Chapter 404: Journey

Small Desolate State Boundary, Nanyue City, Yan Shi, Traitor, Spirit Hub Array... Mo Hua organized his thoughts briefly, looked at Mr. Zhuang again, and asked in a low voice,

"Master, is Nanyue City on the way?"

He had wanted to ask this earlier.

Yan Shi had enlightened him in his cultivation, taught him diligently, and provided him with opportunities. A drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring. Mo Hua wanted to go find Yan Shi to see if there was anything he could do to help him.

At the same time, he also had a selfish desire. He wanted to see a twelve-pattern Spirit Hub Array to understand what it was like. Could he learn it? Could he learn it? Could he finally use it to temper his divine sense and make his divine sense reach the thirteen-pattern realm?

But he didn't know which sect Mr. Zhuang was going to, or if it was on the way. If it wasn't, he couldn't presume to change Mr. Zhuang's plan.

Mr. Zhuang shook his head and said, "It's not on the way."

"Is that so..." Mo Hua felt a little regretful.

"But we can make a detour," Mr. Zhuang said again.

Mo Hua was slightly surprised. "Won't that delay the journey?"

"No," Mr. Zhuang said with a smile. "As long as you can learn the array, it won't be considered a delay."

Mo Hua felt a warmth in his heart.

After Mr. Zhuang finished speaking, he sighed slightly again:

"Moreover, I also want to see what's special about the Spirit Hub Array that the Great Spirit Hidden Sect inherited in the past."

"Mm," Mo Hua nodded.

He was relieved now, but at the same time, he also had some doubts. He always felt that Mr. Zhuang's trip seemed to be just for the purpose of teaching him how to learn arrays...

Mo Hua furrowed his brows slightly. This doubt had been with him for a while. Along the way, Mr. Zhuang was neither hurried nor slow. He said he was going to a certain sect, but he didn't seem particularly urgent. Instead, he spent the entire journey teaching himself how to derive, how to deduce, how to find absolute arrays, and then how to comprehend absolute arrays...

Moreover, even when they reached their destination, it was still for him to go learn arrays.

What about himself then? What exactly did his Master want to do?

Mo Hua secretly glanced at Mr. Zhuang. Mr. Zhuang's expression was leisurely and indifferent, profound and unfathomable, and nothing could be seen.

"I also don't know what Master is thinking..." Mo Hua muttered silently in his heart. If Master had any wishes, perhaps he could help Master fulfill them when his cultivation was high in the future. It was just that he didn't know when that day would come... After all, he was still just a small cultivator in the Qi Refining Realm.

Mo Hua sighed slightly.

Mr. Zhuang at this time did not know what little Mo Hua was thinking in his heart, he just said to the old puppet driving the carriage:

"Make a detour to Nanyue City."

The old puppet pulled the reins, Da Bai let out a "hiss" sound, and with a step of its hooves, it turned its head and walked onto another road leading to the Small Desolate State Boundary...

The Small Desolate State Boundary is also a second-grade state boundary in Li State. Under the Heaven Dao Great Array, the highest cultivation allowed is only Foundation Establishment.

Li State belongs to fire, and fire energy is abundant. Tongxian City is located in the north, and the climate is slightly better, with mountains and water, lush vegetation, but it is mostly quite hot throughout the year, especially scorching in spring and summer.

The Small Desolate State Boundary is located in the east of Li State, in the south, and the climate is drier. There is still vegetation along the way, but much less, and it is mostly brown, not growing lushly.

Cultivators live by the mountains and by the water. The few immortal cities along the way mostly make a living by hunting demons. Besides that, most are mine cultivators.

So-called mine cultivators are just cultivators who dig mines. There are other names locally, such as "stone craftsman," "stone worker," "miner," "mine husband," and so on. The customs of cultivators vary in different places, and the sayings also have some differences.

Among these mine cultivators, there are also those who dig spirit mines, but they are very few. The spirit mines in the Small Desolate State Boundary either belong to the Dao Court or are occupied by some big families and sects. Spirit mines are extremely important, and generally, the cultivators of their own forces go to dig them personally. It is very rare for them to be assigned to these miners of loose cultivator origin.

What these mine cultivators dig are ores containing copper and iron. The natural copper and iron in the cultivation world are extremely tough and require body refining cultivators to spend great effort to chisel them open.

The mined copper and iron are used in trades such as refining tools, building, and refining pills. Even in the array brushes of array masters and the spirit ink, some copper powder or iron powder is occasionally mixed in.

In the Small Desolate State Boundary, other products are not abundant, but there are many mines. So the local loose cultivators all make a living by selling labor, chiseling mountains, and digging mines.

Among the hundred trades of cultivation, although it is not openly said, mine cultivators also belong to the bottom layer of "lowly trades," and only poor and humble loose cultivators will do it.

Chiseling mines is not simple; there are also some special ways inside. Mo Hua has only seen a few glimpses along the way and has not seen it personally, so he is not very clear.

But in general, the Small Desolate State Boundary is indeed as its name suggests, slightly desolate. Because it is desolate, there are also more bandits on the road. Often, the carriage hasn't gone far when it is blocked by several bandits.

These bandits also don't say things like "This mountain is opened by me, this tree is planted by me. To pass here, leave your road money," and so on. Because the mountain is opened by mine cultivators, there are no trees to plant in the desolate mountains.

They don't say this kind of nonsense, but some practical things, such as:

"Hand over your spirit stones," "Leave your carriage and horses," "We can spare your lives," and so on.

In this situation, Mo Hua generally also treats them differently. Because the composition of bandits is also very complex. Some are genuinely poor, their homes cannot make ends meet, and their wives and children are about to starve to death, so they are reluctantly, covering their faces, carrying knives, and intercepting a road.

Although Mo Hua feels this is wrong, they are forced by livelihood, so he doesn't blame them for anything. Moreover, these people also know their limits. Although their mouths are fierce, most of them can be sent away by giving them a few spirit stones.

Often, the previous moment, they are still shouting: "Hand over your spirit stones, spare your lives!" and other fierce words. Mo Hua gave them a few spirit stones, and they immediately became polite. Some were probably so destitute that they hadn't earned spirit stones for a long time and would even kneel and kowtow, constantly saying:

"Thank you, thank you, little brother!"

These cultivators don't ask for much either, just a few spirit stones, enough to buy some coarse rice bran flour, enough for a family to live for half a month. They are also not greedy, and after getting a few spirit stones, they are relieved and go back. Mo Hua looked at them, feeling both amused and tearful, and also a little heartbroken.

There are also some cultivators who are purely lazy and hate work, wanting to rob houses and make a windfall. Mo Hua gave them a few spirit stones, but they were still not satisfied. In this case, Mo Hua was not polite. One fireball for each, he knocked them all down, letting them lie on the ground and properly "reflect."

Being lazy and hating work also comes with being lazy in cultivation. So this kind of bandit generally has low cultivation. Having been used to bullying the weak and fearing the strong, their martial arts or spells are also all messy. Fundamentally, they are not Mo Hua's opponents.

Of course, there are also some "tough nuts." This kind is considered a local "habitual bandit." They have organizations, but they are not strong; they have rules, but they are not strict. It's just that there are relatively many people, all with evil appearances, and their hearts are also relatively greedy. Relying on their numbers and strength, and seeing that Mo Hua is a small cultivator, they are completely unreasonable. Mo Hua gave them spirit stones, but they felt it was not enough. They still wanted Mo Hua and the others to leave their carriage and horses.

Even more excessively, they unintentionally saw Bai Zixi and immediately said:

"This little girl stays!"

The other bandits also showed covetous expressions. "This little girl is good-looking. Selling her in the city, she's probably worth a lot of spirit stones."

"At least several hundred..."

"No ambition, we want a thousand!"

Mo Hua was furious. How dare they have designs on his little junior sister?

Bai Zisheng was even more angry. He didn't talk nonsense either and directly drew out his long spear. Pale gold spirit power surged, and his body was like a ghost, like entering a no-man's land, piercing holes in the legs of several current bandits, making them kneel down. Then he put away his long spear and beat them with his fists.

From drawing the spear to throwing the fists, it was just a moment's work. The bandits were in an uproar, then became furious:

"Good, arrogant little brat!"

"Everyone up together!"

"Cripple them!"

"Sell them to human traffickers!"

The other bandits also rushed up. Some surrounded Bai Zisheng, and some rushed towards Mo Hua. Bai Zisheng was calm and unafraid, his spirit power surged, his fists were powerful, and he fought in all directions. He was originally a disciple of a prominent family clan, in the ninth layer peak of Qi Refining. His techniques and methods were all top-notch, and he often sparred with Mo Hua in body techniques. Dealing with these grass bandits naturally didn't take much effort.

These bandits, although numerous, all fought separately, with neither cooperation nor method among them, and gradually they were all defeated one by one.

There were also several who rushed towards Mo Hua. Mo Hua rode on Da Bai's back, lightly pointed his finger, and fireballs flew out one by one, knocking down the bandits who rushed over. No bandit could be solved with one fireball technique. If not, then another one would come! Only one slipped through the net, taking advantage of the gap in the fireball technique, and approached within one zhang of Mo Hua. But before he could act, Da Bai just kicked up a hind leg and directly kicked him away. This bandit was kicked away like a sandbag, hit the mountain wall, fell to the ground, and his bones were shattered.

Da Bai rubbed Mo Hua with its head, seemingly claiming credit. Mo Hua also hugged Da Bai's neck with his hand, smiled and squinted his eyes, saying:

"Today, we'll pick more grass and give you an extra meal!"

Da Bai let out another "hiss" sound, very satisfied.

In less than a quarter of an hour, this group of bandits was directly defeated, all lying on the ground and wailing. Several wanted to run, but were restrained by Mo Hua with the water prison technique and caught up by Bai Zisheng, who stabbed them all down one by one with his spear.

Bai Zisheng still hadn't vented his anger. "How dare you have designs on my sister?" He beat the leading bandits a round again. Mo Hua thought for a moment, feeling that he should also move his muscles and bones a bit, then drew out his Qianjun Rod and joined in the beating. Although he didn't beat them to death, he beat them all towards death.

After the beating, Bai Zisheng looked at their miserable state and said with some doubt:

"Isn't it a bit excessive?"

Mo Hua shook his head. "They are not good people. It's not excessive."

Bai Zisheng nodded. "That's true."

Mo Hua held up his little index finger and summarized:

"To put it simply, this is punishing evil and promoting good, acting with justice; to put it broadly, this is contributing to the stability of the Small Desolate State Boundary..."

Bai Zisheng said in shock:

"Mo Hua, you are really good at talking. With this mouth skill, if you really enter the Dao Court department, you will definitely do very well."

He could even explain beating up a group of bandits due to a personal grudge so reasonably.

Mo Hua said unhappily: "I may be honest, but I always tell the truth..."

"We are all from the same sect, who are you kidding?"

Bai Zixi looked at the two bickering people, and a shallow smile floated in her eyes like autumn water.

(End of this chapter)