Compensation

After wandering around for a while, Xiao Hu suddenly asked, "Where are we going next?"

Mo Hua patted the Storage Bag at his waist. "North Street first!"

The group arrived before Fate Pavilion on North Street. Mo Hua stepped onto the stairs outside, then looked back to see his three companions standing still where they were. He could not help asking, "Aren't you coming in?"

The three little companions shook their heads in unison.

"Looking at Array Techniques makes my head spin..."

"Me too..."

"For the rest of my life, Array Techniques and I are fated never to meet. I'm not going in either..."

Mo Hua could only say, "Then wait here for a bit. I'll be out soon."

The three little companions nodded together.

Mo Hua entered. The bell beneath the eaves rang, and the manager followed the sound to see Mo Hua standing proudly at the entrance with a Storage Bag slung over his shoulder. He could not help laughing. "You again? What, has your brother finished drawing all the Array Techniques?"

Mo Hua nodded. "Yes."

The manager perked up a little. "Oh? It's only been five days, hasn't it? That was pretty quick." He waved Mo Hua over. "Bring them here and let me see."

Mo Hua took the Array Techniques from his Storage Bag and stood on tiptoe to place them on the counter.

The manager picked up the Array Techniques, looked them over, and frowned.

Mo Hua felt a little uneasy. "Were they drawn wrong?"

The manager pondered for a moment. "They're correct, but this level doesn't seem like the work of an experienced hand. A few are alright, but these ones..."

The manager pulled out several Array Techniques. Mo Hua took one look and saw that they were the ones he had drawn at the very beginning.

"These are much worse. The brushwork is quite raw, stopping and starting, as if they were pieced together bit by bit. Is your brother really learning Array Techniques from an Array Master? This standard is quite far off..."

Mo Hua felt a little embarrassed. It was his first time drawing them; he had already done his utmost to make them like this.

"Then can these Array Techniques still be used?"

The manager tapped the tabletop with his finger and carefully examined them once more.

"Although the brushwork is a little poor, there's nothing much wrong with the Array Techniques themselves. They can still be used... it's just that the brushwork is a little poor."

Mo Hua let out a sigh of relief. "That's good." Then he added, "Maybe it was my brother's first time drawing this Array Technique, so he wasn't familiar with it and was a little unpracticed at the start. Aren't the later ones much better?"

The manager looked at the later Array Techniques and slowly nodded. "That's true. These later ones are indeed a bit better, at least proper and presentable."

"Right?" Mo Hua assured him, "Don't worry, my... brother will definitely draw better and better later on!"

Mo Hua's words amused the manager. "You really have a lot of confidence in your brother. Fine, for your sake, this order counts as completed. But next time, the Array Techniques must at least reach the standard of these later sheets. Don't bring those practice Array Techniques to make up the numbers."

Mo Hua nodded repeatedly.

The manager put away the Array Diagrams, counted out several Spirit Stones, and placed them on the table.

"Eight succeeded and two failed. Two Spirit Stones will be deducted from the deposit. Your payment is six Spirit Stones."

"If your brother wants to keep drawing, the deposit will still be ten Spirit Stones. Your brother already has the Array Diagram for the Bright Fire Formation, so I'll give him ten more sets of paper and ink materials."

The manager handed Mo Hua another Storage Bag containing paper and ink.

Mo Hua put away the paper and ink materials, then picked up the six Spirit Stones, unable to stop himself from feeling happy.

He had earned six Spirit Stones in five days. That was already about the same as the income of an ordinary Mid-to-Late Qi Refining cultivator.

Mo Hua's mother, Liu Ruhua, worked as a kitchen helper in a Dining Hall and earned only one Spirit Stone a day. His father, Mo Shan, earned more from Monster Hunting, but it was unstable. Sometimes he could earn a little extra; if he failed to hunt any valuable monster beasts, his earnings would be even lower.

Mo Hua thanked the manager and left Fate Pavilion. His three little companions waited outside, gazing at him eagerly.

Mo Hua patted his Storage Bag and swept his little hand through the air. "Come on, I'm treating you to pastries!"

Da Hu and the other two let out delighted cries of "Wow!" and crowded around Mo Hua as they headed for a pastry shop on the street.

There were many shops selling pastries in Immortal City. Fine pastries used precious ingredients, and Mo Hua's group naturally could not afford them. They found a roadside pastry shop called Wang Family Pastry Shop, also run by ordinary Qi Refining Stage cultivators. The storefront was rather plain, and though its ingredients could not be called precious, its prices were quite affordable.

During holidays and festivals, ordinary cultivators often bought some to satisfy their children's cravings.

Wang Family Pastry Shop was famous for its Five-Color Cake, made by mixing and steaming five differently colored kinds of spirit grain from the cultivation world. It was fragrant, sweet, soft, and glutinous. One piece of Five-Color Cake cost only two tenths of a Fragmented Spirit Stone.

Rogue Cultivators at the bottom rung earned too little. Many cultivators did not even earn one Spirit Stone a day, so they could only break Spirit Stones into pieces to spend them. One Spirit Stone could be divided equally into ten portions, and ten Fragmented Spirit Stones were equivalent to one Spirit Stone.

Fragmented Spirit Stones were not recognized by the Dao Court, sects, or Lineages. They circulated only among low-ranking cultivators, and only impoverished Qi Refining Stage cultivators used such fractional Fragmented Spirit Stones.

Mo Hua spent two Spirit Stones to buy ten pieces of Five-Color Cake. Seeing that Mo Hua had bought so many and was only a child, the shopkeeper specially gave him two extra pieces.

Mo Hua gave everyone two pieces and planned to save the remaining four to bring home for his parents.

Mo Hua and the other three each held a piece of fragrant, sweet pastry still steaming with heat as they ate while walking. Xiao Hu was scalded so badly that he could not close his mouth, yet his words still kept pouring out.

"This pastry is so delicious! When I earn Spirit Stones in the future, I'll eat it every day!"

Shuang Hu said, "Then you might as well marry a woman who can make pastries as your Dao companion. That way, you can eat them every day."

Xiao Hu suddenly saw the light. "That's right, that's right! How didn't I think of that?" Then he became conflicted again. "But I already have someone I like. A person can't shift from one love to another..."

Shuang Hu's eyes widened. "Who do you like?"

Xiao Hu said, "That little girl selling tofu on the west side of the street. I said who I liked first, so you're not allowed to steal her from me!"

Shuang Hu gave a dismissive snort and waved his hand. "Don't worry. Her temper is awful. I wouldn't compete with you for her..."

While Shuang Hu and Xiao Hu chatted, Da Hu focused on eating his pastries. In three bites and two chews, he finished both pieces, then licked his fingers clean as well.

Mo Hua gave him the one he had not eaten.

Da Hu smiled sheepishly, but he still could not resist taking the pastry and eating it.

Shuang Hu suddenly asked, "Mo Hua, did you really draw Array Techniques for that whatever Pavilion?"

Mo Hua nodded.

Xiao Hu's mouth fell open. "You can actually draw Array Techniques for others now?"

Shuang Hu rolled his eyes at him. "Otherwise, where do you think the Spirit Stones for these pastries came from?"

Xiao Hu froze with the pastry in his hand. "These pastries were bought with Spirit Stones you earned from drawing Array Techniques? That's incredible, Mo Hua! Could you really become a First-Grade Array Master someday?"

Mo Hua said, "It's still too early to say that. Becoming an Array Master isn't that simple. Only we know about this, so you mustn't tell anyone. Once I earn more Spirit Stones, I'll treat you to pastries again."

At the word pastries, the three immediately nodded. Xiao Hu even promised, "If I tell anyone, I won't get to eat pastries for the rest of my life!"

Mo Hua and the others wandered around the street a little longer, looking at all sorts of strange and novel things. When evening drew near, they each returned home.

Mo Hua gave the pastries to Liu Ruhua. She steamed them in the pot, then placed them in Mo Hua's bowl. Mo Hua firmly refused, and after a round of back-and-forth, he ultimately ate two while Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua each tasted one.

The pastries Liu Ruhua had steamed were hot and fragrant. As Mo Hua ate them, he felt they tasted even better than the ones he had eaten at noon. He could not help asking, "Mother, can you make steamed pastries?"

Liu Ruhua smiled. "What's so difficult about that? Your mother can make even more complicated dishes. It's just that many meals require a Stove specially crafted by an Artifact Refiner, along with special Array Techniques. Our family does not have the means to make them."

"Are Stoves expensive?"

"A Stove has to be forged by an Artifact Refiner, so naturally it isn't cheap. But the Array Techniques are even more expensive. It isn't easy to hire an Array Master to draw Array Techniques, especially for something as large as a Stove. So unless someone is opening a restaurant or eatery, no one would spend such a large sum to acquire a Stove..."

Mo Hua nodded. It seemed that Array Techniques were used even more widely in the cultivation world than he had imagined. He wondered what kind of Array Technique was used on a Stove.

Mo Hua silently committed it to memory, planning to learn about it when he had time later.