Chapter 16: Qi Refining, Third Layer
After Mo Hua entered Tongxian Sect, the new year of sect life officially began.
Tongxian Sect was a first-rank sect—the lowest rank in the cultivation world.
Sect hierarchies in the cultivation world were strictly structured.
When a sect is founded, it must first undergo a ranking assessment by the Dao Court.
The criteria for this are extremely stringent, including the sect's assets, the mountains it occupies, the depth of its legacy, whether the sect leader possesses virtue, the number and cultivation of elders and instructors, and the number of disciples the sect can house—all are subject to thorough evaluation.
Raising a sect's rank is even harder. It requires several high-level cultivators to preside and teach for a set number of years before the sect can apply for a promotion at the Dao Court's Heavenly Authority Pavilion.
For any sect, a promotion is a monumental event, one that demands years of preparation, and substantial social maneuvering and expenditure of resources.
In Tongxian Sect, only the old sect leader had reached Foundation Establishment—far from qualifying for second-rank status. It likely wouldn't be eligible for promotion even in the next hundred years.
Besides that, the sect's entire holdings amounted to just three peaks: Tongling Peak, Tongxuan Peak, and Tongming Peak.
In the outer sect:
Early-stage Qi Refining disciples (Layers 1–3) trained on Tongling Peak.
Mid-stage disciples (Layers 4–6) trained on Tongxuan Peak.
Late-stage disciples (Layers 7–9) were extremely rare in the outer sect, so they were also grouped into Tongxuan Peak as a matter of convenience.
Inner sect disciples and personal disciples, including the sect master, elders, and instructors, all resided on Tongming Peak.
It was said there used to be a Tongxian Peak, reserved for the sect leader and elders to cultivate and reside in. But due to poor management and debt, it was sold off in tears.
A Tongxian Sect without a Tongxian Peak—how ironic.
Generations of sect leaders had vowed to one day redeem Tongxian Peak, but that grand wish had yet to come true.
Each peak's disciples were further divided into four classes: A, B, C, and D.
The quality of the disciples declined from Class A to D, and the sect's resources and attention followed the same pattern.
Class A was reserved for so-called "heaven's chosen"—those with strong spiritual roots, high talent, and quick progress.
Of course, if you had close ties with the sect's leadership—or were willing to donate a generous amount of spirit stones—you could also get into Class A.
In short: you needed talent, connections, or spirit stones.
Class B accepted those with average roots, but decent comprehension, diligence, and solid performance.
Class C disciples had average roots, average comprehension, and average performance.
Class D was where the least gifted ended up—barely able to scrape by.
Mo Hua was assigned to Class B—a disciple with average roots, but diligent and performing well in his studies.
At only the second layer of Qi Refining, he lived and trained on Tongling Peak—the most populated of the sect's peaks.
Upon entering the sect, he greeted familiar fellow disciples and then began his new year of study and cultivation.
Even the poorest cultivator families would do their best to send their child into a sect, to lay the foundation for the path of cultivation and to gain at least a basic understanding of the cultivation world. Hence, early-stage Qi Refining disciples were the most numerous.
Once reaching mid-stage Qi Refining, whether a disciple could continue depended on two things: natural talent and family wealth.
Some families simply couldn't afford the tuition anymore. Their children were forced to drop out, turn to odd jobs, assist with artifact forging, or try their hand at demon hunting—just enough to survive. After all, one hundred spirit stones a year was no small amount. Otherwise, the family might starve before the child ever became accomplished.
Even fewer disciples made it to the late stage of Qi Refining while still remaining in the sect.
Several of Mo Hua's fellow disciples had already vanished. Upon asking around, he found out they'd had to drop out due to poverty and misfortune—they simply couldn't pay the tuition anymore.
Cultivation was vast, profound, and full of pitfalls. Without proper instruction, one could take countless wrong turns. Dropping out at the early stages… unless fate bestowed a miraculous opportunity, the path forward was likely forever severed.
Mo Hua sighed softly, feeling sorry for them. But his own circumstances weren't that much better—he didn't have the luxury of dwelling on others' misfortunes.
He juggled classes and cultivation, and in his spare time, drew formation diagrams. Life was busy—but fulfilling.
A few months passed, and before he knew it, Mo Hua broke through to the third layer of Qi Refining.
Early-stage Qi Refining breakthroughs were mostly a matter of persistence and accumulation. With daily cultivation, consistent effort, and sufficient spirit stones, breakthroughs came naturally.
But the thing rogue cultivators lacked most was always—spirit stones.
Breaking through to small stages relies on effort. Breaking through mid-stages introduces bottlenecks, which require rare spiritual herbs or pills to overcome.
And as for crossing major realms—like from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment—that took luck. For most bottom-tier rogue cultivators, it was a chasm they could never cross in a lifetime.
Still, every breakthrough brought tremendous benefits.
At the third layer, Mo Hua felt his spiritual energy surge, and even his divine sense became sharper.
Drawing Bright Flame Arrays, which had once been tiring, now felt smooth and effortless. He no longer needed long rests between drawings.
Expected as it was, Mo Hua was still elated.
No wonder so many cultivators endured the tedium of cultivation for years, chasing higher realms. The pure, unpretentious joy that came after long effort—that was real joy.
At ten years old and already at Qi Refining Layer 3, Mo Hua's cultivation was upper-mid level among his Class B peers.
And now that he'd reached Layer 3—it was time to choose a cultivation method.
One day after class, Instructor Yan kept behind a few students who had just reached the third layer—including Mo Hua.
Instructor Yan got straight to the point:
"This should've been handled by Instructor Zhou, but he's a bit unwell right now. So I'll step in and talk to you about cultivation methods."
"The most important thing to a cultivator is spiritual energy. Whether body cultivator or spirit cultivator, whether drawing formations, refining pills, forging artifacts, or making talismans—it all requires spiritual energy. The stronger your spiritual energy, the greater your advantage. The weaker it is, the further behind you'll fall. The fundamental difference between cultivators lies in the strength of their spiritual energy."
"And spiritual energy comes from your cultivation method—which depends on your spiritual roots. Your roots determine what method you can cultivate, and your method determines how much energy you can wield."
"Spiritual roots are innate—you're born with them. You can't change that. But you can choose your cultivation method."
"Choosing the right method is crucial. With a good fit, even those with weaker roots can tread a longer path. But if someone with excellent roots chooses poorly, they might as well give up on the road to immortality."
"So no matter how good or bad your roots are, you must treat this choice with the utmost caution…"
"Cultivation method, huh…" Mo Hua silently repeated.
He had lower-mid tier five-elemental spiritual roots—average, even below-average, among peers in Tongxian City.
He didn't know what kind of cultivation methods he could qualify for…
(End of Chapter)