After returning to the sect, Mo Hua again took Gu Shifu’s words and pondered them a bit.

Setting aside the subdivisions of cultivation industries, in a certain sense, array mediums are also spirit tools, and spirit tools are also array mediums.

As his own cultivation advanced, his divine sense grew stronger, and his comprehension of arrays deepened, he became more and more proficient in drawing arrays on the ground using “earth” as the medium.

His reliance on ordinary “array mediums” wasn’t that high.

Spirit tools were something he used if he had them, but it didn’t matter if he didn’t.

Mo Hua wasn’t particularly dependent on them either.

However, if he wanted to promote and extend array methods, or push the functions of arrays to the extreme, then he had to consider the adaptation between arrays and external “mediums.”

This range was very broad.

It included both ordinary array mediums and standardized spirit tools, but of course, the most crucial were custom spirit tools.

Mo Hua again thought of the small fishing village.

The fishing cultivators in the small fishing village led hard lives, struggling to make ends meet. The fishing boats, nets, fish spears, and other tools they used had very rough refining craftsmanship, and arrays weren’t even mentioned.

Clearly, the cultivation world had flourished for twenty thousand years, and the skills of refining tools and arrays were already very mature.

But truly less than one or two tenths of these cultivation skills could be used by these bottom-level cultivators.

The cultivation world had developed, but inheritance was monopolized.

Skills had iterated, but they were used for exploitation.

Not just the small fishing village, but also Tongxian City, Nanyue City, and the conditions of the bottom layers of various immortal cities Mo Hua had seen on his travels were roughly like this.

Mo Hua’s expression was complex, and his heart felt something.

Cultivators comprehend the heavenly way and benefit all beings.

Arrays are a manifestation of the heavenly way.

He himself came from a humble background and had received so many opportunities along the way, comprehending so many arrays. Naturally, he should also uphold the will of the heavenly way and use his own learning to benefit all living beings in heaven and earth.

This was the “way” he currently comprehended.

It was the way of cultivation and also the way of arrays.

Mo Hua raised his head and looked at the sky.

The sky was vast, encompassing all things, proliferating all beings, endless, and constantly strengthening itself.

Vaguely, Mo Hua felt that this should also be the way of “longevity.”

But this was just a vague trace of enlightenment within him. Whether it was truly so still required him to personally practice to verify it.

The Great Way must be personally practiced.

This was also what Master had taught him.

Only comprehending the way but not practicing it was the same as not comprehending it at all.

Only by personally practicing the “way” one comprehended could one know whether one’s own “way” was right or not.

If it was right, persist; if it was wrong, correct it.

Thus, by walking down step by step, constantly comprehending, constantly practicing, one could finally ask about the true great way of longevity.

Mo Hua’s gaze was clear, and his Dao heart was suddenly enlightened.

Thereafter, whenever he had free time, he would begin to consider the problem of array and array medium adaptation in his heart.

He considered how to widely apply array methods to standardized spirit tools, and how to maximize the power of arrays through custom spirit tools…

Mo Hua made many drafts of array diagrams, but unfortunately, he temporarily couldn’t leave the boundary of Qianxue State, and he also needed to focus on learning arrays.

Therefore, all these array diagram drafts could only remain at a conceptual level, with no opportunity for small tests.

Mo Hua felt a bit regretful.

And time passed bit by bit; in the blink of an eye, several more months had passed.

Mo Hua’s divine sense hadn’t increased at all.

Because of the heavenly way’s laws, a crack in his sea of consciousness kept “deducting tax,” keeping his divine sense realm below eighteen patterns to prevent his divine thought from growing endlessly and breaking some limit.

Mo Hua was a bit helpless.

When he had free time, he also researched this crack law in his sea of consciousness, but this thing was too profound. Mo Hua had never seen it before, and in a short time, he couldn’t research anything either, so he could only temporarily let it be.

Future days were long; the matter of plucking the heavenly way’s wool wasn’t urgent at the moment.

And while his divine sense was stuck, his cultivation had obviously progressed.

Mo Hua could already clearly feel that his spiritual power was gradually tending towards saturation, reaching a bottleneck period in the mid-stage.

After several more days, one day in the early morning, Mo Hua meditated and cultivated. Suddenly, his qi sea trembled, and a strange phenomenon was born.

Just like before, his qi sea was saturated, and his spiritual power suddenly turned into mercury-like threads, overflowing from his meridians, wandering from his network veins, and gathering towards the Baihui acupoint at the top of his head.

When passing through the Tianmen acupoint, the spiritual power threads then seeped into Mo Hua’s sea of consciousness like weaving threads, finally weaving into a spiritual curtain in his sea of consciousness.

This time, the spiritual curtain was more condensed than during the Qi Refining stage.

During the Qi Refining realm, the spiritual curtain was like water mist; this time, it was like a water curtain.

And within the spiritual curtain, array patterns flowed.

These array patterns were all second-grade, full of faint light, complex and varied, composing a large puzzle array.

This entire process was very familiar to Mo Hua.

It was just the ordinary bottleneck process of the Tianyan Jue generating a “puzzle array.”

But the difference was that Mo Hua discovered that the spiritual power in his sea of consciousness this time was faintly silver-white, like true silver mercury.

This was a manifestation of the qualitative change in his divine thought.

Mo Hua remembered Huang Shan Jun saying that the color of the divine marrow symbolizing the divine tier began with silver.

Mo Hua slightly relaxed, feeling somewhat fortunate.

His guess wasn’t wrong; breaking the Tianyan Jue bottleneck upon reaching the Foundation Building realm not only required a divine sense realm as the foundation and arrays attainment as the means but also a divine thought tier as a qualification.

The puzzle array in front of him was completely condensed from silver-colored divine marrow-like thought power, like flowing silver pouring onto the ground, dazzling with light and containing wonder.

If his divine tier wasn’t enough, he wouldn’t have the qualification to solve the puzzle array at all.

If his arrays attainment wasn’t high, he couldn’t solve the puzzle array.

If his divine sense realm was insufficient, he was afraid he wouldn’t even have the ability to encounter this bottleneck.

These various requirements were truly somewhat inconceivable.

Mo Hua couldn’t help but sigh:

“What kind of cultivation method have I learned?”

The requirements of this cultivation method were too harsh, fundamentally not meant for people to learn.

But it seemed impossible for “gods” to learn it either.

Gods were inherently born with the Dao, knowing it from birth. Mo Hua hadn’t heard of gods needing to learn cultivation methods.

Then this cultivation method… exactly what kind of being was it for?

Mo Hua frowned.

Demon? Devil?

No matter how Mo Hua thought, it seemed impossible, so he simply gave up.

“Never mind, anyway, I’m already on the thief ship. It’s impossible to change course, so I can only close my eyes and keep practicing.”

Mo Hua had made preparations early for breaking the bottleneck.

He was also very skilled at solving arrays.

He had also reached the divine tier condition.

He only needed to spend some time, step by step, to solve the puzzle arrays one by one, and the bottleneck would naturally break open.

It was just that Mo Hua was a little unexpected that the color of the puzzle array was silver…

Silver was the color of divine marrow, symbolizing the divine tier.

While Mo Hua had swallowed a large amount of divine marrow, more than half of his divine thought had incarnated, fused with faint gold blood, and a trace of pure gold.

Compared to silver, it could be said to be far ahead.

The divine tier requirement for the Tianyan Jue bottleneck seemed perverted, but for the current Mo Hua, it was instead a bit low.

Mo Hua was a little disappointed.

Merely silver…

If he had known this earlier, he wouldn’t have needed to spend so much effort to probe the dry well, rush to the fishing village, enter the river god temple, kill the river god, and “eat” the evil god.

He had worried for nothing.

He had prepared for a rainy day too far in advance.

But this was only the beginning of the qualitative change in divine thought, with silver thought power as the threshold. It seemed very normal.

It probably wouldn’t be so simple later.

“Later…”

Mo Hua pondered a bit, and his heart shivered.

For later bottlenecks, would the divine tier requirement be faint gold, pure gold, or even higher levels like jade color and glazed?

What level of divine being marrow would that require?

Where could he find divine marrow of this quality to eat?

The key was, could he beat these terrifying gods?

Mo Hua’s scalp felt a bit numb.

“It seems I still need to eat more divine marrow. If I can’t eat good ones, then eat more ordinary ones and accumulate little by little. Otherwise, breaking bottlenecks later will really be troublesome…”

Mo Hua sighed in his heart.

But right now, the mid-stage Foundation Building bottleneck was not difficult.

As long as he spent some time solving the puzzle arrays in his sea of consciousness one by one and breaking the bottleneck, his cultivation could successfully advance to the mid-stage Foundation Building.

Reaching the mid-stage Foundation Building would allow him to keep up with the progress of his sect mates and not have to repeat a grade.

Otherwise, if his cultivation didn’t keep up, he would have to repeat a grade. Then he, this little junior brother, would only have been a senior brother for a little over a year and would forever become a junior brother.

Fortunately, his cultivation was keeping up now…

Mo Hua slowly relaxed.

After that, Mo Hua steadily cultivated, breaking bottlenecks little by little, and his progress was also under control.

And soon, the New Year Festival arrived.

Mo Hua’s second year in Taixu Sect was also about to end.

After the annual year-end assessment, Taixu Sect would have a New Year holiday.

Mo Hua’s results were the same as last year: first class for six subjects and third for three. His performance was stable.

For arrays, except for “first class,” he couldn’t get any other ratings.

For other subjects like refining pills, refining tools, and so on, except for “third,” he basically couldn’t get any other ratings either.

This report card could be said to have no surprises and naturally no sense of anticipation.

Mo Hua had expected it early, and his heart was like still water.

During the New Year holiday, most disciples returned to their families to celebrate the New Year.

Mo Hua still stayed in Taixu Sect.

Lizhou was far away, the mountains and rivers distant, and the sea of clouds vast. He couldn’t go back at all and could only stay in the sect alone, reading array books, learning arrays, and breaking bottlenecks every day.

Although lonely, it was also fulfilling.

But he still gave himself two days of holiday.

On the twenty-eighth day of the New Year’s Eve, the Gu family had a family banquet.

Wan Yi invited him to come and play, conveniently relax a bit, look at colored lanterns, and eat some good food.

Mo Hua hesitated a bit initially.

Going to the Gu family’s family banquet wasn’t quite appropriate for him.

But Yu Er was beside him, pulling his sleeve, looking at him with a pair of watery eyes.

Mo Hua’s heart softened a bit, and he agreed.

Soon it was the twenty-eighth day. Mo Hua prepared to leave the sect, go to the Gu family, and then go to Xun old mister to bid farewell.

Xun old mister was a bit surprised to hear that Mo Hua was going to the Gu family to attend the family banquet.

He knew Mo Hua had a friendship with the Gu family, but he didn’t expect this friendship to be so deep that he could even join their family banquet before the New Year.

Gu family, Wenren family, Shangguan family…

Xun old mister’s heart moved. He pondered slightly, then suddenly looked up at the empty-handed Mo Hua and asked:

“You’re just going to attend the banquet like this?”

Mo Hua scratched his head.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to send something.

The key was that he didn’t have anything good to send.

The Gu family and Wenren family were big families with accumulations spanning who knew how many years, wealthy and powerful, with spirit stones like mountains. They lacked nothing.

His own small family property didn’t have anything presentable either.

Before, he had sent Wan Yi a golden lotus three-color carp, but that was something he got by chance. It wasn’t easy to get in the first place and was still very expensive.

And half of that last three-color carp ended up in his own stomach, another half was eaten by Yu Er, and Wan Yi only drank some soup…

Xun old mister nodded slightly, “Wait a moment.”

After finishing, he got up, took out paper and brush, personally wrote several words, and handed them to Mo Hua.

“Take this with you, as a gift.”

Mo Hua was startled, somewhat flattered.

These days, he also knew that Xun old mister seemed to be an “old instructor,” but his insight, breadth of mind, demeanor, and that faintly discernible majesty were absolutely not those of an ordinary cultivator.

Although they seemed like just a few simple words, they must be very precious.

“Old mister…”

Mo Hua was a bit embarrassed to take it.

“No harm,” Xun old mister’s expression was comforting, even with a trace of a kind smile, looking at Mo Hua, implying something as he said, “Speaking of which, my Taixu Sect can be said to owe them a huge favor.”

A huge favor…

Mo Hua nodded.

So that was it… there was actually this layer of reason inside.

He had heard that the Shangguan and Wenren families, and the Tai’a, Chongxu, and Taixu sects had some origins before. It was very normal for them to exchange favors with each other.

He just didn’t know what matter could make Taixu Sect owe a favor…

Mo Hua was very curious.

But this level of favor exchange between sects and families wasn’t something he could investigate thoroughly.

Mo Hua then respectfully took the piece of writing and said with a smile:

“Thank you, old mister!”

Xun old mister stroked his beard and nodded in satisfaction.

Then Mo Hua took a carriage, left Taixu Sect, and went to the Gu family.

The Gu family was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, splendid but not overtly luxurious, lively and festive.

Gu Changhuai was still busy with Dao Court affairs and seemed to only be able to return in the evening.

Near the New Year, Wenren Wan also had many matters, so Mo Hua didn’t see her either.

Instead, Yu Er, seeing Mo Hua, immediately cheered and jumped, pouncing into Mo Hua’s embrace.

Wenren Wei, who was at the side, then said:

“Miss Wan has matters delayed and will only be free at the time of the evening banquet. Why don’t Young Master Mo take Young Master Yu Er for a stroll? Qingzhou City is very lively during the New Year Festival.”

Yu Er happily looked at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua also smiled and nodded.

There were still several days until the New Year, and Qingzhou City was indeed very lively, full of New Year atmosphere.

Mo Hua, who had been drawing arrays every day and hadn’t rested for a long time, also felt like playing.

He took Yu Er and strolled along the prosperous Qingzhou City for a day.

Along the way, carriages and horses were like flowing water, people like a stream, markets were lined up next to each other, and red lanterns hung from one end of the street to the other.

Occasionally, there were dazzling toys with strange and beautiful fireworks and various flavors of small foods.

Mo Hua strolled and strolled, looking at the lively scenes around him, and his mood was temporarily a bit low.

In the hustle and bustle, he again thought of the days in Tongxian City.

He thought of his father and mother, his little playmates, and the unreliable Uncle Zhang.

He also thought of the Master who cared for him very much, the mysterious puppet grandpa, the idiotic little senior brother, and the beautiful little senior sister…

The long road of cultivation, the world floating and sinking.

He didn’t know when he could see everyone again.

Mo Hua couldn’t help but sigh, his expression melancholy, when he suddenly found a string of candied haws in front of him.

Mo Hua turned his head to look and saw Yu Er holding a long string of candied haws in one small hand, gnawing at it, and with the other small hand, handing another string of crystal clear, red and sweet candied haws in front of him, like offering a treasure, saying in a childish voice:

“Brother Mo, candied haws!”

Yu Er took two strings in total, ate one herself, and gave one to Mo Hua.

Mo Hua laughed, touched Yu Er’s little head, then took the candied haws and took a bite. It was indeed sour and sweet, very tasty.

After eating the candied haws, Mo Hua’s mood inexplicably improved a lot.

“Let’s go, I’ll take you to play.”

Mo Hua then took Yu Er’s small hand and strolled along the street for the whole day.

Until night fell, the lights were lit, and it was time for the family banquet to begin, Mo Hua then took Yu Er back to the Gu family.

It was just that the road was crowded, and they were slightly delayed.

When they arrived at the Gu family, Mo Hua suddenly discovered that the atmosphere was a bit off.

The joyous laughter of the daytime had turned solemn in the evening, and the cultivators coming and going were also much more restrained, not daring to speak loudly.

Mo Hua was a bit strange. He accidentally saw Gu An passing by, his eyes lit up, and he quickly waved his hand, “Little Brother An.”

Gu An was startled, saw Mo Hua, then immediately came over and greeted him.

Mo Hua lowered his voice and asked: “Did something happen?”

“Not really,” Gu An looked left and right, also lowering his voice, and said, “People from the Shangguan family have come.”

“Shangguan family?” Mo Hua was startled, lowered his head to look at the confused Yu Er, and asked Gu An in confusion, “What’s wrong with the Shangguan family coming? The Gu family and the Shangguan family have a good relationship…”

Why was the atmosphere so tense?

Gu An shook his head, “I don’t know either, but the person who came from the Shangguan family this time seems to have a very high status and cannot be offended, so the family head has instructed the clan disciples to speak carefully.”

“Oh.” Mo Hua nodded.

But this seemed to have nothing to do with him.

He just came to get a meal.

Moreover, he was just a small Foundation Building cultivator. The Shangguan family probably wouldn’t put him in their eyes.

Soon, the family banquet began.

Most of them were Gu family members, either elders, or some department heads, executives, or just ordinary disciples.

Mo Hua often visited the Gu family, and most of them were quite familiar.

Some elders, such as Uncle Gu’s aunt, Elder Gu Hong, seeing Mo Hua was well-behaved and lovely, would often chat with Mo Hua.

Other elders also mostly recognized Mo Hua.

Many ordinary disciples were quite familiar with Mo Hua.

Most of them worked in the Dao Court, and some had even “fought side by side” with Mo Hua before.

Along the way, people kept greeting Mo Hua, asking how he was, chatting, or talking casually.

Mo Hua felt like he had returned to his own home…

Gu Changhuai, who had just finished his work and rushed back home, sat at the side watching, his expression very complex.

He almost forgot that this child Mo Hua’s surname was “Mo,” not Gu.

Wenren Wan smiled faintly and waved at Mo Hua from afar.

Mo Hua then took Yu Er and walked to Wenren Wan’s side.

Yu Er again pounced into Wenren Wan’s embrace and affectionately shouted: “Mother.”

Wenren Wan’s face was full of smiles. She pinched Yu Er’s face, then turned her head and said to Mo Hua with a smile:

“Just sit here later, there will be good food.”

“Mm-hmm!”

Mo Hua nodded repeatedly.

Wenren Wan again sized up Mo Hua’s face and gently said:

“Compared to a few days ago, you seem a bit thinner. You’ve probably been cultivating too hard. I’ll have them boil some soup for you to replenish yourself later.”

Mo Hua smiled: “Thank you, Aunt Wan.”

Wenren Wan smiled gently, then pulled Mo Hua to sit down and gave him some fresh spirit melons and spirit fruits to eat.

Mo Hua sat down steadily, took a bite of melon, looked up towards the upper seats, and saw two people sitting not far away on the main seat platform.

One was the Gu family head.

Mo Hua had seen him but hadn’t spoken to him.

The other had a profound aura and a majestic appearance, extremely dignified. Although he was over middle age, with slightly white temples and faint fine lines around his eyes, one could still see that he was extremely handsome when he was young.

Mo Hua guessed that this person was Yu Er’s grandfather.

That is, the current head of the Shangguan family, Shangguan Ce.

(End of this chapter) Recently, transcoding has been serious. Let’s be more motivated and update faster. Please move your little hand and exit the reading mode. Thank you.