Chapter 31: Forge Master

Master Chen, at the eighth level of Qi Condensation and over a hundred years old, had half-gray hair and beard, a sturdy frame, a face permanently darkened by furnace heat, yet his spirit remained sharp and his voice loud.

Master Chen was watching several apprentices forge iron. Perhaps the apprentices had done something wrong—he glared and scolded them; the six tall, muscular forging apprentices bowed their heads silently, not daring to look up.

After scolding them, Master Chen picked up a large hammer himself and demonstrated—his sturdy frame swung the hammer with powerful force, red-hot refined iron spewing sparks with every strike, gradually taking the shape of a blade.

After finishing the hammering, Master Chen merely wiped his sweat, his breath even and steady, as if he hadn't exerted himself at all.

Mo Hua, naturally frail, watched with envy—how he wished he could have such strength himself…

"Watch closely! Iron must be struck like this! What was that nonsense you just did? Weak and lifeless—your grandmother embroidering flowers would have more spirit than you!"

Master Chen scolded the apprentices again, then turned and saw a small child with rosy lips, white teeth, and bright, sparkling eyes staring at him with admiration.

Master Chen hesitated, then asked: "Kid, you want to learn forging?"

Cultivators without sect backing struggle to survive; once they leave the sect, they must earn their living. Some learn nothing practical within the sect, so they seek out skills on their own.

Nearby, many cultivators send their children to Master Chen to learn forging, so they can support themselves later.

Master Chen accepts a few Spirit Stones as tuition, or if none are available, he takes Spirit Grain or similar goods instead.

Mo Hua glanced at the tall, muscular apprentices, then at his own small arms and legs, and sighed helplessly before saying directly:

"Master, do you make stoves here?"

"Stoves?" Master Chen looked at Mo Hua. "Why would a child like you ask about that?"

"I'm asking for my mother."

"Of course I can forge stoves. But making one requires a lot of refined iron—converted into Spirit Stones, it's no small sum."

"What if it's smaller? Would it be cheaper?"

Master Chen said: "Naturally. A smaller stove uses less refined iron and labor, so it's cheaper. But in Xiancheng, few people forge small stoves—the array must be custom-designed and engraved, which will cost a fair amount of Spirit Stones too."

"Then how many Spirit Stones would the smallest stove cost?"

Master Chen didn't dismiss Mo Hua because he was a child—he took out a sheet of paper, carefully listed the prices of all materials, calculated them together, then wrote out the Spirit Stone cost for stoves of various sizes and scales.

Master Chen handed the paper to Mo Hua, then added:

"Of course, this is only the cost of materials. We forge masters also charge for labor—by the day. The number of days spent forging the stove equals the labor fee."

"Oh, okay," Mo Hua noted everything down, then took his leave:

"I've got it. I'll go home and discuss it with my parents, then come back once we decide on the size."

Master Chen grunted and waved him off: "Go home early, kid—watch your step on the road!"

He didn't take Mo Hua's words seriously—many cultivators came asking for forging, checked the price, then vanished without a trace.

Especially a child of ten or so, asking for a stove—a time-consuming, labor-intensive Spirit Artifact—there was little chance this would go anywhere.

After returning home, Mo Hua chose a stove size suitable for his needs and within his budget—the material cost alone was about one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones.

The forging labor cost still needed to be negotiated.

Mo Hua didn't know how long Master Chen would take to forge the stove, but judging by sight, it would take at least ten days to half a month—so fifty to seventy-five Spirit Stones.

That slightly exceeded his budget—he might need to ask his parents for more Spirit Stones, or borrow some.

Next, the most critical part: the array.

Mo Hua spread the Molten Fire Array diagram on the table and began studying it carefully.

The Molten Fire Array diagram contained five Fire-element array lines, with most strokes positioned at the Li Fire position. Even just looking at the intricate lines, it was far more complex than the Jin Shi Array or the Gu Tu Array.

Mo Hua sighed faintly, cleared his mind, and began memorizing the array lines and stroke order.

Mo Hua studied intently, and before he knew it, night had fallen.

Even during meals, Mo Hua thought of the Molten Fire Array's lines—he chewed his steamed bun a few times, then stared blankly, holding the bun motionless.

Liu Ruhua watched, both annoyed and amused, pinched his cheek, and said: "Eat your food properly. Think after you finish eating."

Mo Hua snapped back to reality, chuckled, then ate his meal properly. Afterward, he ran back into his room.

Mo Hua had nearly memorized the Molten Fire Array lines, then spent an hour practicing with non-Spirit Ink on scrap paper. At Zi Hour, he entered his consciousness and began practicing the array on the broken stele.

The array lines, though intricate, followed the same basic logic as other arrays—memorizing them wasn't hard. The real difficulty lay in his Spiritual Sense.

Mo Hua's Spiritual Sense might not be strong enough to draw the full Molten Fire Array diagram.

Mo Hua began drawing the Molten Fire Array on the broken stele.

The first three lines went smoothly. But when he reached the fourth line, he clearly struggled—his Spiritual Sense slowed, growing dry and drained.

Mo Hua's small brow furrowed.

After finishing the fourth line, a sharp pain pulsed through his consciousness, like a riverbed left bare by receding water, cracking and parched.

Mo Hua immediately stopped, quickly erased the array lines from the stele, and the pain in his Spiritual Sense eased.

Mo Hua collapsed onto the semi-real, semi-illusory ground of his consciousness, gasping for breath.

"Damn… my Spiritual Sense is far too weak…"

Mo Hua's Spiritual Sense could only manage four lines. After drawing the fourth, he had no strength left to draw the fifth.

It seemed like only one line remained—but Spiritual Sense couldn't be rapidly strengthened in the short term. That single missing line might stall him for a long time.

"What should I do?"

Mo Hua pondered.

There was no shortcut to increasing Spiritual Sense—this was common knowledge in the cultivation world.

At least for Qi Condensation cultivators in Xiancheng, this was universally accepted.

Mo Hua had asked Yan Jiaxi, who confirmed that Spiritual Sense mostly grows only with cultivation level—the higher the realm, the stronger the Spiritual Sense.

Second, Spiritual Sense can be strengthened through frequent use—the more often a cultivator uses it, the stronger it becomes. For example, array masters, who constantly draw arrays and thus use their Spiritual Sense frequently, naturally have stronger Spiritual Sense than ordinary cultivators.

Mo Hua had also asked if there were any specific methods to train Spiritual Sense. Yan Jiaxi bluntly said no.

Neither ancient texts nor records from powerful clans contained any safe, reliable method to cultivate Spiritual Sense. Those that did exist were mostly heretical or demonic techniques—once practiced, they almost always led to qi deviation, turning the cultivator into a demon cultivator hunted by all.

Whether such methods truly didn't exist—or were merely secretly hoarded by powerful clans—remained unknown.

But even if there were, Mo Hua would definitely not be able to get his hands on it, and even if he did, he wouldn't dare risk cultivating it and suffering qi deviation.

Mo Hua is now at the third layer of Qi Refining, and in the short term he can't break through to the fourth layer either, so it's impossible to strengthen his divine sense by boosting his cultivation.

That left only one method before him:

Keep drawing formations, non-stop.

The method with no shortcut is the best shortcut.