Chapter 195

After mastering the First-Grade Meltfire Array, the next step was to formally inscribe it onto the smelting furnace.

The next day, Elder Yu notified Mo Hua that the smelting furnace had arrived.

A massive smelting furnace, several zhang tall, stood imposing in the courtyard.

Its design was ancient and simple, resting on three legs, with a roof-like lid, a belly as wide as a basin, its entire surface engraved with cloud patterns, forged from refined iron and gleaming with a deep black-gray luster.

Mo Hua looked up at the smelting furnace and couldn't help but open his mouth wide.

Mo Hua, already small for his age of around ten, appeared even tinier standing before the furnace.

Not only was Mo Hua stunned, but Master Chen beside him was also deeply shaken.

He walked around the furnace, looking left and right, wanting to reach out and touch it, yet dared not— as if the furnace were merely an illusion conjured by his mind, vanishing the moment his hand made contact.

He had never in his life seen a smelting furnace this large.

When he was young and studying, he always rented others' smelting furnaces—small, crude, and weak in heat, requiring half a day to burn a single iron rod. Time-consuming, laborious, and still unable to forge good spirit tools.

Later, as an assistant in forging, he worked day and night, saving up spirit stones for a long time before finally purchasing his own smelting furnace; with that furnace, he gained the qualifications to open his own forge.

His furnace was small, his forge modest, but he was already content.

Many forge masters spent their entire lives without ever owning a single smelting furnace, let alone opening a forge.

He had once studied at other large forges and seen true First-Grade smelting furnaces; the immense size of those furnaces and the Xiong Xiong flames within filled him with envy.

But those belonged to others, unrelated to him—he could only gaze, and perhaps he would never even get to use a First-Grade furnace to forge a single spirit tool in his lifetime.

Yet now, a brand-new, flawless smelting furnace stood right before him.

This was a true First-Grade smelting furnace, and larger than any First-Grade furnace he had ever seen before.

And he could use this furnace to forge spirit tools!

Master Chen could barely believe it—just imagining it felt like a dream.

Elder Yu looked smug. "How's that? Is this furnace big enough?"

Mo Hua nodded slowly. "This is just too big."

"Didn't you tell me to get you a furnace—the bigger, the better?"

"I did say that, but this is just too big…" Mo Hua gasped, then asked, "Are all First-Grade smelting furnaces this large?"

"No, this one is unusually large—that's why it couldn't be sold." Elder Yu replied.

Mo Hua blinked. "Couldn't be sold?"

"Exactly. Too big to be useful—no one wanted it." Elder Yu studied the furnace. "Smaller forges use smaller furnaces. Even large forges using First-Grade furnaces have no need for one this massive."

"When a furnace grows this large, inscribing the arrays becomes difficult, materials multiply, cost skyrockets, and the price becomes exorbitant. If we hadn't unearthed a spirit mine and become wealthy beyond measure, we couldn't have afforded it."

"If it couldn't be sold, why did they even make such a huge furnace?" Mo Hua asked, puzzled.

"How else would they know it couldn't be sold?" Elder Yu patted the furnace. "Besides, now it's been sold—we bought it!"

"If you don't make it, how would you know it can't be sold?" Elder Yu patted the artifact-forging furnace, "Besides, hasn't it already been sold? We bought it!"

Elder Yu chuckled again. "We got a bargain. This furnace's been sitting here for years, ignored by everyone—it gave me the perfect excuse to drive the price down hard."

Mo Hua was secretly stunned— if Elder Yu called it "hard," how brutally low must the price have been?

"Alright, I've gotten the furnace. Now it's your turn." Elder Yu patted Mo Hua's small shoulder.

"Alright, I've also gotten the artifact-forging furnace. Now it all depends on you." Elder Yu patted Mo Hua's small shoulders.

Mo Hua had workers disassemble the furnace first, then measured its dimensions and specifications, recording every detail on paper, before beginning to design the array.

This massive furnace was perfect for Mo Hua to attempt inscribing the First-Grade Meltfire Compound Array.

But there were many variations of compound arrays containing the First-Grade Meltfire Array, and furnace specifications varied greatly—so choosing the exact array pattern, constructing the right compound array, and determining how to inscribe it onto the furnace required careful consideration.

After much deliberation, Mo Hua finally selected an array called the "First-Grade Meltfire Spirit-Control Compound Array" to apply to this large First-Grade furnace.

The First-Grade Meltfire Spirit-Control Compound Array consists of a basic Five-Element Array Pivot structure, with the pivot sustaining two First-Grade Meltfire Arrays, one Spirit-Attracting Array, one Cold-Air Array, and one Jin Shi Array.

It contains one pivot and five arrays, including two First-Grade arrays!

This was the most complex array Mo Hua had ever attempted to inscribe, demanding enormous spiritual energy expenditure and astonishing spiritual awareness strength.

Mo Hua decided: if he could master it, he would inscribe this entire compound array; if not, he would cut corners—omitting one First-Grade Meltfire Array, drastically reducing the overall difficulty.

Mo Hua had thought it through: if he could learn it, he would paint this compound formation; if he couldn't, he would cut corners and omit a first-grade Melting Fire Formation, which would greatly reduce the difficulty of the entire compound formation.

If possible, Mo Hua still wanted to inscribe the full compound array.

After all, once this opportunity passed, it wouldn't come again—next time, no one would likely spend a fortune to buy such a massive First-Grade furnace just so Mo Hua could practice array inscribing.

Mo Hua deeply valued any chance to apply what he learned and practice arrays.

Mo Hua spent time designing the initial array diagram based on the furnace's dimensions, inner-wall layout, and the basic array patterns required by the First-Grade Meltfire Spirit-Control Compound Array.

He reviewed it once more, feeling he had considered everything— or at least, everything he could consider.

Then Mo Hua took the array diagram to Mr. Xiao Zijin for review.

Mr. Xiao Zijin couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, thinking his disciple kept bringing him increasingly outrageous things.

He was barely at Qi Refinement stage, yet now presented a compound array containing two First-Grade arrays— and one he'd modified himself based on the furnace.

Though not flawless, he'd accounted for the essentials—it was barely usable.

Mr. Xiao Zijin glanced at it, then pointed to a few spots. "Reconsider these areas—your current design obstructs spiritual energy flow, causing greater spirit stone consumption during forging."

Mr. Zhuang glanced at it, casually pointed out a few spots, "Consider these areas again. If you draw it this way, the spiritual power circulation will be obstructed, and more spirit stones will be consumed during artifact forging."

Spirit stones were hard-won— absolutely must not be wasted!

"Also, the pivot's role isn't merely to link individual arrays into a compound—it must control the opening and closing of spiritual energy flow, regulating the furnace's heat by modulating the volume of energy transmitted. Pay close attention when inscribing it." Mr. Xiao Zijin added.

"Furthermore, the role of the formation hub here is no longer just to connect single formations to build a compound formation, but to serve the function of opening, closing, and controlling spiritual power—using the formation hub to control the amount of spiritual power transmitted, thereby regulating the intensity of the furnace fire during artifact forging. Pay close attention to the feel when you draw it." Mr. Zhuang added with further guidance.

Mo Hua asked several more questions, and Mr. Xiao Zijin answered each one.

When Mo Hua finished his questions, rose to bow and take his leave, he suddenly remembered another: humbly asking, "Master, do I now have the strength of a First-Grade Array Master?"

After Mo Hua finished asking his questions and rose to bow and take his leave, he suddenly thought of another question and asked humbly, "Mr., do I now have the ability of a first-grade Array Master?"

Mr. Zhuang looked at him silently. "Yes."

You've already begun drawing the compound array of a Double One-Prank, so if this isn't a One-Prank, then there aren't many cultivators in the cultivation world who could be called a One-Prank Array Master.

Mr. Zhuang thought silently to himself.

Mo Hua asked again: "Then should I go take the court's grading?"

Mr. Zhuang fell silent, pondering for a long while before saying: "Don't rush it. Becoming famous young isn't necessarily a good thing. You still have much to learn — first, cultivate patience and depth."