Worries

Elder Yu took the spiritual stones, allocating a portion for public use to build the alchemy workshop, and the rest he spent on purchasing a lot of wine and meat. He also treated craftsmen and demon hunters to a lavish meal.

The wine was good, but the meat wasn't spiritual meat.

With so many cultivators to feed spiritual meat, Elder Yu couldn't afford it. He sought out Mo Shan and spent spiritual stones to have Liu Ruhua help cook some demon beast meat.

There was beef, mutton, and chicken, seasoned with spicy spices and stewed together, creating a tantalizing aroma. They made plenty, enough for everyone to enjoy heartily.

Everyone indulged themselves, and Mo Hua also ate with great pleasure, filling the alchemy workshop with a lively and joyful atmosphere.

Only Master Ban, the head craftsman, couldn't enjoy the food.

He had been worried that Mo Hua alone wouldn't be able to draw the array formations, and with the manpower shortage, they wouldn't meet their deadlines.

Now, with the Qian family repeatedly causing trouble, injuring craftsmen, damaging buildings, and forcing them to redraw some formations, it seemed certain that they wouldn't meet their deadlines.

Master Ban sighed, and the wine in his mouth tasted sour and bitter, a flavor he couldn't quite describe.

Mo Hua, gnawing on a large chicken leg with both hands, noticed Master Ban's demeanor and asked, "Master Ban, is something on your mind?"

Master Ban sighed again, burdened with worries but unsure how to express them.

He couldn't rush Mo Hua to finish the array formations faster.

Moreover, ever since he learned that Mo Hua was a formation expert capable of creating first-grade formations, Master Ban had started to feel a subtle sense of awe towards him. He spoke with more caution now, not as casually as before.

Mo Hua sensed Master Ban's concerns and said, "If you have something to say, just say it."

With Mo Hua prompting him, Master Ban could only muster the courage to ask, "Mo... Mo Hua, how much longer will it take to complete this formation?"

Mo Hua estimated, "It depends on whether the Qian family continues to cause trouble. If they persist, it might take longer. But because of their disruptions, we'll also need to redo some of the formations, so it will definitely be delayed."

Master Ban nodded. "Then, I appreciate your efforts."

Although he said so, he still felt uneasy.

Having been a craftsman for so many years, he had heard many promises and estimates, but few were actually fulfilled on time.

Mo Hua saw that Master Ban was still worried and asked, "If the project is delayed, will the consequences be severe?"

"It won't be severe, but if the project is delayed, us craftsmen won't be able to settle our accounts, and the workers under our command won't get any spiritual stones."

Master Ban looked downcast. "As craftsmen, our families are not wealthy. We need to earn spiritual stones to support our families and pay for our children's cultivation. Working tirelessly day and night, we only earn enough to get by. If this project is delayed, they might not be able to cover their expenses..."

Mo Hua nodded in understanding. Their own family had once lived in straitened circumstances.

Most of the Rogue cultivators in Tongxian City were demon hunters, relying on hunting demon beasts for a living. There weren't many craftsmen, and even fewer could become master craftsmen.

These craftsmen were mostly cultivators from outside the city, often traveling around. Wherever there was a need to build cave residences, houses, alchemy workshops, or pill refining establishments, they would go there.

From planning to completion, a cultivation building could take as little as a few months or as long as one or two years, or even longer. During this period, they rarely returned home, spending most of their time apart from their families.

But even with such hard work, the spiritual stones they earned barely made ends meet.

Indeed, life as a rogue cultivator was never easy, regardless of their livelihood.

Mo Hua sighed and asked, "Do people also default on spiritual stone payments?"

Master Ban's expression turned helpless. "This happens often. Once the cave residence is built, others may refuse to pay spiritual stones or find excuses, claiming they can't circulate spiritual stones and keep delaying payments. There's little we can do."

"About eighty or ninety years ago, when I wasn't yet a master craftsman but just a regular worker under my master, we helped a cultivator build a small cave residence. When it was finished, that cultivator claimed he had no spiritual stones on hand and asked us to wait..."

"We waited and waited for three months without receiving a single spiritual stone. Our families were so poor we couldn't even make ends meet, so we had no choice but to go and demand them again. When we found him, he was wining and dining lavishly in a restaurant, spending spiritual stones freely on feasts and entertainment. When we asked for our payment, he arrogantly said he had plenty of spiritual stones but refused to give us any..."

Mo Hua listened and grew angry. "Didn't you beat him up?"

"We did!" Master Ban nodded. "We were furious, so we tied him up and gave him a beating until he was seriously injured."

"And then?"

"He reported us to the Daoist Court, and they arrested us, imprisoning us for half a month. Eventually, my master took the blame and was sentenced to ten years in prison. We were whipped and released."

Thinking of his former master, Master Ban felt a pang of sadness.

"The Daoist Court is truly despicable!" Mo Hua was incensed.

But then he thought of Zhang Lan, also a Daoist Court cultivator, who seemed like a decent person. He had accidentally injured him...

"You shouldn't generalize," Master Ban patiently advised Mo Hua.

"Are there exceptions?"

Master Ban nodded. "The cultivation world is vast, and Daoist Courts vary everywhere. Some are loyal and upright, while others are corrupt and greedy. It's not fair to judge them all..."

Master Ban spoke with lingering fear.

Mo Hua was surprised, realizing that the cultivation world was even more complex than he had imagined.

He remembered these incidents, preparing himself for any future encounters.

"Master Ban, rest assured. Elder Yu may be stingy, but he will pay the spiritual stones owed without delay!"

Mo Hua affirmed confidently, then reconsidered, adding, "Regarding the array formations, I'll try to finish them faster and minimize any delays."

After all, earning spiritual stones wasn't easy for the craftsmen. Living hand to mouth waiting for spiritual stones wasn't pleasant.

Master Ban was taken aback. "Finish them faster?"

Wasn't Mo Hua already fast enough? Ultimately, Mo Hua was just a young kid of eleven or twelve, working alone.

Feeling somewhat guilty, Master Ban cautioned, "You don't need to rush. Take it step by step. There's no need to be overly hasty. If your spiritual awareness is overly depleted and harms your sea of consciousness, it could be troublesome. I've heard that if a formation master's sea of consciousness is damaged, they can't draw formations for the rest of their life..."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Mo Hua assured him.

Initially cautious and meticulous in his first attempt at drawing arrays on such a large-scale cultivation structure and designing so many arrays for the first time, Mo Hua had been slow to start, aiming to minimize mistakes.

Now, after days of practice, his technique had improved significantly. While the number of arrays was substantial, most were not overly complex, not even reaching the first-grade. Drawing them wasn't difficult; it was just somewhat tedious.

Mo Hua needed to finish them quickly to move on to learning and applying more advanced compound arrays.

Compound arrays should be much more interesting.

(End of the Chapter)