The Taoist Court sought stability, and as long as there was order, the cultivators in Thousand Families Town could suffer and toil as much as they would; the officials would turn a blind eye.
But should stability be threatened and large-scale unrest among cultivators occur without cause, then the Taoist Court wouldn’t mind making an example of the Sun Family to deter others.
If the Taoist Court were cold-hearted and merciless, uncaring of personal sentiment, they might even directly confiscate the Sun Family’s property, earning a tidy profit while appearing generous to the spirit farmers, thereby demonstrating the Court’s fairness.
This would be killing two birds with one stone.
The Taoist Court was capable of doing such a thing.
And the most frightening thing was the generational resentment that came with incurring mass outrage.
Now, with the Sun Family in power, they could still suppress the spirit farmers.
But should one day come when the fortunes of the Sun Family declined, and no Foundation Building cultivator was there to hold sway, a bursting forth of pent-up resentment could potentially lead to the spirit farmers eradicating the Sun Family in a desperate act.
Such things had happened before.
The spirit farmers were timid; they wouldn’t fight desperately as long as they had enough to eat.
Thus, previously, even though he exploited the spirit farmers, he also left them enough to live on, not letting them starve.
If the spirit farmers fell into debt, he just had them sell themselves to pay it off.
This Mo child had shown kindness to the spirit farmers.
He wanted to capture this Mo child but did not move against him directly in East Mountain Village. Instead, he waited until they were about to reach Thousand Families Town before stopping them.
But he never expected that the usually meek spirit farmers would actually come out to protect the child.
Sun Yi’s expression turned solemn, and his eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
Unless it was absolutely necessary, he did not wish for swords to cross and a large-scale melee to break out.
Mo Hua was also not keen on seeing this happen.
Coming together as one to face the external threat can sometimes be a deterrent.
It’s not always necessary to fight to the death.
The spirit farmers had a hard life; even if they were to rebel, it should be for themselves, for their own homes and their families.
They shouldn’t die a bloody death just because of a momentary impulse.
If they were to die, a family’s mainstay might collapse.
Leaving behind wives and children would make life even harder.
Mo Hua thought for a moment, then said, "Sun Yi, what do you want?"
Being called by his first name by a junior cultivator made Sun Yi lose face.
But with Mo Hua standing amid a group of spirit farmers, who clearly also listened to him, even if his junior was young, he did have the qualification to negotiate with him.
Sun Yi forced himself not to care about face and such trivial details.
He said coldly, "My demand is simple, give me the Sun Family’s ancestral Formation and I will let you go, without making things difficult for anyone else."
After saying this, Sun Yi waited for Mo Hua to haggle.
Unexpectedly, Mo Hua responded directly, "Okay!"
Sun Yi’s train of thought was interrupted.
He didn’t know how to continue the negotiation.
This boy, doesn’t he haggle when doing business? Why did he agree so quickly?
Sun Yi was stunned for a long time before he managed to grumble out:
"Don’t play any tricks."
Mo Hua disdainfully said:
"You’re an adult, and your thoughts can be dirty. I’m a child, and my actions are honest. I disdain to play those petty tricks."
Sun Yi did not know what to say, frowning:
"Are you really going to hand over the Formation to me?"
"I mean what I say!"
Mo Hua’s voice was clear and resolute.
Sun Yi still did not believe it, "Why?"
Mo Hua thought Sun Yi, being a Family Head, was nagging... but he still patiently explained with his little finger raised:
"First, this Formation originally belongs to your Sun Family. I learned it, and it’s also considered a favor from the Old Ancestor of the Sun Family. Giving it back to you is merely returning the object to its rightful owner;"
"Second, Formations are not meant to be hoarded jealously but are to be used for the welfare of all beings. Especially this kind of Formation that nourishes the Earth, it’s better the more people know it;"
"Third, although I don’t fear trouble, I also don’t want to cause trouble. If we both give a little, leave room for later, it will be easier to meet in the future..."
Mo Hua spoke eloquently and with clear logic.
Upon hearing this, Sun Yi sighed and glanced at his son who couldn’t say a word beside him.
Thinking to himself that indeed, nothing shows up a bad product like a good one, his son really wasn’t worth keeping.
After saying this, Mo Hua asked:
"How about it?"
Sun Yi hesitated for a long time, still unsure of what to decide.
With Mo Hua being so straightforward, he was at a loss for how to proceed, and after a while, he slowly said:
"How do I know you’re not deceiving me, planning to fob me off with a fake Formation? Show me the Old Ancestor’s Formation first."
Mo Hua, unconcerned, nodded and replied, "Okay."
After saying this, he took out a booklet from his bosom and threw it to Sun Yi from a distance.
Sun Yi was taken aback, somewhat in disbelief.
He’s really giving it to me?
This boy seems clever, so why is it that everything he does lacks any guile?
Scanning the booklet with his Divine Sense and confirming there was nothing wrong with it, Sun Yi cautiously opened the booklet, glanced at it, and then became completely stunned.
The booklet indeed recorded a Formation.
The Formation Patterns were complex and intertwined, the Formation Pivot’s structure was extremely unfamiliar, the annotations for the Formation eye were dizzying, and the entire Formation included eleven Patterns, quite unfathomable...
The superficial Sun Yi felt a tingling on his scalp.
What is this?
He couldn’t understand any of it...