If, at Foundation Establishment Early Stage, his Spiritual Power Cycle was just twenty percent below his peers—
Now, he was thirty or even forty percent lower.
And that’s just compared to the average level.
Compared to top geniuses like Linghu Xiao, Mo Hua found his Spiritual Power Cycle barely matched half of theirs...
Only half as much...
And this was just Foundation Establishment.
If he reached the Golden Core Realm, the gap might grow even bigger.
Because the baseline difference was huge, and the higher you climb, the greater the multiplication of power, and that gap gets wider and wider.
Mo Hua knew this in theory before, but back then he’d been clueless, never felt it quite so keenly as now.
Mo Hua took a quiet, shaky breath.
The difference in wealth among cultivators was astonishing, but the difference in Spiritual Power was even more outrageous.
"I’ve gotta figure something out..."
Mo Hua felt urgency mount inside.
...
Nighttime, in the Disciple’s Residence.
Back from Refining Demon Mountain, Mo Hua slumped over his desk, diligently practicing Formation.
He figured he ought to strengthen himself some more.
But his lack of Spiritual Power was pretty much a dead end—an unsolvable weakness he couldn’t break through right now. Only thing left was to try and bolster his Divine Sense.
If his Divine Sense was stronger, his Formations, spells, Sword techniques, they’d all get better.
And with the Sword Discussion Conference coming up next year, it was only smart to prepare. Even if he only took part, having strength was better than going in empty-handed.
But after a few rounds of Formation practice, Mo Hua checked inside himself and shook his head in defeat.
"No good... I can barely sense any growth in my Divine Sense."
Ever since he reached Foundation Establishment, he could still boost Divine Sense through Formation, but just relying on this method, the growth was next to nothing.
The Formation now mostly honed his grasp of its rules and control over Divine Sense, not so much boosting its strength.
Maybe it had something to do with his Divine Sense becoming more attuned with the Dao.
Could be eating all those Demon Monsters and Evil Spirits had something to do with it too.
And now he’d quit eating them, or there wasn’t anything good to eat anyway, Mo Hua’s Divine Sense had almost stopped improving—especially as he’d hit this critical Twenty Patterns bottleneck.
"Stuck again..."
Divine Sense, Formation, Sword technique, own Magical Treasure—all caught up.
Mo Hua sighed.
Tao Cultivation really isn’t easy—obstacles everywhere.
Of course, the long road of Tao Cultivation is always full of bumps and setbacks.
Mo Hua forced himself to calm down and kept practicing Formation, running those familiar drills over and over, countless times.
Bit by bit, grinding his Divine Sense, seeking the truths of Cultivation.
No clue how long he practiced for, or why, but somehow Mo Hua felt a weariness descend on him for the first time ever—an overwhelming exhaustion pulling down his eyelids.
He struggled a little, but it was useless. He just couldn’t muster the energy.
Finally, he couldn’t hold on any longer. His eyes closed, his head drooped, and he collapsed onto the desk, knocking over the Spiritual Ink with his arms.
The Spiritual Ink spread out, staining the Formation Paper black.
Mo Hua fell into a nightmare.
In the nightmare, it was pitch black. A creature shaped like an "Evil Embryo" stared at Mo Hua, eyes full of malice.