Chapter 383: Provocation

Sun Ze was shocked: “Our Sun family… really has such a legacy?”

Sun Yi glared at him. “Or did you think the Sun family’s fortune just came out of thin air?”

“Our ancestor was a full-fledged second-rank Array Master. How could he have passed down so little?”

Sun Ze frowned. “But… where is this inheritance?”

All his life, he had never seen nor heard that the Sun family possessed such top-secret formations.

Sun Yi’s eyelid twitched as he sighed:

“I don’t know either…”

“The ancestor left under mysterious circumstances, without time to arrange anything. Some of the formation legacies are scattered fragments.”

“Everything our Sun family has today is just the scraps pieced together bit by bit from the ancestor’s manuscripts by your great-grandfather and grandfather.”

“There are a few second-rank formations, but we can’t learn them. Even the first-rank formations are mostly ordinary, nothing special…”

Sun Ze couldn’t help but sneer:

“Are we really even the ancestor’s own descendants?”

Sun Yi’s expression darkened, and he barked:

“Say such disrespectful things again, and you’ll be kneeling at the ancestral hall for three days!”

Sun Ze muttered a few words but didn’t dare speak openly.

Sun Yi’s gaze hardened.

He had actually doubted this himself.

The ancestor had died suddenly.

But no matter how sudden, he should have prepared, organized some formation legacies, and left them for his descendants.

It shouldn’t have come to this, where all they could do was scrape together the remnants left by their forebears.

Even though with these formations, they could control the Spirit Farmers and live comfortably.

But the way of formations is vast and profound.

Who wouldn’t want to go further?

Let alone a second-rank Array Master—just reaching first-rank status would put him in a completely different position.

In the nearby Shangtai City, a first-rank Array Master, even if only at Qi Refining, would not have much lower status than him, a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The ancestor left no formation legacies for his descendants.

Could it really be because all the Sun family descendants aren’t truly “Suns,” and the blood in their veins isn’t the ancestor’s?

But Sun Yi only dared think this in his heart.

The Sun family could establish themselves in Qianjia Town and wield influence partly thanks to formations, and partly due to the grace of their ancestors.

Ancestor’s grace gave them legitimacy; ordinary cultivators had no choice but to tolerate it.

Without it, if trouble arose and public anger was provoked, the Sun family wouldn’t necessarily fare well.

Sun Ze pondered, then asked:

“That brat… if he really has designs on our Sun family’s formations, which are neither publicly nor privately passed down, and even our own family doesn’t know about them, what should we do?”

Sun Yi sneered:

“Such a legacy… a little kid like him dares to covet it?”

“Even if the secret of a second-rank Array Master were in front of him, he couldn’t understand it.”

“He’s overestimating himself!”

Sun Yi said with disdain.

He was an Array Master himself. Though not first-rank, he had deeply experienced the difficulty of formations and the hardship of learning them.

Even as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he struggled to comprehend formations—let alone that little brat who was only at the seventh layer of Qi Refining.

Sun Ze, who could only draw four array patterns so far, nodded in agreement.

Formations were indeed difficult to master.

Then he asked: “The brat might not understand, but what about his master?”

Sun Yi paused, thinking of Mister Zhuang, the elegant, refined cultivator with the demeanor of a sage, and frowned:

“His master…”

He couldn’t see through him at all.

He had no clue whether this person had vitality, cultivation, or even Divine Sense.

If it was just trickery, then he was a fraud with no cultivation.

If it was Dao made simple, returning to the essence, then he was an unfathomable master.

Sun Yi couldn’t figure it out, and asked again:

“In these past two days, following that brother-sister pair, have you discovered anything?”

Sun Ze said helplessly: “Those two are extraordinarily talented, perceptive, and both striking in appearance. Even with all my indirect inquiries, I couldn’t uncover their identities…”

“But if they were disciples from a prominent family, in a second-rank prefecture, there would certainly be a Foundation Establishment cultivator accompanying them.”

“If there’s no Foundation Establishment with them, they aren’t prominent-family disciples, or at most, they’re impoverished ones…”

“A featherless phoenix is nothing to fear.”

Sun Ze asked further: “Father, could you tell which one among them is a Foundation Establishment? And whose Divine Sense did you sense the other day?”

Sun Yi’s frown deepened.

He had been observing carefully for days, yet found no source for that Divine Sense.

The Zhuang cultivator hadn’t used Divine Sense.

The old servant named Kui seemed like a block of wood.

The two prominent-family disciples were full of vitality and spiritual power, both at the ninth layer of Qi Refining. Though their Divine Sense was strong, it wasn’t enough to match Foundation Establishment.

As for the little brat who ran to the Spirit Fields every day, at that age, he hadn’t even bothered to look…

“Could I have been mistaken?”

“Or perhaps this Divine Sense comes from some other cultivator, unrelated to this group?”

Sun Yi pondered in confusion.

Sun Ze glanced at his father, inwardly scolding but said nothing, instead moving his gaze slightly and asked:

“So, what should we do next?”

Sun Yi frowned, deliberating for a long while before replying:

“Observe some more, and figure out the situation first…”

“If they truly have background, we’ll treat them with courtesy.”

“If it’s all show, not even a Foundation Establishment among them, we’ll make them understand that the Sun family’s resources aren’t so easily enjoyed.”

Sun Yi lowered his voice:

“This place is far from Shangtai City. If nothing major happens, the Dao Court won’t intervene.”

“By then, we hold the knives; they’re the fish on the plate.”

A cold gleam flashed in Sun Yi’s eyes.

“That little brat?” Sun Ze asked. “He keeps running to the Spirit Fields and helping those peasants draw formations, causing trouble.”

“Daring to cut off the Sun family’s resources…”

Sun Yi sneered. “Watch him closely. If he behaves, we won’t trouble him. If he doesn’t…”

His gaze turned cold. “You’ll teach him to behave.”

“What about his master?”

“No matter.” Sun Yi said lightly. “If he interferes in Sun family affairs, we’re in the right.”

“We can also use this to test their capabilities.”

Sun Yi’s expression was meaningful.

Sun Ze smiled slyly. “Father, I understand.”

…

Mo Hua still went to the Spirit Fields whenever he had the chance.

His senses grew clearer.

The Absolute Formation was hidden somewhere in the Spirit Fields.

But exactly where, he still had no clue.

Even with Divine Sense calculation, the precise location couldn’t be determined.

Mo Hua sighed in his heart:

“It seems I still need more practice with this calculation method. If I could calculate like Master, just in my mind, I could figure out where the formation is, and it wouldn’t be so troublesome.”

Miao’er followed Mo Hua like a little shadow.

When Mo Hua went to the fields, Miao’er followed. When Mo Hua inspected the spirit rice, Miao’er watched with wide eyes. When Mo Hua drew formations, Miao’er grabbed grass roots and tried to imitate him on the ground.

Of course, he drew randomly and never accurately, often switching to drawing oxen or chickens.

Mo Hua asked him some questions.

He answered in his innocent little voice.

He didn’t understand complex matters, nor did he know past events, but he was clear about things seen in the fields.

Mo Hua would also take out pastries to give him.

Miao’er initially refused a few times, but couldn’t resist in the end. He said crisply: “Thank you, big brother!”

He politely took the pastry, holding it with both hands, and slowly ate it, eyes smiling.

That day, Mo Hua went to the Spirit Fields again. Miao’er followed as usual, hopping along behind him.

But unlike before, many people were waiting at the road entrance.

They were all Spirit Farmers from Dongshan Village.

Some were cautious but all bowed to Mo Hua.

A burly man stepped forward:

“May we request… young sir… to draw some formations for us?”

The Spirit Farmers placed their baskets and storage pouches in front of Mo Hua.

Some offered a few spirit stones, some spirit grains, some a chicken, some jade pendants…

The burly man said sheepishly:

“The gifts are humble. Young sir… please don’t disdain them.”

Everyone bowed again to Mo Hua.

Among them were old and young, men and women.

Some were elderly with white hair, some in their prime, tall and strong, but all lowered their heads respectfully.

And Mo Hua was only a thirteen-year-old young cultivator.

Forced by circumstances, they had to bow to someone far younger than themselves.

Or perhaps, they had no choice but to bow to life itself.

Mo Hua sighed lightly and nodded:

“Alright, I’ll draw the formations for you.”

The burly man looked up, surprised that Mo Hua agreed so quickly. Shock gave way to gratitude, and he cupped his fists solemnly:

“Thank you, young sir!”

The others also rejoiced and thanked him:

“Thank you, young sir!”

…

Among them, some had offended the Sun family, and their Spirit Field formations were destroyed, yielding little spirit grain.

Some were stubborn and refused to seek the Sun family, even if starving.

Most, like Old Ding, had repeatedly drawn formations and owed debts to the Sun family they could never repay…

But without the Sun family drawing formations, no one else could.

No Spirit Farmer could draw formations themselves.

Even if they wanted to learn, there was nowhere to learn.

The burly man respectfully led the way.

Mo Hua followed him, going to each Spirit Field, drawing formation after formation.

These formations, which had confounded them, were effortless for Mo Hua.

With a small hand holding the brush, almost casually, he outlined the formations with ease in just a few strokes.

The Spirit Farmers were astonished.

They had never seen anyone draw formations like this.

And the person doing it was a little cultivator barely over ten years old.

Ding Miao’er also watched Mo Hua’s back, eyes full of admiration.

Mo Hua focused on drawing formations, gradually repairing the incomplete ones in the Spirit Fields.

As he drew, a commotion arose in the distance.

Mo Hua looked back and saw a group of arrogant cultivators approaching aggressively.

They shoved the Spirit Farmers aside as they walked and smashed the field ridges, destroying formation after formation that Mo Hua had just drawn.

Leading them was a cultivator in brocade, with a frivolous face—Sun Ze himself.

He walked up to Mo Hua, sneering with malice:

“You little brat, you’re so disrespectful.”

Mo Hua slowly stood, his clear eyes glinting with a faint sharpness: “The one being disrespectful… is you.”