Chapter 31: Artificer

Master Chen, with a cultivation level of the eighth layer of Qi Refinement, was over a hundred years old. His hair and beard were half-white, but his physique was robust. His face, scorched by the furnace fires year-round, was dark, yet he remained vigorous and possessed a booming voice.

Master Chen was currently watching several disciples forge iron. Perhaps because the disciples were doing something incorrectly, Master Chen glared and scolded them; the several tall and sturdy weapon-refining disciples obediently took the reprimand, not daring to lift their heads.

After a lecture, Master Chen personally swung a large hammer to demonstrate. His sturdy physique moved with great force as he swung the hammer, sending sparks flying as the glowing red refined iron was struck, gradually forging the prototype of a blade.

Once the hammering was finished, Master Chen merely wiped away some sweat; his breathing was steady, and he did not seem to have exerted much effort at all.

Born with a weak constitution, Mo Hua watched with envy, thinking to himself how wonderful it would be if he could possess such strength someday...

"Watch closely! This is how iron is supposed to be struck. What were you doing just now? So listless! Even a young lady embroidering would have more spirit than you!"

Master Chen scolded the disciples once more, then turned to see a child with fair skin, red lips, and bright, watery eyes watching him with a face full of admiration.

Master Chen hesitated for a moment before asking, "Little one, do you want to learn weapon refining too?"

The livelihood of rogue cultivators was difficult; once they left their sects, they had to find a way to make a living. Some could not learn practical skills within their sects and thus had to find their own ways to learn a craft.

Consequently, cultivators from the surrounding areas often sent their children to Master Chen to learn weapon refining so they could be self-sufficient in the future.

Master Chen only charged a casual amount of spirit stones; if they had no spirit stones, he would accept things like spirit grain as tuition.

Mo Hua looked at the tall, burly disciples, then looked at his own small arms and legs. He shook his head helplessly and said directly

"Master, do you refine stoves here?"

"Stoves?" Master Chen looked at Mo Hua. "You're just a child, why are you asking about that?"

"I'm asking for my mother."

"I can certainly refine stoves, but refining a stove requires a lot of refined iron. Converted into spirit stones, it is not a small sum."

"What if it's a smaller one? Would that be cheaper?"

Master Chen said, "Naturally. A smaller stove requires much less refined iron and labor, so it will be cheaper. However, very few people in Tongxian City refine small stoves. The formations would need to be specially designed and engraved by someone, which would likely cost quite a few spirit stones as well."

"Then, how many spirit stones would it cost to refine the smallest stove?"

Master Chen did not dismiss Mo Hua just because he was a child. Instead, he seriously took out a piece of paper, recorded the prices of various materials one by one, calculated them all together, and finally listed the spirit stone costs for stoves of different sizes and scales.

Master Chen handed the paper to Mo Hua and added

"Of course, that is only the cost of materials. We weapon refiners also charge for labor. We count by the day; however many days it takes to refine the stove, that is how many days of fees we will charge."

"Oh, I see," Mo Hua noted everything down, then took his leave

"I've noted it down. I'll go back and discuss it with my parents, and once we decide on the size of the stove, I will come find you again."

Master Chen gave an "mm" and waved his hand. "Go back early. Be careful on the road, little one!"

He didn't take Mo Hua's words to heart much. There were many cultivators who asked for prices to have him refine something only to vanish without a trace; most would say they would "think about it" and never return.

Moreover, this was just a ten-year-old child asking about refining a stove—a spiritual tool that was time-consuming and labor-intensive. Most likely, there would be no follow-up.

After returning home, Mo Hua chose a stove of an appropriate size and a price within his family's means based on the price list Master Chen provided. The material cost alone was approximately one hundred and fifty spirit stones.

Then there was the labor fee for the refiner, which was still subject to negotiation.

Mo Hua did not know how long it would take Master Chen to refine the stove. However, estimating by eye, it would take at least ten to fifteen days, which would amount to between fifty and seventy-five spirit stones.

This somewhat exceeded Mo Hua's budget; he might have to ask his parents for more spirit stones or borrow some from someone.

The next most critical part was the formation.

Mo Hua spread the Melting Fire Formation diagram on the table and began to study it carefully.

The Melting Fire Formation contained five fire-attribute formation runes. Most of the strokes were located in the Li position. Looking at the intricate runes alone, they were significantly more complex than the Gold-Stone or Earth-Solidifying formations.

Mo Hua sighed softly, cleared his mind, and began to focus on memorizing the runes and the sequence of the brushstrokes.

Mo Hua studied so intently that, without realizing it, the sky turned dark.

Even while eating, Mo Hua was thinking about the runes of the Melting Fire Formation. After a few bites of his steamed bun, he would drift off into thought, staring blankly while holding the bun.

Liu Ruhua watched him, feeling both exasperated and amused. She pinched his cheek. "Eat your food properly. Think about things after you've finished eating."

Mo Hua snapped back to reality, gave a little giggle, and then focused on his meal. Once finished, he ran straight back to his room.

Mo Hua had almost memorized the runes of the Melting Fire Formation. He then spent another hour practicing with non-spiritual ink on straw paper. Afterward, at the hour of the Rat, he entered his sea of consciousness to practice the formation on a stone tablet.

Regarding the runes alone, although they were quite complex, the basic structural logic was no different from other formations. Memorizing the runes wasn't difficult; the difficulty lay in the divine sense.

Mo Hua's divine sense might not be able to support him in drawing a complete Melting Fire Formation diagram.

Mo Hua began drawing the Melting Fire Formation on the broken tablet.

Initially, the first three runes went smoothly. However, by the fourth rune, it became noticeably difficult. His divine sense gradually slowed, feeling as though it were running dry.

Mo Hua's small brow furrowed.

It wasn't until the fourth rune was finished that waves of stinging pain radiated through his sea of consciousness, as if the riverbed where the tide had receded had begun to show mottled cracks.

Mo Hua hurriedly stopped and quickly erased the runes on the broken tablet; only then did the stinging pain in his divine sense subside.

Mo Hua slumped onto the semi-real ground of his sea of consciousness, gasping for breath.

"It's over. My divine sense is too weak..."

Mo Hua's divine sense was only enough to draw four runes. After finishing the fourth, he had absolutely no strength left to draw the fifth.

It seemed like only one rune was missing, but since his divine sense could not be strengthened quickly in the short term, this single rune might stall him for a long time.

"What should I do?"

Mo Hua pondered in his heart.

There was no shortcut to increasing one's divine sense; this was a universally recognized fact in the cultivation world.

At least, this was recognized by the Qi Refinement stage cultivators in Tongxian City.

Mo Hua had consulted Instructor Yan, who also said that the growth of divine sense mostly relied on the advancement of one's cultivation level; the higher the cultivation realm, the stronger the divine sense would naturally become.

Secondly, one could strengthen the divine sense through its application. The more a cultivator used their divine sense, and the more frequently they used it, the stronger it would naturally become. For example, formation masters frequently drew formations and needed to use their divine sense often, so their divine sense was naturally much stronger than that of an average cultivator.

Mo Hua had also asked if there were specialized methods for cultivating divine sense, and Instructor Yan had stated plainly that there were none.

Whether in ancient texts or the records of various methods from great families, there were no safe and reliable ways to cultivate divine sense. Some existing methods were mostly heterodox techniques; once practiced, they would most likely lead to cultivation deviation, turning the practitioner into a demonic cultivator hunted by all.

As for whether such methods truly didn't exist or were secretly collected by great clans, no one knew.

But even if they did exist, Mo Hua certainly couldn't get them, and even if he did, he wouldn't dare risk cultivation deviation to practice them.

Mo Hua was currently at the third layer of Qi Refinement and could not break through to the fourth layer in the short term, so it was impossible to rely on cultivation growth to strengthen his divine sense.

That left only one method before him

To keep drawing formations.

The method without a shortcut was the best shortcut.