Chen's Weapon Refinement Workshop.
Master Chen and his group of apprentices were working feverishly, swinging their hammers. The heated weapon blanks were placed into the refinement furnace for quenching, and after being heated until glowing red, they were taken out to be hammered again.
Master Chen, who always lectured his apprentices to remain focused while refining weapons, was currently somewhat distracted because little Mo Hua was standing nearby, watching them with bright, piercing eyes.
Mo Hua had wandered over early in the morning, saying he wanted to observe the refinement process.
Master Chen couldn't easily refuse; he owed Mo Hua a favor from before and had even made a significant business deal with him, so he had agreed.
Mo Hua stared at them for a long time, though his gaze was primarily fixed on the refinement furnace. That enthusiastic look made it seem as if he wanted to dismantle the furnace just to see what was inside.
What was inside the furnace? Formations, of course.
Master Chen couldn't fathom what was going on in Mo Hua's little head, and he felt somewhat uneasy. Taking advantage of a break, he finally couldn't help but ask
"Ahem, Mo Hua, is something the matter?"
Mo Hua whispered, "Master Chen, don't you think the fire in this refinement furnace is a bit small?"
Master Chen glanced at the furnace. "This... it is indeed a bit smaller than before..."
"Do you know why?"
"Perhaps... because of the formation..."
"Mm, as expected of Master Chen, your insight is truly seasoned!" Mo Hua offered some unskillful flattery, then added in a low voice, "Don't you want the fire to be a bit larger?"
"Larger?"
"Yes, larger!"
Master Chen's brow twitched. "You're not thinking of dismantling my furnace to redraw the formation, are you!"
Mo Hua gave a thumbs up. "As expected of Master Chen, you guessed it in one go!"
Master Chen shook his head like a rattle. "No, no way. This is my livelihood; I can't just dismantle it on a whim. If I take it apart and don't draw it well, my apprentices will all end up starving."
After saying this, fearing he might hurt little Mo Hua's pride, he added
"It's not that I think your formation skills are lacking—to be honest, in all my years, I've never seen a child as gifted as you—but this furnace really cannot be easily dismantled. If it gets messed up, I truly won't have enough spirit stones to buy another one."
Mo Hua waved his hand. "Don't worry, I'm very familiar with this formation. I won't mess it up."
Master Chen put on a stern face and refused stubbornly.
Mo Hua then said, "Think about it. If the furnace fire were larger, wouldn't your refining be faster? That way, Brother Dazhu and the others would learn faster, graduate sooner, and earn more spirit stones. To do a job well, one must first sharpen one's tools!"
Master Chen thought about it and felt there was some logic to it, though his expression remained hesitant.
Mo Hua threw out his trump card: "I won't charge you any spirit stones. I'll help you draw it for free!"
Master Chen could no longer refuse.
Finding another formation master to repair the furnace's formation would cost a lot of spirit stones, let alone redrawing it from scratch. This risk was worth taking.
"Then, the spirit ink used for drawing..." Master Chen looked at Mo Hua.
Mo Hua looked back at Master Chen silently, his meaning quite clear
*I'm helping you draw the formation for free, and I have to provide the spirit ink myself?*
Master Chen gave a sheepish laugh, gritted his teeth, and shouted, "Dazhu! Go find Old Man Sun and tell him to bring over a few bottles of high-quality spirit ink. It must be fire-attribute, and don't let him water it down!"
Dazhu scratched his head and asked, "Master, what about the spirit stones?"
"Put it on credit!"
Dazhu looked a bit troubled. "Old Man Sun is such a stingy man."
"Just tell him the furnace is broken. If he doesn't provide the ink, the furnace won't be fixed, and the batch of weapons he wants won't arrive until next year."
"Alright!"
Dazhu gave an affirmative shout and dashed off.
Master Chen worked efficiently. He waved his hand and commanded his disciples, "Stop refining! Dismantle the furnace!"
The disciples looked at each other in confusion, but Master Chen's word was law. They didn't dare delay. Together, they extinguished the furnace fire and poured cold water on it. Once the residual heat dissipated and the furnace cooled, they dismantled it, removed the inner lining, and revealed the engraved formation inside.
The formation was a Molten Fire Formation containing five lines of formation runes, which Mo Hua had drawn previously. Looking at it now, it felt somewhat familiar.
Mo Hua took out some Spirit-Dissolving Liquid and had Master Chen's apprentices wipe it onto the furnace to erase the previous formation.
The previous Molten Fire Formation had a relatively small flame, partly because it only contained five lines of runes, limiting its power, and partly because Mo Hua had drawn it in haste using inferior spirit ink, resulting in poor spiritual energy conduction.
Spirit-Dissolving Liquid could erase spirit ink; it was a recipe Mo Hua had learned from Bai Zixi.
In the various paths of cultivation, when a formation was needed, it was either entirely new or a repair of an old one. The situation of erasing and redrawing was rare, so Spirit-Dissolving Liquid was not commonly used.
It was sold in Tongxian City, but it was quite expensive. Mo Hua couldn't bear the cost, so he had asked Bai Zixi for the recipe. The Bai family was a prestigious clan with profound knowledge; they had dozens of recipes for Spirit-Dissolving Liquid, ranging from first-grade to fifth-grade quality.
Bai Zixi had picked out a type of Spirit-Dissolving Liquid suitable for formations below the first grade for Mo Hua, using inexpensive ingredients that could even be gathered in the mountains. Mo Hua was very grateful and brought some crabapple cakes made by his mother as a reward.
As the Spirit-Dissolving Liquid was wiped over the formation inside the furnace, it gradually faded away.
This was the first time Master Chen had seen something that could wipe a formation away so cleanly. He felt that Mo Hua truly lived up to being a student of formations—very professional—and he felt somewhat more at ease.
Before long, Dazhu returned carrying several bottles of spirit ink.
"It's not watered down, is it?" Master Chen asked.
"Don't worry, Master, I kept an eye on him. I didn't give him a chance to water it down. Old Man Sun was in so much pain it looked like I wasn't asking for ink, but for his blood," Dazhu chuckled.
"His blood might not even be more expensive than this spirit ink." Master Chen handed the ink to Mo Hua, feeling a bit reluctant to part with it. "Little brother, take a look. Is this spirit ink suitable?"
Mo Hua took it and shook it slightly. The ink flowed evenly and had just the right viscosity. Upon opening the cap, there was a faint scent of pine wood; the fishy smell of demon blood was very light, and the red color was lustrous.
This was the first time Mo Hua had seen such high-quality spirit ink. When he drew formations himself, he usually settled for whatever was cheap. Looking at the crystalline ink in the bottle, he couldn't help but feel that you truly get what you pay for.
Of course, to avoid losing face as a registered disciple of Mr. Zhuang, Mo Hua maintained an air of nonchalance, saying in a casual and composed tone, "It's alright. It'll do."
Master Chen was tongue-tied, thinking to himself, *Are the standards of formation students these days really this high? Even top-tier spirit ink like this is only 'alright'...?*
Mo Hua spread the formation diagram on the ground, and a group of apprentices gathered around to watch.
Master Chen didn't understand much, but he joined in the curiosity.
As he watched, he realized something was wrong. Although he didn't understand formations, he knew how to count.
One, two, three, four, five... six!
Six lines of formation runes!
He remembered the Molten Fire Formation in the furnace only had five lines. Why was there an extra one?