Chapter 713: House Arrest
Chapter 713: House Arrest
And so, Mo Hua became the nominal "Little Senior Brother" to all the Tai Xu Sect disciples of this session.
The crowd of disciples had mixed feelings and their expressions varied.
Mo Hua, who usually kept a low profile, felt like he was being grilled over a fire. He felt a little apprehensive and confused.
In that moment, he truly doubted himself.
He wondered if his father or mother might be a long-lost blood relative of Elder Xun.
Could he be Elder Xun's descendant from countless generations ago?
Why else would Elder Xun treat him so well? Mo Hua was perplexed.
After the lesson, Elder Xun said, "Mo Hua, stay for a moment."
Over a thousand gazes turned towards Mo Hua like a volley of arrows.
Mo Hua sighed.
As the disciples gradually left, only Elder Xun and Mo Hua remained in the spacious hall.
Mo Hua spoke softly, "Elder, is it really appropriate for me to be the 'Senior Brother'?"
Elder Xun's face turned stern. "What's inappropriate about it? In the Dao, there is no distinction between before and after; the capable are respected. The position of Senior Brother is deserved by the most skilled. With your level of array mastery, you are unquestionably worthy of being the 'Senior Brother'..."
"Moreover, I didn't ask them to call you 'Grand Senior Brother'. They will only address you as 'Little Senior Brother'. What's the problem with that?"
With a cultivation base at the early Qi Refining stage, a spiritual sense comparable to the late Qi Refining stage, and the ability to learn high-grade second-grade arrays, it was more than enough to be a "Little Senior Brother" in charge of arrays.
Elder Xun thought to himself.
Mo Hua stammered, "But..."
Seeming to understand Mo Hua's concerns, Elder Xun said, "Only the mediocre avoid arousing jealousy. While it's good to keep a low profile and bide your time, you must also seize the limelight when necessary and fight for your rightful position."
"Since you possess this ability, why should you let someone less capable than you suppress you?"
Mo Hua pondered for a moment and slowly nodded.
Seeing that Mo Hua had understood, Elder Xun comforted him, "Rest assured, while you may be lacking in other talents, when it comes to arrays, you are unquestionably the best!"
"Remember, you are a disciple of the Tai Xu Sect, one of the Eight Great Sects of Qian Xue. From now on, you are also the 'Little Senior Brother' of this entire session of Tai Xu disciples..."
Elder Xun emphasized the words "Little Senior Brother" to reinforce this concept in Mo Hua's mind.
"...Being humble and amicable is commendable, but you must also have the magnanimity to look down upon all beneath you, the unique aura of one who stands alone, and the demeanor befitting a 'Little Senior Brother'!"
Elder Xun reiterated the title once more.
Mo Hua straightened his chest and raised his head, exuding confidence.
"There's one more thing..." Elder Xun looked at Mo Hua and suddenly said, "I know about the Fire Buddha incident."
Mo Hua was taken aback.
In a flash, he finally understood why Elder Xun had been so angry and seemed intent on making things difficult for him during those days.
Mo Hua felt a twinge of guilt.
Elder Xun glanced at Mo Hua, sighed, and said in a gentle voice, "Your zeal in opposing evil and defending the Dao is admirable, but you are still young and need not rush into such perilous endeavors."
"For now, the most important thing is to improve your cultivation and study arrays."
"The higher your cultivation, the more profound your array mastery, and the stronger your capabilities, the more you will be able to accomplish in the future."
"Like a majestic kunpeng soaring towards the heavens, you will ride the wind and break through the nine skies, carrying the azure sky on your back."
"You will not merely change the structure of the world and defy the heavens' destiny, but also..."
Mo Hua's eyes lit up with a thoughtful gleam.
Seeing the clarity in Mo Hua's eyes, Elder Xun nodded slightly, satisfied that his words had left an impression. He continued, "Therefore, from now on, focus on cultivating and studying arrays. You are not allowed to leave the boundaries of Qian Xue State."
Mo Hua froze, his mouth agape.
Elder Xun did not give Mo Hua room for objection. "Your cultivation is still too low... You must at least reach the middle stage of Qi Refining."
"Your array skills are already impressive, but they are not enough. You need to learn more and practice diligently. The more arrays you learn, the better, and the more solidly you master them, the better."
"Don't keep running off outside; it's easy to get distracted."
It's also very dangerous...
Elder Xun's gaze turned slightly icy.
"But..." Mo Hua said weakly, "...I need to earn merit points..."
Elder Xun's eyes turned cold. "I checked the Merit Pavilion, and most of your merit points come from drawing arrays."
"You draw arrays very quickly, and the merit points you earn from taking on bounties outside are not much more than what you'd get from drawing a few more arrays."
Mo Hua's expression froze.
He was busted; his secret was out.
Seeing Mo Hua's hesitant expression, Elder Xun knew that he couldn't just restrict his movements; he had to offer something in return to prevent the child from harboring resentment. Thus, he made an exception and said, "How about this: you stay in the sect and focus on studying arrays. As for the array diagrams... I'll give them to you, so you don't have to spend merit points on them."
Mo Hua was momentarily stunned. "Second-grade high-level array diagrams?"
Elder Xun nodded. "Yes."
Mo Hua's face was filled with shock.
Learning arrays without spending merit points!
It was like a huge windfall had fallen from the sky!
Fearing that Elder Xun might change his mind, Mo Hua quickly agreed, "Yes, yes! I'll stay in the sect and study arrays. I won't go anywhere else!"
Seeing the sincerity on Mo Hua's face and the determination in his eyes, Elder Xun finally relaxed and nodded slightly.
From then on, Mo Hua was officially placed under "house arrest" by Elder Xun.
His movements were restricted to the boundaries of Qian Xue State.
Even within the state, he could only venture as far as Qingzhou City on the outskirts.
Taking on bounties outside was completely out of the question.
Mo Hua could only practice arrays day after day, and all his remaining time was devoted to cultivation.
During this period of focused cultivation, he could feel his cultivation base slowly growing.
The bottleneck to the middle stage of Qi Refining was now within reach.
Elder Xun kept his word and gave Mo Hua ten sets of second-grade seventeen-line Five Elements and Eight Trigrams arrays, which were worth nearly four to five thousand merit points.
Mo Hua was overjoyed and felt even more grateful to Elder Xun.
With his undivided attention, Mo Hua not only learned the formations quickly but also practiced them with exceptional diligence.
Though Elder Xun didn't say it aloud, he was amazed time and time again.
Despite his young age, Mo Hua possessed remarkable comprehension and outstanding talent, and he worked tirelessly at it.
Moreover, with each formation, although he had only studied it for a day and practiced it a few times, after a night's rest, it was as if he had practiced it for ten more days. His brushstrokes flowed like a flowing river, and he had the formation patterns memorized perfectly.
He grasped the concepts with incredible speed, and his foundation was rock solid.
If he continued to study like this for a few more decades or even a century, and when Mo Hua grew up and his cultivation improved...
Elder Xun dared not imagine the depths of Mo Hua's future mastery of formations.
Being a disciple of Tai Xu Sect... Elder Xun, who had experienced hundreds of years of ups and downs and remained unperturbed, suddenly felt a surge of excitement and high expectations.
In Elder Xun's eyes, the hardworking Mo Hua, who was devoted to studying formations, was like a rare treasure, shining from head to toe, even down to his pores.
Mo Hua, however, had no other thoughts besides wholeheartedly focusing on his formation studies.
Every day, he cultivated, attended classes, and spent his free time studying and practicing formations.
Once he finished learning a formation, he would immediately ask Elder Xun for the next one.
Although it could be a bit monotonous, the constant availability of new formations to learn made it a sweet deal for Mo Hua.
Being confined to Qian Xue State, he couldn't go beyond the boundaries of the state and take on bounties.
In the peaceful life within the sect, the only thing that kept boredom at bay was the occasional provocation from his fellow disciples, who were displeased with him being their "Little Senior Brother."
Most of the time, Mo Hua couldn't be bothered to pay them any mind.
For instance, they would suddenly block his way, trying to provoke him with words, challenging him to a contest in this or that, and claiming that if he lost, he wouldn't be fit to be their "Senior Brother."
It was too childish.
Mo Hua wouldn't even spare them a glance.
His time was precious, and he intended to dedicate every moment to the infinite pursuit of understanding formations.
Moreover, regardless of winning or losing, he was still their Senior Brother, and there was no need to compete with them, as it would only be a thankless task.
This was what Elder Xun had taught him—being a Senior Brother meant having the magnanimity to look down upon those beneath you and possessing the unique aura of one who stands alone.
Mo Hua silently echoed these words in his heart.
Mo Hua turned a deaf ear to their taunts, and their attempts to goad him fell on deaf ears. He didn't give them the slightest bit of attention.
These disciples were left with no choice.
They didn't dare say anything too harsh to Mo Hua, as it would be considered insulting a fellow disciple, and they would be punished for it.
They also dared not lay a hand on Mo Hua within the sect.
Sect rules strictly prohibited disciples from engaging in power struggles or private duels.
If they dared to make a move, Mo Hua would immediately report them.
With Elder Xun upholding justice, these disciples would be dealt with one by one, and none of them would get away unscathed.
The only other option they had was to cause trouble during formation classes.
When Elder Xun or the instructor was present, they didn't dare to act up.
It was only when both Elder Xun and the instructor were absent, and Mo Hua was helping out with the lessons or explaining some basic second-grade formations, that they dared to show their true colors and pick on him.
However, these disciples forgot Elder Xun's prior warning:
When he or the instructor was absent, the entire classroom would be under Mo Hua's control.
Whenever there was a troublemaker, Mo Hua would take the opportunity to "settle a personal score," blatantly showing favoritism and assigning them twice the amount of formation homework.
If double the amount wasn't enough, he would increase it to three times.
If they couldn't finish their homework, they would naturally perform poorly in the formation assessments, which would then affect their year-end evaluations and, consequently, their standing within their families.
The disciples were shocked.
Mo Hua's actions were clearly an abuse of power, using his position for personal gain, and it was utterly unreasonable!
"You're just the 'Little Senior Brother,' not an instructor or an elder. Where do you get such authority from?!" one of the disciples exclaimed, reporting the matter to Elder Xun.
What shocked them even more was that Elder Xun tacitly approved of Mo Hua's actions.
Mo Hua dared to abuse his power, and to everyone's surprise, Elder Xun turned a blind eye to it.
It was beyond their comprehension.
Forget the fact that Mo Hua was supposedly from a rogue cultivator background; even if he were the grandson of one of the sect's ancestors, he wouldn't have received such special treatment.
With Elder Xun backing him, the disciples could only grudgingly accept it and move on.
Mo Hua, however, could be a bit petty at times.
He kept a mental note of those who had crossed him, whether they had openly opposed him, poked fun at him, or challenged him. Although he didn't care about them, he secretly remembered each and every one of them.
Mo Hua also noticed that those who caused him trouble were the ones who struggled with formations.
The disciples who excelled in formations only needed to hear a few words of explanation from Mo Hua to understand the depth of his knowledge and dare not act rashly.
On the other hand, those who performed poorly were the ones who were the most vocal.
It was precisely because they lacked understanding that they failed to recognize the gap between their formation skills and Mo Hua's.
Seeing that Mo Hua was around the same age or even younger than them, they thought that his formation skills couldn't be that much better, so they didn't take him seriously.
A jade must be carved and polished to become a treasure, and only through studying formations can one understand their true meaning.
Mo Hua, upholding his duty as the "Little Senior Brother," quietly took it upon himself to give them extra attention, being slightly stricter and assigning them more challenging and lengthier formation homework.
They struggled to keep up with the assignments, scratching their heads as they tried to draw the formations.
After enduring this treatment for some time, they gradually came to realize the truth.
The path of formations was vast and profound.
Even though two people might appear to be studying formations at a similar level, the difference in their understanding could be as clear as day and night, with a significant gap between them.
Some people might not even be able to comprehend the existence of such a "gap."
As a result, these disciples became much more humble.
At the same time, they also understood another truth.
This "Little Senior Brother" Mo Hua, with his gentle and delicate appearance, pure and innocent face, was actually a wolf in sheep's clothing.
He was adept at scheming, and when he wanted to get back at someone, he would do so without lifting a finger himself.
Once he held a grudge against someone, they were in for a world of hurt.
Learning their lesson, these disciples eventually stopped causing trouble.
Although they didn't truly acknowledge Mo Hua as their "Senior Brother" in their hearts, at least on the surface, they were polite and their attitudes were passable.
This was just right, and Mo Hua was quite satisfied.
On regular days, he was also very busy studying high-grade second-grade formations, and he didn't have much time or energy to spare to play with these "little junior brothers" and "little junior sisters."
...
In this manner, Mo Hua's formation skills quietly and rapidly improved by leaps and bounds.
And Mo Hua didn't forget his master's teaching of "applying knowledge in practice."
During the ten-day break, Mo Hua would make a trip to Qingzhou City to greet Wan Auntie, and if there was a chance, he would also pay a visit to Master Gu to chat about formation mediums.
When Master Gu was free, he would return to the Gu family in Qingzhou City from Solitary Mountain City.
Regarding formation mediums, Mo Hua asked all that he wanted, and Master Gu answered without reserve, fulfilling all of Mo Hua's requests.
However, formation mediums were ultimately a craft that emphasized practicality.
Mo Hua was currently confined to the sect, and he didn't use many formations, so many of his ideas could only remain as thoughts, and he had no way to put them into practice.
Nevertheless, through these conversations with Master Gu, Mo Hua still gained quite a bit, but a doubt formed in his heart.
"Master Gu, in a sense, formation mediums are refined using alchemy techniques, and in essence, they are also a type of 'spirit artifact'. And spirit artifacts require the addition of formations, so in essence, aren't they also a type of 'formation medium'?"
"Now that you mention it, are formation mediums spirit artifacts, and are spirit artifacts formation mediums?"
"Young Master Mo indeed has a quick wit and keen perception..." Master Gu first followed the usual routine and praised Mo Hua in a slightly deliberate manner before continuing, "...Formation mediums and spirit artifacts are both norms established by cultivators for the development of the cultivation world."
Mo Hua responded with sudden realization, "In essence, they are both using an 'object' as a medium to inscribe formations on? It's just that people made the distinction for convenience?"
Master Gu paused before sincerely replying, "Young Master Mo is indeed exceptionally intelligent."
He then explained, "Formation mediums and spirit artifacts are very similar, but when you delve deeper, there are many intricacies, and more importantly, they are related to the cultivation industry."
"Industry?" Mo Hua asked.
"Mhm." Master Gu nodded. "The usual spirit artifacts in the cultivation world are 'standardized spirit artifacts'. For these spirit artifacts, the refining materials, dimensions, procedures, and compatible formations are all fixed and have their own norms."
"This is to increase refining efficiency, expand the scale of production, and boost the output of spirit artifacts."
"The formations serve the spirit artifacts, and the functions of the formations are led by the spirit artifacts."
"Formation mediums are different. They serve the formations, and various types of formations can be inscribed on formation mediums, so the functions of formation mediums are led by the formations."
Mo Hua suddenly understood, and he asked, "Then are there spirit artifacts that specifically serve formations?"
"There are!" Master Gu nodded. "Although formation mediums are universal, they can't perfectly match all formations and can't fully bring out the functions of the formations."
"In this case, you need to use specific materials, dimensions, shapes, and procedures to perfectly match the formations."
"These spirit artifacts are generally 'custom-made spirit artifacts'."
"The most representative one is the spirit sword."
"Spirit sword?" Mo Hua's eyes lit up, and his heart stirred.
Master Gu nodded. "Not counting the low-end standardized spirit swords, the true top-grade spirit swords, as well as some natal spirit swords, their refining methods are all top-secret and passed down from generation to generation."
"The materials and shape of the spirit sword must perfectly match the 'sword formation' within, in order to maximize the power of the sword."
Sword formation!
Mo Hua's heart skipped a beat as he asked, "Master Gu, have you seen a sword formation?"
Master Gu smiled bitterly. "Sword formations are extremely special formations, and they are the core inheritance of sword cultivation families. How could I, a mere artificer, have the qualifications to see them..."
Mo Hua sighed, feeling a bit disappointed.
Master Gu continued, "Aside from sword artifacts, some other custom-made spirit artifacts also need to match high-end formations."
Mo Hua realized a problem: "So-called custom-made spirit artifacts, if they are produced in batches, wouldn't they become 'standardized' spirit artifacts?"
Master Gu was a bit surprised and nodded. "That's right. But precisely because custom-made spirit artifacts can't be mass-produced, they are called 'custom-made' to distinguish them from 'standardized' spirit artifacts."
Mo Hua frowned, "Because of issues with the cultivation industry?"
"Yes." Master Gu nodded and proceeded to explain to Mo Hua, "For standardized spirit artifacts that are mass-produced, the functions need to be general, the refining materials need to be common and inexpensive, and the formations need to be simple and applicable."
"Spirit artifacts need to be versatile to sell well; the materials need to be common and not restricted by their source; the materials need to be cheap to lower costs; and the formations need to be simple so that any formation master can inscribe them, and even if they don't know how, they can easily pick it up in ten or so days."
"This way, mass production is possible."
"Custom-made spirit artifacts are different. They have high costs, unique shapes, and special functions. The formations are too difficult for ordinary formation masters, so mass production is nearly impossible."
"Especially the formations," Master Gu shook his head and sighed, "Just think about it, if the formation on a custom-made spirit artifact can only be inscribed by a small number of formation masters, or even just one or two formation masters, how can it be mass-produced?"
"A formation master can't inscribe more than a few formations in a day."
"If that formation master doesn't want to inscribe anymore and you want to find another to replace them, it would be even harder than ascending to the heavens."
"So although in the general sense, custom-made spirit artifacts would become standardized spirit artifacts once they are mass-produced."
"But from the actual cultivation industry perspective, custom-made spirit artifacts have problems with costs, shape, and especially the formations, so they can't be mass-produced..."
Master Gu sighed with emotion.
"Oh..."
Mo Hua gave an noncommittal response and nodded.
(End of Chapter)
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