The Quest for Immortality

Mo Hua’s Divine Sense was getting closer to the sixteen patterns.

Between fourteen and sixteen patterns, all are within the Qi Foundation Middle Stage, and breakthroughs during this phase do not have significant bottlenecks but simply need a bit of time.

During this time, Mo Hua gradually settled down in the Taixu Gate.

His life at Taixu Gate was calm and uneventful—aside from attending classes, it was daily routine of cultivation and Drawing Formation.

Taixu Gate had many courses.

Besides Formation, Mo Hua took his cultivation course most seriously.

The Instructor, Elder Gongsun, a true disciple of the Taixu Inner Gate and in the Feather Transformation Realm, had profound cultivation and vast knowledge.

He taught the way of Qi Foundation cultivation with lofty insights and in a way that was both profound and simple.

Some basic points were supplemented by Elder Gongsun’s true disciples, now Instructors of the Inner Gate.

Thanks to this, Mo Hua also had an increasingly clear approach to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

However, his progress in cultivation was still considered the lowest.

Partly because he was the only disciple in Taixu Gate with a Mid-Lower Grade Spiritual Root.

And also because he forged a "Divine Sense Proving the Dao" Taoist Foundation; although his Divine Sense was extremely strong, his realm had not been polished, and the foundation of his flesh and Spiritual Power was extremely weak.

A Mid-Lower Grade Spiritual Root implied a low upper limit of Spiritual Power Circulation, leading to a typical speed of cultivation.

Especially when compared to those of Taixu Gate, who were all top-grade, with no one of low aptitude.

Hence among all disciples, Mo Hua had the lowest count of Spiritual Power Cycles.

Similarly, due to his weak foundation, Mo Hua’s base in cultivation was also the thinnest.

Although Mo Hua was diligent in his cultivation, he managed only just to keep up with his realm; everything else, he lagged significantly behind.

Fortunately, Elder Gongsun, who taught cultivation, was non-discriminatory and not overly harsh in his treatment of people.

As long as you were diligent and serious about cultivation, he was not too stringent about results.

Mo Hua could only persist this way, slowly grinding away; with limited Spiritual Root, neither his realm of cultivation nor his foundation could grow quickly.

However, this was something Mo Hua had been clear about for a long time and was not worth being discouraged over.

Regardless of the quality of the Spiritual Root or the thickness of the foundation.

Since he pursued the Great Dao, he must focus solely on cultivation without distraction.

Whether the Spiritual Root was good or bad was a fact; rather than feel self-pity and waste time, it was better to devote all effort to cultivation.

Besides the cultivation classes, there were also Tao Cultivation industries in Taixu Gate.

The main ones were Alchemy, Artifact Refining, and Rune Refining.

As expected, Mo Hua performed poorly in all these areas.

It had been the same back in Tongxian Gate, and now in Taixu Gate, it was even more evident.

The herbs for Alchemy were too expensive; for Artifact Refining, he couldn’t even swing a hammer; Rune Refining consumed too much Spiritual Power.

The ink, brushes, and Formation Paper for Drawing Formations, to Mo Hua, were already considered pricey.

But the essence of Formation was the understanding of the Great Dao through Divine Sense.

The greatest consumption was actually Divine Sense.

Whereas Alchemy was different— the herbs, top-grade Pill Furnace, Pill Recipes, and various catalysts combined with Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures were all considered exorbitantly priced, far beyond Mo Hua’s reach.

The higher the grade, the higher the price.

Only descendants of Noble Clans with support, lacking neither Spirit Stones nor Spiritual Objects, could afford to "burn money" and learn Alchemy…

Compared to Alchemy, Rune Refining was not only expensive but also very draining on Spiritual Power.

Mo Hua had once heard Artifact Refiner Master Chen from Tongxian City talk about Runes; since entering Taixu Gate, he had learned even more.

Runes were a Tao Cultivation industry developed from both "Artifact Refining" and "Drawing Formation" but were entirely independent.

The earliest Runes were drawn on paper and somewhat resembled Formation.

However, this type of paper Rune, using "paper" as the medium, was not easily preserved and prone to "misfires" and explosions;

It also had a short shelf life and was prone to "duds" where it would become ineffective;

The sealed Spiritual Power was limited, and its power wasn’t very strong.

As the Cultivation World developed, these old types of "Runes" were gradually phased out.

Now, Runes were made of Jade, using jade as the medium, integrating sealing-type Formation, and special Artifact Refining techniques.

Rune Refining Masters sealed their spells in these jade "Runes," creating limited-use "Runes."

This process required consuming a large amount of Spiritual Power.

But for Mo Hua, with his low Spiritual Power, Rune Refining was out of reach.

Not to mention Artifact Refining.

Mo Hua’s Blood Qi, not only weak among Body Cultivators but even among Spiritual Cultivators, was the weakest.

Most of the Noble Family Descendants who were Spiritual Cultivators also practiced some Body Refinement techniques, not for close-combat killing but to enhance their bodily defenses slightly.

Therefore, swinging a large hammer to forge a Spiritual Artifact was not much of a problem for them.

But Mo Hua was different.

He struggled even to hold a hammer.

During class, with the force of "nine oxen and two tigers," Mo Hua still couldn’t swing the large iron hammer, his face flushed with effort, even considering whether to disassemble the hammer and install a Formation inside for a good "modification"...

The Instructor of Artifact Refining quickly advised:

"Let it go, let it go, don’t trouble yourself with this hammer…"

"It didn’t want this either…"

Not being able to lift the hammer wasn’t the hammer’s fault...

Mo Hua then asked, "Then Instructor, do I still need to learn Artifact Refining?"

The Instructor grimaced, undecided.

During his time at Taixu Gate, he had never seen a disciple who couldn’t even swing a hammer.

Unable to forge iron, naturally, he couldn’t refine artifacts.

The Instructor could only say, "Do as you wish; learn as much as you can, don’t force it, and certainly don’t injure yourself…"