Chapter 90: Parents (Part 4)_1
Translator: 549690339
After chatting with Zhang Lan in the daytime, Mo Hua spent the entire day poring over the “Thousand Formation Collection” given by Mr. Zhuang. He found several formations that could be useful and planned to study them in the next few days. Once learned, he would draw a few copies to carry with him, just in case.
It’s unwise to harbor intentions to harm others, but one must always be prepared to defend against them.
Mo Hua’s means of self-protection were currently too limited; relying solely on formations clearly wasn’t enough.
The incident with Qian Xing served as a warning to Mo Hua. Despite the laws of the Taoist Court, cultivators might not all comply. The Heavenly Dao bestows power upon cultivators, but slaughter and power have always been inseparable companions.
Being a cultivator himself, Body Cultivators fight to the death with martial arts, while Spiritual Cultivators claim lives with spells. If he knew nothing, he wouldn’t survive long enough in the perilous Tao Cultivation World to take care of his aging parents…
Of course, Mo Hua could devote himself solely to becoming a Formation Master, finding a safe place where he would neither battle Monster Beasts nor conflict with other cultivators, focusing only on studying formations and living peacefully ever after.
But ultimately, placing one’s life in the hands of others’ kindness is never a good choice.
After all, Mo Hua had no way of knowing whether, in the future, he might encounter a cultivator with murderous intent towards him. If a cultivator targeted him and he had no means of protecting himself, he would have no choice but to accept his fate.
So, how could he protect himself?
Mo Hua pondered this question to himself.
Undertaking Body Cultivation was out of the question, impossible in this lifetime.
With Mo Hua’s physique, practicing Body Refinement and learning Tao Cultivation martial arts to engage in close-quarters combat would be no different from delivering himself to death.
That left only the path of becoming a Spiritual Cultivator.
But Mo Hua’s talent for such a pursuit was not particularly remarkable, either.
His Spiritual Root could only be considered mediocre at best; his Qi Sea couldn’t store an abundance of Spiritual Power, and the cultivation technique he practiced, “Tianyan Jue,” didn’t offer any special bonuses to his Spiritual Power. This meant that his Spiritual Power would be somewhat inadequate compared to cultivators of the same realm.
This was in comparison with cultivators of similar aptitude. Compared with geniuses like Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi, Mo Hua’s Spiritual Power could even be described as “paltry.”
The amount of Spiritual Power was directly linked to the potency of spells.
“Forget it, let’s talk about it after reaching the fifth level of Qi Refinement. I can’t learn any spells now,” Mo Hua sighed.
Upon reaching the fifth level of Qi Refinement, Body Cultivators could learn Physical Martial Arts, and Spiritual Cultivators could learn spells because their Spiritual Power would be relatively abundant, providing the foundation to manipulate Spiritual Power and use Taoist Skills.
By the time one reached the sixth level of Qi Refinement, many cultivators had to fend for themselves. By then, it would be considered late to start learning.
Thinking it over, for now, he could only rely on formations.
Mo Hua sighed again and earnestly entered his Sea of Consciousness, practicing a few new formations on the Taoist Stele.
Mo Shan, who had been out and about the whole day, had also returned home.
“I’ve asked around; Huar didn’t do anything wrong. It was Qian Xing from the Qian Family who was looking for trouble on purpose. He even tried to make a move on Mo Hua, but fortunately, Dazhu and the others intervened, and it ended without incident.”
Liu Ruhua breathed a sigh of relief, but then expressed her worry, “The Qian Family won’t cause trouble for Huar, will they?”
Mo Shan snorted coldly, “They dare? The Qian Family may be powerful, but we Monster Hunters who fight for our lives against Monster Beasts and taste the blade’s edge aren’t weak. Unless a Foundation Building Cultivator steps in, if they dare to come at us, they won’t leave in one piece!”
When Mo Shan spoke, his entire being exuded a ferocity, an aura forged from years of battling Monster Beasts, which was rather intimidating.
Liu Ruhua rarely saw her husband show such an expression; at home, Mo Shan was always gentle and considerate. Holding her husband’s hand, she asked softly, “What if the Qian Family really sends a Foundation Building Cultivator?”
Mo Shan shook his head, “That won’t happen. The Qian Family has Foundation Building Elders, and so do we Monster Hunters. If Foundation Building Cultivators get involved, it would escalate matters, and neither side would come out unscathed.”
“Did you tell the Elder about this?”
“I did. Initially, I wanted to give the Qian Family a hard time. It’s tricky in Tongxian City, but in these mountains, we Monster Hunters call the shots. It would have been easy to make them suffer, but the Elder didn’t agree…” moaned Mo Shan, his displeasure evident.
“Did the Elder ask you all to keep the overall situation in mind?”
“No,” Mo Shan hesitated, then said, “The Elder said, there’s no excuse to pick a fight right now.”
“No excuse?” Liu Ruhua looked puzzled.
Mo Shan whispered, “The Elder said, Qian Xing bullied Mo Hua, but Mo Hua is still bouncing around, alive and well, while Qian Xing himself ended up severely injured, disfigured… Under these circumstances, it’s tough to find an excuse to cause trouble.”
Liu Ruhua, meeting such an Elder for the first time, couldn’t help asking, “What if there was an excuse?”
“If there was an excuse, we’d have the moral high ground. We could start the trouble and then have them compensate us with Spirit Stones. The Monster Hunting Team has been stretched thin lately, unable to distribute Spirit Stones. The Elder is quite anxious, and if there were an excuse, he would have pressed for compensation by now.”
“Don’t worry, although Mo Hua is physically weak and can’t become a Monster Hunter, he is still considered part of the Monster Hunters. In such situations, the Elder wouldn’t just stand by idly. Otherwise, if we let these clans bully us habitually, we poor Monster Hunters wouldn’t be able to survive,” Mo Shan reassured his wife.
Reassured, Liu Ruhua then asked curiously, “You said Qian Xing was severely injured? With servants and guards from the Qian Family, how could he be injured?”
Mo Shan’s expression became enigmatic, “Take a guess.”
Liu Ruhua glared at her husband with her gentle eyes and, after thinking a bit, said, “Was it Dazhu and the others who did it?”
Mo Shan shook his head.
“Then there were other Monster Hunters nearby who lent a hand?”
“That’s not right either.”
After a few more incorrect guesses, Liu Ruhua shook her head and said, “I can’t figure it out. It couldn’t possibly be Huar who hurt him.”
Mo Shan raised an eyebrow, “You guessed it, it was Huar.”
Liu Ruhua’s mouth fell open in shock, “That can’t be, how old is Huar? His cultivation is so low, how could he have left Qian Xing severely wounded?”
Mo Shan said with a complex expression, “I couldn’t believe it either. Logically, it shouldn’t be possible. But indeed, there were witnesses. That day, when Huar was being held hostage by Qian Xing and broke free, Huar splashed Spiritual Ink into Qian Xing’s eyes. Then he stuffed a piece of paper with a Formation drawn on it into Qian Xing’s chest. At the same time, he crushed a Spirit Stone. After he kicked Qian Xing, Huar was the one sent flying and fell to the ground. And when the Formation exploded, Qian Xing was blasted away…”
Liu Ruhua listened, dumbfounded, then covered her mouth and laughed, “Huar really didn’t suffer a loss.”
Mo Shan laughed too, “He got some superficial wounds, seemingly from his own fall, with a bit of bruising on his neck. Old Mr. Feng applied some medicine, and he was already getting better. Compared to Qian Xing, who ended up looking like charcoal, it really wasn’t a loss.”
“Does anyone else know about this incident?”
“Very few know, and even if it were spoken of, no one would believe it. Huar is young after all, and with only the fourth layer of Qi Refinement, neither we as parents nor anyone else would believe it.”
Liu Ruhua nodded, “That’s for the best, the Qian Family won’t cause Huar any trouble. But we really have to thank Dazhu and the kids for this. Otherwise, Huar might have suffered.”
Liu Ruhua felt a lingering fear contemplating this.
“Yes, we should prepare something tomorrow to give to Master Chen and the others.”
“But don’t worry,” Mo Shan added with a smile, “I’ve told the Monster Hunting Team’s brothers to keep an eye out when they can. If anyone dares to pick on Huar again, I’ll make sure they regret it.”
Mo Shan held Liu Ruhua in his arms.