Chapter 22: Clues

Instructor Yan left the Array Pavilion and returned to Tongming Peak of the Tongxian Sect.

Instructors of the Tongxian Sect had individual residences on Tongming Peak, consisting of three rooms, one hall, and a small courtyard where they could plant spiritual flowers and herbs or raise spiritual beasts.

Instructor Yan's residence was clean and tidy; the walls were neatly covered with array diagrams, and there was no other decoration besides them.

He perused basic array texts, prepared several array patterns to be taught in the latter half of the month, and then began grading the array homework submitted by the Qi Refinement stage disciples.

There were nearly a thousand Qi Refinement disciples on Tongxuan Peak of the Tongxian Sect, and he would grade every single piece of array homework, marking any errors.

It was a time-consuming and painstaking task, yet Instructor Yan performed it with meticulous care.

This was his habit, and also a continuation of his master's teachings of many years.

His master had graded the disciples' arrays in the same way back then—meticulously and with great patience.

Instructor Yan's master was a First-Grade Array Master. In the entire cultivation world, he might not have been considered an extraordinary array master, but even so, he had spent his entire life doing his utmost to pass on the Dao and ensure the inheritance of arrays that adhered to the laws of the Heavenly Dao.

Now that his master had passed away and he had become an instructor, he could finally appreciate his master's painstaking efforts.

As evening approached, Instructor Yan lit a lamp and continued grading the arrays.

The Tongxian Sect was, after all, a remote and small sect with a weak cultivation heritage. Among the nearly a thousand disciples, very few could draw basic array patterns with any semblance of competence.

Those who drew them better were generally those with family traditions or wealthy families who could afford to spend spirit stones on their training—such as the children of cultivators serving in the Dao Court, the children of sect elders, or disciples from the cultivation families within the city.

There were very few who truly came from impoverished rogue cultivator backgrounds and could still draw arrays well.

However, regardless of their background, Instructor Yan treated everyone equally, judging them solely on their arrays.

If a pattern was poorly drawn but the attitude was serious, he would add several annotations to explain the errors; if it was poorly drawn and the attitude was careless, his annotations would be harsh, and the student's name would be noted by him.

Occasionally, when he encountered a well-drawn array, Instructor Yan would feel gratified and write the word "Excellent" next to it as encouragement.

As Instructor Yan continued his tireless grading, his eyes suddenly lit up when he flipped to a particular array.

The brushwork was very proficient, clearly showing hard work, and it possessed a certain sense of method; even if used for a formal array, this pattern would be considered qualified.

Instructor Yan looked up at the name written on the scroll—Mo Hua—and nodded to himself, then wrote the word "Excellent" next to the array.

He wrote this "Excellent" slightly larger than the others.

Instructor Yan flipped the page and continued grading.

As he was grading, he suddenly flipped back to find Mo Hua's pattern again, his brow furrowing.

The brushwork of this pattern was far too proficient; it even looked somewhat... effortless?

A cultivator at the second or third layer of Qi Refinement was considered lucky if they could draw a single complete array pattern.

Thinking of his encounter with Mo Hua in the Array Pavilion earlier today, Instructor Yan fell into silent contemplation. Suddenly, a question popped into his mind

"Does Mo Hua have an older brother?"

"If his brother is good at drawing arrays and he is also good, then there should be a family tradition. But if I remember correctly, this child Mo Hua clearly comes from a poor rogue cultivator background. If there were any family tradition in arrays, his family circumstances wouldn't be so poor..."

"If his brother can help the Array Pavilion draw arrays, he should also have quite a talent for arrays within the Tongxian Sect. I have taught in the Tongxian Sect for nearly ten years, yet I don't recall ever teaching this person..."

"In another sect? That's also unlikely. Siblings usually join the same sect, especially since the Tongxian Sect is already the largest sect in the city..."

Instructor Yan tapped his fingers on the desk in thought, then temporarily suppressed his various thoughts to focus on finishing the grading.

The next day, Instructor Yan rose very early. He found the manager of Tongming Peak and requested a list of the disciples' origins. He flipped to Mo Hua's entry and saw

Mo Hua: Ten years old, third layer of Qi Refinement, mediocre mid-to-low grade Five Elements spiritual root...

Father: Mo Shan, Demon Hunter; Mother: Liu Ruhua, Chef.

Aside from his parents, there were no other relatives, and certainly no older brother.

A suspicion began to form in Instructor Yan's heart, yet he felt it was unlikely.

During the morning array class, Instructor Yan announced a temporary assignment: draw all the Five Elements patterns they had learned so far and submit them in three days.

Upon hearing this sudden "bad news," the disciples present all looked as wilted as frost-bitten eggplants.

Mo Hua, however, didn't mind. He already helped the Array Pavilion draw arrays; drawing a few patterns now wouldn't be much trouble.

But why did Instructor Yan suddenly assign this homework?

This wasn't something the instructor usually did.

Mo Hua was a bit puzzled.

Then, An Xiaopang came to Mo Hua to beg for help.

"Mo Hua, you must help me!!" An Xiaopang was on the verge of tears.

Who knew why the instructor would suddenly assign homework? Usually, assessments of disciples' array levels only happened every few months.

Caught off guard, and unable to draw even a single pattern with the tight deadline, An Xiaopang had no choice but to plead with Mo Hua.

Mo Hua didn't mind; for his current level, these basic patterns held no difficulty at all.

Mo Hua helped An Xiaopang draw the arrays, even charging him a "friendship price." A few other fellow disciples with decent backgrounds but poor array skills also came to him, and Mo Hua agreed to help them as well.

With arrays to draw and spirit stones to earn, Mo Hua had no room in his mind to worry about anything else.

Three days later, the array homework was submitted. Instructor Yan picked out the patterns drawn by Mo Hua, examined them carefully, and then put them into his storage bag. He went to the Youyuan Pavilion to find the fat manager.

Seeing Instructor Yan, the fat manager became a bit wary. "Are you here to drink tea this time, or are you here to have me do something?"

Instructor Yan said, "Neither tea nor errands. I just want to ask you something."

The fat manager breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, that's fine then."

"Do you still have the array diagrams Mo Hua gave you?"

"Mo Hua?" The fat manager was slightly stunned. "Oh, that little brother. Yes, I do. What do you want to do with them?"

"How many sets do you have?"

"The Bright Fire Array and the Earth Solidifying Array—I have several sets of each kept in reserve."

The fat manager took out one set each of the Bright Fire and Earth Solidifying arrays previously delivered by Mo Hua and handed them to Instructor Yan.

Instructor Yan flipped through them, then took out the array homework submitted by Mo Hua and compared the patterns one by one.

After finishing, Instructor Yan took a deep breath.

The fat manager craned his neck to look and asked, "What are you looking at?"

Instructor Yan pointed at the patterns and the arrays on the table and asked

"Do you think these patterns and these two arrays were drawn by the same person?"

The fat manager took the patterns and arrays, frowned, and looked closely. He nodded and said

"The brushwork is quite similar. Barring any accidents, they should have come from the same hand..."

The fat manager thought for a moment and suddenly asked, "Have you met Mo Hua's older brother?"

"Mo Hua has no brother."

"No brother? Then who drew these arrays?"

Instructor Yan looked at the fat manager with an enigmatic gaze.

The fat manager froze for a moment. "You're not suggesting he drew them himself, are you?"

Instructor Yan nodded.

The fat manager fell silent for a moment, then let out a scoff.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Setting aside the Bright Fire Array—it might be possible for him to draw that—but this Earth Solidifying Array contains four patterns. Where would he get that much divine sense? Does he have two heads? Does he have two seas of consciousness?"

The fat manager looked at Instructor Yan suspiciously and continued

"Are you trying to say you've taught a genius at the third layer of Qi Refinement who can already draw arrays? You're not trying to inflate your own reputation, are you... I've known you for so many years, you're not that kind of person!"

Instructor Yan looked at him coldly and pointed at the arrays. "You were the one who said these patterns and these two arrays came from the same hand. If these patterns were drawn by Mo Hua, then who on earth drew these two arrays?"

The fat manager was stumped and found himself speechless.

After staring at the patterns on his left and the arrays on his right for a long time, he finally muttered, "It can't be..."