After several days, Mo Hua boarded the cloud ferry.

This cloud ferry was smaller and more rudimentary compared to the one Mo Hua had seen before, the one little senior brother and little senior sister rode.

But despite this, it was still very impressive.

The cloud ferry rose on the clouds, stirring up layers of cloud waves, creating a spectacular sight.

It would likely take about three months for the cloud ferry to enter Qian State.

Mo Hua also needed to arrive at Qian Dao Sect in the five-grade Qian Xue State boundary of Qian State in more than five months, that is, before September, and find a way to join the sect.

The cloud ferry floated in the sky, flying among the clouds.

Although it is said to be “flying,” it is not actually “flying” in the same way as cultivators fly in the sky.

In the sky, there is a sea of clouds, and within the sea of clouds are cloud veins. In the cloud veins are air currents, which form strong winds. These currents surge and flow from the Jiuzhou cloud intervals, all converging into Xun State.

The cloud ferry precisely utilizes the air currents in the cloud veins to navigate between state boundaries.

At first, Mo Hua still felt very novel. After a few days, the novelty faded, and he then felt bored.

On the cloud ferry, each cultivator had a guest room.

The guest room wasn’t large, meant for cultivators to cultivate and rest.

Mo Hua spent most of his time in his small guest room, quietly cultivating and learning array methods.

He was alone and rarely went out to avoid trouble.

He only went out for a walk when eating.

The cloud ferry had a large cabin where various items could be sold.

There were various meals, but they were quite expensive. Although Mo Hua could afford to eat, he wouldn’t eat often, just occasionally to satisfy cravings.

He wasn’t short on spirit stones, but he also knew that when traveling outside, he needed to be a bit thrifty.

Upon arriving in Qian State, there would be many places to spend spirit stones.

Moreover, in the large cabin, cultivators could also rent stalls to sell local specialties, as well as some standardized spirit tools, pills, array methods, and so on.

Mo Hua occasionally wandered around, greatly broadening his horizons.

For the first time, he saw all kinds of spirit tools.

There were mother-child knives, long spears, long halberds, flying needles, pear blossom needles, red sashes, iron locks, and more.

Among them, the most expensive was the sword.

The sword is considered the king among the hundred tools of cultivation.

Involving sword techniques, Dao methods, and refining tools, the ways are extremely numerous and the knowledge is extremely deep. Even cultivators who wield swords, to distinguish them from spirit cultivators and body cultivators, are separately called “sword cultivators.”

Among cultivators, there are many who like to cultivate swords.

It’s just that sword cultivators emphasize both techniques and sword methods, and the methods of refining swords are also secret transmissions, with a strong emphasis on inheritance and foundation.

Therefore, in Dahei Mountain, almost no cultivators use swords.

Cultivators near Dahei Mountain mostly use knives.

Even if there are those who use swords, they actually treat the “sword” as a “knife” to use.

Using the sword as an ordinary spirit tool to chop and kill is not considered true “sword cultivation.”

The only sword cultivator Mo Hua had seen should be Zhang Lan.

His very heavy ancient sword, with pine patterns ancient and simple, was strenuous for Mo Hua to hold and was clearly very valuable at a glance.

Furthermore, it is said that there are differences among sword cultivators.

There are body cultivators who use swords for close combat, where sword energy and strength are compatible, splitting mountains and cutting seas.

There are also spirit cultivators who use swords for long-range killing, controlling swords with divine sense, and killing enemies from a thousand miles away…

But Mo Hua had not seen these with his own eyes and didn’t know if they were true or false.

“Sword cultivator…”

Mo Hua had also thought before that with his strong divine sense, if he cultivated “sword controlling technique,” his heart following his thought, controlling ten thousand flying swords, condensing into a sword rain, wouldn’t that be both handsome and powerful?

It wasn’t until he saw the price of swords at the cloud ferry’s stall that he silently dismissed this overreaching idea.

Spirit swords are too expensive!

Any spirit sword requires seven or eight thousand spirit stones.

Slightly better ones require over ten thousand.

Such swords are also easily damaged.

When damaged, you have to buy again.

Unlike those great families and large sects, whose high-quality spirit swords are ancestral, made of precious materials, durable, and maintained year-round. Man and sword are one, and their power is astonishing.

Mo Hua sighed.

Forget it, he’ll still learn his own array methods…

Just sword methods, it’s fine not to learn them.

He can’t afford them…

In the large cabin of the cloud ferry, besides meals and spirit tools, there were also some pills and array methods.

As for pills, Mo Hua didn’t look.

Old Mr. Feng, fearing Mo Hua might have some mishaps, prepared quite a few for him, both one-grade and two-grade pills.

These two-grade pills were refined by two-grade senior pill masters whom Old Mr. Feng had connections with.

There were pills for restoring spirit, detoxifying, avoiding miasma, and so on.

What interested Mo Hua the most was array methods.

But this also greatly disappointed him.

Those setting up stalls were mostly one-grade array masters, with very few two-grade ones.

Even if occasionally some cultivators sold two-grade array diagrams, the price was extremely expensive, and they weren’t rare, making them not worth it.

Instead of spending spirit stones to buy these array diagrams, it was better to try his luck, visualize the Five Elements Array Flow Diagram, decipher the Five Elements Source Patterns, and randomly draw Five Elements Array methods…

Furthermore, Mo Hua also saw all kinds of cultivators.

The cloud ferry passed through Li State, Kun State, Dui State, Qian State, and finally arrived at Kan State.

Cultivators from these states would appear on the cloud ferry, coming and going, bustling, dressed differently, with vastly different cultivation methods and spirit roots.

These passing cultivators had different customs, appearances, and behavior habits.

There were even some with spirit root attributes that Mo Hua had not yet seen.

Although Mo Hua was curious, he didn’t chat with anyone.

He was afraid of bad people having bad ideas about him.

Human hearts are unpredictable. When traveling outside, he, a small cultivator, should still be cautious.

Along the way, some cultivators, seeing Mo Hua was young, would talk to him with a fake smile:

“Such a cute little brother…”

“Little brother, are you alone?”

Afterwards, they would either say, “I have an opportunity…”

Or say, “Sister has good things to show you…”

Although Mo Hua was young, he had traveled before and was barely an “old Jianghu.” How could he not see their ulterior motives?

In such situations, Mo Hua would pretend not to see and simply not respond to them.

Anyway, on the cloud ferry, there were great cultivators in charge, so these people also dared not act recklessly and cause trouble.

Generally, when Mo Hua ignored them, they also knew in their hearts and were disheartened, no longer bothering Mo Hua.

Mo Hua just stayed in his small room like this, routinely cultivating every day, persisting in learning array methods. In the evening, he would practice two-grade array methods on the Dao stele and continue to strengthen his fourteen-pattern divine sense.

When free, he would comprehend the Five Elements Array Flow Diagram and decipher some Five Elements Array methods.

If he felt bored, he would walk to the deck outside and look at the vast sea of clouds.

Days passed steadily and peacefully.

After getting used to it, it was even somewhat dull.

Just like this, Mo Hua, cautious and careful, slowly passed three months. The cloud ferry also finally arrived at Qian State.

The cloud ferry docked. Mo Hua packed his things and then got off the ship alone.

But in his heart, there was inevitably some nervousness and unease.

Just after getting off the cloud ferry, Mo Hua was suddenly startled. He looked up, his gaze shocked.

The nine states under heaven shared one piece of blue sky.

But the sky above the cultivators of each state boundary was different.

Ordinary cultivators couldn’t see this point, but Mo Hua knew that there was a great heavenly array in the sky, and he had even seen it with his own eyes, so he could vaguely feel it…

The great array in the sky of Qian State was vastly different from Li State.

This meant that this part of the heavenly great array had different array patterns and structures.

As for what the differences were, Mo Hua’s realm was still low and he couldn’t see clearly yet.

Mo Hua looked up again and glanced at the sky.

Qian State.

Qian means heaven.

Heaven’s movement is vigorous; the gentleman with self-strengthening without rest.

No matter where one goes, above the head is heaven, under the feet is earth. In the sky, there is the eternal heavenly great array; under the ground, there is the great earth essence of thick virtue carrying things.

He should also be like this, comprehending array methods, seeking the heavenly way, and self-strengthening without rest…

Mo Hua nodded.

The strangeness of being in a foreign land, the unease and uneasiness, also slightly receded.

He carried his storage bag, head high and chest out, walked down the deck, faced the vast sky, and stepped onto the land of Qian State.

Qian State is very large, with many state boundaries.

These state boundaries are also big and small, low-grade and high-grade. Among them, one of the most famous state boundaries is the five-grade Qian Xue State boundary with numerous sects and prosperous learning.

The place where the cloud ferry landed was in Cangdu City, located in the three-grade Cangdu State boundary.

Cangdu State boundary was still not a short journey from Qian Xue State boundary.

Cangdu City is an immortal city that prospered and developed relying on the cloud ferry, with convenient transportation and frequent cultivator exchanges.

In the city, there were also many young men and women who seemed to be cultivators from various states taking the cloud ferry to Qian State to seek learning.

It’s just that they all had family elders or sect elders escorting them.

Only Mo Hua was alone.

Mo Hua rested in Cangdu City for one night. The next day, he set out, left Cangdu City, and headed alone to Qian Xue State boundary.

Other cultivators seeking learning either rode horses, sat in carriages, or rode cloud chariots.

Mo Hua had to walk there to save spirit stones.

He planned a route for himself.

This route from Cangdu City would cross mountains and waters, passing through two two-grade state boundaries, and finally arriving at the five-grade Qian Xue State boundary.

Although it was taking a detour, because they were two-grade state boundaries, it was safer.

When traveling outside, it’s better to be cautious.

In two-grade state boundaries, where foundation building cultivation is restricted, Mo Hua, with his foundation building early stage strength, relying on his full body of array methods and spells, could navigate like a fish in water.

Even if he encountered those he couldn’t beat, he could still run by relying on stealth technique and Passing Water Step.

But if he went to a three-grade state boundary, if unlucky, encountering some unscrupulous Golden Core cultivators who wanted to take his life, then he would be finished.

Golden Core cultivators were not something a mere foundation building early stage small cultivator like him could contend with.

Perhaps one flying sword could kill him.

So, where one should be cowardly, just be a bit cowardly.

As long as he could arrive at Qian Xue State boundary within one and a half months and join Qian Dao Sect, it would be fine.

Mo Hua calculated the walking journey and distance. The time should be more than enough.

Moreover, along the way, he could practice the two-grade Passing Water Step.

In Tongxian City, he had only roughly learned it, not researched it deeply, and had no chance to use it much.

This time on the road, he could exactly learn while using, to improve his proficiency in the two-grade Passing Water Step.

This life-saving body method must be practiced more, practiced until it is extremely familiar.

A trace of negligence might cost him his little life in a crisis moment.

Mo Hua planned well, then packed his luggage, and along the main road, alone stepped onto the road to Qian State learning boundary.

On this road, exposed to wind and dew.

When no one was around, Mo Hua used Passing Water Step to hurry, moving like flowing water, wind under his feet.

When tired, he would rest for a while.

Occasionally encountering some convoys with proper banners, the cultivators’ auras and appearances were upright, and their divine sense showed no malice, Mo Hua would approach.

He would occasionally hitch a ride for meals or on the cart.

He could also rest a bit himself.

These cultivators were also mostly very enthusiastic. Seeing Mo Hua was young and alone on the road, they were all somewhat surprised and would take out some wine and meat to entertain Mo Hua.

No merit, no reward.

Mo Hua would then glance a few times, pointing out where the convoy’s arrays had problems, and help repair them a bit.

These people were even more surprised.

Often when parting, they would give Mo Hua some gifts. Although not valuable, they were a token of goodwill, which made Mo Hua very happy.

Occasionally, he also encountered dangers.

Like mountain forest demonic beasts, lone wanted cultivators, or groups of cultivators who deceived others but not Mo Hua. At a glance, he could see they were evil cultivators.

Mo Hua had seen many demonic cultivators.

Initially following Master Uncle, he had walked a path, seeing living demonic cultivators, dead demonic cultivators, or those seen by Master Uncle, who went from alive to dead. Mo Hua saw a pile.

Demonic cultivators’ auras were not right, and in divine sense, they carried a foul feeling.

Mo Hua’s divine sense was sharp and could easily distinguish them.

But he couldn’t do anything, only avoid them from afar.

He was a small cultivator, unfamiliar with the place. Such matters were not for him to get involved in.

Being low-key, quietly, and alone heading to Qian Xue State boundary, joining the sect early, and seeking learning and cultivation were the proper businesses.

On this road, he occasionally passed by immortal cities or small towns.

Mo Hua would generally temporarily stay, rest his feet, ask about the road, and see if there would be any dangers ahead.

Cultivators in immortal cities were mostly cold.

Instead, some small towns had a simple and honest atmosphere. Cultivators were both enthusiastic and talkative.

“Going forward, climb over the mountain top, cross the small hillside, along the mountain path, walk a few hundred li, pass a few small immortal cities, and you’ll almost arrive at Qian Xue State boundary…”

“There are demonic beasts in the mountains, you’re a little kid, be careful…”

“If the sky is too dark and the road is hard to walk, just stay in that broken temple in the mountains.”

“That broken temple was once a mountain god temple, enshrining the mountain god. Later, the mountain god cultivated into an evil spirit and was chopped down by several elders from Qian Xue State boundary…”

“Now the temple is empty. Passing cultivators, if delayed in leaving the mountain in time, will stay there…”

These words were spoken by a hunched old man.

The old man in the small town opened a noodle shop. Mo Hua was hungry and ordered a big bowl of noodles. While eating, he chatted idly with the old man.

Mo Hua politely thanked the old man.

The old man stroked his beard and nodded slightly. Suddenly, he asked curiously again:

“You, child, are you from outside? How are you alone?”

“I am going out to gain experience…” Mo Hua said.

The old man shook his head, “A little kid, gaining what experience?”

“I am fifteen years old, not small!”

The old man snorted, “Fifteen years old is how big? In our place, under twenty years old are still little kids…”

Mo Hua asked in detail and then understood.

Qian State is a big state, with a suitable climate, and overall much more prosperous than Li State. Even the lives of ordinary scattered cultivators are better than those on the Li State side.

And cultivators in Qian State generally have longer cultivation times.

Some cultivators with family backgrounds or from certain families and sects are even more so.

They don’t need to be like ordinary scattered cultivators who, if cultivation is not successful, have to refine their bodies early, strengthen their bodies, and find a livelihood. Instead, they can keep cultivating until over twenty years old.

They always nourish the body, solidify the foundation, and then break through to Foundation Building.

If it’s really not possible, then they are assigned to the family’s industries and slowly gain experience.

So, before twenty years old, they still belong to the carefree age, focusing on cultivation and cultivation enlightenment.

Mo Hua was somewhat helpless.

He thought he was already a small youth at fifteen years old.

It turned out that in these big states, he was still only considered half a little kid…

The old man examined Mo Hua and asked again: “Have you built your foundation?”

“Um.” Mo Hua nodded.

The old man was a bit regretful, “Too hasty. Why build your foundation when your spirit power and blood energy haven’t settled a bit more?”

“You want to build your foundation at twenty and then join a sect?”

Mo Hua nodded.

The old man sighed: “Where is it so simple? Your foundation building is so thin, even if you build your foundation before twenty, others won’t accept you…”

“Moreover, I see your spirit root. It doesn’t seem too good either?”

Mo Hua didn’t conceal it and truthfully said: “Only middle-lower grade…”

The old man was stunned for a moment, shook his head, and sighed: “Difficult ah…”

Mo Hua originally wanted to ask, “Is it not possible even with an entry sect order?” But he thought about it and still didn’t ask.

When traveling outside, “wealth” should not be exposed.

Near Qian State, there are many disciples seeking learning. The “entry sect order” must also be very precious and cannot be easily told to others to avoid being coveted.

Mo Hua asked again: “Do you know Qian Dao Sect?”

“Who doesn’t know Qian Dao Sect…” The old man was startled and said, “You wouldn’t want to join Qian Dao Sect, would you…”

Mo Hua nodded, “I will try my luck.”

The old man repeatedly shook his head, “That’s even more impossible. Qian Dao Sect is one of the four great sects in Qian Xue State boundary and is a top big sect. In every Qian Xue discussion, it is at least in the top three…”

“With your qualifications and foundation, you absolutely cannot enter.”

“No exceptions?” Mo Hua asked.

“Exceptions…” The old man was slightly stunned, “That old man doesn’t know, but what exceptions can there be? Even if you are the sect master’s illegitimate child…”

The old man frowned, “Probably still not enough… You don’t know how high the thresholds of these sects are. They value spirit roots extremely…”

Mo Hua also furrowed his brows.

Valuing spirit roots so much…

It seems he had thought too simply about joining the sect.

He also didn’t know if Qian Dao Sect recognized this “entry sect order”…

If not, he probably had to make early plans.

Mo Hua finished eating the noodles, chatted with the old man for a while, then paid the spirit stones, and set out again, heading towards the distant deep mountains.

The old man saw that Mo Hua was small and alone on the road, frowning and still a bit uneasy, so he admonished: “Little kid, be careful, try not to walk at night. If not, go to the mountain god temple to stay.”

“Thank you, grandpa, I know!”

“Also, be careful of human traffickers…”

Mo Hua was startled, “Human traffickers?”

“Um.” The old man nodded, lowered his voice: “This is Qian State. Although the sect forces are big, the Dao Court manages strictly, and security is good, but…”

“Some people, as long as they are given spirit stones, can do anything…”

Mo Hua said: “Human traffickers… trafficking who?”

The old man pointed at Mo Hua, “Mainly trafficking ones like you…”

Mo Hua was slightly startled, thought for a bit, and then understood.

Qian State boundary is a place for cultivation and seeking learning.

Among various forces, many talented young cultivators will come here to seek learning.

Then kidnapping seeking-learning cultivators and extorting huge spirit stones from their families behind them is a dangerous but highly profitable business.

Even if not extorting.

These genius cultivators, with top-grade spirit roots and excellent qualifications, can also be sold for a not small sum of spirit stones.

“Trafficking cultivators ah…”

Mo Hua nodded, “Okay, I remember!”

The old man didn’t know if Mo Hua really remembered or faked it and didn’t say anything more, just watched Mo Hua worriedly.

Mo Hua waved goodbye to the old man, then turned, his steps light, and walked alone along the mountain road towards the distant deep mountains…

(End of this chapter)