Chapter 1323: Grade Tempering

Chapter 1322: Grade Tempering

“Golden Core… grade ascension…”

“My Intermediate-Lower Grade Golden Core… might be able to ascend in grade…”

Mo Hua’s heart trembled. He then forcibly calmed himself down, steadied his emotions, and began to think carefully.

“No… it shouldn’t be that simple…”

The cultivation system most widely passed down in the cultivation world has fixed grades.

Spiritual roots, cultivation methods, and core grade, these three determine the number of circulation cycles a cultivator can achieve, that is, the upper limit of spiritual energy.

Spiritual roots determine the upper limit of cultivation methods.

Cultivation methods determine the upper limit of core grade.

In other words, the grade of one’s spiritual roots determines a cultivator’s ceiling.

If your spiritual roots are poor, then your foundation in the Dao will forever lag far behind others.

Mo Hua’s spiritual roots were Intermediate-Lower Grade. According to the existing cultivation system, it was absolutely impossible for him to form a Golden Core that exceeded the grade of his spiritual roots.

Even if it were possible, it definitely wouldn’t be as simple as he was imagining.

“Dragon Pool… grade tempering…”

Mo Hua frowned deeply.

Beside him, Bai Zisheng had been sleeping soundly. Seeing Mo Hua suddenly jump up for no apparent reason, he asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

“Little Senior Brother,” Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then hurriedly asked, “what’s the principle behind Dragon Pool grade tempering?”

Bai Zisheng said, “I already told you…”

Mo Hua quickly said, “More detailed.”

Bai Zisheng asked, “How detailed?”

Mo Hua thought for a bit. “On the level of spiritual power?”

Bai Zisheng slowly sat up, but then felt his meridians and bones aching badly. He simply lay back down again, pulled the warm, soft blanket Mo Hua had given him tighter around himself, and said to Mo Hua:

“I’m hungry.”

Mo Hua was helpless.

Little Senior Brother was already such a grown man, yet he still asked for food the moment he opened his mouth, just like a child.

But thinking that Little Senior Brother had always been gluttonous since childhood, and that he was seriously injured and needed nourishment, Mo Hua figured that as the junior brother, he might as well indulge him a little.

Mo Hua pointed a finger at the ground, condensed a Blazing Fire Formation, conjured flames, and began roasting meat for Bai Zisheng.

As the flames rose, sizzling sounds followed, and the aroma slowly spread.

The junior brother was personally roasting meat for him again. Bai Zisheng felt his mood improve. He nodded, organized his thoughts, and then slowly said to Mo Hua:

“You understand the relationship between forming a core and circulation cycles, right?”

“Spiritual power circulation?” Mo Hua asked while roasting the meat.

Bai Zisheng shook his head. “You’re a spiritual cultivator, so you’re used to saying ‘spiritual power’ circulation. More precisely, it should be called ‘spiritual energy’ circulation.”

Mo Hua was slightly startled.

Bai Zisheng explained:

“Spiritual energy is the refined essence of heaven and earth. Cultivators absorb spiritual energy, refine it through minor circulation, and let it settle in the qi sea, transforming it into their own cultivation foundation.”

“The spiritual energy in the qi sea can flow outward, condensing into spiritual power, which, through specific techniques, forms spells.”

“It can also flow inward, stimulating the body’s latent potential, strengthening bones, skin, and flesh, and enabling cultivation martial techniques.”

“In essence, whether spirit cultivation or body cultivation, the source of power is the same, i.e. spiritual energy imbued with the primal spirituality of heaven and earth.”

“Therefore, the more accurate term is ‘spiritual energy circulation’…”

Mo Hua suddenly understood.

In cultivation theory, it is said that one breath gives rise to all things.

The primordial qi of heaven and earth is chaotic and nameless, born innately.

But innate qi is no longer obtainable. Beyond it are the various forms of postnatal qi that evolved from it.

Spiritual energy, life qi, death qi, the Five Elements qi of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, baleful qi, miasmic qi, evil qi… and so on.

Among all forms of “qi,” spiritual energy is the most spiritual, the most microscopic, and the most mysteriously powerful. It is also the closest to innate qi.

Cultivation itself is the act of absorbing the qi of heaven and earth and turning “qi” into “power.”

The spiritual power of spiritual cultivators is power.

The explosive force of body cultivators is also power.

Mo Hua was a spiritual cultivator. Most of the spiritual energy in his body was converted into spiritual power for casting spells, so he was accustomed to saying “spiritual power circulation.”

He understood body cultivation to some extent, but since he didn’t cultivate the body himself, his understanding was shallow.

Bai Zisheng, however, was a very powerful body cultivator. His primary cultivation was blood qi and explosive force.

At the same time, he possessed a Heavenly-grade Spirit Root. His aptitude was simply too good, and his spiritual energy circulation capacity was overly abundant, so he also cultivated some spiritual power on the side to cast commonly used spells.

As a result, Bai Zisheng’s cultivation understanding was more comprehensive than Mo Hua’s.

Strictly speaking, so-called body cultivation refers to primarily cultivating the body, not cultivating only the body.

Likewise, spiritual cultivation refers to primarily cultivating spiritual power, not cultivating only spiritual power.

Mo Hua’s issue was that he was too extremely “specialized.” He was born physically weak and couldn’t practice body cultivation, so he devoted himself entirely to cultivating spiritual power.

Thus, in his mind, spiritual energy was equivalent to spiritual power.

Spiritual energy circulation cycles were equivalent to spiritual power circulation cycles.

This cognitive deviation didn’t really affect cultivation, so Mo Hua never deliberately corrected it.

However, according to stricter academic definitions of the Dao, this understanding wasn’t quite correct.

In the standard cultivation theories used by the Dao Court and the great clans, core formation is based on “spiritual energy circulation cycles.”

Mo Hua slowly nodded.

“And these spiritual energy circulation cycles are precisely the key to Golden Core grade,” Bai Zisheng continued.

“Whether spiritual cultivation or body cultivation, the better the spiritual roots, the better the cultivation method, the higher the spiritual energy circulation cycles you can cultivate…”

“When forming a core, the process is based on the spiritual energy already refined within your body—spiritual energy that truly belongs to you—as your cultivation foundation, that is, the basis for forming the core.”

“Throughout the entire core formation process, if the spiritual energy in the qi sea remains full and the circulation cycles do not decrease, then your core grade generally won’t drop.”

“But if something goes wrong—if spiritual energy is insufficient and circulation cycles decrease—then your core grade will drop along with it…”

Mo Hua’s heart skipped a beat. “Then what if my spiritual energy is too abundant, and the circulation cycles increase instead?”

Bai Zisheng sighed. “Spiritual energy circulation isn’t blood pressure, you think it just rises because you say so? Go on, raise it for me and see?”

This junior brother, how could he be smart one moment and an idiot the next?

Mo Hua said softly, “I mean… hypothetically…”

Bai Zisheng shook his head. “External spiritual energy doesn’t count. It must be spiritual energy you’ve painstakingly cultivated within your own body. This kind of refinement is slow, like grinding water with a millstone, accumulated day by day, and constrained by your spiritual roots and cultivation method. What you have is what you have. If luck is bad, it can only decrease—how could it possibly increase? You’re seriously underestimating the balance enforced by the Heavenly Dao…”

Balance enforced by the Heavenly Dao, my ass. Mo Hua had suffered greatly because of it, how could he underestimate it?

But in his heart, he knew his own core formation was truly different.

The Taotie Twelve-Meridian-Spiritual-Skeleton Formation was his life-bound formation.

Unlike ordinary life-bound artifacts, this formation cultivated together with his life itself and was completely integrated into his skeleton.

The “spiritual power” on the Spiritual-Skeleton Formation was, for all intents and purposes, equivalent to the spiritual power within his own body.

In other words, he truly could “cheat.”

By stacking his own spiritual energy circulation cycles together with the spiritual energy of the Spiritual-Skeleton Formation, he could raise the grade of his Golden Core.

“So, the Dragon Pool of the Great Wilderness…” Mo Hua said. “It can maintain the maximum amount of spiritual energy and, based on that amount, condense your core grade?”

“Yes.” Bai Zisheng nodded.

“Why?” Mo Hua asked.

Bai Zisheng frowned. “The specific reason… isn’t recorded on the clan’s side. They only know that the Dragon Pool of the Royal Court was built long ago by a mysterious shaman priest of the Great Wilderness. It contains ancient dragon power and can help Great Wilderness cultivators break through to the Golden Core…”

A mysterious shaman priest!

Mo Hua’s heart trembled, and he immediately thought of someone.

The Grand Shaman Priest?!

The Dragon Pool of the Royal Court was also built by the Grand Shaman Priest?

“The Taotie Twelve-Meridian-Spiritual-Skeleton Formation was likewise created by the Grand Shaman Priest…”

Mo Hua frowned, vaguely sensing something eerie.

All of this might not be a coincidence.

That Grand Shaman Priest of the Great Wilderness, long submerged in history, could he have been… carrying out some utterly inconceivable research and experimentation?

Mo Hua’s expression turned solemn.

Taotie. Spiritual skeletons. Bone inscriptions. Human-body research. Tempering grades…

And if these matters truly were connected, all of them the work of the Grand Shaman Priest… then according to his design, did the Taotie Twelve-Meridian-Spiritual-Skeleton Formation really need to be tempered in the Dragon Pool to be considered truly complete?

And if the Core Formation logic he envisioned was correct, did that mean he could exploit the Taotie Formation to cheat his way into forming a Intermediate-middle grade, Intermediate-upper grade, or even… a Superior-grade Golden Core?

A Superior-grade Golden Core?!

Mo Hua’s heart couldn’t help but start pounding.

Seeing the rapid changes on Mo Hua’s face—solemn one moment, doubtful the next, then thoughtful, then suddenly bright-eyed—Bai Zisheng thought to himself that his little junior brother was indeed still the same little junior brother. His inner thoughts were a complete mess, and there was no telling what kind of wild scheme was brewing in his head…

“What’s wrong?” Bai Zisheng asked.

Mo Hua came back to himself and shook his head. “Nothing.” Then he asked, “Little Senior Brother, are you going to the Royal Court?”

Bai Zisheng nodded. “Naturally.”

“Then I’ll go with you,” Mo Hua said.

Bai Zisheng thought for a moment. “Alright.”

This was already within his expectations.

He could tell that Mo Hua had reached the point where he needed to form a Golden Core, he might even have already failed once.

As the senior brother, even if it cost him his life, he had to successfully bring his little junior brother to the Royal Court and ensure he formed his Golden Core.

Bai Zisheng knew Mo Hua was different from himself. Even though he wasn’t favored by his clan, he was still, at the very least, a member of an aristocratic clan.

But his little junior brother was a true rogue cultivator by origin. For him, forming a Golden Core was far too difficult.

After that, Mo Hua finished roasting the meat. The two senior and junior brothers shared the meal, rested a bit more, and once the eastern sky showed the pale light of dawn, they set off.

Mo Hua didn’t know whether tempering his grade in the Dragon Pool could really get him a Superior-grade Golden Core.

Would there be other unforeseen dangers?

But since there was a chance, it was worth trying.

This was a Superior-grade Golden Core… something one could only dream of.

How could Mo Hua possibly not fight for it?

Besides, a trip to the Royal Court of the Great Wilderness was inevitable sooner or later.

He always felt that within the Royal Court, there were still some unresolved karmic threads waiting for him…

…

And so, the two brothers set out across the boundless desert, heading toward the Royal Court.

They walked for a full day and night without seeing a single person.

Mo Hua muttered to himself that this damn Great Wilderness was really cursed, either endless barren mountains, endless deserts, nonstop wars with people killing each other, or vast stretches of scorched land where you couldn’t even spot a ghost.

After another two days of travel, in the vast desert, Mo Hua finally saw some different scenery.

Vegetation began to appear ahead. In the distance, there were mountain peaks, as well as encampments of various tribes.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then suddenly turned to Bai Zisheng. “Little Senior Brother, I need to restrain you.”

Bai Zisheng froze. “What do you mean?”

Mo Hua said seriously, “Don’t forget, our current positions aren’t the same. I’m a good person loyal to the Dao Court, and you’re a traitor who betrayed the Dao Court.”

Bai Zisheng: “……”

“So I have to lock you up,” Mo Hua continued.

Bai Zisheng sighed. “Whatever makes you happy.”

Mo Hua nodded. As he took out a set of chains from his Storage Ring, he said,

“Besides, according to how the plot was developing earlier, the two of us should now count as ‘enemies.’ You should be itching to kill me. If acquaintances see us strolling around the desert together like we’re best buddies, there’s no way to explain that…”

Bai Zisheng asked curiously, “You have a lot of acquaintances?”

“Of course,” Mo Hua nodded, a little proudly. “I’m not like you. I’ve got great social skills.”

Bai Zisheng: “I… really couldn’t tell…”

Back then, among that hall full of prodigies, it seemed like more people wanted to kill Mo Hua than wanted to kill him…

Mo Hua said confidently, “Relax. In the Great Wilderness, my network is huge. Little Senior Brother, stick with me and you can’t go wrong.”

As he spoke, Mo Hua had already pulled out a chain and looped it around Bai Zisheng, saying solemnly,

“This is my Great Void Sect’s Great Void Five-Elements Cosmos Lock, a supreme sect treasure. It can restrain powerful enemies, seal their meridians, and is utterly indestructible…”

Bai Zisheng casually tugged at it, nearly pulling the lock out of shape.

Mo Hua hurriedly pressed down on his hand.

Bai Zisheng looked up at Mo Hua. “A supreme sect treasure?”

Mo Hua said helplessly, “You’re really dense. How would I have any supreme treasure? I’m obviously lying. If I don’t exaggerate a bit, how would anyone believe it? Be careful, and don’t actually break the lock…”

Bai Zisheng was speechless. “You just say whatever, and people believe you?”

Mo Hua said, “Relax. If I say it, they’ll definitely believe it. I caught you once, I can catch you a second time. I’ve already caught you and locked you up, how could this chain be fake?”

Bai Zisheng found himself momentarily unable to refute that.

“Alright, let’s go.” Mo Hua fastened the chain properly and reminded him again, “Don’t break my lock.”

Bai Zisheng sighed. “Fine…”

And so, Mo Hua led along Bai Zisheng—his defeated opponent and “captive”—toward the tribal encampment ahead.

Bai Zisheng, bearer of the Azure Dragon bloodline, proud and monster-like in strength, was now being led by his own junior brother with a chain, his face full of helpless resignation.

After walking for a while, Bai Zisheng suddenly asked, “Oh right, I almost forgot—are you a disciple of the Great Void Sect?”

Mo Hua nodded as he walked.

“Yeah. Back then, Master… and you and Senior Sister all returned to the Bai Clan. I couldn’t really learn anything in Tōngxiān City, so following a sect token Master left behind, I went alone to the Qianxue Prefecture domain to study. By a twist of fate, I ended up joining the Great Void Sect…”

“You went alone?” Bai Zisheng said.

“Mm.” Mo Hua nodded.

Bai Zisheng’s gaze dimmed.

A small, ten-something rogue cultivator, all alone, crossing vast province domains, climbing mountains and fording rivers, heading to places crowded with aristocratic sects to seek learning, sleeping in the open, enduring countless cold stares… who knew how much hardship lay in between.

Seeing Bai Zisheng fall silent, Mo Hua glanced at him and smiled. “Little Senior Brother, don’t worry. I’m doing extremely well in the Great Void Sect…”

Bai Zisheng froze, about to say something, when he suddenly saw Mo Hua raise a finger to his lips.

“Someone’s there…”

Bai Zisheng looked ahead and saw, amid the scattered mountain forests in the distance, a squad of barbarian soldiers—around a dozen—fierce-faced, surrounding and attacking a man and a woman.

The man and woman were dressed in Dao Court–style clothing, though they didn’t seem to be orthodox Dao soldiers.

Mo Hua originally didn’t want to get involved. This was war, everywhere Dao Court and Great Wilderness cultivators were fighting. Better fewer troubles than more.

But just as Mo Hua was about to detour, his divine-sense casually swept over them, and he suddenly froze, then his eyes lit up.

He no longer detoured. Leading Bai Zisheng, he walked straight toward the battlefield ahead.

Up close, the barbarian soldiers looked vicious, bone blades stained with blood.

The man and woman looked like an elder sister and younger brother, barely holding on, already wounded in several places.

Mo Hua brought his fingers together and tapped several times.

Sharp fireball techniques streaked through the air, carving deep and eerie arcs of light, slamming one by one into the barbarian soldiers.

These soldiers were all at Foundation Establishment, the strongest no more than late-stage Foundation Establishment. Struck by Mo Hua’s fast, ruthless fireballs—laced with a trace of baleful energy—they were instantly blasted away, baleful energy corroding flesh and blood as wails filled the ground.

But Mo Hua didn’t kill them.

After howling for a while, their courage shattered. Realizing they had encountered a true expert, they didn’t dare linger, supporting one another, they fled for their lives.

Among the siblings, the younger brother tried to pursue, but his sister grabbed him and stopped him.

The sister, wary of the might of Mo Hua’s fireball technique, wore a grave expression. She led her brother to Mo Hua, cupped her hands respectfully, and said, “Many thanks… senior… for saving our lives…”

Mo Hua looked at her with a faint smile.

Seeing Mo Hua remain silent, her heart suddenly tightened. Yet for some unknown reason, suppressing her fear, she raised her eyes and looked at him.

The more she looked, the more she froze, like being struck by lightning, her mouth falling open:

“You… you are… Mo… Mo…”

Mo Hua smiled. “Long time no see, Sister Situ.”