Chapter 6: Chapter Six: Spirit Stones

Mo Hua thought for a while inside the house, waited until Seeing Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua finished speaking, changed into casual clothes, then stepped out pretending he knew nothing, smiling happily.

The family of three ate dinner; Seeing Mo Shan had already eaten, and Mo Hua pestered him with tales of hunting demons.

Seeing Mo Shan picked out a few stories: a wolf with one eye, a tiger with two heads, a wild boar with three legs.

One team killed an adult demonic beast but failed to extract its demonic core, stripping only worthless pelts; when they realized their mistake and returned, the core had already been taken by someone else—the team leader regretted so deeply he spat blood and fainted.

Someone captured an ancient-blooded strange beast, which was bought outright by a major sect at a high price, securing him a life of comfort—but no one knew why, he vanished entirely one day…

Mo Hua listened with great interest, knowing these stories must have contained bloodshed, danger, and cruelty, but his father deliberately left them out.

Parents always hope their children won't know the cruel reality, that they may have a simple, happy childhood.

After Mo Hua finished the story, three small heads peeked out from outside the gate, their dark, round eyes peering into the room; seeing Seeing Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua at home, they lined up together and bowed:

"Hello, Uncle Mo! Hello, Aunt Liu!"

The three children were surnamed Meng, lived on the same street, and their families also made a living hunting demons.

The Meng elders had a friendship with Seeing Mo Shan, and since they lived nearby, Mo Hua had played with them since childhood; their names were similar, and according to birth order, they were Meng Da Hu, Meng Shuang Hu, and Meng Xiao Hu.

Among the demonic beasts near Xiancheng, tiger-type beasts were the strongest; naming children with the character "Hu" was meant to wish them the strength and majesty of tigers.

The three children truly lived up to their names, with sturdy, tiger-like builds.

Mo Hua was the youngest, born frail and sickly; Seeing Mo Shan thought he would never grow up to be like a tiger, and seeing his delicate features and pure, porcelain-like complexion, he took the character "Hua" from his wife Liu Ruhua's name and called him Mo Hua.

Liu Ruhua saw the three children and gave each one a steamed bun; they protested with their mouths, "No, no!" but their hands reached out instinctively, snatching the buns and shoving them into their mouths, cheeks bulging as they said, "Thank you, Aunt Liu!"

Liu Ruhua's cooking was the best in the neighborhood, and the three children were thus deeply envious of Mo Hua.

Seeing Mo Shan waved his hand, "Go play together—remember to come back for lunch!"

Mo Hua and the three children nodded and dashed out the door.

Among the Meng children, Da Hu was simple-minded, Shuang Hu was clever, and Xiao Hu was a chatterbox; all three were older and taller than Mo Hua, and usually they led him around.

Da Hu, Shuang Hu, and Xiao Hu chattered nonstop—where the dragon lanterns danced, where fireworks were set off, where crowds gathered, where dancing, flamboyant little girls appeared…

But they talked too much and couldn't decide where to go.

In the end, they agreed: adults chose, children took everything—they'd visit every place!

With the Lunar New Year approaching, disciples seeking admission to Ru Sect were on holiday, and cultivators working outside returned home; Xiancheng was much livelier than usual, and the streets were packed with people.

Some Qi Condensation-stage physical cultivators showed off their martial skills, wielding swords and spears; spiritual cultivators cast flashy but useless spells, drawing admiration and exclamations from the children;

Those skilled in artifact-crafting and mechanism arts made small toys—wooden rabbits, dogs, and cats that ran on the ground with just a bit of Qi, and countless other gadgets, leaving everyone dazzled.

Da Hu, Shuang Hu, and Xiao Hu played joyfully, finding everything new and exciting, yelling with delight; Mo Hua played and watched, but kept his mind alert for ways to earn Spirit Stones on the street.

After looking around, he realized that nearly everything worth earning Spirit Stones for was already taken; the things no one did, he currently had no ability to do.

Watching the crowd of cultivators straining to perform and shout for customers, Mo Hua sighed inwardly—making a living was truly not easy.

Shuang Hu noticed Mo Hua wasn't happy and asked, "Mo Hua, are you troubled about something?"

Da Hu immediately said, "Did someone bully you? I'll go beat him up!"

Xiao Hu nodded vigorously, "Beat him! Beat him!"

The Meng elders had always instructed the three boys to look after the frail and sickly Mo Hua, and since Liu Ruhua made delicious food, she always saved a portion for them.

The three boys, grateful for the kindness and full of righteousness, would immediately roll up their sleeves and fight anyone who tried to bully Mo Hua.

Mo Hua was widely recognized by the neighborhood's scattered cultivators as the smartest; when the instructors assigned homework they didn't understand, they'd come to ask Mo Hua, so their bond was strong.

Seeing their eager, ready-to-fight expressions, Mo Hua couldn't help but smile wryly and said:

"No one bullied me—I was just wondering if I could earn some Spirit Stones."

Earn Spirit Stones…

Da Hu and the others grew pensive; they didn't know much either.

They could help with fighting, but earning Spirit Stones was beyond them.

Mo Hua's mind stirred, and he asked again:

"Do you know how Array Masters earn Spirit Stones?"

The cultivation world was vast, and Mo Hua spent his days only cultivating and drawing arrays, with limited exposure—he knew little of many things. He knew becoming an Array Master meant never worrying about food or clothing, but how ordinary Array Masters, especially low-level apprentices, earned Spirit Stones, he truly didn't know.

Da Hu and the others roamed everywhere; perhaps they knew something Mo Hua didn't.

Da Hu thought for a moment and shook his head: "The Array Master grading exam is extremely difficult; there isn't a single Grade One Array Master in our neighborhood—I don't really know…"

"Not just our neighborhood—even the whole of Xiancheng has few Array Masters, and even fewer who pass the grading to become Grade One. Our distant uncle Meng studied arrays every day for twenty years and never passed Grade One…" Xiao Hu shook his head in disbelief.

"You're mistaken—Uncle Meng is just an Array Apprentice. He wanted to find an Array Master as his teacher to learn arrays, but when they tested him, he couldn't answer, so they refused him."

Shuang Hu sneered, then counted on his fingers:

"Apprentice, ordinary Array Master, Grade One Array Master… Uncle Meng didn't even qualify for grading—those who can undergo grading are already somewhat famous Array Masters; he's still ten thousand miles away!"

Mo Hua asked curiously, "Then how does he make a living?"

"I heard he draws simple arrays for merchant guilds to earn Spirit Stones, then uses those Spirit Stones to buy ink and brushes to practice arrays, then fails to find a teacher again, so he draws arrays for merchant guilds again…"

"Merchant guilds…?"

"Yes, I heard that even if you can't be graded and never become a Grade One Array Master, just being an ordinary Array Master drawing arrays for merchant guilds still earns plenty of Spirit Stones—you won't go hungry."

Shuang Hu said, then asked Mo Hua:

"Mo Hua, do you want to become an Array Master?"

"Yes," Mo Hua didn't hide it, "My physique is too weak—I probably can't become a Demon Hunter. One swipe from a demonic beast would leave me half-dead. I need a way to make a living. But it's still too far off—I'll first see if I can earn some Spirit Stones; if I can, I'll treat you all to pastries!"

Da Hu and the others instantly brightened.

"Good! Good!"

"You're so smart—you'll definitely earn Spirit Stones, and someday become an Array Master!"

"Pastries! Pastries!"

Children from ordinary scattered cultivator families rarely got to eat even ordinary street pastries.

A few more people wandered around again; apart from the flower-adorned young girls, they had seen everything, and by nearly noon, each went home satisfied for lunch.

After eating lunch, Mo Hua told his parents he was going out to play, then went alone to Beidajie in Xiancheng.

Beidajie in Xiancheng was prosperous; Nandajie was bustling.

Nandajie had many market stalls, mostly small vendors and roadside stands, while Beidajie had many shops, offering spiritual talismans, pills, and artifacts—everything imaginable, with more正规 goods, better quality, and of course, higher prices.

But Mo Hua was not here to buy anything; he had no spiritual stones to spare.

Mo Hua walked from one end of the street to the other, inspecting every shop, then entered one whose entrance bore a formation array but whose facade was comparatively the most shabby and humble, and whose business was the quietest.