Chapter 188: Concern

Elder Yu took the spirit stones, allocated part for communal use to build the forging workshop, and used the rest to buy plenty of alcohol and meat, treating the craftsmen and beast-hunters to a grand feast.

The alcohol was good, but the meat wasn't spirit meat.

With so many cultivators, Elder Yu couldn't afford to serve spirit meat; he sought out Seeing Mo Shan and spent spirit stones to ask Liu Ruhua to cook some beast meat.

There was beef, mutton, chicken, and more, stewed with spicy seasonings; the mixed aromas were incredibly enticing, and they cooked so much that everyone could eat their fill.

Everyone feasted heartily, Mo Hua ate with great delight, and the forging workshop buzzed with lively, joyful energy.

Only Master Ban ate without taste.

He had originally worried that only Mo Hua was drawing the arrays, with insufficient hands and falling behind schedule.

Now, the Qian family had repeatedly caused trouble, injuring craftsmen and destroying parts of the structure, forcing some arrays to be redrawn—progress was clearly slipping further behind.

Master Ban sighed; the wine tasted sour and bitter in his mouth, indescribable in flavor.

Mo Hua, chewing on a large chicken leg with both hands, noticed Master Ban's expression and asked:

"Master Ban, are you troubled by something?"

Master Ban sighed again, burdened with worries but unsure how to speak.

He couldn't possibly urge Mo Hua to draw the arrays faster.

Moreover, since learning Mo Hua was an array master capable of drawing first-rank arrays, Master Ban had grown subtly reverent toward him, speaking with more caution and less ease than before.

Mo Hua sensed Master Ban's unease and said: "Just say what's on your mind."

With Mo Hua pressing him, Master Ban could only grit his teeth and ask: "Mo… Mo Hua, how much longer will it take to finish the arrays…?"

Mo Hua estimated: "It depends on whether the Qian family comes to disrupt again—if they do, it'll take longer; if they're frightened and learn their lesson, it'll be quicker. But because of their interference, some arrays must be redrawn, so it'll inevitably be delayed from the original schedule."

Master Ban nodded. "Then I thank you for your hard work."

Still, he felt uneasy inside.

In his many years as a craftsman, he'd heard countless promises and estimates, but few were ever fulfilled or met on time.

Seeing Master Ban still worried, Mo Hua asked: "If the deadline is delayed, is the consequence very serious?"

"Not extremely serious—just that we craftsmen can't settle our accounts, and the workers under us won't get their spirit stones."

Master Ban's expression grew gloomy: "Craftsmen all come from poor families; they earn spirit stones to feed their households and fund their children's cultivation. They work day and night for meager wages. If the deadline drags on and they don't get paid, their homes may go without food…"

Mo Hua nodded, deeply understanding—he'd once lived in similar hardship.

In Xiancheng, most cultivators were beast-hunters, surviving by hunting beasts; few were craftsmen, and even fewer became master craftsmen.

These master craftsmen were mostly cultivators from outside the region, constantly traveling wherever a cave dwelling, house, forging workshop, or alchemy hall needed construction.

A cultivation structure, from planning to completion, took at least several months, sometimes one or two years or longer; during that time, they rarely returned home and saw their families infrequently.

Yet even with such hardship, the spirit stones they earned barely covered their basic needs.

Indeed, wandering cultivators everywhere struggled to make a living.

Mo Hua sighed and asked again: "Do people ever delay paying spirit stones?"

Master Ban's expression turned helpless. "It's common—after a cave dwelling is finished, the client refuses to pay, or makes excuses like 'my spirit stones are tied up,' and keeps delaying indefinitely. We have no recourse."

"About eighty or ninety years ago, I wasn't a master yet—just an ordinary craftsman, working under my master to build a small cave dwelling for a cultivator. When it was done, he claimed he had no spirit stones and told us to wait…"

"We waited and waited—three months passed, not a single spirit stone received. Our home was so poor we couldn't even afford food, so we went back to demand payment. When we arrived, we found him feasting at a dining hall, tipping courtesans lavishly, spending spirit stones freely. When we asked for payment, he sneered: 'I have plenty of spirit stones—but I won't give you any.'"

Mo Hua grew angry. "Didn't you beat him up?"

"We did!" Master Ban nodded. "We were furious—we tied him up and beat him badly, leaving him severely injured."

"Then what happened?"

"He reported us to Dao Ting Si. Dao Ting Si arrested us, locked us up for half a month. Eventually, my master took full blame, was convicted by Dao Ting Si, and imprisoned for ten years. We were beaten with dozens of rods and released."

Thinking of his former master, Master Ban grew sorrowful.

"Dao Ting Si is despicable!" Mo Hua said angrily.

Then he remembered Zhang Lan was also a Dao Ting Si cultivator—and a decent person at that; he'd unintentionally injured him…

"You can't say that," Master Ban patiently advised Mo Hua.

"Are there exceptions?"

Master Ban nodded. "The cultivation world is vast—Dao Ting Si exists everywhere. Some are diligent and upright; others are greedy and corrupt. You can't generalize."

"I've dealt with Dao Ting Si in several nearby cities. Xiancheng's is relatively rule-abiding—even if they occasionally take kickbacks, that's only human nature. Elsewhere, it's mixed—some Dao Ting Si even collude with local clans to seize property and steal cultivation techniques, destroying families and causing deaths…"

Master Ban spoke with lingering dread.

Mo Hua was startled—the cultivation world was far more complex than he'd imagined.

He committed all this to memory, preparing himself for future encounters.

"Master Ban, don't worry—Elder Yu may be stingy, but he'll pay the spirit stones he owes—he won't delay!"

Mo Hua declared firmly, then added: "I'll draw the arrays faster, trying not to delay too long."

After all, master craftsmen struggled to earn spirit stones; waiting for payment was no easy thing.

Master Ban blinked. "Faster?"

He was already fast enough—how much faster could he go? After all, Mo Hua was just one person, and barely eleven or twelve years old.

Master Ban felt guilty and worried: "You don't need to rush—take it step by step. Don't push yourself too hard; if you exhaust your spiritual sense and damage your mind sea, it'll be trouble. I've heard if an array master's mind sea is injured, they can never draw arrays again…"

"Don't worry—I know my limits," Mo Hua said.

Earlier, it was his first time drawing arrays on such a large cultivation structure, and his first time designing and planning so many arrays, so he'd been cautious and slow, striving to avoid mistakes.

Now, after days of drawing, his technique had improved greatly; though numerous, these arrays weren't complex—most didn't even reach first rank, easy to draw, just tedious.

Mo Hua also wanted to finish quickly so he could learn and apply higher-level compound arrays.

Compound arrays should be far more interesting.