Spirit Stone

Mo Hua thought it over in his room for a while. After Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua had finished talking and changed into casual clothes, he finally walked out of the room, pretending not to know anything, bright and cheerful.

The family of three ate together. Mo Shan had already eaten, so Mo Hua pestered him to tell stories about Monster Hunting.

Mo Shan picked and chose what to tell him: a one-eyed wolf, a two-headed tiger, a three-legged wild boar.

One team had killed an adult monster beast, yet neglected to take its Monster Core. They skinned off some worthless hide and fur instead. By the time they realized and hurried back, someone else had already taken the core. Their captain regretted it so bitterly that he coughed up blood and fainted on the spot.

Someone else had captured a strange beast with an ancient bloodline and sold it to a great sect for a high price, living thereafter without want of food or clothing. Yet one day, no one knew when, that person vanished completely...

Mo Hua listened with great interest. He also knew that these stories were bound to contain bloodshed, danger, and cruelty—his father had simply left those parts unsaid on purpose.

Parents never wanted their children to know the cruel reality of the world. They wanted them to have a pure and happy childhood.

Once Mo Hua had finished listening, three little heads poked in through the front gate. Their dark, gleaming eyes peered into the house. Seeing that Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua were home, they stood neatly in a row and greeted them in unison:

"Hello, Uncle Mo! Hello, Aunt Liu!"

The three children were surnamed Meng. They lived on the same street, and their families also made their living through Monster Hunting.

The Meng Family elders were friends with Mo Shan, and they lived nearby. Thus, Mo Hua had played with them since childhood. Their names were similar as well; in order of age, they were Meng Dahu, Meng Shuanghu, and Meng Xiaohu.

Among the monster beasts near Immortal City, tiger-type monsters were among the strongest. Naming their children with the character "tiger" was also a hope that they would one day possess a tiger's strength and majesty.

And the three children truly lived up to their names, each broad-headed and sturdy-looking.

Mo Hua was the youngest. He had also been sickly and frail from birth, and Mo Shan felt it was unlikely he would grow up to be like a tiger. Seeing that he was fine-boned and handsome, fair and clean like a porcelain doll, he took the character "Hua" from his wife Liu Ruhua's name and named him Mo Hua.

When Liu Ruhua saw the three children, she gave each of them a steamed bun. Though they said they did not want any, their hands reached out of their own accord. They took the buns and stuffed them into their mouths, their cheeks puffed out as they said, "Thank you, Aunt Wiu!"

Liu Ruhua's cooking was the best in the neighborhood, and the three children envied Mo Hua immensely because of it.

Mo Shan waved a hand. "Go play together. Remember to come back for lunch!"

Mo Hua and the other three nodded in agreement, then dashed out the door in a flash.

Among the three Meng children, Dahu was honest and simple, Shuanghu was clever, and Xiaohu was a chatterbox. All three were older and bigger than Mo Hua, so they were usually the ones who took him out to play.

Dahu and the others chattered nonstop as they walked: where dragon lanterns were being danced, where fireworks were being set off, where the crowds were, where there were pretty little girls dressed in dazzling finery who could dance...

But after talking so much, they could not decide where to go.

In the end, they discussed it and decided: adults had to choose, but children wanted it all—they would visit every one of them!

With the year-end approaching, disciples studying in sects had gone on break, while cultivators making a living elsewhere had returned home. Immortal City was far livelier than usual, and the streets were far more crowded.

Some Qi Refining Body Cultivators showed off their martial skills, brandishing blades and spears. Spirit Cultivators displayed flashy but largely useless spells, drawing envious gasps from the children.

Those skilled in artifact forging and mechanism arts made little toys as well: wooden rabbits, puppies, and kittens that could run across the ground with just a bit of Lingli, along with all manner of other things that left the eye dazzled.

Dahu, Shuanghu, and Xiaohu had a marvelous time. Everything seemed fresh to them, and they squealed excitedly at every turn. Mo Hua played and watched with them, but all the while, he was keeping an eye out for ways to earn Spirit Stones on the street.

After looking around, he found that nearly every way to earn Spirit Stones was already being done by someone. As for the things no one was doing, he had no ability to do them yet.

Watching the cultivators on the street perform and hawk their wares with all their might, Mo Hua sighed inwardly. Making a living truly was not easy.

Seeing that Mo Hua did not seem very happy, Shuanghu asked, "Mo Hua, do you have something on your mind?"

The moment Dahu heard that, he said, "Did someone bully you? I'll go beat him up!"

Xiaohu nodded repeatedly as well. "Beat him up! Beat him up!"

Ever since they were young, the Meng Family elders had told the three of them to look after the sickly and frail Mo Hua. On top of that, whenever Liu Ruhua made something delicious, she would always save a portion especially for them.

The three children remembered such kindness and were fiercely loyal. Whenever someone tried to bully Mo Hua, they would roll up their sleeves without a word and charge in to fight.

Mo Hua was also recognized as the smartest among the Rogue Cultivators of the neighborhood. Sometimes, when the Instructor assigned lessons they did not understand, they would come ask Mo Hua about them. Thus, the children were very close.

Seeing how eager they were to fight someone, Mo Hua did not know whether to laugh or cry. "No one bullied me. I was just thinking about whether I could earn some Spirit Stones."

Earn Spirit Stones...

Dahu and the other two frowned as well. They did not really know.

They could help with fighting, but they had no idea how to earn Spirit Stones.

A thought struck Mo Hua, and he asked again, "Then do you know how array masters earn Spirit Stones?"

The cultivation world was vast and boundless. Every day, Mo Hua only cultivated and drew arrays, and the things he came into contact with were limited. There was much he had no way of learning about. He only knew that becoming an array master meant never having to worry about food or clothing, but as for how ordinary array masters—especially low-level apprentices—earned Spirit Stones, he truly had no idea.

Dahu and the others often played all over the place. Perhaps they knew things that Mo Hua did not.

Dahu thought for a moment, then shook his head. "The grading assessment for array masters is very difficult. There isn't a single First-Grade Array Master in our neighborhood, so I'm not really sure..."

"Forget our neighborhood—even in all of Immortal City, there aren't many array masters. Those who can truly pass the grading and become First-Grade Array Masters are even rarer. One of our Meng Family's distant uncles studies Array Techniques every day, but he's been taking the test for twenty years and still hasn't become a First-Grade Array Master..." Xiaohu shook his head, clicking his tongue in amazement.

"You heard wrong. Uncle Meng is only an array apprentice. He wanted to take an array master as his teacher so he could study Array Techniques, but when they gave him questions to test him, he couldn't answer them, so they didn't accept him."

Shuanghu curled his lip, then counted on his fingers.

"Apprentice, ordinary array master, First-Grade Array Master... Uncle Meng isn't going for grading. Anyone qualified to go for grading is already an array master with some reputation. He's still a hundred and eight thousand miles away from that!"

Mo Hua asked curiously, "Then what does he rely on to make a living?"

"I heard he draws some simple arrays for merchants to earn Spirit Stones, then uses the Spirit Stones to buy brushes and ink, then practices Array Techniques, then fails to find a teacher again, then goes back to drawing arrays for merchants..."

"A trading firm...?"

"Yes. I heard that even if you can't make the grade or become a First-Grade Array Master, you can still be an ordinary array master and draw Array Techniques for trading firms. You'd still earn plenty of Spirit Stones and never have to worry about food or drink."

Shuang Hu said, then asked Mo Hua, "Mo Hua, do you want to become an array master?"

"Mm." Mo Hua did not hide it. "My constitution is too weak. I probably can't become a Monster Hunter—if a monster beast swipes me with a claw, I'd likely lose half my life. I need to find some way to make a living. But it's still too early to talk about that. First, I'll see if I can earn some Spirit Stones. If I can, I'll treat you all to pastries!"

The moment Da Hu and the other two heard that, they all lit up with joy.

"Alright, alright!"

"You're so smart—you'll definitely earn Spirit Stones, and someday you'll become an array master too!"

"Pastries, pastries!"

Children from ordinary Rogue Cultivator families rarely got to eat even the most common pastries sold by the roadside.

The group wandered around for another round. Other than those gaudily dressed little girls, they had seen everything there was to see. As noon approached, they all went home, satisfied, to eat lunch.

After lunch, Mo Hua told his parents he was going out to play, then headed alone to North Street in Immortal City.

North Street in Immortal City was prosperous, while South Street was bustling.

South Street had many Marketplaces, mostly filled with small vendors and roadside stalls. North Street, on the other hand, had many trading firms, with talismans, pills, and artifacts all available. Their goods were more legitimate and of better quality, though naturally more expensive as well.

But Mo Hua had not come to buy anything. He did not have the Spirit Stones for that.

Mo Hua walked from one end of the street to the other, looking over every trading firm. Then he chose one with an Array Technique hanging outside its door, but whose storefront was comparatively the shabbiest and most rudimentary, with the quietest business, and walked in.