Chapter 91: Parents (Fourth Watch)
Chapter 91: Parents (Fourth Watch)
After Mo Hua had chatted with Zhang Lan during the day, he took out the book, A Thousand Array Records, given to him by Mr. Zhuang, and flipped through it all day. He found several useful arrays and planned to learn them in the next few days. He would then draw a few copies to carry with him, just in case.
One should never harbor malicious intentions towards others, but one must always be vigilant and prepared.
Mo Hua currently had too few means to protect himself, and relying solely on arrays was obviously insufficient.
The incident with Qian Xing served as a wake-up call for Mo Hua. Despite the existence of laws within the Dao Court, not all cultivators would necessarily abide by them. The Dao bestowed power upon cultivators, and slaughter and power often went hand in hand.
As a cultivator himself now, Mo Hua understood that martial artists focused on physical cultivation and engaged in close combat, while spiritual cultivators relied on spells to take lives. If he knew nothing of self-defense, he would not survive long enough in the treacherous cultivation world to take care of his parents in their old age.
Of course, Mo Hua could choose to devote himself entirely to becoming an array master. He could find a safe place, avoid confrontations with demons and other cultivators, and dedicate himself solely to the study of arrays, living a peaceful life.
However, entrusting his life to the goodwill of others was ultimately not a wise choice.
After all, Mo Hua had no way of knowing if a cultivator he encountered in the future would harbor ill intentions towards him. If someone wanted to take his life and he lacked the power to protect himself, he would have no choice but to surrender.
So, how could he protect himself? Mo Hua pondered this question.
Becoming a physical cultivator was out of the question; it was impossible in this lifetime.
With Mo Hua's physique, attempting physical refinement and learning martial arts would be no different from asking for a beating.
That left only the path of a spiritual cultivator.
However, Mo Hua's talent in this area was not particularly remarkable.
His spiritual root could only be considered mediocre, and the amount of spiritual energy his Qi sea could accommodate was limited. The cultivation technique he practiced, the Heavenly Derivative Technique, also did not provide any special boosts to his spiritual energy. As a result, his spiritual power was somewhat weaker compared to cultivators of the same realm.
This assessment was in comparison to cultivators of similar qualifications. If he were to compare himself to geniuses like Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi, Mo Hua's spiritual power could be described as "meager."
The amount of spiritual power one possessed was directly linked to the power of their spells.
"Forget it," Mo Hua sighed. "I'll think about it again when I reach the fifth layer of Qi Refinement. For now, I can't even learn spells."
At the fifth layer of Qi Refinement, physical cultivators could start learning martial arts, and spiritual cultivators could begin studying spells, as they would have a more abundant supply of spiritual energy and the foundation to manipulate it using Daoist techniques.
By the sixth layer, many cultivators would have to start fending for themselves, and it would be considered late to start learning at that point.
After much contemplation, Mo Hua concluded that he could only rely on arrays for the time being.
With another sigh, he entered his sea of consciousness and practiced several new arrays on the Dao stele.
Mo Shan, who had been out all day, finally returned home.
"I asked around," he said, relieving Liu Ruhua's worries. "Hua didn't do anything wrong. It was Qian Xing from the Qian family who deliberately caused trouble and even tried to attack Mo Hua. Fortunately, Dazhu and the others intervened, so everything turned out fine."
Liu Ruhua breathed a sigh of relief but immediately became concerned again. "Do you think the Qian family will cause any more trouble for Hua?"
Mo Shan coldly huffed, "How dare they? The Qian family may have considerable influence, but we hunters, who risk our lives fighting demons, are not to be trifled with. Unless they send a Foundation Establishment cultivator, anyone they send won't be returning in one piece!"
As Mo Shan spoke, his entire demeanor exuded a fierce aura—a result of his constant battles with demons. It sent shivers down one's spine.
Liu Ruhua rarely saw her husband in such a state. Usually, Mo Shan was gentle and considerate at home. She held his hand and asked softly, "What if the Qian family really sends a Foundation Establishment cultivator?"
Mo Shan shook his head. "They won't. While the Qian family has a Foundation Establishment elder, so do we hunters. If a Foundation Establishment cultivator gets involved, the situation will escalate, and neither side will be able to back down easily."
"Have you discussed this with the elders?" Liu Ruhua asked.
"I have," Mo Shan replied, a hint of displeasure in his voice. "I wanted to teach the Qian family a lesson. It's difficult to do so in Tongxian City, but out here in the mountains, we hunters call the shots. Making them suffer would have been easy, but the elders didn't agree..."
"No excuse?" Liu Ruhua asked, puzzled.
Mo Shan whispered, "The elder said that although Qian Xing bullied Mo Hua, Mo Hua is still lively and energetic, while Qian Xing ended up severely injured and disfigured... It would be difficult to find an excuse to stir up trouble in this situation."
Liu Ruhua met such an elder for the first time and couldn't help but ask, "What if we had an excuse?"
"If we had a valid reason, we would be in the right. Then we could cause trouble and demand compensation in spirit stones. Lately, the Hunt-Demon Team has been strapped for cash and unable to pay out spirit stones. The elder is already worried about that, and if there were a legitimate excuse, he would have gone after them a long time ago."
Liu Ruhua: "..."
"Rest assured, although Mo Hua is physically weak and cannot become a Hunt-Demon Master, he is still considered a member of the team. In such situations, the elder won't stand idly by. Otherwise, if we let these influential families bully us, we poor Hunt-Demon Masters would have no way to survive." Mo Shan comforted his wife.
Liu Ruhua finally relaxed, then asked out of curiosity, "You said Qian Xing was seriously injured? The Qian family has followers and guards, how did he get hurt?"
A complex expression appeared on Mo Shan's face as he said, "Take a guess."
Liu Ruhua gave her husband a glance and thought for a moment before answering, "Was it Dazhu and the others who beat him up?"
Mo Shan shook his head.
"Then, did some other Hunt-Demon Masters nearby step in to help?"
"No, that's not it either."
...
Liu Ruhua guessed a few more times, but each time, Mo Shan shook his head. She finally said, "Then I can't guess, it can't possibly be that Hua'er injured him, right?"
Mo Shan raised his eyebrows, "You guessed it, it was Hua'er."
Liu Ruhua's mouth fell open, "That's impossible, right? Hua'er is so young and has low cultivation. How could he possibly injure Qian Xing severely?"
Mo Shan's expression was complicated as he said, "I don't believe it either. According to reason, it shouldn't be possible. But someone did see it with their own eyes. That day, when Hua'er was held hostage by Qian Xing, he broke free and splashed spiritual ink on Qian Xing's eyes. He then took the opportunity to stuff a piece of paper with an array drawn on it into Qian Xing's pocket. At the same time, he also crushed a spirit stone. By the time he kicked Qian Xing and was himself shaken and fell to the ground, the array exploded, and Qian Xing was blasted away..."
Liu Ruhua listened with her eyes wide, then covered her mouth and laughed, "So Hua'er didn't suffer a loss after all."
Mo Shan also laughed, "Just some minor flesh wounds, probably from when he fell and scraped himself. There's a bruise on his neck, but Mr. Feng applied some medicine, and it's already healed. Compared to Qian Xing, who looks like charcoal, he didn't suffer much at all."
"Does anyone else know about this?"
"Not many people know, and even if they did, no one would believe it. After all, Hua'er is still young and only at the fourth layer of Qi Refinement. Even we, as his parents, find it hard to believe, let alone others."
Liu Ruhua nodded, "That's good, then the Qian family won't cause any more trouble for Hua'er. But we really have to thank Dazhu and the other children. Otherwise, Hua'er might have been in serious trouble."
Liu Ruhua shuddered as she thought about how close it had been.
"Yes, tomorrow we'll prepare some gifts for Chen Shifu and the others to show our gratitude."
"Okay."
"But don't worry," Mo Shan said with a smile, "Our son has excellent interpersonal skills. Even without Dazhu, other cultivators would have helped him. I heard that even Zhang Dian from the Dao Court is quite familiar with Hua'er..."
Liu Ruhua thought of the scene she had witnessed during the day and couldn't help but laugh, "He even invited Zhang Dian to drink, that little rascal."
Mo Shan pulled Liu Ruhua into his embrace, "Don't worry, I've already talked to the brothers on the Hunt-Demon Team. I asked them to keep an eye out and told them that if anyone dares to cause trouble for Hua'er again, I'll make sure they regret it."
(End of Chapter)
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