Chapter 69: Six Paths

Chen Ji Refining Equipment Shop.

Master Chen, along with a group of apprentices, was swinging iron hammers towards the sky in the blazing heat. The hammered embryos were then placed into the refining furnace for quenching. After being heated red-hot, they were taken out again and hammered continuously.

Master Chen, who always taught his apprentices to concentrate single-mindedly when refining equipment, was somewhat distracted at this moment. This was because the small Mo Hua nearby was watching them with bright eyes.

Early in the morning, Mo Hua had wandered over and said he wanted to observe the refining equipment process.

Master Chen couldn't refuse because he owed Mo Hua a favor previously and had also done a significant business transaction with him, so he agreed.

Mo Hua just stared at them for a long time, of course mainly focusing on the refining furnace. His eyes were full of interest, as if he wanted to dismantle the refining furnace to see what was inside.

What was inside the refining furnace? Of course, there was an array formation.

Master Chen couldn't quite figure out what ideas were brewing in Mo Hua's little head and felt somewhat uneasy. Taking advantage of a break, he finally couldn't help but ask:

"Cough, Mo Hua, is there something you need?"

Mo Hua said softly: "Master Chen, don't you feel the fire in this refining furnace is a bit small?"

Master Chen glanced at the refining furnace, "This... compared to before, it is indeed a bit smaller..."

"Do you know why?"

"Perhaps... because of the array formation..."

"Mm, you are indeed worthy of being Master Chen, your eyesight is truly experienced!" Mo Hua flattered him without any technical content, then whispered again, "Don't you want the fire to be a bit bigger?"

"A bit bigger?"

"Yes, a bit bigger!"

Master Chen's eyebrows twitched. "You don't want to dismantle my furnace and redraw the array formation, do you!"

Mo Hua gave a big thumbs up, "Indeed, you are Master Chen, you guessed it right away!"

Master Chen shook his head like a rattle drum. "Absolutely not, absolutely not. This is a tool for earning a living, how can you just dismantle it? If it's dismantled and the array isn't drawn well, this group of my apprentices will all have to drink northwest wind."

After saying that, afraid of hurting little Mo Hua's self-esteem, he added:

"I don't mean to say your array formation level isn't good, little brother. To be honest, I've lived this long and haven't seen a kid as talented as you, but this refining furnace really can't be easily dismantled. If it's ruined, I really won't have any more spirit stones to buy another one."

Mo Hua waved his hand and said: "Don't worry, I am very familiar with this array formation, I won't mess it up."

Master Chen's old face hardened, and he adamantly refused.

Mo Hua said again: "Think about it, suppose the refining furnace fire is a bit bigger, won't you all refine equipment faster? This way, Brother Big Pillar and the others can learn faster, and also graduate faster, and earn a bit more spirit stones. To do a good job, a worker must first sharpen his tools!"

Master Chen thought for a bit and felt there was some truth to it, but his expression was still hesitant.

Mo Hua threw out the killer move: "I won't charge you any spirit stones, I'll help you draw it for free!"

Master Chen instantly couldn't refuse.

Finding another array master to repair the refining furnace's array formation would cost quite a few spirit stones, let alone redrawing it. This risk was still worth taking.

"Then the spirit ink used to draw this array formation..." Master Chen looked at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua also silently looked at Master Chen, his meaning also very obvious:

I'm helping you draw the array formation for free, and you still want me to provide the spirit ink myself?

Master Chen gave an awkward laugh, gritted his teeth, and shouted: "Big Pillar, go find Old Sun Head, tell him to bring several bottles of top-quality spirit ink, I want fire-attribute, and don't let him mix any water!"

Big Pillar scratched his head and said: "Master, what about the spirit stones?"

"Put it on credit first!"

Big Pillar looked a bit troubled, "Old Sun Head is very stingy."

"Just tell him the refining furnace is broken, if he doesn't give the spirit ink and the furnace isn't repaired well, he will have to wait until next year for that batch of spirit equipment."

"Alright!"

Big Pillar responded, then slipped away and ran off.

Master Chen was a man of action. Immediately, he waved his big hand and said to his disciples: "Stop refining equipment, dismantle the furnace!"

The disciples exchanged glances, but Master Chen's word was law, and they didn't dare to delay. Several people together extinguished the furnace fire, poured some cold water, and after the residual heat dissipated and the furnace cooled down, they dismantled the refining furnace, removed the inner furnace, exposing the array formation carved inside.

The array formation was a five-line melting fire array, which Mo Hua had drawn before. It looked somewhat familiar at this time.

Mo Hua took out spirit-eliminating liquid and let Master Chen's apprentices wipe it on the refining furnace. This way, the previously drawn array formation could be wiped off.

The fire power of the previous melting fire array was relatively small, partly because this melting fire array only contained five lines, limiting its power, and partly because Mo Hua had hastily copied the array formation and used inferior spirit ink, which had poor spirit power conductivity.

Spirit-eliminating liquid could eliminate spirit ink. The formula was learned by Mo Hua from Bai Zi Xi.

In the hundred industries of cultivation, array formations were needed either when they were new or when old ones were repaired. The situation of wiping off and redrawing was relatively rare, so spirit-eliminating liquid was not commonly used.

It was sold in Tong Xian City, but it was quite expensive. Mo Hua was reluctant, so he asked Bai Zi Xi for the formula of the spirit liquid. The Bai family was a prominent family, with a vast amount of knowledge. They had dozens of formulas for spirit-eliminating liquid alone, and they even included grades from one to five products.

Bai Zi Xi chose a type of spirit-eliminating liquid suitable for array formations below one product for Mo Hua, and the materials were low-cost, some even could be picked in the mountains. Mo Hua was very grateful and gave his mother's hawthorn cake as a reward.

The array formation inside the refining furnace was gradually wiped away by the spirit-eliminating liquid.

Master Chen had never seen anything that could completely wipe off an array formation so cleanly before. He felt that Mo Hua was indeed someone who studied array formations, he seemed very professional, and he felt somewhat relieved.

Not long after, Big Pillar returned holding several bottles of spirit ink.

"Didn't mix any water, did he?" Master Chen asked.

"Master, don't worry, I was watching, he had no chance to mix water. Old Sun Head was in so much pain, it was as if I wasn't asking for ink, but his blood." Big Pillar laughed heartily.

"His blood might not necessarily be more expensive than this spirit ink." Master Chen handed the spirit ink to Mo Hua, a little reluctantly, "Little brother, do you think this spirit ink is suitable?"

Mo Hua took it in his hand and shook it. The spirit ink flowed smoothly, and the thickness was just right. Opening the bottle cap, there was a faint pine wood fragrance, the fishy smell of demon blood inside was very faint, and it was red and lustrous.

Mo Hua had never seen such good spirit ink before. When he himself drew array formations, he would make do with whatever was cheapest to save money. At this time, looking at the crystal-clear spirit ink in the bottle, he couldn't help but sigh that you get what you pay for.

Of course, to maintain the facade of being a nominal disciple of Zhuang Mister, Mo Hua still acted as if he was used to it and said in a casual and composed tone: "It's okay, it can be used."

Master Chen clicked his tongue when he heard this, thinking to himself: "Are people who study array formations now so discerning? Even such top-quality spirit ink is just 'okay' to them..."

Mo Hua spread the array diagram on the ground, and a group of apprentices gathered around to look.

Master Chen didn't understand it, but he still joined in the fun and looked for a bit.

As he looked, he discovered something wasn't right. Although he didn't understand array formations, he could still count.

One, two, three, four, five... six!

Six array lines!

He remembered that the melting fire array inside the furnace had five lines, why were there now more?