Tie Shugu made a straw dog before Mo Hua.
He used a precious sacrificial herb called Human-Clothing Grass. Its blades were verdant with a faint golden sheen, and the grass itself resembled clothing, like a finely dressed person "draped in gold and jade."
Tie Shugu extended his skeletal fingers and cut the grass into fine strands. Then, using an exceedingly traditional and archaic weaving method, he braided the slender strands one by one.
The process looked simple, but every strand had to stop at exactly the right place.
Where it was woven, another strand had to be joined.
The order in which different strands were arranged, the direction they took, the kind of knots they tied, how they were woven together... not the slightest mistake could be made.
All the grass strands looked exactly alike.
Yet in Tie Shugu's hands, they were all different. Every similar strand had an entirely different position and purpose.
The Great Dao was simple in its essence, yet complex beyond measure.
Thus, Tie Shugu at the Golden Core realm—or rather, Shugu Ancestor—spent a full two hours weaving a seemingly simple "straw dog."
Yet inside that simple straw dog were countless lines formed from Human-Clothing Grass strands.
Tie Shugu presented the straw dog to Mo Hua.
Mo Hua took it, studied it for a moment, then set it on the table.
Afterward, he began following Tie Shugu's example, taking Human-Clothing Grass, drawing out the strands, and weaving them together one after another.
He was an Array Master who drew Array Techniques every day. His fair, slender fingers were remarkably supple and nimble, and weaving a straw dog came naturally to him.
Strand after strand of grass was twisted and wound together beneath Mo Hua's fingers.
At first, Mo Hua was slow and meticulous. But as he