Chapter 196: Wise

Mo Hua understood.

A tree that stands out in the forest will surely be struck by the wind.

He had originally been torn over whether to spend effort getting graded, but now that Mr. Zhuang said this, he decided to put it off for now.

Mr. Zhuang had seen much and known much; if he told Mo Hua not to rush to be graded, then the timing was surely wrong.

He was a lone cultivator by origin, and his cultivation was still low; going to the Dao Court for grading would draw too much attention, and that might not be a good thing.

For an array master, array technique is the foundation; as long as he mastered array techniques, everything would follow naturally—there was no need to rush.

Mr. Zhuang, seeing Mo Hua's expression, knew he understood, and nodded silently.

This boy Mo Hua's temperament was indeed good; at his age, not all array masters could maintain focus and settle down to study arrays.

Besides, he was only at Qi Refinement Sixth Layer; if he went for grading now, it would be fine if he failed, but if he succeeded, how would the elderly array masters in their eighties or nineties feel?

Excessive talent invites envy.

Mr. Zhuang sighed inwardly, then said: "Wait until you reach Qi Refinement Eighth or Ninth Layer to get graded."

"Understood, Mr." Mo Hua nodded.

After bidding farewell to Mr. Zhuang, Mo Hua devoted all his attention to arrays: solidifying his foundation, learning more array patterns, repeatedly pondering them, thinking deeply, and practicing often.

As Mr. Zhuang said, he must "sink deeper, sink deeper."

Mo Hua's most important task now was to draw out the Repeating Array on the smelting furnace.

The Grade-One Flame-Control Spirit Repeating Array was complex, containing two Grade-One arrays, several other types of arrays, and a special array pivot for controlling spiritual energy.

Mo Hua had to consolidate all these into one repeating array, while also matching it to the internal structure of the large smelting furnace—this was extremely difficult.

At midnight, in the void of his spiritual sea, an ancient and mysterious Dao Stele appeared.

Mo Hua began studying the repeating array on the Dao Stele.

The most difficult part of this repeating array was the pivot.

The pivot of this repeating array, because it had to accommodate two Grade-One arrays, required greater spiritual awareness strength, and its function was unique—it controlled the opening and closing of spiritual energy, a kind of pivot Mo Hua had never encountered before.

The pivots in the repeating arrays Mo Hua had drawn before only linked single arrays, so they were relatively simple; now that the function was complex, the pivot's structure naturally became much harder.

Mo Hua began drawing the pivot on the Dao Stele.

The first two attempts failed because his spiritual awareness was insufficient—he could not complete the pivot fully.

Mo Hua sighed.

Spiritual awareness was always the first threshold; without sufficient strength, no array could be drawn.

Mo Hua could only use the old method: erase the pivot, restore his spiritual awareness, and draw again.

Mo Hua drew over and over, familiarizing himself with the pivot's structure while also using the Dao Stele and array practice to strengthen his spiritual awareness.

Mo Hua's current spiritual awareness was sufficient to support his study of most Grade-One arrays and many simple repeating arrays.

Cases like this, where he clearly sensed his own spiritual awareness's insufficiency and needed to constantly practice on the Dao Stele to enhance it, he hadn't encountered in a long time.

Mo Hua even felt a touch of nostalgia.

He remembered Mr. Zhuang's words: as long as he kept drawing, kept drawing, he would inevitably improve in arrays, and arrays would inevitably be learned.

This was the simplest principle, yet the hardest to put into practice.

Mo Hua calmed his mind, focused his spirit, and began practicing the pivot of the Grade-One Flame-Control Spirit Repeating Array again and again.

If he made a mistake, he erased it and drew again; if his spiritual awareness was insufficient to finish, he erased it and drew again.

The whole night passed; Mo Hua gained deeper insight, but had not yet fully mastered it.

Mo Hua was not in a hurry; if something couldn't be accomplished in one try, one must persist with the perseverance of water wearing away stone—calm, patient, unwavering.

Mo Hua had considered using a simpler Grade-One Flame Repeating Array as a stopgap, but after thinking it over, he decided against it.

The key to opening a smelting workshop was the smelting furnace, and this furnace directly affected the workshop's success or failure, even tied to the livelihoods of the Hunter-Seekers of Xiancheng and all lone cultivators in the future; naturally, it must be perfected to the utmost.

Moreover, in the future, when Mo Hua studied arrays, he would face many thresholds; the Grade-One Flame Repeating Array was merely one of them—if he gave up now, he would form a habit of quitting.

Elder Yu, seeing that Mo Hua would need more time to study arrays, immediately began construction of the second phase: the alchemy workshop.

The alchemy workshop was built adjacent to the smelting workshop, with similar architecture and identical layout; with the experience from the smelting workshop, the alchemy workshop's construction progressed much faster, and many processes and staffing arrangements became smoother.

As for the arrays, they would be left empty for now, to be added later when Mo Hua had time.

Meanwhile, at the Qian family.

Master Qian had already drawn the Grade-One Flame Array on all three Grade-One smelting furnaces.

As soon as Master Qian finished drawing, Qian Hong immediately ordered the furnaces sent to the Qian family's smelting workshop, and instructed his disciples to urge the Qian family's smelter artisans to work overtime and rush the production of spiritual weapons.

He had to stockpile a large quantity of standardized spiritual weapons before Yu Changlin's smelting furnaces were built and operational, so he could gain the upper hand in the coming competition with Yu Changlin.

The Qian family's smelter artisans sweated profusely, hammering refined iron day and night to forge spiritual weapons.

One by one, weapon blanks were thrown into the smelting furnaces, heated until red-hot, removed, forged endlessly by the artisans, then shaped, cooled, and polished through special techniques, finally forming perfect spiritual weapons neatly lined up in the courtyard.

The smelter artisans were drenched in sweat, tireless; Qian Hong watched with great satisfaction.

With these three Grade-One smelting furnaces bearing the Grade-One Flame Array, plus the artisans' relentless labor, the output of spiritual weapons was considerable.

Even if Yu Changlin's smelting workshop was completed, it could not compete with him.

Moreover, those Hunter-Seekers might not even be able to acquire a Grade-One smelting furnace; even if they did, they certainly couldn't obtain a Grade-One Flame Array.

The smelting furnace was the core of a smelting workshop's production; if the furnace was even slightly inferior, there was no basis for competition—only slow death awaited.

The Qian family's smelting workshop was bustling, yet the smelter artisans were utterly exhausted.

Among these artisans, only a tiny fraction were distant, bloodline-weak members of the Qian family; the vast majority were ordinary lone cultivators hired by the Qian family.

These lone cultivators had learned the craft of smelting, but couldn't afford smelting furnaces or open their own workshops, so they had to rely on others, working in the Qian family's smelting workshop just to make a living.

Yet this livelihood was hard-won.

A manager suggested to Qian Hong: "The weather is scorching, the furnace heat unbearable—the smelter artisans are overworked and exhausted; perhaps we should let them rest a little?"

Qian Hong remained unmoved.

The steward steeled himself and said, "Please, Family Head, reconsider."

Qian Hong cast a cold glance at the steward. "If they don't work hard, how can our Qian family grow strong? If they don't suffer, does it mean our Qian family must? The life our Qian family enjoys today is built entirely on their effort and suffering."

The steward was silent for a moment, then said, "I'm afraid they'll grow resentful and become hard to manage."

"It doesn't matter." Qian Hong said coolly, "Go and pass on my words—whoever refines the most spirit artifacts this month will receive an extra three hundred spirit stones as a reward. They'll naturally scramble to refine artifacts. Even if it's grueling, it'll be of their own free will, and they won't be able to blame us."

The steward thought for a moment, then cupped his fist and said, "The Family Head is wise!"