Chapter 395: Seizing the Array

Mo Hua finished drawing the Earth Accumulation Array, nodded in satisfaction, as he had wished.

Only by applying Daoist array knowledge in practice can one truly master it.

Mo Hua stood amidst the vibrant spirit rice fields.

Mountain winds brushed his cheeks; spirit rice gently caressed his palms.

The land itself seemed to thank him.

Mo Hua felt his perception of the earth's qi—the earth's Dao essence—growing clearer.

Though exhausted, it was all worth it.

Mo Hua smiled faintly, squinting his eyes.

Having finished the array, Mo Hua was about to leave.

He had done all he needed to do; next, he would go to another place, seeking other arrays.

They had little to pack, and packed quickly.

After a night's rest and final preparations, they set off the next day in a carriage.

Before departure, the spirit farmers of Dongshan Village came to see Mo Hua off.

They had little spirit stone left, so they brought only local specialties: some spirit grain, some vegetables and fruit, and even home-raised chickens and ducks.

Mo Hua could not refuse, so he packed everything into a storage pouch and placed it in the carriage.

With these ingredients, he could try cooking more dishes on the road for Mr. Zhuang to taste.

Ding Miao tugged at Mo Hua's sleeve, reluctant to let go.

Mo Hua instructed him: "Study diligently, don't slack off. And you must learn well what I gave you."

"Yes!" Ding Miao nodded solemnly. "Brother, rest assured!"

Then he spoke, voice low:

"Will I ever see you again?"

Mo Hua reassured him with promise:

"If you study hard, you will surely see me again."

Instantly, Ding Miao's small face lit up with hope, his eyes shining.

Mo Hua waved farewell to the villagers of Dongshan Village, then climbed into the carriage.

Gui Lao drove the horses; Bai Bai pulled the cart, strolling calmly onto the main road.

After only a few steps, they were blocked by a group of cultivators.

The leader was none other than Sun Yi, head of the Sun Clan.

Behind him stood hundreds of Sun Clan cultivators.

They spread out, surrounding the carriage and blocking the entire road.

Mo Hua glanced at Mr. Zhuang.

Mr. Zhuang sat with eyes closed, meditating, saying nothing, as if unaware.

Mo Hua understood.

His master meant for him to handle this entirely on his own.

Mo Hua lifted the carriage curtain and stepped out, standing atop the carriage, gazing calmly at Sun Yi.

Even faced with a Foundation Establishment cultivator and hundreds of Qi Condensation cultivators surrounding him, he remained composed, utterly unruffled.

Sun Yi could not help admiring inwardly:

"What poise!"

Such courage and calmness at such a young age.

No wonder he possesses such mastery of arrays.

Sun Yi glanced at his son, Sun Ze.

The moment Mo Hua appeared, Sun Ze trembled violently—had it not been for the crowd backing him, he would have fled in shame.

Perhaps the fireball spell had left him traumatized.

Or perhaps his brain had been damaged by the Thousand-Jin Club.

Now Sun Ze's gaze darted everywhere, unable to meet Mo Hua's eyes.

Sun Yi's eyelids twitched with rage.

At home, Sun Ze had been excited, shouting loudly about avenging himself on this boy—yet now, face to face, he turned into a coward.

He was over twenty years older than this young array master.

Truly, comparing people brings death; comparing goods brings discard.

Sun Yi glared at Sun Ze in bitter disappointment.

But now was not the time to dwell on this.

The most urgent matter was his Sun Clan's ancestral array.

Ever since yesterday, when he sensed the aura from the spirit fields, he had been unable to sleep, summoning his clan disciples overnight to seal every path in Qianjia Town.

All to block Mo Hua and prevent them from leaving.

When he secretly visited the spirit fields and felt the intense vitality up close,

he was stunned, then overcome with ecstatic joy.

Such spirit fields would yield over fifty percent more spirit grain annually—in other words, the Sun Clan could gain fifty percent more spirit stones.

Such spirit fields were a treasure trove!

More precious than the spirit fields themselves was the array.

It enriched the land, making spirit yields abundant.

This kind of formation is the true secret transmission, the very formation his Sun family's ancestor should have passed down!

He had been hesitant before.

The formation left by the ancestor—he, though a Sun family member and already at Foundation Establishment, might not even be able to learn it.

But now his thoughts had changed.

This little cultivator at Qi Condensation Seventh Layer could learn it—how could he, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, fail to learn it?

Therefore, he was determined to obtain this formation!

Sun Yi led the Sun family cultivators, surrounding Mo Hua's carriage on all sides.

Mo Hua faced them without a trace of fear.

He remembered Mr. Zhuang's teachings: putting on an act was itself a cultivation skill.

So Mo Hua said nothing.

Because he was playing the role of a master.

Masters never speak first—that lowers their status; only minor thugs speak first.

Sure enough, Sun Yi spoke first:

"Young brother, hand over the Sun family's formation."

Mo Hua had expected this; he was just about to speak when he suddenly froze, glancing behind him.

But there was nothing behind him.

Sun Yi frowned slightly, thinking the boy was putting on airs—he followed Mo Hua's gaze, and soon, he too froze.

For shortly after, a group of spirit farmers appeared behind Mo Hua.

They carried knives, forks, and some simple spirit tools, surrounding the carriage and shielding Mo Hua in the center.

The leader of the group was Ding Dachuan.

Remembering the elder's instructions, though somewhat intimidated by Sun Yi, the Sun family's Foundation Establishment patriarch, he still spoke with firm resolve:

"Your Sun family is going too far!"

"We won't let you harm the young master!"

"That's right!"

"Protect the young master!"

The other spirit farmers raised their assorted spirit tools and shouted loudly.

Sun Yi sneered, "Bold indeed—you dare truly rebel?"

He sneered with calm expression, but his heart grew cold.

Things were turning bad…

He had avoided confronting Mo Hua and the others in Dongshan Village precisely to prevent this situation.

What he feared was not the spirit farmers.

Among the spirit farmers, there were no Foundation Establishment cultivators, and even Qi Condensation Ninth Layer cultivators were hardly more numerous than in the Sun family.

If a real fight broke out, they were no match for the Sun family.

What he feared was that the Sun family would incur the people's wrath.

The Sun family still depended on these spirit farmers, bending under the sun and soil, to feed them.

If the spirit farmers rebelled and refused to farm, the Sun family would lose its source of spirit stones—and thus its luxurious lifestyle.

They couldn't possibly have their own descendants toil under wind and sun, farming the land themselves.

Moreover, if they incurred the people's wrath, Dao Ting Si would not tolerate them.

Dao Ting Si maintains stability; as long as order holds, even if the cultivators of Qianjia Town lived in misery and exhaustion, they would turn a blind eye.

But if instability arose, and large-scale cultivator unrest occurred without cause, Dao Ting Si would not hesitate to make an example of the Sun family.

If Dao Ting Si was ruthless and heartless, it could directly confiscate the Sun family's assets—gaining extra profit while winning favor with the spirit farmers, demonstrating Dao Ting Si's justice.

It would be a two-for-one deal.

Dao Ting Si could truly do such a thing.

And the most terrifying consequence was the generational resentment that would follow.

Now, with the Sun family strong, they could suppress the spirit farmers.

But should the Sun family's fortunes decline in the future, with no Foundation Establishment cultivator to hold the line, the accumulated resentment might explode—and the desperate spirit farmers could slaughter the entire Sun family to the last.

Such things had happened before.

And spirit farmers were timid; as long as they had a single meal, they would not fight to the death.

So previously, though he exploited the spirit farmers, he always left them enough to eat, never letting them starve.

When spirit farmers fell into debt, he merely made them sell themselves into servitude to repay it.

This young man surnamed Mo had done the spirit farmers a great favor.

He had not moved to seize this young man surnamed Mo in Dongshan Village, but waited until they left the village and were nearly at Qianjia Town before intercepting them.

But he never imagined that the usually timid spirit farmers would have followed them out, determined to protect this boy.

Sun Yi looked solemn, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably.

Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to draw swords and engage in large-scale battle.

Mo Hua also did not wish to see such a thing.

Uniting as one against a common foe could itself be a deterrent.

It did not necessarily require a fight to the death.

These spirit farmers endured hard lives; even if they resisted, it should be for themselves, for their homes and families.

They must not die in bloodshed over a momentary impulse.

Once they died, the pillar of a family would very likely collapse with them.

The wives and children left behind would face an even harder life.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then said, "Sun Yi Leng, what do you want?"

Being addressed by name outright by a low-ranking young cultivator, Sun Yi Leng's face couldn't quite hold up.

But Mo Hua stood among a group of spirit farmers, and that group clearly listened to his meaning as well.

No matter how young he was, he truly did have the standing to negotiate with him.

Sun Yi Leng forced himself not to care about such trivial matters of face.

He said coldly, "My demand is very simple — hand over my Sun family's inherited formation, and I'll let you go, and won't make things difficult for the others."

After Sun Yi Leng finished speaking, he waited for Mo Hua to haggle.

Who would have thought Mo Hua would simply say, "Fine!"

Sun Yi Leng's train of thought was broken.

For a moment, he didn't know how to continue the negotiation.

This kid — does he not even bargain when doing business? Agreeing so readily?

Sun Yi Leng was stunned for a long while before finally squeezing out one line:

"Don't try any tricks on me."

Mo Hua said dismissively:

"You're an adult, so your mind plays dirty; I'm a child, so I do things in good faith. I would never stoop to those petty little tricks."

Sun Yi Leng didn't know what to say, frowning as he said:

"Are you really going to hand the formation over to me?"

"I keep my word!"

Mo Hua's voice was crisp, every word striking the ground with weight.

Sun Yi Leng still didn't believe it. "Why?"

Mo Hua felt that this Sun Yi Leng was, after all, a family head — why was he being so long-winded and fussy… But he still patiently held up his little finger and explained it to him:

"First, this was your Sun family's formation to begin with. I learned it, so I suppose I owe your Sun family's ancestors a favor. Returning it to you now is merely giving back what was originally yours;"

"Second, a formation isn't meant to be hoarded selfishly, but to bring benefit to all living things. Especially a formation that nourishes the great earth — of course the more people who know it, the better;"

"Third, although I'm not afraid of trouble, I also don't want to invite it. We each take a step back, leave a line of room when dealing with people, and we'll meet again more easily in the future…"

Mo Hua was eloquent and clear-headed.

Hearing this, Sun Yi Leng sighed and glanced at his son, who stood to the side unable to utter a single word.

He thought to himself that comparison really does throw one's goods in the trash — his own son might as well be thrown away.

After Mo Hua finished speaking, he asked:

"How about it?"

Sun Yi Leng hesitated for a long while, still unable to make up his mind.

Mo Hua was so candid that, on the contrary, he had no idea what to do. After a moment, he slowly said:

"How do I know you're not tricking me, preparing to palm off some fake formation on me? Show me the ancestor's formation first."

Mo Hua didn't care, nodding as he said, "Fine."

Saying so, he took a booklet from his bosom and tossed it from a distance to Sun Yi Leng.

Sun Yi Leng was stunned, finding it somewhat hard to believe.

He's really giving it to me?

This kid looks clever enough — why is everything he does so utterly without calculation?

Sun Yi Leng scanned it with his divine sense, confirmed the booklet had no problems, then carefully opened it, glanced at two pages, and then froze completely once more.

The booklet did indeed record a formation.

The formation's patterns were intricate and complex, the structure of the formation hubs utterly unfamiliar, the annotations on the formation eyes dazzling to the eye, and the entire formation contained eleven formation patterns — quite inconceivable…

Sun Yi Leng, shallow and poorly read, only felt his scalp go numb.

What is this?

How come he couldn't understand a single bit of it…

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