Chapter 207: Speculation (Five More Chapters)
Chapter 207: Speculation (Five More Chapters)
Mo Hua finally breathed a sigh of relief as he finished inscribing the array on the pill furnace.
He had completed all the arrays he needed to draw, and from here on out, everything else was out of his hands.
Master Chen oversaw the Weapon Refinery, Elder Feng managed the Pill Refinery, and Bandi took charge of the final construction. The overall situation was under Elder Yu's supervision.
Mo Hua only needed to worry about minor adjustments to the arrays here and there.
All that was left to do now was to wait for the distribution of spirit stones.
Elder Yu had promised that once the Weapon Refinery and Pill Refinery became profitable, all cultivators who had contributed, whether they were demon hunters, weapon refiners, pill refiners, or wandering cultivators, would receive a substantial amount of spirit stones.
Since Mo Hua had single-handedly taken care of all the arrays, Elder Yu said he would receive the largest share.
Mo Hua didn't ask about the specifics; he already had enough spirit stones for his needs, and he preferred to focus his attention on improving his array skills.
Reflecting on his recent work, Mo Hua realized that he had indeed inscribed a lot of arrays.
The architectural arrays for the Weapon Refinery and Pill Refinery were diverse and complex, primarily based on earth and wood elements, with metal, water, and fire as supplementary elements. They encompassed a wide range of applications of the five elemental arrays.
Mo Hua had planned and coordinated the array diagrams and then went through them again from start to finish, reinforcing his foundation in arrays.
The arrays used on the weapon and pill furnaces were first-grade composite arrays, extremely challenging to inscribe. Mo Hua had struggled through them, making revisions and corrections along the way.
With his enhanced spiritual sense, he had gained a deeper understanding of arrays and a basic grasp of the principles and applications of composite arrays.
Moreover, thanks to his comprehension of the composite array hubs, he could now inscribe ordinary arrays much faster by relying on his intuition of the hub structures. The only drawback was a slight increase in spiritual energy consumption.
However, this level of spiritual energy consumption was negligible for Mo Hua.
All in all, these days had been exhausting but fulfilling.
Mo Hua felt that he had gained a lot from this experience.
He had used up more than half of his stash of a thousand bottles of demon blood, and now he could finally take a well-deserved break.
Mo Hua rubbed his face, feeling that he had grown a little thin from the constant work on arrays lately. He decided that when he returned home, he would ask his mother to cook something delicious to treat himself.
"I wonder what I should eat?" Mo Hua wondered, his steps light and cheerful as he made his way home.
In the grand hall of the Qian Family.
The floor was laid with a black cauldron-patterned carpet, and a clear mountain and river folding screen adorned one side of the hall. A crimson lacquered table and a pair of incense burners shaped like mythical beasts added to the luxurious atmosphere, with curling incense filling the air.
Qian Hongzheng sat at the head of the hall, with Qian Shi, the family master, seated below him.
The two men sipped tea amidst the fragrant smoke, their expressions troubled despite the calming aroma.
Qian Shunzhi entered and respectfully greeted them before reporting, "I have news from the demon hunters about the array master. They only know of a young child among their ranks who is skilled in arrays. They call him 'Little Array Master.'"
"Little Array Master?" Qian Shi furrowed his brows. "How old is this child?"
"He's quite young, apparently only about ten years old, with the surname Mo. As for his given name and appearance, or where he lives... the demon hunters are tight-lipped about those details, and we haven't been able to find out."
Qian Hong's face darkened with displeasure.
Qian Shunzhi lowered his head, afraid to even breathe too loudly.
Qian Shi pondered for a moment before speaking, "It's definitely not this child, but there must be some connection between them."
Qian Hong mused, "Master, do you think that the array master who opposes us is this child's teacher, or perhaps they have some sort of master-disciple relationship?"
"Indeed," Qian Shi nodded. "It's impossible to master arrays without a teacher. For a child so young to be renowned for their skill in arrays and be known as 'Little Array Master,' there must be a highly skilled master or a direct teacher involved."
Qian Hong turned to Qian Shunzhi and ordered, "Continue your investigations."
Qian Shunzhi stammered, "Bu-but how... What else can I do to find out more?"
He had already explored every avenue of inquiry and asked everyone he could think of.
When they tried to inquire further, the demon hunters became noticeably more guarded, and even the average wandering cultivator remained tight-lipped.
If they asked too many questions, the demon hunters would turn the tables and interrogate them with hostile glares.
Qian Hong frowned, "In that case, don't ask about the array master. Instead, try to find out if there are any unfamiliar cultivators or enigmatic experts. We might be able to uncover something through indirect means."
Qian Shunzhi was about to retreat when he was stopped by Master Qian, who had another task for him.
"There's one more thing," Master Qian instructed, "Find out what arrays that little array master has drawn, and bring them to me so I can examine them carefully."
"Yes, Master," Qian Shunzhi replied respectfully.
With the completion of the Weapon Refinery in the south of the city, the Pill Refinery was also nearing the end of its construction.
The pressure on the Qian family doubled, and the An family felt equally anxious.
In a private room of the teahouse just outside the south gate, Old Man An and the head of the An family, An Yonglu, gazed at the distant Weapon Refinery.
What was once a desolate wasteland now boasted an impressively large refinery.
Adjacent to it, the Pill Refinery was also nearing completion, matching the refinery in scale.
Old Man An sighed, "It looks like Elder Yu has really done it this time!"
An Yonglu worriedly added, "At this rate, we'll have even less of a place in this industry."
"In the fields of weapon and pill refining, I'm afraid our An family won't be able to amount to much within the next hundred years. Not only will we be unable to taste the meat, but even getting a sip of the soup on the sidelines will be difficult." Old Man An felt dejected.
The Qian family had already been suffocating them, and now with the addition of these two large-scale refineries in the south of the city, there seemed to be no way forward for the An family.
"Perhaps it's for the best," An Yonglu said, trying to find a silver lining, "Since we can't compete anyway, we might as well just focus on running the Ling Shan Lou peacefully."
Old Man An shot his son a glance, his expression conveying his disappointment, "Running an eatery and pleasing others your whole life, where's your ambition?"
"At least we can fill our stomachs..." An Yonglu mumbled softly.
The way he carried himself almost screamed 'content with mediocrity.'
Old Man An felt a sense of fatigue wash over him.
His son may have looked the part of a respectable heir on the surface, but whenever they encountered a challenge, his first instinct was to settle for the status quo instead of striving for progress.
No wonder his grandson, An Fu, lacked ambition as well.
Old Man An didn't have the energy to reprimand him anymore.
An Yonglu quietly sipped his tea, his eyes drifting to the refinery. Suddenly, he exclaimed in surprise, "Father, the array on that outer wall seems to be extremely sophisticated..."
Old Man An glanced at him, "Can you tell what kind of array it is?"
"No," An Yonglu shook his head, "But it feels extraordinary. At the very least, it's far superior to the arrays used in our An family mansion."
"I wonder where Elder Yu found this array master," An Yonglu mused curiously.
Old Man An remained silent, but his heart skipped a beat as a suspicion began to form in his mind, though he still found it hard to believe.
Noticing his father's reaction, An Yonglu asked, "Father, do you know something?"
With a furrowed brow, Old Man An remained silent for a long while before finally speaking, "Do you remember that child who saw through our An family's arrays?"
An Yonglu was stunned for a moment before his eyes widened in disbelief, "You don't mean...?"
(End of Chapter)
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