The Twelve Meridians Taotie Spirit Skeleton Formation, at its core, utilizes the twelve primary meridians within a cultivator’s body: the Taiyin, Jueyin, Shaoyin, Taiyang, Yangming, and Shaoyang of both the hands and feet.

Using the blood vessels within these primary meridians as points, the networks of meridians as lines, spiritual energy as qi, blood as essence, and internal organs as vessels, from the outer skin to the flesh and blood, to the bones, it embodies the miraculous craftsmanship of creation—complex, precise, yet seamlessly integrated, connecting the entire physical body and ultimately merging into one.

The flesh-and-blood body, naturally formed by heaven and earth, now appeared to be a “human machine” constructed by the Great Dao.

At this moment, Mo Hua’s custom-made “formation torture instrument” was, according to his own planned procedure, inserting fine silver needles along the acupoints of his hands and feet, into his flesh.

These silver needles also connected to his twelve primary meridians.

The Mubaizhijin (essence of wood and white) and Jinyuzhisui (marrow of gold and jade), two heavenly treasures, also permeated Mo Hua’s meridians along the silver needles, as he had arranged beforehand.

First to permeate was the Jinyuzhisui.

This Jinyuzhisui, belonging to the Metal element, fluid like jade, upon entering the body, permeated downwards from the flesh and blood, settling on Mo Hua’s bones.

Mo Hua’s bones had already been pre-nourished with the “Mubai Jinyu” foundation.

Now, the Jinyuzhisui completed the final step of integration, enveloping Mo Hua’s trunk bones, as if “gilding” his bones.

After “gilding,” the Jinyuzhisui would not solidify for several hours.

This stage was the only window for “carving the formation.”

At this time, the Mubaizhijin, mixed with wood qi, half clear and half white, slowly permeated into Mo Hua’s body along the silver needles.

The Mubaizhijin contained vitality and would instantly melt upon contact with blood, making it imperceptible.

Since it was imperceptible, it couldn’t be controlled by divine sense.

Therefore, Mo Hua had previously mixed a bit of the Great Wilderness’s “blood poison” into the Mubaizhijin.

This blood poison would also dissolve in blood and cause a very distinct sensation of pain.

As long as there was a distinct “pain sensation,” Mo Hua could perceive it.

If he could perceive it, his divine sense could “identify” it.

If his divine sense could identify it, Mo Hua could control this Mubaizhijin, using it as “spiritual ink” to carve the Taotie formation on his own bones.

And this blood poison itself possessed a certain “corrosiveness,” capable of corroding bones.

Thus, by using the poison itself as a “carving knife,” he could leave the traces of the formation on his own bones.

This was the “poison carving” method that Mo Hua had pondered for a long time before devising.

Without cutting open the skin, without dissecting the limbs, without “exposing the bones,” he could draw formation patterns within his own body, on intact bones, using the method of controlling ink with divine sense.

As for the blood poison itself, although it could “corrode” bones, its toxicity was not strong, and the harm was not great.

What was corroded was mostly the “gilded” surface of the bone.

Afterwards, the Mubaizhijin would naturally heal, carrying away these blood poisons without leaving a trace.

All procedures were within Mo Hua’s “plan” and had been simulated thousands of times by him, confirming their accuracy, before he would implement them now.

The silver needles pierced the twelve meridians, and the Mubaizhijin melted into the blood. But because “poison” was mixed in, causing pain, it was easily “identified” by Mo Hua’s divine sense.

Mo Hua began to manipulate this Mubaizhijin, following the formation diagram of the Twelve Meridians Taotie Spirit Skeleton Formation, starting from the Taiyin Lung Meridian of the hand. It entered the meridians from the blood, then entered the collaterals, and after connecting the meridians, he drew the first stroke of the Taotie Spirit Skeleton formation pattern on the radial side of his thumb.

The Mubaizhijin, melted with blood as ink, landed on the bones “gilded” with Jinyuzhisui.

It outlined the first stroke of the fierce Taotie formation pattern.

As soon as this Taotie pattern was drawn, it felt as if a fierce beast had bitten into his thumb’s radius bone, the pain penetrating deep into the marrow.

Even after consuming “Mashencao” (anesthetic grass) and having his bones gilded with Jinyuzhisui.

Yet, this pain was like maggots in the bone, penetrating through the Mashencao and Jinyu bones, branded onto Mo Hua’s divine sense.

This kind of pain was not a pain of flesh and blood, or of bones.

It was more like a pain of “laws.”

It was the suffering of “backlash” brought about by a “mortal” flesh-and-blood body audaciously attempting to bear the fierce Taotie laws with its own bones.

This pain could penetrate all superficial defenses, directly acting upon the “soul” itself.

Mo Hua only felt the gnawing of a nameless fierce beast upon him, the pain unbearable, causing his bones, and even his meridians and flesh, to tremble.

Fortunately, before drawing his innate formation, he had “nailed” his body down.

Otherwise, if he moved around, the consequences would be unimaginable.

But the iron chains and shackles deeply cut into Mo Hua’s flesh, leaving obvious bruises and marks on his fair hands and feet.

This was physical pain, but it didn’t matter.

The real pain was enduring the pain brought by the “Taotie” laws.

And this pain was intensifying.

The Taotie’s gnawing was deepening.

The various pains brought by this single formation pattern far exceeded the limits that an ordinary cultivator could bear.

Even Mo Hua, unable to bear it any longer, could only actively mobilize powerful divine nature to suppress his human nature.

He put his life and death, his flesh and blood, his sea of consciousness, all his suffering… completely out of his mind.

With divine nature, he observed from a detached perspective, comprehending all his human sufferings.

The gods are not benevolent; they treat all living beings as straw dogs.

Mo Hua himself was one of these living beings.

He regarded himself as a “straw dog,” placing all sorrow and suffering upon the body of a straw dog.

At the same time, he also regarded himself as a “god,” indifferent to himself as a straw dog.

Under this powerful divine nature, cold and rational observation and transcendence, Mo Hua’s “humanity” was further suppressed to an infinitesimal degree.

And this “weakness” of humanity also greatly reduced the “pain” in his divine sense.

In the concept of divine sense, the less one is constrained by their identity as a “human,” the less one is constrained by the gains and losses of their own life, safety, and reputation, the closer one can approach divine nature.

Mo Hua’s eyes almost completely turned golden.

Many human emotions, along with human pain, were simultaneously diluted.

Only by doing so could he grit his teeth and continue drawing, continuing to carve the innate formation on his own bones…

Afterwards, the Mubaizhijin, infused with blood poison, flowed within the twelve primary meridians with the blood qi, and under Mo Hua’s meticulous control of divine sense, continued to wind and condense into the second formation pattern on the bones.

This time, the pain was much lighter.

Mo Hua was then able to continue drawing.

His divine sense continued to circulate, and the “spiritual ink” like Mubaizhijin continued to flow, outlining downwards…

The third stroke, the fourth stroke…

Thus, after an unknown period, the first Taotie pattern was finally drawn by Mo Hua.

On Mo Hua’s thumb’s radius bone, a Taotie pattern, like a young fierce beast, condensed. It constantly trembled with the circulation of blood qi, as if breathing.

The first Taotie pattern formed.

Almost simultaneously, the gnawing pain of the Taotie suddenly became even stronger.

Mo Hua could only once again mobilize his divine nature, continuing to suppress the pain in his divine sense with absolute rationality and cold cognition.

This was an extremely agonizing process.

It was an agony for Mo Hua’s soul and a test of his Dao heart.

Mo Hua forcibly endured this intense pain.

Finally, after an unknown period, when the pain subsided slightly, Mo Hua’s gaze remained firm, and he continued to draw the second Taotie pattern.

The second-grade twenty-four-pattern Taotie Spirit Skeleton Formation.

He had only drawn one now; he still needed to draw twenty-three more formation patterns, and ultimately connect them all to form the final Twelve Meridians Taotie Spirit Skeleton Formation.

This process was incredibly painful and long, so long that there was almost no light at the end of the tunnel.

In the boundless darkness condensed by pain, Mo Hua had no idea how long he had been drawing, or how much prolonged suffering he had endured.

Nor did he know how many times he had forcibly invoked divine nature to suppress his human nature…

Mo Hua could only, with cold rationality, like a “Dao machine,” patiently endure the agony, stroke by stroke, pattern by pattern, following the formation memories he had practiced countless times before…

He could only persevere, condensing his mind to extreme focus, without any distraction, no other thoughts whatsoever.

Only in this way could he continue drawing. Towards the end, Mo Hua even had a feeling of “certainty.”

His bones were merely withered stones.

His flesh was merely earth.

He had lost the concept of “self.”

He was not carving the Spirit Skeleton Formation on himself.

Instead, he was drawing this Twelve Meridians Taotie Spirit Skeleton Formation on the natural stones and wood between heaven and earth.

Mo Hua completely annihilated the “ego” and transcended “pain.” Infinitely close to divine nature, Mo Hua’s eyes only held the formation, only heaven and earth, and that indescribable, self-operating, eternal “Dao”…

In this state of extreme “divine nature,” Mo Hua’s consciousness became increasingly clear.

The formations he drew also seemed to possess divine nature.

He seemed to have been born in accordance with the Dao of heaven and earth, breathing with the laws.

In this long conflict between divine and human nature, the breeding of pain and the dissolution of self, Mo Hua, relying on his Dao heart, persevered to the very end.

Finally, as Mo Hua’s divine sense was about to be depleted, he finally outlined the last Taotie formation pattern on his own bones.

He had finally completely carved this Great Wilderness Twelve Meridians Taotie Spirit Skeleton Formation, which he had practiced and simulated countless times, onto his own bones.

At that instant, a blinding blue light shone.

One after another, ferocious Taotie patterns began to appear on Mo Hua’s skin.

An ancient light of formation lit up within Mo Hua’s body, following the meridians, from the Taiyin Lung Meridian of the hand, to the Yangming Large Intestine Meridian of the hand, to the Yangming Stomach Meridian of the foot… and finally to the Shaoyang Sanjiao Meridian of the hand, the Shaoyang Gallbladder Meridian of the foot, the Jueyin Liver Meridian of the foot, ultimately returning to the Taiyin Lung Meridian of the hand, forming a complete twelve-meridian Zhou Tian circulation.

Connecting the entire twenty-four Taotie patterns on the Zhou Tian of the twelve primary meridians.

And these twenty-four Taotie patterns, some bright, some dim, continuously emerged, as if alive, constantly wriggling and merging within Mo Hua’s bones, his internal organs, his meridians, and his flesh, finally connecting into a single piece…

The Taotie formation merged with his physical body.

The Taotie laws also seemed to melt into his body.

On Mo Hua’s skin, ancient and ferocious Taotie patterns rose and fell, emitting an eerie blue light.

This made Mo Hua himself look like a “human-shaped Taotie.”

It was as if a Taotie had merged into a human body.

It was also as if a Taotie had transformed into a “human form.”

This was the Great Wilderness Twelve Meridians Taotie Spirit Skeleton Formation, originating from a mysterious Great Wuzhu, sealed within a邪神 (evil god)’s skull.

It could be called seizing the creation of heaven and earth, exhausting the ultimate secrets of humanity, and transforming the fierce laws of Taotie.

Mo Hua slowly opened his eyes.

As his eyes opened and closed, it was as if an ancient “spiritual fierce beast” awakened, taking its first look at this world.

“It succeeded…”

Even though Mo Hua’s divine nature had reached its peak and his human nature was very faint, a trace of joy still irrepressibly arose from the bottom of his heart.

This was not only the joy born from “human nature” due to the formation of the innate formation and the paving of the path to alchemy.

It was also the pleasure born from “divine nature,” from the yearning for the Dao and laws.

Mo Hua could feel the sensation of the Taotie’s laws hatching and growing within his body, using the formation as a medium, as his innate formation took shape.

This joy for ancient “laws” was hard for even gods to refuse.

And at this point, the most difficult, most dangerous, and most core part of Mo Hua’s innate formation had been successfully carved.

Mo Hua slowly let out a breath.

Afterwards, all that remained was to use the “Yimu Hui Chun Formation” (Wood Resurgence Formation) to lock the blood.

Besides compensating for the loss of blood qi during bone carving, this Yimu formation was also used as a safeguard and for life preservation.

The Taotie Spirit Skeleton Formation was a fierce beast ultimate formation, extremely domineering and dangerous.

Once the Taotie Spirit Skeleton Formation lost control, overloaded, or became chaotic, leading to a rampage.

Then Mo Hua’s internal meridians, bones, internal organs, etc., that were integrated with the Taotie formation would be severely damaged and very difficult to repair.

If there were no corresponding “blood locking” and “life force replenishment” methods, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Therefore, he had to build another “vitality” type of formation inside his body to replenish blood qi.

And, to a certain extent, offset the risk of damage to his physical body due to the Taotie Spirit Skeleton Formation “losing control” in the future.

Only then could there truly be no future troubles.

Among those that met these requirements, Mo Hua, after careful consideration, found that only the “Yimu Hui Chun Formation” was the most suitable.

This was almost his best, and only, choice.

Fortunately, the formation patterns of the “Yimu Hui Chun Formation” itself were not difficult; at least they were much simpler than the twenty-four-pattern Taotie Spirit Skeleton Formation.

Mo Hua used Mubaizhijin as spiritual ink to carve the Yimu Hui Chun Formation near his twelve primary meridians, that is, next to the Taotie Spirit Skeleton Formation.

He actually had quite a lot of bones on his body.

The main areas were covered with the Taotie formation, and the remaining blank spaces, Mo Hua filled in with the Yimu Hui Chun Formation.

But this casual filling caused a problem.

It was unclear whether it was a problem with the “ink” of Mubaizhijin, or with the method of forging bones with Mubai Jinyu, or with the ancient laws contained in the Taotie Spirit Skeleton Formation.

When Mo Hua drew the Yimu Hui Chun Formation on his bones, certain “reactions” suddenly occurred.

The Yimu formation patterns suddenly began to twist, as if some kind of “illusion” shattered, becoming somewhat different.

Vaguely, Mo Hua seemed to see two black and white Ouroboros, tail to mouth, fighting, swirling, weaving something…

At the same time, an ancient and vast feeling surged in Mo Hua’s heart.

Mo Hua felt as if he was standing on some boundary of the Great Dao, in eternal life, seemingly alive, seemingly dead, both illusory and real, like a dream.

But after that, everything disappeared again.

Mo Hua could no longer feel anything.

The Yimu Hui Chun Formation had already been drawn by Mo Hua, melted into his bones, transformed into vitality, silently repairing the injuries within Mo Hua’s body caused by carving the innate formation.

And with each degree his injuries healed, with each degree the Yimu Hui Chun Formation nourished his vitality, its integration with his body deepened by one degree…

Mo Hua’s brows slowly furrowed.

“What is this… something… integrated in…”

He wanted to investigate further, but there was nothing left to investigate.

Even the formation patterns of the Yimu Hui Chun Formation had melted into his bones, and he could no longer “see” them.

The Taotie patterns would glow, and he could still faintly see some.

But the Yimu Hui Chun Formation was a formation hidden within his twelve primary meridians; once drawn, it operated silently and invisibly, so he himself couldn’t see it.

Unless his flesh was cut open and his bones were removed, only then could one see what was carved on the bones.

Only then could one see what changes had occurred in the Yimu Hui Chun Formation.

But this would have to wait until he “died” someday, and his body was dissected and bones removed.

Mo Hua continuously used his divine sense to examine the flow of spiritual energy within his body and the operation of the formations.

After checking more than ten times, he still didn’t detect any problems.

The Mubai Jinyu bones were healing.

The Taotie Spirit Skeleton Formation was also slowly merging through respiration.

The Yimu Hui Chun Formation was also silently nourishing vitality in the dark.

Everything seemed “peaceful.”

“No problem…”

Mo Hua pondered for a moment longer, still finding no abnormalities, and then stopped dwelling on the issue.

This set of innate formations was not an orthodox inheritance; it was a strange thing “stitched together” by him, so a little unexpected change was quite normal.

As long as it operated without error.

Or rather, Mo Hua only “prayed” that this formation system would not malfunction when operating.

He could not hope for anything else.

Moreover, now that the innate formation was completely carved, the die was cast. It had merged with his bones, meridians, internal organs, and flesh, where one move affects the whole body. He couldn’t change it even if he wanted to.

Even if there really was a problem, he could only pretend there wasn’t.

Even if he was truly destined to die, he could only wait for death.

Mo Hua hardened his heart, no longer bothered by so much, and again internally inspected. He found that the formation patterns were correct, the formation was running, and the blood poison, Mubaizhijin, Jinyuzhisui, and other remaining spiritual energy medicinal properties had not lingered in his body.

He then began to use his divine sense to cut off the connection between the outside world and his internal twelve meridians, and used his divine sense to control the innate formation, urging the Yimu vitality to heal the flesh and blood.

Thus, his innate formation completed its final sealing.

This set of innate formation system, with the Great Wilderness Twelve Meridians Taotie Spirit Skeleton Formation as its core, Mubai Jinyu as its bones, and Yimu Hui Chun as its auxiliary, was completely finalized…

The entire process went without any further incident.

However, many miles away.

Daozhou.

In a secluded small courtyard.

The阁老 (Elder Ge), who was sitting by a small river, eyes closed, dozing and fishing, suddenly opened his eyes, a look of bewilderment on his face:

“Where’s my formation…”

“The formation I gave him… where is it?”

(End of this chapter)