Chapter 32: The Eatery

By utilizing the Dao Tablet within his sea of consciousness, he could continuously temper his formations and strengthen his divine sense.

Though this method was clumsy, it was currently Mo Hua's only option.

"It's a good thing I have the Dao Tablet in my sea of consciousness; otherwise, even trying this blunt method would be impossible."

Mo Hua thought with a sense of relief. In reality, drawing formations consumed too much divine sense, and recovery was far too slow. To strengthen his divine sense through real-world practice, he would inevitably have to expend several times more time and energy.

Since that was the case, Mo Hua settled his mind and focused entirely on practicing the Molten Fire Formation on the Dao Tablet without distraction.

As long as he practiced incessantly, he would eventually master it.

Mo Hua would first try his best to draw the first four formation runes; once his divine sense was nearly exhausted, he would erase them.

After resting for a moment, he would continue drawing, and then erase them again.

He repeated this cycle until he felt he had a little extra divine sense left; then, after finishing the four runes, he would add one more stroke.

An entire night passed, and Mo Hua had only managed to draw two extra strokes compared to when he started, but those two strokes at least proved that his divine sense was indeed growing.

Waking up the next day, Mo Hua went to the market to buy some ink required for the Molten Fire Formation.

The ink was prepared by using the blood of fire-attribute spirit beasts as a base and mixing in various herbs. It wasn't particularly expensive, so Mo Hua bought more than ten portions at once.

Because formation masters were rare and few cultivators knew how to draw formations, the number of cultivators buying ink was also small. The shopkeeper rarely encountered a big customer like Mo Hua and even gave him a few extra portions for free.

After returning home, Mo Hua began practicing the Molten Fire Formation with the ink.

Since the ink had been bought with spirit stones, Mo Hua drew with exceptional care, putting his heart into every single stroke.

Of course, limited by his divine sense, Mo Hua could still only draw a maximum of two extra strokes after the first four runes; he was still unable to draw the complete five-rune Molten Fire Formation.

After finishing such a session, he had to stop and rest for an hour to allow his divine sense to recover. Once his divine sense was replenished, he would resume drawing.

This efficiency was much lower than drawing on the Dao Tablet in his sea of consciousness. It also consumed ink and spirit paper, which meant spending spirit stones. However, in order to master the Molten Fire Formation as soon as possible, Mo Hua didn't mind.

Practicing formations day and night in this manner, after half a month, Mo Hua could draw about ten extra strokes beyond the four runes, which was roughly equivalent to half a rune.

At this rate, he estimated that in another half month, his divine sense would be sufficient to draw a complete Molten Fire Formation containing all five runes.

Mo Hua breathed a silent sigh of relief.

Considering that crafting a stove would also take time, he needed to plan ahead for certain matters.

During the day, Mo Hua took a stroll through the streets, and in the evening, he returned home to eat with his parents.

Under the flickering candlelight, the table was set with fragrant rice porridge, white and soft steamed buns, two plates of fresh seasonal vegetables, and a small dish of pickled vegetables.

For ordinary rogue cultivators, this was considered quite a feast; meat was generally non-existent in their daily meals.

Liu Ruhua was a skilled cook; though the food was simple, it was delicious, and Mo Hua ate heartily.

However, while Liu Ruhua prepared the food, it was Mo Shan who provided the heat using his spiritual power.

Liu Ruhua's expression was the same as usual, but in her glances, there was always a hint of loss in her eyes, and she would occasionally daze off.

Mo Hua quickly finished a steamed bun and, with his cheeks puffed out, suddenly asked, "Mother, have you ever thought about opening an eatery?"

Liu Ruhua, who was sipping her porridge carefully, froze. She smiled and asked, "Why do you ask that all of a sudden?"

"Mother, your cooking is so delicious. If you opened an eatery, you could definitely earn a lot of spirit stones."

"Opening an eatery requires capital. For rogue cultivators of our circumstances, where would we get the spirit stones to open one?"

Liu Ruhua laughed, then tapped Mo Hua's nose with her pale finger, teasingly saying, "When you grow up and your cultivation is high enough to earn many spirit stones, we'll open one then."

Mo Hua said quietly, "Then let's start with a small one first."

"What small one?" Liu Ruhua was puzzled.

"A food stall," Mo Hua said. "I took a look around the streets and found many stalls selling wine, dishes, snacks, noodles, and things like that. Business seems quite good."

Liu Ruhua hesitated to speak, her expression turning somewhat low.

Seeing this, Mo Shan said softly, "Hua'er, your mother... she cannot use spiritual power."

Without the ability to use spiritual power, she could not provide heat, making it impossible to cook meals for cultivators.

Even if she could use spiritual power, an eatery with constant customers would require making many dishes, which was more than the spiritual power of a Qi Refinement stage cultivator could support.

Mo Hua's delicate eyebrows twitched as he said proudly, "We'll build a stove."

"A stove?"

Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua looked at each other in confusion.

Mo Hua pulled a large sheet of blueprints from his storage bag.

"These are the design blueprints for a stove. I asked Master Chen from the tool-refining workshop about which materials to use, the dimensions, and how many spirit stones it would cost; I've calculated it all. I'll figure out the formation part. Once this stove is crafted, it won't require a cultivator to use spiritual power to activate it. You'll only need to insert spirit stones, and it will provide a continuous supply of heat. It will make cooking and stewing ingredients much more convenient."

Mo Shan and his wife were stunned to see their son produce actual blueprints.

"Refining a stove will cost a lot of spirit stones..."

"We'll make a small stove first. I asked Master Chen, and the spirit stones required aren't too many. For a small food stall, a small stove will be enough."

"What about the formation?" Liu Ruhua asked.

Mo Hua maintained a facade of calm, though he couldn't quite hide his pride. "I'll draw it. I already got the formation diagrams from Manager Mo, and the formation isn't difficult..."

Having spent several nights exhausting his divine sense and practicing repeatedly without fully mastering the Molten Fire Formation, Mo Hua felt a tiny bit of guilt as he spoke.

Liu Ruhua looked at Mo Hua suspiciously. "Is it really not difficult?"

Mo Hua chuckled. "Even though I haven't mastered it yet, after a few more days of practice, it'll be no problem."

There was no helping it; a five-rune formation was not that easy to learn.

Liu Ruhua nodded, thinking to herself that since Mo Hua was young and had only been learning formations for a short time, if he could learn it, it probably wasn't an exceptionally difficult formation.

But after thinking for a moment, she shook her head and said, "Opening a shop isn't that easy. Even for a small stall, you have to rent a space, hire help, and manage many things. It will cost a lot of spirit stones. If the expenses exceed the income, the family's finances will become even harder to manage. The most important thing right now is to save spirit stones so you can focus on your cultivation..."

Mo Shan, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up, "We will open the eatery. I will find a way to handle the shop and the staff; neither of you needs to worry."

Mo Shan then pulled out another storage bag and handed it to Mo Hua. "There are over a hundred spirit stones in here. It's what I've earned from hunting spirit beasts these past few months. I know you've earned quite a few spirit stones from drawing formations for others, but use these first to cover the cost of refining the stove..."

Just as Mo Hua was about to refuse, Mo Shan pressed the storage bag into his hands.

Holding the bag, Mo Hua thought of how these spirit stones were earned by his father risking his life against spirit beasts, and they felt heavier than ordinary spirit stones.

Since Mo Shan had agreed, the matter of opening the eatery was essentially settled. After finishing his meal, Mo Hua went back to his room to continue practicing the Molten Fire Formation.

Liu Ruhua still looked somewhat worried.

Mo Shan comforted her, "Alright, don't overthink it. Opening an eatery is just a small business; even if we lose money, it won't be much."

Liu Ruhua sighed. "Hua'er is gifted. In the future, when he cultivates and learns techniques and Dao arts, and if he wants to become a formation master and learn formations, he will need many spirit stones. If we use them all now, what will we do if he doesn't have enough for his cultivation later?"

Mo Shan said warmly, "Don't underestimate Hua'er. He can already help the merchant guild draw formations. Even if they are simple formations, it's quite an achievement. Perhaps in ten or twenty years, after more practice, he truly could become a formation master."

Mo Shan smiled. "By then, we might have to rely on our son to support us."

Liu Ruhua smiled, but she still couldn't fully relax.

Mo Shan took Liu Ruhua's hand. "Then let's just do well with the eatery and save up more spirit stones. Later, we'll find a way to find a little wife for Mo Hua and see him marry and have children."

Liu Ruhua thought about Mo Shan's words and a smile appeared on her face, though she was still uneasy. "But what if..."

"Even if there is a 'what if,' there's still me. No matter how hard life gets, there will always be a way. It just means working a bit harder and hunting a few more spirit beasts."

Mo Shan's tone was gentle yet firm.

Liu Ruhua said no more, silently leaning into Mo Shan's embrace.