Chapter 102: Qi-Refining Fifth Layer
When Elder Yu entered the house, his expression was stern and solemn, but when he came out, his face had noticeably softened. Mo Shan could even see a faint, rare smile tugging at the corners of the elder's mouth.
Mo Shan had known Elder Yu for years, and in his impression, the man was always irritable, strict, and short-tempered. Seeing him like this today was truly a first.
"Mo Shan, you've raised a fine son!"
Elder Yu—of all people—actually praised him.
Mo Shan was so startled he nearly dropped his jaw. No matter how skilled he was in Daoist arts or how many beasts he'd slain, Elder Yu had never offered a single word of praise. He had long assumed the old man simply didn't know how to compliment anyone.
So when it suddenly came out now, Mo Shan was completely caught off guard, he didn't even know what to say.
After speaking, Elder Yu didn't linger. He merely nodded politely to Liu Ruhua, then turned and walked out the door.
Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua respectfully escorted him to the threshold.
The night had fallen deep, the bright moon hung high in the sky. The streets were nearly empty, yet from the houses on both sides flickered the warm glow of yellow lamplight. From time to time came laughter, the cries of children, and the scolding voices of parents—an ordinary night in the city.
Elder Yu walked a few steps, then turned to glance back at Mo Hua's house.
A quiet thought surfaced in his heart:
"Perhaps, among us wandering cultivators… a true Formation Master might finally emerge."
In all the myriad Daoist paths, formation arts reigned supreme. Cultivators relied on arrays for everything, from living, traveling, eating, and defense, to waging battle against beasts. But formations were never meant for poor itinerant cultivators like them. They were too poor—too lowly—to even deserve them.
If Mo Hua could truly master formation arts, and more importantly, stay true to his heart and help others of their kind…
Then even if he remained a mere Qi-Refining cultivator for life, to the scattered cultivators of Tōngxiān City, he'd still be far more valuable than Elder Yu himself, an aging Foundation Establishment cultivator already half-buried in the earth.
"Ah, a Formation Master… how wonderful that would be," Elder Yu thought, eyes filled with hope.
"I just don't know… whether I'll live long enough to see that day."
...
The next day, Elder Yu sent over twenty suits of Vine armor, twenty bottles of Golden Spirit Ink, fifty spirit stones, and two bottles each of the Five Element Spirit Inks. The rest of the vine armor would be delivered once finished.
The fifty spirit stones were a deposit, the rest would come after Mo Hua completed the commissions. The Five Element Spirit Inks were a special reward, personally sought out by Elder Yu for Mo Hua. They were of excellent quality, which made Mo Hua very happy.
These supplies were enough to last him quite a while.
Though the Monster Hunting Festival was still three months away, Mo Hua didn't want to wait that long. He planned to finish within a month and a half, painting two to three arrays per day during his spare time. His cultivation and study of higher formations couldn't be delayed.
After all, he was still waiting to reach the fifth layer of Qi-Refining, so he could finally learn a proper spell.
Half a month later, after completing his thirty-sixth Iron Armor Formation, Mo Hua was just about to start another when he suddenly felt something strange stirring in his Qi Sea.
His eyes brightened. He immediately sat cross-legged, steadied his breath, and drew out a spirit stone to absorb its spiritual energy.
He didn't know how long had passed when his Qi Sea suddenly trembled. The spiritual power within surged chaotically for a moment, then gradually stabilized, and deepened.
Qi-Refining, Fifth Layer!
Mo Hua was overjoyed. After all, realm advancement was the foundation of cultivation.
It seemed that Celestial Evolution Art truly was a remarkable technique. Aside from the bottlenecks at major realm transitions that required puzzle formations to break through, the smaller ones were surprisingly smooth, and didn't even need special spiritual treasures.
For a moment, Mo Hua's admiration for the unknown senior who had created this cultivation method surged forth like an endless tide.
"If I keep cultivating like this… could I really one day become an immortal?"
His thoughts began to drift higher and higher.
But then he remembered the mountains of spirit stones needed for cultivation, the brain-twisting complexity of compound formations he'd seen in array books, and the mysterious, unsolved puzzle formations that loomed ahead.
Mo Hua quickly reined himself in.
"Cultivation must be grounded. Don't chase lofty dreams!
Cultivation must be grounded. Don't chase lofty dreams!"
He silently repeated the mantra twice before beginning to plan his next steps for the Qi-Refining fifth layer.
First priority, spells!
After all, how could one call themselves a cultivator without knowing any spells?
Body cultivators were one thing, but as a spiritual cultivator—especially one forced to rely solely on spirit arts—he had to learn at least a few techniques. Otherwise, how was he supposed to survive out there?
But… who could he learn from?
Mo Hua frowned. Most monster hunters were body cultivators; spiritual cultivators were rare.
And for good reason, if body cultivators risked danger hunting beasts, spiritual cultivators practically gambled with their lives.
When a monster ambushed, a body cultivator might escape with scratches, but a spiritual cultivator?
Body cultivator unhurt → Spiritual cultivator lightly injured.
Body cultivator lightly injured → Spiritual cultivator badly injured.
Body cultivator badly injured → Spiritual cultivator dead.
And if the body cultivator dies… there's not even a whole corpse left of the Spiritual cultivator.
That's why spiritual cultivators were rare among monster hunters, not only because few chose that path, but because even fewer survived it.
Unless, of course, one had no other choice, like Mo Hua.
If he were strong and sturdy, he'd have gone the body refinement route too! He'd have commissioned Master Chen to forge him a great saber engraved with an Azure Dragon, then charged into beast hordes, slaughtering all before him!
Just imagining it was enough to make his blood boil.
…Shame it could only ever stay an imagination.
Should he ask Mister Zhuang, then?
Mo Hua shook his head. He was already beyond grateful that Mister Zhuang was teaching him formation arts. Asking him to teach spells too would be pushing his luck.
Besides, he couldn't even tell what kind of cultivator Mister Zhuang was. His blood energy seemed weak, his spiritual power faint, and his Divine-Sense light and drifting, completely unreadable. A mysterious expert through and through.
If he went begging and somehow annoyed the man, and Mister Zhuang refused to teach him arrays anymore, that'd be trading a melon for a sesame seed, a massive loss.
Maybe Aunt Xue, then? She treated him kindly, after all.
Ah... but right, Aunt Xue practiced illusion arts. With Mo Hua's aptitude, he was far from qualified to learn that. Even if he tried, he wouldn't succeed.
After much thought, Mo Hua realized, there was really only one person who might help him…
He pulled out a book titled "Qi-Refining Spell Compendium."
It contained listings of basic spells suitable for the Qi-Refining stage, but only the titles, not the actual cultivation methods.
Mo Hua even went so far as to outline the words "SPELL COMPENDIUM" on the cover, making them big and eye-catching.
...
Early the next morning, he sat down at a roadside eatery, book in hand, ready to fish.
When the sun climbed higher and the day grew bright—sure enough, the fish arrived.
Zhang Lan appeared, basking in the sunlight, stretching lazily as he strolled toward the eatery.
Mo Hua ignored him, pretending to read intently.
Zhang Lan sauntered in, took his usual seat, ordered a pot of wine, a plate of meat, and some fruits, then began idly looking around.
And of course... he spotted Mo Hua.
Then he spotted the book in Mo Hua's hands.
Then he saw, written large across the page, the word "SPELL."
He leaned forward for a better look, and sure enough, the cover read: "Qi-Refining Spell Compendium."
He reread it a few times, confirming both the words "Qi-Refining" and "Spell," and suddenly felt invincible.
Last time, that Introduction to Compound Formations nearly cost him his dignity (and his sanity). He still had nightmares about it. But as long as it wasn't about arrays—especially not compound arrays—Zhang Lan feared nothing.
And this time?
"Qi-Refining"? "Spell"?
He was born for this!
No one could stop him from showing off now!
He cleared his throat loudly, swaggered over to Mo Hua, and said in an exaggeratedly casual tone:
"Oh? What're you reading there?
Anything you don't understand?
Want me to… teach you?"
(End of this Chapter)