Chapter 107: Progress (Part 1)
Afterward, whenever Mo Hua had free time, he would go to Mr. Zhuang’s Forgetful Residence to spar with Bai Zisheng in movement techniques.
Bai Zisheng was very perceptive, and with each session, his movement technique became more refined. However, Mo Hua’s progress was even faster.
At first, Bai Zisheng had the upper hand, but as Mo Hua’s Water Passing Step became more adept, within twenty rounds, it became hard for Bai Zisheng to snatch the jade pendant from Mo Hua’s neck.
To prolong their practice sessions, they increased the rounds from twenty to forty.
“Something’s not right…”
After one sparring session, Bai Zisheng frowned and said.
“What’s not right?” Mo Hua asked.
“Your movement technique… there’s something sinister about it…”
Mo Hua looked puzzled.
“It looks quite ordinary, nothing special, but it’s slipperier than an eel; just when it seems I’m about to catch you, with a flicker you slip through the fingers, impossible to grasp…”
“Doesn’t that just prove that this movement technique is extraordinary?”
Bai Zisheng shook his head, “At the end of the day, this movement technique is nothing but the Spiritual Power leading the physical body, but there are many such techniques led by Spiritual Power, and I’ve never encountered one this tricky.”
Mo Hua didn’t understand, “Isn’t it just using Divine Sense to guide Spiritual Power, moving it through certain meridians and acupoints, and then pulling the body to move… Is that difficult?”
Difficult it wasn’t, but being able to manipulate Spiritual Power with Divine Sense, and to do so with such precision, even to the finest detail, was not simple at all.
Bai Zisheng looked at Mo Hua again.
Although Mo Hua was at the fifth level of Qi Refinement, his Divine Sense was strong enough to draw eight Formation Patterns, and Bai Zisheng had watched Mo Hua Drawing Formation. His brushstrokes were powerful and swift; within moments, he could paint a formation with six or seven Patterns.
Bai Zisheng was taken aback, momentarily unable to decide whether it was the movement technique that was strange, or Mo Hua himself…
However, he didn’t dwell on these thoughts as Cultivators and spells in the Cultivation World were as vast as the sea. Some Cultivators who practiced certain spells indeed became much stronger than others.
The fact that Mo Hua’s movement technique could match his own, even when he suppressed his Cultivation, was something Bai Zisheng was too pleased about to question.
Thereafter, he completed his daily tasks early every day, and then sat under the big pagoda tree, waiting for Mo Hua to come and spar in movement technique with him.
One day, Bai Zisheng suddenly asked, “Did you learn this movement technique to dodge Cultivator’s Taoist Skills?”
“Yes.” Mo Hua nodded, “Besides Cultivators, there are also Monster Beasts.”
He may have to enter Big Black Mountain one day, and the Monster Beasts there are much stronger than the Cultivators.
“Then you’d better practice with Monster Beasts as well,” Bai Zisheng said as he took a bite of meat.
“Ah?” Mo Hua was startled.
Bai Zisheng said, “The attack patterns of Monster Beasts are different from those of human Cultivators. Just because you can dodge Cultivators doesn’t mean you can dodge Monster Beasts.”
“Right.” Mo Hua realized.
Monster Beasts were large, physically strong, with sharp claws and teeth, and mostly quadruped, with attack trajectories completely different from Cultivators.
Moreover, some Monster Beasts specialized in using toxic tails, spines, saliva, and fangs to attack, which made them even more bizarre and tricky to deal with.
Mo Hua scratched his head, “But I can’t just find Monster Beasts to practice with, and I have to be careful not to be eaten by one…”
“I was just saying, be aware for yourself,” Bai Zisheng said nonchalantly.
Yet, Mo Hua took this matter to heart.
He estimated the likelihood of being killed by Cultivators versus being bitten to death by Monster Beasts in his mind.
He felt there was a greater chance of being killed by Monster Beasts.
Big Black Mountain is treacherous and unpredictable, infested with monstrous beasts fierce and sly.
Should he ever enter Big Black Mountain, he would have to confront these beasts, whose brute strength, speed, and mysterious tracks are unparalleled by any cultivator.
“How can I spar with monstrous beasts? Could it be, I should try to become a Monster Hunter?”
After pondering for a while, Mo Hua decided against it.
A few days later, Mo Hua was reading Formation Books in an eatery.
He could already draw the formation patterns of an eight-formation array. To save Spiritual Ink, he didn’t draw them every day, so he spent his free time just reading the books.
He couldn’t go to spar with Bai Zisheng every day either.
The sparring sessions between Bai Zisheng and Mo Hua came to Aunt Xue’s attention after Bai Zisheng let it slip out in a moment of excitement.
Aunt Xue was somewhat angry, thinking Bai Zisheng was too playful and was also distracting Mo Hua from learning formation techniques, so she assigned him even more tasks.
Mo Hua went to plead with Aunt Xue on Bai Zisheng’s behalf, claiming that it was his own wish to practice movement techniques, which is why Bai Zisheng was sparring with him.
But Aunt Xue clearly didn’t believe it. She knew about Mo Hua’s congenital frailty, so how could he suddenly start learning movement techniques?
She thought Mo Hua was merely making excuses for Bai Zisheng, and said, “Good child, I know you mean well for the young master, but without rules, there is no circle.”
After speaking to Mo Hua, Aunt Xue turned around and piled even more assignments on Bai Zisheng.
Mo Hua felt helpless and would occasionally bring some food to Bai Zisheng as consolation.
Zhang Lan, who often used to stroll into the eatery, seemed to have gotten busy with something and had not been seen for many days.
Thus, Mo Hua’s life became quite peaceful, leaving him alone to read the Formation Books.
While Mo Hua was reading alone, Aunt Jiang brought over a bowl of chicken soup for him and urged him to drink it while it was still hot.
Aunt Jiang, whose given name was Yun, had a husband named Chu who was also a Monster Hunter. He had been severely injured during a hunt, leaving them with no other source of income and a starving child. Liu Ruhua then asked her to help out in the eatery, and gradually their household situation improved, with her complexion becoming healthier.
Although her husband could no longer hunt monsters, he was skilled at using traps and occasionally went up the mountain to catch weaker monster beasts, selling them for Spirit Stones to supplement their household income; sometimes, he even managed to capture a Spirit Beast.
These Spirit Beasts were most likely raised by Clans or Sect Elders and had inadvertently wandered into the mountain, gradually undergoing demonization, their bodies’ Spiritual Energy greatly depleted. However, their flesh was still of better quality than that of monster beasts.
Aunt Jiang would cook these Spirit Beasts into delicious soups, always making sure to set aside some especially for Mo Hua.
Aunt Jiang excelled in making pastries and frying pine nuts. She learned her culinary skills from Liu Ruhua, and her cooking tasted quite good.
“Thank you, Aunt Jiang!” Mo Hua said happily as he drank the delicious chicken soup.
Mo Hua was eating joyously, and Aunt Jiang was also pleased, but she was not good with words, so she just smiled shyly.
“By the way, was the Wood Binding Formation I gave to Uncle Chu useful?”
Mo Hua remembered something and asked.
“Mhm, mhm, it’s useful,” Aunt Jiang nodded and said, “Each time your Uncle Chu returns from the mountain, he praises how useful that formation is. Now, when monster beasts are trapped, their fur isn’t damaged.”
The fur of the monster beasts often got damaged due to their frantic struggles and biting when caught in traps, which then reduced the number of Spirit Stones they could be sold for.
After learning about this, Mo Hua searched the “Thousand Formation Collection” and found a formation called “Wood Binding Formation” that could restrain monster beasts. Although activating the formation required a Spirit Stone, the unspoiled pelt of a monster beast could be sold for many more Spirit Stones.
“It’s just…” Aunt Jiang hesitated to speak.
“Is there a problem with the formation?” Mo Hua asked.
“No, it’s not that,” Aunt Jiang waved her hand, “It’s not the formation. It’s that previously your Uncle Chu caught a young monster beast. The beast has been trapped for many days and surprisingly hasn’t died yet. Uncle Chu brought it back, but now he doesn’t know what to do with it…”
“A young monster beast?”
Mo Hua’s eyes lit up.