Chapter 233: Prosperity
Using the Earthfire Array to hunt demon beasts was indeed twice the result for half the effort.
This time's hunt of the Red-Eyed Ram Demon might have looked troublesome on the surface, but compared to how they used to hunt, it was practically effortless.
Before, whenever they went after an adult demon beast, they had to surround it, drive it into retreat, and then keep chasing for at least a full day—sometimes even several.
Now, the Red-Eyed Ram Demon was directly blasted into heavy injury by the array. Its attacks weakened, its demonic power waned, and it became far easier to deal with. Within an hour, they could usually wear it down to death.
They still had to watch for feigned death—demon beasts were notorious for that—but for Demon Hunters, vigilance was second nature. It hardly slowed them down.
The group camped overnight, and returned to Tōngxiān City the next day.
Yu Chengyi went to speak with Elder Yu, and after a few words of discussion, Elder Yu gave his approval.
From then on, Yu Chengyi began teaching the other late-stage Qi-Refining Demon Hunters how to use the Earthfire Array in their hunts, how to set traps, how to place formations, how to activate them, how to encircle the demon afterward, and how to clean up the battlefield.
Those in mid-stage Qi-Refining were already familiar with the process—they'd long used Mo Hua's earlier Earthfire Arrays in their hunts.
But the old arrays only contained seven array runes, lacking power, so the late-stage Demon Hunters had never bothered with them.
Now, Mo Hua's array mastery had advanced enough that he could draw first-grade Earthfire Arrays.
As a result, all Demon Hunters—including late-stage ones—began learning to hunt using arrays.
At the same time, the Demon Hunters started wearing iron armor.
Some of it came from the confiscated Qian family disciples; the rest Elder Yu bought himself, spending heavily on refined iron and commissioning the artisans of the Refining Workshop to craft it.
The Refining Workshop's furnace was a first-grade refining furnace, inscribed with a Molten Fire Composite Array. Its flames were pure, and the armor it produced surpassed ordinary iron armor in quality.
Mo Hua took extra time to inscribe each set with a Golden Armor Array.
Wearing this kind of armor, a Demon Hunter's defense was no weaker than that of a late first-grade demon beast.
This batch was prioritized for Demon Hunters at the peak of the ninth Qi-Refining layer—Mo Shan, of course, received a set as well.
In addition, Mo Hua had learned the first-grade Golden Blade Array.
It was a Metal-element formation inscribed on weapons to enhance sharpness and penetration, making the Demon Hunters' strikes far more lethal.
Naturally, the very first one he drew was for Mo Shan's blade.
Now, with first-grade Earthfire Arrays for ambush, Golden Armor Arrays for defense, Golden Blade Arrays for offense, and the Mother-and-Child Compass Formation Network for detection and early warning.
Mo Hua could finally relax whenever Mo Shan entered the Inner Mountain to hunt.
And not just Mo Shan, thanks to the expanding Refining Workshop and Alchemy Workshop, and the growing flow of spirit stones, these arrays would gradually spread to all Demon Hunters.
From that point on, every part of demon hunting became inseparable from formations.
Arrays became deeply integrated into the hunts, making them safer, smoother, and far more efficient.
By now, every Demon Hunter in Great Black Mountain knew Mo Hua's name.
The armor they wore, the weapons they wielded, the traps they laid, all bore Mo Hua's formations.
Having seen the results firsthand, they truly understood how vital formations were.
Thanks to them, the difference between hunting now and before was night and day.
With the protection of arrays, they no longer feared injury with every fight or death with every mistake.
Their families, too, could finally breathe easier—no longer living in dread that their loved ones would march into the mountains whole and return in blood-soaked tatters.
Mo Hua himself could now focus his heart on reaching Foundation Establishment.
For now, he lacked nothing in terms of spirit stones... between Fortune Dining House, the Refining and Alchemy Workshops in the southern city, and his share in the spirit mine, his income was steady and generous.
His parents had even saved up a good amount for his future cultivation—and, as they'd said, for his future marriage.
At the moment, however, Mo Hua's main bottleneck was Divine-Sense.
To reach Foundation Establishment, he needed to strengthen it. To strengthen it, he had to draw more formations. And to draw more formations, he needed more demon blood to make Spirit Ink.
During his earlier time in the Outer Mountain, he had stockpiled nearly a thousand vials of Spirit Ink using the blood from his hunts.
But later, while guarding the spirit mine, building the Refining and Alchemy Workshops, forging the Refining Furnace, and handling countless other matters, he had expended much of it.
Now, with Foundation Establishment still ahead, he knew he'd need plenty more Spirit Ink—for both creating and decoding arrays—so he began collecting again.
And since the blood of late first-grade demon beasts made stronger formations, he turned his sights to the Inner Mountain.
Once more, Mo Hua roamed its depths, mapping terrain, gathering herbs for Elder Feng, mining ores for Master Chen, collecting spices for his mother's cooking…
But most of all, he kept his eyes on the formation compass, watching for signs of battle.
Whenever the compass flashed, he'd calculate the direction and rush there.
Late-stage first-grade demon beasts were hard to kill.
Even with an Earthfire Array, a hunt took considerable effort.
But by the time Mo Hua arrived, the timing was usually perfect, sometimes even early.
He never joined the fighting; instead, he'd hide somewhere safe and, once the battle was over, emerge with a small vial to collect the demon's blood.
If the fight dragged on or the beast tried to fake death, he'd lob a few Fireball Spells, either to harass it or to test whether it was truly dead.
Since his breakthrough in cultivation, his Celestial Evolution Art had advanced, making his Fireball Spell faster, sharper, and stronger.
Now, a mere thought would summon a blazing sphere of fire.
During stalemates between Demon Hunters and beasts, Mo Hua's spells often tipped the balance.
Most Demon Hunters were deeply grateful to him, and quite fond of him as well.
Ordinarily, no one else was allowed to touch a Demon Hunter's prey. But Mo Hua was the exception.
The demon beast was theirs, but the blood was his.
Sometimes, after killing a beast, the hunters wouldn't even start dismantling it. They'd wait for Mo Hua to arrive and draw the blood first.
If he didn't show up, they'd feel a bit regretful, wasting demon blood now felt like a pity.
Thus, Mo Hua moved freely through the Inner Mountain, completely at ease.
He was part of the Demon Hunters, sharing in their triumphs and their troubles.
With so many allies, his actions within the Inner Mountain grew ever smoother.
Though the Inner Mountain was far more dangerous than the Outer, the presence of formations made Mo Hua feel that… perhaps the two weren't so different anymore.
Gradually, his stockpile of Spirit Ink swelled again, and the Demon Hunters' overall strength rose sharply.
Though their cultivation levels hadn't advanced, their combat power had—immensely. Hunts that once took days were now finished in hours.
At the same time, more and more materials from late first-grade demon beasts flowed into the Refining and Alchemy Workshops.
There, they were refined into spirit tools and pills, sold to city cultivators and traveling merchants alike, bringing in vast profits of spirit stones.
Those spirit stones were then distributed among the city's wandering cultivators.
The rogue cultivators of Tōngxiān City grew wealthier, and the city itself quietly began to prosper.
And as Tōngxiān City flourished... more and more mysterious, unfamiliar cultivators began to arrive from distant lands…
(End of Chapter)