Asking About Longevity

Chapter 9 Open Fire Array

 The figure drawn in ink in the Sea of ​​Consciousness looks the same as the external physical body and can be moved as the heart desires, but it is not made of flesh and blood, or even spiritual power, but is just a shadow of spiritual consciousness.

The virtual figure in the ink painting holds his breath and concentrates, using his fingers as a brush to draw the pattern of the open fire formation on the Taoist stele.

The light blue lines move flexibly with the fingers of the ink painter, and gradually appear on the dark black Taoist monument. The traces gradually connect from simple to complex to form mysterious lines.

 After finishing the second formation pattern, when I continued painting, I gradually felt more tired and even painful than ever before.

 The sea of ​​consciousness is like a dam that has been dug open. The divine consciousness in the sea of ​​consciousness keeps flowing out like a tide.

The more spiritual consciousness flows out, the closer the sea of ​​consciousness is to drying up. It is like a river bed where the water recedes, gradually drying up and cracking. There is a tingling sensation due to unknown pressure, and the scalp is also numb.

 The ink painting also gradually felt that my thoughts were stagnant, and the third formation pattern was painted more and more slowly.

Suddenly, a pinprick-like pain came from the sea of ​​​​consciousness. The ink painting was temporarily absent-minded, and the pattern on the tablet was also wrong.

Mo Hua had to stop and cover his head, waiting for the pain to slowly subside.

It took a full cup of tea for the ink painting to slow down. After thinking for a moment, I realized:

“A monk’s formation requires a huge amount of spiritual consciousness, which is much more consumed than other monastic disciplines! It’s also much more than I thought!”

“That’s why the diagrams are specially marked with ink pens. Those who are not in a good state should be careful in learning. If the state is not enough and the spiritual consciousness is not strong, forcibly copying the formation will excessively consume the spiritual consciousness and even lead to the depletion of the spiritual consciousness…”

The depletion of spiritual consciousness will bring intense pain to the monks, and may even cause the sea of ​​consciousness to be damaged and crack. Once the cracks are excessive, the sea of ​​consciousness will be directly broken, and the monk will die as a result.

This is what the teacher said in the formation class. Mo Hua didn't pay much attention to it when he was listening to the class. When he thought about it now, he felt a faint chill in his heart.

“The Open Fire Formation requires three levels of Qi refining, but I only have two levels of Qi refining. I am indeed a little behind in terms of spiritual awareness...”

Mo Hua held his head in his hands, lying on the ground in the sea of ​​​​consciousness, and slowly pondered:

“Although it’s a little off, it shouldn’t be too bad. My spiritual consciousness is already a little stronger than others, and I’ve learned the formation for so long. If I practice it a few more times, I might not be able to draw it.”

“If you can’t draw it one time, just draw it a second time, a third time… Each time your spiritual consciousness becomes stronger and you draw even one stroke more than before, sooner or later you will be able to draw the formation…”

After thinking about it, Mo Hua stood up and erased the unfinished formation patterns on the stele, and then his spiritual consciousness became full again.

 It was as if he had never drawn a formation before, but every stroke just now was engraved in Mo Hua's mind.

 Ink Painting couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

 Luckily I have this Taoist tablet, otherwise my consciousness would be nearly exhausted and I don’t know how long I would have to rest before I could draw it a second time. By the time he learns the open fire formation, ten days and a half will probably pass. If more than ten days pass, all the pledged spirit stones will be deducted.

 When he thought of this, Mo Hua felt a pain in his heart, and his consciousness became more concentrated, and he began to draw the open fire formation for the second time...

 The passage of time cannot be felt in the white sea of ​​consciousness.

 I draw with ink for a while, stop for a while, and take a rest. If I really can’t draw anymore, I just erase it and start from the beginning.

I don’t know how many times I drew it, but I finally drew the complete open fire formation.

Mo Hua breathed a long sigh of relief and collapsed on the ground, feeling like a little salted fish whose consciousness had been squeezed dry.

After another half cup of tea, Mo Hua had the time to stand up and admire the formation he had drawn for the first time - the open fire formation.

On the dark Taoist monument, there is a complete formation with light blue lines painted on it. The formation lines are rigorous and beautiful, with an unknown sense of mystery. The light and dark formations seem to contain indescribable rules and power.

 This is the formation!

The ink painting is in a trance, as if there is nothing more beautiful in the world than this kind of pattern containing rules. Even just looking at it, one can't help but be immersed in it...

As Mo Hua looked at it, he suddenly realized that something was not right.

When I painted it, the pattern was light blue, but now it seems to be gradually fading, and the color is dull, gradually turning into light gray. It’s as if...the Taoist stele is telling Mo Hua that he painted wrong...

Mo Hua was stunned.

 “Wrong drawing?”

"No way…"

The ink painting was a bit depressing, but I still cheered up and carefully checked each stroke. Finally, I found that I had indeed made a mistake, and there were more than one mistake.

 Some of the formation patterns were drawn with one more stroke, some were connected at the wrong angle, and some were the integration of the two fire patterns was wrong...

 Because I made a mistake in the drawing, my spiritual consciousness was not consumed so much, so I was able to finish drawing the open fire array.

Mo Hua scratched his head and could only write down the mistakes carefully, then erase the formation again and draw it again.

 …

After drawing back and forth like this many times, the ink painting made me feel dizzy. In addition to the pain of the sea of ​​​​consciousness, I was also a little numb. Looking at the formation patterns on the Taoist stele, I was also in a trance. They were all double images.

At some point, I finished the last stroke of the ink painting in a blur.

The stele seemed to tremble slightly, and the light blue pattern on the stele emitted a warm white light. There seemed to be faint firelight swaying in the white light, like the light of a candle lighting up the dark night.

 Open fire array!

The ink painting cannot conceal the excitement, and the fatigue of the night is swept away.

For the first time in his life, Mo Hua personally felt the monk's ability, the feeling of comprehending and then creating by himself, embodying the rules of heaven with formations, and mastering the power of heaven and earth.

Although it is just a small step, a little bit of power, it is the first drop of water that merges into a great river!

Mo Hua is very proud. Although the open fire array can only be used for lighting and is one of the most common and cheapest formations in monasticism, at least this formation illuminates the first step of Mo Hua's monasticism.

The ink painting was still unfinished and he wanted to paint it a few more times, but he also knew that his weak consciousness was like a candle in the wind and could not withstand the torture.

 If he continues to draw, the sea of ​​consciousness may not be exhausted, and he will definitely go crazy.

After all, although the spiritual consciousness will be restored, the spiritual consciousness has been gradually depleted during the process of drawing the formation, and this process is not so comfortable.

This is the first time Mo Hua has drawn a formal formation, but it will certainly not be the last time.

He planned to practice the Open Fire Formation several times every night, and after a few days until he was completely proficient, he would start using the materials from the formation pavilion to draw the formation. After drawing, he would ask the steward to exchange the spirit stones for them. It would be best if he could gather enough sect cultivators. This way parents don't have to work so hard.

 “That’s it for tonight…”

The open fire array on the stele was shining brightly. He admired the ink painting again, couldn't help but nodded, and then wiped away the array with a wave of his hand with some reluctance.

At the moment of erasure, the spiritual consciousness is like the ebb and flow of the tide, like the rising and falling of the moon, like the sea water bursting its embankment and going back again, and rising again after sunset. The exhausted spiritual consciousness instantly goes back and fills the sea of ​​consciousness in the ink painting!

Mo Hua stood in front of the Taoist monument, his consciousness filled with energy. At this moment, it was just like the moment he entered the sea of ​​consciousness a few hours ago.

This kind of feeling of spiritual consciousness changing from gain to loss, and then from loss to gain, no matter how many times I experience it, I still feel that it is mysterious and abnormal.

 The experience this time was more profound than any before.

Mo Hua looked at the Taoist stele. The surface of the stele was dark and deep. It seemed to be nothingness, but it seemed to contain everything. It seemed to have nothing, but it seemed to be able to reveal everything.

 Transform spiritual consciousness into formations, and reverse formations into spiritual consciousness. Presence and non-existence are mutually generated and transformed into each other.

 Mo Hua couldn’t help but think of a sentence from an ancient book:

 If you have it, you will benefit from it, if you don’t have it, you will use it!

 (End of this chapter)