Chapter 348: Comprehension

Mo Hua was stunned and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Bai Zisheng hesitated. “The thing you drew… is this the Array Pivot?”

Mo Hua nodded. “Yeah.”

“What’s an Array Pivot?”

Bai Zisheng asked curiously, and Bai Zixi also looked at Mo Hua with interest.

Mo Hua thought for a moment and teased, “You’ll know later.”

Bai Zisheng muttered in dissatisfaction, “Cheapskate…”

Then he remembered something and his expression grew worried. He whispered, “Are you guys going to relocate the city?”

“Maybe,” Mo Hua replied.

“What do you mean ‘maybe’?” Bai Zisheng asked. “When a great demon appears, relocating the city is usually the only option…”

Mo Hua asked: “If it’s not the usual case, is there another way?”

He wanted to know if Bai Zisheng knew of other methods to deal with a great demon.

“How would I know…” Bai Zisheng shook his head. “I asked Aunt Xue, that’s what she told me.”

Bai Zixi’s clear voice added, “The Bai family has cultivators serving in the Tianxu Pavilion who have seen records of this. Generally, disasters involving great demons—being able to relocate the city—is already the best outcome.”

Others are eaten by demons, turned into corpse slaves, or become ghosts… all human tragedies.

Thinking of this, the three of them grew solemn.

Mo Hua glanced at Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi and asked, “If the city relocates, will you leave too?”

Bai Zisheng nodded. “Once the city relocates, Mister Zhuang will definitely leave. Judging by him, he doesn’t really want to take me and Zixi as disciples.”

“But we absolutely want to become his disciples!” Bai Zisheng said firmly.

“Why?” Mo Hua asked, puzzled.

Bai Zisheng hesitated, glanced at Bai Zixi, saw she didn’t object and wasn’t unhappy, then looked at Mo Hua earnestly.

Mo Hua leaned in.

Bai Zisheng lowered his voice and whispered, “I don’t even know…”

Mo Hua was momentarily stunned, then looked at Bai Zisheng with mild disdain.

“I haven’t finished yet,” Bai Zisheng hurriedly said.

He whispered again, “Originally, this couldn’t be told to outsiders, but we’re from the same sect… or half, anyway, so I won’t hide it from you…”

“My mother instructed Zixi and me to find Mister Zhuang and become his disciples, to learn a special array technique.”

“This technique can only be learned by personally transmitted disciples, not registered disciples.”

“Oh,” Mo Hua nodded.

So that’s why…

No wonder Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi are so persistent about becoming Mister Zhuang’s disciples.

Perhaps it’s not their own persistence, but their mother’s, or perhaps the Bai family behind them…

Then this array technique must be very important…

“Don’t you want to ask what the array technique is?”

Bai Zisheng was a little dissatisfied. Mo Hua had just said “oh” with such a flat reaction after he revealed such “confidential” information.

Shouldn’t you be at least a little shocked?

Mo Hua glanced at him and said faintly, “Didn’t you say you didn’t know?”

Bai Zisheng froze. “How did you know I didn’t know?”

“You just said, ‘I don’t know.’ That means you don’t know what array technique you’ll learn from Mister Zhuang…”

“Besides, even if you did know, you wouldn’t be able to say it, right?” Mo Hua added.

Bai Zisheng propped his chin on his hand, shook his head, and said, “Mo Hua, that’s no fun. We can’t chat like this. You’ve spoiled the mystery.”

“Alright,” Mo Hua said after a moment, then thought of another question:

“What if Mister Zhuang leaves and refuses to take you as disciples? What will you do?”

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi exchanged glances and sighed softly.

Bai Zisheng said bitterly, “I don’t know… maybe we’ll keep looking for Mister Zhuang until he finally accepts us…”

That would be very difficult. Mister Zhuang is elusive, and who knows where he might go.

They would have to trek through mountains and rivers, sleep exposed to the elements—forget becoming his disciples, even finding him would be incredibly hard.

Mo Hua felt some sympathy for them and also some frustration toward their mother and the Bai family.

Such a big family, and instead of solving matters themselves, they rely on these two children to seek a master.

They hope to soften Mister Zhuang’s heart through them.

It seems An Xiaofu was right: the larger the family, the weaker the familial bonds.

Bai Zisheng suddenly asked Mo Hua, “Mo Hua, do you think Mister Zhuang would accept you as a disciple?”

Mo Hua was stunned. He thought for a moment and shook his head. “You have connections with him, your family background is good, your talent is excellent—if Mister Zhuang doesn’t want to take you, why would he take me?”

Bai Zisheng murmured, “Not necessarily…”

Mister Zhuang treated Mo Hua much better than them…

If it weren’t for Mo Hua’s poor spiritual root, he would even suspect Mo Hua is a blood descendant of Mister Zhuang…

Mister Zhuang’s blood descendants would not have such poor spiritual roots!

So Mo Hua definitely has no blood relation with him.

Mo Hua stared at Bai Zisheng, narrowing his eyes like a cat, displeased.

“Are you saying bad things about me in your heart?”

Bai Zisheng was shocked. “You can tell that?”

Mo Hua snorted. “I learned it from Mister Zhuang.”

Whenever he harbored ill thoughts, Mister Zhuang could see through them. Over time, Mo Hua also learned to sense when others spoke ill of him.

Bai Zisheng sighed helplessly. “What kind of things did you even learn…”

“It works, that’s enough!”

…

The two of them sparred verbally for a while longer.

Mo Hua wanted to restore his Divine Sense, so chatting with Bai Zisheng was also a short break.

Then Bai Zisheng suddenly lowered his head, looking a bit downcast.

“What’s wrong?” Mo Hua asked.

Bai Zisheng looked at the big locust tree, then at the distant Tongxian City, and sighed:

“If the city relocates, none of this will be left…”

Mister Zhuang’s mountain home gone, the locust tree gone, the bamboo grove gone, the pond gone, the fish in the pond gone…

The cultivators of Tongxian City would all leave, the taverns gone, the bustling streets gone, the fireworks gone, the thrilling demon-fighting shows gone…

After they part ways, they might never taste the wine and meat Mo Hua brought, nor Aunt Liu’s handmade pastries…

If they go to seek Mister Zhuang to become disciples, it will be an arduous journey.

If they return to the Bai family, it will be a vibrant but stifling cage.

The days in Tongxian City had been the happiest he’d ever experienced.

If Tongxian City remains, he could still think about coming back.

If it’s gone, there won’t even be a place to miss…

The more Bai Zisheng thought, the gloomier he became.

Bai Zixi’s bright eyes also held deep sadness.

Mo Hua was momentarily speechless.

Then he thought for a moment and firmly said, “It won’t happen!”

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi were startled. “What won’t happen?”

“Tongxian City won’t disappear!”

“But…”

Mo Hua stood up. “You’ll see soon enough!”

He packed up, threw down, “I’m going to find Mister Zhuang,” and dashed off like the wind.

The siblings exchanged a glance, puzzled, wondering what Mo Hua intended.

Mo Hua went to Mister Zhuang to ask about some questions regarding the Array Pivot, then returned home and began to study the Great Array day and night.

The city relocation was still in preparation.

Before everyone officially began relocating, he had to master the Array Pivot!

Once he mastered the Array Pivot, he would grasp the core of the Great Array.

Later, the integration of single arrays, the construction of array media, and so on could be learned while the array was being assembled.

From that point on, Mo Hua locked himself in his room, practicing the array over and over.

His Divine Sense grew gradually, almost imperceptibly.

The structure of the Array Pivot also became clearer in his mind.

He refined his drawn Array Pivot stroke by stroke.

But it still wasn’t enough…

His Divine Sense was still insufficient.

Every time he neared exhaustion, he would retrace and start again, cycling endlessly.

Yet he was still far from being able to complete the Array Pivot perfectly.

He tried repeatedly, failing repeatedly.

It was like a man crossing a river: he could always see the other shore, but drowned just before reaching it.

“Does the Ten-Pattern Great Array really consume this much Divine Sense?”

Mo Hua felt a wave of despair.

Yet he did not give up.

Like a wind-up puppet, he worked tirelessly, mechanically repeating the same motions.

Draw the Array Pivot, erase it, draw it again, erase it again…

Monotonous, repetitive, and tedious.

But Mo Hua focused entirely, forgetting time, forgetting everything, fully immersed in the array.

Heaven rewards diligence. A month later, fortune and enlightenment came together: for the first time, Mo Hua completed the full Array Pivot of the Five-Element Demon-Slaying Great Array in his Sea of Consciousness!

At that moment, Mo Hua froze.

He felt no joy, only numbness and a touch of self-doubt.

“Did I really draw it?”

Could it be a dream…?

He examined the Array Pivot again.

Every line fit perfectly, orderly, with intricate strokes layered and interwoven, forming the majestic backbone of the Array Pivot.

Profound, obscure, complex, yet possessing an indescribable, intricate beauty.

Mo Hua snapped out of the mechanical, numb “puppet” state, and joy gradually flooded his heart like rain.

“I finally drew it!”

His eyes brightened with delight.

Being able to independently draw the complete Great Array Pivot meant he could construct the Great Array. He could now officially begin assembling the powerful Five-Element Demon-Slaying Great Array!

Build the Great Array, kill Feng Xi, and protect Tongxian City!