered the blue-faced ghost from the first visualization painting he had seen.
In that ghost’s residual memories, there were scenes of it turning from human into ghost, then wandering around deceiving cultivators, devouring their Divine-Sense.
This Five Elements little ghost was probably similar.
It must have done plenty of evil!
But for now, the Five Elements Spirit-Formation was more important; other matters could wait.
Mo Hua’s expression hardened slightly.
The Five Elements little ghost shrank in fear.
It didn’t look like it was lying.
And what it said made sense.
A top-tier Absolute Formation like the Five Elements Spirit-Formation, with its thirteen intricate patterns, could not be comprehended without proper guidance. Even if this little ghost spent hundreds of years staring at the formation, it would gain nothing…
But if it didn’t know, then where was the inheritance of the Five Elements Spirit-Formation hidden?
Mo Hua scanned the surroundings, his gaze sharp, and suddenly asked:
“Before you came, did this Dao-field look like this?”
The little ghost nodded.
Mo Hua’s eyes focused. “And there was a Dao-Passing Elder?”
The little ghost shook its head. “No, there wasn’t.”
“So the position you sat in, pretending to be a Dao-Passing Elder, was originally empty?”
The little ghost’s heart skipped a beat, and it nodded slightly.
Mo Hua slowly walked to the center of the Dao-field, noticing a meditation cushion there—the same cushion the little ghost had used to impersonate the Dao-Passing Elder.
Another meditation cushion!
Mo Hua’s spirit lifted. He stepped forward, examined it for a moment, and realized that this cushion was almost identical to the ones outside the shrine.
The Dao-Passing cushion!
Mo Hua’s eyes brightened slightly. He sat on the cushion and looked ahead, and suddenly everything became clear.
The entire shrine, all things within it, were laid out before him.
He could even see his Little Senior Brother and Little Senior Sister outside the shrine.
Little Senior Brother looked bored, but somewhat worried.
Little Senior Sister sat on the ground, hugging her knees, silently watching the out-of-body Mo Hua—her physical body lying flat on the ground.
Beyond that, Mo Hua could also see the meditation cushions outside the shrine.
No—more precisely, he could see their positions.
Each cushion’s position, in the space between reality and illusion, contained a hidden formation.
It was the Five Elements Spirit-Formation, more complete and precise.
It differed slightly from the formation patterns he had obtained before.
Mo Hua thought for a moment, then understood.
It seemed that the fake “Dao-Passing Elder” had tampered with the patterns. The formation he learned through visualization was flawed compared to the true Five Elements Formation.
The purpose: to prevent others from mastering the true Five Elements Spirit-Formation.
Mo Hua immediately compared the patterns in his mind with the ones he now saw, then slightly applied his Divine-Sense to derive the true formation patterns.
But that was still not enough…
The patterns were only the form.
The dragon still needed the finishing touch.
Mo Hua lacked just that final stroke to truly comprehend the Five Elements Spirit-Formation.
But what exactly was that final stroke?
Mo Hua frowned.
Dao-Passing… meditation cushion…
Manifested formation…
His eyes lit up. In the formation circle at the center of the Dao-field, he fully manifested the Five Elements Spirit-Formation.
He wanted to see any clues hidden within it.
As he completed the true formation patterns, the meditation cushion he sat on suddenly emitted a faint, intangible Divine-Sense.
This Divine-Sense had no owner, no consciousness, like a blank, pure thought entity.
It slowly flowed into the formation circle, merging with the Five Elements Spirit-Formation.
Above the formation, five-colored lights suddenly blazed brilliantly, dazzling to the eyes.
Mo Hua was stunned.
What did this mean?
What was this Divine-Sense trying to tell him?
Or was it demonstrating something?
Mo Hua pondered deeply, then suddenly looked at the Five Elements little ghost and asked urgently:
“Where did you hear those things about Absolute Formations?”
The little ghost, seeing Mo Hua deep in thought, tried to slip away. But as soon as it stepped, Mo Hua asked the question.
It dared not act strangely and said:
“Many people…”
“Who?”
“The Sect Master, elders, some disciples of the Five Elements Sect… others, visiting cultivators or array masters qualified to learn the Five Elements Spirit-Formation…”
The little ghost counted them off one by one.
Mo Hua asked: “Was there any sentence spoken by a former Sect Master or elder of the Five Elements Sect?”
The little ghost furrowed its brow, thought for a long while, then said: “Yes!”
“Which sentence?”
The little ghost paused, expression serious, then slowly said:
“This sentence came from the oldest and most obscure elder of the Five Elements Sect…”
“When no one was around, he slowly spoke to the shrine:”
“Divine-Sense… transforms the Dao!”