The sect opens its outer gates every year, accepting disciples and imparting cultivation knowledge and skills. When disciples join the sect, they must pay tuition fees.
Different levels of sects require different tuition fees. The higher the rank of the sect, the more expensive the tuition.
Tongxian Sect is only a first-rank sect in the cultivation world, but in Tongxian City, while there are other first-rank sects, it is the largest. The annual tuition fee is one hundred spirit stones, not including various other miscellaneous charges.
One hundred spirit stones are not too expensive, but they are certainly not cheap either. It is roughly the equivalent of a year's earnings for an average Qi Refining rogue cultivator, provided they do not fall ill or encounter any major expenses requiring a significant outlay of spirit stones.
If illness or disaster strikes, or they face a problem that requires spending spirit stones, it's possible to end up with nothing for the entire year.
The New Year's celebrations were joyous, but once they were over, the burden of cultivation life seemed to weigh down again.
Mo Shan placed a storage pouch on the table, feeling somewhat guilty. "I borrowed some spirit stones from a few brothers, and along with what we had saved, it's a bit over eighty..."
Liu Ruhua comforted him, "Tomorrow, I'll go to the manager of the dining hall and ask for an advance on some spirit stones."
Mo Shan was about to say something when he noticed Mo Hua eavesdropping at the door.
"Hua'er!"
Caught, Mo Hua smiled sheepishly and ran to sit beside his mother.
Liu Ruhua affectionately pinched Mo Hua's ear, chiding him, "So young, and already eavesdropping!"
"Father, Mother, are we short on spirit stones?"
Mo Shan replied, "We're short a bit, but yesterday your Uncle Ji said he would lend me some. He also insisted that you study well in the sect."
"Uncle Ji?"
"Yes, your Uncle Ji said you're smart and praised you a lot," Liu Ruhua said as she stroked Mo Hua's head.
"But Uncle Ji's family doesn't have much surplus spirit stones either," Mo Hua pointed out.
Mo Shan sighed softly, "I'll repay him as soon as I can after the New Year. Nowadays, who has surplus spirit stones?"
"I do!" Mo Hua said with a grin.
Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua were taken aback.
Mo Hua ran back to his room and returned with a storage pouch in his hand.
When he opened the pouch, fifty spirit stones glittered inside, casting a beautiful glow. However, the scene he had imagined of his parents being moved to tears and praising him for being sensible did not occur.
Mo Shan looked solemn, and Liu Ruhua frowned slightly.
Mo Hua, feeling uneasy, asked, "What's wrong?"
Mo Shan tried to speak calmly, "Hua'er, who gave you these spirit stones?"
"No one gave them to me. I earned them myself!"
Mo Shan was momentarily stunned, "You… earned them yourself?"
Liu Ruhua's frown eased, and she gently embraced Mo Hua, "Tell me, how did you earn them?"
"I drew arrays for Destiny Pavilion, just the simplest kind. For each one I completed, I earned a spirit stone."
Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua looked at each other. They recalled that most of the time before and after the New Year, their son had stayed in his room and didn't play much. Even when he went out, he quickly returned. It turned out he had been drawing arrays to earn spirit stones.
They looked at the spirit stones in the pouch again. One spirit stone per array, nearly fifty spirit stones meant drawing at least fifty arrays...
Liu Ruhua couldn't help but hold Mo Hua tighter.
Mo Shan wanted to say something several times but didn't know what to say. In the end, he just reached out and gently patted Mo Hua's head.
"These spirit stones were hard-earned by you. Keep them for yourself, use them for cultivation, or buy something nice. I'll figure out the tuition fees for Tongxian Sect."
Mo Hua knew his father was reluctant to use these spirit stones. His eyes lit up as he said, "Then, Father and Mother, please keep these spirit stones for me. I'm just a child and don't need so many. Besides, it's easy for them to be stolen or robbed."
Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua were speechless and couldn't think of a reason to refuse.
Finally, Liu Ruhua said, "Alright, we'll keep them for you."
"Mm-hmm!" Mo Hua nodded vigorously.
"Alright, it's getting late. You should go to bed early since you're starting school tomorrow."
"Okay, good night, Mom and Dad!"
Mo Hua got up to go back to his room, then hesitated and turned back, saying, "Mom, Dad, feel free to use those spirit stones if you need to. Don't save them for me."
Mo Shan and his wife couldn't help but laugh and cry.
Watching Mo Hua return to his room and close the door, Mo Shan sighed and chuckled wryly, "I'm not as good a parent as my child."
Liu Ruhua comforted him, "Don't say that. It's a good thing that Hua'er understands and considers us. He's earning spirit stones with his own abilities, which is something to be happy about. However…"
Liu Ruhua lowered her head to look at the spirit stones on the table, then raised her head to look at her husband with concern, "He's so young, can he really earn spirit stones by drawing arrays for others? And earn so many... I'm afraid someone might take advantage of his young age and…"
"I'll go check it out tomorrow."
Mo Shan said, his eyes becoming sharper.
The next day, Mo Hua woke up on time, practiced for a while, and then went with his mother, Liu Ruhua, to the outer gate of Tongxian Sect to pay the tuition fees and register for enrollment.
Mo Shan had already left early, according to Liu Ruhua, to prepare with a few monster hunters to enter the inner mountains today.
At the outer gate of Tongxian Sect, Liu Ruhua paid the tuition fees, completed the enrollment procedures, and couldn't help but glance at Mo Hua a few more times.
Once he entered Tongxian Sect for cultivation, apart from holidays, they wouldn't see their son on normal days.
Liu Ruhua reminded Mo Hua to practice well, get along with his fellow disciples, eat well, dress warmly, and not to bully others, then reluctantly left.
Mo Hua stood outside the mountain gate, waving until Liu Ruhua's figure disappeared at the intersection before turning around.
Instead of entering the sect, he went to Destiny Pavilion on Beida Street first, where he collected materials for twenty sets of the Bright Fire Array from the portly manager, with a deadline of no later than half a month for submission.
The sect had a rest day in each of the three weeks of the month, and Mo Hua planned to sneak out during one of these rest days to trade with the manager.
For the twenty sets of materials, the manager still only charged a deposit of ten spirit stones. Considering their previous cooperation with Mo Hua's... older brother had been very pleasant, and the quality of the arrays he submitted had been improving, the manager was very satisfied and, out of respect for Mo Hua, kept the deposit the same.
After discussing with the manager, Mo Hua left Destiny Pavilion contentedly.
After Mo Hua left, a burly man outside Destiny Pavilion silently watched him.
Once Mo Hua had left, the man walked through the doors of Destiny Pavilion.
The bell rang, and the portly manager looked up to see a man standing before him, dressed plainly but with a handsome face, sharp brows, and bright eyes, examining him with an intimidating gaze.
The manager immediately recognized him as a demon hunter, and not just any, but one who had truly seen blood! His attitude wasn't great either; the way he looked at the manager was like he was looking at a beast to be slaughtered.
Although the manager considered himself on par with this man in terms of cultivation, he knew that in a real fight, it would be hard to say. After all, monster hunters licked blood from their blades all year round and were used to fighting with monsters.
As for him, he had been sitting behind the counter for who knew how long, and he had long since lost his skill in combat.
After weighing the situation, the manager straightened up and asked carefully, "What array do you need, sir?"
The burly man was none other than Mo Shan. He unfolded a crumpled piece of paper with a copied array on it. There were some mistakes in the copy, so there were traces of smudging.
"What kind of array is this?"
The manager glanced at it and said, "It's the Bright Fire Array."
"Do you accept this type of array?"
The man's tone made the manager uncomfortable. On a normal day, he wouldn't have bothered to respond, but today he felt that a guest was a guest, and he should be polite and considerate to them.
"Of course, we do. This is a commonly used array, and ordinary cultivator families often use it, so the consumption is relatively high."
Mo Shan asked, "The child who just left, was he also drawing arrays for you?"
"This is something we cannot disclose to outsiders. Destiny Pavilion protects the privacy of its customers; this is the principle of our business."
Mo Shan's eyes suddenly became as sharp as knives, making the manager, who was already nervous, consider that cultivators shouldn't be too rigid with their principles; they should be able to adapt flexibly.
"It wasn't the child; it was his older brother."
Mo Shan frowned. "Older brother?"
"That's right. How could such a young child draw arrays? He just ran errands for his older brother. The arrays were all drawn by his older brother."
"Did he say that himself?"
"Of course," the manager replied, "Otherwise, how could we do business with a child?"
After the manager finished speaking, he continued to watch Mo Shan warily:
"As for the child's surname, given name, where he lives, I cannot tell you."
Mo Shan gave the manager a disdainful look. Who was this child? Where he lived? I, as his father, know better than you. Why would I need you to tell me?
But knowing that Mo Hua wasn't being taken advantage of, Mo Shan's attitude softened. He clasped his hands and said, "Thank you for your help. Goodbye."
The manager breathed a sigh of relief and nodded slightly with a touch of arrogance on his face.
Mo Shan turned and left. It wasn't until his figure disappeared behind the door that the manager heaved a sigh of relief, muttering discontentedly under his breath, "He didn't even buy anything…"
(End of the Chapter)