The next day, Qian Hong met with Elder Yu.
Mo Hua peeked into the mine, secretly watching, and instantly recognized Qian Hong.
Qian Hong was Qian Xing's father, and Qian Xing had been blown up by Mo Hua using the ground fire formation. Mo Hua knew what Qian Xing looked like, and since father and son looked alike, Qian Hong was easy to recognize.
Moreover, even without looking at their faces, the two Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Qian family were easy to spot.
Qian Zhongxuan stood next to Qian Hong. Although both were Foundation Establishment cultivators, Qian Hong's demeanor was clearly superior.
Qian Zhongxuan's deep frown lines made him look stern, but his authority was far inferior to that of Qian Hong, the head of the Qian family, who held a high position.
Mo Hua curiously asked, "Elder, why do you call Qian Hong an 'old tortoise'?"
At least outwardly, Qian Hong appeared proud and handsome, with an extraordinary demeanor.
Elder Yu said, "You want to know?"
Mo Hua nodded.
"Fine, just watch."
Watch? Watch what?
Mo Hua was somewhat puzzled.
After a while, both sides confronted each other. Elder Yu stood with his sword at the cave entrance on the mountainside and started cursing directly at Qian Hong and Qian Zhongxuan.
He cursed them from head to toe.
Qian Zhongxuan trembled with anger, while Qian Hong remained expressionless, as if he hadn't heard a thing.
When Elder Yu got tired of cursing, he stopped to rest and said to Mo Hua, "Do you understand now?"
Mo Hua nodded in amazement and said,
"He really is an 'old tortoise.' He can really endure!"
Despite being cursed so severely by Elder Yu, Qian Hong's expression didn't change, and he didn't utter a word or even twitch an eyebrow.
"To put it nicely, it's called deep scheming; to put it bluntly, it's shameless," said Elder Yu.
Mo Hua asked again, "Elder, won't it be bad to anger him like this?"
Elder Yu sneered, "It makes no difference. As long as there's a benefit, he's heartless. Don't think that if you don't provoke him, he'll show mercy."
Mo Hua nodded and asked, "Are we going to fight them next?"
Elder Yu sighed, "It's best not to. Our side has been fighting for too long and are now exhausted, while they've been rotating their forces. A direct confrontation would be unfavorable for us. Besides, our food and healing pills are running low."
"Should we flee?"
"Yes."
"How do we flee? There are many Qian family cultivators, and we can't easily escape," Mo Hua frowned.
"I initially planned to defeat the Qian family and transport the spiritual ore openly, but now that the Qian family cultivators are like locusts, coming in waves, and Qian Hong the old tortoise is here in person, that plan won't work," said Elder Yu. "Our only option is to dig another tunnel and slip away quietly."
Mo Hua was stunned, "A tunnel? Can we dig it in time?"
Elder Yu sighed, "It's hard to say. We need to hold the cave entrance as long as possible."
Mo Hua nodded, but felt it would be difficult to defend.
The mine was indeed hard to defend.
The Qian family launched irregular attacks every day, neither seeking great achievements nor engaging in prolonged battles, purely to wear down the demon hunters' morale.
At the same time, they kept the demon hunters occupied, preventing any other actions.
Elder Yu had to arrange for people to defend the cave entrance, mine the spiritual ore, and dig another tunnel for escape.
For a while, he was overwhelmed.
Mo Hua was also worried but had no better solution.
One day, Elder Yu suddenly approached Mo Hua and asked helplessly, "Mo Hua, is there a formation that can seal the mine?"
Since they couldn't defend it, they might as well seal it completely. This way, the Qian family couldn't get in, and once they dug out the tunnel, they could leave.
"Seal it completely?"
"Just leave one or two exits."
Mo Hua thought for a moment and his eyes lit up, "Yes!"
He recalled a formation that could reinforce soil and stone to seal the cave entrance, which he had seen in the formation book given by Mr. Zhuang.
Elder Yu's spirituals lifted, "Can you draw it now?"
"No," Mo Hua shook his head, "I haven't learned it yet."
Elder Yu sighed, "I'll have everyone hold on a bit longer. You go ahead and learn it, no need to rush..."
In reality, Elder Yu was very anxious.
In the short term, it was fine, but if it dragged on, every day spent in this stalemate with the Qian family would be torture. The Qian family had supplies and manpower, but they did not.
In the short term, it was manageable, but over time, enduring such a stalemate with the Qian family would be torturous. The Qian family had supplies and manpower, while they did not.
However, Elder Yu didn't want to put too much pressure on Mo Hua, who had already been of great help.
Elder Yu knew that learning formations was not easy. For many formation masters, taking ten days to half a month to learn a formation was normal. Otherwise, formation masters wouldn't be so rare.
Elder Yu was somewhat hesitant.
He didn't know how long it would take Mo Hua to learn this formation. If it took ten days to half a month, they might not be able to hold out and would need to consider other options.
Elder Yu got up to leave but couldn't help asking softly:
"Mo Hua, I'm not rushing you, I just want to know, how long will it take you to learn this formation?"
Mo Hua thought for a moment and carefully replied:
"If I'm fast, by tomorrow morning; if I'm slower, by the morning after tomorrow."
It wasn't a rare first-grade formation, and Mo Hua was learning quickly now. He could memorize the formation patterns during the day and practice on the Dao Stele at night. If he couldn't learn it in one night, two nights would be enough.
Elder Yu opened his mouth.
He felt that his previous worries were somewhat unnecessary. His emotions fluctuated, and his expression was complex for a moment, "Do all you formation masters learn formations this quickly…"
Mo Hua chuckled, "Not necessarily."
'So it's just this child, Mo Hua, who learns quickly…' Elder Yu thought silently as he glanced at Mo Hua.
Anyway, if it was by tomorrow or the day after, they would have enough time.
Elder Yu breathed a sigh of relief, "Take your time learning, I won't disturb you." He then left, looking more relaxed.
Mo Hua opened the Thousand Formations Catalog and found a formation called the First-Grade Earth Stone Formation, which included nine earth-type formation patterns.
The Earth Stone Formation was a type of first-grade earth formation that could fuse and solidify soil and stone, making them harder.
The formation patterns weren't difficult, and Mo Hua memorized them after a few readings. It was still early, with several hours until midnight.
At midnight, Mo Hua could enter his Sea of Consciousness to practice formations on the Dao Stele.
"What should I do now?"
Mo Hua pondered, resting his chin on his hand.
He had already familiarized himself with the formation patterns, and reading them a few more times wouldn't make much difference.
Mo Hua decided to take out paper and pen and try drawing the First-Grade Earth Stone Formation on paper.
Usually, Mo Hua practiced formations on the Dao Stele before drawing them on paper to avoid wasting ink and paper.
But now wasn't the time to worry about such things.
Mo Hua began drawing the First-Grade Earth Stone Formation on paper.
As expected, the first attempt failed.
Mo Hua felt a bit regretful but not too upset, as he had accumulated over a thousand bottles of demon blood and was not short of spiritual ink.
He started on the second attempt, which also failed.
The third attempt failed again.
Mo Hua summarized his mistakes, calmed his mind, and continued drawing. As he kept drawing, he found himself successfully completing the formation.
He tried injecting some spiritual power, and the formation patterns lit up with a faint gray glow.
Was it really this easy?
Mo Hua was initially happy but then felt somewhat… unfulfilled.
He had planned to spend the night practicing the Earth Stone Formation, but now that he had mastered it before nightfall, he didn't know what to do.
"What should I learn tonight?"
Mo Hua scratched his head, flipping through the chaotic array of formation books beside him, and accidentally came across a formation:
The First-Grade Earth-Wood Combination Formation.
(End of the Chapter)