Architectural Array

However, Master Ban couldn't blame himself for misjudging the situation; he could only blame it on the extraordinary nature of the matter.

Master Ban silently thought to himself.

After all, over the years, he had mostly dealt with array masters with full heads of white hair. Never before had he seen a child of about ten years old proficiently drawing array formations in such a large-scale construction project.

Master Ban couldn't help but marvel.

Now that there was an array master, Master Ban breathed a sigh of relief. With nothing else to do, he stood behind Mo Hua with Elder Yu, craning his neck to watch Mo Hua draw the array formations.

Seeing Master Ban engrossed, Elder Yu couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Do you understand what he's drawing?"

Master Ban shook his head. "No, I don't." He countered, "Do you understand?"

Elder Yu also shook his head. "I don't. What are you even looking at?"

"If you don't understand, aren't you also watching?" Master Ban replied.

Elder Yu chuckled softly. "I'm just curious, watching from the sidelines."

Master Ban silently thought, I've never seen such a young child drawing array formation of this magnitude. I'm even more curious than you.

Master Ban glanced at Mo Hua, then back at the array formations he was drawing, and quietly asked, "What grade are these formations?"

Elder Yu wasn't entirely sure, so he estimated based on Mo Hua's skill level, "Probably first-grade."

Master Ban was shocked, unable to hold back, he exclaimed, "Ah?"

Elder Yu shot him a glance of complaint, whispering, "Keep your voice down, don't disturb his work."

Master Ban lowered his voice again. "First-grade formations?"

"First-grade formations," Elder Yu confirmed.

Master Ban shook his head repeatedly. "That's impossible!"

"If you don't believe it, then forget it." Elder Yu adopted an indifferent attitude.

Master Ban didn't really believe it, but he didn't think Elder Yu would deceive him either. After thinking it over, he could only continue watching the array formations under Mo Hua's pen.

Though he didn't understand arrays, he could still count the array patterns.

One, two... five; this one had only five array patterns.

One, two, three... seven; this one had seven.

Master Ban's mood suddenly became complicated. A ten-year-old cultivator drawing seven array patterns was already on par with the skill level of an ordinary array master.

At this level, he had casually said "only seven," but in reality, he hadn't fully comprehended...

Master Ban continued counting.

Finally, in a single array that Mo Hua finished drawing and collected his pen from, he counted nine array patterns!

Nine patterns qualify as first-grade!

Master Ban was profoundly shaken.

"Could it really be a first-grade formation?"

Seeing his shocked expression, Elder Yu felt secretly pleased. When he first heard that Mo Hua could draw first-grade formations, his expression and tone were just like Master Ban's now. He probably felt similarly.

Master Ban glanced at Elder Yu, his voice trembling slightly, but still trying to keep it low, "So... is this child now... a first-grade array master?"

"He hasn't passed the Dao Court's assessment, so not yet," Elder Yu replied.

"Still, that's remarkable..."

Master Ban shook his head, finding it unbelievable.

Now, as he watched Mo Hua drawing the array formations, his admiration was mixed with a hint of awe.

These were first-grade array formations! In his entire life, he hadn't seen many array masters capable of drawing first-grade formations.

Master Ban leaned forward again, examining the array on the foundation stone, and couldn't help but exclaim:

"This array is drawn so beautifully!"

Elder Yu remarked, "But you don't understand arrays, right?"

"No need to understand!" Master Ban waved his hand. "Each stroke of this array is like it was carved out with a mold, so neat and beautiful. In all my years, I've never seen an array with such beautiful strokes!"

Mo Hua blushed at the praise, while Elder Yu felt secretly pleased on the inside. He maintained a humble front, "Oh, it's nothing. He's still a child and has much to learn."

Master Ban immersed himself once more in the array formations and didn't pay him any further attention.

Mo Hua finished drawing a Compound Array, feeling his spiritual consciousness almost depleted. He stopped his pen and sat down on the ground to rest for a while.

Elder Yu immediately stepped forward with a kind expression. "Feeling tired?"

Master Ban was taken aback by Elder Yu's unexpectedly gentle demeanor.

Over the years, his impression of Elder Yu had always been one of bad temper, foul mood, tough demeanor, and a propensity for scolding.

At this moment, Elder Yu seemed just like a "kindly" old grandfather...

It was almost as if he had been replaced by someone else entirely.

Master Ban was truly enlightened.

Mo Hua was indeed a bit tired. Drawing array formations on various large construction materials consumed a significant amount of spiritual power and consciousness, but it was within his expected limits.

"I'm okay. I need to meditate and recover my spiritual consciousness."

Mo Hua replied, though he actually intended to use meditation techniques to restore his consciousness.

"Take your time to rest. There's no rush."

Elder Yu kindly said, then refrained from disturbing Mo Hua. Instead, he examined the completed array formations and thought to himself that Master Ban's assessment was indeed accurate—they were neat and beautiful.

Master Ban, upon hearing Elder Yu's words, suddenly became concerned.

Elder Yu might not be in a hurry, but he was.

He pulled Elder Yu aside and asked quietly, "How many array masters did you hire?"

"What array masters?" Elder Yu was slightly puzzled.

Master Ban hesitated, "Array masters for drawing architectural array formations."

Elder Yu was somewhat taken aback. "Just one, isn't Mo Hua enough?"

Master Ban was slightly annoyed. "How can one be enough? With so many array formations, and him being just a child, how can he finish them all? Even if he can handle it alone, this project will drag on for ages..."

For such a large-scale refining operation and so many craftsmen involved, how could they afford such delays?

Elder Yu stroked his beard, his brows furrowing involuntarily.

He hadn't thought this through thoroughly before. After all, he entrusted the array formations to Mo Hua and had always trusted him implicitly.

Even if he didn't trust him, there was nothing he could do about it—he didn't understand array formations.

But Master Ban's concerns made sense. The architectural array diagrams were densely packed with countless array patterns. Could Mo Hua, just a child, really finish them all?

They shouldn't draw too many; excessive consumption of spiritual consciousness could be detrimental to his mind.

Elder Yu felt worried. If the progress of the refining operation slowed down, so be it, but Mo Hua must not be overworked.

Then again, Elder Yu thought to himself, whenever it came to matters related to array formations, Mo Hua always considered them thoroughly. If he hadn't mentioned any concerns, there probably weren't any issues.

Elder Yu asked Master Ban, "How many array masters would typically be needed for so many array formations?"

"At least five or six, up to a dozen."

Elder Yu was startled. "So many?"

Master Ban couldn't help but glare at him. "What did you expect? Architectural array formations involve numerous array patterns. How could they be completed with just one or two array masters?"

Elder Yu blushed, fortunately his complexion was dark, so it wasn't noticeable.

He really had no idea about such matters.

In the past, as a demon hunter, he had been very poor. There were no spiritual stones to build such large-scale refining operations; it was already good enough to build a few rooms, without needing any array formations.

Now that he had come into a windfall, he had thought to establish a refining operation so that the livelihoods of lower-level casual cultivators could improve. Otherwise, he wouldn't have known until now how tricky architectural array formations could be.

If not for Mo Hua, hiring array masters would probably have cost a large sum of spiritual stones.

Once the refining operation and alchemy operation were completed and profitable, Mo Hua must receive a generous share of spiritual stones.

Elder Yu silently resolved.

(End of the Chapter)