Chapter 22: Clues

Instructor Yan left the Array Pavilion and returned to Tongming Peak of Tongxian Gate.

The instructors of Tongxian Gate on Tongming Peak all have separate residences, with three rooms and a hall, and a small courtyard where they can plant some spirit flowers and spirit grass, or raise spirit beasts.

Instructor Yan's residence was clean and tidy, the walls neatly covered with array diagrams, with no other decorations. He flipped through classics on basic array methods, preparing to teach several array patterns the following week, then began correcting the array methods homework submitted by the Qi Refining period disciples.

There were nearly a thousand Qi Refining period disciples on Tongxuan Peak of Tongxian Gate, and he corrected all of their array methods homework one by one, marking the errors. This required a lot of time and patience, but Instructor Yan did it meticulously. This was his habit, and also an inheritance of his Master's many years of teachings. His Master in the past also corrected the arrays of his disciples in this manner, meticulously and very patiently.

Instructor Yan's Master was a first-grade array master, perhaps not considered a great array master in the entire cultivation world. But even so, throughout his life, he exhausted his ability, passed down the Dao and taught, upholding the array methods of the Heavenly Dao laws. Now that his Master had passed away, he became an instructor and could also understand his Master's painstaking efforts.

As the sky gradually darkened, Instructor Yan lit a lamp and continued to correct the arrays. Tongxian Gate was after all a remote small sect, and the cultivation inheritance was weak. Among the nearly thousand disciples, not many could draw basic array patterns in the proper shape. Those who drew better were generally from families with prior learning, or wealthy families willing to spend spirit stones on cultivation, such as the children of cultivators serving in the Dao Court Office, or the children of sect elders, or disciples from cultivation families within the city, etc. There were very few who truly came from poor loose cultivator backgrounds and could draw good arrays.

However, no matter their origin, Instructor Yan treated everyone equally, only looking at the arrays. If the drawing wasn't good but the attitude was serious, he would add more notes to explain; if the drawing wasn't good and the attitude was careless, the language of the notes would be more severe, and the name would be remembered by Instructor Yan. Occasionally, he would encounter a very well-drawn array and feel gratified, writing an "excellent" character next to the array to show encouragement.

Instructor Yan corrected tirelessly, and when he flipped to one array, his eyes involuntarily lit up. The brush strokes were very skilled, clearly showing great effort and a sense of method. Even if used to draw formal arrays, this array pattern would be considered qualified. Instructor Yan raised his head and looked at the paper header, which read "Mo Hua". He involuntarily nodded, then wrote an "excellent" character next to the array. This "excellent" character was written slightly larger than the others. Instructor Yan turned the page and continued correcting.

As he continued correcting, Instructor Yan suddenly flipped back again, finding Mo Hua's array pattern, and involuntarily frowned. The brush strokes in this array pattern were a bit too skilled, even looking a bit... effortless? For Qi Refining stage two or three cultivators, being able to fully draw one array pattern was already very good.

Thinking of encountering Mo Hua in the Array Pavilion today, Instructor Yan pondered in silence, and a question suddenly emerged: "Mo Hua, does he have an elder brother?"

"If his elder brother is good at drawing arrays, and he is also good at drawing, then he should have family learning. But if I'm not mistaken, this child Mo Hua is clearly from a poor loose cultivator background. If he had some family learning in arrays, his family circumstances wouldn't be so bad..."

"If his elder brother can help the Array Pavilion draw arrays, he should have quite a talent for arrays in Tongxian Gate. I've taught in Tongxian Gate for nearly ten years, and I don't seem to have taught this person..."

"In other sects? That's also unlikely. Brothers from the same family generally join the same sect, and Tongxian Gate is already the largest sect in the city..."

Instructor Yan tapped the table case with his fingers, pondering, then temporarily suppressed various thoughts and concentrated on finishing the array corrections.

The next day, Instructor Yan woke up very early, found the manager of Tongming Peak, and requested a copy of the disciples' native places. He flipped to Mo Hua's column and saw the following written:

Mo Hua: ten years old, Qi Refining stage three, middle-lower grade small five elements spirit root...Father: Mo Shan, demon hunter; Mother: Liu Ru Hua, cook master.

Besides his parents, there were no other relatives, and definitely no elder brother. Instructor Yan had a vague guess in his heart, but felt it was unlikely.

During the morning array class, Instructor Yan suddenly announced a temporary homework assignment: draw all the five elements array patterns learned so far and submit them in three days. The disciples in their seats suddenly heard the bad news, each like an eggplant hit by frost.

Mo Hua, on the other hand, was indifferent. He had already helped the Array Pavilion draw arrays, and now he just needed to draw a few array patterns, which wouldn't take much effort. However, why did Instructor Yan suddenly arrange these lessons temporarily? This was not like the instructor's usual way of doing things. Mo Hua was a bit doubtful.

Then, An Xiaopang came begging to Mo Hua.

"Mo Hua, you must help me!!" An Xiaopang almost cried out. Who knew why the instructor suddenly arranged homework! Usually, lessons were arranged every few months to test the disciples' array levels. An Xiaopang was caught off guard; he couldn't draw a single array pattern, and time was tight, so he could only come begging Mo Hua.

Mo Hua was indifferent; these basic array patterns were no longer difficult for him. Mo Hua helped An Xiaopang draw the arrays, even only charging a friendship price. Several other fellow disciples who were from good families but not skilled in arrays also came begging to Mo Hua, and Mo Hua agreed to all of them. Mo Hua had arrays to draw and spirit stones to earn, so he didn't mind thinking about other things.

Three days later, the array homework was submitted. Instructor Yan picked out the array patterns drawn by Mo Hua, carefully examined them, then put them into his storage bag. He went to Youyuan Zhai to find the Fat Manager.

The Fat Manager saw Instructor Yan and was a bit wary, "This time, are you here to find me for tea, or to ask me to do something?"

Instructor Yan said: "Not for tea, nor to ask you to do something, just to ask you some questions."

The Fat Manager relaxed, "Oh, that's still okay."

"Do you still have the array diagrams Mo Hua gave you?"

"Mo Hua?" The Fat Manager was slightly startled, "Oh, that little brother, yes, I do have them. What do you want to do?"

"How many?"

"There are still several of both the Bright Fire Array and the Solid Earth Array. I keep them for backup."

The Fat Manager took out one sheet each of the Bright Fire Array and Solid Earth Array that Mo Hua had delivered before and handed them to Instructor Yan. Instructor Yan flipped through them, then took out the array homework Mo Hua had submitted and compared it with the several array patterns on it one by one.

After looking through them, Instructor Yan took a deep breath. The Fat Manager stretched his neck to look and asked, "What are you looking at?"

Instructor Yan pointed at the several array patterns and the several arrays next to them and asked, "Do you think these several array patterns and these two arrays were drawn by the same person?"

The Fat Manager took the array patterns and arrays, wrinkled his brow and carefully looked at them, then nodded and said: "The brush strokes are quite similar, not an accident, they should be from the hand of the same person..."

The Fat Manager thought for a moment, then suddenly said: "Did you meet Mo Hua's elder brother?"

"Mo Hua has no elder brother."

"No elder brother? Then who drew these arrays?"

Instructor Yan looked at the Fat Manager with meaningful eyes.

The Fat Manager was stunned for a moment, "You're not saying that he drew them himself?"

Instructor Yan nodded.

The Fat Manager was silent for a moment, then immediately sneered, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Not to mention this Bright Fire Array, it's somewhat possible he could draw it, but this Solid Earth Array has four array patterns inside! Where would he get so much divine sense, unless he has two heads and two seas of consciousness?"

The Fat Manager looked at Instructor Yan suspiciously, then continued: "You want to say you've taught a genius in drawing arrays who's only in the Qi Refining stage three? You're not trying to deliberately put gold on your own face... I've known you for so many years, and you're not this kind of person!"

Instructor Yan looked at him coldly, pointed at the arrays in front of him, and said: "You yourself said that these several array patterns and these two arrays are from the same person's hand. These several array patterns were drawn by Mo Hua, so then who should have drawn these two arrays?"

The Fat Manager was blocked and couldn't speak. He stared at the array patterns on his left hand and the arrays on his right hand for a long time, then murmured, "It can't be..."