Qian Xue State Boundary was a place where prominent families flourished with ringing bells and grand feasts, seemingly prosperous everywhere one looked. However, in the small immortal cities on the border, survival remained a daily struggle.

For small families like the Qian family, they could still make a name and fortune in Tong Xian City, but near the Qian Xue State Boundary, they were heavily suppressed, no different from ordinary loose cultivators.

Mo Hua suddenly remembered what he had overheard when capturing the Qian family elder in Big Black Mountain. Hidden inside the pill refinement cave, he had heard the elder say these words to the already deceased Qian family head, Qian Hong:

“…This world is about the survival of the fittest. Big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimp.”

“The cultivation world is the same. Loose cultivators are exploited by small families, small families are oppressed by medium families, and medium families are suppressed by powerful families.”

“In other words, small families feed on loose cultivators, medium families feed on small families, and powerful families feed on medium families…”

“Ultimately, everyone is sucking the blood of the bottom-level loose cultivators…”

The Qian family elder was an evil person. He built the Black Mountain Evil Stronghold, raised evil cultivators, killed people for pill refinement, created countless karmic sins, and schemed for his own longevity.

But some of the things he said seemed to be undeniable truths…

Mo Hua’s mood was complicated, and his expression was somewhat dejected.

Gu Shi observed the situation from the side. Seeing Mo Hua’s young age and the pity in his eyes, his pupils involuntarily constricted slightly. He personally poured Mo Hua another cup of fruit wine.

Mo Hua then thought of another question:

“Gu Shi, noble families prioritize profit… Logically, the loose cultivators in Gu Shan City who made a living by refining ‘array mediums’ could have lived comfortably.”

“This shows that refining array mediums is also profitable.”

“Why would they resort to draining the pond for fish and wasting the mines, and instead refine those luxurious spirit tools?”

“Refining more array mediums and promoting them widely would not only earn spirit stones but also popularize array techniques. Wouldn’t that be a good thing?”

“Is it because luxurious spirit tools earn a lot more?”

Gu Shi nodded and sighed, “That’s natural…”

“Ordinary array mediums are used by poor, low-level cultivators, while luxurious spirit tools are used by wealthy, high-level cultivators.”

“Even if they are all in the Qi Refining Realm, the spending of a thousand low-level cultivators is not as high as that of a single noble family disciple.”

“Although our Gu family also has businesses, our profits are not high, and our family assets are considered small among the noble families. Our ancestors have always been quite strict with our disciples, not allowing extravagance or waste.”

“But other families, especially those with ‘spirit mines’, countless businesses, and extremely deep foundations, are different…”

“Just the famous Dao robes worn by their direct descendants are probably enough to cover the food, clothing, and expenses of a thousand Qi Refining loose cultivators for a year.”

Gu Shi sighed at this point.

Mo Hua frowned, “Are luxurious spirit tools difficult to refine?”

Gu Shi shook his head, “Frankly, these kinds of luxurious spirit tools are actually quite ordinary in terms of skill. Their offensive and defensive effects are very weak, and sometimes they sacrifice practicality for beauty.”

Mo Hua didn’t understand, “Then why are they expensive?”

Gu Shi sighed, “They are expensive because of the word ‘identity’.”

“Identity?”

Gu Shi said, “The materials of a spirit tool – whether they are famous or not, rare or not, what kind of master refiner they came from, how many years of skill they inherit, whether they are limited edition… all of these are matters of ‘discourse’.”

“Without this ‘discourse’, even if you have the same refining skill and perfectly copy and refine the same luxurious spirit tool, it will still be considered a ‘fake’, a counterfeit that doesn’t belong in the mainstream.”

“So, these kinds of luxurious spirit tools are not something ordinary refiner masters can refine in the first place.”

“Furthermore, noble families don’t actually need to promote array mediums or popularize array techniques…”

Mo Hua was startled, somewhat unexpected.

Gu Shi said, “What noble families do is monopolize, monopolize the inheritance of array techniques, and monopolize refining resources.”

“If they popularized array techniques, an array flag with a sixteen-pattern array technique could only be sold for three hundred spirit stones;”

“But as long as they monopolize array techniques, an array flag that only needs an eleven-pattern array technique can be sold for three hundred.”

“The refining cost is even lower, and the spirit stone profit is even higher.”

“As long as array techniques are monopolized in their hands, they can set whatever price they want.”

“They can earn spirit stones lying down, and they don’t need to bother researching the applications of array mediums, the optimization of array techniques, or the promotion of array studies…”

“These things waste time and effort, and they won’t bring benefits to noble families, so the situation you see now exists…”

“Array techniques are treasured by noble families. They are either kept as secret knowledge, or placed in high cabinets, or even left in a corner to gather dust.”

“While ordinary cultivators don’t know array techniques and can only rely on the whims of noble families, helpless; ordinary array masters, without the inheritance of array techniques, can only attach themselves to noble families…”

Gu Shi’s tone was solemn, and his expression was one of sighing.

Mo Hua frowned and didn’t speak, seemingly deep in thought.

Gu Shi glanced sideways slightly, assessing Mo Hua’s expression, and suddenly smiled apologetically:

“Let’s not talk about these things. My original intention was to entertain Young Master, not to mention these disappointing matters. Please forgive me, Young Master.”

Gu Shi poured wine for Mo Hua again.

Mo Hua drank silently, without saying anything further, until the banquet ended.

At the time of parting, Gu Shi only said:

“During the next ten-day rest period, I will send people to deliver the refined array mediums to the main Gu family in Qing State City. Young Master can pick them up when you have time.”

Mo Hua cupped his hands and bowed, “Many thanks, Gu Shi.”

“You are too kind, Young Master.”

Gu Shi waved his hand. At the entrance of the Immortal Crane Building, he watched Mo Hua leave into the distance, sighed slightly, and then turned to leave.

After leaving, Gu Shi purchased some materials for refining array mediums in Qing State City, and then rode a carriage back to Gu Shan City.

His disciple, Da Chuan, was also in the carriage.

Da Chuan was a native cultivator of Gu Shan City. He had learned refining since he was young and rarely left Gu Shan City. This trip to Qing State City, seeing the scenery of a fifth-grade immortal city, greatly broadened his horizons.

In the carriage, Da Chuan said with some envy:

“Master, Qing State City is much more prosperous than our Gu Shan City…”

Gu Shi lightly “um”ed, but there were some words he didn’t say.

Gu Shan City was also prosperous before. Although it couldn’t compare to Qing State City, people came and went, laughter was peaceful, and it was quite lively.

Now Qing State City was even more prosperous than before.

But Gu Shan City had forever declined…

There was not only one Qing State City in this cultivation world, but countless Gu Shan Cities.

Da Chuan’s worldly experience was not deep, and he didn’t understand these words, so Gu Shi didn’t say them.

After the carriage had traveled for a while, Da Chuan suddenly thought of something again, looked at Gu Shi, and said in a low voice:

“Master, why were you so polite to that Young Master Mo?”

Master was a Gold Core and a third-grade refiner master.

Whereas that Young Master Mo only had a Foundation Building initial stage cultivation, looked small and frail, as if he couldn’t withstand the wind.

Although Da Chuan felt that respecting that Young Master Mo was appropriate, Master had lowered himself too much. He had actually gone through a lot of trouble to specially come to Qing State City, stayed in the Gu family for a long time, just to spend spirit stones and invite that Young Master Mo to eat fish.

Da Chuan was very confused.

Gu Shi only said, “You don’t understand…”

Da Chuan said in a low voice, “Is that Young Master Mo of noble status?”

Gu Shi thought for a moment, suddenly shook his head, and frowned, “I’m not sure either…”

Da Chuan was startled.

Gu Shi’s eyes showed thought, “I entrusted a fellow disciple to inquire within the clan. Although this Young Master Mo often goes in and out of the Gu family, he doesn’t seem to have any blood relations with the Gu family…”

“Although he is valued by Lady Shangguan, he doesn’t seem to be a relative of the Shangguan family or the Wenren family.”

“He entered Tai Xu Gate and claims to be a ‘loose cultivator’ to the outside world…”

“Loose cultivator?” Da Chuan was stunned.

Gu Shi nodded slightly.

“But…” Da Chuan hesitated and said, “If he’s really a loose cultivator, aren’t we, then, buttering him up for nothing?”

“No…” Gu Shi’s gaze narrowed slightly, “How could an ordinary loose cultivator receive such generous treatment from the Gu family and the Shangguan family, and how could he enter the mountain gate of Tai Xu Gate?”

“Then what if… he really is a loose cultivator?” Da Chuan said weakly.

“If he really is a loose cultivator…” Gu Shi’s expression was solemn, “That would be a good thing…”

Da Chuan was bewildered, his expression showing a lack of understanding.

Gu Shi took a long breath and sighed meaningfully:

“There are some hardships in this world that the disciples of noble families will never understand…”

“Without personally experiencing it, personally seeing it, without living at the bottom, they will never understand…”

Da Chuan’s expression was bewildered, and he seemed to nod as if he understood but didn’t.

Gu Shi’s gaze narrowed slightly, and Mo Hua’s clear and pitying gaze emerged in his mind again. He murmured in a low voice:

“This young master, perhaps he is truly our ‘noble person’…”

After returning to the sect, Mo Hua’s heart felt somewhat heavy.

He realized that he had overlooked a problem.

He had always been considering matters of the sect, noble families, inheritance, sin cultivators, evil cultivators, demon cultivators, and human traffickers and evil gods.

But he hadn’t realized how the cultivators in the small state boundaries and small immortal cities on the periphery of Qian Xue State Boundary actually lived.

His mother’s words to him floated in his ears again.

“It’s not just array masters, all cultivators are the same. When people walk towards higher places, they don’t look down…”

Cultivators seek the Dao, they seek the reality of the world.

If they don’t even see the reality of this world, the hundred states of all living beings, how can they seek the true Heavenly Dao?

If they always look up at the sky, how can they know that what they step on is the true ground?

Mo Hua walked in Tai Xu Gate, looked up at the vast sky for a bit, then lowered his head and looked at the ground under his feet for a bit, and also conveniently stepped on it a few times, nodding slightly.

Seven days later, not even ten days had passed.

Mo Hua, who was cultivating in the sect, unexpectedly received a storage bag.

The storage bag contained three types of array mediums: array disks, array flags, and array bases, twenty pieces of each kind. These were refined by Gu Shi, specially sent to the Gu family, and then specially sent to Tai Xu Gate by Wenren Wan’s people.

Mo Hua was somewhat surprised.

He hadn’t expected Gu Shi to refine the array mediums so quickly and even send them over. It was clear that he was extremely attentive to this matter.

Mo Hua was grateful in his heart and thought that if he had the opportunity in the future, he would definitely help Gu Shi and the others.

After cultivating and during his free time, Mo Hua began to research these array mediums.

These array mediums looked exquisite, but their structure was very simple.

Mo Hua was an array master, and these array mediums were “borrowed” from the refiner manual he had copied… so he understood them with a single glance.

The array techniques drawn on them were also not difficult.

After all, they were only basic array mediums. Mo Hua tried drawing a few pieces and using them a bit, and he quickly became familiar with them.

Controlling ink with divine sense and painting arrays on the ground, although it looked very elegant and was not too limited by array mediums, it was too flashy. If used too much, it would attract suspicion from many people and would instead put him in a passive position.

Therefore, Mo Hua planned to use normal “array mediums” to display array techniques in the future, and also use this to cover up his “talent” in array techniques.

He would try to integrate into the identity of an ordinary array master and get along with his fellow disciples.

To avoid constantly surprising everyone, it would also be troublesome to explain himself.

The array mediums were refined, and array techniques were also drawn on them, so he could try using them preliminarily.

Mo Hua secretly contacted Gu Changhuai:

“Uncle Gu, I found a clue about a hateful sin cultivator who has killed people and is on the run. Can you help me issue a reward?”

Gu Changhuai was silent for a long time, then replied:

“Where did you get the clue?”

Mo Hua: “I heard from a Dao friend that he accidentally inquired about the sin cultivator’s clue…”

Gu Changhuai: “Are you saying that ‘Dao friend’ is not you?”

Mo Hua denied, “How is that possible?”

Gu Changhuai knew that Mo Hua was trying to muddle through and that there was absolutely no truth in his words. He was also too lazy to ask and directly said:

“What realm, what name, what crime did he commit?”

Mo Hua said, “Foundation Building mid stage, nicknamed ‘Over Jiang Dragon’. I only know that he has definitely killed people. I don’t know anything else…”

“Why don’t you, Uncle Gu, flip through the case files in the Dao Court Division and see what other bad things he has done?”

Gu Changhuai was silent.

At this moment, he felt that Mo Hua was the “典司” (official), while he was a “执司” (executor) working for Mo Hua…

But Gu Changhuai had no choice. He could only go and flip through the files himself.

Mo Hua waited patiently.

After a while, Gu Changhuai replied:

“He’s done quite a few bad things. He killed people in the mountains, robbed at the ferry, and sold forbidden pills…”

“Did he sell cultivators?” Mo Hua asked.

Gu Changhuai said, “No evidence of this kind of crime has been found…”

Mo Hua said indignantly, “This person is too bad!”

Then he added, “I think he’s worth at least a thousand merits!”

Gu Changhuai was instantly annoyed when he heard this.

This little brat Mo Hua was calculating the rewards so brazenly that even he, in the Dao Court Division of Qian Xue State Boundary, could hear it.

“You still want to set the price yourself?” Gu Changhuai said displeased.

Mo Hua said righteously, “This is not called setting the price, this is called punishing evil and promoting good!”

“I’ll take down the reward and cooperate with my fellow disciples to punish the evil person. Wouldn’t the Dao Court Division want to give a little more merits and praise the ‘good deed’?”

“Punishing evil and promoting good!”

Gu Changhuai was speechless.

You call that a little?

He opened his mouth like a lion, directly asking for a thousand points.

Gu Changhuai said, “Five hundred.”

Mo Hua was shocked, “Uncle Gu, how can you ‘cut the price’ like this? Cut it in half with one knife?”

Although he himself also cut prices like this…

“Nine hundred!”

Mo Hua took a step back.

“Five hundred!”

Gu Changhuai didn’t play by Mo Hua’s thought pattern and bit the price dead, not letting go by a single point.

“Eight hundred!”

“Five hundred and ten.”

Mo Hua was helpless, “Uncle Gu, you are too stingy…”

A dignified official of the Dao Court Division, adding the price ten points by ten points, and still not feeling ashamed.

Gu Changhuai was unmoved, “This is to let you understand that merits don’t come easily, every single point is very precious.”

Mo Hua snorted, “I’m not someone who hasn’t done rewards before. How could I not know the price of a Foundation Building mid stage sin cultivator?”

“At least seven hundred and fifty!”

“Five hundred and twenty…”

After a round of “bargaining”, Mo Hua finally settled the reward merits at “six hundred points”.

At the same time, if there were other accompanying sin cultivators or related important clues, the price would be added separately.

Mo Hua nodded and barely agreed.

Six hundred points for five people to do the reward, dividing it down to one hundred and twenty points per person.

That’s about right.

A hundred more points wasn’t much, but he had already done his best.

After Mo Hua and Gu Changhuai, they began to “plot” how to issue this reward and how to make sure it ended up in Mo Hua’s hands.

“Tomorrow night, at Zi Shi one quarter, on time and on the dot, the Dao Court Division will issue the reward with added conditions: Foundation Building initial stage, second-grade array master, Water Prison Technique, and Hidden Technique. These four.”

“You better be quick. If someone else takes it, don’t blame me.”

Gu Changhuai sent a message to Mo Hua.

Then he added:

“Also, remember to erase this message and leave no trace.”

Mo Hua continuously nodded and replied to Gu Changhuai:

“Rest assured, Uncle Gu, I’m familiar with this. I won’t leave any ‘evidence of crime’ for you!”

Gu Changhuai: “…”

This kid, it sounds like I’m covering up his crime…

Gu Changhuai sighed and then ignored Mo Hua.

Mo Hua remembered Gu Changhuai’s information and then indeed erased it.

Not only were the magnetic ink and indefinite magnetic patterns eliminated, but even the secondary thunder patterns were wiped off.

Mo Hua was very “professional” at doing this kind of thing.

The next day, as soon as Zi Shi one quarter arrived, Mo Hua didn’t even practice his array techniques. Instead, he held his Tai Xu Order early and focused intensely on the tasks in the 《Reward Record》.

In the Reward Record, there were countless reward entries of Yuan Magnetic text.

As soon as Zi Shi one quarter arrived, a task suddenly lit up among them.

Mo Hua’s divine sense was extremely sharp. In an instant, he spotted the words “Water Prison Technique”, “Hidden Technique”, “array master”… among the entries.

His divine sense swept through it like a dragonfly touching the water, and then he discovered the three words “Over Jiang Dragon” inside.

Got it!

After confirming, Mo Hua was “quick-eyed and quick-handed”. He applied in an instant, while on the other side, Gu Changhuai, seeing the name “Mo Hua”, also agreed in an instant.

This reward entry appeared and disappeared in an instant.

At this time, there were still quite a few Tai Xu Gate disciples in the Foundation Building mid and late stages, staring at the rewards in the Tai Xu Order like hungry wolves staring at meat. They accidentally brushed past this reward, but before they could even look, it was gone in an instant. They all looked bewildered.

“What’s wrong? Wasn’t there a new reward?”

“I haven’t even looked, why is it gone?”

“Damn it, who is it exactly? So fast… No, their divine sense is so fast… I just blinked and it was snatched away…”

(End of this chapter)