Chapter 72: The Alchemy Furnace

Feng old mister shook his head. "It's been years. The last time the array was repaired was probably ten or twenty years ago. It's lasted so long without issues, which is already quite good."

"Then this pill furnace..."

Feng old mister twisted the crane carving pattern on the outer wall of the pill furnace. The inner and outer layers of the furnace then rotated individually, finally separating. The array on the inner wall of the pill furnace was then revealed.

"I promised you, I naturally won't go back on my word, but I want to test you a bit first."

Feng old mister pointed at the array on the inner wall of the pill furnace and said, "First, identify what these arrays are."

Mo Hua approached and looked carefully, then thought for a moment and said, "Melting Fire Array, Wood Qi Array, Gathering Spirit Array... Is this a complex array containing three arrays?"

Feng old mister was slightly startled. "You've even learned complex arrays?"

Single arrays are formed by array patterns. Multiple single arrays connected together form a complex array.

Complex arrays are more powerful than single arrays and can achieve more intricate spiritual power effects. However, array masters without foundation and inheritance cannot learn them, let alone ordinary loose cultivators.

Feng old mister knew Mo Hua was learning arrays and also knew Mo Hua had outstanding divine sense and some talent in arrays, but he didn't expect Mo Hua could recognize a complex array at a glance now.

Mo Hua said sheepishly, "I can't draw complex arrays. I've only seen them in books. I haven't even learned ordinary single arrays well yet."

Feng old mister nodded. "For your age, knowing this is not bad. This is a complex array set called the Wood Fire Control Spirit Array. It has spiritual power effects of both fire and wood systems. The wood system nurtures medicinal herbs, and the fire system refines medicinal power. The two can be harmonized through the array to refine the desired pills."

"This seems much more complex than a tool-refining furnace..." Mo Hua clicked his tongue.

"Still want to try?"

"Yes," Mo Hua said, "I can't draw complex arrays, but just repairing an array, just following the pattern, should be okay."

Liu Ru Hua pulled Mo Hua's hand and said softly, "If you're not sure, just forget it. Don't bother Feng old mister."

Feng old mister smiled. "No harm, let him draw as he likes. It doesn't matter if it's wrong; just treat it as practice. Whether it's refining pills or drawing arrays, if you're afraid of making mistakes, you won't gain any profound understanding."

"Thank you, Grandpa Feng!"

Mo Hua then stopped being polite, asked Feng old mister for spirit ink of both wood and fire systems, and began working on repairing the array.

This set of Wood Fire Control Spirit Array was damaged in some array patterns from frequent pill refining, making them unable to conduct spiritual power and causing the entire set of arrays to be invalid.

What Mo Hua needed to do was very simple: just repair the dim and invalid array patterns, allowing the spiritual power of the entire array set to flow smoothly. Then it would be considered successful.

Mo Hua's small hand held the array pen, dipped in spirit ink, and began to draw the array patterns.

Feng old mister secretly praised in his heart. The pen strokes were steady and fluent, without hesitation, clearly the result of diligent practice. He could see that Mo Hua had indeed put a lot of effort into arrays.

Among the three arrays, there were a total of two damaged and invalid array patterns, but there were also six or seven other dim array patterns that needed to be redrawn.

Mo Hua's divine sense wasn't strong enough to draw so many array patterns, and the consumption of spiritual power was also a bit high. He rested two or three times midway before finally completing the array repair.

A Qi Refining Stage 3 cultivator could complete the repair of a total of eight or nine array patterns. Although he rested for a moment midway, his divine sense was also much stronger than Feng old mister had expected.

Feng old mister's eyes looking at Mo Hua became more solemn.

"Grandpa Feng, I'm finished drawing. Look, is the pill furnace good now?"

"Oh, good, I'll take a look."

Feng old mister came back to his senses, composed himself, and inspected the pill furnace. Although he had expectations, he still couldn't hide his surprise and sincerely praised, "Not bad, it's actually repaired well. You've done this old man a big favor this time."

Mo Hua chuckled.

Liu Ru Hua gently tapped Mo Hua's forehead. "Grandpa Feng praised you a few times, and you don't even know how to be modest."

Her tone was slightly reproachful, but her expression was very pleased.

Feng old mister opened the furnace and refined pills. He spent an hour refining the pills. Afterwards, he put the pills into a blue and white porcelain bottle and handed it to Liu Ru Hua.

"Take it once in the morning and once in the evening, two pills each time. Come see me again after you finish them."

Liu Ru Hua bowed. "Thank you, Grandpa Feng."

Mo Hua also followed suit and thanked him. "Thank you, Grandpa Feng."

Before they left, Feng old mister suddenly called out to stop Mo Hua, thought for a moment, and exhorted, "Hua'er, in the future, if you encounter poor and weak cultivators, within your ability, help them a bit if you can."

Mo Hua nodded, but still curiously said, "Grandpa Feng, why are you suddenly saying this?"

Feng old mister looked at Mo Hua and said, "I am already old. I have spent my whole life and can only help the loose cultivators in this small area refine pills and cure diseases. But you are different. You might be able to help more cultivators in the future..."

"Comprehending the heavenly dao, benefiting all lives, this was a saying my master taught me back then. He saved the poor and destitute me, passed on to me the pill refining technique, and that is how I am today."

Feng old mister's master upheld such an idea and saved Feng old mister, and Feng old mister, also because of such a good thought, saved Mo Hua, who was born weak and had weak qi, and Liu Ru Hua, who was suffering from fire poison.

Mo Hua was touched in his heart and nodded solemnly, "Grandpa Feng, I remember."

A trace of pleasure appeared in Feng old mister's eyes.

Mo Hua thought for a moment and asked, "Then what if some people are not worth benefiting?"

"Not benefiting those who are not worth benefiting is also a kind of benefiting," Feng old mister said meaningfully.

After returning home, Mo Hua continued to stay in his room researching arrays.

Liu Ru Hua tidied up the food shop and then sat in the hall sewing clothes.

Just as it reached midnight, Mo Shan, who had been hunting demons on the mountain, returned home covered in dust. He had several demon beast furs draped over his shoulders, several storage bags tied around his waist, and several scratches on his clothes, stained with some blood. Seeing his wife, his tired expression softened. "Why haven't you slept yet?"

Liu Ru Hua took off the furs and storage bags for Mo Shan, took out clean clothes for him to change, and asked, "You weren't back, and I was worried. Are you injured this time?"

"Just some minor skin and flesh injuries. I've applied medicine; it's not serious. Where's Hua'er?"

"In his room looking at a book. He should be asleep by now."

"Okay."

Liu Ru Hua served the food, and Mo Shan ate it ravenously.

The dim yellow candlelight flickered quietly, and the room was silent.

Mo Shan saw a smile on Liu Ru Hua's lips, and then smiled and asked, "What happy news?"

"Well," Liu Ru Hua said, "Grandpa Feng praised Hua'er's array drawing today..."

Liu Ru Hua recounted what happened during the day, then said, "I often hear others praise Hua'er as talented. Children who are a bit smart are easily praised, but it's not necessarily true. But Grandpa Feng has seen a lot. For him to say Mo Hua is talented means Hua'er might really be an array master..."

Liu Ru Hua sighed. "I'm physically weak, and I was weak after giving birth to Hua'er. As the saying goes, 'rely on the mountain to eat from the mountain.' There are many demons near Tongxian City, and most cultivators can only rely on being demon hunters to make a living. But Hua'er is physically weak and cannot be a demon hunter. He can't make a living this way. We can't take care of him his whole life. I used to worry that if something happened to us and we couldn't be with him, how would Hua'er, this child, support himself? Now that he has hope of becoming an array master, he doesn't need to fight and kill demons, and I'm relieved."

Mo Shan gently held his wife's hand. "Don't worry. Mo Hua is a smart and sensible child. He will definitely have a bright future. We will also always watch him grow up, watch him stand out, marry a wife and have children. So, you must take good care of your body. The future is still long..."

"Okay." Liu Ru Hua gently leaned into Mo Shan's embrace.

Inside the room, Mo Hua opened his eyes. Since he had been practicing arrays day and night, his divine sense was much stronger, so he heard everything his dad and mom said.

The corners of Mo Hua's eyes were a little wet. He gently wiped them, then his divine sense sank into the sea of consciousness and continued practicing arrays on the dao stele.