Chapter 79

Mo Hua returned home at night and lay in bed, unable to sleep.

One reason was he was a little worried about Brother Da Hu and the other two; the other was that he, as a cultivator himself, seemed to have no attack or defensive techniques at all.

In Xiancheng, cultivators had a simple, honest nature, and in all his years, he had never encountered danger. But never encountering danger didn't mean he wouldn't encounter it.

When real danger came, he needed some means of self-defense—he couldn't just sit there and wait to die.

Mo Hua wasn't a body cultivator; his blood qi was weak, so he couldn't learn martial arts of the Dao path—he could only learn spells. But his spiritual power wasn't strong either, and at Foundation Establishment Fourth Stage, his cultivation was still low… learning spells was still a bit premature.

After much thought, the only thing usable was array techniques…

"Is there any array that can attack?"

Mo Hua rolled out of bed, took out the "Thousand Arrays Collection" given by Mr. Zhuang, and began flipping through it:

"'Ice Spike Array,' seven array lines, but I haven't learned ice array lines, and the spiritual ink for drawing arrays is extremely rare…"

"'Thunderfire Array,' should be quite powerful… nine array lines, never mind…"

"'Wood Prison Array,' not meant for attack…"

"'Fire Extinguishing Array,' three array lines, its power is too weak…"

…………

After flipping through repeatedly, Mo Hua finally chose the "Earthfire Array."

Seven array lines, cheap ink, simple to set up, fire array lines he was already familiar with, and once activated, it would self-detonate—its power should be considerable.

Satisfied, Mo Hua began practicing the "Earthfire Array" on the stone tablet in his spiritual sea after midnight.

The array wasn't difficult; after practicing several times all night, he became basically familiar with it. The next morning, he drew it on paper, tried a few times, and succeeded.

Just as Mo Hua was about to activate the array, he suddenly remembered something:

If he injected spiritual power into it, would the Earthfire Array activate immediately and explode? Would his house vanish? With his small frame, he'd probably be dead—or crippled.

Mo Hua broke into a cold sweat.

Mo Hua flipped again through the annotations on the "Earthfire Array" in the "Thousand Arrays Collection," which read: upon spiritual power injection, detonation occurs after three breaths, causing fire-type spiritual injury.

"So it means I inject spiritual power, wait three breaths… roughly three seconds—and then the array detonates, with power comparable to a fire cultivator's spell."

That's a landmine…

Mo Hua silently grumbled.

But no matter what, he couldn't test this array at home.

Taking advantage of his morning free time, Mo Hua drew two more Earthfire Arrays. In the afternoon, he left home and went to a quiet little grove by the city's outskirts, placed the array beneath a tree, and cautiously injected a small amount of spiritual power.

The array lit up—but didn't explode.

Mo Hua squatted on the ground, chin propped on his small hand. "It lit up, so the array's fine. Didn't explode—does that mean the spiritual power I injected was too little?"

If I injected enough spiritual power, would it explode immediately?

Mo Hua felt a bit nervous—he wasn't a body cultivator, and he doubted he could withstand the Earthfire Array's explosion.

Mo Hua took out the "Thousand Arrays Collection" again and read every word carefully, confirming it detonated after three breaths. Only then did he feel reassured: "Array masters don't deceive array masters, and this book was given by Mr. Zhuang—it couldn't be wrong."

Mo Hua activated his spiritual sea and injected a large amount of spiritual power. The array lines on the Earthfire Array suddenly blazed with blinding red light.

Mo Hua covered his head and ran, then leapt into a pit several zhang away, burying his entire body inside.

Mo Hua had chosen this spot precisely because of this pit. He had even practiced several times beforehand, ensuring his small arms and legs could reach the pit within three breaths.

The Earthfire Array exploded—just as Mo Hua had hoped. He was satisfied.

But although it exploded, it only blasted a large notch into the tree, leaving charred marks—loud noise, weak effect. Mo Hua was less satisfied.

Looking at it this way, triggering the Earthfire Array felt less like setting off a landmine and more like lighting a firecracker.

"An array with seven array lines should be stronger than this…"

Mo Hua felt the problem wasn't with the array—it was with himself: "Could it be… again, because my cultivation is too low, so the spiritual power I injected is insufficient?"

If spiritual power was insufficient, then he'd have to use spiritual stones.

Mo Hua took out another Earthfire Array, placed it beneath another tree, then gritted his teeth and pulled out a spiritual stone, crushed it, and channeled its spiritual power into the array.

This time, the array lines glowed even more blindingly.

Mo Hua dashed back to the pit. A loud "Bang!" rang out, making his ears ache. Then came a thunderous roar, followed by the crackling and snapping of branches and leaves as the tree struck by the Earthfire Array collapsed with a crash.

When Mo Hua ran over to look, he couldn't help but open his mouth wide.

The tree, having absorbed the Earthfire Array's detonation, had a massive notch carved into its trunk and lay toppled to the ground. The notch bore clear traces of charred ash, as if scorched by intense flames.

"Is the power of one spiritual stone really this strong? Or… is my spiritual power truly that weak?"

Mo Hua felt a pang of unease.

Yet the power of the Earthfire Array activated by one spiritual stone left Mo Hua quite satisfied—he'd draw a few more to keep on hand, just in case.

After confirming the exploded trees showed no signs of fire, Mo Hua returned home, thoroughly satisfied.

Only the blasted tree remained, lonely and alone in place.

The next day, Elder Yu of the Demon Hunting Team passed by, saw the tree's damage, and roared:

"Find out which damn fool from the Demon Hunting Team did this! Instead of hunting demons, you're blowing up trees here? Think your cultivation's so great you've got nothing better to show off?"

The big men beside Elder Yu all shrank back, not daring to make a sound.

Elder Yu had a terrible temper and always had the final say—they dared not utter a single "no."

After the Demon Hunting Ceremony, Brother Da Hu and the other three became busy—either sparring with each other in martial arts and Dao techniques at home, or accompanying senior demon hunters into the mountains to learn hunting experience.

On the second night of the Demon Hunting Festival, Mo Hua wandered alone. Without his companions, even amid the bustle, he felt strangely dull.

Unknown to him, on the third day, after visiting Mr. Zhuang and asking his questions, Bai Zisheng grabbed him tightly.

"Take me with you!!"

Bai Zisheng's handsome eyes stared fixedly at Mo Hua.

"What…?"

"The Demon Hunting Festival!" Bai Zixi said. "I've inquired— it lasts three days, and today is the final day. If we don't go now, it'll be too late."

"It only happens once a year."

"Who knows what next year will bring? What if Bai Zixi and I have to go somewhere else? Then we'd never get to see it… No, you must take me!"

"But… I want to take you, but it won't matter— Xue Yi won't agree," Mo Hua said.

"I've thought it through," Bai Zixi's eyes lit up. "We'll sneak out without Xue Yi knowing. Worst case, we get beaten when we return. A true man stands tall—he mustn't fear a beating. Even if we get whipped, it's worth it!"

"Then think— how will you hide it from Xue Yi?"

Bai Zixi thought for a moment, slumping down in defeat. "You're right—I can't hide anything from her. Not once, since I was a child."

Seeing him droop like a plant struck by frost, Mo Hua felt a pang of sympathy and said, "Then talk to Xue Yi. Finish your lessons by day, and go for a stroll at night?"

"That's the only option…," Bai Zixi nodded.

"Then get to your lessons right now. If you don't finish them, you won't even have the right to ask Xue Yi," Mo Hua said.

Bai Zixi perked up instantly, opening the book on the desk. After glancing at it, he asked Mo Hua, "If Xue Yi agrees, how do I find you?"

"At You Hour today, I'll wait for you under the big tree at the street corner. If Xue Yi agrees, I'll take you around. If she doesn't, I'll go alone."

"Deal!" Bai Zixi brightened.

"Mm. Deal."