Chapter 626: Injuries

Chapter 628: Injuries

After a short while, another elder appeared, wearing the Taixu robe but with a Alchemy Furnace embroidered on the collar. Seeing the scorched ground and walls covered in formation markings, he couldn’t help but gasp.

Then he saw Mo Hua lying on the ground.

“Don’t just stand there, save him first.”

The two of them hurried forward, checking Mo Hua’s injuries, and both let out a sigh of relief.

Mo Hua looked battered and seriously wounded, but nothing was life-threatening.

The Alchemist elder took out a bottle of spirit liquid and poured it over Mo Hua’s wounds, neutralizing the residual fire toxin, cleaning away the charred blood, and stopping the bleeding.

Then he gave Mo Hua a pill to swallow.

Placing his hand on Mo Hua’s chest, he circulated his energy, using thick and pure wood-type spiritual power to nourish Mo Hua’s meridians and heal his injuries.

After a while, color gradually returned to Mo Hua’s pale face, and his breathing stabilized.

However, his physical body was too weak, so his wounds healed slowly, and he was still unconscious.

The Alchemist elder breathed a sigh of relief. “That should do it…”

“Luckily, he was only slightly affected by the magical energy…”

“Half a month of rest and careful care should be enough. But his hands were injured, and his meridians damaged. He mustn’t use spiritual energy for now…”

The elder shook his head slightly, a hint of worry in his expression. “His constitution is really poor… fragile and weak, easy to injure, and hard to recover.”

Looking at the unconscious Mo Hua, he felt a pang of sympathy and turned to the Dao Arts elder. “You’re the Dao Arts elder. Why didn’t you have him do body cultivation? Not expecting great results, but at least he would be stronger and heal faster…”

The Dao Arts elder smiled wryly. “Do you think I don’t know?”

“It’s not that simple. If he could truly cultivate, I would have had him do it long ago…”

“Learning a bit of body technique doesn’t help in real combat. He’d still get hurt the moment he slips or is struck. Better to spend time mastering movement techniques to avoid injury altogether…”

“Besides, body cultivation methods are tough and vigorous, not easy to learn.”

“His foundation is weak. If he trains too much, his body could wither, his blood and energy could backfire, and he could harm himself.”

The Alchemist elder shook his head and sighed. “I’ll just refine a few pills to help him recover his blood and energy… it might not be much, but it’s better than nothing.”

He then glanced sympathetically at the Dao Arts elder. “Be careful. Venerable Elder Xun will definitely give you trouble.”

The Dao Arts elder felt his scalp tingle.

“Why teach this child high-level spells if there’s no need?” the Alchemist elder asked.

“I didn’t teach him…”

“Do you think I’ll believe that?”

The Dao Arts elder forced a bitter smile. “I really didn’t…”

The Alchemist elder paused, and seeing no deceit in his expression, looked around in surprise. “Then this…”

“It’s a spell…”

“Isn’t that obvious? If it’s not a spell, is it a formation? But the question is, what spell?”

The Dao Arts elder pondered. “It seems… like… a Fireball Technique…”

The Alchemist elder’s face was expressionless. “Impressive… a Fireball Technique, huh? Teach me, I want to see it.”

The Dao Arts elder had no words.

The Alchemist elder pointed to the spot where the spell puppet had been placed.

“This puppet is only a Foundation Establishment early-stage puppet, but it was designed to withstand spell attacks, so it has extremely high magic defense. Even mid-stage Foundation Establishment disciples might not break it, let alone now…”

The Alchemist elder’s eye twitched. “And it was blasted to ashes…”

And the child was just an early-stage Foundation Establishment disciple with less than a year of training.

The elder looked at Mo Hua in shock.

The Dao Arts elder was also puzzled. He couldn’t remember ever teaching Mo Hua any high-power spells.

Moreover, even if he had, given Mo Hua’s spiritual root grade and the circulation of spiritual energy in his dantian, he couldn’t have learned or used it…

Unless…

Feeling the residual heat and the abnormal spiritual energy, the Dao Master elder’s expression grew serious.

The Alchemist elder asked, “Have you figured it out?”

The Dao Arts elder frowned. “It’s not just the spell’s power… it’s more like…”

“Like what?”

The Dao Arts elder shook his head, unable to speak, but thinking of Mo Hua’s age and cultivation, he whispered in disbelief: “It should… not be possible…”

…

When Mo Hua woke up, his head was dizzy, his hands ached, and his meridians felt stiff.

Looking around, he realized he was lying on a soft, clean white bed, surrounded by a neat room with incense burning and a faint, bitter medicinal aroma in the air.

Beside him was a woman in the Taixu elder’s robe, graceful and dignified, with a touch of charm, silently watching him.

Mo Hua was surprised. “Elder Murong?”

His voice was hoarse and weak, still affected by the fire energy wounds, making it hard to speak.

Elder Murong nodded slightly. “Venerable Elder Xun feared your condition might worsen, so he sent you here.”

Mo Hua was surprised to learn that Elder Murong was actually an Alchemist.

She came closer, her long, pale fingers gently touching his forehead. Her voice was soft like the evening breeze. “Nothing serious…”

“Your left hand was burned, damaging the meridians. You mustn’t use spiritual energy for half a month. Your right hand is only a flesh wound, so don’t hold a brush for seven days…”

“I’ll give you some pills. Take one each morning and evening.”

“Mm,” Mo Hua nodded weakly. “Thank you, Elder Murong…”

Elder Murong smiled faintly.

Other disciples gradually came to check on him.

First was Yu’er.

Seeing Mo Hua injured, he stayed by his side, frowning, eyes wet, refusing to leave.

Elder Murong prepared a small bed and blanket nearby so he could sleep close.

Yu’er was quiet, and the first thing he did upon waking was look at Mo Hua.

Seeing Yu’er’s bright eyes made Mo Hua happy.

Because Mo Hua had to rest, Yu’er stayed a short while before returning to the disciples’ quarters to study.

Senior Sister Murong Caiyun also came once, bringing pills and supplements.

Seeing Mo Hua was fine, she left reassured, reminding him to be careful while cultivating to avoid injury.

Mo Hua nodded obediently.

He also learned something: hearing Senior Sister Murong call Elder Murong “Little Aunt,” confirmed they were related.

Shangguan Xu came too, bringing more medicinal pills and plenty of food.

“These are from your aunt. She asked me to bring them to you…”

“Since this is inside Great Void Sect, she couldn’t come in herself. Once you recover, go to the Gu family. She’ll have their Alchemist treat you to avoid future complications…”

Mo Hua nodded gratefully. “Thank you, Senior Brother Xu, and please thank Aunt Wan for me too.”

Other disciples from his sect came to visit their “Little Senior Brother.”

Seeing him in decent condition, they relaxed and chatted with him:

“Mo Hua, did you blow yourself up while cultivating?”

“Really?”

“What spell were you practicing?”

“Could it be Fireball Technique?”

“No way…”

“Why not?”

“Mo Hua can use Fireball Technique…”

“Once he leaves Great Void Sect, we’ll pretend not to know him…”

“Don’t tell anyone about our Little Senior Brother…”

“Who gets hurt by a Fireball Technique?”

Mo Hua looked at them disdainfully. “What’s wrong with Fireball Technique? Wait until I’m fully trained. One Fireball Technique will make you cry!”

“I don’t believe it!”

“Even bragging needs some proof…”

“Just a Fireball Technique…”

…

Mo Hua’s bickering with them made the atmosphere a bit livelier.

Elder Murong, however, said calmly, “This is the alchemy chamber. You need to rest. And you all should go to class.”

“Yes… Elder.”

The disciples who had thought of skipping class obediently bowed and left, heads down.

Only Cheng Mo lingered, reluctant, holding Mo Hua’s hand as he reminded him:

“Mo Hua, heal your injuries quickly, and come back to teach us formations…”

Venerable Elder Xun was too strict, his lessons too advanced, and his assignments too numerous. He simply couldn’t handle it…

It was still better with this “Little Senior Brother” Mo Hua.

…

Venerable Elder Xun also came to check on Mo Hua.

He looked stern, said little, only reminding Mo Hua to rest well, but as he left, he couldn’t help quietly advising:

“Don’t worry about spell techniques that involve fighting if they’re not your strength…”

“You don’t need to imitate others and cultivate these deadly arts…”

“Master the formations well, and you can stand in the cultivation world. No one will dare bully you.”

“If you encounter trouble, someone giving you a hard time, just speak up, and the sect will back you.”

“No need to force yourself to learn these techniques…”

“And don’t hurt yourself in the process…”

Mo Hua felt moved and quickly nodded, “I understand. Thank you, Elder!”

Elder Xun didn’t know if Mo Hua truly understood, but he nodded and left.

…

At evening, the Dao Arts Elder quietly came to check on Mo Hua.

As the elder responsible for teaching Dao Techniques, even if the student’s injury wasn’t his fault, he still felt some responsibility.

Seeing Mo Hua sitting on the bed, left hand bandaged, pale but with bright eyes and steady breath, he finally relaxed.

After exchanging a few polite words and hesitating for a moment, he asked softly:

“Mo Hua, what kind of technique were you using in the Dao Techniques chamber…”

He both taught and researched techniques, so unknown methods intrigued him.

He wanted to know what kind of technique Mo Hua could use to cause such power and obliterate a perfectly intact spell puppet…

Mo Hua paused, eyes brightening.

Since waking, he had been pondering “spell fusion.”

But he still couldn’t understand why two fireball techniques, forced to merge by his divine sense, would have such immense power.

If he hadn’t finally reversed the spell with his divine sense, letting the magical force go uncontrolled…

Not only would both his hands be injured, but his life might have been in danger…

Mo Hua couldn’t comprehend it.

Simply merging two fireball techniques shouldn’t have produced such power.

Even the residual force alone had caused him such severe injuries…

It made no sense.

So when the Elder asked, Mo Hua had many questions he wanted to discuss.

He thought for a moment and replied:

“I thought one fireball wasn’t powerful enough, so I tried to ‘fuse’ two fireballs together to enhance the power… and then it exploded…”

The elder frowned: “Nonsense. There’s no such thing as ‘fusion’ like that.”

Mo Hua asked humbly, “Then how should one fuse them?”

“You misunderstand,” the elder shook his head. “Spell ‘fusion’ doesn’t mean mixing two spells together like dough…”

“Spell fusion is essentially the fusion of the spell formulas.”

“And it’s not after casting. It’s a ‘fused’ technique before casting, just appearing as if it’s merging…”

Mo Hua suddenly understood.

He recalled how Grandpa Kui cast the Fireball Technique, condensing each fireball into threads and weaving them into a spell.

It wasn’t merging multiple fireballs.

It was a complete, singular spell in itself.

He had practiced following Grandpa Kui’s method, but by experimenting alone, he had learned it slightly incorrectly…

Yet even this flawed approach seemed very powerful…

Even beyond what he had imagined…

Why?

Mo Hua blinked and looked at the Elder.

The elder, sensing Mo Hua’s gaze, wondered what the boy was scheming…

“Elder…” Mo Hua whispered, “Suppose there’s a possibility…”

“Two ‘twin’ cultivators, identical divine sense, identical spiritual roots, casting exactly the same spell…”

“There are no such ‘twin’ cultivators…” the elder said.

“I’m saying hypothetically…”

Mo Hua said seriously, “…if there were, what would happen if their spells collided? Would they fuse?”

Mo Hua’s eyes were curious.

The Dao Arts elder felt a headache coming—he always dreaded students with wild, strange questions.

There was some logic in the question, but answering it was mentally taxing.

He rubbed his forehead and followed Mo Hua’s line of thought, saying slowly:

“If divine sense and spiritual roots are identical, the two spells still wouldn’t be exactly the same, because there’s a temporal sequence…”

“For cultivators, time is also a law.”

“The casting time and magical structure of a spell are inherent traits, usually ignored by cultivators…”

“What if the casting time is exactly the same…” Mo Hua suggested.

“In that case…” the elder murmured, “the two spells are nearly identical, same origin. If they touch…”

“There are two possibilities…”

He speculated based on spell principles:

“Either they instantly ‘fuse’ into one large fireball…”

“Or they reach a state where they’re close, won’t explode, but can’t merge—a state of ‘mutual attraction and repulsion.’”

“Like the Two Principles of Yin and Yang, coexisting but repelling each other…”

Mo Hua’s eyes brightened with admiration.

No wonder the Dao Arts Elder could predict the outcome purely from theory.

“What if the two fireballs repel but don’t fuse?” Mo Hua asked.

“Then…” the elder started, then paused, “how do you know?”

Because I tried it!

And got myself injured! Mo Hua thought silently.

But he didn’t dare say it aloud, so he said, “I guessed…”

Before the elder could respond, Mo Hua asked again, “If that’s the case, why do they repel?”

The elder followed Mo Hua’s logic, thinking further…

“Because fundamentally, the formulas are different.”

“The structure of a spell formula is the structure of its magical power—its essence.”

“The formulas inherently repel each other.”

“Even for the same cultivator, casting the same spell, the formulas are similar but independent.”

“Like crafting standard spiritual instruments—each looks the same, but each exists uniquely…”

“Your ‘twin’ fireballs are the same. Though identical in every other way, their fundamental formula structures are independent…”

Mo Hua nodded.

Indeed, the elder’s reasoning matched his own!

He had guessed that the repulsion came from the spell’s intrinsic formula structure.

Mo Hua asked again, “Can these ‘twin’ fireballs fuse into a different spell?”

The elder shook his head, “No, formula structures repel; they can’t merge.”

“Is there a way to make them merge?”

The elder seriously considered it, then shook his head again.

Mo Hua blinked, “Suppose…”

“Using brute force, controlling the fireballs with strong divine sense to collide quickly, would they fuse?”

“Collide?” The elder shook his head. “Still wouldn’t fuse…”

“At most, they might ‘aggregate,’ but this is very risky, destabilizing the spell formula…”

“Forcing the fireballs to merge with divine sense creates instantaneous strong repulsion, collapsing the internal formulas, freeing the magical power, causing anomalies and releasing destructive energy, and then…”

The elder’s voice trailed off, growing quieter, until he suddenly froze, eyes wide in shock.

He looked at Mo Hua, stunned, unable to speak, “You didn’t…”

You didn’t really collapse the spell formulas by colliding the fireballs, generating immense destructive force to obliterate the spell puppet…

Then he added in confusion, “How did you…”

How did you manage it?

Twin fireballs of the same origin…

Controlling them with Divine-Sense, forcing convergence…

Aggregated…

Can this even be done at the early Foundation Establishment stage?

Mo Hua whispered, “I was just randomly thinking, casually asking…”

The Dao Art Elder silently looked at Mo Hua, thinking, Yeah, right, I believe you.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but feel impressed.

No wonder Elder Xun valued him.

A discerning eye for talent!

A disciple he values isn’t just talented in formations.

In spellcraft as well, he can find unique paths and conduct such incisive research…

However… since he’s a disciple Elder Xun values, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to pry into his foundation.

The Dao Art Elder thought for a moment, his expression darkening slightly, as if he had made a decision. He revealed to Mo Hua some “principles of spellcraft” that shouldn’t have been taught:

“Spiritual energy extends outward to form a spell; the spell is the outer garment of spiritual energy.”

“But the inherent nature of spiritual energy itself contains powerful potential…”

“Ordinary spells use spiritual energy to construct spell structures, forming a spell, thereby wielding killing power…”

“But conversely…”

The Dao Art Elder’s gaze hardened, his voice low:

“By using a spell to induce changes in its structure, you can trigger a mutation in the spiritual energy, releasing a massive amount of unstable energy, which can also cause extremely strong destructive power…”

Mo Hua’s eyes flickered.

Isn’t this…

Formation collapse!

Although the methods differ—one is a formation, one is a spell—the mutation of spiritual energy differs—one collapses, one converges—

But the underlying principle is the same!

The Dao Art Elder, seeing Mo Hua grasp it so quickly, was momentarily stunned.

This kid… hasn’t done this before, has he…?

Why does it feel like he just gets it immediately?

The Dao Art Elder felt he couldn’t continue, so he cleared his throat and stood. “It’s getting late. I should be going…”

Mo Hua politely said, “Elder, take care.”

But there was one thing he still couldn’t resist asking after thinking it over.

“By the way, Elder…”

Mo Hua whispered, “…what’s your surname?”

The Dao Art Elder froze as if struck by lightning.

He was slightly angry, incredulous, and hurt. “All this time, and you don’t even know my surname?!”

Mo Hua felt a little embarrassed.

There was no helping it—there were many senior elders in the sect, plus substitutes, and sometimes they rotated. Some elders he just recognized by face but couldn’t recall names.

Mo Hua gave an awkward smile.

The Dao Art Elder sighed. “My surname is Yi…”