Clue

Instructor Yan left the Destiny Pavilion and returned to Tongming Peak of the Tongxian Sect.

Instructors of the Tongxian Sect each had a private residence on Tongming Peak. These residences consisted of three rooms and a hall, with a small courtyard where they could grow spiritual flowers and herbs or raise spirit beasts.

Instructor Yan's residence was clean and tidy. The walls were neatly covered with formation diagrams, with no other decorations.

He perused basic formation books, prepared the formation patterns he would teach later in the month, and then started grading the formation assignments submitted by the Qi Refining stage disciples.

There were nearly a thousand Qi Refining stage disciples on Tongxuan Peak of the Tongxian Sect. Instructor Yan would carefully grade each formation assignment, marking any errors.

This task required time and patience, but Instructor Yan carried it out meticulously.

It was his habit and also the teaching instilled in him by his master over the years.

His master had also graded their formation assignments with the same meticulousness and patience back in the day.

Instructor Yan's master was a first-grade formation master, which might not be considered extraordinary in the entire cultivation world. Even so, he spent his life doing his best to teach, passing down the formations that adhered to the principles of the Dao.

Now that his master had passed away and he had become an instructor, Instructor Yan understood his master's dedication.

As night fell, Instructor Yan lit a lamp and continued grading formations.

The Tongxian Sect was ultimately a small, remote sect with a weak cultivation heritage. Among nearly a thousand disciples, few could draw basic formation patterns correctly.

Those who could draw well generally had family heritage or came from wealthy families willing to spend spirit stones on cultivation, such as children of cultivators working in the Dao Court, children of sect elders, or disciples from cultivation families in the city.

Disciples from truly poor, itinerant cultivator backgrounds who could draw good formations were rare.

However, regardless of background, Instructor Yan treated everyone equally, focusing only on the formations.

If the drawing was poor but the attitude was serious, he would write more annotations to explain; if the drawing was poor and the attitude careless, his annotations would be harsher, and he would remember the name.

Occasionally, when a drawing was excellent, Instructor Yan felt gratified and would write the character for "Excellent" next to it as encouragement.

Instructor Yan painstakingly graded each one. When he came across one particular formation, his eyes lit up.

The brushwork was skillful, indicating considerable effort and a certain level of mastery. Even if used in an actual formation, this pattern was acceptable.

Instructor Yan looked up at the name on the scroll, which read Mo Hua, and nodded approvingly before writing a larger-than-usual "Excellent" next to the formation.

He continued grading but then returned to Mo Hua's formation, frowning.

The brushwork was too skillful, even somewhat... effortless?

For a Qi Refining stage cultivator at the second or third level, completing a formation pattern this well was already impressive.

Recalling his encounter with Mo Hua in the Destiny Pavilion earlier, Instructor Yan pondered and suddenly wondered:

"Does Mo Hua have an older brother?"

"If his older brother is good at formations and taught him, that would indicate a family tradition. But as far as I know, Mo Hua is from a poor itinerant cultivator background. If there was any family tradition in formations, his family wouldn't be this poor..."

"If his older brother can assist in drawing formations for the pavilion, he should be quite talented. But I've taught at Tongxian Sect for nearly ten years and don't recall teaching such a person..."

"Could he be from another sect? That's unlikely. Generally, siblings join the same sect, and Tongxian Sect is already the largest sect in the city..."

Instructor Yan tapped his fingers on the desk, pondering, then temporarily set aside his thoughts to finish grading the formations.

The next morning, Instructor Yan got up early, went to the steward of Tongming Peak, and requested the disciples' records. He found Mo Hua's entry, which read:

"Mo Hua: Ten years old, third level of Qi Refining, middle-lower grade Five Elements spiritual root..."

Father: Mo Shan, Demon Hunter; Mother: Liu Ruhua, Chef

Apart from his parents, he had no other relatives, and certainly no elder brother.

Instructor Yan had a vague suspicion in his heart, but he thought it was unlikely.

During the formation class in the morning, Instructor Yan announced an impromptu assignment: to draw all the Five Elements formation patterns they had learned so far and submit them in three days.

The disciples were dismayed, like eggplants struck by frost.

Mo Hua, however, was indifferent. He had already been helping the Destiny Pavilion draw formations, so drawing a few patterns now wasn't a big deal.

But why had Instructor Yan suddenly assigned this work?

It wasn't something he would normally do.

Mo Hua was puzzled.

Then An Xiaopang came to Mo Hua for help.

"Mo Hua, you have to help me!!" An Xiaopang was almost in tears.

No one knew why the instructor had suddenly assigned homework. Normally, he would assign work every few months to assess the disciples' formation skills.

An Xiaopang was caught off guard. He couldn't draw even a single pattern and time was tight, so he had no choice but to ask Mo Hua for help.

Mo Hua didn't mind. These basic formation patterns were no challenge for him anymore.

Mo Hua helped An Xiaopang draw the formations and only charged a friendly price. A few other disciples from well-off families who weren't good at formations also sought Mo Hua's help, and he agreed.

Mo Hua had formations to draw and spirit stones to earn, so he didn't think much about anything else.

Three days later, the formation assignments were submitted. Instructor Yan picked out Mo Hua's patterns, examined them carefully, then put them into his storage bag and went to Destiny Pavilion to find Manager Pang.

Manager Pang was cautious when he saw Instructor Yan, "Are you here to drink tea or to ask me for a favor this time?"

Instructor Yan said, "Neither. I just have a question."

Manager Pang breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh, that's fine then."

"Do you still have the formation diagrams Mo Hua submitted?"

"Mo Hua?" Manager Pang was slightly taken aback, "Oh, that young fellow. Yes, I still have them. What do you need them for?"

"How many do you have?"

"The Minghuo Formation and the Earth Stabilizing Formation. I still have several of each. I kept them as spares."

Manager Pang took out a Minghuo Formation and a Earth Stabilizing Formation previously submitted by Mo Hua and handed them to Instructor Yan.

Instructor Yan examined them, then took out the formation assignments submitted by Mo Hua and compared the patterns one by one.

After finishing, Instructor Yan took a deep breath.

Manager Pang craned his neck to look and asked, "What are you looking at?"

Instructor Yan pointed to the formation patterns and the formation diagrams on the table and asked:

"Do you think these patterns and these two formations were drawn by the same person?"

Manager Pang took the patterns and formations, scrutinized them carefully, and nodded:

"The brushwork is quite similar. Most likely they were drawn by the same person…"

Manager Pang thought for a moment and suddenly said, "Have you met Mo Hua's elder brother?"

"Mo Hua doesn't have an elder brother."

"No elder brother? Then who drew these formations?"

Instructor Yan gave Manager Pang a meaningful look.

Manager Pang was stunned for a moment, "You don't mean to say that he drew them himself, do you?"

Instructor Yan nodded.

Manager Pang was silent for a moment, then he laughed dismissively,

"What nonsense is that?"

"Even if he could draw the Minghuo Formation, which is somewhat plausible, the Earth Stabilizing Formation has four patterns. How could he have that much spiritual awareness? Does he have two heads and two spiritual seas?"

Manager Pang looked at Instructor Yan suspiciously and continued:

"Are you trying to say you've taught a Qi Refining stage level three formation genius? Are you just trying to boast about yourself... I've known you for years, you're not like that!"

Instructor Yan coldly stared at him, pointing to the formations on the table, "You just said these patterns and these formations were drawn by the same person. These patterns were drawn by Mo Hua, so who do you think drew these formations?"

Manager Pang was speechless.

He stared at the patterns on the left and the formations on the right for a long time before murmuring, "It can't be…"

(End of the chapter)