Chapter 10: Beware of Women

Chapter 1392: Beware of Women

“Careful of women?”

Mo Hua looked at Bai Zixi with a strange expression.

For some reason, Bai Zixi avoided his gaze slightly, pursed her lips, and said:

“Anyway, just be careful yourself. Women aren’t easy to deal with.”

As if afraid Mo Hua would press further, she added, “I’m going to cultivate,” then got up and left.

Leaving Mo Hua standing there, utterly confused.

He still couldn’t understand it. He hadn’t offended anyone in Kun Province, owed no debts, and hadn’t provoked anyone either, so why should he suddenly be warry of women?

Mo Hua thought for a while but couldn’t figure it out. Shaking his head, he stopped dwelling on it.

He wasn’t even afraid of demons and evil spirits, why would he be afraid of women?

That said, better safe than sorry. If there was killing intent in the air, it was best not to go out for now.

At the very least, he should wait until his injuries healed and his Divine-Sense recovered, until he could once again activate the Divine-Slaying Sword, craft a few more “straw-dogs” to block calamity, and then leave the small blessed land to explore Kun Province.

After that, Mo Hua continued recovering, nourishing his spirit, deciphering formation diagrams, and attending lessons with his Little Senior Sister every day, studying formations together.

His injuries gradually improved, and his understanding of Third-Grade formations deepened bit by bit.

The number of Third-Grade formations he had mastered also steadily increased.

But after studying for some time, Mo Hua felt something was missing.

He was only learning on paper, with no chance to apply it, unable to “learn and use,” which went against his principles of studying formations.

It had been a long time since he last used formations. His hands were itching.

“Formations…” Mo Hua murmured.

...

That day, Bai Zixi was in seclusion refining pills.

After meditating for a while to heal, Mo Hua opened his eyes and saw that it was still early, so he began strolling around the XuanLuan Mountain Blessed Land.

The scenery there was picturesque. Pavilions and towers like jade palaces, elegant bamboo chambers, and exquisite courtyards.

As he wandered, he arrived at a small courtyard. Looking up, he saw the little girl Xiao Ju sitting at a white jade table, brewing tea.

Mo Hua walked over and sat down familiarly.

Xiao Ju acted as if she didn’t see him, let alone offering him tea.

Mo Hua glanced at the fragrant tea, then at Xiao Ju, puzzled, and asked, “Are you a maid?”

Xiao Ju rolled her eyes. “You’re the maid.”

Mo Hua wasn’t angry. If anything, it confirmed his guess.

This little girl was too young, looking only seven or eight. She was delicate and adorable, adorned with gold-threaded jade ornaments, like a lucky child radiating wealth.

More importantly, Mo Hua had noticed she possessed top-tier spiritual roots, honestly, a bit infuriating.

With such talent and bearing, she clearly wasn’t an ordinary “maid.”

Mo Hua asked, “Are you from a noble Clan?”

Xiao Ju snorted. “Why should I tell you?”

Seeing she was stubborn, Mo Hua ignored her for now, leaned back in his chair, and admired the scenery.

Once Mo Hua fell silent, the courtyard grew quiet.

After a while, Xiao Ju seemed unable to bear it and spoke:

“Hey—”

Mo Hua turned his head.

“I’m not ‘hey,’” he thought for a moment, then said, “You’re young, so just call me ‘Big Brother.’”

Xiao Ju scoffed. “Calling you Mo Hua is already giving you face.”

Mo Hua was surprised. “You know my name?”

Xiao Ju snorted. “I’m not stupid. After all this time, how could I not know?”

Mo Hua nodded, calculating silently, then suddenly said, “The name ‘Xiao Ju’... Senior Sister gave it to you, didn’t she?”

Xiao Ju froze. “How did you know?”

Then she grew wary. “Did Sister Zixi tell you?”

Mo Hua shook his head. “I guessed.”

Xiao Ju relaxed a little, then eyed him suspiciously. “Are you really that smart?”

Mo Hua asked, “What do you think?”

Xiao Ju thought for a moment, then nodded. “You’re full of sweet talk, you must be pretty clever.”

Then she muttered softly, “Pure and innocent Sister Zixi is exactly the type to get tricked by smooth-talking bad men like you.”

Mo Hua nearly choked with anger, itching to grab her by the head. “Who taught you all this nonsense?”

Xiao Ju huffed.

Mo Hua sighed and asked, “Want to eat oranges?”

Xiao Ju sneered. “Don’t think you can bribe me with oranges.”

Mo Hua responded with an “Oh” and said nothing more.

After a while, Xiao Ju couldn’t help herself. “Do you actually have oranges?”

Mo Hua asked, “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t be bribed?”

Xiao Ju said seriously, “A few oranges could never bribe me. I’m just asking if you have any.”

Before Mo Hua could answer, she added, “Not ordinary ones, high-quality spirit oranges.”

Mo Hua asked, “What are spirit oranges?”

Xiao Ju gestured with her hands. “About this big, round, and golden. One bite and juice bursts out, very sweet.”

Mo Hua nodded. “Oh.”

Xiao Ju realized something and looked disappointed. “You don’t even know what spirit oranges are, yet you tried to trick me. You really are a big liar.”

Mo Hua smiled. “I don’t have any right now, but I can grow them.”

Xiao Ju froze. “Grow them?”

Mo Hua nodded.

“But…” Xiao Ju frowned, “how would you grow them?”

Mo Hua said, “Don’t you have some seeds hidden in your storage bag? We’ll use those.”

Xiao Ju was stunned, her mouth hanging open in shock.

“You even know I hid seeds? You’re terrifying!”

Mo Hua smiled calmly. “Do you want to grow them?”

“But…” Xiao Ju still hesitated. “Those seeds are hard to grow. The soil, temperature, climate, and spiritual energy requirements are all very high.”

Mo Hua only asked, “Do you want to eat oranges?”

Xiao Ju replied, “Yes.”

Mo Hua said, “Then plant them. If you don’t try, how will you know?”

In the end, she couldn’t resist the thought of those round, golden, sweet fruits.

Then she asked, “Where do we plant them?”

Mo Hua thought for a moment. “Is there any fertile land with good water in the blessed land?”

Although he had explored quite a bit, he was still new here and knew far less than Xiao Ju, a “native.”

Xiao Ju thought for a while. “There are a few places.”

Mo Hua said, “Take me there.”

Seeing her still hesitate, he added, “Don’t want oranges?”

Defeated by temptation, Xiao Ju resigned herself. “Fine, follow me.”

Like a little lucky doll, Xiao Ju led Mo Hua out of the courtyard, past jade-like buildings and scenic landscapes, to an open area behind the mountain with rich soil and fewer rocks.

The grass was jade-green, and a stream flowed gently. Though it lacked exotic flowers, it was wide and tranquil.

Xiao Ju pointed. “Here.” She looked at Mo Hua. “Can it be planted?”

Mo Hua stepped forward, crouched down, rubbed the soil between his fingers, and sensed the spiritual energy within. With some regret, he said:

“Doesn’t seem ideal… the spiritual energy isn’t rich enough…”

Although the XiaoLuan Mountain Blessed Land had mountains, water, flowers, and grass, seemingly full of vitality.

Everything here was designed to nourish the natural spiritual energy between mountains and rivers, creating an atmosphere of a “minor spiritual revival.”

This spiritual energy floated in the air and did not sink into the soil, so the land itself wasn’t particularly fertile.

Growing some flowers and plants for decoration was fine, but using it to cultivate spiritual plants—especially the high-quality spirit oranges Xiao Ju loved—was nearly impossible. Those required a great deal of nutrients.

Xiao Ju looked disappointed.

“However,” Mo Hua added, “with formations, we should be able to improve the soil quality.”

Xiao Ju’s eyes lit up, but then she shook her head and sighed. “No, that won’t work. Formations aren’t allowed in the Blessed Land.”

Mo Hua’s gaze shifted. “Why?”

Xiao Ju explained, “The Blessed Land isn’t just scenery. The rocks, the water beneath, and the underground, all have formations laid out beforehand. They complement each other to preserve the spiritual energy, allowing it to circulate without leaking.”

“If you casually draw formations here and disrupt the original formation system, you might ruin the feng shui, leak the spiritual energy… and True-Person Rong would be very angry.”

With a serious face, she added, “And when True-Person Rong gets angry… it’s terrifying!”

Mo Hua was startled, somewhat surprised.

He crouched down, placed his palm on the ground, and focused his divine sense. After a while, he indeed detected a deeply hidden and exquisite formation beneath the earth.

Spiritual energy flowed abundantly within it... it was clearly constructed specifically to create this “spiritual revival” Blessed Land.

This entire formation was buried deep underground, sealed by some method so that not even a trace of its aura leaked out.

If not for Xiao Ju’s reminder, and Mo Hua’s powerful divine sense, along with his familiarity with the Earth Dao, he might not have discovered this hidden mystery.

“So this is… the method of a reclusive expert…”

Mo Hua sighed inwardly.

After pondering for a moment, he said, “It’s fine. The formations I draw won’t cause problems.”

He only needed to avoid interfering with the Blessed Land’s existing formation system and steer clear of elemental conflicts.

For someone like Mo Hua, who had experience building and even “blowing up” Grand formations, this wasn’t difficult.

Mo Hua began measuring the land, took out spiritual ink, and started planning the formation layout on paper.

Xiao Ju was still uneasy. She felt Mo Hua was a “dangerous element” and couldn’t help muttering:

“If you mess this up and make True-Person Rong angry, Xiao Ju won’t be able to save you.”

“And… if things go wrong, don’t you dare expose me.”

“I’m not afraid of True-Person Rong, but I still don’t want to make her angry…”

Mo Hua smiled. “Alright. If something goes wrong, I’ll take full responsibility. It has nothing to do with Lady Xiao Ju.”

Xiao Ju nodded repeatedly, but then felt a bit guilty.

After all, this Mo Hua was taking such a big risk just to grow oranges for her.

But True-Person Rong being angry was truly frightening.

She fiddled with her fingers, torn between wanting to loyally stand by Mo Hua and protect him, and knowing she probably couldn’t.

While Xiao Ju was still conflicted, she suddenly looked up, and realized that in the time she had been hesitating, Mo Hua had already started drawing the formation.

No... not drawing with a brush…

He didn’t even use a brush. With just a few gestures of his fingers, the spiritual ink moved like a snake through the air, landing on the ground and forming a complete formation.

Xiao Ju’s mouth fell open in shock.

What kind of person draws formations like this? Like some kind of monster... doesn’t even need a brush?

Who draws like that?

Her little head was completely confused.

Meanwhile, Mo Hua worked extremely fast.

They were just a few Third-Grade, twenty-two-pattern nurturing earth formations. Before Xiao Ju could even recover from her shock, he had already finished.

He then crushed some spirit stones and scattered them into the soil, using their energy to activate the formations.

The nurturing earth formations began to operate. Spiritual energy flowed through the formation patterns, transforming into Five Elements earth energy.

Refined further by the Third-Grade Golden Core formation, the earth energy condensed into a thin layer of tangible soil, covering the ground like a real substance.

Gaseous spiritual energy had been converted into “solid-state” Five Elements earth.

With the support of the formations, the land truly became more fertile.

A subtle sense of wonder rose in Mo Hua’s heart. He then looked at Xiao Ju and said:

“Where are the seeds? Let’s plant them and see.”

Xiao Ju was reluctant. Those seeds were precious.

But Mo Hua had already taken such a big risk just so she could eat oranges. At this point, she couldn’t be stingy anymore.

She reached into the small storage pouch at her waist and took out a few seeds.

These seeds were transparent on the outside, golden on the inside, like little gold beans.

Even Mo Hua was briefly stunned.

He hadn’t expected Xiao Ju’s secretly stored seeds to be so special.

Xiao Ju scattered the gold-bean-like seeds onto the soil, but not too many, only four or five.

Just in case Mo Hua turned out unreliable and wasted her precious seeds.

After planting them, Mo Hua added a few more formations above, one to nourish with water energy, another to stabilize with earth energy. That completed the planting.

Xiao Ju couldn’t help asking, “When will these seeds grow oranges? Tomorrow?”

Mo Hua was speechless. “Have you ever seen seeds grow that fast?”

Xiao Ju looked disappointed. “If not tomorrow… then the day after?”

She really wanted to eat oranges.

Mo Hua patiently explained, “After planting seeds, you have to wait for them to sprout, grow, bloom, bear fruit, and ripen. Only then can you eat oranges.”

It felt like the sky had collapsed for Xiao Ju. “That long?”

“Doesn’t that mean I’ll have to wait years before eating oranges?”

Her face filled with regret.

Mo Hua smiled gently. “That’s how life is. If you want results, you have to cultivate patiently.”

“Plant the seed today, and in a few months—or a few years—you’ll have plenty of oranges to eat.”

“But if you don’t plant anything today, then no matter how many years pass, you still won’t have oranges.”

Xiao Ju paused, frowned as she thought about it, then nodded sincerely.

“You talk a lot of sweet nonsense, but… it actually makes sense… but…”

Her face scrunched up again. “Years of waiting…”

Mo Hua smiled. “Not necessarily. I’ll think of a way to make them grow faster.”

“If you have time, you can also take care of them. They should grow quicker.”

Xiao Ju’s eyes lit up. She visibly brightened, staring at the empty land, already imagining it filled with oranges.

“I’ll treat you to tea,” Xiao Ju said, for once being unusually generous.

The tea she brewed was usually only for Sister Zixi. But since this Mo Hua helped her plant oranges, she should return the favor.

Mo Hua smiled. “Alright, thank you, Lord Xiao Ju.”

Xiao Ju gave the plot of land where the spirit oranges were planted one last look, then left together with Mo Hua. Along the way, she kept chattering nonstop, happy one moment, worried the next:

“What if there are too many oranges later and I can’t finish them?”

“If those seeds really grow into orange trees…”

“Will True-Person Rong pull out my orange trees?”

“Can you make True-Person Rong not pull them out?”

“Sigh, I’m still not grown up yet. True-Person Rong might not give me face. Once I grow up, it’ll be fine, then True-Person Rong won’t dare pull out my orange trees.”

Xiao Ju muttered to herself all the way.

Not long after the two of them left, a dignified and elegant figure appeared by the patch of earth they had disturbed.

Mo Hua making moves within the Little Blessed Land naturally couldn’t escape True-Person Rong’s notice.

True-Person Rong lowered her gaze and looked at the formation Mo Hua had drawn, her expression somewhat serious.

She hadn’t seen him draw it, but the formation lines on the ground were smooth and natural, flawless, already showing considerable mastery.

The formation Mo Hua had drawn was a Third-Grade, twenty-two pattern Nurturing Earth Formation.

The formation itself was a standard Five Elements formation, nothing particularly rare.

But if she remembered correctly, Mo Hua had only just entered the Golden Core stage, and had only recently begun learning Third-Grade formations from Zixi.

In such a short time, he had already mastered a Third-Grade, twenty-two pattern Nurturing Earth Formation, and could draw it with such proficiency.

“This level of formation talent and comprehension… is almost on par with Zixi.”

No wonder the two were senior sister and junior brother. No wonder Zixi was willing to teach him formations.

True-Person Rong sighed softly.

Although drawing formations within the Little Blessed Land went against the rules, the formation Mo Hua drew did not affect the spiritual energy system of the Blessed Land itself, so she chose to turn a blind eye.

After that, Mo Hua deliberately set aside some time to study the application of the Nurturing Earth Formation, as well as how to use the principle of mutual generation of the Five Elements to improve earth energy and accelerate the cultivation of spirit plants, so that Lord Xiao Ju could eat oranges sooner.

Xiao Ju clearly realized the importance of Mo Hua to her grand “eat oranges” plan. She would even take the initiative to brew tea for him while he studied formation diagrams.

And the tea Xiao Ju brewed was fragrant and pure, surprisingly delicious.

After all, this was tea she usually made for Senior Sister. Mo Hua was getting a free benefit.

...

One day, Mo Hua sat in the courtyard, studying the principles of Five Elements earth formations while drinking Xiao Ju’s tea, his mood calm and steady.

But as he read, he suddenly froze, raised his head, and looked outside the Little Blessed Land, his expression stunned.

Outside, a remarkably luxurious carriage had stopped at the entrance.

A young lady, dressed in opulent robes of gold and jade, with a beauty like flowers and the moon, stepped down from the carriage and walked straight into the  XiaoLuan Mountain Blessed Land.

She stopped outside the courtyard for a moment, took out a precious water mirror, touched up her lips, reapplied her makeup, and adjusted her clothes, ensuring her appearance was flawless, both her face and attire perfectly beautiful. Only then did she smile like a blooming flower and enter the courtyard cheerfully.

“Zixi, I came—”

She walked in full of joy, but then saw a man sitting in Zixi’s courtyard.

Like a bolt from the blue, all her happiness came to an abrupt halt.

Her expression shifted instantly from bright to dark, then turned icy cold, carrying a chilling killing intent.

But when she clearly saw the man’s picturesque face, the cold killing intent in her eyes turned into deep astonishment and disbelief:

“Mo Hua? Why are you here?”

Mo Hua raised his head and looked at the gorgeously dressed, stunning woman before him, his expression also somewhat indescribably strange.

(End of Chapter)