Arrays of Immortality

Chapter 8: An Xiaofu

"Young Master An?"

The plump young man dressed in fine clothing was the eldest son of the An family from Tongxian City, named An Xiaofu. It was perhaps because his father had little expectation for him that he was given the name "Xiaofu," meaning "small fortune."

However, due to his plump figure, his fellow disciples often affectionately called him "An Xiaopang" (Little Fatty).

An Xiaopang was somewhat slow-witted and sometimes had a temper befitting a spoiled young master, but he wasn't a bad person. He frequently asked Mo Hua to help him with his array formation homework.

He couldn't draw array formations at all and didn't want to be punished by the instructor or beaten by his father, so he had no choice but to ask Mo Hua for help.

At this moment, An Xiaopang was furious. "So it's you, Mo Hua! I treated you as a friend, and you look down on me?!"

Mo Hua was puzzled. "What do you mean I look down on you?"

An Xiaopang took out an array drawing with red ink annotations. "You helped me with my array homework, but you made six mistakes! But when you helped that skinny monkey, Qian Xing, the third young master of the Qian family, you didn't make a single mistake! Isn't that looking down on me? Doesn't it mean that I am worse than him?"

The "skinny monkey" in An Xiaopang's words was Qian Xing, a scrawny young man and the third son of the Qian family, which was the wealthiest family in Tongxian City.

The Qian and An families both ran business ventures, and while they competed with each other in business, there was also a longstanding feud between the families. The younger generations were constantly at odds, trying to outdo each other in every aspect, including their physiques—one was fat, the other was thin.

However, both An Xiaopang and Qian Xing were lazy in cultivation and had little academic aptitude, so they were "equally mediocre."

Although both were spoiled, Qian Xing's reputation was worse because, in addition to being lazy, he was also arrogant and domineering. He would bully others using his family's power, and though he was rumored to have done many bad things, everything was always covered up because of his family's backing.

In comparison, An Xiaopang was only known for eating, drinking, and showing off in public, but because his father kept a strict hand on him, he never crossed the line too much.

"So that's what it is?"

Seeing that Mo Hua didn't care, An Xiaopang's face turned red with anger.

"I was just helping you," Mo Hua said.

An Xiaopang looked at Mo Hua coldly. "How did you help me?"

"How does your array compare to Young Master Qian's?"

An Xiaopang proudly replied, "At least it's not worse than his!"

Mo Hua was a bit speechless. Was that something to be proud of?

"That's right," Mo Hua continued. "With his level, how could he possibly draw a single decent array?"

"Of course, if I can't do it, he can't either!"

"So you know that. How could the instructor not notice? The instructor is always strict, and he will surely punish him. He'll also tell his father, and then his father will lose face. Naturally, he won't have a good outcome..."

An Xiaopang hesitated for a moment. "That makes sense, but I haven't heard of Qian Xing being beaten. Are you lying to me..."

Mo Hua rolled his eyes. "Family matters should not be aired in public. When a father beats his son, he will do it behind closed doors. How would he let you know?"

An Xiaopang, still uneasy, nodded. "That's true. My father never lets anyone know when he beats me!"

Mo Hua then added, "This time, didn't Old Master An not only not beat you, but also praise you?"

An Xiaopang instantly became proud. "That's right! The instructor gave me a grade of B, and when my father found out, he praised me for making progress and even gave me lots of nice things!"

An Xiaopang's temper flared up quickly but subsided just as fast. He suddenly stopped being angry and even felt a bit guilty. He said to Mo Hua:

"I was wrong about you! Let me take you to Ling Shan Lou for a meal. It's my family's restaurant, so eat whatever you like!"

Mo Hua didn't expect An Xiaopang to be so unexpectedly generous, but he still politely declined. "There's no need. I have something to do."

An Xiaopang pouted. "My father always tells me to repay kindness. If you don't go, it means you look down on me!"

Thinking about how his father had beaten him on the backside, An Xiaopang became more determined. "This favor is not small. You must go!"

An Xiaopang's childlike temper made him a bit hard to handle.

Mo Hua sighed. He glanced at the Array Pavilion door and suddenly said, "Young Master An, I won't go to Ling Shan Lou, but can you help me with something?"

An Xiaopang slapped his chest. "Say it!"

"Can you lend me ten spirit stones?"

An Xiaopang frowned. He really didn't have ten spirit stones. His father, to prevent him from wasting money, never allowed him to carry more than five spirit stones at a time.

He could invite Mo Hua to Ling Shan Lou, and it would be charged to his father's account. Since it was just food and drink, his father wouldn't say anything if it was written off. What his father feared was that An Xiaopang might spend his spirit stones on improper things without any record, causing trouble if he wasn't careful.

An Xiaopang pulled out the five spirit stones he had and looked at his servant. "Give me all the spirit stones, and I'll pay you back at home."

The servant hesitated but handed over the remaining five spirit stones, bringing the total to ten.

An Xiaopang handed the ten spirit stones to Mo Hua. "Here you go, no need to return them!"

Mo Hua shook his head. "I'll pay you back in a few days."

Mo Hua weighed the spirit stones in his hand, carefully stored them, said goodbye to An Xiaopang, and returned to the Array Pavilion, where there were still no customers and the manager was napping.

After entering, Mo Hua quietly placed the ten spirit stones on the counter.

"I've brought the spirit stones!"

The manager, who had barely woken up, heard the bell and saw Mo Hua and the ten spirit stones on the counter.

He picked up the spirit stones, examined them, and, finding no issues, nodded. He then reached under the counter and took out a storage bag.

"Here is a 'Bright Fire Array' diagram, along with ten pieces of array paper and spiritual ink. This is enough to make ten 'Bright Fire Arrays.' The deadline is ten days, and if you miss it, you will forfeit the deposit. For every successful array, you will earn one spirit stone, but if it's wrong or doesn't meet the standard, you'll lose one spirit stone from your deposit. These rules are standard for our business, and your brother should know them."

Mo Hua nodded.

If he successfully completed all the arrays, he would earn ten spirit stones. If he failed them all, he would lose ten spirit stones. If he succeeded more than half, he would make a profit.

The manager gave another reminder, "Ten days, don't forget. If you miss the deadline, I'll keep the deposit."

Mo Hua quickly nodded, thanked the manager, and left.

After returning home, Mo Hua locked himself in his room to study the array carefully.

The maximum potential profit of ten spirit stones was quite tempting. Though he had earned twelve spirit stones from helping his fellow disciples with array homework, he didn't have many opportunities to earn spirit stones in that way.

Helping others with their homework wasn't a serious matter either.

Occasionally doing so was fine, but if it went on for too long, it would delay his fellow disciples' progress.

This business was different. If he succeeded, he could earn spirit stones in the long term, all while practicing his array skills—truly a win-win.

Mo Hua spread out the "Bright Fire Array" diagram in front of him.

The diagram was drawn by another array master and could be used as a template.

At the back of the diagram was an array breakdown, recording the array's runes, the pen and ink used, and other important points. It was a standard method used in the cultivation world to record arrays.

The breakdown of the "Bright Fire Array" contained explanations on where to use fire-based runes, how to interlink the runes, ink mixing, and ink ratios. Many of the concepts were unfamiliar to Mo Hua, and he found it somewhat difficult to understand.

This was the first time Mo Hua had seen a formal array breakdown. Previously, what he had learned in the sect were very simple arrays—though they were called arrays, most only contained one or two basic runes and were used as introductory lessons for disciples, quite different from the actual arrays used in the cultivation world.

The final note on the breakdown of the "Bright Fire Array" read:

"Bright Fire Array, a fire-based array containing three runes, requires a cultivation level of at least Qi Refining Third Stage."

What caught Mo Hua's attention was the small note written in red ink below:

"Those who have not reached the required cultivation level may lack the necessary spiritual consciousness. Proceed with caution!"

Mo Hua, at the Second Stage of Qi Refining, furrowed his brow.

Any action a cultivator takes requires spiritual consciousness to guide spiritual energy, use spells, control spiritual tools, refine pills, and weapons. It was well-known that drawing arrays consumed a lot of spiritual consciousness. However, the specific mention here, "lacking spiritual consciousness, proceed with caution," along with the cultivation restriction, caught Mo Hua's attention.

This made him realize that drawing arrays might require a lot more spiritual consciousness than he had anticipated...

"Does drawing arrays really consume that much spiritual consciousness?" Mo Hua thought, tapping his chin.

"Forget it, I'll familiarize myself with the runes first and practice on the tablet later tonight."

Mo Hua noted the diagram for the Bright Fire Array, had dinner with his parents, and returned to his room to practice the runes using regular paper and ink. When it was late into the night, he lay down on his bed, closed his eyes, and the ancient, ethereal image of the broken tablet appeared in his sea of consciousness.

(End of Chapter)