Chapter 185: The Solution

Afterward, the Qian family harassed again and again.

Elder Yu captured each one in turn, beat them until they spat blood, then dumped them at the Qian family's gate, also taking a few spirit stones along the way.

But the Qian family still refused to give up, and Elder Yu finally had moments he couldn't watch everywhere.

It was like catching rats—one by one, both troublesome and disgusting; if a few slipped through, trouble would follow.

Some craftsmen were injured, some buildings destroyed, several arrays smeared and ruined, and the entire project's progress stalled.

Elder Yu could only assign Hunter Demons to guard day and night, watching the Qian family's people to prevent sabotage.

But such a large alchemy workshop, still unfinished, had gaps everywhere—easy to sabotage, hard to defend.

The Qian family cultivators acted like thieves: smash one spot, move to another; by the time they arrived, the Qian cultivators had already fled.

The Hunter Demons couldn't possibly guard every inch day and night, wasting so much manpower for nothing.

Elder Yu grew frustrated for a time.

Mo Hua was also unhappy; whenever the Qian family caused trouble, it was either Elder Yu stepping in or the Hunter Demons blocking them—Mo Hua never had to lift a finger.

But the Qian family's sabotage ruined the arrays Mo Hua had just finished drawing, forcing him to redraw them.

After this happened repeatedly, while Elder Yu grew frustrated, Mo Hua could no longer tolerate it.

If you don't drive out the rats, you can't live in the house!

Mo Hua found Elder Yu and gave him some earth-fire arrays; these weren't first-rank arrays, only containing seven array lines, but they should be enough to deal with these meddling cats and dogs.

Mo Hua also modified the building array diagram, adding the Si Nan Qin Qin Zimu Fu Array around the originally planned layout.

Thus, whenever combat occurred and spiritual energy fluctuated, the Hunter Demons could rush to support fastest; even if Qian family cultivators smashed things, as long as they used spiritual energy, they'd be detected quickly.

With this setup, only a few Hunter Demons needed to be stationed at various points, while several small squads carried the Si Nan Qin Qin Zimu Array, patrolling and coordinating—Qian family cultivators would have no opening.

Once all arrangements were made, Mo Hua spent two days prioritizing the drawing of the Si Nan Qin Qin Zimu Fu Array, then explained the use of the Si Nan compass to the patrolling Hunter Demons; after that, he no longer needed to worry.

Only some of the destroyed arrays still needed to be redrawn.

Mo Hua sighed, forced himself to calm down, and continued drawing arrays.

Night fell; Qian Shunzhi led some Qian family disciples and a group of hired ruffian cultivators, hiding beneath a dirt slope far from the alchemy workshop.

Thick vegetation surrounded them, blocking sightlines, making them hard to spot.

These past days, though they'd suffered heavy losses, their results had been equally good.

With these casualties, they'd delayed the alchemy workshop's construction progress—at least, Elder Qian had approved, and the family head had rewarded them with plenty of spirit stones.

This boosted their morale.

Qian Shunzhi said: "We've bled and been wounded for the Qian family; the clan won't forget us, and the family head will reward us—once this succeeds, you and I will have mountains of spirit stones!"

The Qian family disciples and ruffian cultivators, having tasted success, all nodded.

Qian Shunzhi ordered again: "Follow the same plan: if you can strike, strike; if you can smash, smash; if things turn bad, retreat immediately."

They formed squads, hid in their assigned spots, then looked for gaps to slip into the alchemy workshop and cause destruction.

Everything was as usual; the Qian cultivators had grown expert at this.

At that moment, explosions rang out, firelight bursting through the night.

Several Qian family cultivators stepped on earth-fire arrays.

Those with higher cultivation suffered minor injuries but felt intense pain, dizziness, and ringing ears; those with lower cultivation bled, sometimes suffered burns, and lay on the ground screaming.

A few ruffian cultivators had their clothes and hair set ablaze, rolling frantically in the mud.

Qian Shunzhi, startled, sucked in a sharp breath.

Earth-fire arrays!

He hadn't been present during the Qian family's struggle for the spirit mine, but he'd heard from participating disciples that the Hunter Demons had an array master who could draw earth-fire arrays.

Earth-fire arrays were powerful, extremely hidden, ruthlessly treacherous—impossible to avoid, impossible to defend against.

The Qian family had suffered greatly from them—not just once.

"What do we do?"

Qian Shunzhi's mind raced; in desperation, he decided to gamble.

They'd come to cause trouble two days ago, but there'd been no earth-fire arrays then—clearly these had just been laid, and there couldn't be many.

If they didn't move in now, they'd give the Hunter Demons time; in a few days, when the earth-fire arrays covered every inch, every step would be a death trap—they'd be walking into their own graves.

But while Qian Shunzhi wanted to gamble, the other Qian cultivators didn't.

Especially those who'd fought in the spirit mine battle, been blown up by earth-fire arrays, or watched companions—or even their own family head—get blown up by them.

They still trembled with fear of earth-fire arrays and dared not act rashly.

Even though these earth-fire arrays now had only seven array lines, and Mo Hua, for convenience, hadn't even drawn the fu array.

But Qian family disciples froze at the sight of earth-fire arrays—how could they possibly care about such details?

Qian Shunzhi had no choice but to lead by example.

He was a Qi Condensation ninth-layer cultivator; even if he stepped on one, his injuries wouldn't be severe.

Qian Shunzhi led his cultivators forward, gritting his teeth, stepping carefully, trying to avoid dangerous ground—but this caution was meaningless, since he had no idea where the earth-fire arrays were.

Every step was a gamble.

It looked cautious, but was merely pretense.

Qian Shunzhi won his gamble—he didn't step on an earth-fire array.

But his subordinates lost theirs; not following his exact footsteps, they panicked and stepped on the wrong spot—right onto an earth-fire array.

Qian Shunzhi was engulfed by the earth-fire array, experiencing its power firsthand.

The explosion's spiritual energy shockwave churned his blood and qi; the thunderous roar left him dizzy and disoriented.

Parts of his skin were charred, blackened flesh oozing blood.

A seven-line earth-fire array wasn't fatal to him, but it was far from bearable—and this sudden, unexpected pain and injury was most likely to leave lasting trauma.

Qian Shunzhi finally understood why some disciples in the family would turn pale at the mention of the Earth-Fire Array, and why it had left deep psychological scars.

The explosion of the Earth-Fire Array startled the Demon Hunters, who arrived and attacked them—apparently furious from repeated harassment, they struck without mercy.

The Qian clan cultivators could no longer hold their ground and fled in disarray.

Qian Shunzhi limped back to the Qian clan and reported the Earth-Fire Array incident to the Qian clan's elders.

He could arrange for ambushes, but this kind of array was beyond his ability to resolve.

The Qian clan elders comforted Qian Shunzhi, then informed the clan master, Qian Hong.

When Qian Hong heard the three words "Earth-Fire Array," his fury surged instantly.

Again the Earth-Fire Array! Can't they come up with something new?

Qian Hong went to find Master Qian to ask for a way to break the array.

After all, among the entire Qian clan, Master Qian had the highest mastery of arrays.