Chapter 32 – Restaurant_1
Chapter 32 Restaurant_1
Translator: 549690339
By utilizing the Taoist Stele in his Sea of Consciousness, he continuously honed his Formation skills, enhancing his Divine Sense.
Although this method was cumbersome, it was the only way Mo Hua had at present.
“Thankfully I have the Taoist Stele in my Sea of Consciousness; otherwise, even this clumsy method wouldn’t be possible,”
Mo Hua thought somewhat gratefully. In reality, Drawing Formation consumed too much Divine Sense and the recovery was too slow, to enhance Divine Sense through this method would inevitably require spending several times the effort and time.
With that in mind, Mo Hua calmed down and focused wholeheartedly on practicing the Melting Fire Formation on the Taoist Stele.
As long as he kept practicing, there would eventually come a day when he mastered it.
Mo Hua tried his best to draw the first four Formation Patterns until his Divine Sense was nearly depleted, then he would erase the Formation Patterns.
After resting for a moment, he continued to draw, and then erased them again.
In this cycle, he repeated the process until he felt his Divine Sense had a bit of energy left, and then he added one more stroke after completing the four Formation Patterns.
After an entire night, Mo Hua had only managed to add two additional strokes from where he began, but at least those two strokes clearly indicated that his Divine Sense was indeed growing.
When he awoke the next day, Mo Hua went to the Market Town to buy some ink required for the Melting Fire Formation.
The ink was made with the blood of Fire-Attribute Demon Beasts as a catalyst, mixed with some herbs. It was not particularly expensive, so Mo Hua bought over ten batches in one go.
Because Formation Masters were rare and cultivators who could draw formations were few, not many bought ink. The shopkeeper rarely encountered a big customer like Mo Hua and even gave him a few extra batches.
After returning home, Mo Hua began practicing Drawing the Melting Fire Formation with the ink.
Since the ink was bought with Spirit Stones, Mo Hua drew with extra care, putting his heart into every stroke.
Of course, limited by his Divine Sense, Mo Hua could only add two additional strokes to the four Formation Patterns at most, unable to complete the full five-pattern Melting Fire Formation.
After completing each session, he would have to stop and rest for two hours to recover his Divine Sense. Once it was replenished, he continued to draw.
This efficiency was much lower compared to Drawing Formation on the Taoist Stele in his Sea of Consciousness. It also consumed ink and Spirit paper, meaning he was spending Spirit Stones. However, to learn the Melting Fire Formation sooner, Mo Hua didn’t care about the cost.
Continue his practice day and night, after half a month, Mo Hua could add around ten or so strokes beyond the four Formation Patterns, roughly equivalent to half a pattern.
At this pace, he estimated that in another half month, his Divine Sense would be strong enough to draw a complete five-pattern Melting Fire Formation.
Mo Hua silently breathed a sigh of relief.
Knowing that refining the stove would also take time, he had to plan ahead for some things.
During the day, Mo Hua strolled around the streets, and at night, he went home to have dinner with his parents.
Under the flickering candlelight, the table was set with fragrant rice porridge, white and soft steamed buns, two plates of freshly picked vegetables, and a small dish of pickled vegetables.
This was already considered quite a feast on the table of an ordinary Loose Cultivator, where meat was basically impossible to come by.
Liu Ruhua had excellent culinary skills; the dishes were simple yet delicious, and Mo Hua ate with relish.
However, as much as the cooking was Liu Ruhua’s, the fire used for cooking was supplied by Mo Shan with his Spiritual Power.
Liu Ruhua’s demeanor remained usual, but within the glances, there always seemed to be a touch of loss, and she would occasionally space out.
Mo Hua quickly devoured a steamed bun, his cheeks bulging, when he suddenly asked, “Mom, have you ever thought about opening a Food Building?”
Liu Ruhua, who was sipping her porridge carefully, was startled. She smiled and asked, “Why do you suddenly ask that?”
“Your cooking is so delicious, Mom. Opening a Food Building would definitely earn a lot of Spirit Stones,”
“But opening a Food Building also requires capital. We’re Loose Cultivators from a humble background. Where would we get the Spirit Stones to open one?”
Liu Ruhua said with amusement, then her pale fingers playfully tapped on Mo Hua’s nose, jesting, “When you grow up and your Cultivation is high, earning plenty of Spirit Stones, we’ll open one then.”
Mo Hua whispered quietly, “Let’s start with a small one first.”
“A small what?” Liu Ruhua was perplexed.
“An eatery,” Mo Hua said. “I went around the streets and noticed there are many eateries selling drinks, dishes, snacks, noodles and such. They all seem to do quite well.”
Liu Ruhua hesitated, with a somewhat despondent look.
Seeing this, Mo Shan said softly, “Huar, your mother… she can’t use spiritual power.”
Without spiritual power, one cannot supply the fire needed to cook the meals for Tao cultivation.
Even with spiritual power, the constant flow of customers at an eatery requires the preparation of many dishes, which can’t be sustained by a Qi Refinement Realm cultivator’s spiritual power alone.
Mo Hua’s delicate eyebrows arched with pride and she said, “We’ll build a stove.”
Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua looked at each other, puzzled.
Mo Hua took out a large sheet of blueprint from her storage bag.
“This is the design for the stove. I’ve asked Master Chen from the Refinery Shop about the materials needed, the size, and the number of spirit stones required. I’ll figure out the formation. Once this stove is refined, it won’t need a cultivator to use spiritual power to activate it; just place spirit stones inside, and it will continuously provide fire. It’ll make cooking and simmering ingredients much easier.”
Mo Shan’s couple hadn’t expected their son to have already prepared the blueprints and were momentarily stunned.
“Refining the stove will require a lot of spirit stones, right…?”
“We’ll make a small stove first. I’ve already asked Master Chen, and it won’t need too many spirit stones. For a small eatery, a smaller stove will be sufficient.”
“And the formation?” Liu Ruhua asked.
Mo Hua feigned composure, but her expression couldn’t quite hide her pride, “I’ll draw it. I’ve already got the formation diagram from Manager Mo, and the formation isn’t hard…”
Mo Hua, who spent several nights depleting her divine sense to practice over and over again and still hadn’t fully mastered the Melting Fire Formation, felt a slight pang of guilt as she finished her sentence.
Liu Ruhua looked at Mo Hua skeptically, “Are you sure it’s not difficult?”
Mo Hua laughed, “Although I haven’t learned it yet, a few more days of practice and I’ll have no problems.”
There was no helping it; a formation with five patterned lines was not so easy to learn.
Liu Ruhua nodded in acknowledgment, thinking to herself that since Mo Hua was young and hadn’t been learning formations for long, if he could master it, it probably wasn’t an excessively difficult formation.
Yet, after reflecting for a moment, she shook her head and said, “Opening a shop isn’t so simple. Even a small eatery requires renting a place and hiring help. There are many things to manage, and a lot of spirit stones will be needed. If the income doesn’t cover the expenses, it will only make our household’s financial situation even tighter. Right now, the most important thing is to save some spirit stones for your cultivation…”
Mo Shan, who had been silent until now, suddenly said, “We will open this eatery. I’ll figure out a way with the location and the staff. You two don’t need to worry.”
Mo Shan then took out another storage bag and handed it to Mo Hua, “There are over a hundred spirit stones in here that I earned from hunting monster beasts in these past months. I know you’ve made quite a bit of money drawing formations for others, but let’s deduct the spirit stones needed for refining the stove from this bag…”
Mo Hua was about to refuse when Mo Shan stuffed the storage bag into his hands.
Holding the storage bag, and thinking about how the spirit stones inside were earned through his father’s life-threatening battles with monster beasts, Mo Hua felt them weigh heavier than ordinary spirit stones.
With Mo Shan’s agreement, the matter of opening the eatery was essentially decided. After finishing his meal, Mo Hua returned to his room to continue practicing the Melting Fire Formation.
Liu Ruhua’s expression was still fraught with concern.
Mo Shan reassured her, “Alright, don’t think too much about it. Starting a small eatery is just a small business venture. Even if we incur losses, they won’t amount to much.”
Liu Ruhua sighed, “Huar is talented and smart. In the future, his cultivation, learning cultivation techniques, and Taoist skills, and his desire to become a Formation Master, learning formations, all that will require a lot of spirit stones. If we use them all now, what will we do if there aren’t enough for Huar’s cultivation later on?”
Mo Shan said softly, “Don’t underestimate Huar. He is already drawing formations for businesses, even if they’re simple ones, but that’s already quite impressive. Who knows, maybe in ten or twenty years, after more practice with formations, he might truly become a Formation Master.”
Mo Shan laughed, “By that time, we might be relying on our son to .”
Liu Ruhua smiled, but she still couldn’t fully let go of her worries.
Mo Shan held Liu Ruhua’s hand, “Then let’s run the eatery well, save up more spirit stones, and later on, find a good young woman for Mo Hua, watching him get married and have children.”
After considering what Mo Shan said, a smile appeared on Liu Ruhua’s face, yet she still didn’t feel completely at ease, “What if, just in case…”
“Even if there are unforeseen circumstances, I’m still here. No matter how hard life gets, there’s always a solution. It’s just a matter of working a bit harder and hunting a few more monster beasts,” Mo Shan said in a gentle yet firm tone.
Liu Ruhua stopped talking and quietly nestled into Mo Shan’s embrace.