Chapter 394: Array Complete

Bai Zisheng cheerfully led the spirit farmers on patrol every day, while Mo Hua sat on the Tian Geng, quietly drawing the Yu Tu Array.

Bai Zi Xi was also helping Mo Hua with the array.

She squatted beside him, knees together, her Bai Xi hands holding the brush, posture elegant, expression serene, the array lines she drew delicate and beautiful.

Mo Hua stole a few glances, greatly astonished, and couldn't help but sigh:

"Little sister, your array is so beautiful!"

"Beautiful?"

A hint of confusion flickered in Bai Zi Xi's beautiful eyes.

"Mm." Mo Hua nodded.

Bai Zi Xi looked at her own array, then at Mo Hua's, and asked curiously:

"Aren't they the same?"

The same array, identical array lines—on first glance, no great difference.

But Mo Hua shook his head. "They're different."

His own array, because of his extreme familiarity, was orderly in structure and fluid in brushwork.

But his little sister's was refined and elegant, the ink perfectly balanced in thickness and fineness.

Mo Hua stole another glance at Bai Zi Xi, thinking: as the saying goes, handwriting reveals character—could an array reveal character too?

Could someone beautiful draw a beautiful array?

Bai Zi Xi noticed Mo Hua blinking repeatedly, lost in thought, and asked:

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing…"

Bai Zi Xi sensed Mo Hua was hiding something; her gaze flickered, but she said nothing.

Then she stared at Mo Hua for a moment, suddenly pointing with her finger at her own Bai Xi cheek.

Mo Hua froze, unsure what she meant.

Bai Zi Xi said: "Your face is dirty."

"Dirty?" Mo Hua blinked. "Did I get ink on it?"

He wiped his face a few times, looked at his palm, and asked puzzled:

"It's not dirty…"

"It is dirty." Bai Zi Xi insisted.

"It's fine, I'll wash it later," Mo Hua said.

Bai Zi Xi shook her head. "I'm your senior sister—I'll wipe it for you."

She extended her small hand and wiped his cheek.

But her motion was like pinching, like smearing, like rubbing…

Her fingers were cool and soft.

After rubbing his right cheek, she began rubbing his left.

Mo Hua was puzzled. "Is my left cheek dirty too?"

"Dirty!" Bai Zi Xi nodded.

Mo Hua sighed helplessly and let her rub his face.

After a while, Bai Zi Xi finished and nodded. "Cleaned!"

Mo Hua frowned skeptically. "Really?"

Bai Zi Xi pressed her lips together, her gaze calm:

"I'm your senior sister—I wouldn't lie to you."

Mo Hua nodded, believing her without doubt, and resumed drawing the array with focus.

But this time, as he drew, he felt his little sister watching him—sometimes deliberately, sometimes unintentionally; though her expression seemed normal, her gaze occasionally held a glimmer of amusement.

Mo Hua thought he'd imagined it.

His little sister was usually calm, rarely showing emotion.

Mo Hua puzzled over it again, but since he needed to concentrate on drawing the array, he soon forgot everything.

Only when returning home at night did Mo Hua realize something was wrong.

Because Mr. Xiao saw him and couldn't help laughing.

Bai Zisheng was even more exaggerated—he clutched his stomach, laughing uncontrollably, tears nearly streaming.

"What's wrong?" Mo Hua still didn't understand.

Bai Zisheng laughed, gasping between breaths:

"Hah—big… big ink face!"

Mo Hua found a mirror, glanced at himself, and froze.

His face—left and right cheeks—were both smeared with ink, looking like a giant spotted cat.

Mo Hua was stunned.

Who did this?

Who could have hidden from his spiritual sense and painted his face right under his nose?

Then he instantly understood—he turned his head sharply toward Bai Zi Xi.

His little sister had rubbed his face!

Bai Zi Xi feigned composure, but her lips were tightly pressed, clearly holding back laughter.

Mo Hua was stunned.

He never imagined Bai Zi Xi could be such a little senior sister!

Bai Zi Xi was usually elegant and quiet, her expression serene, yet no one expected her to pull such a mischievous prank.

"Little senior sister!"

Mo Hua was slightly angry, his eyebrows raised, his face smeared with paint, making him look even more like an angry kitten.

At last, Bai Zi Xi couldn't hold back anymore—she burst out laughing, "Pūchī!"

That laugh was like an ephemerally blooming flower.

Though disguised, she still radiated a crisp, exquisite beauty.

Her eyes, brimming with laughter, were like lotus petals dusted with morning dew, or crystal-clear glass shimmering with radiant light.

Mr. Zhuang showed a hint of surprise.

Mo Hua was momentarily stunned.

This was the first time he had ever seen Bai Zi Xi laugh like this.

Bai Zisheng froze slightly, then fell into melancholy. A mix of relief and tender concern stirred in his heart.

How long had it been since his sister laughed like this…

After their laughter subsided, Bai Zi Xi washed Mo Hua's face clean herself.

Mo Hua stared into the mirror, checking and rechecking until he finally nodded.

Bai Zi Xi whispered, "I'm sorry…"

Yet her lips still curled with a lingering smile.

Mo Hua couldn't help but sigh, feeling a quiet helplessness.

After that, Bai Zi Xi laughed all day long—every time she saw Mo Hua and remembered his painted, kitten-like face, she couldn't help but smile.

Another day passed, and she finally calmed down, her expression returning to normal.

Though her eyes still held a faint reserve, she was noticeably brighter now, her gaze softer than before.

For some reason, Mo Hua felt a quiet sense of relief too.

…

The Soil Nurturing Array was simple; Mo Hua drew it quickly, and with Bai Zi Xi's help, they finished painting the array across the spirit fields within days.

The overall layout of the spirit fields, through the tireless labor of the spirit farmers day and night, now perfectly aligned with the Thick Earth Array.

After completing the Soil Nurturing Array, the next step was to trace the patterns of the Thick Earth Array.

Mo Hua needed to use spirit ink to connect all the Tian Geng, activating the entire Thick Earth Array's pattern.

A hundred hectares of spirit fields, interconnected, formed a vast Thick Earth Array.

The array brush required a large tip and consumed vast amounts of spirit ink, yet the mental strain was hardly greater than that of a small Thick Earth Array.

The mental cost of an array depended solely on its complexity—the number of pattern lines.

The physical scale of the array affected mental strain, but only slightly.

So for Mo Hua to truly connect the pattern lines with spirit ink across the spirit fields and activate the Thick Earth Array, his greatest challenge was not mental stamina, but physical strength and spiritual energy.

Array formation demands a single, uninterrupted thought.

When connecting the Thick Earth Array, Mo Hua had to traverse every Tian Geng in one continuous motion, infusing spiritual energy into the spirit ink as he painted it onto the ridges, completing the pattern in one unbroken flow.

Mo Hua looked out at the vast expanse of spirit fields and sighed.

This method was too clumsy.

To actually walk every ridge like this was too undignified—completely lacking the poise of an array master.

But he had no other option.

With his Qi Condensation realm cultivation and current abilities, this clumsy method was the only way to connect a large single array.

"I wonder if after Qi Condensation, there might be other ways to paint arrays… something more convenient…"

Mo Hua pondered, then sighed again.

Afterwards, Mo Hua focused intently and began, as planned, painting the Thick Earth Array across the spirit fields.

He held a large brush dipped in spirit ink, following the pattern stored in his mind, tracing the Tian Geng to connect the entire field.

The process was long and unforgiving—any mistake meant starting over, wasting time and energy.

Fortunately, Mo Hua had practiced beforehand.

He had walked the route many times.

He had anticipated possible problems and devised solutions.

So overall, it went smoothly.

Bai Zisheng, Bai Zi Xi, Miao, and all the spirit farmers of Dongshan Village gathered along the field edges, watching Mo Hua paint the array.

Mo Hua walked without pause—from dawn to dusk, then dusk to dawn.

Where he passed, long, winding, clearly defined ink trails marked the Tian Geng, imbued with mysterious significance.

Spiritual energy flowed within the ink trails.

Mo Hua walked each Tian Geng, leaving behind each stroke of the array pattern.

The more Tian Geng he crossed, the more pattern lines formed, the more of the spirit fields became connected…

When Mo Hua finally finished, his strength and spiritual energy nearly depleted, he sat by the field edge like a fish out of water, gasping for breath.

At that moment, a flash of light shimmered across the spirit fields.

A thick aura of vitality spread gently through the earth.

The entire spirit field became one unified whole, its pattern lines resonating in perfect harmony.

An endless stream of earth qi surged from the land, nurturing the soil and nourishing the rice seedlings.

All the spirit rice within the field, as if bathed in the earth's breath, visibly grew stronger, their color a lush jade green.

……

All the spirit farmers gathered around the field were stunned into silence.

They knew this array was no simple thing, but they had never imagined it could be so mysteriously profound.

Is this… the work of the Sun family's ancient ancestor from back then…?

The elder of Dongshan Village, sensing the aura of the spirit field and gazing at the rice seedlings within, fell into a daze, then burst into tears of overwhelming emotion.

Such fertile spirit farmland, if preserved, would ensure their descendants would never again suffer hunger…

And at the Sun family's estate…

The Sun family patriarch, who had been studying an array scripture, suddenly felt a powerful surge of vitality. He leapt to his feet and stared toward the distant spirit field, his eyes filled with shock.

"Is this… an array?"

"Impossible…"

(End of Chapter)