Mo Hua immediately closed his eyes, gathered his spiritual consciousness, and projected it outward to perceive the Qi of Famine in the world, deducing the internal principles of the formation.

A moment later, Mo Hua opened his eyes, frowning.

“I can’t deduce it.”

If Tianji Yansuan couldn’t deduce anything, it meant that these Qi of Famine likely did not possess the fundamental elements of a formation.

For example, the construction of formation patterns, the circulation of formation hubs, and the energy supply of formation eyes.

The Qi of Famine was merely a “Qi mechanism” that brought disaster.

Mo Hua indeed saw no trace of any formation in the outward manifestation of the spreading Qi of Famine—no formation patterns, no formation hubs, no formation eyes.

But was it really that simple?

Mo Hua’s expression was somewhat solemn.

Was it because this spreading famine was not a disaster caused by a formation, which was why Tianji Yansuan couldn’t deduce it?

Or was it simply because his own level of Tianji Yansuan was insufficient to discern the inner mysteries?

Or perhaps—

Mo Hua’s gaze sharpened slightly.

Was this spreading “famine” an entirely different kind of formation, beyond his cognitive scope, making it impossible to deduce?

This possibility was also very high.

Mo Hua looked at the scene before him, the widespread famine, and the withered vegetation, and sighed.

The formations of Heaven and Earth were vast and profound.

The more he saw and learned, the more he felt how little he knew, and the more he marvelled at the endless mysteries and countless ancient and profound formations in this world.

Even in ancient times, many bizarre formations might have permeated Heaven and Earth in a “natural” form, just like now—invisible, traceless, without a discoverable “framework,” and unnoticed by anyone.

Over time, they either became lost and vanished from the world.

Or, invisibly, they would bring about great calamities.

And ordinary people, “blind,” unable to penetrate the mysteries of the formations, would be completely unaware of the true nature of these disasters.

Mo Hua’s pupils deepened, and he suddenly gained a profound realization.

The Dao Ting’s unified, human-regulated “formalized” formation framework also began to “dissolve” in his mind.

A formation was a human understanding of natural laws, not a “pattern of laws” artificially sorted, summarized, and deduced.

But natural laws did not always manifest in human-prescribed forms.

Some “formations” appeared in natural forms, not even looking like “formations.”

But often, these natural formations were actually more powerful.

What a formations master should truly learn should not be the formalized “formations”—not the “formations” from books or doctrines.

These were all human-defined “formations” (zhen), not natural “laws” (fa).

A formations master should learn the natural laws of Heaven and Earth.

They should personally observe all things in the world, comprehend these laws, and not be confined by forms or “knowledge,” but instead experience the essence of formations.

For example, the appearance of the Taotie he saw during his previous enlightenment.

The Taotie patterns were dense, seemingly constructed by formation patterns, but in reality, they were fierce beasts hatched by laws.

Another example was the spreading famine before him, which had no formal formation structure, but very likely possessed the “law” core of a formation.

It was just that this method was too profound.

Mo Hua could only vaguely “comprehend” a little, but lacking specific knowledge and inherited methods, he couldn’t perform any “practical operations.”

“Formation (zhen) and law (fa), zhen is the medium, fa is the core—”

Mo Hua took out a jade slip and meticulously recorded all his insights, word for word, to review and comprehend them later.

A poor memory is better than a good pen.

Mo Hua was quite confident in his memory.

However, he had been afflicted by a fatal calamity, with malevolent spirits residing in his destiny, causing backlash to his divine sense and a risk of “amnesia.” He might forget these precious “insights” one day.

Therefore, it was better to develop the habit of “taking notes.”

After noting down all his insights in a small booklet, Mo Hua held the jade slip, and his thoughts, slightly divergent, led him to another question:

Taotie was related to famine and eating—

But what about the Twenty-Three Pattern Taotie Ultimate Formation from the Shugu Tribe? What Taotie law did it contain? And what specific function did it have?

Further, what about the Twenty-Four Pattern Twelve Meridians Taotie Spirit Skeleton Formation?

Did the Taotie Spirit Skeleton Formation also contain laws related to “famine” and “eating”?

But was this truly correct?

These seemed to be unresolvable questions.

The Qi of Famine, the Twenty-Three Pattern Taotie Formation, the and the Twelve Meridians Taotie Spirit Skeleton Formation.

The causal logic and the relationship between the laws within them were too complex.

Mo Hua pondered for a long time, only feeling his mind in a tangled mess. The character “Taotie” was like a complex “monster,” devouring his divine sense and preventing him from finding any clues.

“I can’t just speculate; I need something concrete and tangible to study.”

The ethereal uses the tangible as a medium.

Law uses formation as an intermediary.

The Great Dao also has carriers.

The laws of Taotie were also like this.

And currently, what clearly contained “Taotie power” was the “famine” continuously spreading before him.

Mo Hua calmed his mind again and continued to stay at the “front line” of the famine, observing its current state and analyzing its internal causes and laws.

But the results were minimal.

Taotie was a fierce beast, famine was a great disaster, and laws were even more profound and unfathomable.

Now, this Qi of Famine had even detached itself from the old category of formations, surpassing Mo Hua’s understanding of formations.

It was simply not something he could analyze just by wanting to.

Effort did not necessarily yield results.

Mo Hua frowned, having wasted half a month with no solution.

But he was unwilling to give up just like that.

After all, “the power of Taotie” had spread right before him; he couldn’t just ignore it without understanding it.

“This method of study isn’t working, so should I try a different approach?”

“What approach?”

Mo Hua sat on a large rock on the cliff, resting his chin on his right hand, staring at the withered land before him. In his mind, he reviewed all his lifelong learning and all his cultivation experiences like a “carousel.” The scene of the desolate Heaven Blood Sacrifice Great Formation collapsing suddenly appeared in his mind.

“Collapse?”

“No, that’s not right…”

Mo Hua recalled the Desolate Heaven Blood Sacrifice Great Formation.

This was not the first time he had “collapsed” a great formation, but the Desolate Heaven Blood Sacrifice was different; it wasn’t just a simple “disintegration.”

A second-grade reverse spirit formation couldn’t collapse a quasi-third-grade great formation.

The Desolate Heaven Blood Sacrifice wasn’t collapsed purely by the power of “disintegration”; there were some more complex changes involved.

It was through the disintegration caused by the reverse spirit formation that spiritual energy and evil energy directly clashed, creating opposition and mutual transformation between positive and negative, triggering a deeper “dissolution.”

Although Mo Hua had “deduced” this change at the time, he hadn’t fully understood it himself.

He had simply, by some strange coincidence during the deduction, felt that by activating the reverse spirit power in this way to make the formation explode, the explosive power would be stronger, and the resulting contradictions and chaos would be more profound. So, he acted on instinct.

The result, of course, was formidable.

Yu Hua was forced to die.

Golden Core cultivators instantly turned to dust.

Mo Hua remembered the scene vividly.

Heaven and Earth lost their color, black and white intertwined, blue spiritual energy and red evil energy stood in opposition, merging with each other, their light soaring into the sky.

During this process, spiritual energy was constantly transforming into evil energy, and evil energy was constantly being affected by spiritual energy and undergoing reverse transformation, with its inherent malevolent power being disintegrated and eliminated.

In the opposition between good and evil, they mutually transformed, dissolving all things.

In short, it was a very complex, subtle, and profound change.

“It’s somewhat like the Taiji formed by Yin-Yang fish?”

Mo Hua’s heart trembled. He couldn’t clearly articulate the principle, nor was he sure if his guess was correct.

But the “framework” of power contradiction generated during the collapse of the Desolate Heaven Blood Sacrifice could be borrowed and referenced.

“Apply another, completely opposite formation power to one type of power, thereby triggering opposition and transformation, and observe the changes in its internal fundamental laws?”

Mo Hua murmured in his heart.

Although he didn’t know if it was feasible, he could try.

Mo Hua continued to deduce:

“From an internal law perspective, the Qi of Famine can stimulate ‘vitality,’ causing people, spirit beasts, and even plants and all living beings to experience excessive hunger due to overactive vitality, leading to the loss of life force and entering a state of ‘death.'”

“Famine turns life into death.”

“Then, we just need to use formations to turn death into life and maintain vitality.”

Mo Hua had tried this before.

The Yimu Spring Return Formation was feasible.

But this was only for “people” and had no strong inhibitory effect on “famine” itself.

Mo Hua also couldn’t observe the essence of the Qi of Famine from it.

“Besides the Yimu Spring Return Formation, what other formations can be used to try against famine?”

Mo Hua looked at the barren land plunged into famine before him, a flash of inspiration struck, and he suddenly thought of a formation:

The Houtu Formation!

Famine spread across the land, making it barren, with withered plants and dying creatures.

To suppress famine, one could naturally start from the land.

And the ultimate formation that contained the vitality of the earth happened to be:

The Houtu Formation.

This was a earth sect ultimate formation he had found in a mountain village during his travels with his master.

He wondered if it was by chance at that time, or if his master had calculated that this formation would be of great use in the future. Mo Hua felt a slight emotion in his heart, and without hesitation, he calmed his mind, communicated with the Dao principles of the earth, and then personally drew several Houtu Formations at the edge of the spreading Qi of Famine to observe their effects.

On the Houtu Formation, the virtuous power of the earth circulated, full of vitality.

When the Qi of Famine spread to the Houtu Formation, it was indeed obstructed, like oil encountering heat, sizzling with white smoke and undergoing a strange dissolution.

Mo Hua’s heart rejoiced.

But this process didn’t last long at all.

The Houtu Formation was “swallowed” by the famine.

Just as water can overcome fire, a small amount of water cannot extinguish a large-scale fire.

Life can suppress death, but a small amount of vitality cannot suppress a large amount of “death.”

Moreover, Mo Hua’s Houtu Formation was only first-grade and could not resist the “famine” produced by at least some second-grade Taotie-type formations.

But the problem was that ultimate formations were rare and hard to come by.

Especially “specific” types of ultimate formations.

With famine rampant in the Great Barrens now, where could he find a second-grade Houtu Ultimate Formation to learn?

Mo Hua sighed deeply.

He tried other five-element earth-type or Eight Trigrams Gen-type formations, and although their grades were sufficient, their effects were extremely poor.

At the “law” level, ordinary formations simply couldn’t compare to ultimate formations.

The situation was stalled again. Mo Hua lay on the ground, beneath him was relatively dense shrubbery, and a few zhang away was the barren land with withered vegetation due to the famine.

This was the boundary between “life and decay.”

Now, this “decay” boundary was slowly but steadily spreading towards Mo Hua.

It might take a few days, or perhaps a month, for the famine to spread to his current position.

All the grass and bushes beneath him would also wither, decay, and eventually face “death.”

Mo Hua felt a very subtle sensation in his heart.

It was as if he was lying on the boundary of “life and death.”

“Death” was closing in on him.

And what he needed to do was to stimulate “vitality” to resist “decay.”

This was a formation, a law, and at the same time, more like a “karma.”

Mo Hua’s pupils constricted, his heart trembled, and his inner obsession deepened.

“Specifically—how should I do it?”

Mo Hua frowned, contemplating in silence.

After a moment of thought, Mo Hua took out his “small notebook” jade slip again, pondered his recent insights for a while, and then a sudden flash of inspiration struck him.

“Formation is the medium, law is the core.”

Formations themselves have mutual generation and subjugation, like the Five Elements or the Eight Trigrams.

The same applies to laws.

Or rather, it’s not the formations that generate and subjugate each other, but the “laws.”

It is the internal laws that interact, thus leading to the superficial phenomenon of formations generating and subjugating each other.

To suppress “famine,” in essence, is to use the law of “life” to suppress “death.”

And to strengthen the law of “life,” one needs to use formations as a medium.

But formations are merely “tools,” carriers.

Even ultimate formations are the same.

Ultimate formations contain stronger and more profound law power, distinctly different from ordinary formations, but in essence, they are all manifestations of “laws.” As long as one comprehends the changes in laws, theoretically, it is possible to combine “ultimate formations” with other formations to form “composite formations.”

Such composite formations are linked and act together, using the same “law” as their central hub.

And what he needed to do was “to use the ‘Houtu Ultimate Formation’ as the core, with the law of ‘life’ as the hub, and connect other high-grade second-grade five-element earth-type and eight-trigram Gen-type formations, which also contain trace amounts of the law of ‘vitality,’ to form a new type of ‘composite formation.'”

In this way, this type of composite formation would comprise two layers of frameworks.

One layer would be the obvious, superficial framework of basic formations, including formation eyes, formation hubs, single formations, and formation patterns.

Superficially, this was indeed the case.

But at a deeper level, there was another layer of framework, which was an abstruse structure that ordinary formations masters could not discern.

Using the “ultimate formation” as the formation eye of the “law.”

Using the “law” as the hub of the composite formation.

Connecting single formations with similar laws to form a composite formation.

This was equivalent to deconstructing the formation framework system under Dao Ting’s regulations and then reconstructing a composite formation architecture using his self-comprehended “laws” as clues.

As this set of formation logic took shape in Mo Hua’s mind, Mo Hua himself was “shocked.”

Learning formations, comprehending laws.

Using comprehended laws to, in turn, deconstruct formations.

And using his own “laws” as the脈絡 (mài luò) (脉络, intricate network/context) to reconstruct a new formation framework.

To defeat the fixed with the unfixed, not confined by specific forms, able to deconstruct at any time, and reconstruct formations according to his own laws.

His own “formation” was the carrier of the “law” he had comprehended!

This was… “formation (zheng) law (fa)”?!

Mo Hua gasped, feeling that his idea was somewhat terrifying.

It was something he had comprehended himself, yet it made him a little incredulous.

He even began to doubt whether he had gone astray in learning something again, or comprehended some twisted truth again?

Was this what “formation (zheng) law (fa)” meant?

Were formations masters really like this?

His master had told him to forge his own formation path (zhenliu); was this what he meant?

Was he creating his own “formation path” (zhenliu)?

Or was he creating his own “formation method” (zhenfa)?

Mo Hua was completely confused.

He only felt that his path of seeking Dao was shrouded in a vast fog.

Without his master’s guidance, without Old Mr. Xun’s teaching, and with no one to discuss with, he simply didn’t know where he had arrived.

He also didn’t know which path he was truly walking as he moved forward step by step.

However, he had no choice; since he had already come this far, he could only push through.

“Most people fail to become immortals, which means the path they are on is not the path to immortality at all.”

“Most formations masters fail to comprehend the Great Dao of formations, which means their path must also be problematic.”

“The strong are destined to grope in the dark; their path is destined to be solitary, lacking recognition, and without light…”

Mo Hua could only comfort himself this way.

After that, he cast aside all worries, solidified his belief, and according to his own ideas, attempted to construct a set of composite formations that gathered “vitality power,” using the law of “life” as the hub and the “ultimate formation” as the core.

After attempting, Mo Hua realized that it was not as simple as he had imagined.

Many ideas were grand and inspiring, but in practice, they were very “lean,” monotonous, and painful.

The Houtu Formation was first-grade and an ultimate formation.

Various other five-element earth formations and Eight Trigrams Gen formations were second-grade.

How to structure them, how to be compatible, how to distinguish primary and secondary, how to regulate the flow of formation power.

Although these formations all contained a certain amount of “life” laws, they were distinctly different from each other.

Some were for the nurturing of plants, some for the growth nurtured by water and soil, some for the generation of earth and wood, and some for decay through earth burial.

These laws varied in strength, size, and quantity, making their “fusion” a major problem.

After fusion, how to use the formations as a medium to stimulate “vitality,” making the land ceaselessly alive to suppress “famine,” was also a very difficult task.

This required a large consumption of divine consciousness for Tianji Yansuan, constantly deducing, constantly attempting matches, to gain some insight.

Mo Hua struggled immensely in his exploration and calculated with great difficulty, his divine consciousness depleted, and his spiritual sea throbbing with pain.

However, his heart, conversely, became calm.

Because it was “difficult,” it indicated that he might be doing it right.

Moreover, the more he attempted, the more he studied, the more he failed, and the more setbacks he encountered, the deeper his comprehension of “laws” became, and the clearer the various changes in “laws” became in his mind.

Using “formation” (zhen) as a bridge and medium for “law” (fa) to guide “laws.”

With “fa” as the primary, and “zhen” as the secondary; with “fa” as the internal, and “zhen” as the external; with “fa” as the ethereal, and “zhen” as the tangible.

Only by integrating primary and secondary, combining internal and external, merging ethereal and tangible, and fusing formation and law, could it be considered true “formation law” (zhenfa).

Finally, after two full months of relentless, sleepless, and painstaking research.

Mo Hua finally, in an initial attempt, constructed a set of formations: the Houtu Reconstructed Ultimate Formation, with the Houtu Ultimate Formation as the law’s core, ordinary Eight Trigrams and Five Elements formations as the law’s formation media, and “life” as the law’s formation hub.

This was also Mo Hua’s first shallow attempt at “comprehending ‘law’ from ‘formation'” and then “constructing ‘formation’ from ‘law.'”