Chapter 29: The Stove

The shopkeeper went upstairs and returned shortly after, politely inviting Mo Hua to follow him.

When Mo Hua saw An Xiaopang, the boy was drinking with several youths dressed in vibrant, elegant silks. On the table sat various colorful, succulent spiritual fruits. Maidservants fanned them, wafting gentle fragrances, while female singers performed melodies that seemed to linger in the air.

The room was cool and comfortable, completely devoid of the summer heat. Formations of the ice element were even carved into the screens to provide cooling and ventilation.

Mo Hua thought of the rogue cultivators on the streets, struggling to make a living by setting up stalls in the sweltering heat, and felt a momentary pang of emotion.

Even though they were all Qi Refinement stage cultivators living within the same Immortal City, they lived as if in two different worlds.

"Mo Hua, it really is you!"

Seeing Mo Hua, An Xiaopang was somewhat delighted. He beckoned him over, saying, "Come, come, have a drink with us."

An Xiaopang's face was flushed red from drinking, but since he was young and likely drinking fruit wine, it wouldn't be too harmful to his body even if he got drunk.

Mo Hua had no interest in drinking and said directly, "Young Master An, I have something to discuss with you."

"Oh," An Xiaopang snapped back to his senses and waved to the other youths, "You guys keep drinking, I have business to attend to."

Afterward, the shopkeeper led Mo Hua and An Xiaopang to a quiet private room. Mo Hua got straight to the point: "Young Master An, I would like to ask you for a favor."

An Xiaopang was clearly still a bit tipsy, but he patted his chest and said, "As long as it's something I can do, just say the word!"

Mo Hua looked at the magnificent decorations in the private room and asked, "This restaurant is owned by your family, isn't it?"

An Xiaopang said proudly, "It is!"

"In your kitchen, do you use stoves, or do you use the spiritual power of cultivators to provide heat?"

An Xiaopang looked bewildered. After thinking for a moment without a clue, he called out, "Shopkeeper!"

A moment later, the shopkeeper entered. An Xiaopang pointed at him and said to Mo Hua, "Ask him."

Mo Hua then asked the shopkeeper the same question.

The shopkeeper replied, "Originally, we used the spiritual power of cultivators to provide heat, but that method easily damages the cultivators' hearts and lungs, and the heat supply is unstable. So, the owner decided to stop using it. Last year, we commissioned an artifact refiner to specially craft a stove and hired a formation master to draw formations on it. We have been using this stove ever since."

Mo Hua asked curiously, "Is the cost of a stove higher than hiring a cultivator?"

The shopkeeper answered truthfully, "In the long run, a stove is better. In the short term, hiring a cultivator is certainly more cost-effective. Moreover, when hiring cultivators, you can negotiate the price. Sometimes when the market is bad, you can hire a Qi Refinement rogue cultivator for only half a spirit stone."

Mo Hua felt a bit uneasy in his heart.

Even after becoming a cultivator, one could not escape exploitation.

"May I go take a look at the stove?"

The shopkeeper hesitated and looked toward Young Master An. He could not make this decision himself; normally, outsiders were not allowed in the kitchen.

An Xiaopang had sobered up a bit and asked the shopkeeper, "Can this not be shown to others?"

The shopkeeper said, "Only the recipes are considered secrets. Many restaurants actually have stoves like this; those that don't simply don't want to spend the spirit stones to craft one. It isn't a secret."

An Xiaopang said, "Then let's go see. I'll go too; I haven't even seen that stove once."

"Very well, I will lead both young masters there."

The shopkeeper breathed a sigh of relief. With Young Master An accompanying them, he wouldn't take all the blame if something went wrong.

The shopkeeper led Mo Hua and An Xiaopang to the kitchen and pointed to a massive, two-man-tall apparatus that looked like a furnace. "This is the stove. Once spirit stones are inserted, the formations inside the furnace convert the stones into heat, which then extends to every cooking station to provide heat for the cultivators to cook ingredients."

"The stove and the individual cooking stations are also connected by formations, and each station has a specific formation carved into it to control the intensity of the heat..."

Mo Hua found it incredibly novel; it was his first time seeing artifact refining and formations utilized in such a way.

An Xiaopang's eyes also widened. Usually, he only knew about eating, but he had no idea how the food was actually made.

The shopkeeper introduced the mechanism to the two of them with a rather proud expression.

Mo Hua examined the stove closely, looking from left to right, not even missing the gaps between the furnace mouth and the body.

Seeing him looking as if he wanted to strip the stove apart to see what was inside, the shopkeeper couldn't help but ask, "Does Young Master Mo wish to know something specific?"

Mo Hua asked, "Shopkeeper, do you know which formations are carved inside the stove?"

The shopkeeper hesitated, but after thinking about it, he realized that knowing which formations were used was useless; the most important thing was whether one could actually draw them, and formations were not easy to draw.

"The formations inside this stove are not complex. There is only one Molten Fire Formation, which contains five formation lines. However, the placement of the Molten Fire Formation is quite particular; it must be drawn at the bottom of the stove so that the heat is even. On the exterior of the stove, a notch must be left to place the spirit stones, so that the spiritual energy from the stones can seep into the Molten Fire Formation to trigger the formation's heat..."

The shopkeeper explained everything to Mo Hua in detail.

"Oh, I see," Mo Hua nodded repeatedly.

After observing and chatting for a long while, Mo Hua had likely asked everything he wanted to know. He sincerely thanked the shopkeeper and prepared to take his leave.

An Xiaopang pulled at Mo Hua, "Don't leave so soon, I'll treat you to something delicious."

Mo Hua still had matters to attend to, so he did not agree.

"Are you refusing to give me face?" An Xiaopang said, sounding a bit annoyed.

Mo Hua complimented An Xiaopang, calling him generous, and then whispered to him, "Next time the instructor assigns formation homework, I will help you draw it for free."

An Xiaopang was overjoyed and nodded vigorously, "Mhm, mhm!"

He didn't care about spirit stones; he cared about face. The idea that Mo Hua could help him draw formations for free made him feel quite prestigious.

Watching Mo Hua's departing figure, the shopkeeper asked An Xiaopang, "Young Master, what is the status of this Young Master Mo?"

"He's considered my fellow sect member. His formations are excellent—even better than mine! To tell you the truth, all my formation homework is drawn with his help!"

An Xiaopang even looked a little smug.

The shopkeeper remained expressionless, feeling speechless. There was really nothing to be smug about...

"Shopkeeper, go back to your work. I'm going to drink."

As An Xiaopang turned to leave, he suddenly gasped in alarm. He grabbed the shopkeeper's sleeve, staring at him with wide, blank eyes.

The shopkeeper grew nervous under his gaze. "Yo... Young Master..."

An Xiaopang lowered his voice and said, "You must never let my father know about this!"

"About this?"

"That someone else does my homework! You must never let my father know!"

The shopkeeper's mouth twitched. "Alright, alright..."

An Xiaopang patted his chest. "That was close. Good thing I'm quick-witted, otherwise I would have been exposed." He then made the shopkeeper swear not to tell his father before he finally felt at ease and went upstairs.

The shopkeeper felt somewhat helpless, thinking to himself, *Can the An family's business be preserved by such an unreliable young master?*

The shopkeeper then thought of the child surnamed Mo.

He didn't look like a child of a wealthy family, just the child of an ordinary cultivator. He wondered what he wanted to know about the stove for.

After walking a few steps, the shopkeeper remembered Young Master An's words and suddenly stopped. *Draws formations well? Could he be trying to figure out how to draw the formations for the stove?*

*Young Master An is at the third level of Qi Refinement and is a fellow sect member of that boy. That means the boy is at most at the third level of Qi Refinement. Where would a third-level Qi Refinement cultivator get the spiritual sense required to draw formations?*

The shopkeeper shook his head and went to find a place to drink tea.

(End of Chapter)