Chapter 574: Killing Array

Second-grade Earth Fire Array!

Moreover, it was an unexpectedly powerful array with thirteen patterns!

Mo Hua's eyes lit up.

Indeed, luck is conserved. No matter how unlucky one is, there will always be a time when luck turns favorable.

Although it wasn't fourteen patterns, Mo Hua was already very satisfied.

Moreover, the Earth Fire Array, related to the earth element, was also a killing array!

This also fit Mo Hua's current array needs.

Time was of the essence, so Mo Hua immediately copied down the diagram of the second-grade Earth Fire Array, carefully observed it, meticulously deduced it, and concentrated on comprehending it.

The basic array framework of the second-grade Earth Fire Array was similar to that of the first-grade Earth Fire Array.

The array patterns were second-grade fire element array patterns.

The structure of the array hub was an optimized and expanded version of the first-grade Earth Fire Array, designed to accommodate more, more profound, and more effective array patterns.

Mo Hua was already very familiar with the first-grade Earth Fire Array. Learning the second-grade Earth Fire Array at this point felt like getting twice the result with half the effort.

Before long, Mo Hua had memorized the diagram of the second-grade Earth Fire Array thoroughly.

That evening, on the Dao stele, Mo Hua began formal practice.

Everything is difficult at the beginning.

Progressing from a first-grade array to a second-grade array involved learning many new things from scratch, so it was a bit slow.

But Mo Hua had already learned two second-grade arrays and could be considered to have "gotten the hang of it." He was also gradually becoming familiar with the second-grade array system.

Furthermore, the Earth Fire Array was a Five Elements array, which Mo Hua had deduced in reverse from the "Five Elements Source Patterns."

And what Mo Hua was most proficient in was Five Elements arrays.

So learning it now was much easier than before.

Mo Hua only practiced four or five times before successfully drawing the thirteen-pattern second-grade Earth Fire Array.

After it was lit, a red light flashed. The Earth Fire Array glowed with firelight, seeming to contain powerful array energy.

This was a second-grade array, after all!

Moreover, it was not a common second-grade array.

A second-grade thirteen-pattern array could essentially be considered the strongest and most difficult array that an initial stage second-grade Array Master could master.

And after learning a few more second-grade thirteen-pattern arrays, Mo Hua could even get his rank evaluated and become an initial stage second-grade Array Master.

"I just don't know if I can get evaluated as a second-grade Array Master here in Tongxian City..."

Mo Hua continued to practice the second-grade Earth Fire Array on the Dao stele more than a dozen times, ensuring that every stroke and line was clear in his mind, and every pattern and hub was thoroughly understood, before he finally stopped drawing.

Mo Hua rested for a while, then pondered:

"I've learned the second-grade Earth Fire Array, but without spirit ink, I can't draw it out, and I don't know how powerful it is..."

As a cultivator, one must have a clear understanding of the power of their own spells and arrays.

This way, they wouldn't misjudge the situation.

When they should kill and can kill, they wouldn't hesitate due to overestimating the opponent's strength and let the enemy escape.

Nor would they rashly act when their strength was inferior, thinking they had the advantage, and thus lose their life.

Neither of these situations was good.

Judge accurately, act decisively.

This was also a fundamental principle for a demon hunter.

Mo Hua nodded.

Before entering the mountains to hunt demons, his father, Mo Shan, had repeatedly instructed him in this way.

When superior in strength, kill decisively, never be soft-hearted.

When inferior, run decisively, don't hesitate.

Therefore, he needed to draw out the Earth Fire Array and test its power. This way, he would have a good understanding and could better decide whether to kill or run when facing an enemy in the future.

"Spirit ink..."

Inside Tongxian City, Mo Hua had already searched for almost all the second-grade spirit ink.

Even if he had a way to buy it, buying it once or twice was fine, but Mo Hua definitely couldn't afford to buy more.

With Mo Hua's speed in learning and drawing arrays, the consumption of spirit ink was fast, like water...

This was simply a bottomless pit that no amount of spirit stones could fill.

Since he couldn't buy it, he could only prepare it himself.

Preparing it himself would require second-grade demon blood...

Mo Hua thought for a moment and had an idea. He then asked his mother to help prepare several bags of dried fish, seasoned with spicy, five-spice, and savory flavors.

Early in the morning, Mo Hua carried the dried fish to Big Black Mountain to find the large tiger.

The large tiger smelled the fish and its large eyes lit up. Immediately, it pretended to be reserved, letting out a low roar, indicating it was a tiger and didn't really like eating fish.

"Mhm mhm," Mo Hua nodded repeatedly, "I understand."

After saying this, he secretly stuffed the dried fish to the large tiger.

The large tiger was very satisfied.

Mo Hua then asked: "Big tiger, do you have any 'enemies' in the deep mountains?"

"Oh, not 'people' enemies, it should be... 'demon' enemies?"

Although the large tiger couldn't speak, it was very smart. It seemed to understand the general meaning of Mo Hua's words.

Hearing "enemy," the large tiger nodded, then looked at Mo Hua, its eyes showing doubt.

Mo Hua patted his chest, "I'll help you vent this anger!"

The large tiger was startled. Then it looked at Mo Hua, who was just a "small point" compared to it, and was clearly a little doubtful.

"Don't worry, I'm very strong..."

The large tiger buried its head and went to sleep, ignoring Mo Hua.

Mo Hua kept pestering it, and only by using "dried fish" as bait again was he able to persuade the large tiger.

Second-grade demon beasts in Big Black Mountain had almost no natural enemies.

And only second-grade demon beasts could deal with second-grade demon beasts.

Mo Hua decided to join forces with the large tiger to hunt and kill a second-grade demon beast. The large tiger would eat the meat, and he would take the blood to draw arrays.

Thus, a small cultivator and a large tiger began to "collude"...

The large tiger's "enemy" was a second-grade Kui Wood Wolf.

The large tiger brought Mo Hua near the Kui Wood Wolf's den, where it lay in the grass, its eyes bright with some anger.

The den was spacious and humid, but not deep.

Inside were various demon beast limbs and even cultivator bones.

The Kui Wood Wolf was in the den, eating unknown bloody meat.

This second-grade Kui Wood Wolf had thick demon power and was massive in size.

Its fur was black and green, its claws and teeth sharp, and it carried a faint green demon power.

The Kui Wood Wolf's demon power belonged to the wood element and was poisonous. Once injured by it, the demon power would invade the body, causing the poison to spread and grow, making it very difficult to eradicate.

Mo Hua didn't know what grudge the large tiger had with this Kui Wood Wolf...

Perhaps it was bullied when it was young?

Generally speaking, tiger demons were usually stronger than wolf demons.

But this second-grade Kui Wood Wolf had clearly lived longer. Although it was only in the early stage of the second grade, its aura was more terrifying, its eyes more cunning, and the color of its fur was also deeper.

The most important thing was its teeth.

They were stained with human blood, blackish-red, clearly having eaten many people. Its saliva emitted the stench of rotten meat.

Mo Hua thought for a moment and felt that he had just entered Foundation Establishment, his arrays were not yet perfect, and his fighting skills were not yet systematic, so he didn't have many methods.

So he could only resort to "hard clash hard."

Of course, he mainly relied on the large tiger.

He would just play some small tricks and conveniently provide backup.

Mo Hua was a demon hunter and understood the habits of demon beasts very well, the Kui Wood Wolf being no exception.

He spent some time observing the fur and bloodstains nearby and probably learned the Kui Wood Wolf's movement patterns and daily habits.

Mo Hua scattered herbal powder on the path the Kui Wood Wolf had to pass, covering its scent. At the same time, he set up a hidden array and had the large tiger ambush inside.

Then he ran far away, found a small pit cave covered by a giant stone, used his divine sense to control the ink, first set up a hidden array, and then on the ground, drew a first-grade thirteen-pattern Fire Source Absolute Array.

Afterward, the one person and one tiger patiently waited.

An hour later, the Kui Wood Wolf finished eating and began to leave its den, as if strolling to digest its food.

This was its territory.

All living things, whether demon or human, were its food.

It walked along the silent mountain path as usual. There was no movement around, not even a hint of abnormality.

Just at this moment, the wind suddenly rose.

Out of nowhere, a large tiger suddenly rushed out from a seemingly empty spot by the roadside!

The large tiger opened its large mouth, both sinister and swift, and at a tricky angle, bit towards the Kui Wood Wolf's throat.

The Kui Wood Wolf's vertical pupils were both frightened and ferocious. It quickly flashed its body to avoid, but was a bit slow and was still bitten on its front leg by the large tiger, tearing a large, bleeding wound.

The Kui Wood Wolf's eyes turned red, its entire body's fur stood up, and it opened its mouth to reveal scarlet fangs, but in its eyes, there was also a hint of doubt.

It couldn't understand how this second-grade tiger demon had suddenly appeared beside it.

The large tiger, however, took advantage of its injury, aiming for its life. Its eyes revealed a fierce light, and with a roar, it pounced towards the Kui Wood Wolf again.

Two second-grade demon beasts fought together, with astonishing momentum.

As demon power surged, roars shook the mountains, and a terrifying aura spread out.

Nearby birds and beasts were frightened and fled in panic.

Distant demon hunters also turned pale and sent messages far away, saying that a second-grade demon beast was fighting and everyone should retreat in time.

One tiger and one demon fought fiercely. After a moment, the large tiger was clearly at a disadvantage.

Even though it had the initial advantage and injured the Kui Wood Wolf, it was ultimately inexperienced and not a match for this old wolf demon.

And Mo Hua, hiding in the distance, finally found an opportunity.

He first closed his eyes and used his fourteen-pattern divine sense to firmly lock onto the second-grade Kui Wood Wolf.

Then he opened his eyes, condensed his Qi and pointed his finger, casting a second-grade Fireball technique. At the same time, he activated the Fire Source Absolute Array beneath his feet.

Firelight flowed above the Fire Source Absolute Array.

Strands of profound aura condensed from the array and flowed into Mo Hua's body, stimulating his meridians and causing his spiritual power to surge and boil.

Five elements amplified, spiritual power boiled!

Mo Hua pointed his finger, and a second-grade fireball condensed. The quality of the condensed spiritual power showed some liquid state, like flames condensing mercury.

Following Mo Hua's thoughts, the Fireball technique howled out, flying towards the second-grade Kui Wood Wolf demon firmly locked by his divine sense!

The Kui Wood Wolf demon was just locked in an intense battle with the large tiger.

Suddenly, a surging firelight flashed, and a fast and fierce fireball hit its waist.

The second-grade Fireball technique amplified by the Fire Source Absolute Array had considerable power.

Fierce flames exploded, and the Kui Wood Wolf demon's skin instantly tore and its flesh gaped, a small area charred black, causing no small injury.

The Kui Wood Wolf roared in great anger.

The large tiger was also startled. It seemed it hadn't expected this small fireball to have such great power.

In the entire second-grade Tongxian City, including the entire Big Black Mountain, very few cultivators could cast such fierce spells.

After all, there weren't many Foundation Establishment cultivators in Tongxian City, and even fewer spiritual cultivators.

The large tiger was only startled for a moment, then immediately recovered, its eyes excited, it licked its tongue, and again pounced towards the Kui Wood Wolf demon.

The large tiger fought in front, restraining the wolf.

And Mo Hua, far away, continuously attacked with Fireball techniques, consuming and supplementing damage.

With divine sense locking and the Fire Source Array amplification, Mo Hua's fireballs were both accurate and fierce.

He was far away, covered by a giant stone, and hidden by a hidden technique, so he was not afraid of being discovered or chased by the Kui Wood Wolf demon.

The Kui Wood Wolf demon was extremely angry.

Receiving a pincer attack from far and near, its body injuries became heavier and heavier.

It wanted to kill the large tiger, but was repeatedly hindered by the Fireball technique. It wanted to withdraw, but was restrained by the large tiger.

And up to this point, it still didn't know what thing, whether cultivator or demon beast, was releasing this disgusting Fireball technique...

As time passed, the Kui Wood Wolf was finally heavily injured, making a desperate fight.

The large tiger no longer pressed tightly, but focused on restraining, occasionally exchanging injuries to prevent the Kui Wood Wolf from escaping.

And Mo Hua's Fireball technique became even swifter, more accurate, and more at ease...

The Kui Wood Wolf wanted to escape, but couldn't.

It wanted to feign death, but in front of the clever-like-a-person large tiger and the cunning-like-a-ghost Mo Hua, this little trick obviously wouldn't work.

Thus, the second-grade Kui Wood Wolf was slowly restrained and consumed by the one person and one tiger, from far and near, like slicing meat with a dull knife, and finally killed...

And it was also Mo Hua's first time killing a second-grade demon beast!

Although he mainly relied on the large tiger to hold the front, his contribution was also indispensable!

After the Kui Wood Wolf demon died, the one person and one tiger began to "divide the spoils."

Mo Hua first used the "Blood Drawing Technique" to extract the blood of the second-grade Kui Wood Wolf demon.

After reaching Foundation Establishment, he could control objects with divine sense. Even with Mo Hua's ability to control ink with divine sense, drawing demon beast blood with the Blood Drawing Technique became much faster.

The Kui Wood Wolf's blood, which was red inside and faintly green, was guided by Mo Hua's divine sense and flowed into the jade bottles he had prepared beforehand.

He drew a total of twenty bottles!

After that, the Kui Wood Wolf demon blood gradually became dim and solidified, its effectiveness greatly reduced, and drawing it became difficult.

Mo Hua carefully collected the twenty bottles of second-grade demon blood into his storage bag and couldn't help but laugh happily.

Twenty bottles!

Diluted into spirit ink, there would be even more, enough for him to use for a while.

Mo Hua was satisfied.

Then it was time for the large tiger's meal.

The large tiger dragged the Kui Wood Wolf demon's corpse into its cave and slowly enjoyed it.

Seeing the large tiger covered in wounds, Mo Hua took out some pills, ground them into powder, and treated the large tiger's injuries.

The large tiger lay on the ground eating meat.

Mo Hua just lay on its body, sprinkling the cooling powder on its wounds to remove the poison and stop the bleeding.

The Kui Wood Wolf's demon power carried poison. This was not much to the large tiger, which was also a second-grade demon beast, but leaving it in its body would also cause some hidden trouble.

The large tiger ate the wolf meat and felt its body cool down and its injuries improve. It couldn't help but narrow its eyes and swing its large head back and forth.

After Mo Hua finished applying the medicine, he turned his head and saw the large tiger eating something in its mouth that was a bit strange.

It was a blood-colored, reddish-green interwoven, round ball-shaped object, like a heart, that would still slightly tremble.

"This is... a demon beast inner core?"

Mo Hua was startled.

This was the first time he had seen a demon beast inner core.

Rare bloodline demon beasts were born with inner cores, but this type of demon beast was extremely rare.

Usually, first-grade demon beasts contained blood, second-grade demon beasts developed a prototype of an inner core, and only third-grade demon beasts would form a true inner core.

The inner core was like a cultivator's Qi Sea, the location of a demon beast's demon power.

This inner core was from the second-grade Kui Wood Wolf demon. Although it had the shape of an inner core, it had not yet formed a true inner core and could only be considered an inner core embryo...

Mo Hua looked on with curiosity.

The large tiger, however, swallowed the inner core in one gulp.

And then, the large tiger's aura suddenly deepened, its demon power became thicker, and its fur actually became darker...

Mo Hua was shocked.

Was this large tiger cultivating by swallowing inner cores?

Mo Hua frowned, a bit confused.

According to what he knew, demon beasts would swallow the inner cores of other demon beasts, but it was just simple "eating," and it was impossible to have such an obvious effect.

Mo Hua also thought back to when he was in Black Mountain Village, that second boss who wanted to suck human blood would drink the large tiger's blood when he had no human blood to drink.

He said it was because of its "special bloodline and extraordinary talent"...

Swallowing inner cores, increasing demon power...

No wonder it cultivated and grew so fast, and no wonder it grew from a small cat demon to a large tiger in a short time...

Mo Hua silently remembered this in his heart.

He would see more in the future and have the opportunity to figure out exactly what species of demon beast this large tiger was.

Swallowing inner cores, eating more and becoming stronger...

If it wanted to keep eating like this, would it still be okay?

Mo Hua shook his head.

Mo Hua temporarily put aside the matter of the large tiger. He then wanted to begin preparing spirit ink and learn to control ink with divine sense to draw the second-grade Earth Fire Array.

If the power of the Earth Fire Array was strong enough, and he could draw it fast enough, it would be a killing move for him in the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

After that, it would be much easier to kill second-grade demon beasts and extract their blood.

He wouldn't need to do it like now, where the large tiger restrained the wolf by exchanging injuries, and he used the Fireball technique to consume it, painstakingly killing it for half a day...

Mo Hua first tried to prepare spirit ink.

Mo Hua did not have a formula for second-grade spirit ink.

He could only make do by appropriately increasing and changing the first-grade spirit ink formula that his junior sister had initially given him.

The formula was different, but the pharmacology was the same.

Mo Hua didn't require it to be perfect, as long as it could be used.

There was still one problem.

The Kui Wood Wolf was a second-grade wood element demon beast, and its blood contained some wood attribute. Using it to draw the Earth Fire Array was actually not too suitable.

Fire element demon blood was best.

But thankfully, within the Five Elements, wood generates fire, so it wasn't too conflicting.

With limited conditions, Mo Hua also didn't seek perfection. Making do was fine as long as it could be used.

Just like this, Mo Hua pieced things together and spent two days finally preparing several bottles of second-grade spirit ink.

Mo Hua first used this spirit ink to draw a second-grade Thorn Array and found that it could indeed be used and the effect was not bad, only a bit different from what he expected, still considered barely satisfactory.

Afterward, Mo Hua formally began to draw the Earth Fire Array.

He still chose to draw the array in the deep mountains, next to the large tiger's cave, just a little further away.

Mo Hua then held his breath and concentrated, using his thoughts as a pen and the ground as paper, to draw this second-grade array that focused on attack and killing.

After all, it was a second-grade array, and he was not proficient enough. Mo Hua drew it quite slowly and was a bit strenuous.

Moreover, he failed several times during the process, wasting one or two bottles of spirit ink.

Mo Hua's heart ached endlessly, so he had to sit down and meditate. After calming down, he continued to draw.

The red and green interwoven spirit ink, following Mo Hua's divine thoughts, suspended in the air and then flowed into the ground, condensing into an array...

The large tiger saw Mo Hua's small face looking serious, fiddling for half a day without any movement, and couldn't help but be a little curious, staring at him with wide eyes.

He didn't know how long it took, but after several failures, Mo Hua finally completed the second-grade Earth Fire Array.

His divine sense was consumed by more than half, his face was slightly pale, but his eyes were still very excited.

After drawing it, he would activate the array and see its power.

The Earth Fire Array was quite dangerous.

Mo Hua immediately ran far away, hiding beside the large tiger, and then with expectant eyes, his divine thought slightly moved, lighting up the array patterns and activating this second-grade thirteen-pattern Earth Fire Array.

Three breaths later, the wind was calm and the waves were still.

Nothing happened.

Mo Hua was startled, "Did I draw it wrong?"

Impossible, how could he draw an array wrong?

He had checked it several times before.

If it was wrong, he would definitely know...

"Could it be... the spirit ink problem?"

"After all, it's not fire element spirit ink, and the materials are cheap and the method is rough, so maybe... the spiritual power connection isn't good?"

Just as Mo Hua was guessing uncertainly, he suddenly felt his divine sense move and his expression changed.

His divine sense discovered that the almost a hundred spirit stones used as array eyes on the Earth Fire Array instantly evaporated and disappeared without a trace.

And then, the firelight on the Earth Fire Array was bright red and dazzling.

Spiritual power flowed like molten red copper.

In less than a breath's time, an astonishing explosion sounded.

A stock of extremely violent, even scorching spiritual power, suddenly detonated, and a heatwave swept in all directions.

Nearby grass and trees turned to ash, and mountain stones melted.

In the center of the Earth Fire Array explosion, spiritual power rolled and churned, like magma in a ground vein, containing terrifying power...

The large tiger was startled and suddenly leaped up, retreating far away. After landing, its four claws dug into the ground, and its entire body's fur exploded outwards.

Until the Earth Fire Array finished exploding and the spiritual power dissipated, leaving a scorched black mess all around, the large tiger was still shaken.

It silently turned its head to look at the small Mo Hua beside it, its large eyes filled with shock.

It seemed it couldn't understand how such a small cultivator could create such a terrifying phenomenon...

And Mo Hua was equally shocked, muttering absentmindedly:

"This is... the power of the second-grade thirteen-pattern Earth Fire Array..."

Arrays contained the principles of the Great Dao.

The higher the grade, the stronger the power.

The power of the second-grade killing array far exceeded Mo Hua's expectations.

The second-grade thirteen-pattern Earth Fire Array, from the current perspective, was enough to heavily injure all initial stage Foundation Establishment cultivators!

Mo Hua frowned and pondered again.

Drawing arrays on the ground was more fierce than he had imagined...

Especially drawing a killing array!

The array power was great, but setting up the array was troublesome.

If he could, without restriction, draw arrays on the ground with a thought, condensing earth fire...

Then, in reality, it would be the same as in his Sea of Consciousness.

Setting up arrays would be the same as casting spells...

Even if his spiritual power wasn't strong, by relying on divine sense to set up arrays in actual combat, he would still have enough self-protection, deterrence, and powerful killing power...

The premise was that he could draw it fast enough...

The faster he drew, the stronger he would be, even able to catch the enemy off guard and bury them in the earth fire...

(End of this chapter)