Chapter 713: Bottleneck

Chapter 714: Bottleneck

After returning to the sect, Mo Hua mulled over what Master Gu had said.

Disregarding the specialized branches of cultivation, in a sense, Array Media were spirit artifacts, and spirit artifacts were also Array Media.

As his cultivation increased, his divine sense grew stronger, and his comprehension of array formations deepened. His ability to use the earth as the medium and draw formations directly on the ground had grown more refined.

His reliance on conventional Array Media had gradually lessened.

Spirit artifacts—he’d use them if he had them, but if not, it didn’t really matter.

Mo Hua was never particularly dependent on them.

But if he wanted to spread array formations more widely or fully unleash their potential, then he couldn’t ignore the compatibility between formations and external media.

And that opened up a vast range of considerations.

It included common Array Media, standardized spirit artifacts, and most importantly—custom spirit artifacts.

Mo Hua once again thought of the little fishing village.

Life there for fishing cultivators was difficult and impoverished. Their boats, nets, and harpoons were all crudely crafted. As for array formations? Don’t even mention them.

The cultivation world had been evolving for over twenty thousand years now. The arts of artifact forging and array formations had long since matured.

Yet only a tiny fraction of that knowledge—barely one-tenth—had ever made it down to the hands of the grassroots cultivators.

The cultivation world had advanced, but the inheritances were monopolized.

Craftsmanship had evolved, but it was used for exploitation.

Not just the little fishing village—Tongxian City, Mount Nanyue City, and all the major immortal cities Mo Hua had passed through during his travels showed a similar pattern among the lower strata.

Mo Hua’s expression turned complex—his heart stirred with emotion.

Cultivators comprehend the Dao of Heaven to benefit all living beings.

Array formations are a manifestation of the Heavenly Dao.

He had come from humble beginnings. Along the way, he’d received so many fortuitous opportunities and had come to understand so many array formations.

Naturally, he should carry the will of Heaven—use everything he’d learned to benefit the world and its people.

That was the Dao he had come to comprehend.

It was the path of cultivation—and the path of formations.

Mo Hua looked up at the sky.

The vast heavens encompassed all things, gave birth to myriad beings, and cycled endlessly, forever unyielding.

In that moment of clarity, Mo Hua felt that this too might be the path to immortality.

But it was only a faint insight—whether it was true or not still required him to personally walk the path and verify it.

The Great Dao must be practiced.

That, too, was something his master had taught him.

To comprehend the Dao but not act upon it is no different than not comprehending it at all.

Only by personally practicing the Dao one has grasped can one know if it’s correct.

If it’s right—persist.

If it’s wrong—correct it.

By continuously understanding and continuously acting, one could eventually reach the pinnacle of the true path to immortality.

Mo Hua’s gaze became clear. His Dao-heart shone with sudden enlightenment.

From then on, whenever he had free time, he began pondering the compatibility between array formations and Array Media.

He considered how to integrate formations into standardized spirit artifacts and how to use custom-forged ones to bring out the full power of arrays…

Mo Hua drafted many blueprint prototypes for array diagrams. Unfortunately, being confined within Qianxue Prefecture and needing to focus on his studies, he had no chance to test any of them.

All those diagrams could only stay as ideas for now—he had no opportunity to try them in practice.

It was a bit of a pity.

Time passed little by little, and before long, a few months had gone by.

Mo Hua’s divine sense hadn’t improved in the slightest.

The Heavenly Dao’s laws continued to “tax” him inside his Sea of Consciousness, suppressing his divine sense below the threshold of eighteen runes, preventing it from growing without limit or crossing some unknown boundary.

Mo Hua could only feel helpless.

In his spare time, he had studied the rift-like law residing in his Sea of Consciousness, but such things were far too profound. He had never seen anything like it before. Short term? No progress. He could only let it be for now.

The road was long—there would be plenty of chances to “wool the Heavenly Dao” later.

Though his divine sense was stuck, his cultivation had clearly progressed.

Mo Hua could clearly feel his spiritual power nearing saturation. He had reached a bottleneck at the mid-stage of his current realm.

A few more days passed.

One early morning, during meditation, Mo Hua’s Qi Sea suddenly trembled—an omen arose.

Just like before, his Qi Sea became saturated, and his spiritual energy began to flow like strands of mercury. It overflowed from his meridians, traveled through his collateral vessels, and gathered at the Baihui acupoint atop his head.

As it passed through the Heavenly Gate acupoint, the threads of spiritual energy wove together and seeped into Mo Hua’s Sea of Consciousness—where they gradually formed a curtain of spirit energy.

This time, the spiritual curtain was far more condensed than when he was in the Qi Refining Realm.

Back then, the spirit curtain was like mist.

Now, it resembled a waterfall curtain.

And within that spiritual curtain—array runes flowed.

All second-grade runes, glowing faintly with complex patterns, forming a massive mystery formation.

Mo Hua was all too familiar with this process.

It was the usual Heavenly Evolution Art (Tianyan Jue) process when forming the “mystery formation” bottleneck.

But this time, something was different—Mo Hua noticed that the spiritual energy in his Sea of Consciousness had turned a faint silvery-white, just like true mercury-silver.

This was a sign of divine sense undergoing qualitative change.

Mo Hua remembered what Lord Huangshan had once said—the color that signified the Divine-Tier spirit marrow began with silver.

Mo Hua exhaled in relief—somewhat reassured.

So his guess was right: Upon reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, breaking through the bottleneck in the Heavenly Evolution Art required not only the realm of divine sense as the base, and mastery of array formations as the tool, but also divine-tier consciousness as the qualification.

The mystery formation before him was entirely formed by silver-like divine thought, flowing like liquid silver, dazzling and deeply profound.

If one’s divine sense wasn’t Divine-Tier—they weren’t even qualified to attempt this.

If one’s array mastery wasn’t high enough—they couldn’t solve the formation.

And if one’s divine sense realm wasn’t sufficient—they probably wouldn’t even encounter this bottleneck in the first place.

Such requirements were downright absurd.

Mo Hua couldn’t help but sigh:

“What kind of ridiculous cultivation technique have I ended up with…?”

This cultivation method was far too demanding—it hardly felt like something meant for humans.

But then again, it couldn’t possibly be for gods either.

Gods are born of the Dao and innately possess knowledge. Mo Hua had never heard of a god having to learn a technique.

So… just who was this method meant for?

Mo Hua furrowed his brows.

A demon? A devil?

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t make sense of it—so he simply gave up.

“Forget it. I’m already on this cursed boat—no point trying to turn around. May as well close my eyes and row onward.”

Mo Hua had long since prepared for breaking through this bottleneck.

As for solving formations? He was already a pro at it.

The Divine-Tier requirement? He met it.

Now all that remained was to take some time, follow the steps, and gradually unlock each mystery formation. Once they were resolved, the bottleneck would naturally break.

But what surprised Mo Hua was—the formation’s color was silver…

Silver—the color of spirit marrow, the symbol of Divine-Tier.

Yet Mo Hua had already consumed a huge amount of Divine-Tier spirit marrow. Half his divine consciousness had fused into golden blood, with traces of pure gold.

Compared to silver, he was miles ahead.

So while the Heavenly Evolution Art’s bottleneck seemed monstrously hard, for the current Mo Hua—it felt kind of underwhelming.

He was a little disappointed.

“Just silver, huh…”

If he had known this earlier, he wouldn’t have gone through all that trouble—exploring the dried-up well, storming the fishing village, invading the River God’s shrine, slaying the River God, and devouring an evil god.

All that panic—for nothing.

He had prepared too far ahead—premature overachievement.

Still, this was just the beginning of the qualitative change in divine thought. Using silver as the baseline qualification made some sense.

But going forward… things probably wouldn’t stay this easy.

“In future…”

Mo Hua mulled it over, and a chill crept into his heart.

Would the future bottlenecks require divine consciousness of light-gold, pure gold—or even jade-like or glazed colors?

What level of divine marrow would that even take?

Where on earth was he supposed to find such high-grade divine marrow to “eat”?

More importantly—could he even beat the terrifying deities that had it?

Mo Hua’s scalp tingled.

“Looks like I need to stockpile more divine marrow… If I can’t get the good stuff, I’ll just have to eat more of the regular kind. Bit by bit adds up. Otherwise, future breakthroughs are going to be a real pain…”

Mo Hua sighed inwardly.

Still, the current bottleneck—at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment—wasn’t too bad.

As long as he took his time and solved the mystery formations one by one in his Sea of Consciousness, the bottleneck would eventually break.

Once he broke through, his cultivation would officially step into the mid-stage Foundation Establishment Realm.

That would let him catch up to his peers—no need to repeat a year.

Otherwise, if his cultivation lagged behind, he’d be held back. And then, this “Little Senior Brother” title he’d held for barely over a year… would become permanent Junior Brother status.

Thankfully, he was managing to keep up…

Mo Hua slowly let out a breath of relief.

Afterward, he focused on cultivating steadily, gradually breaking through the bottleneck. Progress was within his control.

And soon, the year-end festival approached.

Mo Hua’s second year at the Great Void Sect was also drawing to a close.

After the annual end-of-year assessment, the sect would enter its holiday break.

Mo Hua’s results were the same as last year—One Jia, Six Bings—stable performance.

For formations, he still scored a solid Jia (top grade).

For everything else—alchemy, artifact crafting, and so on—he could barely scrape by with a Bing (lowest passing grade).

His report card held no surprises—so naturally, it also came with no excitement.

Mo Hua had expected this and felt nothing about it.

With the break in effect, most disciples returned to their families for the new year.

Mo Hua, however, stayed behind in the sect.

His home was far—across provinces, beyond mountains and rivers, shrouded in endless clouds. There was simply no way to return. He could only remain at the sect, spending his days reading formation manuals, studying formations, and breaking through bottlenecks.

Lonely, yes.

But fulfilling nonetheless.

Still, he gave himself two days off.

On the 28th day of the last month, the Gu family was hosting a family banquet.

Aunt Wan had invited him to come relax—see the festival lights, eat something nice.

Mo Hua hesitated at first.

Was it really appropriate for him to attend the Gu family banquet?

But then Yu’er tugged at his sleeve, wide eyes brimming with hope, staring at him pleadingly.

Mo Hua’s heart softened—he agreed.

Soon, the 28th arrived. Mo Hua prepared to leave the sect for the Gu family and went to bid farewell to Venerable Elder Xun.

When Elder Xun heard Mo Hua was going to the Gu family’s banquet, he was slightly surprised.

He knew Mo Hua had ties with the Gu family, but he didn’t realize those ties were so deep—deep enough to attend a family banquet right before the new year.

Gu family, Wenren family, Shangguan family…

Elder Xun’s thoughts turned slightly. After a pause, he glanced up at Mo Hua, who stood there empty-handed, and asked:

“You’re attending the banquet like this?”

Mo Hua scratched his head.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to bring a gift…

The real problem was—he had nothing worth gifting.

The Gu and Wenren families were age-old powerhouses with vast fortunes, mountains of spirit stones—they lacked nothing.

His own humble stash… had nothing that could impress.

Sure, he had once gifted Aunt Wan a golden lotus three-colored carp—but that was a rare encounter by chance, hard to come by, and very valuable.

And besides—half of that last carp ended up in his belly, the other half in Yu’er’s. Aunt Wan only got a bit of the soup…

Elder Xun nodded slightly. “Wait here.”

He got up, fetched brush and paper, and personally wrote a few words. Then he handed it to Mo Hua.

“Take this. Consider it a gift on my behalf.”

Mo Hua blinked, a little stunned.

By now, he understood—Elder Xun might look like a mere “old instructor,” but his vision, composure, and quiet authority were far from ordinary.

These few simple words on paper were bound to be extremely precious.

“Elder…”

Mo Hua hesitated to accept.

“No need for that,” Elder Xun said warmly, even giving him a faint, kind smile. He looked at Mo Hua meaningfully and added,

“Let’s just say, my Great Void Sect owes them a great favor.”

A great favor…

Mo Hua nodded slowly.

So that’s what it was… There was more behind this than he thought.

It was said that the Wenren and Shangguan families once had ties with the Tai’a Sect, Chongxu Sect, and Great Void Sect. Some back-and-forth between them was perfectly normal.

But just what kind of matter could make even the Great Void Sect owe a huge favor…?

Mo Hua was deeply curious.

But such dealings between major sects and noble families weren’t things he could investigate.

So, respectfully, Mo Hua accepted the written gift with a smile:

“Many thanks, Elder!”

Elder Xun stroked his beard and nodded in satisfaction.

Then Mo Hua boarded the carriage, left the Great Void Sect, and headed to the Gu residence.

The Gu family estate was adorned with lanterns and banners—festive, brilliant, yet not ostentatious. Joyous and warm.

Gu Changhuai was still busy with Dao Court affairs and would likely return only by evening.

With the year-end so close, Wenren Wan also had many matters to attend to, so Mo Hua didn’t get to see her.

Instead, it was Yu’er who immediately shrieked with joy upon seeing him—and leapt straight into his arms.

Off to the side, Wenren Wei chuckled and said:

“Miss Wan is held up with something and will only be free by dinnertime. Young Master Mo, why not take Young Master Yu’er around for a stroll? Qingzhou City is especially lively during the new year.”

Yu’er looked up at Mo Hua cheerfully with a bright, eager face.

Mo Hua smiled and nodded.

With only a few days left until the New Year, Qingzhou City was indeed lively and full of festive spirit.

Having spent so long immersed in formation diagrams without a break, Mo Hua was finally in the mood to enjoy himself.

He took Yu’er and wandered the bustling streets of Qingzhou City for an entire day.

The streets were packed with carriages and pedestrians, markets lined up one after another, and bright red lanterns stretched from one end of the street to the other.

There were bursts of colorful fireworks, dazzling toys, and all sorts of local delicacies with unique flavors.

As they strolled, the lively scene around them suddenly made Mo Hua feel a bit down.

Amid the noise and crowds, memories of his time in Tongxian City resurfaced.

He thought of his parents, his childhood friends, the eccentric Uncle Zhang…

And his caring master, the mysterious Puppet Grandpa, his silly Little Senior Brother, and his beautiful Little Senior Sister…

The road of cultivation was long, the mortal world ever-changing.

Who knew when he might see them all again?

Mo Hua sighed unconsciously, his expression tinged with melancholy — when suddenly, a stick of candied hawthorn appeared in front of him.

Turning his head, he saw Yu’er holding a long skewer of the sugary treat, nibbling on one end. With his other hand, he held out another glistening, ruby-red skewer to Mo Hua like he was offering treasure.

“Brother Mo, candied hawthorn!”

Yu’er had bought two skewers — one for himself, and one for Mo Hua.

Mo Hua couldn’t help but laugh. He gently patted Yu’er’s little head, took the treat, and bit into it. It was both sweet and sour, surprisingly delicious.

After a few bites, Mo Hua’s mood improved inexplicably.

“Come on, let’s go have some more fun.”

He took Yu’er’s tiny hand and led him down the lively streets, wandering for the entire day.

It wasn’t until nightfall, when the lanterns were lit and the family banquet was about to begin, that Mo Hua brought Yu’er back to the Gu estate.

But due to the crowd, they were delayed a little.

When they returned to the Gu residence, Mo Hua immediately sensed something was off.

The joyful, laughter-filled atmosphere of the day had been replaced with a much more solemn mood. Even the passing cultivators were unusually reserved, speaking in hushed tones.

Mo Hua found it odd. When he spotted Gu An passing by, his eyes lit up and 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 whispered, “Someone from the Shangguan family arrived.”

“The Shangguan family?” Mo Hua was puzzled. He glanced at the clueless Yu’er and asked, “What’s so special about that? Don’t the Gu and Shangguan families get along well?”

Then why the tense atmosphere?

Gu An shook his head. “I’m not sure, but the person who came this time seems to have a very high status. The Patriarch ordered all family members to be especially cautious.”

“Oh…” Mo Hua nodded.

But this didn’t really concern him.

He was just here for a free meal.

Besides, as a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, it was unlikely the Shangguan family would even spare him a glance.

Before long, the banquet began.

Most of the attendees were members of the Gu family — either elders, officials, stewards, or ordinary disciples.

Since Mo Hua often visited the Gu residence, most of them were familiar faces.

Some of the elders — like Elder Gu Hong, the aunt of Uncle Gu — were especially fond of Mo Hua and often chatted with him due to his polite demeanor.

Other elders mostly recognized him as well.

As for the ordinary disciples, many of them were quite friendly with Mo Hua.

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

As Mo Hua walked in, people constantly greeted him — with warm hellos, friendly chatter, and casual small talk.

It felt almost like returning home…

Gu Changhuai, who had just rushed back after finishing his official duties, sat nearby, watching this scene with a complicated expression.

Even he nearly forgot — this child wasn’t a “Gu,” but a “Mo.”

From afar, Wenren Wan gave Mo Hua a gentle smile and waved.

Mo Hua led Yu’er over to her.

Yu’er immediately threw himself into Wenren Wan’s arms, sweetly calling, “Mother!”

Wenren Wan’s face lit up with joy. She pinched Yu’er’s chubby cheeks, then turned to Mo Hua with a warm smile and said:

“Sit here later — there’s plenty of good food.”

“Mhm!” Mo Hua nodded eagerly.

Wenren Wan examined Mo Hua’s face carefully and said gently:

“You look thinner than before. Probably from cultivating too hard. I’ll have someone make you some nourishing soup later.”

Mo Hua smiled. “Thank you, Aunt Wan.”

Wenren Wan smiled tenderly and sat him down, handing him some fresh spirit melons and fruits.

Mo Hua settled in, took a bite of melon, and looked toward the head table.

There, seated on the elevated platform, were two people.

One was the head of the Gu family.

Mo Hua had seen him before but never spoken to him.

The other man exuded a powerful presence, with a dignified and commanding aura. Though middle-aged with hints of white at his temples and faint crow’s feet at his eyes, it was easy to imagine how handsome he must’ve been in his youth.

Mo Hua guessed this must be Yu’er’s grandfather. The current Patriarch of the Shangguan family —

Shangguan Ce.