Chapter 22: Chapter Twenty-Two: Clues

Instructor Yan left the Array Pavilion and returned to Tongming Peak of Tongxian Gate.

Instructors at Tongxian Gate each had private quarters on Tongming Peak: three rooms and a living room, with a small courtyard where they could grow spirit flowers and herbs, or raise spirit beasts.

Instructor Yan's quarters were clean and tidy, the walls neatly covered with array diagrams, nothing else decorated.

He reviewed basic array texts, prepared several array patterns to teach next month, then began grading the cultivation base disciples' array assignments.

Nearly a thousand disciples from Tongxuan Peak at Tongxian Gate submitted their array assignments, and he graded each one individually, marking every error.

This took great time and patience, but Instructor Yan performed it meticulously.

It was his habit, and a continuation of his master's teachings over the years.

His master had once graded their array work the same way—meticulous and patient.

Instructor Yan's master was a first-rank array master; perhaps not remarkable in the entire cultivation world. But even so, he spent his entire life doing his utmost to transmit knowledge, passing down the array methods that followed the Dao's principles.

Now that his master had passed away, and he himself had become an instructor, he finally understood his master's intentions.

Night fell, and Instructor Yan lit a lamp and continued grading arrays.

Tongxian Gate was still a remote, minor sect with weak cultivation transmission; among nearly a thousand disciples, few could draw basic array patterns properly.

Those who drew them well usually came from family lineages, or wealthy households willing to spend spirit stones on cultivation—such as children of cultivators serving in Dao Ting Si, or elders' children, or disciples from city-based cultivation families.

Truly poor wandering cultivators who could draw good arrays were exceedingly rare.

Yet regardless of origin, Instructor Yan treated all equally, judging only by the arrays.

If a disciple drew poorly but showed earnest effort, he added detailed annotations; if a disciple drew poorly and was careless, his annotations grew harsher, and the disciple's name was recorded by Instructor Yan.

Occasionally, when someone drew exceptionally well, Instructor Yan felt satisfied and wrote a "Superior" character beside the array to encourage them.

Instructor Yan graded tirelessly until, turning to one array, his eyes brightened.

The brushwork was skilled, clearly the result of hard practice, and showed clear structure—even for formal arrays, this pattern was qualified.

Instructor Yan looked up at the scroll's title, which read "Mo Hua," nodded, then wrote a "Superior" beside the array.

This "Superior" was written larger than the others.

Instructor Yan turned the page and continued grading.

As he graded further, he flipped back again, found Mo Hua's array, and frowned.

The brushwork on this pattern was too fluent—even seemed… effortless?

A cultivation base disciple at level two or three was already impressive if they could draw a complete array pattern.

Recalling meeting Mo Hua in the Array Pavilion today, Instructor Yan fell silent in thought, then a question surfaced:

"Mo Hua—does he have an older brother?"

"If his older brother draws arrays well, and he does too, then he must have family training. But if I recall correctly, Mo Hua is clearly a poor wandering cultivator—any family with array knowledge wouldn't be this destitute…"

"If his brother can draw arrays for the Array Pavilion, he must have considerable array talent. I've taught here nearly ten years—I don't recall ever teaching such a person…"

"Could he be from another sect? Unlikely. Brothers usually join the same sect. Besides, Tongxian Gate is already the largest sect in the city…"

Instructor Yan tapped his fingers on the desk, pondering, then set aside these thoughts and focused on finishing the grading.

The next morning, Instructor Yan rose early and found the manager of Tongming Peak, requesting a list of disciples' origins. He located Mo Hua's entry and saw:

Mo Hua: age ten, cultivation base level three, mid-low grade Minor Five Elements Spirit Roots…

Father: Mo Shan, beast hunter; Mother: Liu Ruhua, cook.

No other relatives listed—no older brother at all.

Instructor Yan had a faint suspicion, yet found it implausible.

During the morning array class, Instructor Yan announced an impromptu assignment: draw all the Five Elements array patterns they had learned, to be submitted in three days.

The disciples, hearing this sudden news, drooped like wilted eggplants.

Mo Hua didn't care—he'd already drawn arrays for the Array Pavilion; this was just a few more patterns, no trouble at all.

But why had Instructor Yan suddenly assigned this?

It wasn't like him to do such things.

Mo Hua was puzzled.

Then Fatty An came begging to Mo Hua.

"Mo Hua, you've got to help me!!" Fatty An nearly cried.

Who knew why the instructor suddenly assigned homework? Usually, assessments came every few months.

Fatty An was caught off guard—he couldn't draw a single pattern, time was short, so he had no choice but to beg Mo Hua.

Mo Hua didn't mind—these basic array patterns held no difficulty for him now.

Mo Hua drew the arrays for Fatty An, charging only a friend's price. Several other classmates, from wealthy families but poor at arrays, also came to him, and Mo Hua agreed to help them all.

With arrays drawn and spirit stones earned, Mo Hua had no reason to think of anything else.

Three days later, the assignments were submitted. Instructor Yan pulled out Mo Hua's array, examined it carefully, then stored it in his storage pouch and went to Youyuan Zhai to find Fatty Manager.

Fatty Manager, seeing Instructor Yan, grew wary. "Are you here for tea, or to ask me to do something?"

Instructor Yan said, "Not for tea, not to ask you to do anything—just a question."

Fatty Manager relaxed. "Oh, that's fine."

"Do you still have the array diagrams Mo Hua gave you?"

"Mo Hua?" Fatty Manager blinked. "Oh, that kid—yes, I do. What do you want?"

"How many?"

"A few each of the Fire-Flare Array and Earth-Stabilizing Array—I kept them as backups."

Fatty Manager pulled out one each of Mo Hua's previously submitted Fire-Flare Array and Earth-Stabilizing Array and handed them to Instructor Yan.

Instructor Yan examined them, then took out Mo Hua's submitted assignment and compared each pattern side by side.

After finishing, Instructor Yan took a deep breath.

The fat steward craned his neck to look and asked, "What are you looking at?"

Instructor Yan pointed at those few formation lines and the formations beside his hand and asked,

"Do you think these few formation lines and these two formations were drawn by one person?"

The fat steward took the formation lines and formations, frowned as he studied them carefully, then nodded and said,

"The brushwork does look quite similar. Barring any surprises, they should be from the hand of one person…"

The fat steward thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "You've met Mo Hua's older brother?"

"Mo Hua doesn't have an older brother."

"No older brother? Then who drew these formations?"

Instructor Yan looked at the fat steward with a meaningful gaze.

The fat steward was stunned for a moment. "You can't be saying he drew them himself, can you?"

Instructor Yan nodded.

The fat steward was silent for a moment, then let out a snort of laughter,

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

"Setting aside the Bright Fire Formation—it's possible he could draw it—but this Earth-Settling Formation has four formation lines inside it. Where would he get that much divine sense? Could it be that he grew two heads and has two consciousness seas?"

The fat steward looked at Instructor Yan suspiciously, then went on,

"You want to say you taught a genius who can draw formations at only the third layer of Qi Refining? You're not trying to put gold on your own face, are you… I've known you for so many years, and you're not that kind of person either!"

Instructor Yan looked at him coldly, pointed at the formations before him, and said, "These few formation lines and these two formations are from the hand of one person—that's what you said yourself. These formation lines were drawn by Mo Hua, so who drew these two formations?"

The fat steward was cornered and couldn't get a word out.

He stared at the formation lines on his left and the formations on his right for a long while, then muttered, "No way…"