Chapter 714: Bottleneck
Chapter 714: Bottleneck
Upon returning to the sect, Mo Hua reflected once more on Master Gu's words.
Setting aside the specialization of cultivation industries, in a sense, formation mediums are spiritual artifacts, and spiritual artifacts are also formation mediums.
As his own cultivation and spiritual sense improved, his understanding of formations deepened. His skill in creating formations by drawing on the ground with "earth" as the medium became increasingly refined.
He wasn't overly reliant on ordinary "formation mediums."
Spiritual artifacts were nice to have but not necessary.
Mo Hua wasn't particularly dependent on them.
However, if he wanted to spread the use of formations or maximize their power, he had to consider the compatibility between formations and external "media."
This scope was quite broad.
It included both ordinary formation mediums and standardized spiritual artifacts, but the most crucial were custom-made spiritual artifacts.
Mo Hua's thoughts turned to the small fishing village.
The fisher-cultivators there led difficult lives. Their fishing boats, nets, and spears were crudely refined, and their formations were even more rudimentary.
Despite the cultivation world having flourished for over 20,000 years, the art of artifact refinement and formations had become highly advanced.
Yet, only a fraction of these cultivation techniques benefited these low-level cultivators.
The cultivation world had progressed, but the inheritance of knowledge was monopolized.
Techniques had evolved but were now used for exploitation.
Not only the small fishing village, but also Tongxian City, Nanyue City, and the various other immortal cities Mo Hua had encountered during his travels—their lower strata lived in similar conditions.
Mo Hua's expression was complex, his heart filled with emotion.
Cultivators were meant to comprehend the Dao of Heaven and bring benefit to all living beings.
Formations were a manifestation of the Dao of Heaven.
Having come from humble beginnings and gained so many opportunities along the way, as well as comprehending numerous formations, it was only right that he embody the will of the Dao of Heaven and use his knowledge to benefit all creation.
This was the "Dao" he currently understood.
It was the path of cultivation and the path of formations.
Mo Hua looked up at the sky.
It was vast and boundless, encompassing all things, giving birth to countless beings, endless in its vitality and self-improvement.
In a vague and mysterious way, Mo Hua felt that this was also the path to longevity.
But this was just a faint insight; whether it was true or not, he would have to verify through his own actions.
The Great Dao must be practiced personally.
This was something his master had taught him.
Merely comprehending the Dao without practicing it was no different from not comprehending it at all.
Only by practicing the "Dao" one has comprehended can one know if their understanding is correct.
If it is correct, persist; if wrong, correct it.
By taking these steps, constantly gaining insights, and practicing, one can eventually reach the pinnacle of the Great Dao of longevity.
Mo Hua's gaze was clear, and his heart was enlightened.
From then on, whenever he had free time, he contemplated the compatibility between formations and formation media in his mind.
He considered how to widely apply formations to standardized spiritual artifacts and how to maximize the power of formations through custom-made spiritual artifacts...
Mo Hua drafted many formation diagrams, but since he couldn't leave the Qianxue State for the time being and had to focus on studying formations, these diagrams could only remain at the conceptual level, and he had no opportunity to test them out.
Mo Hua felt a bit regretful.
Time slipped by, and a few more months passed in the blink of an eye.
Mo Hua's spiritual sense didn't increase by even a bit.
Due to the heavenly dao rules blocking his sea of consciousness, constantly "taxing" it, his spiritual sense was suppressed below the eighteen strands, preventing his spiritual thoughts from growing endlessly and breaking through a certain limit.
Mo Hua felt helpless.
In his free time, he had also researched the rift rules in his sea of consciousness, but this phenomenon was too profound, something Mo Hua had never encountered before. In a short period, he couldn't figure out much, so he could only leave it be for the time being.
There was plenty of time in the future; he didn't need to rush to shear the heavenly dao's wool.
While his spiritual sense was blocked, his cultivation had improved noticeably.
Mo Hua could clearly feel that his spiritual power was becoming increasingly saturated, reaching a bottleneck of the middle stage.
A few more days passed, and one morning, as Mo Hua was meditating, his qi sea suddenly trembled, and an anomaly occurred.
Just like before, his qi sea became saturated, and his spiritual power suddenly transformed into mercury-like strands that overflowed from his meridians, wandering through his collateral channels and gathering towards the Baihui acupoint on the top of his head.
When it passed through the Tianmen acupoint, the strands of spiritual power wove like threads, penetrating into Mo Hua's sea of consciousness and eventually weaving a spirit screen within it.
This spirit screen was more refined than the one formed during the Qi Refining Realm.
During Qi Refining, the spirit screen resembled mist, but now it was like a curtain of water.
Within the spirit screen, formation patterns flowed.
These patterns were all second-grade, shimmering with faint light, intricate and complex, forming a vast mystery formation.
Mo Hua was familiar with this process.
It was the process of the Tianyan Technique creating a "mystery formation" bottleneck.
However, what was different this time was that Mo Hua noticed that the spiritual power in his sea of consciousness was a faint silver-white color, just like real quicksilver.
This was a manifestation of a qualitative change in divine sense.
Mo Hua recalled that Huang Shanjun had said that the color symbolizing the divine-grade marrow was silver at the beginning.
Mo Hua breathed a slight sigh of relief, feeling fortunate.
His guess was correct: reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm and breaking through the bottleneck of the Tianyan Technique required not only a foundation in spiritual sense cultivation but also a high level of attainment in formations and a divine sense rank as qualifications.
The mystery formation before him was entirely condensed from silver-colored divine marrow-like mental power, like flowing silver pouring down, dazzling and containing profound mysteries.
Without a sufficient divine sense rank, one didn't even have the qualifications to decipher the mystery formation.
If one's attainment in formations wasn't high enough, they couldn't unravel the mystery formation.
And if one's spiritual sense cultivation wasn't sufficient, they might not even have the capacity to encounter this bottleneck.
These requirements were truly bizarre.
Mo Hua couldn't help but sigh:
"What kind of cultivation technique did I learn..."
The requirements of this technique were too harsh; it didn't seem like it was meant for humans.
But it didn't seem possible for it to be meant for deities either.
Deities embodied the Dao and were born with innate knowledge. Mo Hua had never heard of deities needing to cultivate using techniques.
Then, who was this technique meant for? Mo Hua frowned.
Demons? Devils?
No matter how Mo Hua thought about it, he felt it was impossible, so he gave up on that line of thought.
He was also adept at unraveling arrays.
He had met the requirements for the Divine-grade.
All he needed was to take his time, follow the steps, and unravel the mystery array one by one; the bottleneck would naturally be broken.
However, Mo Hua was a little surprised that the color of the mystery array was silver.
Silver was the color of divine marrow, symbolizing the Divine-grade.
And Mo Hua, having devoured a large amount of divine marrow, had half of his divine sense incarnation merged with his pale golden blood, with a hint of pure gold.
Compared to silver, his was far superior.
The Divine-grade requirement of the Heavenly Evolution Technique's bottleneck seemed outrageous, but for Mo Hua at present, it was almost too easy.
Mo Hua felt a twinge of disappointment.
Just a mere silver...
If he had known it would be this simple, he wouldn't have exerted so much effort in exploring dry wells, venturing into the fishing village, entering the River God Temple, killing the River God, and "consuming" the Evil God.
All his worries had been for naught.
His preparations had been overly cautious and far ahead of what was necessary.
However, this was just the beginning of the qualitative change of his divine sense, and it seemed reasonable to have silver-colored mental power as the threshold.
The subsequent bottlenecks would likely be far more challenging.
"After this..."
Mo Hua pondered for a moment, a chill running down his spine.
He guessed that the Divine-grade requirement for the next bottleneck wouldn't be pale gold or pure gold, but something even more extraordinary, like jade or glass? What level of deity's marrow would he need to find to meet such requirements?
Where could he find such high-quality divine marrow to consume? More importantly, would he even be able to defeat such formidable deities? Mo Hua felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.
"It seems like I need to consume more divine marrow. If I can't find better quality ones, I'll have to make do with ordinary ones and accumulate them over time. Otherwise, breaking through bottlenecks in the future will truly become troublesome..."
Mo Hua sighed inwardly.
However, for now, the bottleneck of the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment was not difficult to overcome.
As long as he took his time to unravel the mystery array in his sea of consciousness, he would break through the bottleneck, and his cultivation would successfully advance to the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment.
At the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment, he could catch up with his fellow sect members and wouldn't have to repeat a year.
Otherwise, if his cultivation fell behind, he would have to repeat a year, and as the senior disciple, he would forever be demoted to a junior disciple.
Fortunately, his cultivation had caught up for now...
Mo Hua slowly exhaled in relief.
From then on, Mo Hua cultivated peacefully, gradually breaking through the bottleneck, and his progress was well within his control.
Soon, the year was coming to an end.
Mo Hua's second year at the Grand Void Sect was also coming to a close.
After the annual year-end assessment, the Grand Void Sect would close for the year-end holidays.
Mo Hua's results were consistent with the previous year: one 'jia' and six 'bing', a stable performance.
For arrays, he could only achieve a 'jia' rating, nothing less.
For other subjects like pill refining and artifact crafting, a 'bing' was the best he could achieve, and he rarely obtained any other ratings.
There were no surprises in this report card, and naturally, there was no sense of anticipation.
Mo Hua had expected as much, and he remained calm and unperturbed.
During the year-end holidays, most disciples returned to their families to celebrate the new year.
Mo Hua, however, stayed at the Grand Void Sect.
With a long distance to his home state and the vast mountains and seas separating them, it was impossible for him to return, so he could only remain at the sect, studying arrays, practicing array techniques, and working on breaking through his bottleneck.
Although he felt lonely, he also felt fulfilled.
Nevertheless, he gave himself a two-day break.
On the 28th day before the new year, the Gu family was holding a family banquet.
Aunt Wan had invited him to join them, relax, admire the colorful lanterns, and enjoy some delicious food.
Mo Hua hesitated a little.
He wasn't sure if it was appropriate for him to attend the Gu family's banquet.
But Yu'er tugged at his sleeve, her big watery eyes looking at him expectantly.
Mo Hua's heart softened, and he agreed.
Soon, the 28th day arrived, and as Mo Hua prepared to leave the sect for the Gu family's banquet, he went to bid farewell to Elder Xun.
Elder Xun was surprised to hear that Mo Hua was going to attend the Gu family's banquet.
He knew that Mo Hua had a connection with the Gu family, but he didn't expect their relationship to be so close that Mo Hua was even invited to their year-end family banquet.
The Gu family, the Wenren family, the Shangguan family...
A thought occurred to Elder Xun, and he fell into a brief contemplation before looking at Mo Hua, who was standing there empty-handed, and asked, "Are you going to the banquet like this?"
Mo Hua scratched his head.
It wasn't that he didn't want to bring a gift.
The problem was that he didn't have anything suitable to give.
The Gu family and the Wenren family were both ancient and influential clans with a long history, abundant resources, and an endless supply of spirit stones. They lacked nothing.
His meager possessions didn't seem worthy of their stature.
Previously, he had given Aunt Wan a golden lotus triple-colored carp, but that was a rare opportunity, and it was also very expensive.
Moreover, half of that triple-colored carp had ended up in his own stomach, while the other half was consumed by Yu'er, and Aunt Wan had only drunk a small amount of the soup...
Elder Xun nodded slightly. "Wait a moment."
He stood up, took out some paper and a brush, and personally wrote down a few words, which he then handed to Mo Hua.
"Take this as a token of your regards."
Mo Hua was taken aback and felt deeply grateful.
During these days, he had come to realize that Elder Xun, who seemed like a mere "elder instructor," possessed extraordinary insight, magnanimity, and bearing, and there was also a hint of hidden authority in his demeanor.
These simple words were undoubtedly extremely valuable.
"Elder..."
Mo Hua felt a bit embarrassed to accept such a gift.
"It's fine," Elder Xun reassured him, a hint of benevolence and a gentle smile on his face as he looked at Mo Hua. With a meaningful expression, he said, "To be honest, our Grand Void Sect owes them a huge favor."
A huge favor...
Mo Hua nodded.
So that was the case... There was such a connection between them.
It was said that the Shangguan and Wenren families had some connection with the Grand Void Sect, the Grand Unity Sect, and the Grand Desolation Sect. It was only natural for there to be some exchange of favors between them.
However, Mo Hua was curious about what exactly had made the Grand Void Sect owe such a huge favor.
But this kind of favor exchange between sects and influential families was not something he could easily inquire about.
Mo Hua respectfully accepted the calligraphy and smiled, "Thank you, Elder!"
Elder Xun stroked his beard, nodding in satisfaction.
Gu Chang Huai was still busy with matters at the Dao Court, and it seemed he would only be back in the evening.
With the new year approaching, Wen Ren Wan was also occupied, and Mo Hua didn't get a chance to meet her.
However, Yu'er, upon seeing Mo Hua, immediately ran to him with joy and jumped into his arms.
Standing beside them, Wen Ren Wei said, "Miss Wan is detained with some matters, but she will be free during the evening banquet. Young Master Mo, why don't you take Young Master Yu around the city? Qingzhou City is especially lively during the holidays."
Yu'er looked at Mo Hua with a cheerful expression.
Mo Hua smiled and nodded.
There were only a few days left until the new year, and Qingzhou City was indeed bustling with festive cheer.
Mo Hua, who had been drawing formations day after day without rest, felt his playful spirit rise.
He took Yu'er along and spent the entire day exploring the vibrant city.
Along the way, they encountered bustling streets, a sea of people, shops lined up one after another, and fiery red lanterns hanging from street to street.
There were also occasional dazzling fireworks, a variety of toys, and snacks with unique flavors.
As Mo Hua walked among the lively surroundings, his mood suddenly dipped.
Amid the din of voices, he thought back to his days in Tongxian City.
He remembered his parents, his childhood friends, and the eccentric Uncle Zhang.
He also thought of his caring master, the mysterious Grandfather Gui, his bumbling senior disciple brother, and the beautiful junior disciple sister...
The path of cultivation was long, and the vicissitudes of life were profound.
He didn't know when he would be able to see everyone again.
Mo Hua sighed involuntarily, and as his expression turned pensive, he suddenly found a string of sugar-coated hawthorn berries in front of him.
Turning his head, he saw Yu'er holding a long string of the treat in one hand, munching on it, while offering the other string, translucent and glistening with a tangy sweetness, to him with an eager look on his face.
"Sugar hawthorn, Mo Gege!" Yu'er exclaimed, having bought two strings, one for himself and the other for Mo Hua.
Mo Hua smiled and gently patted Yu'er's small head before taking the offered treat. He took a bite, and it was indeed both sour and sweet, delicious.
After eating the sugar hawthorn, Mo Hua's mood inexplicably improved.
"Come, I'll take you to play."
Mo Hua held Yu'er's small hand and strolled along the streets for the entire day.
Only when night fell, and the lights of the city illuminated the sky, did Mo Hua and Yu'er return to the Gu residence as the family banquet was about to begin.
However, the journey back was a bit congested, causing a slight delay.
Upon arriving at the Gu residence, Mo Hua noticed an unusual atmosphere.
It had been lively and cheerful during the day, but as evening fell, the mood turned solemn, and the coming and going cultivators became more restrained, speaking in hushed tones.
Mo Hua found this strange, and when he happened to see Gu An passing by, he immediately waved, "Little An Ge."
Gu An was startled, but upon recognizing Mo Hua, he quickly approached and greeted him.
Mo Hua asked in a low voice, "Has something happened?"
"Not really," Gu An replied, glancing around before also lowering his voice. "Someone from the Shangguan family has arrived."
"Shangguan family?" Mo Hua was taken aback and looked down at the confused Yu'er before asking, "What's the matter with the Shangguan family coming? Isn't the relationship between the Gu family and the Shangguan family quite good...?"
Why was the atmosphere so tense?
Gu An shook his head. "I don't know either, but the person the Shangguan family sent this time seems to be of high status, so the family master instructed the clan's disciples to be cautious and watch their words."
"Oh." Mo Hua nodded.
However, this didn't seem to have much to do with him.
He was just here to mooch a meal.
Moreover, as a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, the Shangguan family might not even pay attention to him.
Soon, the family banquet began.
Most of the attendees were from the Gu family, either elders, officials from the various courts, or ordinary disciples.
Mo Hua often visited the Gu family, so he was familiar with most of them.
Some elders, like Gu Uncle's cousin, Elder Gu Hong, would chat with Mo Hua, finding him well-behaved and adorable.
Other elders also knew Mo Hua.
Among the ordinary disciples, many were quite close to Mo Hua.
Most of them worked at the Dao Court, and some had even "fought side by side" with Mo Hua.
As Mo Hua walked, people greeted him along the way, either saying hello, exchanging greetings, or chatting casually.
Mo Hua felt as if he had returned to his own home...
Gu Chang Huai, who had just finished his official duties and rushed back, sat nearby, his expression complex as he watched.
He had almost forgotten that Mo Hua's surname was now "Mo" instead of "Gu"...
Wen Ren Wan smiled and waved at Mo Hua from a distance.
Mo Hua then took Yu'er and walked over to Wen Ren Wan.
Yu'er immediately jumped into Wen Ren Wan's arms and affectionately called out, "Mother."
Wen Ren Wan's face was filled with a gentle smile as she pinched Yu'er's cheeks. She then turned and smiled at Mo Hua, saying, "You'll sit here later. There will be delicious food."
"Yes, yes!" Mo Hua nodded eagerly.
Wen Ren Wan examined Mo Hua's face and said gently, "You seem a little thinner than before. I think you've been too diligent in your cultivation. Later, I'll ask them to prepare some soup for you as a supplement."
"Thank you, Aunt Wan," Mo Hua replied with a smile.
Wen Ren Wan smiled softly and pulled Mo Hua to sit down, offering him fresh spiritual fruits to eat.
Mo Hua sat down calmly and took a bite of the fruit, then looked up at the high seat in the front. He saw two people sitting side by side.
One was the head of the Gu family.
Mo Hua had seen him before but had never spoken to him.
The other person had a deep aura, a majestic appearance, and an air of authority. Although he was middle-aged, with slightly white hair and faint tail wrinkles at the corners of his eyebrows, one could still see his extraordinary handsomeness in his youth.
Mo Hua guessed that this person was Yu'er's grandfather, the current head of the Shangguan family, Shangguan Ce.
(End of Chapter)
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