Chapter 29: Chapter 29

Chapter 29 Stove_1

Translator: 549690339

The shopkeeper went upstairs and came back after a while, politely inviting Mo Hua to come up.

When Mo Hua saw An Xiaopang, An Xiaopang was drinking with a few flamboyantly dressed young men. On the table were various brightly colored, tantalizing Spirit Fruits, with maids fanning them, bringing gentle, fragrant breezes, and songstresses singing tunes that lingered in the air.

The room was cool and comfortable, without any of the oppressive heat of summer, and the screen even had ice-related Formation Patterns engraved on it to cool and ventilate the room.

Mo Hua thought of the Loose Cultivators who were struggling to do business in the sweltering heat on the streets to make a living and couldn’t help but feel reflective.

They were all Cultivators in the Qi Refinement Realm, living in the same Tongxian City, yet it was as though they lived in two different worlds.

“Mo Hua, it’s really you!”

An Xiaopang saw Mo Hua and seemed somewhat pleased, waving his hand and saying, “Come on, join us for a drink.”

An Xiaopang’s face was flushed red from drinking, but he was young, and he was probably drinking fruit wine, which, even if one got drunk, wouldn’t harm the body too much.

Mo Hua wasn’t in the mood for drinking and directly said, “Young Master An, I need to discuss something with you.”

“Oh,” An Xiaopang snapped back to reality and waved to the other young men, “You guys keep drinking, I need to talk.”

After that, the shopkeeper led Mo Hua and An Xiaopang to a quiet private room. Mo Hua got straight to the point, “Young Master An, I need to ask for your help.”

An Xiaopang was clearly still a bit tipsy, but he patted his chest and said, “As long as it’s something I can help with, just ask!”

Mo Hua looked around at the luxurious decorations in the private room and asked, “This Food Building, it’s owned by your family, right?”

An Xiaopang proudly said, “Yes!”

“Do you use stoves or Cultivator Spiritual Power to cook in the kitchen?”

An Xiaopang looked confused, thought for a while without any clue, then called out, “Shopkeeper!”

Shortly after, the shopkeeper came in through the door. An Xiaopang pointed to the shopkeeper and said to Mo Hua, “Ask him.”

So Mo Hua repeated his previous question to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper replied, “At first, we did use Cultivator Spiritual Power to cook, but that method easily damages the Cultivator’s heart and lungs and the fire is unstable, so our owner decided against it. Last year, we hired an Artifact Refiner to specifically make a stove and had a Formation Master draw the Formation. Since then, we have always used the stove.”

Mo Hua was curious, “Is the cost of the stove higher than hiring a Cultivator?”

The shopkeeper honestly answered, “In the long term, stoves are better. In the short term, hiring Cultivators is definitely more economical, and besides, you can haggle over the Cultivator’s price. Sometimes when the market is down, half a Spirit Stone can hire a Cultivator in the Qi Refinement Realm who is a Loose Cultivator.”

Mo Hua felt somewhat disturbed.

Even as a Cultivator, one couldn’t avoid being exploited.

“Can I take a look at the stove?”

The shopkeeper hesitated, looking at Young Master An. He couldn’t make this decision as normally the kitchen was off-limits to outsiders.

An Xiaopang, now a bit more sober, asked the shopkeeper, “It’s not possible to show it to others?”

The shopkeeper said, “It’s the menu that really matters. Many Food Buildings have stoves, and those without simply don’t want to spend Spirit Stones on crafting them. It’s not a secret.”

An Xiaopang said, “Then let’s have a look. I want to go too, I’ve never seen that stove even once.”

“Alright, I will take both young masters there.”

The shopkeeper breathed a sigh of relief; with Young Master An accompanying them, if anything happened, it wouldn’t all be blamed on him.

The shopkeeper led Mo Hua and An Xiaopang to the kitchen, pointing to a giant furnace-like appliance that was as tall as two men and said, “This is the stove. After inserting a Spirit Stone, the Formation inside the stove will convert it to fire, which then spreads to each cooking station for the Cultivators to cook ingredients.”

“The stove and each cooking station are also connected by Formations, and moreover, each cooking platform has a special Formation engraved on it to control the size of the fire…”

Mo Hua found it all very novel; it was his first time seeing Artifact Refining and Formation Drawing used in such a way.

An Xiaopang’s eyes widened as he looked on. He usually only knew about eating, but had no idea how the food was made.

The shopkeeper introduced the stove to Mo Hua with a hint of pride.

Mo Hua scrutinized the stove attentively, looking left and right, not sparing even the gaps between the mouth and body of the stove.

Seeing him as if he wished he could dismantle the stove to check inside, the shopkeeper couldn’t help but say, “Does Young Master Mo wish to know something?”

Mo Hua inquired, “Shopkeeper, do you know which Formations are engraved inside the stove?”

The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment but then thought that simply knowing which Formations were used was useless. What mattered most was whether one could draw the Formations, and Formations were not so easy to draw.

“The Formation inside this stove is not complicated; it’s just one Melting Fire Formation that includes five Formation Patterns. However, the location of the Melting Fire Formation is rather particular; it must be drawn at the bottom of the stove so that the fire power is even. There has to be a gap on the exterior of the stove to place a Spirit Stone, allowing the Spiritual Energy from the Spirit Stone to seep into the Melting Fire Formation and ignite the Formation’s fire power…”

The shopkeeper told Mo Hua everything down to the last detail.

“Oh, oh,” Mo Hua nodded continuously.

After talking for quite a while, Mo Hua seemed to have gotten clarity on all he wanted to know and sincerely thanked the shopkeeper before preparing to take his leave.

An Xiaopang pulled on Mo Hua, “Don’t rush off; I’ll treat you to something delicious.”

Mo Hua had matters to attend to, so he didn’t accept the offer.

“Are you not giving me face?” An Xiaopang was getting a little angry.

Mo Hua complimented An Xiaopang, saying he was generous and then quietly said to An Xiaopang, “Next time the Instructor assigns a Formation painting homework, I’ll help you draw it for free.”

An Xiaopang was overjoyed and eagerly nodded, “Mm-hmm.”

He didn’t care about Spirit Stones; what he cared about was his pride. Mo Hua offering to help him draw a Formation for free made him feel honored.

The shopkeeper watched Mo Hua’s departing figure and asked An Xiaopang, “Young Master, what is this Master Mo’s identity?”

“You could say he’s a fellow sect member of mine. He’s extremely good at drawing Formations, even better than me. To tell you the truth, he helps me with all my Formation homework!”

An Xiaopang was even a bit proud.

The shopkeeper kept a straight face, silently thinking that there was nothing really to be proud of…

“You go ahead with your business, shopkeeper; I’m off to drink.”

After saying that, An Xiaopang turned to leave, but suddenly he froze, grabbed the shopkeeper’s sleeve, and stared intently at him.

The shopkeeper was a bit nervous under his gaze, “Young… Young Master…”

An Xiaopang said in a low voice, “You must never let my father find out about this!”

“About what?”

“That someone else is doing my homework—you can’t let my father find that out!”

The shopkeeper’s mouth twitched, “Fine, fine…”

An Xiaopang patted his chest, “That was close, good thing I’m clever or else I would have blown it.” Then he made the shopkeeper swear not to tell his father, only then feeling relieved to go upstairs.

The shopkeeper felt somewhat helpless, thinking, “With this unreliable young master, can the An Family really hold onto their family business…”

The shopkeeper’s thoughts then turned back to the youth surnamed Mo.

He looked like no rich family’s child but just an ordinary Cultivator’s child; unsure what he wanted with the stove.

The shopkeeper took a few steps, recalled what Young Master An had said, and suddenly stopped, “Draws Formations well? He couldn’t be planning to draw the stove’s Formation, could he?”

“Young Master An is at the third level of Qi Refinement, and that Mo kid is his fellow sect member, which means that kid can at most only be at the third level of Qi Refinement as well. How could someone at the third level of Qi Refinement have the Divine Sense to draw Formations?”

Shaking his head, the shopkeeper decided to find a place to drink some tea instead.