Never mind...
Mr. Hui looked at Mo Hua and asked: "This burial gate, can you open it?"
Mo Hua confidently said: "Naturally."
"Good..." Mr. Hui had just nodded when a Golden Core cultivator with a sharp face and the nickname "Mouse" approached him and whispered something in his ear.
Mr. Hui’s expression tensed, and he nodded.
Mouse walked up to Mo Hua and snatched Mr. Pi’s storage bag from him.
In front of Mo Hua, Mouse’s eyes gleamed with greed as he turned the storage bag inside out, but he seemed not to find what he was looking for. His face turned vicious, looking at Mo Hua:
"Kid, where’s that thing?"
Mo Hua looked puzzled, "What thing?"
Mouse held back, swallowing his words.
"What?" Mo Hua asked.
Mouse’s gaze became more venomous, "It must be you, who took that thing. Hand over your storage bag and let me check it."
Mo Hua was defiant, "Why should you search my storage bag?"
Mouse sneered, and then disregarding Mo Hua’s opposition, directly snatched his storage bag.
Most contents in Mo Hua’s storage bag were Formation Diagrams and Formation Books.
Mouse couldn’t understand them at all.
Besides, there were some Pills, Spirit Stones, and some small gifts from others.
Mouse rummaged through and couldn’t find what he desired, hence he looked towards Mr. Hui.
Mr. Hui frowned, glanced at the four black-robed cultivators nearby, showing caution, then said:
"Forget it, business is important, we’ll talk about that thing later."
Mouse had no choice but to relent.
Mo Hua then said: "Return my storage bag."
Mouse sneered and returned the storage bag to Mo Hua, but before doing so, he withheld the Spirit Stones and some valuable spiritual objects from it.
On the surface, Mo Hua looked "angry yet silent," already viewing Mouse as a dead person in his heart.
Mr. Hui took out a pot of wine, walked to Mr. Pi’s corpse, and poured the wine on the ground, chanting:
"Life and death are destined, Mr. Pi, rest in peace."
Mr. Hui’s voice was low.
But in this trade, emotions were indifferent, and no genuine friendship existed.
Alive, everyone drank and ate meat, dead, less one person to work, less one person to share Spirit Stones.
At most, there might be a bit of mourning, but nothing too sentimental.
After Mr. Pi’s mourning, the matter was put aside, and Mr. Hui turned to Mo Hua: "Open the burial gate. If you can open it, we’ll ensure you survive. But if you can’t, you’ll have to accompany Mr. Pi."
A helpful Formation Master is a good Formation Master.
If you can’t help, you’re just a dead person.
Thus, under the gaze of everyone, Mo Hua approached the burial gate, attempting to decipher the formation on it.
But the formation on the burial gate was unfamiliar Earth Formation, and Mo Hua, after looking for a moment, still couldn’t move. After a while, he reached out to Mr. Hui:
"Give me Mr. Pi’s storage bag."
Mr. Hui’s gaze narrowed, "Why do you need the storage bag?"
"I want to check the Formation Diagram."
"Check the Formation Diagram?"
"Yes," Mo Hua nodded, "Some formations I’m unfamiliar with, need to learn."
Mr. Hui felt a pulse on his forehead, stunned: "What... you’re learning it now?"
After all this, was this kid bluffing?
He didn’t know the formation on the burial gate at all!
Mo Hua justified himself, "Otherwise? Who is born knowing everything? If you don’t know, you must learn!"
Mr. Hui was speechless, he pointed at Mouse and said, "Give him the storage bag, let him learn."
Mouse’s eyes flickered, a little reluctant, but due to the circumstances, he still passed the storage bag to Mo Hua.
Mo Hua took Mr. Pi’s storage bag, retrieved some Formation Books and Diagrams from it, and started flipping through them in front of everyone.
Mr. Hui and the others just watched Mo Hua without saying anything.
But Mo Hua knew, if he could break the Earth Formation and open the burial gate, it’d be fine. Otherwise, they’d be the first to kill him.
Mo Hua calmed down, patiently perusing Mr. Pi’s Formation Books.
Once involved with formations, Mo Hua quickly entered the zone, studying intently.
After an hour, Mo Hua had roughly understood Mr. Pi’s Earth Formation legacy.
The so-called Earth Formation is related to the earth, and there is a commonality with the Earth Formation in the Five Elements Formation.
Earth is associated with the land, but the Earth Formation is simpler.
After all, the earth carries everything, not just a layer of "soil" on top.
The Earth Sect’s Earth Formation is a notch higher than the Earth Formation, its formation principles profound, almost infinitely close to the Eight Trigrams’ "Kun" Formation.
But this kind of Earth Formation should be somewhat inferior to the actual "Kun" Formation of the Eight Trigrams, otherwise, it would not be called "Earth Formation" but directly "Kun Formation".
In the Eight Trigrams, Qian Formation and Kun Formation preside over the heavens and earth’s patterns, possibly having a lineage with Taoist Court’s Three Talents Formation, very seldom has their legacy spread outside.
Earth Formation learning is vastly more profound than the Five Elements Earth Formation.
Such formations are related to the Taoist Meaning of the earth, entry-level isn’t hard, but truly comprehending them is extremely difficult.
Mo Hua was the opposite.
He learned the First Grade Eleven Pattern Thick Earth Formation, communicated with the earth’s Taoist Meaning, proficiently mastered Drawing Ground into Formation, often painting formations on the ground.
Thus, he had an affinity with the land far beyond ordinary cultivators.
The most challenging aspect of Earth Formation, for Mo Hua, was instead not difficult.
What was hard for him was the lack of legacy, lack of Formation Diagrams, unable to get started.
As long as he learned some basics, crossed the threshold of Earth Formation, once in, it would be smooth sailing, learning faster and faster.
This is the advantage of a solid formation foundation.
Also, after understanding the Ultimate Formation, communicating with Taoist Meaning, the benefit of complexity first, ease later.
After an hour, Mo Hua’s eyes sparkled, and then mimicking Mr. Pi’s actions, simultaneously looked at the Earth Formation Compass and took out a Bronze Formation Pen, dipped in Spiritual Ink, and began sketching on the burial gate.
Mr. Hui and the others didn’t really notice anything.
Instead, a black-robed young man watching Mo Hua showed an unexpected expression, his pupils quivered.
Mo Hua, using the Bronze Formation Pen, completed the formation on the burial gate, checked it over, felt it was fine, then opened the Formation Book, according to its instructions, inked with the pen, sketched some Formation Patterns to activate the formation.
A dim light flashed, and the breaking formation patterns lit one by one.
The sealed patterns broke inch by inch.
The burial gate also slightly vibrated.
Moments later, accompanied by an aged, rusty, coppery sound, the bronze burial gate slowly opened a crack, and a chill seeped through the door gap.
"It really opened..."
Not only Mr. Hui and the three, but even the four black-robed cultivators also glanced at Mo Hua amazed.
Mo Hua systematically collected the Formation Book, Formation Diagram, Bronze Pen, Compass into his storage bag.
Then matter-of-factly claimed Mr. Pi’s storage bag as his own.
Mr. Hui and the others paused but didn’t say anything further, including Mouse, who dared not object to Mo Hua.
Among cultivators, strength speaks volumes.
Know formations, break formations, and open gates—those are measures of strength.
At this point, an elder from the black-robed cultivators said hoarsely like wind through sand:
"No time to waste, open the gate."
The esteemed guest spoke, Mr. Hui didn’t dare to delay. He walked to the burial gate, grabbed the Oxhead and Horseface door knocker, and forcefully pulled it to the sides.
The burial gate slowly opened.
Beyond the gate, empty, pitch-black, exuding a chilling unease, coupled with an almost suffocating oppressive feeling.
Meanwhile, low growling sounds emerged.
An overwhelming scent of evil spirits wafted in.