Chapter 47: Chapter Forty-Seven: The Origin of Fate

A few days later, Mo Hua's meditation technique became much more proficient; his consciousness recovered twice as fast after entering stillness as before, and where he once needed half an hour to rest after completing a formation, he now only needed two or three cups of tea.

But further insight into the meditation technique brought almost no sense of progress.

This was probably what Mr. Zhuang meant—that meditation requires inner character; if one's character doesn't change significantly over a period, the effects of meditation won't improve either. Only through years of persistent practice can the effects gradually rise.

This is a slow, grinding process; there's no rushing it in the short term.

Thanks to the meditation technique, Mo Hua could now draw more formations each day, and the speed of his consciousness growth also increased slightly.

For nearly a month afterward, Mo Hua spent most of his time learning formations from Mr. Zhuang.

Sometimes, when Mr. Zhuang grew lazy, he would give Mo Hua a few days off.

Mo Hua took the opportunity to visit Youyuan Zhai and found Manager Mo, telling him he was now studying formations under Mr. Zhuang and no longer had time to draw formations for Youyuan Zhai.

Manager Mo wasn't surprised, only glancing at Mo Hua. "Aren't those formations drawn by your elder brother?"

Mo Hua scratched his head and chuckled.

Manager Mo sighed, looking at Mo Hua.

"In all my life, I've never met a child with your talent. No matter what, study hard."

"Yes, Manager Mo!"

Manager Mo paused, slightly embarrassed, but whispered quietly:

"Later, if—ahem—I mean, if ever anything comes up and you're able, you'll help me, won't you?"

"Manager, rest assured—given our friendship, this is no problem." Mo Hua patted his chest.

Manager Mo laughed. "You've got quite the confidence," he said, though his expression clearly brightened.

Mo Hua thought for a moment and asked, "Do you know where Yan Jiaxi went, Manager Mo?"

Manager Mo fell silent, then sighed. "It's his personal matter, tied to the sect—I can't tell you. When you're older, if you still want to know, I'll tell you then."

Mo Hua nodded silently.

After Da Hu and the other three left the sect, they had more free time.

When they had nothing else to do, they came to visit Mo Hua; sometimes, when the eatery was too busy, they'd help out, then eat a steaming bowl of beef noodles, and Liu Ruhua would even let them take home extra food.

Occasionally, when Seeing Mo Shan was home, he'd give them pointers on martial arts and Dao methods.

Dao methods for cultivators fall into two major categories: spells and martial arts.

Spirit cultivators train spells; body cultivators train martial arts.

Martial Dao methods activate the body's latent potential with spiritual power, enabling the body to unleash tremendous force and imbue it with the inherent properties of spiritual power, engaging enemies in close combat.

For example, Seeing Mo Shan's Flame Fist technique—when he strikes, his punches are swift and fierce, wreathed in red fire-element spiritual power, with formidable power.

Da Hu and the others trained their bodies under Seeing Mo Shan, their fists whistling through the air with power; Mo Hua watched, envious.

Unfortunately, Mo Hua had no talent for body cultivation; he couldn't learn any of these martial Dao methods. Even if he wanted to learn offensive Dao methods in the future, he'd likely follow the spirit cultivator path and learn spells.

Spells manipulate spiritual power through consciousness to form techniques, enabling ranged attacks without needing close combat.

Da Hu and the others trained diligently; they were nearly at Qi Condensation Sixth Layer, and at Sixth Layer, they'd enter Sun Dahei Mountain as demon hunters.

Sun Dahei Mountain is treacherous, its demonic beasts ferocious; if one's skills aren't refined, entering the mountain to hunt demons could mean near-certain death. So they dared not slack off for a moment.

The eatery's business improved day by day; after operating for a while, it gained a reputation, and even some wealthy cultivators from Beidajie would deliberately travel from north to south, crossing the entire Xiancheng, just to eat a plate of beef and drink a pot of fermented wine.

In all of Xiancheng, this was the only place where one could eat meat for two spiritual stones.

Across the entire Heishan Prefecture, this was the only eatery serving such delicious demonic beast beef.

With the eatery thriving, Liu Ruhua couldn't manage alone, so she hired two aunts to help. Both came from poor families; their husbands had been injured hunting demons and could no longer work.

Lower-caste cultivators worked diligently; the two aunts and Jiang Yun ran the eatery with perfect order.

Jiang Yun worked diligently at the eatery; her life gradually improved, her husband's health steadily recovered, and he could now do light physical labor. She was no longer as shy and reserved as before.

To thank Mo Shan and his wife, Jiang Yun spent time making all kinds of pastries as gifts—rumor had it, she learned them from her mother.

When she was young, her family had run a pastry shop, but after a series of misfortunes, they lost their property and the shop closed; still, the skills were passed down.

Jiang Yun's pastries used simple ingredients but tasted delicious; Liu Ruhua asked her to make more and sell them at the eatery, so Jiang Yun could earn extra spiritual stones to support her household.

In her spare time, Liu Ruhua also learned to make pastries from Jiang Yun; some of the pastries Mo Hua gave to Gui Lao were ones he learned from Jiang Yun.

In addition, Jiang Yun also roasted pine nuts.

Outside Xiancheng, the mountains had many kinds of pine trees, and pine nuts were plentiful—but they couldn't fill a stomach, so no one wanted them.

When Jiang Yun occasionally went up the mountain to forage for wild vegetables, she'd bring back some pine nuts, roast them in a pot, and the result was fragrant and crisp. She placed them at the eatery, where guests either ate them with wine or tea, both fine uses.

And the one who loved pine nuts most? It was Gui Lao.

Once, when Mo Hua brought pastries to Gui Lao, he also grabbed a handful of pine nuts for him.

Gui Lao cracked pine nuts while playing Five Elements chess with Mo Hua; listening to the crisp sound of cracking nuts and smelling their unique fragrance, his expression grew relaxed.

Soon, the game wasn't finished, but Gui Lao's pine nuts were all gone.

His already mediocre chess skill clearly declined further. Though his face remained expressionless, Mo Hua could sense a hint of disappointment on it.

As Mo Hua was leaving, he told Gui Lao: "Grandpa Gui, next time I come, I'll bring you more pine nuts."

Gui Lao nodded.

As Mo Hua left, the usually silent Gui Lao added: "Watch your step on the road."

No one knew whether he was concerned for Mo Hua—or for the pine nuts.

After that, Mo Hua's life gradually stabilized.

Among the ten thousand lanterns of Xiancheng, joy and sorrow, partings and reunions all existed; the bitter, sweet, sour, and spicy flavors of life were all present, and every cultivator struggled to live. Mo Hua was one of those ten thousand lights, striving to cultivate and draw formations.

Time passed like this for over a month.

Mo Hua continued as always, studying formations under Mr. Zhuang, daily studying formation diagrams, practicing drawing formations, and meditating to recover his consciousness—his days remained as calm as still water, undisturbed.

But Mo Hua's foundation in consciousness and formations gradually solidified; his understanding of formation principles deepened, and after studying a formation within the six formation lines a few times and practicing it a few more, he could master it.

One morning, the sun shone brightly, the mountain breeze crisp and clear.

Mo Hua went to Mr. Zhuang as usual to seek instruction on array formations, only to find several unfamiliar cultivators he had never seen before at the door.