Chapter 8: An Xiaofu

“An Young Master?”

The splendidly dressed, slightly overweight young man is the eldest young master of the An family in Tongxian City, named An Xiaofu. Perhaps his father didn't have high expectations for him, so he was simply named An Xiaofu.

However, because of his prosperous build, his fellow sect members also privately call him An Xiaopang.

An Xiaopang is a bit simple-minded and sometimes throws a tantrum like a young master, but he's not bad at heart and often asks Mo Hua to help him draw array diagrams for his exams.

He's terrible at drawing arrays, can't draw anything at all. He doesn't want to be punished by the instructor, nor does he want to go home and get beaten by his father, so he can only beg Mo Hua for help.

At this moment, An Xiaopang rushed over angrily, "You, Mo Hua! I treated you as a friend, and you look down on me?!"

Mo Hua was bewildered, "How did I look down on you?"

An Xiaopang took out an array diagram from his chest with crimson pen annotations on it. "You helped me draw my array homework, and there were six mistakes! But you helped Qian Xing, that skinny monkey, draw his, and there wasn't a single mistake! Isn't that looking down on me? Isn't that saying I'm not as good as him?"

The "skinny monkey" An Xiaopang referred to is the skinny young master from before, surnamed Qian, named Xing. He is the third direct descendant of the Qian family.

The Qian family is the largest family in Tongxian City, the An family is second. Both families run businesses and are in competition. Their ancestors also had old grudges, and the younger generation also engages in tit-for-tat behavior, competing in every aspect. They even differ in body shape, one fat and one thin, completely incompatible.

However, both of them are equally lazy in cultivation and are unskilled in techniques. In this regard, they are "indistinguishable in superiority."

Although both are playboys, Qian Xing's reputation is slightly worse. Besides being unskilled, he is arrogant and overbearing, and he also engages in acts of bullying by relying on his power. It is said that he has done quite a few bad things behind the scenes, but because of his family's backing, nothing ever comes of it.

In comparison, An Xiaopang just eats and drinks, struts around occasionally, and shows off, but because his father manages him strictly, he doesn't go too far.

"So that's what it is?"

Seeing that Mo Hua didn't take it seriously, An Xiaopang's face flushed red.

"I was helping you, you know." Mo Hua said.

An Xiaopang looked at Mo Hua and sneered, "How were you helping me?"

"How does your array skill compare to Young Master Qian's?"

An Xiaopang said confidently, "At least it's not worse than his!"

Mo Hua was a bit speechless. Is this something to be proud of?

Mo Hua continued, "Exactly. With his level, how could he possibly draw an array perfectly without a single mistake?"

"Of course, if I can't draw it, he certainly can't either!"

"So you know. How could the instructor not see it? The instructor is always strict and will definitely punish him. He will also tell his father about this, and his father will lose face, and naturally, he won't have a good time either..."

An Xiaopang pondered for a moment, "That seems to make some sense, but I haven't heard that Skinny Qian was beaten. You're not lying to me, are you..."

Mo Hua rolled his eyes at him. "Family scandals shouldn't be publicized. When a father beats his son, he definitely does it behind closed doors. How would you know?"

An Xiaopang nodded with lingering fear in his heart, "You're right, when my dad beats me, he never lets others know!"

Mo Hua then said, "Didn't Old Master An not only not beat you this time, but also praised you?"

An Xiaopang instantly became proud, "That's right, the instructor gave me a second grade. When my dad found out, he praised me for making progress and even gave me quite a few good things!"

An Xiaopang's temper flares up and subsides quickly. He immediately stopped being angry and even felt a bit guilty. He said to Mo Hua:

"I was wrong to blame you! I'll treat you to a good meal at the Spirit Food Building, that's owned by my family. You can eat whatever you want!"

Mo Hua didn't expect An Xiaopang to be so generous, but he still declined, "No need, I still have things to do."

An Xiaopang said dissatisfied, "My dad often teaches me that gratitude must be repaid. If you don't go, you're looking down on me!"

Thinking of the swollen backside he got from his father before, An Xiaopang said more firmly, "This favor is not small, you must go!"

When An Xiaopang gets stubborn like a child, he's a bit difficult to deal with.

Mo Hua had a bit of a headache. He looked at the Array Pavilion door and suddenly said, "Young Master An, never mind the Spirit Food Building. But there's a favor, can you help me with it?"

An Xiaopang patted his chest, "Tell me!"

"Lend me ten spirit stones."

An Xiaopang frowned. He really didn't have ten spirit stones. Old Master An, to prevent him from spending spirit stones randomly outside, never let him carry more than five spirit stones.

His invitation to Mo Hua to eat at the Spirit Food Building could be recorded in his father's account. It was originally a matter of eating and drinking, and if it was accounted for, his father wouldn't say anything. What his father feared was that he would spend spirit stones on some improper things without an account to check, and his father wouldn't know, and he would get into big trouble if he wasn't careful.

An Xiaopang took out the five spirit stones he had and looked at the attendant beside him. "Give me all your spirit stones, I'll give you back when I get home."

The attendant was a bit reluctant, but he still took out all his spirit stones, which just made up ten spirit stones.

An Xiaopang handed the spirit stones to Mo Hua, "Here, no need to return them!"

Mo Hua shook his head and said, "I'll give them back in a few days."

Mo Hua weighed the spirit stones in his hand a few times, then carefully put them away. After saying goodbye to An Xiaopang, he returned to the Array Pavilion. There were still no customers inside, and the manager was still dozing off.

After entering the door, Mo Hua tiptoed and placed the ten spirit stones on the counter.

"I've brought the spirit stones!"

The manager hadn't dozed off for long when he heard the bell sound again and saw Mo Hua and the ten spirit stones on the desktop.

The manager picked up the spirit stones and looked at them carefully, finding no issues with the quality. He nodded, then reached under the counter and took out a storage bag.

"Inside is a Bright Fire Array diagram, and ten sets of array paper and spirit ink, enough to draw ten Bright Fire Arrays. The time limit for this order is ten days, overdue will result in the deduction of the entire deposit. For each successful Bright Fire Array drawn, you will receive one spirit stone. If you make a mistake or it doesn't meet the standards, one spirit stone from the deposit will be deducted. These are standard rules for businesses, your brother should be clear."

Mo Hua nodded.

If all these arrays were successfully drawn, he could earn ten spirit stones. If they all failed, he would have to compensate ten spirit stones. He would only make a profit if he succeeded more than half the time.

The manager admonished him again, "The time limit is ten days, remember. If you're overdue, I'll deduct the entire deposit."

Mo Hua quickly nodded, then bowed and thanked the manager before leaving.

After Mo Hua returned home, he locked himself in his room and calmly began to ponder the array.

The potential income of ten spirit stones was already quite considerable. Although Mo Hua earned a few spirit stones by helping his fellow sect members with their array homework, he didn't earn that much in a year.

Moreover, doing homework for others wasn't a proper matter in the end.

Doing it occasionally was fine, but if he did it for a long time, it would hinder the progress of his fellow sect members.

Doing business with the firm, however, was different. If he did well, he could earn spirit stones long-term and also practice his array skills. It could be said to be killing two birds with one stone.

Mo Hua spread out the Bright Fire Array diagram in front of him.

The array diagram was drawn by another array master beforehand and could be used as a template.

Attached to the back of the array diagram was an array diagram solution, which recorded the array patterns, the pens to use, the inks to use, and other points to note. It was a universally used method in the cultivation world for recording array diagrams.

The Bright Fire Array diagram solution only recorded annotations related to the Bright Fire Array, where to use fire-attribute array patterns, how the array patterns connected, the ratio of ink to water, and the proportion of ink used, etc. Many concepts seemed quite unfamiliar to Mo Hua, and understanding them was a bit difficult.

This was the first time Mo Hua had seen a formal array diagram solution. What he had learned in the sect before was the most basic array methods – although they were called array methods, most only contained one or two basic array patterns, meant for disciples to understand and learn the basics. They were different from the widely used array methods in the cultivation world.

At the end of the Bright Fire Array diagram solution, there was another line of text:

Bright Fire Array, fire-attribute array method, contains three array patterns, requires a cultivation level of Refining Qi stage three and above.

But what concerned Mo Hua the most was a line of small characters written in crimson pen behind the notation:

Those who have not reached the required level and whose divine sense is insufficient should be careful when learning!

Mo Hua, who was only at Refining Qi stage two, couldn't help but frown.

Any action by a cultivator requires divine sense, whether it's guiding spirit qi, driving spirit power, using spells, controlling spirit tools, refining pills, or refining tools, all require the use of divine sense.

Among these, drawing array methods consumes the most divine sense, which is a well-known fact among cultivators. But here, it specifically marked "divine sense insufficient, carefully learn" and even limited the realm, and used crimson ink.

This made Mo Hua realize that he might not understand exactly how much "more" it would be...

"Could it be that drawing array methods really requires a lot of divine sense?"

Mo Hua propped up his small chin and pondered.

"Never mind, I'll get familiar with the array patterns first, and then practice on the stone tablet tonight."

Mo Hua memorized the Bright Fire Array diagram. After having dinner with his parents, he returned to his room and practiced a few times using ordinary paper and ink to familiarize himself with the array patterns. He waited until midnight, then lay in bed. At the same time, as he closed his eyes, the ancient and illusory broken stone tablet floated in the middle of his sea of consciousness.