Chapter 10: Chapter Ten: Drawing the Array

The next morning, after finishing breakfast, Mo Hua put down his chopsticks and returned to his room, taking out the paper and brushes for tracing, and began meticulously copying the Minghuo Array while his memory of it was still clear.

The ink and paper used for tracing were the cheapest and most ordinary, possessing no spiritual energy; the array drawn was merely a pattern with no effect, so it consumed negligible spiritual insight, and there was no worry of wasting spirit stones if he failed.

Mo Hua traced the array in one continuous motion, relying on memory; since the spiritual insight consumed was minimal, he hardly paused at all.

Mo Hua took out the original Minghuo Array diagram and carefully compared it with his tracing, discovering three errors.

Mo Hua set the traced paper aside, took out another sheet, and began drawing again. He repeated this process three times in succession until, finally, he produced one flawless, complete Minghuo Array diagram.

Mo Hua exhaled deeply, stretched his arms, glanced at the small sundial on the table, and realized it was already noon—only then did he feel hungry.

Liu Ruhua had already prepared the meal: rice made from spirit rice, a few simple stir-fried vegetables, and the only meat dish—a bird demon's egg. The spirit rice was low-grade, but sufficient to fill the stomach.

The meal was simple yet delicious; Mo Hua ate heartily, then rushed back to his room to continue practicing tracing the Minghuo Array.

Watching Mo Hua's figure, Liu Ruhua said worriedly:

"This child of Hua works too hard—he's grown even thinner."

Mo Shan nodded. "Hard work is good, but I fear he'll exhaust himself. Hua was born frail, with a weak foundation—he really shouldn't overexert himself."

Liu Ruhua sighed. "It's a pity he didn't inherit your talent for body refinement; he's as frail and sickly as I am…"

Mo Shan gently wrapped his arm around Liu Ruhua's slender shoulders. "How could you blame yourself? When Hua was born, his blood qi was faint—we took him to Master Feng of Xinglin Hall, and he said that at birth, spiritual insight and the physical body are balanced. Hua was born with strong spiritual insight, so his body became weak. Look now: though his body is frail, which child in the neighborhood is as clever as he is? His intelligence and beauty—aren't they all your doing?"

Liu Ruhua couldn't help laughing. "You're such a smooth talker."

Seeing his wife's expression soften, Mo Shan continued: "This morning, I spoke with Old Zhou from the Demon Hunting Team. I heard they happened to kill a Fire Chick the other day. It's not a demonic beast, but its meat carries a trace of spiritual energy—I bought some to bring home for Hua to try, and you can benefit from it too."

Liu Ruhua asked, "Do we still have enough spirit stones?"

"No need," Mo Shan said. "We're brothers who've hunted demons together—we have ties. I can pay after the New Year."

Liu Ruhua placed her storage bag in Mo Shan's hand. "Give as much as you can; we'll pay the rest after the New Year. The year-end is near—everyone needs spirit stones for the holidays."

Mo Shan thought for a moment, then nodded. "Alright."

As Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua chatted, Mo Hua focused entirely, continuing to draw the Minghuo Array until nightfall, by which time he had grown quite proficient.

At dinner, Mo Hua ate quickly, then rushed back to his room, calmed his breath and mind for a moment, and promptly fell asleep, entering his consciousness.

An ancient stone tablet stood firm in the vast, white void of his consciousness.

Mo Hua used his finger as a brush and formally drew the array on the tablet; the array's patterns gradually completed themselves as his spiritual insight poured out.

Just as his spiritual insight neared depletion and he was about to collapse, he finally completed the full Minghuo Array.

Mo Hua stopped. The array on the tablet emitted a soft, warm Bai Guang.

The Minghuo Array was an array only a Cultivation Stage Three Qi Refiner could draw. Mo Hua was only at Stage Two, but though勉强, he had now drawn a complete Minghuo Array diagram.

This meant that, even compared to a Cultivation Stage Three Qi Refiner, Mo Hua's spiritual insight was no weaker.

Mo Hua felt a small surge of pride, then erased the drawn Minghuo Array—his spiritual insight immediately replenished.

Mo Hua continued drawing the Minghuo Array. He had to master the diagram completely tonight, so he could begin drawing the real array tomorrow.

In the silent, white void of his consciousness, Mo Hua drew the Minghuo Array over and over, summarizing and reflecting on every problem he encountered.

Unaware, dawn arrived; Mo Hua was involuntarily expelled from his consciousness.

Without any fatigue, Mo Hua rose immediately, sat cross-legged on the bed to meditate briefly, then, after breakfast, washed his hands carefully and solemnly took out the array materials given to him by Fatty Manager.

The materials included ten array papers and ten small vials of pale red ink. The array papers were made from demonic beast hide and fragments of spirit herbs; the ink was blended from the blood of fire-element demonic beasts and spirit fluid—unlike the paper and ink Mo Hua used for tracing, these carried spiritual energy and were, of course, far more expensive.

Fatty Manager had also included a new brush, but its craftsmanship was crude—no better than Mo Hua's own. Mo Hua didn't open the new one; he still preferred his usual brush.

Mo Hua spread the array paper on the table, carefully poured the ink into the inkstone—the inkstone preserved the ink's spiritual power longer, preventing rapid dissipation.

Mo Hua mentally reviewed the Minghuo Array's patterns once more before putting brush to paper to draw the real array.

Drawing the array went smoother than Mo Hua expected. Aside from using real ink and array paper, the sensation was identical to drawing on the stone tablet in his consciousness—even the rate of spiritual insight consumption was the same.

Due to slight nervousness, a few strokes were slightly crooked. Though they didn't affect the array's function, the resulting diagram looked somewhat ugly.

Mo Hua exhausted his spiritual insight to complete the Minghuo Array—but still made one mistake.

He hadn't even succeeded yet, and already lost one spirit stone…

Mo Hua was heartbroken.

With his spiritual insight fully drained, he could no longer continue drawing—he could only close his eyes and rest.

"I wonder if there's any way to restore spiritual insight quickly…"

Mo Hua thought, now he deeply missed practicing on the Dao Tablet—but in reality, he couldn't use it.

Mo Hua rested, but before his spiritual insight fully recovered, the morning had passed—Liu Ruhua called him for lunch.

At lunch, Mo Hua ate a few hurried mouthfuls, then rushed back to his room and spread out another array paper.

Gazing at the blank array paper, Mo Hua steadied his emotions, reviewed his experience, silently recited "Failure is the mother of success," and began drawing his second Minghuo Array.

This time, Mo Hua was more focused and cautious—each stroke was planned thoroughly before being made, and he anticipated the next patterns in advance. When his spiritual insight ran out and he closed his eyes to rest, he continuously recalled the Minghuo Array diagram in his mind.

Mo Hua drew slowly, yet time flew by. By dusk, though still intermittent, he finally succeeded in drawing the Minghuo Array.

Mo Hua could barely contain his excitement—but as soon as the joy surged, exhaustion from depleted mental energy overwhelmed him. Satisfied, he collapsed onto the bed and soon fell into a deep sleep.

When Mo Hua awoke, it was already dark. He felt ravenous, then suddenly caught a fragrant scent—he followed it into the main hall and saw a large bowl of meat sitting on the table.