Chapter 132: Disappearance (Part 1)_1
Mo Hua was ready to officially draw the Compass Parent-Child Formation.
He went to see Master Chen and forged a simple compass, as well as dozens of stone needles.
The mother formation of the Compass Parent-Child Compound Formation had only one part, drawn on the compass. The child formations could be numerous, drawn on the stone needles.
The child formations had no relation to one another and only resonated with the mother formation. It seemed like there were many child formations, but in reality, the control was still just for a single formation pair.
Therefore, the Compass Parent-Child Formation could only be considered a compound formation that contained two single formations.
Mo Hua spent half a day drawing, and then the formation was complete.
He then prepared to test its effects.
Mo Hua entered Big Black Mountain, set up traps and formations, and planted stone needles around ten yards away. He had Da’hu and his two companions keep watch nearby while Mo Hua himself, holding the Compass Mother Formation, ran far away.
After more than half an hour, Mo Hua finally stopped and squatted down in a patch of grass, staring at the compass in his hand.
Mo Hua waited and waited, almost dozing off.
At that moment, a point on the compass suddenly lit up.
The illuminated point corresponded exactly to the stone needle that Mo Hua had planted.
Mo Hua’s spirit was lifted and he immediately ran back.
By the time he arrived, the Monster Beast had been killed by Da’hu and the others, lying on the ground with blood that hadn’t yet dried.
Mo Hua approached and placed a finger on the Monster Beast’s heart meridian, finding that its blood was still active and could be moved with Divine Sense. He then took out a jade bottle and started drawing out Monster Blood with the Blood Drawing Art.
After collecting about eight or nine bottles of blood, Mo Hua stopped.
He then went to check on the stone needle and saw that it was unharmed, which brought a smile to his face.
“Mo Hua, is it done?”
Da’hu and the others didn’t know what Mo Hua was doing with the compass, but they guessed it was related to a formation.
Not understanding formations themselves, they didn’t ask, but seeing Mo Hua successfully complete his task made them smile too.
As usual, the group skinned and deboned the Monster Beast that had been bled and put it into a storage bag.
The Spirit Stones obtained from selling it would be delivered to Mo Hua’s house that evening.
Mo Hua waved goodbye to Da’hu and his companions and continued wandering around Big Black Mountain, placing stone needles engraved with the Compass Child Formation.
The locations for placing the stone needles were mostly at crossroads, mountain paths, and forest clearings that Monster Beasts or Monster Hunters frequently passed—also places suitable for setting traps.
Mo Hua spent three to four days placing all dozens of stone needles.
Now the outer mountain was essentially under Mo Hua’s control.
It wasn’t to the point of noticing every blade of grass moving, but at least if any Cultivators fought or Monster Beasts fought to the death, causing a fluctuation of Spiritual Power, Mo Hua could be the first to know by watching the compass.
In the following days, Mo Hua kept busy, happily running all over the outer mountain with the compass in hand.
Whenever a light on the compass lit up, it meant that a battle had occurred.
Most were due to the explosion of Earth Fire Formations or the fluctuations caused by novice Monster Hunters cornering Monster Beasts.
When Mo Hua arrived at the scene, the battles were usually nearing their end. He would wait a while and, once the Monster Beast expired, he would then be able to go up and draw blood.
Some were other Monster Hunters encircling and killing Monster Beasts.
Normally, a hunting team would not permit others to touch their prey.
But Mo Hua was well-known, very well-known of that kind.
Most Monster Hunters had asked Mo Hua to draw formations and owed him favors. Some had never asked, but they also wanted to get in Mo Hua’s good graces, in case they needed a formation in the future, it would be easier to ask.
So, general Monster Hunting Teams didn’t mind Mo Hua drawing some blood from the Monster Beasts they had killed.
After all, they had no use for the Monster Blood.
Others were caused by the fighting of Monster Beasts among themselves, clashing demonic powers creating fluctuations.
Monster Beasts fighting over mates, searching for food, hunting, or contending for territory all led to deadly confrontations.
Monster Beasts fight to the death; rashly approaching is too risky.
Mo Hua could only watch from a distance, expanding his experience by observing the habits or characteristics of the Monster Beasts and recording some of their special demonic powers or enraged states.
For a Cultivator in the Qi Refinement Realm, Mo Hua’s Divine Sense was already very strong. He could observe from afar and even spy on the state of demonic power within the Monster Beasts’ meridians without being detected.
In this way, Mo Hua’s Cultivation grew gradually, inching toward the barrier of the sixth level of Qi Refinement.
He had also amassed an increasing amount of Monster Blood, totaling several hundred bottles.
Mo Hua was well-prepared, thinking that once his realm broke through, he could attempt to reach the rank of a Nine-Patterned First Grade Formation Master.
In the days that followed, Mo Hua devoted himself to Cultivation and studying Formations.
A few days later, in the evening, Mo Hua and Liu Ruhua, the mother and child, were at home waiting for Mo Shan to return for dinner.
Suddenly, a downpour began, lasting for nearly half an hour.
After the rain, Mo Shan returned, but with a serious expression. He ate a few bites of food, packed some dry rations, and then had to leave again.
Mo Hua couldn’t help asking, “Dad, what happened?”
Mo Shan originally did not want to say, but thinking that Mo Hua could now survive on his own on Big Black Mountain and was no longer the frail child he had been, he said gravely:
“Old Zhao is missing.”
Mo Hua was slightly taken aback, “Is it the medium-height Uncle Zhao with thick eyebrows who knows the Mountain Splitting Palm technique?”
Mo Shan was surprised, “You know him?”
That was the late-stage Qi Refinement Cultivator Uncle Yu had called “Old Zhao” and asked to look after him.
Mo Shan nodded, “That’s right.”
“Where did he go missing?”
“Big Black Mountain.”
“I’ll go have a look too.”
Mo Shan was about to refuse, but after a moment’s thought, he said, “Follow me and don’t get separated.”
Liu Ruhua prepared some more food for them to take, and with a worried face, she advised, “Be careful on the road.”
Mo Shan left the house with Mo Hua. Instead of heading straight for Big Black Mountain, they first went to Elder Yu’s house.
Elder Yu’s house was more spacious but furnished simply. The room was filled with quite a few Monster Hunters.
As Elder Yu’s gaze swept over Mo Shan and landed on Mo Hua by his side, he showed a slight surprise but still nodded at Mo Hua with a kind smile.
Afterwards, he said with a serious tone, “Old Zhao is missing. I’ve already sent Chengyi to lead a search, but there’s been no news so far.”
“Could it be that he’s just been blocked on the mountain by the heavy rain, found a camp to take shelter, and will come down when it’s light tomorrow?” one of the Monster Hunters speculated.
Elder Yu shook his head and said, “Old Zhao’s wife came over and said her husband is missing.”
Elder Yu explained the situation.
Old Zhao’s wife was pregnant, already five or six months along.
Old Zhao learned from a Pill Master about a medicinal herb called Baishu Ginseng, which could nourish Qi and stabilize a pregnancy. He found one on the mountain, picked it, planning to bring it down to his wife.
But that day’s Monster Hunting took longer than expected; when he was coming down, he realized his Storage Bag was broken, and the Baishu Ginseng was missing.
Guessing it might have fallen out during the fight with the Monster Beasts, he told his wife he’d go back to the mountain to look for it and that he would return shortly.
As soon as Old Zhao entered the mountain, a downpour began. Even after the rain stopped, he still hadn’t returned.
It was common for Monster Hunters to spend a night in the mountains if needed.
But Old Zhao’s wife felt an unexplainable sense of panic and palpitations, as if she might never see her husband again.
She couldn’t pin down this intense feeling, and in desperation, she had no choice but to ask Elder Yu to send someone to look for him in the mountains.
Elder Yu sighed, “Better to err on the side of caution. It’s better to tire ourselves out than to have Old Zhao lose his life. Otherwise, how would his widow and orphan live on.”