Chapter 15

The sect opens its outer gate to recruit disciples, imparting cultivation knowledge and skills. Disciples who join the sect must pay tuition to study and cultivate.

The tuition varies by sect rank; the higher the sect's rank, the more expensive the tuition.

Tongxian Gate is only a first-rank sect in the cultivation world, but in Xiancheng, where only first-rank sects exist, it is the largest, requiring one hundred spirit stones annually for tuition—not including other miscellaneous fees.

One hundred spirit stones are not excessively expensive, but neither are they cheap—roughly equivalent to the annual income of an ordinary Qi Condensation cultivator, assuming no illness or other major expenses.

Should illness, disaster, or any costly problem arise, it is possible to earn not a single spirit stone in a year.

The New Year was joyful, but once it passed, the burden of life seemed to settle back down.

Mo Shan placed a storage bag on the table and said with a hint of shame, "I borrowed some spirit stones from a few brothers, plus what I'd saved—eighty-some in total…"

Liu Ruhua comforted him: "I'll go to the kitchen master tomorrow and ask for an advance on my spirit stones…"

Mo Shan was about to speak when he noticed Mo Hua eavesdropping at the door crack.

"Hua'er!"

Mo Hua, caught, could only smile awkwardly and ran to sit beside his mother.

Liu Ruhua affectionately pinched Mo Hua's ear and scolded, "So young, and already sneaking to listen!"

"Father, Mother, are we still short on spirit stones?"

Mo Shan said, "We are a bit short, but yesterday your Uncle Ji said he'd lend me some—he insisted I tell you to study hard in the sect."

"Uncle Ji?"

"Yes," Liu Ruhua said, stroking Mo Hua's head. "Uncle Ji says you're clever—he's always praising you."

"But Uncle Ji's family isn't rich in spirit stones either," Mo Hua said.

Mo Shan sighed softly. "I'll repay him soon after the New Year. These days, who has extra spirit stones to spare?"

"I do!" Mo Hua grinned.

Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua froze.

Mo Hua trotted back inside, then returned carrying a storage bag clutched tightly in his hands.

Mo Hua opened the bag—fifty spirit stones glowed faintly, their colors interweaving beautifully. But the expected scene—his parents moved to tears, praising his thoughtfulness—did not occur.

Mo Shan wore a solemn expression; Liu Ruhua frowned slightly.

Mo Hua asked nervously, "What's wrong?"

Mo Shan asked as calmly as he could, "Hua'er, who gave you these spirit stones?"

"No one gave them to me—I earned them myself!"

Mo Shan blinked. "You… earned them?"

Liu Ruhua's frown eased slightly. She pulled Mo Hua close. "Tell me, how did you earn them?"

"I drew formation patterns for Youyuan Studio—just the simplest ones. Each completed pattern earns me one spirit stone."

Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua exchanged glances. They recalled how their son had spent most of the past months indoors, rarely playing, never staying out long—turns out he'd been drawing formations to earn spirit stones.

They looked again at the spirit stones in the bag—fifty stones meant at least fifty patterns drawn…

Liu Ruhua instinctively hugged Mo Hua tighter.

Mo Shan opened his mouth several times, then closed it again, unsure what to say. Finally, he reached out and gently stroked Mo Hua's head.

"These spirit stones are yours, earned through hard work. Keep them for your own cultivation or to buy something tasty. I'll find a way to pay Tongxian Gate's tuition."

Mo Hua knew his father would never use these stones. He thought quickly and said, "Then let you two hold onto them for me—I'm just a child, I don't need so many, and they're easy to steal or get robbed."

Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua looked at each other in silence, unable to think of a reason to refuse.

Finally, Liu Ruhua said, "Alright, we'll hold them for you."

"Mm-hmm!" Mo Hua nodded vigorously.

"Alright, it's late. Tomorrow's your first day at school—go to sleep early."

"Mm, goodnight, Father and Mother!"

Mo Hua rose to return to his room, then paused and turned back. "Father, Mother—use them if you need to. Don't save them for me."

Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua were torn between laughter and tears.

Watching Mo Hua return to his room and close the door, Mo Shan sighed and chuckled bitterly. "I'm not even as good as my child."

Liu Ruhua comforted him: "Don't say that. Hua'er understands our struggles—that's good. He earns spirit stones on his own—we should be proud. But…"

Liu Ruhua looked down at the spirit stones, then up at her husband, her voice tinged with doubt. "He's so young—could he really draw formations for others and earn this much? I fear someone might be taking advantage of his age…"

"I'll go check tomorrow."

Mo Shan said, his gaze sharpening.

The next day, Mo Hua rose on time, practiced for a while, then went with his mother Liu Ruhua to Tongxian Gate's outer gate to pay tuition and register.

Mo Shan had already left early. According to Liu Ruhua, he was joining several demon hunters into the inner mountains and needed to prepare in advance.

At Tongxian Gate's outer gate, Liu Ruhua paid the tuition and completed the enrollment, then couldn't help glancing at Mo Hua several more times.

Once inside Tongxian Gate, unless the sect granted holidays for festivals, she would not see her son again.

Liu Ruhua repeated her advice: study hard, get along with fellow disciples, eat well, dress well, don't bully others—then reluctantly turned away.

Mo Hua waved from outside the mountain gate until his mother's figure vanished around the corner, then turned.

He did not enter the sect. Instead, he went to North Street's Youyuan Studio and collected twenty sets of Bright Fire Formation materials from Fatty Manager, agreeing to deliver them no later than half a month later.

The sect granted one-day breaks each month—on the 10th, 20th, and 30th. Mo Hua planned to slip out on those days to trade with Fatty Manager.

Fatty Manager still charged only ten spirit stones as deposit. Given their past pleasant cooperation with Mo Hua's… elder brother, and the steadily improving quality of the formations delivered, Fatty Manager was satisfied—and, out of consideration for Mo Hua, kept the deposit unchanged.

After finalizing the arrangement, Mo Hua left Youyuan Studio satisfied.

Mo Hua did not notice a burly man outside Youyuan Studio watching him silently.

After Mo Hua left, the man stepped through Youyuan Studio's gate.

The doorbell chimed. Fatty Manager looked up to see a plain-dressed but tall, handsome man with sword-like brows and starlit eyes, studying him with a piercing, sharp gaze.

The fat steward saw at a glance that this man was a demon hunter — a demon hunter who had truly tasted blood! And his manner was none too pleasant; the way he looked at the steward was exactly like he was looking at a demon beast waiting to be slaughtered.

In terms of cultivation, the fat steward was confident he was no worse than this man, but if it really came to a fight, there was no telling — after all, demon hunters spent their lives with a blade at their throat, fighting for their lives against demon beasts.

Yet he himself had been sitting behind the counter for years, and he could no longer remember the last time he had touched a sword; his methods of magical combat had long grown rusty.

The fat steward weighed it for a moment, then straightened his attitude and asked carefully, "This fellow Daoist, what kind of array do you need?"

The burly man was none other than Seeing Mo Shan. He unfolded a paper that had been crumpled into a ball; on it was a copied array, with a few places copied wrong, hence the smudged marks.

"What array is this?"

The fat steward glanced at it and said, "It's a Bright Fire Array."

"You people take in arrays like this?"

The man's tone made the fat steward very uncomfortable; on any other day, he would not have deigned to pay him any attention, but today he felt that whoever walked through the door was a guest, and guests must be treated with courtesy and consideration.

"Naturally we do. This is a commonly used array; ordinary cultivator households all have use for it, so the turnover is fairly high."

Seeing Mo Shan said, "The child who just walked out — he draws arrays for you people as well?"

The fat steward said, "That sort of thing cannot be disclosed to outsiders. You-Lai Studio must protect its customers' privacy; that is the principle of our firm."

Seeing Mo Shan's gaze suddenly fixed on him like the edge of a blade. The fat steward, feeling as though needles were pricking his back, thought it over briefly and decided that a cultivator could not be too rigid — principles could be observed with a little flexibility.

"It wasn't that child — it was his elder brother."

Seeing Mo Shan frowned. "Elder brother?"

The fat steward said, "That's right. How old is that child? What array could he possibly draw? He's only running errands for his elder brother; the arrays are all drawn by his elder brother."

"Did he say so himself?"

"Of course," the steward replied. "Otherwise, how would we do business with a child?"

After speaking, the steward watched Seeing Mo Shan warily:

"As for that child's surname and given name, and where his family lives — I could never tell you."

Seeing Mo Shan rolled his eyes at the fat steward. That child's surname and given name, where his family lives — as his father, wouldn't I know all that better than you? Do I need you to tell me?

But once he knew Mo Hua was not being used, Seeing Mo Shan's manner softened as well. He cupped his fists toward the fat steward and said, "Sorry for the disturbance. I'll take my leave."

The fat steward breathed a quiet sigh of relief inside, and on his face gave a slightly haughty nod.

Seeing Mo Shan turned and left. Only after Seeing Mo Shan's back disappeared behind the door did the fat steward finally heave a great breath and mutter unhappily under his breath, "And he didn't even buy anything…"