Chapter 108: Progress (Part One)
Chapter 108: Progress (Part One)
From then on, Mo Hua would visit Mister Zhuang's Zuo Wang Ju in his free time to practice his body art with Bai Zi Sheng.
Bai Zi Sheng had a high level of comprehension, and with each practice session, his body art became more polished. However, Mo Hua's progress in body art was even more remarkable.
At first, Bai Zi Sheng had the upper hand. But as Mo Hua's Shi Shui steps became more refined, within twenty rounds, it became increasingly difficult for Bai Zi Sheng to grab the jade pendant hanging from Mo Hua's neck.
To extend their practice sessions, the two decided to increase the number of rounds from twenty to forty.
"Something's not right..." Bai Zi Sheng frowned after one of their practice sessions.
"What's wrong?" Mo Hua asked.
"There's something peculiar about this body art of yours..." Bai Zi Sheng replied.
Mo Hua looked puzzled.
"It seems ordinary and nothing special at first glance, but it's incredibly elusive. Just when I think I'm about to catch you, your figure flashes, and you slip away from my fingertips no matter what I do." Bai Zi Sheng explained.
"Doesn't that just prove that this body art is extraordinary?" Mo Hua asked.
Bai Zi Sheng shook his head. "Ultimately, this body art involves using spiritual power to guide one's physical body. There are many body arts that employ this principle, but I've never come across one as tricky as yours."
Mo Hua was confused. "Isn't it just a matter of using divine sense to guide spiritual power and channel it to certain meridians and acupoints, and then using that to move the body? How difficult could that be?"
It wasn't necessarily difficult, but being able to control spiritual power with one's divine sense, and doing so with such precision and subtlety, was certainly not simple.
Bai Zi Sheng took another look at Mo Hua.
At the moment, Mo Hua had only cultivated to the fifth layer of Qi Refinement, but his divine sense was already sufficient to draw eight array patterns. Moreover, Bai Zi Sheng had witnessed Mo Hua's array formation skills—his brushstrokes were like a dancing dragon, and he worked with incredible speed. In a short while, he could complete an array formation with six or seven patterns.
Bai Zi Sheng was momentarily stunned, unsure if it was the body art or Mo Hua himself that was peculiar...
However, he didn't dwell on these thoughts. The cultivation world was vast, and there were countless cultivators and techniques. It was not uncommon for some cultivators to excel in certain techniques more than others.
Bai Zi Sheng was just glad that Mo Hua's body art was able to match his own, even with his suppressed cultivation.
From that day on, Bai Zi Sheng would finish his chores early and sit under the big locust tree, waiting for Mo Hua to join him for their body art practice.
One day, Bai Zi Sheng asked, "Did you learn this body art to evade the spells of other cultivators?"
"Yes." Mo Hua nodded. "And also to evade magical beasts."
He didn't know when he might enter Da Hei Mountain again, and the magical beasts there were far more formidable than cultivators.
"In that case, you should probably practice with magical beasts as well," Bai Zi Sheng said casually as he took a bite of meat.
"Huh?" Mo Hua was taken aback.
"The attacks of magical beasts are different from those of human cultivators," Bai Zi Sheng explained. "Just because you can dodge cultivators' attacks doesn't mean you can dodge a magical beast's."
"Oh, right." Mo Hua realized the truth in his words.
Magical beasts had massive physiques, formidable physical strength, sharp claws and fangs, and most moved on four legs, resulting in attack trajectories vastly different from those of cultivators.
Moreover, some magical beasts had venomous tails, poisonous spines, toxic saliva, or razor-sharp teeth, making their attacks even more bizarre and unpredictable.
Mo Hua scratched his head. "But how am I supposed to find a magical beast to practice with? If I'm not careful, I might end up getting eaten again..."
"I'm just saying, you should be more cautious," Bai Zi Sheng said nonchalantly.
However, Mo Hua took his words to heart.
He contemplated the likelihood of being killed by a cultivator versus being devoured by a magical beast, and he felt that the latter was more probable.
Da Hei Mountain was treacherous and unpredictable, and the magical beasts within were fierce and cunning.
Once he ventured into Da Hei Mountain, he would have to face these beasts, whose brute strength, speed, and erratic movements far surpassed those of cultivators.
"How can I practice with magical beasts?"
He could now create an eight-pattern array, but to conserve spiritual ink, he didn't practice drawing it every day, opting to read the treatise instead during his free time.
Likewise, he couldn't spar with Bai Zi Sheng every day.
News of Mo Hua and Bai Zi Sheng's sparring sessions reached Xue Yi, inadvertently revealed by Bai Zi Sheng himself, who was still excited about it.
Xue Yi was displeased, thinking that Bai Zi Sheng was slacking off and disturbing Mo Hua's array studies. In response, she assigned him additional chores.
Mo Hua tried to plead with Xue Yi, explaining that he wanted to practice his body art, which was why Bai Zi Sheng was sparring with him.
However, Xue Yi didn't believe him. She was aware of Mo Hua's naturally weak body, so she found it hard to accept that he would suddenly take an interest in body art.
Assuming that Mo Hua was trying to make excuses for Bai Zi Sheng, she said, "You're a good child, and I know you have the young master's best interests at heart. But rules are rules for a reason."
After speaking with Mo Hua, Xue Yi went back and assigned even more chores to Bai Zi Sheng.
Feeling helpless, Mo Hua could only occasionally bring Bai Zi Sheng some snacks as consolation.
Zhang Lan, who used to frequent the dining hall, seemed to have gotten caught up in something as well, and it had been quite some time since Mo Hua had seen him.
With all this, Mo Hua suddenly found himself with much more free time, spending it alone studying array treatises.
While Mo Hua was reading one day, Jiang Yi brought over a bowl of chicken soup and asked him to drink it while it was still hot.
Jiang Yi's given name was Yun, and her husband's surname was Chu. She was also a beast hunter, but she had been severely injured during a hunt. With no other source of income, she also had a child to feed. Liu Ruhua offered her a job in the dining hall, and now their family's situation was gradually improving, evident in the healthier complexion on her face.
Although her husband couldn't hunt beasts anymore, he was skilled in setting traps. Occasionally, he would go into the mountains to catch weak magical beasts, selling them for spirit stones to supplement their income. Sometimes, he even managed to capture spiritual beasts.
These spiritual beasts were likely escaped pets or sect elders' beasts that had strayed into the mountains and gradually transformed into magical beasts, losing much of their spiritual energy in the process. Nonetheless, their meat was still of better quality than that of ordinary magical beasts.
Jiang Yun would stew these spiritual beasts into delicious soups, always setting some aside specifically for Mo Hua.
She was skilled in making pastries and could stir-fry pine nuts. She had learned cooking from Liu Ruhua, and her dishes tasted wonderful.
"Thank you, Jiang Yi!" Mo Hua happily expressed his gratitude as he drank the delicious chicken soup.
Seeing Mo Hua enjoy his meal brought Jiang Yun joy as well, though she wasn't very talkative and could only smile shyly.
"By the way, how useful was that Wood Binding Array I gave to your husband, Uncle Chu?" Mo Hua suddenly asked, remembering something.
"Oh yes, it's very useful," Jiang Yun nodded. "Your Uncle Chu praises that array every time he returns from the mountains. Now, when a magical beast is trapped, its fur remains undamaged."
Magical beasts often damaged their fur by frantically struggling and biting in the traps, which decreased their value when sold for spirit stones.
After hearing about this, Mo Hua had found an array called the Wood Binding Array in the Thousand Arrays Anthology. Although it required a spirit stone to activate, it could bind magical beasts without harming their fur, thus increasing their selling price.
"It's just..." Jiang Yun hesitated.
"Is there a problem with the array?" Mo Hua asked.
"No, no," Jiang Yun waved her hand. "It's not about the array. It's just that your Uncle Chu once caught a young magical beast, and even after being trapped for several days, it still didn't die. He brought it back, but he doesn't know what to do with it..."
"A young magical beast?" Mo Hua's eyes lit up.
...
(End of Chapter)
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