MTL - Asking About Longevity

Chapter 29 Stove

 The shopkeeper went upstairs and came down after a while. He politely asked Mo Hua to come up.

When Mo Hua met An Xiaopang, An Xiaopang was drinking with a few young men in bright clothes and angry horses. There were all kinds of fresh and colorful spiritual fruits on the table. There were maids shaking fans and the fragrance was flowing. There are also singers singing, and the lingering sound lingers.

The interior is cool and comfortable, without the scorching heat of summer. The screen is also engraved with ice formations for cooling and ventilation.

Mo Hua felt emotional when he thought of the casual cultivators who were setting up stalls and doing business on the street despite the scorching summer heat, running around for a living.

They are obviously monks in the Qi Refining Stage, living in the same Tongxian City, but it seems like they are living in two worlds.

 “Mo Hua, it’s really you!”

 An Xiaopang was a little happy when he saw Mo Hua. He waved and said, "Come on, let's have a drink together."

An Xiaopang’s face turned red after drinking, but he was not very old, so what he drank should be fruit wine, and it would not be too harmful even if he was drunk.

Mo Hua was not in the mood to drink, so he said directly: "Master An, I have something to do with you."

"Oh," Xiaopang An came back to his senses and waved to the other teenagers, "You drink first, I have something to do."

 The shopkeeper then led Mo Hua and An Xiaopang into a quiet private room. Mo Hua got straight to the point, "Master An, I want to ask you for a favor."

 An Xiaopang was obviously still a little drunk. He patted his chest and said, "As long as I can help, just ask!"

Mo Hua looked at the splendid decoration in the private room and asked, "Is this dining room owned by your family?"

 An Xiaopang said proudly: "Yes!"

“Do you use a stove to cook in the kitchen, or do you use the spiritual power of monks to provide fire?”

An Xiaopang looked confused. After thinking for a while, without any clue, he shouted: "Shopkeeper!"

After a while, the shopkeeper opened the door and came in. An Xiaopang pointed at the shopkeeper and said to Mo Hua, "Ask him."

Mo Hua asked the shopkeeper again what he had just said.

The shopkeeper replied: "Originally, monks' spiritual power was used to provide fire, but this method could easily damage the monks' heart and lungs, and the fire supply was also unstable, so the owner decided not to use it. Last year, he asked a master to make a special stove. I also asked the formation master to draw the formation, and I have been using the stove since then."

Mo Hua asked curiously: "Is the cost of a stove higher than hiring a monk?"

The shopkeeper said truthfully: "In the long run, the stove is better. In the short term, it is definitely more cost-effective to hire a monk, and hiring a monk can lower the price. Sometimes when the market is not good, half a spirit stone can hire a casual cultivator in the Qi refining period."

Mo Hua felt a little uncomfortable.

Even if you become a monk, you will still be exploited.

 “Can I go see the stove?”

The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment and looked at Master An. He couldn't make the decision on this kind of thing. Normally, outsiders were not allowed in the kitchen.

 An Xiaopang regained consciousness and asked the shopkeeper, "Can't you show this to others?"

The shopkeeper said: "The recipes count. In fact, many restaurants have stoves. Those who don't have them are just because they don't want to spend spirit stones to refine them. They are not considered confidential."

Fatty An said: "Let's take a look. I'll go there too. I've never seen that stove before."

“Okay, I’ll take the two young masters there.”

 The shopkeeper breathed a sigh of relief. With Master An following him, if something happened he wouldn't be entirely blamed on him.

The shopkeeper took Mo Hua and Mo Hua to the back kitchen, pointed to a huge stove-like appliance that was two people tall, and said: "This is the stove. After you put the spirit stone in, the formation inside the furnace will convert the spirit stone into firepower." , the firepower will be extended to each stove for the monks to cook ingredients."

“There are also formations connected between the stove and each stove, and each stove is specially carved with a formation to control the size of the firepower..."

 Mo Hua found it very novel. It was the first time he saw that weapon refining and formations could be used in this way.

An Xiaopang’s eyes widened when he saw it. He usually only knows how to eat, but he doesn’t know how the food is made.

 The shopkeeper introduced the two of them to Mo Hua, looking quite proud. Mo Hua looked at the stove carefully, looking left and right, not missing the opening of the stove and the gap between the stoves.

Seeing that he looked like he wanted to open the stove and see what was inside, the shopkeeper couldn't help but said, "Does Master Mo want to know something?"

Mo Hua asked: "Shopkeeper, do you know what formations are engraved in the stove?"

The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment, but after thinking about it, it was useless to just know which formations were used. The most important thing was whether he could draw the formations, and formations were not that easy to draw.

"The formation in this stove is not complicated. There is only one molten formation containing five formations. But the position of the molten formation is more particular. It must be painted at the bottom of the stove so that the firepower will be even. The stove's On the outside, a gap must be left to place the spiritual stone, so that the spiritual energy of the spiritual stone will penetrate into the molten fire array and stimulate the firepower of the array..."

The shopkeeper told Mo Hua everything.

 “Oh,” Mo Hua couldn’t help nodding.

After watching and chatting for a long time, Mo Hua probably asked everything he wanted to know. He sincerely thanked the shopkeeper and then left.

 An Xiaopang pulled Mo Hua, "Don't leave in a hurry, I'll treat you to something delicious."

Mo Hua still had something to do, so he didn’t agree.

 “Are you not giving me face?” An Xiaopang was a little angry.

Mo Hua praised An Xiaopang and said he was generous, and then quietly said to An Xiaopang: "Next time you teach the formation homework, I will help you draw it for free."

 An Xiaopang was overjoyed and nodded quickly: "Yeah."

 He doesn’t care about spiritual stones, he cares about face. Mo Hua could help him draw the formation for free, which made him feel proud.

The shopkeeper looked at Mo Hua's leaving figure and asked An Xiaopang, "Master, what is the identity of Mr. Mo?"

“Young Master is my classmate. He is very good at drawing formations, even better than me. To be honest, he helped me draw all my formation homework!”

 An Xiaopang was even a little proud.

 The shopkeeper had no expression on his face and was speechless in his heart. There was nothing to be proud of at all...

 “Shopkeeper, you go and do your work, I’m going to drink.”

After finishing speaking, An Xiaopang turned to leave. Suddenly he was startled. He grabbed the shopkeeper's sleeves and looked at him blankly.

The shopkeeper was a little nervous when he saw him, "Young Master..."

 An Xiaopang lowered his tone and said, "My father must not know about this!"

"this matter?"

“My homework was done for me by others, and my father must not know about it!”

The shopkeeper’s mouth twitched, “Okay, okay…”

An Xiaopang patted his chest and said, "It was a close call. Fortunately, I was smart, otherwise I would have been exposed." Then he made the shopkeeper swear not to tell his father, and then he went upstairs with confidence.

The shopkeeper was a little helpless and thought to himself: "Can the An family's business be maintained by this unreliable young master..."

The shopkeeper thought about the kid named Mo just now.

It seems that he is not a kid from a rich family, but just the child of an ordinary monk. I wonder what he asked the stove to do.

The shopkeeper walked a few steps and suddenly stopped when he thought of Master An's words, "How good is the formation? He doesn't want to draw the formation of the stove, does he?"

“Master An is at the third level of Qi Refining, and he is from the same sect as the kid named Mo, which means that the kid is only at the third level of Qi Refining. Where can he get the spiritual consciousness to draw formations at the third level of Qi Refining?”

 The shopkeeper shook his head and went to find a place to drink tea.

 (End of this chapter)