After lighting the lotus lamps, it wasn't late yet, so the group started strolling along the street.
Perhaps after a few verbal spars, Bai Zisheng became more familiar with Mo Hua, and they stopped being so polite, talking more freely.
"Mo Hua, what are those cultivators doing?"
Bai Zisheng pointed to a platform, curious.
Mo Hua followed his gaze and saw a makeshift stage where several cultivators dressed as monster hunters were battling a bull-like "monster."
The "monster" had a copper head and a shiny fur coat, looking lifelike, but in reality, it was a cultivator disguised with beast skins.
"Oh, it's a monster-hunting show."
"Monster-hunting? Fighting monster beasts?" Bai Zisheng suddenly became interested.
"Most cultivators in Tongxian City make a living by hunting monsters. They often fight with monster beasts in their daily lives. So, during festivals and celebrations, monster hunters perform these shows not only for entertainment but also as a tradition of monster hunters."
As Mo Hua finished speaking, the monster-hunting show on stage reached an exciting point.
Several monster hunters—one wielding a fiery blade that instantly engulfed in flames, another throwing punches with roaring fist winds, and one standing at a distance manipulating fireballs—engaged in combat with the "monster." Spiritual energy surged, and lights shimmered.
"Wow, Flame Blade, Whirlwind Fist, Fireball Technique!"
A nearby child exclaimed excitedly, clapping his hands loudly.
Bai Zisheng was also visibly excited, his face flushed.
Mo Hua couldn't help but ask, "You're already in the late Qi refining stage, so you must have learned some techniques..."
Seems like someone who hasn't seen much of the world...
Bai Zisheng gave Mo Hua a disdainful glance, "Of course, I know techniques, but my mother doesn't allow me to use them. She says that for Qi refining stage cultivators, establishing a solid foundation is most important. Learning some superficial techniques and engaging in brawls are actions of reckless men. If you get injured and damage your foundation, it could ruin your future cultivation."
"Oh," Mo Hua nodded.
For aristocratic families, the Qi refining stage is merely for laying foundations. As long as they focus on cultivation, there's no need to use techniques.
But for ordinary independent cultivators, they may spend their entire lives in the Qi refining stage, forced to learn various techniques, fight with monster beasts, and lick blood on the edge of a blade, striving for survival.
"I wish life wasn't so hard for lower-level independent cultivators."
Mo Hua sighed with mixed feelings.
Apart from the monster-hunting show, there were also various entertaining technique performances, delightful shadow puppetry, puppet dogs that ran around when fed with fragmented spiritual stones, and a variety of aromatic snacks...
After wandering around, Bai Zisheng looked excited, not wanting to leave yet, and Bai Zixi's face was also flushed, looking more radiant than the lights in the sky.
Until it grew dark, the group still felt unwilling to part but had to go home separately.
"Thank you for showing us around Tongxian City's customs and traditions."
Aunt Xue thanked Mo Hua and then took out a small box from somewhere and handed it to Mo Hua.
"These are some snacks I bought on the way, as a token of appreciation. It doesn't cost much in fragmented spiritual stones, I hope you won't refuse."
Mo Hua didn't refuse this time, graciously accepting it and saying happily, "Thank you, Aunt Xue."
Aunt Xue smiled faintly and nodded.
Bai Zisheng then said to Mo Hua, "Next time you have the chance, come to Qianzhou with me. I'll show you the grand Tian Festival. Although it's not as lively as here, the scene is magnificent, with all kinds of rare spiritual beasts and flying boats, It will surely broaden your horizons."
"Sure, sure!"
Mo Hua was quite looking forward to it, imagining the grandeur of those millennia-old aristocratic families and sects in Qianzhou. But he also didn't know if he could ever go there in his lifetime.
The cultivation world is vast and boundless. Just leaving Liyuan Prefecture, where Tongxian City is located, is not easy for Mo Hua, let alone leaving Liyuan Prefecture to go to Qianzhou, a place he knows nothing about.
After bidding farewell to the Bai siblings, Mo Hua found Da Hu and the others again.
The three children also had a great time playing. When they saw Mo Hua, they stuffed a bunch of strange and curious things into his arms, including various small trinkets and a sugar figure of a white little tiger.
"You better eat the sugar figure quickly, or it'll melt."
Xiao Hu urged Mo Hua, then enthusiastically introduced the various small items to him and explained how to play with them.
These items weren't expensive, mostly costing one or two fragmented spiritual stones each, but they were novel and clever, some of which Mo Hua had never seen before.
Mo Hua shared the snacks Aunt Xue gave him with the three little friends, then licked the sugar figure while studying the toys in his hands.
Da Hu and his two friends ate snacks as they walked home with Mo Hua. Halfway there, Xiao Hu suddenly asked:
"Mo Hua, you won't always be with the young master and young miss from the Bai family in the future, will you?"
"Why do you ask?"
Xiao Hu shook his head without saying anything.
Mo Hua thought they might have some grievances with the Bai siblings, but after a moment, Xiao Hu hesitated and said:
"That Miss Bai from the Bai family, she's too pretty..."
Mo Hua was taken aback, "What's wrong with being pretty?"
Xiao Hu replied, "You can't play with pretty girls."
Da Hu and Shuang Hu nodded quickly.
"Why..."
Shuang Hu solemnly said, "My mother said, beautiful women make men stupid. The prettier the woman, the dumber the man becomes!"
"Yeah, my dad left home after seeing a beautiful woman, and he ended up being cheated out of everything, even his life."
"That's right, I've heard that many talented cultivators wasted their potential because they married beautiful Dao companions and neglected their cultivation, ending up achieving nothing."
"Yes, I just glanced at that girl and felt dumbfounded for a moment. I couldn't even think straight. If I kept looking, I might have turned into an idiot. It's terrifying..."
"Indeed, it's terrifying..."
Shuang Hu patted Mo Hua on the shoulder, "Mo Hua, you're the smartest among us. You might become a formation master in the future. If you become dumb, it'll be troublesome."
Da Hu and Xiao Hu both looked at Mo Hua with concern.
Mo Hua was speechless, but after thinking about it, he felt... there might be some truth to it, so he said:
"Well, there's nothing I can do. We all follow our teacher to learn formations. We see each other all the time."
"That's bad," the three children said seriously.
Mo Hua chuckled, "Studying formations makes people smarter, so I'll draw more formations in the future. That should prevent me from becoming too dumb."
"Can drawing formations really make people smarter?" Xiao Hu asked.
"Of course," Shuang Hu said, "Mo Hua draws formations well, so he's smarter than us, right?"
Mo Hua said, "Do you guys want to learn formations? I can teach you."
All three of them had good aptitude for refining their bodies, but they had no talent for drawing formations. They found the dense formation lines headache-inducing.
Xiao Hu hesitated for a long time and finally made a painful decision:
"Never mind. If drawing formations makes people smarter, I'd rather be a dumb person all my life!"
(End of the Chapter)