The Quest for Immortality - Chapter 13 (Patreon)

Chapter 13: The Oil Lamp

In the following days, aside from eating, Mo Hua confined himself to his room, diligently drawing the Blazing Fire Array.

Five days later, Mo Hua had exhausted ten batches of materials but had only successfully completed eight diagrams. One was ruined due to carelessness, and another due to a previously unnoticed error in technique.

The Blazing Fire Array is considered the most basic and fundamental array in the cultivation world, yet Mo Hua still made mistakes occasionally, some of which he had made before.

"Array formations are indeed profound and intricate, not to be taken lightly!" Mo Hua reminded himself silently.

When he found the time, Mo Hua handed over the completed arrays to the chubby steward of Destiny's Shop.

This time, the steward was slightly more satisfied, noticing that Mo Hua's brother's diligence had noticeably improved his technique. The steward was happy to continue their collaboration, rewarding Mo Hua with six spirit stones and providing him with ten more batches of materials.

Mo Hua had already earned twelve spirit stones. At this rate, he could make another deal before the year's end, earning at least six more stones.

Mo Hua worked even more diligently on the Blazing Fire Array, becoming more proficient. His spiritual sense also grew stronger, allowing him to complete an entire array without exhausting his spiritual sense, significantly reducing the time it took him to draw the arrays.

A few days later, after dinner, as Mo Hua was about to return to his room, he suddenly heard a knock at the door.

Mo Shan got up to answer it and found two people standing outside.

One was a young man dressed in a clean, neat Taoist robe, looking well-cultivated and very polite.

The other was a middle-aged cultivator with a few shallow scars on his face, his expression calm but his gaze sharp, his aura much denser, likely at least at the eighth or ninth level of Qi cultivation.

"Little friend, does a brother Mo Shan live here?"

"Are you looking for my dad?" Mo Hua asked, tilting his head.

The middle-aged cultivator softened his gaze at Mo Hua, "You must be Mo Hua!"

Mo Shan also came out and greeted, "Brother Ji!"

The middle-aged cultivator returned the greeting, "Brother Mo, sorry to disturb you so late! We've traveled from Heishan City, rushing through the night to get here at this hour."

"Do you have a place to stay?"

"There is. He's a brother of my dad's generation. I was just about to visit him and stay for a while. I came to discuss the matter you mentioned before..."

"Come in and talk."

Mo Shan invited them in, and Liu Ruhua tidied up the table and brewed some tea to serve. Mo Shan then introduced them to Mo Hua:

"This is your Uncle Ji, named Qingbai, and beside him is your Brother Ji, named Li."

Mo Hua greeted them formally, "Uncle Ji, Brother Ji, hello!"

Ji Qingbai smiled and nodded. He wanted to praise them but, seeing the tall and burly Mo Shan and the delicate and fair-skinned Mo Hua next to him, he found the usual praise "Like father, like son" unfitting.

Being a demon hunter, he usually only had the generic praise "Like father, like son" ready, but now it seemed inappropriate, leaving Ji Qingbai momentarily at a loss for words.

"This child..." Ji Qingbai hesitated for a while before coming up with, "Looks very good!"

To avoid seeming perfunctory, Ji Qingbai added, "He is handsome like Brother Mo, his eyes soft and temperament similar to your sister-in-law's, well-mannered, I've never seen such a good-looking child."

Mo Shan didn't think much of it; any praise for Mo Hua made him happy.

After exchanging pleasantries, Mo Shan told Mo Hua, "Dad and your Uncle Ji are going to discuss some things, go back to your room and play."

"Okay!"

Mo Hua bowed to Ji Qingbai and returned to his room.

Ji Qingbai, also a demon hunter, came to talk about hunting demons with his father.

Mo Shan was burly, with a great talent for physical cultivation, at the eighth level of Qi cultivation, experienced in several powerful physical martial arts, and rich in demon hunting experience. His reputation among Qi-cultivating demon hunters in Tongxian City was quite significant.

"Ji Qingbai came to discuss with dad about hunting demons in the inner mountains of Dahei Mountain after the new year..."

The inner mountains must be dangerous...

Mo Hua thought for a moment and sighed. These were not concerns he could deal with now. With only the second level of Qi cultivation and no physical martial arts training or chosen spells, he couldn't be of much help.

He decided to focus on drawing arrays.

Mo Hua took out

 his brush and inkstone, and focused on drawing the array, hoping to complete a full Blazing Fire Array diagram before falling asleep and entering the sea of consciousness.

Dipping the brush in pale red ink, he fluidly traced one array pattern after another.

Having mastered the Blazing Fire Array, Mo Hua found the task almost effortless.

After some time, the light from the oil lamp suddenly flickered out, plunging the room into darkness.

"Is the lamp broken?"

Mo Hua stopped drawing and, using the light from the hall, inspected the lamp but found nothing obviously wrong. "Could it have been used too long?"

With plenty of time left in the evening, Mo Hua wanted to draw more arrays.

"What to do?"

Holding the lamp, Mo Hua went to the door and peeked through the crack, seeing Mo Shan and Ji Qingbai still talking.

Not wanting to disturb Mo Shan at this time, Mo Hua was about to retreat when he heard Mo Shan ask, "Hua'er, what's up?"

Mo Hua realized he had been noticed.

With Mo Shan's level of Qi cultivation, and Uncle Ji's likely higher, a peek through the crack couldn't escape their spiritual sense.

Mo Hua had no choice but to say, "Dad, the lamp is broken."

Mo Shan gestured, "Bring it here."

Mo Hua handed over the lamp.

Mo Shan took it, twisted open the base, and remarked, "It's been used for a long time, the array inside has faded. I'll buy you a new one tomorrow. Go to bed early tonight."

"Array?" Mo Hua's eyes lit up, "Dad, let me see."

Slightly surprised, Mo Shan handed the lamp back to Mo Hua.

Mo Hua took the lamp, recognizing the array in the base as somewhat familiar, similar to the Blazing Fire Array but cruder and with only two patterns.

It was likely drawn this way to cut costs.

Mo Hua knew the Blazing Fire Array well.

"Dad, wait a moment."

Mo Hua ran back to his room, fetched his brush and ink, and traced over the faded array, then changed a few lines.

Mo Shan and Ji Qingbai watched quietly.

Soon, Mo Hua completed the array, "Dad, try it now."

Mo Shan reassembled the base, triggered a small mechanism on the lamp, and the light flickered back on, brightening the room.

"It works?" Mo Shan was pleasantly surprised and affectionately ruffled Mo Hua's hair, "Good job, take it back and remember to rest early, don't study too late."

Mo Hua nodded, "Dad, Uncle Ji, continue your talk, I'll go back to my room." He then ran back with the lamp in hand.

Mo Shan turned back to Ji Qingbai, "Sorry, Brother Ji, let's continue."

But Ji Qingbai seemed distracted, staring at the departing Mo Hua, lost in thought for a long time before finally saying cautiously, "Mo Hua is only at the second level of Qi cultivation, isn't he?"

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