Chapter 1759: Chapter 888: Convergence After more than a month, Mo Hua focused on his cultivation as usual. One afternoon, while eating at the dining hall in the Disciple’s Residence, Cheng Mo kept staring at Mo Hua. Mo Hua was puzzled, "What are you looking at?" Cheng Mo touched his chin, "Nothing, it’s just that, Junior Brother, you won first place in the Formation, and yet there’s no difference as before, nothing has changed." He still remembered, back at the Array Discussion Arena, Mo Hua was cold and aloof, effortlessly crushing opposition, with an unmatched demeanor, breezing through the Formation exam. The final words "Anything else?" were three simple, plain words that made the entire panel of examiners tremble. That cold and invincible look was so striking that it made one’s scalp tingling. Now though... Cheng Mo silently glanced at Mo Hua. He acted like nothing happened, gnawing on a chicken leg again in the dining hall... Cheng Mo felt that there was a bit of a disconnect between these two personas of the Junior Brother. "Junior Brother, you’re the first in the Array, the Array Leader, shouldn’t you show a bit more poise?" Cheng Mo said. Mo Hua shrugged, "Being first in the Array, the Leader, so what? Formations are vast and profound; I can’t let this little achievement hinder my progress." Array Leader, so what... A little achievement... Not just Cheng Mo, but all the surrounding disciples were completely shocked. However, since these words came from Mo Hua, they were unable to refute. Cheng Mo sighed, "Junior Brother, you’d better not say this outside, or else someone might just lose their mind and fight you..." Mo Hua nodded, "Don’t worry, I’m very humble outside." Cheng Mo couldn’t quite grasp Mo Hua’s standard of "humility" for the moment... After that, everyone continued eating silently. Mo Hua gnawed on the chicken leg for a while, then suddenly sensed something, paused, looked at Cheng Mo, and said, "You reached the Foundation Establishment Late Stage?" Cheng Mo nodded, "Yeah, just these past two days, I made a breakthrough." He then turned his head, asking Situ Jian and them, "Are you all about to break through too?" Situ Jian nodded, "Yeah, I have about seven or eight days..." Hao Xuan also said, "Junior Brother, me too, quickly in three days, slowly in ten days, I can also break through to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage..." Mo Hua suddenly felt the pressure. He still hadn’t sensed the bottleneck of the Foundation Establishment Late Stage... Sensing the bottleneck, breaking the bottleneck, breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, increasing spiritual power, consolidating cultivation, all these take a lot of time. And this academic year, not much time is left. "I need to hurry up!" Mo Hua’s heart tightened. After this, he focused more on cultivation, but the progress was still slow. Especially watching Cheng Mo and these "Junior Brothers" break through to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage one after another, the sense of urgency in Mo Hua’s heart grew stronger. In theory, Foundation Establishment isn’t difficult—at least for the disciples of the Eight Great Gates. Qi Refining Foundation, solidifying the path in Foundation Establishment, the real watershed is reaching the Golden Core. Before the Golden Core, it actually relies on the Spiritual Root, inheritance, and cultivation resources. Even if one is dull, as long as one persists in cultivation, with a famous teacher’s guidance, and the support of various Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and Spirit Stones, achieving the Foundation Establishment Late Stage is possible. After the Golden Core, variables increase a lot. Apart from Spiritual Roots, Spiritual Objects, these hard conditions of inheritance, factors like insight, affinity, and even luck are considered, which are intangible and elusive. Therefore, generally, sects only teach Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment courses before the Golden Core. These can be taught together in large classes, and the progress is easy to control. When it comes to the Golden Core, the changes are profound, situations are complex, and Daoist cultivation methods are more esoteric, so one must enter the Inner Gate, take on a one-on-one master for specialized cultivation guidance. Within the Qianxue State Boundary, the disciples of various sects mostly have superior Spiritual Roots, and most are from family backgrounds, with familial support, sect rewards, resources are never lacking. Although families are also divided into different levels, those who can enter the Qian Learning Hundred Gates, even if the worst, with fewer cultivation resources, they still have much more than the vast majority of Loose Cultivators in this world. So, until the Foundation Establishment Late Stage and before the Golden Core, it’s not considered difficult. The challenge lies in reaching perfection, achieving excellence, building an extraordinary foundation surpassing others. But Mo Hua is different. Strictly speaking, he’s not considered a "genius." His Spiritual Root is poor, and his physical body is weak. During Qi Refinement, he was very poor, lacking Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures for nourishment, without Daoist inheritance to hone Blood Qi or Spiritual Power foundation. His Qi Refinement speed wasn’t slow because the true prodigies were polishing their foundation, strengthening their essence. By skipping this step, just focusing on pace, he cultivated quickly. But in Foundation Establishment, the situation changed. Poor Spiritual Root meant fewer Spiritual Power Cycles, and slower cultivation progress. During the Foundation Establishment Initial Stage, it wasn’t quite noticeable. By the Late Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment, Mo Hua’s cultivation speed noticeably slowed down, the deeper he went, the more so. Additionally, he spent a lot of time and energy on the Array Discussion Conference. Practicing the Soul-Shocking Sword, nurturing the Evil Embryo, self-severing the Life Soul, consumed a lot of his Divine Marrow, and his realm of Divine Thought Taoism also experienced a certain lapse. Mo Hua estimated that this year, he probably wouldn’t reach the Foundation Establishment Late Stage. And not reaching the Foundation Establishment Late Stage within the year meant... "Failing the grade?" Mo Hua’s heart chilled at once. Done for... His dignity as the Taixu Gate Junior Brother, and Qian Learning State’s Array Discussion Leader, might truly fail the grade? That would be really embarrassing. After that, Mo Hua became even more diligent in his cultivation. But cultivation is about consistency, not something achieved overnight.