Chapter 69

Chen's Artificer Shop.

Master Chen and his apprentices swung hammers vigorously, hammering the forged blanks before plunging them into the artificer's furnace for quenching; after burning until glowing red, they pulled them out again to hammer further.

Master Chen, who usually scolded his apprentices to focus entirely on artificing, was now distracted, for beside him the small figure of Mo Hua stared intently at them.

Mo Hua had wandered in early that morning, saying he wanted to observe the artificing process.

Master Chen couldn't refuse, since he had previously owed Mo Hua a favor and had even made a substantial transaction with him, so he agreed.

Mo Hua watched them for hours, though mostly he stared at the artificer's furnace—with an eager gaze, as if he wanted to take the furnace apart to see what was inside.

What's inside an artificer's furnace? Of course, arrays.

Master Chen couldn't fathom what Mo Hua was plotting, and felt uneasy; during a break, he finally couldn't hold back and asked:

"Ahem, Mo Hua, is there something you want?"

Mo Hua whispered: "Master Chen, don't you think the fire in this furnace is a bit weak?"

Master Chen glanced at the furnace. "This… it's indeed weaker than before…"

"Do you know why?"

"Perhaps… because of the array…"

"Hmm, no wonder Master Chen has such sharp eyes!" Mo Hua offered empty praise, then whispered again, "Aren't you tempted to make the fire stronger?"

"Stronger?"

"Yes, stronger!"

Master Chen's brow twitched. "You're not thinking of tearing apart my furnace and redrawing the array, are you?"

Mo Hua gave a thumbs-up. "No wonder Master Chen guesses right on the first try!"

Master Chen shook his head vigorously. "No, no, this is my livelihood—how can I just tear it apart? If I mess up the redraw, all my apprentices will be left starving."

Worried he might hurt little Mo Hua's pride, he added:

"I'm not saying your array skills are poor—in fact, in all my years, I've never met a child with your talent. But this furnace can't be taken apart lightly; if I ruin it, I simply can't afford to buy another one."

Mo Hua waved his hand. "Don't worry—I know this array inside out. I won't mess it up."

Master Chen's face hardened, refusing outright.

Mo Hua pressed on: "Think about it—if the furnace's fire were stronger, wouldn't your artificing be faster? Then Big Zhu and the others would learn quicker, graduate sooner, and earn more spirit stones. To do a job well, you must first sharpen your tools!"

Master Chen considered it—he couldn't deny the logic, but his expression remained hesitant.

Mo Hua threw down his trump card: "I won't charge you a single spirit stone—I'll redraw it for free!"

Master Chen instantly couldn't refuse.

Hiring another arrayist to repair the furnace's array would cost many spirit stones, let alone redrawing it entirely. The risk was worth taking.

"Then… the spirit ink for the array…" Master Chen looked at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua stared back silently—his meaning was clear:

I'm doing this for free—now you expect me to pay for the spirit ink too?

Master Chen chuckled awkwardly, gritted his teeth, and shouted: "Big Zhu, go get Old Sun and ask him for several bottles of top-grade spirit ink—fire-elemental, no watered-down stuff!"

Big Zhu scratched his head. "Master, what about the spirit stones?"

"Charge it!"

Big Zhu looked uneasy. "Old Sun is stingy."

"Tell him the furnace is broken—if he doesn't give you the ink, the batch of spirit artifacts he ordered won't be ready until next year."

"Got it!"

Big Zhu answered and dashed off.

Master Chen acted decisively—he waved his hand and ordered his apprentices: "Stop artificing! Take apart the furnace!"

The apprentices exchanged glances, but Master Chen was always decisive—they dared not delay. They extinguished the furnace fire, doused it with cold water, waited for the residual heat to fade and the furnace to cool, then dismantled it, removing the inner lining to reveal the array carved inside.

The array was a Five-Stroke Flame Array—still the one Mo Hua had drawn before—and now it looked somewhat familiar.

Mo Hua took out Spirit-Erasing Liquid and had Master Chen's apprentices wipe it onto the furnace, to erase the previous array.

The earlier Flame Array's fire was weak for two reasons: first, this type of Flame Array only contained five array lines, limiting its power; second, Mo Hua had hastily copied it using low-grade spirit ink, which conducted spiritual energy poorly.

Spirit-Erasing Liquid dissolves spirit ink—a formula Mo Hua learned from Bai Zi Xi.

Among the hundred arts of cultivation, arrays are either drawn anew or repaired; erasing and redrawing is rare, so Spirit-Erasing Liquid is seldom used.

It's sold in Xiancheng, but it's expensive. Mo Hua couldn't afford it, so he asked Bai Zi Xi for the recipe. The Bai family was a prestigious clan with deep scholarly traditions; they had dozens of variations of Spirit-Erasing Liquid, covering grades one through five.

Bai Zi Xi selected for Mo Hua a variant suitable for arrays below first grade, using cheap ingredients—even some found in the mountains. Mo Hua was grateful and repaid him with steamed crabapple cakes made by his mother.

As the Spirit-Erasing Liquid touched the array inside the furnace, it gradually faded away.

Master Chen had never seen anything that could erase an array so cleanly—he thought Mo Hua truly was an array specialist, and felt somewhat reassured.

Soon after, Big Zhu returned carrying several bottles of spirit ink.

"No watered-down?" Master Chen asked.

"Don't worry, Master—I watched him closely. He didn't get a chance to dilute it. Old Sun looked like I was taking his blood, not his ink," Big Zhu chuckled.

"His blood might not even be worth more than this spirit ink," Master Chen said, handing the ink to Mo Hua reluctantly. "Young brother, check if this ink's suitable?"

Mo Hua shook the bottle gently—the ink flowed evenly, with perfect viscosity. When he uncapped it, a faint pine scent rose, the metallic tang of demon blood was faint, and the red glowed with luster.

This was the first time Mo Hua had seen such high-quality spirit ink. He always cut corners with cheap ink when drawing arrays himself. Now, staring at the luminous liquid in the bottle, he couldn't help but sigh: one spirit stone, one worth.

Still, to preserve the dignity of being a registered disciple of Mr. Zhuang, Mo Hua feigned indifference, speaking casually: "Fine. Usable."

Master Chen gaped inwardly: "Nowadays, array students have such high standards? Even this top-grade ink is just 'fine'?"

Mo Hua spread the array diagram on the ground, and the apprentices gathered around to watch.

Master Chen didn't understand arrays, but he still leaned in to take a look.

As he watched, he noticed something odd—he didn't know arrays, but he could count.

One, two, three, four, five… six!

Six array lines!

He remembered the furnace's molten fire array had five array lines—how had it gained a sixth?