Chapter 382: Provocation

Sun Ze exclaimed in shock: "Does our Sun family really have such an inheritance?"

Sun Yi glared at him. "Then what do you think our family's wealth came from?"

"Our Ancestor was a full Second-Rank Array Master—how could he have left behind only this little?"

Sun Ze frowned. "But where is this inheritance?"

He had never seen it, never heard of it—not once in his entire life—yet the Sun family possessed such a secret array technique.

Sun Yi's eyelid twitched as he sighed:

"I don't know either…"

"Our Ancestor vanished mysteriously, leaving no time to arrange anything; some of the array transmissions were scattered and incomplete."

"All the little foundation our Sun family has today was painstakingly pieced together by your Ceng Zu and your grandfather from fragments of his manuscripts."

"We have a few Second-Rank arrays, but we can't even learn them; among the First-Rank arrays, they're all ordinary ones—nothing special."

Sun Ze muttered a few words but dared not speak out plainly.

Mo Hua still pulls out pastries to offer me.

"You might as well use this chance to test our true strength."

Mo Hua sighed inwardly:

Forced by life, we must bow to a cultivator far stronger than us.

The big man walked ahead, respectfully guiding them.

That day, Mo Hua went to the spirit field again; Miao'er bounced and skipped as usual, following right behind him.

The big man said, slightly ashamed:

But unlike usual, many people stood at the crossroad, as if waiting for him.

These people were all the spirit farmers of Dongshan Village.

I, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, struggle immensely to comprehend arrays—how much more so this brat, a mere Qi Condensation Level One?

Who would want to go further?

Or perhaps, we have no choice but to bow to life.

Sun Ze sneered coldly:

Among us, some had offended Sun Ze and had their spirit field arrays destroyed, leaving their spirit rice unharvested and yielding little grain;

In the distant Shangtai City, even a First-Rank Array Master who is only Qi Condensation holds status no lower than my Foundation Establishment.

We've never seen anyone draw arrays like that before.

Liang Ping laughed warmly. "He stares at me, watching whether I understand or not. If I understood, I wouldn't be making things hard for him—he's just being stubborn."

"Would such an inheritance be something a mere child could covet?"

And Mo Hua is merely an eighteen-year-old young cultivator.

But Sun Ze doesn't draw arrays—no one would draw them for us.

"What about that brat?" Sun Yi asked again. "He keeps running off to the spirit field, drawing arrays for these peasants—it's a nuisance."

If he's just putting on a show, he's a fraud with no real cultivation.

If not, and things truly escalate and stir public outrage, even Liang Ping may not escape unscathed.

Then a big man bowed his hands:

As he drew, a commotion suddenly arose.

Sun Yi smirked coldly. "Father, I understand now."

Our ancestors left us no array transmissions.

After speaking, everyone bowed together in salute to Mo Hua.

Over these past days, I've observed closely, yet still found no source of that divine awareness.

Then I added: "This brat doesn't understand—but what of his master?"

"If you truly have great backing, we'll treat you with proper respect."

"Or perhaps, that divine awareness comes from another cultivator, connected to this group?"

"Besides, this place is far from Shangtai City—unless something major happens, Dao Ting Si won't intervene."

Mo Hua sighed softly within and nodded:

"Could I have been mistaken?"

I am an Array Master—though not yet First-Rank—but I've felt deeply the difficulty of arrays and the hardship of learning them.

The Ancestor frowned, pondered long, then finally said:

Could it truly be that our Sun Ze descendants are merely surnamed 'Sun,' and their blood is not even Liang Ping's?

They were somewhat carefree, yet still bowed together to Mo Hua.

"It seems this calculation method still needs more practice—like my master, who can simply think a little and deduce where the array lies, without all this trouble."

The Ancestor racked his brains but found no solution.

In Liang Ping's gaze, a flicker of cold light flashed.

Some were elderly, white-haired; some were in their prime, strong and tall—but all, without exception, bowed their heads to Mo Hua in supplication.

This man has no vigor, no cultivation, even no divine awareness—I know nothing of him.

The others also beamed with joy, expressing their gratitude:

"Let's wait and see—figure out their true nature first…"

"My master…"

Mo Hua focused on drawing the array; the previously damaged array in the spirit field was slowly being restored by him.

Mo Hua turned back and saw a group of haughty cultivators striding angrily toward them.

Even if you want to learn, there's somewhere to learn it.

"Daring to cut off Sun Ze's livelihood…"

Among the spirit farmers, there are indeed people who can draw arrays.

Forget a seventh-rank array master—even if I hadn't been ranked at all and remained a first-rank array master, my status now would be utterly different.

My perception is growing increasingly murky.

Not like now, where they can only scavenge remnants and scraps of array techniques from their ancestors' legacy.

I simply can't see through it.

"That big ghost of his is well-behaved."

I too would answer in a childish voice.

Mo Hua still ran outside the spirit fields whenever he had a chance.

"It's definitely just showmanship—having even a Foundation Establishment cultivator just to show us that Sun Ze's food isn't so easy to eat."

"Fine, you draw for them."

He had actually doubted this himself.

Sun Yi gave my father a cool glance, muttered silently to himself, but dared not speak, instead shifting his gaze slightly and asking:

Sun Yi's gaze sharpened slightly.

"Thank you, Great Master!"

Even with spiritual sense calculations, you cannot pinpoint an exact location.

…

The Ancestor's brow furrowed even tighter.

The Ancestor died suddenly.

Most of them, like Old Ding, had rehearsed the array techniques over and over, owing debts to Sun Ze, yet still hadn't awakened…

But where exactly it was hidden, I still had no clue.

"Are we, these later generations, really the Ancestor's own flesh and blood?"

"Thank you, Great Master!"

The lead cultivator, dressed in brocade robes with a heavy, solemn face, was none other than Sun Yi.

Although they relied on these array techniques to control the spirit farmers, their lives were quite comfortable.

"He's well-behaved—isn't it him?"

The Ancestor pondered, then asked again:

Liang Ping spoke with a profound expression.

He understood simple things, knew past events, but some of the things he saw in the fields remained hazy to him.

Sun Yi, who could still only draw seven array lines, nodded in agreement.

"Over these two days, what did he discover following those siblings?"

When Mo Hua went to the fields, I followed him; when Mo Hua watched the spirit rice, I widened my eyes to watch too; when Mo Hua drew arrays, I pulled up grass roots and copied blindly, sketching on the ground.

After speaking, the spirit farmers placed their baskets and storage bags behind Mo Hua.

Ding Miao also gazed at Mo Hua's back, her small eyes filled with admiration.

As for that big ghost who ran to the spirit fields every day, such a young child—I didn't even bother to look at him…

The cultivator surnamed Zhuang had never used his spiritual sense.

"This big ghost is surely scheming to steal Sun Ze's array techniques—neither the public nor the secret ones, not even the ones no one knows about—what should we do about it?"

"It's just overreaching!"

Moreover, the person drawing these arrays is a mere ten-year-old cultivator.

"The gift is humble; I hope the Great Master… won't disdain it."

"What about his master?"

"If a Foundation Establishment cultivator accompanies them, it means they're not from a noble family—if they are, then at least they're fallen nobles…"

The Ancestor's eyes lit up, "He taught me to be well-behaved."

Miao'er followed Mo Hua like a little shadow.

Those array techniques that left them helpless were child's play to Mo Hua.

The ancestors' legacy was legitimate; these lone cultivators had to endure it.

The old servant named Kui Lao was as wooden as a statue.

"A plucked phoenix—we needn't fear them."

Sun Yi sighed, "These two have extraordinary talent, exceptional insight, outstanding looks, and are extremely sharp—no matter how subtly I probed, I couldn't uncover their identities…"

If the Great Dao is so simple it returns to purity and simplicity, then such a person is unfathomably profound.

But these suspicions, Liang Ping dared only think in his heart.

"Could I beg the Great Master… to draw some array techniques for us?"

These two noble youths were brimming with blood qi and abundant spiritual energy, already at the fourth level of Qi Refinement; though their spiritual sense was weak, it was not so feeble as to rival Foundation Establishment.

"Then what should we do next?"

The Ancestor lowered his voice further:

Then politely took the pastry, clutched it in both hands, placed it to his mouth, and ate it quickly, his eyes smiling.

But even if he died suddenly, he should have prepared earlier, organized some array transmissions, and left them for us, these later generations.

Of course I wasn't drawing properly—I didn't understand it at all; often, while drawing, I'd end up sketching oxen and roosters instead.

The Ancestor froze, thinking of Master Zhuang—elegant, noble, and possessing the bearing of a profound sage—and frowned:

"Next time you speak such disrespectful words, go kneel in the ancestral hall for three days!"

Mo Hua followed me, drawing array patterns one after another outside each spirit field.

……

"When that time comes, you will be the butcher, and we will be the meat."

Arrays are indeed hard to learn.

"No harm," the Ancestor said coolly. "If I interfere in your Sun Ze's affairs, the moral ground lies with you."

Sun Yi's face turned cold as he snapped:

Miao feigned reluctance, then finally agreed, and said clearly: "Thank you, brother!"

Not a few spirit stones, not a few sacks of spirit rice, not a single chicken, not even some jade pendants…

I stepped behind Mo Hua and grinned coldly:

Sun Yi thought for a moment, then added:

Our Sun Ze has held its ground in Qianjia Town and ruled with authority because of two things: one, the arrays; the other, the grace left by Liang Ping's ancestors.

The spirit farmers stared in shock.

Mo Hua sprang to his feet, his eyes faintly gleaming with sharpness:

He has a hard temper—even if he starves to death, he will not beg Sun Ze.

The Ancestor bowed respectfully.

As we walked, we shoved the spirit farmers aside, casually smashing the Tian Geng, and one by one, destroyed every array Mo Hua had just drawn.

But the Way of Arrays is vast and profound.

Sun Yi asked again: "Father, can you tell which of them has reached Foundation Establishment? Whose spiritual sense did he sense that day?"

"Even if the secret transmission of a seventh-rank Array Master lay before me, I could not understand it."

"But if they truly were scions of a noble house, in a seventh-rank province, they would surely have a Foundation Establishment cultivator accompanying them."

Among the cultivators were elders and youths, women and men.

Mo Hua gripped his brush firmly, almost effortlessly, with just a few swift strokes, he completed the array with perfect ease.

The Ancestor chuckled:

Mo Hua asked him some questions.

The big man looked up, seemingly surprised that Mo Hua had refused so quickly—his eyes first showed shock, then gratitude; he bowed deeply and said:

The Absolute Array is hidden outside the spirit fields.