Chapter 57: Chapter Fifty-Seven: Cultivation Technique

Mo Hua unconsciously touched his face, then looked down at his clothes, before asking curiously, "Why are you all staring?"

Bai Zisheng couldn't help but ask, "What you just drew… was the Three Talents Array?"

Mo Hua nodded.

"Which kind of Three Talents Array?"

"Are there many kinds of Three Talents Arrays?"

"What I mean is… is it the one with six array inscriptions?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

Bai Zisheng's gaze sharpened slightly. "Your cultivation level is only Qi Condensation Third Layer, right…?"

"So what?"

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zi Xi exchanged glances.

After a moment's thought, Mo Hua suddenly realized:

"Can drawing an array with six inscriptions at Qi Condensation Third Layer really be considered remarkable?"

He had assumed that in great families, geniuses were everywhere, and drawing a few extra inscriptions shouldn't be hard.

Bai Zisheng wasn't convinced. "It's not that unusual."

"Could you draw a Three Talents Array when you were at Qi Condensation Third Layer?"

Bai Zisheng didn't want to answer; after a long pause, he stammered:

"Well, uh… I couldn't draw it, but that's because the clan's Mr. forbade it—Qi Condensation cultivators have weak spiritual sense; forcing themselves to draw complex arrays risks overexerting their spiritual sense, damaging the spiritual sea, and ruining their future as array masters. You can't sacrifice your foundation for reckless advancement."

"Oh," Mo Hua said, unconvinced.

"Still," Bai Zisheng added, "some of our clan's cultivators have extraordinary talent—they can draw seven or eight array inscriptions even at Qi Condensation Third Layer. That's not rare at all."

Mo Hua nodded. He knew his talent was decent, but among the countless prodigies of the cultivation world, it might not amount to much.

He understood the saying: beyond people there are greater people; beyond heaven there is higher heaven.

Bai Zisheng then patted Mo Hua on the shoulder and comforted him:

"Even though drawing six inscriptions at Qi Condensation Third Layer isn't rare, it's still quite good. This array talent, even in our clan, would rate as average. With effort, you'll surely achieve something in array crafting later."

Hearing this, Mo Hua felt relieved.

His goals weren't that grand—just becoming a First-Rank Array Master, gaining a livelihood in the cultivation world, and making his parents happy was enough for now. What came after could wait.

Only Bai Zi Xi watched Bai Zisheng silently beside him.

Bai Zisheng felt inexplicably guilty, then stared at his nose, pretending to meditate.

Among Mr. Zhuang's three provisional disciples, the Bai siblings were twins—Bai Zisheng was the elder brother, Bai Zi Xi the younger sister. They were two or three years older than Mo Hua and cultivated at Qi Condensation Seventh Layer, four levels higher than him.

This was because aristocratic disciples valued foundational cultivation, emphasized slow accumulation over rapid advancement, and didn't recklessly chase progress.

They had to steadily build a solid foundation before attempting to break through the realm; otherwise, their levels would be much higher than they were now.

In array skill, Mo Hua felt he could still catch up to the Bai siblings; in cultivation level, he might never catch up in his lifetime.

So every morning, Mo Hua practiced as usual, spending about an hour absorbing one spirit stone, cultivating slowly and steadily through persistent effort.

With only a mid-low grade spiritual root, Mo Hua could only cultivate this way—monotonously, day after day.

Mo Hua wasn't in a hurry, nor could he afford to be, because rushing wouldn't help—cultivation progress was mostly determined by one's spiritual root, and there were no shortcuts.

That day, as Mo Hua was meditating, he suddenly felt a tingling, slight swelling in his qi sea—he realized his qi sea was full, and he could consider breaking through the realm to become a Qi Condensation Fourth Layer cultivator.

Amid his surprise, Mo Hua suddenly realized he'd forgotten something important:

He hadn't chosen a cultivation technique yet!

Originally, he planned to save enough spirit stones to pick a minor Five Elements technique from Tongxian Gate—economical, practical, and not demanding too many heavenly and earthly materials.

But later, the Tongxian Gate's sect master changed, Master Yan left the sect, and the outer gate stopped teaching arrays, so Mo Hua simply dropped out.

After being taken in as a provisional disciple by Mr. Zhuang, Mo Hua devoted all his focus to learning arrays and put off choosing a cultivation technique.

Mo Hua's parents both cultivated techniques, but their techniques' elemental affinities slightly mismatched his, and they leaned toward body cultivation, making them unsuitable for him. Outside Tongxian Gate, there were no proper avenues to learn a suitable technique.

A cultivation technique should ideally be chosen early in the Qi Condensation stage; Mo Hua was about to reach Qi Condensation Fourth Layer, so he could no longer delay choosing one.

"Zisheng, when did you start learning your cultivation technique?"

In his spare time, Mo Hua asked Bai Zisheng curiously.

Bai Zisheng frowned. "I'm older than you. You should call me Brother Bai or Master Bai—you can't just say my name. It makes me look like I have no seniority."

"In a few days, when my father returns from hunting demons, I can take you to see what the demons they killed look like."

"Really?" Bai Zisheng's eyes lit up.

"Really!"

Bai Zisheng immediately said, "When my sister and I first began cultivating, we chose our techniques. A technique should be chosen as early as possible, and ideally one that's part of the same lineage—otherwise, the greater the difference between techniques learned at different realms, the more likely you are to suffer qi deviation."

Mo Hua nodded.

Bai Zisheng suddenly realized something and exclaimed in shock: "You haven't chosen a technique yet, have you?"

Mo Hua shook his head. "It's not easy for a lone cultivator to pick a technique."

"No matter how hard, you can't not have one at all…"

Mo Hua glared at him. "That's like saying 'Why don't you eat meat?'"

"What does that mean?"

"It means talking without knowing what it's like to suffer."

Bai Zisheng scratched his head. "Too bad our clan's techniques can't be passed outside. Otherwise, I'd sneak you a few rare, good ones."

Mo Hua asked curiously, "Isn't a technique's grade determined by the cultivator's spiritual root? Mid-low grade spiritual roots can only learn mid-low grade techniques. If it's already mid-low grade, how could there be good or bad ones? It can't be better than a top-grade technique, can it?"

"You don't understand. Some special techniques have unique effects—some cultivate faster, some emphasize body refinement, others are suited for pill refining…"

"Of course, technique grade is still most important, since a cultivator's strength mainly depends on how much spiritual energy they have. But your spiritual root is fixed and unchangeable, so there's no point arguing about it."

A rare cultivation method with special effects, huh...

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then still shook his head. "Even if there is a rare cultivation method, I have no way to cultivate it. If the method is rare, then the spiritual materials it requires will naturally be rare too. If I can never gather all those spiritual materials in my lifetime, wouldn't that mean my cultivation would never advance a single step for my whole life..."

"That's true too. I forgot you're a rogue cultivator by background, you can't gather those rare heaven-and-earth spiritual materials..." Bai Zisheng frowned, then said: "How about you go ask Mr. Zhuang?"

Mo Hua thought it over, then shook his head: "Being able to receive Mr. Zhuang's instruction in array formations is already an immense kindness from him. How could I push my luck and ask him to teach me a cultivation method as well?"

Bai Zisheng nodded and said: "Good, you've got backbone! Only someone like this is qualified to be my, Bai Zisheng's, little brother."

Mo Hua corrected him: "I'm not your little brother."

Bai Zisheng said: "How am I not? I'm older than you, so you have to call me Big Brother. Zixi, don't you think so?"

As Bai Zisheng spoke, he looked toward Bai Zixi. Bai Zixi kept her head down, reading her book on her own, ignoring him.

"Zixi is also older than you, so you still have to call her Big Sister Zixi," Bai Zisheng added.

Bai Zixi paused slightly, her dark lashes lifting gently, her eyes brightening a touch.

Mo Hua gave a cold snort. "Dream on."

"So many people want to be my little brother, and I still wouldn't be willing," Bai Zisheng said, lifting his chin.

"Who cares. I'm not taking you to see demon beasts anymore."

"Fine then," Bai Zisheng said indignantly, "you don't keep your word. We already agreed, how can you go back on it?"

The two bickered for a while. Bai Zisheng agreed to stop making Mo Hua call him Big Brother, and Mo Hua agreed to take him to see demon beasts at month's end. Only then did they let it drop.

The few of them cultivated and read until evening. At the time of parting, Bai Zisheng asked again: "Then what are you going to do about the cultivation method?"

"Mm..." Mo Hua thought and said, "I'll go back and ask my parents. Anyway, what I want to be is an array master. Array masters rely on divine sense, not so much on spiritual power, so any passable cultivation method will do."

"How can 'passable' be acceptable? We're all Mr. Zhuang's apprentices. If your cultivation is too poor, won't it make me lose face?"

Bai Zisheng said huffily, "I'll go back and look around, see if there's a cultivation method that suits you and isn't strictly controlled within the clan. You can just secretly learn it then."

Having said that, he left together with Bai Zixi.

Mo Hua shook his head helplessly, but sensing Bai Zisheng's good intentions, he also felt a warmth in his heart. He packed up his things and headed home as well.

At this moment, Mr. Zhuang, who was resting in the bamboo room, opened his eyes. His slender, fair knuckles tapped lightly on the armrest of the bamboo chair as he murmured:

"A cultivation method, huh..."