Chapter 47: Origin

A few days later, Mo Hua's meditation method became relatively skilled. After entering samadhi, his divine sense recovery speed was more than twice as fast as before. Originally, drawing one array required resting for half a *shichen*, but now it only takes the effort of two or three cups of tea.

However, continuing to comprehend the meditation method yielded almost no progress.

This is probably what Mister Zhuang meant: entering samadhi requires innate heart nature. Within a certain period, if one's heart nature doesn't change significantly, the effect of meditation won't improve either. It requires years of persistent effort for the meditation effect to gradually get better.

This is a skill that takes time and can't be rushed in a short period.

Benefitting from the meditation method, Mo Hua could draw more arrays each day, and his divine sense growth speed also increased slightly.

In the following month or so, Mo Hua spent most of his time learning arrays from Mister Zhuang.

Sometimes Mister Zhuang felt lazy and gave Mo Hua a few days off.

Mo Hua took the opportunity to go to You Yuan Zhai to find Manager Mo. He told him that he wanted to follow a Mister to learn arrays and no longer had time to help You Yuan Zhai draw them.

Manager Mo wasn't surprised, only glancing at Mo Hua and saying, "Isn't your elder brother drawing arrays?"

Mo Hua scratched his head and gave a little chuckle.

Manager Mo sighed, looked at Mo Hua, and said:

"I've lived this long and haven't seen a child as talented as you. No matter what, study hard."

"Alright, Manager Mo!"

Manager Mo paused, feeling a bit awkward, but still quietly said:

"Later, in case, cough cough... I mean, just in case, if I need your help with something, if it's convenient for you, you must help me..."

"Manager, rest assured. With our friendship, these things are easy to say," Mo Hua patted his chest.

Manager Mo couldn't help but laugh, saying, "Your tone certainly isn't small." But his expression was clearly much happier.

Mo Hua thought for a moment and then asked again, "Do you know where Instructor Yan went, Manager Mo?"

Manager Mo was silent for a while, then sighed, "This is his private matter, and it involves the sect. It's not convenient for me to tell you. Wait until you're older, if you still want to know, I'll tell you then."

Mo Hua nodded silently.

After Da Hu and the other two withdrew from the sect, they had more free time.

If there was nothing else to do, they would come and play with Mo Hua. Occasionally, when the food shop was too busy, they would also help out and then eat a steaming hot bowl of beef noodles. Liu Ru Hua would also let them take some other food home.

Sometimes when Mo Shan was at home, he would teach them some martial arts and Dao methods.

Cultivators' Dao methods are divided into two major categories: spells and martial arts.

Spirit cultivators cultivate spells, while body cultivators cultivate martial arts.

Martial arts Dao methods activate the potential of the flesh body with spiritual power, thereby making the flesh body burst with powerful force and attaching the attributes of the spiritual power itself to fight enemies at close range.

For example, Mo Shan was skilled in the Fierce Flame Fist method. When he attacked, his fist momentum was swift and fierce, with red fire-attribute spiritual power wrapped around his fists. The power was quite formidable.

Da Hu and the other two followed Mo Shan to refine their bodies, their fists dancing with vigorous force. Mo Hua watched with extreme envy.

It was a pity that Mo Hua had no talent for body refining. He couldn't learn any of these martial arts Dao methods. Even if he wanted to learn some attack Dao methods in the future, he would likely follow the path of a spirit cultivator and learn some spells.

Spells are condensed by controlling spiritual power with divine sense for long-range attacks, with no need for close combat.

Da Hu and the other two were very serious about learning. They were almost at the sixth layer of Qi Refining, and at the sixth layer of Qi Refining, they could enter Da Hei Mountain as demon hunters.

Da Hei Mountain is dangerous, and demon beasts are ferocious. If their skills weren't refined, entering the mountain to hunt demons could be a matter of life and death. So, they didn't dare to be slack at all.

The food shop's business was also getting better day by day. As it had been open for a long time, it had a reputation. Even some wealthy cultivators on Bei Da Street would specially come from north to south, crossing the entire Tong Xian City, to eat a dish of beef and drink a pot of wine brew.

Throughout the entire Tong Xian City, this was the only place where you could spend two spirit stones to eat meat.

And throughout the entire Da Hei Mountain region, this was also the only food shop where you could eat such delicious demon beast beef.

With good business, Liu Ru Hua was too busy, so she hired two more aunts to help. Both of their family situations were not good. Their husbands were also injured and disabled from hunting demons and had no ability to make a living.

Bottom-level cultivators are all very diligent in their work. The two aunts and Jiang Yun managed the food shop well and in an orderly manner.

Jiang Yun diligently helped out in the food shop, and her life gradually became more comfortable. Her husband's body was also getting better day by day and could already do some simple physical work. She was also not as shy and reserved as before.

To thank Mo Shan and his wife, Jiang Yun spent time making various kinds of pastries as a thank-you gift. She said she learned it all from her mother.

Her family had once opened a pastry shop when she was a child, but later, they faced consecutive changes, lost their family property, so the pastry shop couldn't continue either. Only the skill was passed down.

The ingredients Jiang Yun used to make pastries were all very simple, but they tasted very good. Liu Ru Hua then asked her to make more to sell in the food shop. She could also earn more spirit stones to supplement her household.

In her free time, Liu Ru Hua also learned how to make pastries from her. Some of the pastries Mo Hua gave to Old Kui were ones Liu Ru Hua had just learned from Jiang Yun.

Besides that, Jiang Yun also fried pine nuts.

Outside Tong Xian City, the mountains had various pine trees, and there were many pine nuts, but they didn't fill the stomach, so no one wanted them.

Jiang Yun would occasionally go to the mountain to pick wild vegetables and would bring back some pine nuts. She would roast them in a pot, and the roasted pine nuts were fragrant and crisp. Placing them in the food shop, guests would either have them with alcohol or tea, which was also not bad.

And the person who liked pine nuts the most was unexpectedly Old Kui.

One time, Mo Hua took pastries to Old Kui and also grabbed a handful of pine nuts to give him.

While cracking pine nuts, Old Kui played Five Elements Chess with Mo Hua. Listening to the crisp sound of cracking pine nuts and smelling their unique fragrance, Old Kui's expression was very relaxed.

Before long, the game wasn't finished, but Old Kui had finished cracking the pine nuts.

Old Kui's chess skills, which were not high to begin with, had obviously declined further. Although he was expressionless, Mo Hua could more or less sense some loss from his face.

When Mo Hua left, he said to Old Kui, "Grandpa Kui, next time I come, I'll bring you some more pine nuts."

Old Kui nodded.

When Mo Hua left, Old Kui, who was always a man of few words, still instructed him, "Be careful on the road."

He didn't know if he was caring about Mo Hua or the pine nuts.

After that, Mo Hua's life gradually became stable.

Among the ten thousand households' lights of Tong Xian City, there was sorrow, joy, separation, reunion, sourness, sweetness, bitterness, and spiciness. Cultivators also all worked hard to live. Mo Hua was also a point among these ten thousand households' lights, working hard to cultivate and draw arrays.

Time passed like this for another month.

Mo Hua, as always, followed Mister Zhuang to learn arrays, researching array diagrams every day, practicing drawing arrays, and meditating to recover divine sense. The days were calm like pond water, without ripples.

However, Mo Hua's divine sense and array foundation were gradually stabilizing, and his understanding of array principles was also gradually deepening. For the arrays within the Six Paths array patterns, after looking at them a few times and practicing a few more times, he could basically master them.

This day, early in the morning, the sunlight was bright, and the mountain wind was clear and cold.

Mo Hua, as usual, went to Mister Zhuang's place to ask for guidance on arrays, but at the door, he saw several unfamiliar cultivators.