Chapter 55: Chapter Fifty-Five: Strolling the Market

After placing the lotus lanterns, the time was still early, so the group resumed strolling along the street.

Perhaps after a few arguments, Bai Zisheng had grown familiar with Mo Hua and no longer held back, speaking more freely.

"Mo Hua, what are those cultivators doing?"

Bai Zisheng pointed to a stage and asked curiously.

Mo Hua looked in that direction and saw a simple platform where several cultivators, dressed as beast hunters, were fighting a bovine "beast."

The "beast" had a bronze head and glossy fur, appearing lifelike, but it was merely a cultivator disguised in animal hide.

"Oh, it's Beast-Fighting Drama."

"Beast-Fighting? Fighting beast beasts?" Bai Zisheng immediately became interested.

"Most cultivators in Tongxian City make their living hunting beasts; they constantly battle妖兽 in daily life. So during festivals and celebrations, beast hunters perform Beast-Fighting Drama—both for entertainment and as a tradition among hunters."

As he spoke, the Beast-Fighting Drama on stage reached its climax.

One hunter brandished a blade, shouted loudly, and flames instantly wrapped around the blade; another swung his fist, the wind roaring with each strike; a third stood at a distance, forming hand seals, and several fireballs materialized before him, then immediately clashed with the "beast," filling the air with swirling spiritual energy and radiant light.

"Whoa! Flame Blade, Wind-Wrapping Fist, Fireball Technique!"

A child beside them shouted excitedly, clapping his small hands with a crisp pat-pat-pat.

Bai Zisheng wasn't much better—he watched with flushed cheeks.

Mo Hua couldn't help asking: "You're already at the late stage of Qi Refinement, right? You should've learned Dao techniques by now…"

Why do you look like you've never seen anything before…

Bai Zisheng glared at Mo Hua. "I naturally know Dao techniques, but my mother forbids me from using them. She says the most important thing in Qi Refinement is laying a solid foundation; learning flashy, half-baked techniques just to brawl is the act of a brute. If you get injured and damage your foundation, it'll ruin your future cultivation."

"Oh." Mo Hua hummed in response.

For aristocratic families, Qi Refinement is merely for building a foundation—just focus on cultivation; there's no need to learn Dao techniques.

But ordinary hermits may spend their entire lives stuck at Qi Refinement and must learn various Dao techniques to fight beasts, live on the edge of death, and survive.

"I wish lowly hermits didn't have to live so hard."

Mo Hua sighed, his emotions complicated.

Besides Beast-Fighting Drama, there were other novel Daoist performances, delightful shadow puppet shows, wooden dog puppets that scurried around when fed fragments of spirit stones, and all kinds of fragrant snacks…

After touring the area, Bai Zisheng was exhilarated, reluctant to leave; Bai Zi Xi's small face was flushed, more radiant than the lanterns above.

As night fell, the group still didn't want to part, but they had no choice—they bid farewell and returned home.

"Thank you so much for showing us the customs and scenery of Tongxian City."

Xue Yi thanked Mo Hua, then pulled out a small box from nowhere and handed it to him.

"These are some snacks I bought on the way—just a token of appreciation. They didn't cost much spirit stone; you won't refuse, right?"

Mo Hua no longer declined; he accepted gracefully and smiled happily. "Thank you, Xue Yi."

Xue Yi smiled faintly and nodded.

Bai Zisheng turned to Mo Hua. "If you ever have time in Qianzhou, I'll take you to the Heaven-Worship Ceremony. It's not as lively as here, but the scale is enormous—there are rare spirit beasts and flying vessels, sedan chairs—you'll be amazed."

"Mm-hmm!"

Mo Hua felt a deep longing—he wondered what kind of grandeur the ten-thousand-year-old aristocratic families and sects of Qianzhou possessed.

But he didn't know if he'd ever get to go.

The cultivation world was boundless; just Lizhou had countless Xianchengs, and Tongxian City was just one insignificant small Xiancheng among them. With Mo Hua's current cultivation, even leaving Tongxian City was difficult—let alone leaving Lizhou to reach Qianzhou, whose location was unknown.

After bidding farewell to the Bai siblings, Mo Hua found Brother Da Hu and the other three.

The three children had also enjoyed themselves thoroughly; upon seeing Mo Hua, they shoved a pile of strange trinkets into his arms—various little toys, and a white tiger-shaped sugar sculpture.

"Eat the sugar sculpture quickly, or it'll melt."

Xiao Hu warned Mo Hua, then enthusiastically explained each trinket and how to play with them.

None of these items were expensive—most cost only a few fragments of spirit stone—but they were novel and clever; some Mo Hua had never seen before.

Mo Hua divided the snacks Xue Yi gave him among the three children, then licked his sugar sculpture while examining the toys in his hands.

Brother Da Hu and the others ate the snacks and walked home with Mo Hua. On the way, Xiao Hu suddenly asked:

"Mo Hua, you won't keep hanging around Young Master Bai and Young Lady Bai forever, will you?"

"Why?"

Xiao Hu shook his head, saying nothing.

Mo Hua thought they had some grievance with the Bai siblings, but after a pause, Xiao Hu hesitated:

"That little Bai girl… she's too beautiful…"

Mo Hua blinked. "Isn't being beautiful good?"

Xiao Hu said: "You can't play with beautiful girls."

Brother Da Hu and Shuang Hu nodded vigorously.

"Why…?"

Shuang Hu solemnly said: "My mother said beautiful women make men stupid—the more beautiful the woman, the stupider the man becomes!"

"Exactly! My father left home after seeing a beautiful woman, got swindled out of everything, and ended up dead."

"Right, right—I've heard many cultivators with excellent spiritual roots wasted their cultivation because they married beautiful partners and ended up accomplishing nothing."

"Yes, yes—I only glanced at that girl once and my mind went blank. If I'd looked longer, I'd have turned into an idiot. It's terrifying…"

"Indeed, terrifying…"

Shuang Hu patted Mo Hua's shoulder. "Mo Hua, you're the smartest among us—you might even become a Array Master. If you turn stupid, it'll be a disaster."

Brother Da Hu and Xiao Hu looked at Mo Hua with concern.

Mo Hua couldn't help but laugh and sigh. After thinking for a moment, he decided… there was some sense to it. He said:

"But what can we do? We all study Array Techniques with Mr. Shi—we see each other every day."

"That's it, then." All three children wore a solemn expression.

Mo Hua smiled: "Drawing arrays makes you smarter, so I'll draw more arrays in the future—I won't become too stupid."

"Can drawing arrays really make you smarter?" Xiao Hu asked.

"Of course," Shuang Hu said. "Mo Hua draws arrays well, so he's smarter than us, isn't he?"

Mo Hua said: "Do you want to learn arrays? I can teach you."

All three had decent physical cultivation potential, but no talent for drawing arrays—they got headaches just looking at the dense array patterns.

Xiao Hu hesitated for a long time, then finally made up his mind:

"Never mind. If I have to draw arrays to become smart, I'd rather be a fool for life!"