Chapter 144: Chapter 144 Threshold (Three Updates) _1 Mo Hua chatted with An Xiaopang for a bit longer before Zhang Lan found him and said he was leaving, asking if Mo Hua was ready to go. After saying goodbye to An Xiaopang, who seemed quite reluctant to part, Mo Hua advised him to think more about what he wanted to do when he had time. In the end, one can only rely on oneself. An Xiaopang nodded solemnly. Mo Hua and the others left the An Family, but Zhang Lan and Situ Fang did not return home. Instead, they followed Mo Hua to his food establishment, spent some spirit stones on a good amount of liquor and meat, insisting on taking it back home to eat. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞 This behavior was quite puzzling to Mo Hua. Spend spirit stones to treat Mo Hua to a spiritual meal, not eat themselves, and then run off to Mo Hua’s place to spend more spirit stones on more food! Mo Hua didn’t know what to say. But since they had plenty of spirit stones, he let them be. Zhang Lan didn’t like to eat spiritual meals, and Situ Fang had tried the beef that Mo Hua brought from the mountains before, so she had been craving it ever since. Both bought a few pounds of monster meat and then said their farewells to Mo Hua. Mo Hua remembered that he still had some spiritual meals from the Spiritual Meal Building in his storage bag. Chicken, duck, fish, and plenty more. Mo Hua taught his mother how to make the spiritual meals. Liu Ruhua shared some with Auntie Meng, Aunt Jiang, and other neighbors. She kept some for herself and made it again in the evening to let Mo Hua have a taste. Mo Hua tasted it and nodded, feeling that the flavor was right at last. In the following days, Mo Hua practiced drawing formations as usual. One early morning, as Mo Hua sat in meditation, he suddenly felt a tremor in his meridians. Mo Hua immediately took out more spirit stones and calmly absorbed their energy to continue his cultivation. After an unknown amount of time, his cultivation level broke through. Mo Hua’s feelings were indescribably complex. Trying so hard to break through might not yield success, yet when he focused on cultivating without distractions, he unexpectedly achieved a breakthrough. Indeed, Tao cultivation was a matter of gradual accumulation and natural progression. But he finally reached the Qi Refining Sixth Level! Mo Hua was invigorated. He felt his divine sense growing stronger, and the invisible shackles that had been restricting its growth seemed to have been unwittingly unlocked. Mo Hua threw back his covers. All along the side of his bed were storage bags, and every storage bag contained jade bottles filled with monster blood! Densely packed, there were more than a thousand bottles! Mo Hua planned to use these thousand-plus bottles of monster blood to comprehend the nine formation patterns and step over the threshold to become a first-grade Formation Master! Mo Hua opened the Thousand Formation Catalog and looked for a formation diagram. The Golden Armor Formation! This was the first formation containing nine patterns that Mo Hua intended to learn. He had already memorized the formation patterns perfectly, but previously his divine sense wasn’t strong enough to draw them. Now that Mo Hua had become a Qi Refining Sixth Level cultivator and his divine sense had been greatly enhanced, he could attempt to draw formations with nine patterns. Mo Hua calmly prepared the paper, adjusted the spiritual ink, dipped his brush in the ink, and began to formally draw the Golden Armor Formation. The first eight patterns flowed easily from Mo Hua’s brush without any obstacles, but as he began drawing the ninth pattern, he faintly felt that his divine sense was being drained. “That can’t be right…” Mo Hua was stunned when, after nearly exhausting his divine sense, he had only managed to draw eight and a half patterns. “How can there be such a big difference?” Mo Hua set down his brush, propped his chin in his hand, and began to think deeply. Logically, with the improvement of his realm, his divine sense should have correspondingly increased quite a bit, but why was it that now he could only draw half a pattern more than before? He originally thought that even if he couldn’t directly draw the nine-pattern formation perfectly, he could have at least roughly sketched it and with some practice, he would have been close to perfecting it. It seemed that it wasn’t that simple after all. Mo Hua furrowed his brow, then sat in meditation and used his meditation technique to recover his divine sense; after several attempts, the results were still not ideal. In the afternoon, he went to Bamboo Residence to find Mr. Zhuang. Mr. Zhuang looked at Mo Hua with a complicated gaze and asked, “How many Formation Patterns did you draw in this Formation?” “Nine.” “And your cultivation?” “Sixth level…” Mo Hua didn’t understand why Mr. Zhuang was asking this. Mr. Zhuang sighed internally and said, “How can the breakthrough from the fifth to the sixth level of Qi Refinement compensate for the difference in Divine Sense between the eighth and ninth Formation Patterns?” “Isn’t there only one realm difference?” “The difference between the ninth level of Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment is also only one realm.” Mo Hua gave a sheepish smile. Mr. Zhuang patiently explained, “Within each major realm, the closer you are to the end, the slower the improvement of cultivation and Divine Sense, and the greater the chasm between realms.” “So the gap between the eighth and ninth Formation Patterns is larger than the previous gaps?” asked Mo Hua. Mr. Zhuang nodded and said, “Generally speaking, for a Formation Master, nine Formation Patterns are usually the limit.” “The instant completion of the ninth Formation Pattern places extremely high demands on your technique in Drawing Formation, memory of the Formation Diagram, understanding of the Formation Pivot, and the strength and control of your Divine Sense…” “The gap from the eighth to the ninth Formation Patterns seems only a small step, but the disparity is vast. Some Formation Masters linger at this threshold their whole lives, just one step away from advancing, yet that one step might never be taken.” Mr. Zhuang was quite emotional. Mo Hua felt a bit anxious. He wouldn’t also have to struggle with this threshold his entire life, would he? Seeing through Mo Hua’s thoughts, Mr. Zhuang tapped his forehead and said, “How old are you to be in such a hurry? Just go home with peace of mind, and practice by drawing more; that’s all.” As Mr. Zhuang said this, Mo Hua felt reassured. All he had to do was to keep practicing the Formation diligently. Sometimes, the simplest method was the best. Mo Hua nodded in agreement. After Mo Hua took his leave, a light breeze stirred in the bamboo room, and Old Kui appeared behind Mr. Zhuang, asking curiously, “How long will this threshold take him?” Mr. Zhuang replied, “At least three or four days, or at most half a month.” Old Kui fell silent, but finally couldn’t help but say, “You call this a threshold?” Ten days to half a month to overcome it, that’s hardly a threshold, not even a stumbling block… Mr. Zhuang spoke indifferently, “The breakthrough in cultivation has unlocked the shackles on his Divine Sense, relaxing the limit on its growth. Right now, his Divine Sense is insufficient. After about ten days of practicing the Formation, once his Divine Sense has strengthened, those nine Formation Patterns won’t be difficult.” Old Kui was speechless. Mr. Zhuang raised an eyebrow, “To other cultivators, nine Formation Patterns indeed represent a threshold, but for this kid Mo Hua who has practiced too many Formations, this so-called threshold really isn’t anything significant.” Old Kui said displeased, “So why did you say all that nonsense earlier?” The look on Mr. Zhuang’s face turned playful, and he cracked a slight smile: “I was just teasing him to keep him from becoming arrogant.” After returning home, Mo Hua earnestly followed Mr. Zhuang’s advice, keeping his mind steady and heart at peace while he practiced the Formation. After some practice, he indeed felt his Divine Sense grow stronger, and he could add a few more strokes to the Golden Armor Formation Patterns. Inspired, Mo Hua’s spirits lifted, and he continued drawing. And so, each day his Divine Sense became a bit stronger, and each day he added a bit more to the Formation Patterns. After ten days, Mo Hua naturally completed the Golden Armor Formation; it felt as if the melon had ripened off the vine, everything coming to fruition effortlessly. But Mo Hua furrowed his brow. It didn’t seem as difficult as Mr. Zhuang had described. Wasn’t there supposed to be a threshold between the eighth and ninth Formation Patterns? Where was the threshold? Mo Hua reflected carefully but still could not recall anything that constituted a threshold. “What’s going on?” Mo Hua was perplexed, his frown deepening. So much for the promised threshold…