Chapter 13: The Lamp
In the following days, aside from mealtimes, Mo Hua shut himself in his room to draw array diagrams of the Flame Array.
Five days later, he had used up all ten sets of materials. Unfortunately, he only successfully completed eight diagrams. One failed due to carelessness, and the other because of a subtle mistake in the brushstroke that he hadn't noticed before.
The Flame Array was the simplest and most basic array in the cultivation world, yet even after drawing so many, Mo Hua still occasionally made mistakes—sometimes even repeating ones he'd already made in the past.
"Arrays truly are vast and profound. You can't be careless at all," Mo Hua reminded himself.
He took some time to deliver the finished diagrams to the chubby steward of Fated Pavilion.
This time, the steward was a bit more satisfied, believing that Mo Hua's older brother had become more diligent and his strokes had clearly improved. He was happy to continue the collaboration. After giving Mo Hua six spirit stones, he handed over ten more sets of materials.
Mo Hua had now earned twelve spirit stones. At this pace, he might be able to complete one more batch before the end of the year—at least another six spirit stones.
Mo Hua put even more effort into his work. He became increasingly proficient with the Flame Array, and his divine sense had grown stronger. He no longer had to exhaust it completely to finish a single array, which greatly reduced the time it took to complete each one.
A few days later, after dinner, just as Mo Hua was about to return to his room, a knock came at the door.
Mo Hua got up and opened it, finding two people standing outside.
One was a young man dressed in a neat Daoist robe, clearly with decent cultivation and courteous manners.
The other was a middle-aged cultivator, his face marked by a few shallow scars and calm eyes that held a concealed sharpness. His spiritual energy was dense and solid—likely someone at least at the eighth or ninth layer of Qi Refining.
"Young one, does a cultivator named Mo Shan live here?"
"You're looking for my dad?" Mo Hua tilted his little head curiously.
The middle-aged man's gaze softened upon seeing him. "You must be Mo Hua."
Just then, Mo Shan came out and greeted them with a cupped fist. "Brother Ji!"
The middle-aged man returned the salute. "Brother Mo, sorry to bother you so late. My son and I came straight from Heishan City, traveling day and night. We just arrived."
"Do you have a place to stay?"
"Yes, an old friend of my father's. I'll be staying with him. But I came here to discuss what you mentioned before…"
"Come in, let's talk."
Mo Shan welcomed them in. Liu Ruhua tidied up the table and brought out tea. Once everyone was seated, Mo Shan introduced them to Mo Hua:
"This is your Uncle Ji, Ji Qingbai. The young man next to him is your Brother Ji—his name is just Li."
Mo Hua gave a proper bow. "Greetings, Uncle Ji. Greetings, Brother Ji."
Ji Qingbai smiled and nodded. He wanted to compliment the child, but as his eyes moved from the tall and rugged Mo Shan with his sword brows and starry eyes to the fair-skinned, delicate, and well-mannered Mo Hua, the phrase "like father, like son" just didn't quite fit.
Usually, when a father was big and strong, and the son was equally robust, that line worked fine.
But Ji Qingbai, as a beast-hunting cultivator, was more familiar with slaying monsters than complimenting children. "Like father, like son" was his go-to praise, but now it didn't apply. He suddenly found himself at a loss for words.
"This child…" Ji Qingbai hesitated for a bit before finally blurting out, "is very good-looking!"
Afraid of sounding too perfunctory, he quickly added, "Handsome—he resembles Brother Mo in appearance, but the eyebrows and demeanor are gentle like your wife's. Refined and courteous—I haven't seen such a good-looking child in a long time."
Mo Shan didn't think much of it. As long as someone complimented his son, he was happy.
After a bit more polite conversation, Mo Shan turned to Mo Hua. "Your uncle and I have things to discuss. You can go play in your room."
"Okay!"
Mo Hua bowed again to Ji Qingbai and returned to his room.
He guessed Ji Qingbai was likely also a beast hunter and probably came to talk to his father about hunting.
Mo Shan had a robust build, excellent talent for body cultivation, and was at the eighth layer of Qi Refining. He trained in techniques like Gold-Splitting Claw and Blazing Fist—powerful martial arts for body refinement—and had extensive experience in beast hunting. Because of his upright nature, he was fairly well-known among the Qi Refining beast hunters of Tongxian City.
"Uncle Ji must be here to talk about hunting in the inner regions of Mount Dahei after the New Year…"
The inner mountain must be dangerous...
Mo Hua sighed.
These were not things he could worry about yet. He was only at the second layer of Qi Refining, couldn't cultivate body techniques, hadn't chosen a cultivation method, and didn't know a single spell. He couldn't help at all.
Better to focus on drawing arrays.
Mo Hua took out his brushes and ink, poured some into the inkstone, and began drawing again—hoping to complete a full Flame Array before falling asleep and entering his spiritual sea.
Ink met brush, and with practiced movements, he began crafting the intricate lines. The faint red ink flowed along the brush's tip, sketching out line after line of runes.
The Flame Array was now second nature to him, and drawing it was nearly effortless.
After a few incense sticks' worth of time, the flame in his lamp suddenly flickered—and went out, leaving the room pitch black.
Did the lamp break?
Mo Hua paused his work and used the light from the main hall to examine the lamp closely. He turned it over in his hands and muttered, "Did it just get overused?"
There was still a long time before midnight, and he had hoped to get in more practice.
What should he do?
Lamp in hand, he tiptoed to the door and peeked through the crack. He saw Mo Shan and Uncle Ji still chatting in the main hall.
Mo Hua didn't want to interrupt, and was about to withdraw when Mo Shan called out, "Hua'er, something wrong?"
Only then did Mo Hua realize he'd been noticed.
With Mo Shan likely at the eighth layer of Qi Refining and Uncle Ji possibly even higher, of course their spiritual sense picked up his peeking.
Mo Hua spoke up, "Dad, the lamp broke."
Mo Shan waved him over. "Bring it here. Let me see."
Mo Hua handed the lamp over.
Mo Shan took it, twisted the base open, and after glancing inside, said:
"It's been used too long. The array inside has faded. I'll get you a new one tomorrow. Just go to bed early tonight."
"Array?" Mo Hua's eyes lit up. "Dad, can I take a look?"
Mo Shan paused but passed the lamp back to him.
Mo Hua took the lamp and examined its base. The array indeed looked familiar—similar to the Flame Array—but it was clearly cruder and only had two rune lines.
It must be a cut-down version of the Flame Array, simplified to save costs.
The Flame Array—Mo Hua knew that one very well.
"Wait a sec, Dad."
He ran back to his room, grabbed his brush and ink, and carefully traced over the faded array lines. After a few strokes, he switched to a blank section and redrew a fresh version.
Mo Shan and Ji Qingbai fell silent, quietly watching from the side.
Soon, Mo Hua was done. "Dad, try it again."
Mo Shan reattached the lamp base and twisted it into place. When he flicked the small switch on the side—whoosh—the lamp relit, glowing even brighter than before.
"It's fixed?" Mo Shan looked a bit surprised. Then he chuckled and ruffled Mo Hua's hair fondly. "Not bad. Go on, take it back, and don't stay up too late."
Mo Hua responded with a bright "Mm!" and added, "Dad, Uncle Ji, you two go on chatting. I'll head back to my room now."
With that, he clutched the lamp and scampered back inside.
Mo Shan turned to Ji Qingbai. "Sorry about that, Brother Ji. Let's continue."
But Ji Qingbai seemed lost in thought, staring at Mo Hua's retreating figure in a daze. After a long pause, he finally muttered, "That child… he's only at the second layer of Qi Refining, right?"
(End of Chapter)