Chapter 22: Clue
Instructor Yan left the Array Pavilion and returned to Tongming Peak of the Tongxian Sect.
Each instructor at Tongming Peak had a private residence—three rooms and a hall, with a small courtyard where they could grow spirit flowers and herbs, or raise spirit beasts.
Instructor Yan's residence was clean and orderly. The walls were neatly covered with array diagrams, and aside from those, there were no other decorations.
He reviewed the basic array manuals, prepared a few array patterns for the lessons later in the month, and then began grading the array homework submitted by the Qi Refining disciples.
There were nearly a thousand Qi Refining disciples on Tongxuan Peak, and Instructor Yan reviewed each array submission personally, marking mistakes and offering notes.
It was time-consuming and required great patience, but Instructor Yan never cut corners.
This was his habit, instilled in him through years of teachings from his master.
His master had graded their array work in just the same way—rigorous, patient, and meticulous.
Instructor Yan's master had been a First-Grade Array Master. While that might not have been anything earth-shattering in the wider cultivation world, even so, he had devoted his entire life to upholding the Dao, teaching students, and passing on the knowledge of array formations in accordance with the heavenly path.
Now that his master had passed, and Instructor Yan had taken up the mantle of teaching, he could finally understand how much effort his master had poured into this path.
As night fell, Instructor Yan lit a lamp and continued grading.
Tongxian Sect was, after all, a small and remote sect with a shallow heritage in cultivation. Out of nearly a thousand disciples, only a handful could draw basic array patterns with proper form.
Those who could do well were usually from families with a tradition in cultivation, or else wealthy enough to afford spirit stones for training—children of Dao Court officials, sect elders, or cultivation families in the city.
Truly poor, self-taught rogue cultivators who could draw competent arrays were rare indeed.
But Instructor Yan didn't care about a disciple's background. He judged only the arrays.
If a submission was poor but showed effort, he would write more notes to explain. If it was both sloppy and lazy, his comments would be harsher—and he would remember the names.
Occasionally, if a submission was especially good, he would mark it with a character for "excellent" beside the array, as a form of encouragement.
Instructor Yan worked patiently until one particular array caught his eye.
The strokes were confident and practiced, clearly the result of dedicated effort. It was structured, coherent—good enough to be used in an actual formation.
He looked at the name—Mo Hua—and gave a satisfied nod, then wrote a large "excellent" character beside the array. Larger than the others.
He turned the page and kept grading.
But a few moments later, Instructor Yan flipped back again, brows furrowing slightly.
The strokes of that array… were too skillful. In fact, they gave off a sense of ease, even finesse?
A Qi Refining disciple at the second or third layer could draw a complete pattern—that was already impressive.
Then he remembered running into Mo Hua at the Array Pavilion earlier that day. A suspicion began to stir.
"Mo Hua… does he even have an elder brother?"
"If his brother draws arrays well, and he draws them well, that would suggest a family tradition. But if I recall correctly, Mo Hua's from a poor rogue cultivator background. If his family knew arrays, they wouldn't be so destitute..."
"If his brother draws arrays for the Pavilion, then he should have some array talent. But I've taught at Tongxian Sect for nearly ten years—I don't recall ever teaching someone like that..."
"Could he be from another sect? Doesn't seem likely. Siblings typically enter the same sect—and Tongxian Sect is already the biggest in the city..."
Instructor Yan tapped the desk as he pondered, then put the thoughts aside for now and focused on finishing the rest of the grading.
The next morning, he got up early and went to the steward of Tongming Peak, requesting the disciples' background records. He found Mo Hua's entry:
Mo Hua: Ten years old, third layer of Qi Refining, lower-mid Five Element spiritual root.
Father: Mo Shan, demon hunter. Mother: Liu Ruhua, kitchen steward.
No other relatives. Certainly no elder brother.
Instructor Yan's suspicions grew, but it still seemed improbable.
Later that morning, during the array class, Instructor Yan suddenly announced a surprise assignment: all students must draw every Five Element pattern they had learned so far and submit it in three days.
The disciples were instantly deflated, like eggplants hit by frost.
Mo Hua, however, didn't mind. He was already drawing arrays for the Pavilion. A few basic patterns? No big deal.
Though… why had Instructor Yan suddenly assigned this?
That wasn't his usual teaching style.
Mo Hua was a little puzzled.
Then, Fatty An came pleading to him.
"Mo Hua! You have to help me!!" Fatty An was nearly in tears.
Who knew why the instructor suddenly threw this at them? Usually, there was a big assignment every few months to evaluate progress.
Fatty An was completely unprepared—he couldn't draw a single pattern and the deadline was tight. Mo Hua was his only hope.
Mo Hua didn't mind. These basic patterns were nothing to him now.
He helped Fatty An draw the arrays and only charged a small "friendship fee." A few other disciples from well-off backgrounds but poor array skills also came to him. Mo Hua accepted their requests too.
He had arrays to draw, spirit stones to earn—he wasn't about to waste time pondering anything else.
Three days later, the assignments were submitted.
Instructor Yan pulled Mo Hua's work aside, examined it carefully, then placed it into his Storage Ring and headed to the Pavilion to find the plump steward.
The steward saw him and became wary. "You here for tea, or here to put me to work again?"
"I don't need tea or errands," Instructor Yan said. "Just want to ask something."
The steward relaxed. "Alright then."
"You still have the arrays Mo Hua gave you?"
"Mo Hua?" The steward blinked. "Oh, that kid. Yeah, I still got some. Why?"
"How many?"
"Flame Array and Earth-Stabilizing Array—I've got a few of each, saved for backup."
The steward pulled out one of each and handed them over.
Instructor Yan examined them carefully, then took out the assignment Mo Hua had submitted and began comparing the array patterns one by one.
When he finished, he took a deep breath.
The steward craned his neck, asking, "What are you looking at?"
Instructor Yan pointed between the patterns and the two full arrays. "Would you say these were drawn by the same person?"
The steward took them, furrowed his brow, and studied them closely. Finally, he nodded.
"Strokes are very similar. Unless something's off, probably the same hand..."
Then he paused, his eyes narrowing. "Wait… you've met Mo Hua's brother?"
"Mo Hua doesn't have a brother."
"…No brother? Then who drew these arrays?"
Instructor Yan gave him a long, meaningful look.
The steward froze. "…You don't mean he drew them?"
Instructor Yan nodded.
The steward was silent for a moment—then burst into a snort of laughter.
"Now that's ridiculous."
"I'll give you the Flame Array—maybe he could pull that off. But the Earth-Stabilizing Array has four patterns. Where's he getting the divine sense for that? What, does he have two heads? Two seas of consciousness?"
He squinted at Instructor Yan suspiciously.
"You're not trying to show off, are you? Claiming you taught a Qi Refining third-layer genius who can draw arrays? I've known you for years—you're not the boastful type!"
Instructor Yan stared at him coldly and pointed to the arrays. "You're the one who said these are by the same hand. These patterns are Mo Hua's. So who else could've drawn these arrays?"
The steward was left speechless.
He stared at the patterns on the left and the arrays on the right for a long time, then muttered,
"…No way…"
(End of Chapter)