Chapter 714 – Bottleneck
After returning to the sect, Mo Hua once again mulled over what Master Gu had said.
Disregarding the nuances of the cultivation industry's classifications, in some sense, formation mediums were spiritual artifacts, and spiritual artifacts were formation mediums.
As his cultivation improved, and his spiritual sense grew stronger, Mo Hua's understanding of formations deepened. His skill in using the earth itself as a medium—drawing formations directly onto the ground—became more refined.
This meant he wasn't all that dependent on conventional "formation mediums" anymore.
Spiritual artifacts? Nice to have, but not essential. Mo Hua didn't rely on them too much.
However, if one wished to promote formations on a wider scale—or push their power to the extreme—then the compatibility between formations and external "mediums" could no longer be ignored.
And this category was broad: it included standard formation mediums, mass-produced spiritual artifacts, and—most importantly—custom spiritual artifacts.
Mo Hua thought again of the little fishing village.
There was no rush to pluck wool from the Heavenly Dao; he had all the time in the world.
A few days passed.
One early morning, as Mo Hua sat in meditation cultivating, his qi sea suddenly trembled, and an unusual phenomenon surged forth.
He clearly felt that his spiritual power was nearing saturation—a bottleneck had formed at the mid-stage level.
But this was merely a subtle insight. Whether it was true still needed to be tested and confirmed through personal effort.
When he had time, he also researched the law-like rift within his sea of consciousness. But it was far too profound—something Mo Hua had never encountered before. He couldn't figure it out in a short time and had no choice but to let it be.
If it's right, stick with it. If it's wrong, fix it.
Mo Hua's expression was complex; his heart stirred with realization.
As his spiritual power passed through the Heavenly Gate acupoint, it became like silk threads weaving into his sea of consciousness, eventually forming a spiritual curtain within it.
Because of this, all his formation drafts could only remain conceptual. He had no chance to test them out.
From that point on, whenever he had free time, he began pondering the compatibility between formations and formation mediums.
But strangely, Mo Hua's spiritual sense showed no increase at all.
This time, though, the spiritual curtain was much more refined than during the Qi Refining Realm.
He had crafted many formation drafts—but since he still couldn't leave the Ganxue state, he had to focus on his formation studies.
This path was both one of cultivation and one of formations.
Back in the Qi Refining Realm, the spiritual curtain was like mist. Now it was like a shimmering veil of water.
Mo Hua considered how to broadly apply formations to standardized spiritual artifacts, and how to maximize the power of formations through custom spiritual tools...
And yet, despite over 20,000 years of cultivation development, with formation and artifact techniques already mature…
The world of cultivation had advanced—but its legacies were monopolized.
Mo Hua felt a tinge of regret.
One could only truly know if their "Dao" was right by walking it themselves.
It wasn't just the little fishing village—Tongxian City, Nanyue City, and many of the other immortal cities Mo Hua passed through in his travels were the same. Their lower-class cultivators lived in destitution.
Formations were manifestations of the Heavenly Dao.
Yet these refined techniques had been turned into tools for exploitation.
Just like before—when his qi sea reached saturation, his spiritual power suddenly transformed into mercury-like threads, oozing from his meridians, flowing through the network of veins, and gathering at the crown of his head.
To understand the Dao but not walk it—was no different from not understanding it at all.
Cultivators should comprehend the Dao of Heaven and use it to bless all life.
In that moment, Mo Hua felt that this—this might be the true path of Immortality.
This was the Dao he had currently comprehended.
And yet, the arts of cultivation—these refined techniques—were barely usable by even ten or twenty percent of the bottom-tier cultivators.
Mo Hua had risen from humble beginnings. Along the way, he had gained many opportunities, grasped countless formation insights—so of course he should follow the will of Heaven and use all he had learned to benefit the world.
His eyes shone clear; his Dao heart suddenly became bright and unclouded.
The heavens were vast, embracing all things, birthing all life, boundless and eternal, forever self-strengthening.
Even though his spiritual sense was stuck, his cultivation was clearly advancing.
As time trickled on, months passed in a flash.
Mo Hua sighed in quiet frustration.
But this was also something his master had taught him—
The Great Dao must be walked in person.
Mo Hua looked up at the sky.
Due to the Heavenly Dao's laws, a constant "tax" was imposed upon his sea of consciousness, keeping his spiritual sense capped below eighteen patterns—preventing it from growing without end and breaking a certain threshold.
In the fishing village, the lives of fisher-cultivators were miserable. They struggled to survive. Their boats, nets, harpoons, and other tools were crudely made—and formations? Forget it.
Only by walking this path step by step—constantly comprehending, constantly practicing—could one eventually climb to the peak of the true path of immortality.
Within the spiritual curtain, formation patterns flowed.
These were all Grade-2 patterns—softly glowing, intricate and complex—forming a vast mystery array.
Mo Hua was familiar with this process.
It was the typical bottleneck of the Tianyan Art when generating a "mystery array."
But what was different this time was that Mo Hua noticed his spiritual power within his sea of consciousness had taken on a faint silvery-white color—like real quicksilver.
This was a sign of qualitative transformation in divine sense.
Mo Hua remembered what Huangshan Jun had once said: the divine essence that symbolizes a god-tier level begins with the color silver.
Mo Hua breathed a slight sigh of relief—grateful.
He had guessed correctly: upon reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, breaking through the Tianyan Art's bottleneck required not only a certain level of spiritual sense, and skill in formations as a means—but also a divine sense of sufficient grade as a qualification.
The mystery array before him was formed entirely of silvery divine power—like liquid silver spilling across the ground, radiant and imbued with mystery.
Without divine-tier quality, one didn't even qualify to tackle this puzzle.
Without enough formation skill, one couldn't unravel the mystery.
And without a sufficient spiritual sense realm, one might not even be able to perceive this bottleneck at all.
All these prerequisites were… a bit absurd, honestly.
Mo Hua couldn't help but sigh:
"Just what kind of technique did I learn…"
The requirements of this technique were so harsh—it didn't seem made for humans.
But then again… it couldn't be for gods either.
Gods were born of the Dao. They knew it inherently. Mo Hua had never heard of a god who needed to learn techniques.
So just who—or what—was this technique meant for?
Mo Hua frowned.
A demon? A devil?
The more he thought about it, the less sense it made. So he just gave up thinking about it.
"Whatever. I'm already on this pirate ship—I can't change course now. May as well shut my eyes and keep cultivating."
Mo Hua had long since prepared for breaking this bottleneck.
And solving arrays? That was practically second nature to him now.
His divine sense grade was up to par too.
All that was left was to follow the steps—dispel the mystery arrays one by one—and the bottleneck would naturally break.
Though, Mo Hua was a bit surprised: the mystery array was silver.
Silver symbolized the divine tier.
And he had consumed a massive amount of divine essence. A large portion of his spiritual will had been transformed, blending into pale golden blood with traces of pure gold.
Compared to silver, he was way ahead.
So this divine-tier bottleneck of the Tianyan Art, while monstrous on paper… to Mo Hua, it felt a little underwhelming.
He was a bit disappointed.
"Just silver, huh…"
Had he known, he wouldn't have bothered going through so much trouble—exploring dried-up wells, fighting through fishing villages, entering river temples, slaying river gods, and eating evil gods.
All that worry had been… unnecessary.
He had overprepared. Drastically.
Still, this was only the beginning of his spiritual transformation. Using silver divine power as an entry threshold made sense.
But what came after this… wouldn't be so easy.
"What comes next…"
"What comes after…"
Mo Hua pondered for a moment, and his heart skipped a beat.
Could the bottlenecks beyond this one require divine sense at the pale gold level… or even pure gold? Maybe even jade or glazed-glass levels?
What kind of god-tier divine essence would that take?
Where was he supposed to find divine marrow of that quality to eat?
More importantly… could he even beat those terrifying gods?
Mo Hua felt a shiver down his scalp.
"Looks like I really do need to keep eating divine marrow. If I can't get the good stuff, I'll just have to eat a lot of the regular kind. Bit by bit. Otherwise, breaking through future bottlenecks is going to be a nightmare…"
He sighed internally.
Fortunately, the current bottleneck—Foundation Establishment mid-stage—wasn't that hard.
As long as he took his time and unraveled the mystery arrays in his sea of consciousness one by one, his cultivation would smoothly rise to mid-stage Foundation Establishment.
At that point, he'd finally catch up with his fellow disciples and avoid getting held back.
Otherwise, if his cultivation didn't keep pace, he'd be left behind. Then this "Senior Brother" title he'd held for just over a year would vanish—and he'd be stuck forever as a junior instead.
Thankfully, for now… he was still on track.
Mo Hua let out a slow breath of relief.
After that, he settled into his cultivation, methodically breaking through the bottleneck, his progress well within his control.
And soon, the end-of-year festival approached.
Mo Hua's second year at the Great Void Sect was coming to a close.
After the annual year-end evaluations, the sect would grant everyone a holiday.
His grades, just like the year before: one "A," six "C"s—steady performance.
Formations? He always got an "A." Nothing else.
Alchemy, artifact crafting, and the rest? Basically always a "C" and nothing more.
This kind of report card came with no surprises—and no excitement either.
Mo Hua had long expected it and remained calm as still water.
When the break began, most disciples returned home to their families for the new year.
Mo Hua stayed behind.
Lizhou was too far away. The road wound through endless mountains, rivers, and seas of clouds. There was no way he could return. So he stayed at the sect alone, reading formation books, studying arrays, breaking bottlenecks.
Lonely? Sure. But fulfilling.
Still, he did give himself two days off.
On the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, the Gu family was hosting a family banquet.
Aunt Wan had invited him to come over, relax a little, admire the lanterns, and eat some good food.
Mo Hua had hesitated.
Was it really appropriate for him to attend a Gu family banquet?
But Yu'er had tugged on his sleeve, staring up at him with big, watery eyes.
Mo Hua's heart softened. He agreed.
Soon, the 28th arrived.
As Mo Hua prepared to leave the sect and head to the Gu household, he went to bid farewell to Elder Xun.
When Elder Xun heard that Mo Hua was attending the Gu family's banquet, he looked a bit surprised.
He knew Mo Hua had some ties to the Gu family—but he hadn't expected it to run this deep. Even the New Year's family banquet? The boy could just drop in and freeload?
Gu family… Wenren family… Shangguan family…
A thought flickered in Elder Xun's mind. He glanced at Mo Hua, whose hands were empty, and asked,
"You're going to a banquet like that?"
Mo Hua scratched his head.
It wasn't like he didn't want to bring a gift…
It's just—he didn't really have anything worth giving.
The Gu family, the Wenren family—they were ancient houses with deep roots and wealth beyond measure. Spiritual stones stacked in mountains. They lacked nothing.
Mo Hua's meager belongings? Hardly impressive.
He had once given Aunt Wan a golden lotus three-colored koi—but that was a one-time lucky find, rare and expensive.
And honestly, that last koi? Half of it had ended up in his belly. The other half went to Yu'er. Aunt Wan had only managed to drink a bit of the soup…
Elder Xun nodded thoughtfully. "Wait a moment."
He stood up, took out pen and paper, and wrote a few words in his own hand—then handed it to Mo Hua.
"Take this. Consider it a gift."
Mo Hua blinked in surprise, caught off guard by the gesture.
Over time, he'd come to understand that though Elder Xun looked like an old instructor, his insight, breadth of vision, calm demeanor—and that faint yet commanding aura—marked him as anything but ordinary.
A few simple words from such a man? Incredibly precious.
"Elder…" Mo Hua hesitated to accept.
"It's fine," Elder Xun said gently, a rare, warm smile on his face. He looked at Mo Hua meaningfully and added,
"Truth be told… our Great Void Sect owes them a great favor."
A great favor?
Mo Hua nodded slowly.
So that's how it was… there was history behind this connection.
It was said the Shangguan and Wenren clans had deep ties with the three great sects—Tai'a, Chongxu, and Great Void. It wasn't unusual for there to be past favors exchanged.
But what kind of event could've left the Great Void Sect owing such a massive debt…?
Mo Hua was deeply curious.
Still, this kind of ancient-sect-level social debt wasn't something he could pry into.
He accepted the calligraphy with respect and said with a smile,
"Many thanks, Elder."
Elder Xun stroked his beard and nodded in satisfaction.
After that, Mo Hua set out, riding a carriage away from the sect toward the Gu household.
The Gu estate was bright with lanterns and decorations. Lavish but not garish—lively, festive, and refined.
Gu Changhuai was still tied up with affairs at the Dao Court Division and likely wouldn't return until nightfall.
It was the end of the year—Wenren Wan was also busy, and Mo Hua didn't catch a glimpse of her.
Instead, it was Yu'er who spotted him first—he lit up with joy and ran straight into Mo Hua's arms, cheering and clinging to him.
Nearby, Wenren Wei chuckled and said:
"Miss Wan is delayed by work and will only be free for the dinner banquet. Young Master Mo, why not take Young Lord Yu'er out for a stroll? Qingzhou City is especially lively during the New Year festivities."
Yu'er looked up at Mo Hua with bright, eager eyes.
Mo Hua smiled and gave a small nod.
Mo Hua also smiled and nodded.
Only a few days remained until the New Year, and Qingzhou City was indeed bustling with life and rich in festive spirit.
After spending so much time drawing formations every day, without a break, Mo Hua finally felt the urge to just have some fun.
He took Yu'er along and wandered through the vibrant city for the entire day.
The roads were packed with carriages and pedestrians flowing like rivers. Marketplace stalls lined the streets like scales on a fish. Bright red lanterns were strung from street corners to alleys.
Here and there, dazzling fireworks bloomed in the sky. Toys of every kind filled the stalls. The aroma of various street foods drifted through the air.
As Mo Hua strolled, the cheerful scene around him made his mood dip slightly.
Amid the hustle and bustle, he suddenly thought back to his time in Tongxian City.
He remembered his parents, his childhood friends, the goofy Uncle Zhang.
He remembered his caring master, the mysterious Puppet Grandpa, his clumsy senior brother, and the beautiful senior sister…
The path of cultivation was long, the world ever-changing.
Who knew when he'd be able to see those faces again?
Unconsciously, Mo Hua sighed, looking a little lost—only to suddenly find a candied hawthorn skewer being held out in front of him.
He turned his head and saw Yu'er holding one skewer in his mouth, chomping away, and another in his other hand. With a proud, babyish voice, he offered it to Mo Hua like a treasured gift:
"Brother Mo, candied hawthorn!"
Yu'er had bought two—one for himself, one for Mo Hua.
Mo Hua couldn't help but chuckle. He rubbed Yu'er's little head, then took the candy skewer and bit into it. Sure enough—sweet and sour, delightfully tasty.
After eating the hawthorn candy, Mo Hua's mood inexplicably lifted.
"Let's go. I'll take you to play."
Hand in hand, he led Yu'er through the streets and wandered around the whole day.
It wasn't until night fell, lanterns lit the city, and the family banquet was about to begin that Mo Hua brought Yu'er back to the Gu estate.
The roads were crowded, and they were delayed a little.
When they finally arrived, Mo Hua immediately noticed something was off.
During the day, the estate had been filled with laughter and joy, but now everything was subdued. The cultivators walking around had become much more restrained, speaking in hushed tones.
Mo Hua was puzzled. He happened to spot Gu An walking by, and his eyes lit up. He quickly waved.
"Brother An!"
Gu An paused, saw Mo Hua, and immediately came over to greet him.
Mo Hua lowered his voice and asked,
"Did something happen?"
"Not exactly," Gu An glanced around and also spoke softly,
"The Shangguan family has arrived."
"The Shangguan family?" Mo Hua was surprised. He glanced at the clueless Yu'er beside him and asked,
"So what? Don't the Gu and Shangguan families get along?"
Why all the tension?
Gu An shook his head.
"I don't really know either. But it seems the person who came from the Shangguan family holds a very high status. The patriarch instructed everyone in the clan to be cautious and speak carefully."
"Oh." Mo Hua nodded.
Though honestly, this didn't seem to have anything to do with him.
He was just here for a free meal.
Besides, he was just a small Foundation Establishment cultivator—people from the Shangguan family likely wouldn't even bother noticing him.
Soon, the family banquet began.
Most of the attendees were Gu family members—elders, stewards, enforcers, or ordinary disciples.
Mo Hua had visited the Gu residence many times, and most faces were familiar.
Some elders, like Gu Uncle's aunt—Elder Gu Hong—found him well-mannered and adorable, and often chatted with him.
Most of the elders recognized him.
Among the disciples, quite a few were friendly with him too.
Many worked in the Dao Court Division—some had even fought alongside Mo Hua before.
As he walked in, people kept greeting him—some offering hellos, others chatting casually.
Mo Hua felt as comfortable as if he were home.
Gu Changhuai, having just returned from official duties, sat nearby watching this scene with a complicated expression.
Even he had nearly forgotten: this boy… wasn't surnamed Gu. He was Mo Hua.
Wenren Wan smiled from afar and waved at Mo Hua.
He brought Yu'er over to her.
Yu'er immediately jumped into her arms, affectionately calling out:
"Mama!"
Wenren Wan's face lit up with joy. She pinched Yu'er's cheek, then turned to Mo Hua with a gentle smile:
"You'll sit here later. There'll be delicious food."
"Mm-hmm!" Mo Hua nodded eagerly.
Wenren Wan studied his face for a moment and said gently:
"You seem thinner than a few days ago. Probably training too hard. I'll have them make more soup later to nourish you."
Mo Hua smiled,
"Thank you, Aunt Wan."
Wenren Wan gave him a warm, graceful smile, then pulled him down to sit beside her and offered him fresh spiritual melons and fruits to snack on.
Mo Hua sat down quietly, bit into a melon, and looked up toward the head of the hall.
There, on the highest platform, two people were seated.
One was the Gu family's patriarch—Mo Hua had seen him before, though never spoken with him.
The other had a powerful presence and regal appearance. Though clearly middle-aged, with a touch of white at the temples and faint lines near his brows, he still radiated a handsome elegance.
Mo Hua guessed this must be Yu'er's grandfather— The current head of the Shangguan family:
Shangguan Ce.
(End of Chapter)