Chapter 452: Grudges

The waters of Nan Yue City are truly deep indeed...

Mo Hua sighed again.

Mo Hua still had no idea which force lay behind Xing Shi Zhai, or who was behind Zhang Quan.

All he could do was wait and see if Dao Ting Si could extract anything from Zhang Quan.

Mo Hua did not ask.

Because Zhang Quan would never tell him anything.

Zhang Quan hated Mo Hua with a vengeance.

He had nearly been driven to death by anger from Mo Hua.

If Mo Hua asked him, it would be a miracle if Zhang Quan didn't suffer a cerebral hemorrhage—there was no way he'd reveal anything.

Now, all clues to the Ling Shu Array and Xing Shi Zhai rested on Zhang Quan.

Only by extracting information from Zhang Quan's mouth could the investigation continue.

Only by uncovering the cultivator or faction behind Zhang Quan could they locate the higher-level Ling Shu Array patterns.

Only then could Mo Hua reconstruct the complete Ling Shu Array.

And truly master the Twelve Pattern Ling Shu Array.

In the remaining time, Mo Hua continued to deeply contemplate the incomplete Ling Shu Array.

The Ling Shu Array was the key to this matter.

The cultivator who could control Iron Corpses through the Ling Shu Array was certainly not to be underestimated.

The conspiracy hidden within Nan Yue City was surely no ordinary affair.

Prepare in advance; break array with array.

The more one understood arrays, the better one could devise countermeasures when danger arose.

On this day, after finishing the array drawing, Mo Hua steamed some tea snacks, delivered them to Mr. Zhuang to accompany his tea, chatted briefly, took his leave, then delivered some to Yan Jiaxi.

Yan Jiaxi sat in the courtyard, lost in thought, his face heavy with worry.

Mo Hua placed the tea snacks on the table and poured tea for Yan Jiaxi, then asked without hesitation:

"Jiaxi, are you troubled by something?"

Yan Jiaxi opened his mouth but stopped himself, shook his head, "Nothing."

Mo Hua's gaze flickered slightly. "Is it about the traitor from Xiao Ling Yin Zong?"

Yan Jiaxi froze, then said bitterly:

"You already know?"

"Mm-hmm." Mo Hua nodded. "Manager Mo told me everything."

Yan Jiaxi sighed helplessly.

"My younger brother really can't keep his mouth shut..."

Mo Hua asked: "Is that traitor in Nan Yue City now?"

Yan Jiaxi didn't want to say.

Mo Hua simply blinked his big eyes at him.

Yan Jiaxi hesitated, then said reluctantly:

"This is a sect grudge—I don't want to drag you into it..."

Mo Hua shook his head. "It's fine. Maybe I'm already involved."

Yan Jiaxi paused, thought it over, and realized it was true.

Mo Hua had led the raid that destroyed Xing Shi Zhai—he was likely deeply entangled.

But Yan Jiaxi still hesitated.

Mo Hua whispered:

"Besides, I know Nan Yue City well—I have connections with the Lu family, Nan Yue Sect, Dao Ting Si, mining cultivators, and Bai Hua Lou. I can help you gather information."

Yan Jiaxi caught the key point, eyes widening. "You know Bai Hua Lou?"

He had never been there, but just hearing the name, he knew it was a brothel.

This child—so young, and already going astray? How did he end up frequenting such places?

Mo Hua quickly waved his hands.

"I don't know it well—but I know an Elder Su who does..."

I'm not familiar with it, but I know an elder surnamed Su—he's very familiar with it…

"An Foundation Establishment elder of Nan Yue Sect," Mo Hua said.

Yan Jiaxi was slightly stunned.

He had been in Nan Yue City for years and knew only a handful of cultivators.

Mo Hua had only been here a few months—how had he come to know so many?

Yan Jiaxi then remembered what a senior of the Situ family had told him: Mo Hua was already a Grade One Array Master.

A Grade One Array Master...

He never imagined that, in just two or three years, the student who once struggled with three or four array patterns and came to him for advice had now surpassed him, officially ranked, and become a Grade One Array Master...

He never imagined that after just two or three years, the student who once could barely manage three or four array patterns and had to ask him for advice had now surpassed him, officially ranked, and become a First-Rank Array Master…

Yan Jiaxi felt both excitement and melancholy.

He then realized: though Mo Hua still looked young, he could no longer be treated as an ordinary child.

He immediately realized that Mo Hua, though still young, could no longer be treated as an ordinary child.

At Xingzhi Zhai, Mo Hua acted with courage and strategy, appearing and disappearing like a ghost.

All these strict instructors saw it with their own eyes.

Even the Foundation Establishment corpse cultivators of Xingzhi Zhai were toyed with at Mo Hua's fingertips.

And my escape from Xingzhi Zhai was thanks entirely to Mo Hua.

Thinking of this, Yan Jiaoxi's attitude toward Mo Hua unconsciously became much more solemn.

He paused briefly, sighed softly, then spoke to Mo Hua:

"That traitor is indeed in Nanyue City…"

"How do you know?"

"I saw the arrays he drew in Nanyue City."

Yan Jiaoxi sighed and continued:

"Though many years have passed, his array skills have advanced, his drawing style changed completely—but the subtle brushwork, I recognized at a glance!"

"Yet everywhere I inquired, no one knew who drew these arrays or where they came from…"

Yan Jiaoxi's expression turned disappointed.

"What's the traitor's name?" Mo Hua asked.

Yan Jiaoxi seemed to recall some unbearable memory; after long hesitation, he spoke slowly:

"His surname is Shen, his given name Cai."

"Shen Cai?"

Mo Hua frowned. "There doesn't seem to be anyone by that name in Nanyue City…"

Someone who understands arrays, whose array skill approaches or even exceeds First Rank, and who has long held sway in Nanyue City, cannot possibly be unknown.

Mo Hua had met most of the prominent array masters in Nanyue City.

Even if he hadn't met them, he had at least heard of them.

But there was no one named "Shen Cai."

Mo Hua asked: "Did he change his name and surname?"

Yan Jiaoxi nodded slightly. "Likely not just a name change—he probably altered his appearance too…"

"Altered his appearance…"

Yan Jiaoxi gritted his teeth:

"He betrayed his master and annihilated his sect—he deserves to be spat upon by ten thousand people. That face? He wouldn't dare keep it."

"This is troublesome…" Mo Hua murmured.

His name changed, his face changed, his identity unknown—only similar array-drawing techniques remain. It's truly hard to find him.

And if you inquire too much, you'll alert the snake.

The cultivation world is vast—if he flees, finding him again will be like searching for a needle in a sea.

"Are you looking for him to seek revenge?"

Mo Hua asked cautiously.

Pain flashed in Yan Jiaoxi's eyes, then dissolved into deep bitterness:

"All these years, the desire for revenge has long faded. I only want to find him, to ask him face to face: he took the Lingshu Array, fine—but why kill our master? Our master treated him so well…"

After speaking, Yan Jiaoxi sighed deeply again:

"There's another matter—the Lingshu Array Diagram."

"I wish, before I die, to recover this array, to appease my master's spirit."

"Xiao Lingyin Sect is gone—but I hope this array can be passed down, never buried forever in dust…"

Lingshu Array Diagram…

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then took out an array diagram and handed it to Yan Jiaoxi:

"Instructor, is this the one?"

Yan Jiaoxi froze, glancing at the array in Mo Hua's hand—his entire body went still.

His hands trembled as he took the diagram from Mo Hua; his pupils quivered as he murmured:

"Yes… yes…"

Yan Jiaoxi stared at Mo Hua in utter disbelief. "This… how did you obtain this?"

Mo Hua explained simply:

"I deduced and reconstructed it from the array markings on the corpse and iron corpse, using spiritual sense."

Deduce… reconstruct…

Yan Jiaoxi fell into a daze.

He didn't understand…

A sudden realization struck Yan Jiaoxi—he now understood that despite having already overestimated Mo Hua, he had likely still underestimated Mo Hua's array skill.

The knowledge of deducing arrays—even Xiao Lingyin Sect's array lineage had never mentioned it in even a single phrase…

Mo Hua added: "But unfortunately, this is only part of the array—not the complete one."

Hearing this, Yan Jiaoxi looked down and noticed the diagram was incomplete; his expression turned regretful.

Then he thought of something, a faint hope stirring within him—he ventured to ask:

"Can you learn it?"

Mo Hua shook his head. "Not yet. I've only learned a little."

Yan Jiaoxi blinked. "A little?"

"Mm." Mo Hua nodded, then took a wooden tiger from his storage pouch and placed it on the table.

Master Yan was taken aback. "This is..."

"Inside this tiger, a portion of the Spirit Pivot Array is painted."

Then Mo Hua used his spiritual sense to control the wooden tiger.

The wooden tiger came alive, sprinting and pouncing across the table, rolling and tumbling, then standing upright, holding a teacup in both paws and offering it to Master Yan, followed by a bow.

Master Yan opened his mouth wide, speechless.

He was an Array Master, so he understood: every movement the tiger had just made, driven by the array, embodied profoundly complex and advanced array principles.

Mo Hua gave the wooden tiger to Master Yan.

Until Mo Hua took his leave, Master Yan stared at the tiger, lost in thought.

Long after, he finally came back to himself.

It was the Spirit Pivot Array...

And it contained no malevolence, no trickery or shortcuts.

This was the first time in his life he had seen someone use the Spirit Pivot Array to achieve such exquisite control over spiritual energy.

Master Yan was stunned.

At the same time, he felt a profound relief.

As if all those years of wandering alone, stubbornly clinging, desperately seeking vengeance, had finally found release.

His gray, oppressive days had gained a ray of light.

He could now, just a little, see the path ahead.

Master Yan looked up at the sky, his expression complex, murmuring softly:

"Master, our Xiao Lingyin Sect's ultimate array... finally, someone has learned it..."

"And truly, properly, uprightly learned it..."

After leaving, Mo Hua thought about Master Yan's words.

The traitor of Xiao Lingyin Sect.

The grudge of betraying one's master and annihilating one's lineage.

Master Yan said aloud that after so many years, his desire for revenge had faded, yet his eyes still held deep fixation.

The hatred was not strong, but the fixation was intense.

It meant he no longer hated—but that traitor must die.

From Master Yan's tone at the time, he would gladly die alongside that traitor.

Mo Hua sighed.

Though he refused to admit it, Master Yan's Dao cultivation was truly weak.

All his effort had gone into arrays.

Even if he tried to die alongside his enemy, it would likely be difficult.

If he truly went to seek revenge, the danger would fall on Master Yan himself.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then nodded.

If Master Yan could not avenge himself, then he would do it for him.

Reward virtue with virtue, repay enmity with enmity.

He had received Master Yan's kindness; helping him avenge his grudge was only right.

Moreover, Mo Hua very much wanted to know: was the cultivator who painted the Spirit Pivot Evil Array for Zhang Quan the same traitor of Xiao Lingyin Sect?

Sorry, a bit late.

One more chapter coming later~

(End of Chapter)