Chapter 70: A Test Run
Master Chen hesitated before asking,
"Little Brother Mo... this formation of yours, is it... um, maybe something's not quite right about it?"
Mo Hua replied calmly, "Where do you think it's wrong?"
"I don't really understand formations," Chen said, scratching his head, "but it looks like... there's one extra rune?"
Mo Hua's eyes brightened. "Oh? You noticed?"
"Uh..." Chen asked cautiously, "So... this formation, is it still the Molten Fire Array?"
"Of course!" Mo Hua explained. "It's a six-pattern Molten Fire Array. I just learned it from my teacher. It's still a Molten Fire Array, but because it has one more rune, its power is much stronger."
"Have you ever drawn it before?"
"Don't worry! I've practiced it many times on paper!" Mo Hua said confidently.
Chen Master's mouth twitched — he didn't even need to ask to know the boy had never drawn one on an actual forging furnace before.
His heart went cold. Oh no... my poor furnace is about to become this kid's test piece!
But at this point, there was no going back.
Glancing at the half-disassembled furnace and the erased formation lines, Chen braced himself and said,
"Go ahead then. This old man believes in you."
Mo Hua didn't catch the hidden despair in those words — instead, he was encouraged. He raised his formation brush and began drawing in earnest.
Master Chen stood to the side, watching with bated breath. Every time Mo Hua paused or frowned, sweat broke out on his forehead.
That furnace was everything he owned. If something went wrong, he might as well start drinking cold northwest wind for sustenance.
The torment lasted nearly two hours before Mo Hua finally finished drawing. Master Chen let out a long sigh of relief — but before he could relax fully, Mo Hua said:
"It's done."
Chen's heart immediately jumped into his throat.
"The formation... it's wrong?" His voice trembled.
"The formation's not wrong," Mo Hua frowned, "but it's not activating. The spiritual power isn't conducting properly…"
"Then... what should we do?"
"Don't worry, Uncle Chen. Let me think."
"Ah, o-okay…"
Master Chen nodded repeatedly, pacing anxiously in circles but not daring to interrupt.
"The formation is identical to the diagram. The core's right, the runes are right, the array eye is a Spirit-Gathering Formation — when it draws in spiritual energy, it should light up the whole thing…" Mo Hua murmured to himself.
Normally, after drawing a formation on a spiritual tool, you'd infuse it with a bit of spiritual power to test if it activates.
Mo Hua pressed his palm onto the Spirit-Gathering point. A faint spiritual glow seeped out of his hand and into the formation. The runes lit slightly, power flowing across them — but the entire formation stayed dim and lifeless.
After waiting a bit, Chen couldn't hold it anymore.
"How about... I give it a try?"
Mo Hua thought, If even I can't light it up, how could anyone else? But seeing Chen's anxious face, he nodded.
Chen placed his palm over the same point and activated his spiritual energy — the entire formation flared to life in an instant.
Mo Hua's jaw dropped. He stared at Chen, baffled.
"That's strange. Why couldn't I light it up, but you could?"
"Well," Chen said as gently as possible, "maybe... your spiritual power's a bit too weak?"
Mo Hua: "…"
"You're only at the third layer of Qi-Refining, right?"
"If nothing unexpected happened, I should already be at the fourth layer!" Mo Hua protested.
(If he hadn't switched to practicing the Celestial Evolution Art, he would have been.)
Chen comforted him, "No problem, no problem. At your age, being at the third layer's already great. My apprentices were only at the second or third back then."
"Mm!"
All the apprentices nodded enthusiastically — whether they meant it was another story.
Mo Hua didn't bother explaining further. "Let's assemble the furnace and see if it works."
"Yes, yes! I almost forgot the main thing!"
Chen perked up, quickly calling his apprentices to reassemble the furnace. He took out two spirit stones and embedded them into the slots at the back.
He lit the fire — whoosh! — flames roared to life.
His eyes brightened. He threw in a blade-shaped spirit tool embryo, and soon it glowed red-hot. Pulling it out, he hammered a few times and immediately burst into a grin.
"Good! This flame's perfect! The firepower's almost as strong as a large-grade furnace!"
Mo Hua sighed in relief. Even though he was confident, he'd still worried about accidentally ruining the old man's furnace.
"Well, Master Chen, I'll take my leave then."
"What about the spirit stones for the formation work?"
Mo Hua waved his hand. "We agreed it was free. Forget the spirit stones."
Chen felt bad and insisted on giving him the leftover spiritual ink and several new formation brushes instead — all high quality.
The brushes were brand new, likely commissioned by someone else. The ink was exquisite — the best Mo Hua had ever seen. He couldn't help but accept them, pretending to resist for form's sake.
Chen then said, "If you ever need any spiritual tools forged, come find me. As long as it's not some giant artifact, I won't charge you a single spirit stone."
That was quite a generous promise.
"Thank you, Uncle Chen!"
Mo Hua left cheerfully, already planning what spiritual tools he might have forged in the future.
After Mo Hua disappeared down the street, Dazhu muttered,
"Master, are those gifts really enough? If we'd hired Master Jia to draw that formation, it would've cost us a pile of spirit stones."
Chen snorted. "I'd love to pay more — but where would I get more stones?"
"The Shen family still hasn't settled their payment for that batch of tools. We need spirit stones to run the furnace, buy refined iron, even feed you brats. One stone's split ten ways and still isn't enough! I can only take advantage of that little kid for now."
Dazhu fell silent — he knew better than to argue.
After pacing for a while, Chen glanced at the furnace, hesitated, then gritted his teeth.
"Go get that hundred-year-old Water Fuling Root. Bring it to Mo Hua later. I heard his mother's sick — too much inner heat. This medicine'll help."
"But wasn't that meant as a gift for Master Jia? If we give it to Mo Hua, what about him?"
"To hell with him!" Chen growled. "When we visit, he's polite enough, but the moment we ask him to draw a formation, he acts like a tyrant — and charges every spirit stone to the last! Such a big appetite, not afraid of choking on it!"
"But if we stop sending him gifts, he might refuse to draw formations for us," Dazhu worried.
"Doesn't matter — we've got Mo Hua now."
"But if we keep asking Mo Hua and never pay, that's not right either…"
Chen glared. "You think your master's that kind of man? I'll pay him when I have stones. For now, I really don't."
"Alright, alright." Dazhu nodded, then frowned again.
"But I heard Master Jia might become a First-Grade Formation Master soon. If we offend him, won't that cause trouble?"
Chen snorted. "First-grade? Hah! Not that easy. He just uses fancy words to fool people who don't understand formations. When it comes to actually drawing, he's not half as sharp as that Mo Hua kid. I bet by the time Mo Hua ranks, Jia still won't have advanced!"
"That's impossible. Mo Hua's only at the third layer of Qi-Refining — who knows when he'll rank?"
"Quit babbling. Just do what I said — I know what I'm doing."
Dazhu thought about it and decided that between the two, he'd much rather give gifts to Mo Hua anyway.
"I'll go in a bit then."
"What do you mean, 'in a bit'?" Chen frowned.
Dazhu scratched his head. "If I go later, maybe I can stay for dinner. Aunt Liu's cooking is really good."
Chen: "…"
Author's note:
Asked the editor — the story's doing pretty well! Got another round of recommendations coming up.
If this wave goes smoothly, it'll be ready for official release soon!
I'll stock up some chapters for a big burst when it launches! (=^_^=)
(End of Chapter)