Chapter 129

The effect of the Earth Fire Array was better than expected.

Yu Chengyi's prediction was correct: with the Earth Fire Array deployed, only a few Cultivation Stage Six hunters could kill a mid first-grade beast, and as long as they were careful, casualties would be minimal.

Previously, hunting teams operated on an old-to-new system, with several veterans guiding newcomers.

This way, newcomers were protected, acclimated to the environment, gained experience, honed their Dao techniques, and also received a share of Spirit Stones to supplement their household income.

But this team structure greatly reduced the hunting efficiency of veteran hunters.

Now, with the array, once newcomers learned a few basic techniques, they could hunt independently.

Because the Earth Fire Array would directly explode the beast into severe injury, damaging its meridians and slowing its beast energy flow, rendering many dangerous abilities unusable, these newcomers would also be relatively safer.

Thanks to the Earth Fire Array, newcomers could earn Spirit Stones, veterans could relax more, and the hunters' lives became more comfortable overall.

But Mo Hua was only one person; despite how fast he drew arrays, the number of Earth Fire Arrays he could produce in a day was still limited.

Yu Chengyi thought for a moment, then decided to save a few Earth Fire Arrays and assign more hunters.

Five Earth Fire Arrays required three or four hunters to deliver the final blows.

Now they used three Earth Fire Arrays, but deployed six or seven hunters for the final blows.

The results were nearly identical.

Mo Hua had long mastered the Earth Fire Array; the more he drew, the faster and more he produced, and the more hunters began using his arrays for hunting.

Over time, nearly all mid Cultivation Stage hunters became familiar with Mo Hua.

Some wore vine armor inscribed with Mo Hua's Iron Armor Array; some hunted using Mo Hua's Earth Fire Arrays; others had arrays drawn by Mo Hua on their home doors and windows.

Most late Cultivation Stage hunters also knew Mo Hua.

Some had shared life-or-death bonds with Seeing Mo Shan, so they naturally knew Mo Hua; some had asked Seeing Mo Shan to have Mo Hua draw arrays; others, though having no direct connection to Mo Hua, had heard of him as a young array master from relatives or fellow cultivators;

And some had been personally instructed by Yu Chengyi to keep an eye on Mo Hua in Great Heishan.

Thus, after more than a month in the mountains, Mo Hua found that nearly everyone in the outer mountain was a familiar face.

Often, as he walked, familiar cultivators greeted him.

Some cultivators picked wild fruits from the mountains and offered them to him.

Tart and sweet, crisp and delicious.

Besides wild fruits, people also offered him dried rations, jerky, pine nuts, rice wine, and more.

Mo Hua could enter the mountains empty-handed and still return full and satisfied…

To receive without giving back is impolite.

From then on, every time Mo Hua entered the mountains, he asked his mother to put a few jin of sliced beef—various flavors—into his storage bag.

When others offered him food, he returned the favor with beef.

Over time, some hunters actively hoped to run into Mo Hua in the mountains.

Especially some veteran hunters, who had a drinking habit but no meat to go with it.

Before hunting, they couldn't bear to stay in the mountains a single moment.

Now, in their spare time, they would deliberately wait along the outer mountain trails, eagerly watching for Mo Hua, then treat him to snacks and wild fruits, while he treated them to meat with their wine.

These hunters had all been instructed by Yu Chengyi to look out for Mo Hua; sometimes, when Mo Hua encountered trouble in the mountains, they would lend a hand.

Mo Hua remembered their kindness.

So sometimes, when he had nothing else to do, Mo Hua would bring meat up the mountain, sit with them on large rocks, watch the scenery, eat meat, and listen to their hunting stories.

Occasionally, they'd offer opinions on the beef.

Like: not spicy enough, overcooked and lacking chew, too mild in fishy or gamey flavor…

As they critiqued, they ate more heartily than anyone else.

Some hunters also gave advice, saying certain spices in the mountains were excellent—adding them to meat made it far more fragrant.

Mo Hua's eyes lit up, and he asked where these spices could be found.

"They're abundant in the mountains—you'll have to find them yourself."

The hunter pulled out a thin booklet, filled with drawings of various plants, trees, and flowers, with annotations indicating which parts—flowers, leaves, stems, sap, resin, etc. —could be used as spices.

Some were flowers, some leaves, some branches or trunks, others were dew, floral paste, or resin.

Altogether, dozens of varieties.

The hunter gave the booklet to Mo Hua with only one request: if he made delicious meat, he must let him taste it.

Mo Hua treasured it like a priceless treasure and nodded eagerly.

After that, whenever Mo Hua traveled through the mountains, he kept an eye out for the spices listed in the booklet.

If he found any, he collected them and brought them home to his mother.

Liu Ruhua was delighted; she had long devoted herself to researching Daoist cuisine, and with these spices, her cooking could reach new heights.

Liu Ruhua prepared several meat dishes using the spices; Mo Hua tasted them and found the flavor significantly improved, with richer aftertaste.

Mo Hua kept his promise and sent some of the meat to the hunter for tasting.

After eating, the hunter's expression was calm and serene, as if he felt, "Now I can die without regret…"

His expression was too exaggerated; Mo Hua didn't know what to say.

Mo Hua also sent some to Zuowang Cottage.

Bai Zisheng tasted it and found the flavor even better; he sighed enviously:

"Mo Hua, your mother is truly wonderful!"

Then he had a sudden idea: "Why don't you ask your mother if she'd take me as her adopted son?"

Mo Hua rolled his eyes at him.

Bai Zi Xi couldn't help it—he crumpled a paper ball and threw it at Bai Zisheng's forehead.

The beef Mo Hua gave to Mr. Zhuang was the best—best appearance too—with five or six plates, each garnished with either fresh green scallions or fiery red chili, each plate tasting different.

Mr. Zhuang took a sip and frowned. After a moment, he couldn't help sighing:

"The cravings of the mouth and belly ruin a man's will!"

Having said that, he couldn't resist taking another bite.

The spices were excellent, and the eatery's business grew even better.

Mo Hua was very happy, and later, while gathering spices, he figured he might as well pick some extra medicinal herbs and the like.

After all, setting up formations and hunting yao beasts didn't actually require him.

He only needed to draw the formations well, then go draw blood at the end.

The rest of the time, he generally wandered around the outer mountain.

Gathering spices was gathering; gathering herbs and mining was also gathering.

Mo Hua sought out Old Man Feng and got a copy of *Cultivator's Materia Medica*, then sought out Foreman Chen and got a copy of *Cultivator's Mineral Records*.

He then followed the descriptions in the two books to search for medicinal herbs and various minerals.

It could broaden his cultivation knowledge, and he could gather some herbs and minerals along the way—free extras, after all; would be a waste not to.

The herbs he gathered, Mo Hua gave to Old Man Feng; the minerals he dug up, Mo Hua gave to Foreman Chen.

They didn't stand on ceremony with Mo Hua, only telling him that if he needed any pills or spiritual artifacts, he could come find them.

And so Mo Hua went on, drawing maps on the outer mountain of Great Heishan, looking for spices, gathering some herbs, digging up some minerals, and then waiting for the other yao hunters to slay yao beasts, after which he'd run over to draw blood and stockpile it for blending spiritual ink.

Until one day, he noticed that more and more yao hunters were using the Earth-Fire Formation—often, just as a yao beast was slain in the south and he hadn't finished drawing its blood, another yao beast would be slain in the north.

By the time he found out, the yao beast up north had already gone completely cold, impossible to draw blood from.

Ten bottles of yao blood, just gone like that…

After this happened a few times, Mo Hua frowned and mused:

"Got to think of a way, otherwise this is just too wasteful…"