Chapter 32: Chapter Thirty-Two: The Food Stall

Using the Dao Stele in his sea of consciousness to continuously refine the formation and strengthen his spiritual sense.

This method may be crude, but it is Mo Hua's only option for now.

"Thankfully, I have the Dao Stele in my sea of consciousness—otherwise, I couldn't even attempt this crude method."

Mo Hua thought with a touch of relief: in reality, drawing formations consumes too much spiritual sense and recovers too slowly; to strengthen it this way would require several times the time and effort.

With that, Mo Hua settled his mind and focused entirely on practicing the Fire-Melting Formation on the Dao Stele.

As long as he kept practicing, he would eventually master it.

Mo Hua first did his best to draw the first four formation lines; when his spiritual sense was nearly exhausted, he erased them.

After a short rest, he drew again, then erased again.

He repeated this cycle until he felt a slight surplus of spiritual sense, then added one extra stroke after completing the four lines.

After an entire night, Mo Hua had only added two extra strokes beyond his starting point—but those two strokes proved his spiritual sense was genuinely growing.

The next morning, Mo Hua went to the marketplace and bought some ink needed for the Fire-Melting Formation.

The ink was made by infusing the blood of fire-elemental beasts with certain herbs—not especially expensive, so Mo Hua bought over a dozen vials at once.

Since formation specialists were rare and few cultivators could draw formations, few bought ink. The shopkeeper, rarely encountering a customer like Mo Hua, gave him a few extra vials as a gift.

Back home, Mo Hua began practicing drawing the Fire-Melting Formation with the ink.

Since the ink cost spiritual stones, Mo Hua drew with exceptional care, each stroke deliberate and precise.

Of course, limited by his spiritual sense, Mo Hua could still only add two extra strokes after the four lines—he still couldn't complete the full five-line Fire-Melting Formation.

After each session, he had to stop and rest for an hour to recover his spiritual sense; only when fully replenished could he resume drawing.

This efficiency was far worse than practicing on the Dao Stele in his sea of consciousness, and it consumed ink and spirit-paper—meaning he was spending spiritual stones. But to master the Fire-Melting Formation sooner, Mo Hua didn't care.

After days and nights of relentless practice, half a month later, Mo Hua could add ten or more extra strokes beyond the four lines—roughly equivalent to half a formation line.

At this pace, he estimated another half-month would grant him enough spiritual sense to draw a complete Fire-Melting Formation with all five lines.

Mo Hua silently exhaled.

Considering the furnace's construction would also take time, he needed to plan ahead.

By day, Mo Hua went out to earn some spiritual stones; by night, he returned home to eat with his parents.

Under flickering candlelight, the table held fragrant rice porridge, soft white buns, two dishes of fresh seasonal vegetables, and a small plate of pickled salted vegetables.

For an ordinary cultivator's table, this was already quite lavish—meat was rarely seen.

Liu Ruhua cooked well; though simple, the food was delicious, and Mo Hua ate heartily.

Though the meal was made by Liu Ruhua, the fire was powered by Mo Shan's spiritual energy.

Liu Ruhua's expression was as usual, but in her glances, her eyes often held a quiet sorrow, and sometimes she would stare blankly.

Mo Hua quickly devoured a bun, cheeks bulging, then suddenly asked: "Mother, have you ever thought of opening a dining hall?"

Liu Ruhua, sipping her porridge slowly, froze, then smiled: "Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"

"You cook so well—opening a dining hall would earn you plenty of spiritual stones."

"Opening a dining hall requires capital," Liu Ruhua chuckled. "We're just lowly cultivators—where would we get the spiritual stones to open one?"

She playfully tapped Mo Hua's nose with her pale fingers: "When you grow up, reach higher realms, and earn plenty of spiritual stones, we'll open one then."

Mo Hua whispered: "Then let's start with a small one."

"What do you mean by small?" Liu Ruhua blinked.

"A food stall," Mo Hua said. "I walked around town and saw many food stalls selling drinks, dishes, snacks, noodles—all doing good business."

Liu Ruhua opened her mouth to speak, then fell silent, her expression sinking.

Mo Shan noticed and said softly: "Hua'er, your mother… she cannot use spiritual energy."

Without spiritual energy, she cannot ignite fire, and thus cannot prepare Daoist meals.

Even if she could use spiritual energy, a food stall sees constant customers and requires cooking many dishes—more than a Qi Condensation cultivator's energy could sustain.

Mo Hua's delicate eyebrows lifted, and he grinned triumphantly: "Then we build a furnace."

"A furnace?"

Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua exchanged glances.

Mo Hua pulled out a large blueprint from his storage bag.

"This is the furnace design. I asked Master Chen at the Artifact Workshop—the materials, dimensions, and spiritual stone cost are all calculated. I'll handle the formation. Once built, this furnace won't need a cultivator's spiritual energy—just insert spiritual stones, and it will continuously supply fire, making cooking and stewing far easier."

Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua hadn't expected their son to produce a blueprint—they were momentarily stunned.

"Building a furnace must cost a lot of spiritual stones…"

"Let's start with a small one. I asked Master Chen—it won't require too many spiritual stones. For a small food stall, a smaller furnace is enough."

"What about the formation?" Liu Ruhua asked.

Mo Hua feigned calm, but his pride was unmistakable: "I'll draw it myself. I already got the formation chart from Manager Mo—it's not difficult…"

Mo Hua, who had spent several nights exhausting his spiritual sense, practicing over and over without fully mastering the Fire-Melting Formation, felt a flicker of guilt as he spoke.

Liu Ruhua eyed him skeptically: "Really not difficult?"

Mo Hua chuckled: "I haven't mastered it yet, but a few more days of practice and I'll be fine."

There was no help for it—five-line formations weren't easy to learn.

Liu Ruhua nodded, thinking: Mo Hua is young and has studied formations for only a short time—if he can learn it, it probably isn't that hard.

But after thinking again, she shook her head: "Opening a shop isn't that simple—even a small food stall needs rent, staff, management, and plenty of spiritual stones. If income doesn't cover expenses, our household will struggle even more. Right now, the priority is saving spiritual stones so you can focus on your cultivation…"

Mo Shan, who had been silent, suddenly spoke: "We'll open this food stall. I'll handle the shop and staff—you two don't worry."

Mo Shan pulled out another storage bag and handed it to Mo Hua: "There's over a hundred spiritual stones inside—earned from hunting beasts these past months. I know you've earned plenty too, drawing formations for others, but for furnace construction, take this first…"

Mo Hua was about to refuse, but Mo Shan shoved the bag into his hand.

Holding the bag, Mo Hua thought of how his father had fought and killed beasts to earn these spiritual stones—and they felt heavier than any ordinary stones.

Mo Shan had already agreed, so the plan to open a restaurant was essentially settled; after finishing his meal, Mo Hua returned to his room to continue practicing the Meltfire Array.

Liu Ruhua's expression still held some worry.

Mo Shan comforted him: "Enough, don't overthink it—opening a restaurant is just a small business; even if we lose money, it won't be much."

Liu Ruhua sighed, "Hua's natural talent is exceptional; when he cultivates in the future, learning cultivation techniques and Dao arts, he wants to become an Array Master and study array techniques—all will cost vast amounts of Spirit Stones. Now we've spent them all—what if he doesn't have enough Spirit Stones for his own cultivation later?"

Mo Shan said gently, "Don't underestimate Hua—he's already able to draw arrays for the merchant guild. Though they're simple arrays, that's no small feat. Who knows? In ten or twenty years, after more refinement, he might truly become an Array Master."

Mo Shan smiled, "Then, we might have to rely on our son to support us."

Liu Ruhua smiled, but still couldn't fully relax.

Mo Shan held Liu Ruhua's hand, "Then let's make the restaurant successful, save more Spirit Stones, and later find Hua a little bride—see him marry and have children."

Liu Ruhua thought over Mo Shan's words, a smile appearing on his face, yet still uneasy: "But what if…?"

"Even if something goes wrong, I'm still here. No matter how hard life gets, there's always a way—just work harder, kill a few more beasts."

Mo Shan's tone was gentle yet firm.

Liu Ruhua fell silent, leaning quietly against Mo Shan's chest.