"Foundation Establishment!"
Mo Hua's eyes shone brightly.
He had waited for this day, waited for so long!
Just the thought of being close to Foundation Establishment made Mo Hua smile with his eyes squinted, his little face showing a simple and honest expression, like a carefree cat basking in the sun.
Watching him, Bai Zixi's gaze was gentle, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.
Bai Zisheng then curled his lips and said,
"How unambitious, getting so excited over mere Foundation Establishment..."
"As my junior brother, you should set your sights farther, aiming for at least the Golden Core, or even Feather Transformation..."
Mo Hua couldn't be bothered with him.
He was in a good mood now, so he decided not to quibble with his junior brother.
Mr. Zhuang looked at Mo Hua warmly, his smile gentle, then he slowly said,
"Don't get too excited too soon; your Foundation Establishment is not like others', and it probably won't be that easy..."
Mo Hua was startled and whispered,
"Is it because of the bottleneck in my Divine Sense?"
Mr. Zhuang nodded slightly.
Mo Hua frowned and pondered deeply.
According to Mr. Zhuang's previous explanation, his path of cultivation should start with advancing his Divine Sense to around fourteen Formation Patterns of the Qi Foundation Middle Stage.
Then he should use the breakthrough in his cultivation to double his Divine Sense, leaping a major phase in one fell swoop to drastically increase it to the realm of Foundation Establishment Late Stage.
Whether it would be Seventeen Patterns, Eighteen Patterns, or Nineteen Patterns was uncertain.
However, even Seventeen Patterns would be quite astonishing.
To have Late Stage Foundation Establishment Divine Sense in the Initial Stage of Foundation Establishment.
This meant that, right upon entering the Second Grade of the Formation path, Mo Hua would have sufficient Divine Sense to study High-Grade Second Rank Formations!
And Mo Hua's abilities relied on his Divine Sense.
With a strong Divine Sense, not only Formations but also movement techniques and spells would benefit.
But this was only Mo Hua's speculation.
Whether this was truly the case was yet to be seen.
As Mr. Zhuang said, there are few cultivators who Prove the Dao with Divine Sense, lacking sufficient precedents to reference, making it unclear what changes and challenges lie ahead on this path.
Moreover, the bottleneck from Thirteen Stripes to Fourteen Patterns was much more difficult than Mo Hua had anticipated.
The gap from Thirteen to Fourteen Patterns seems minimal.
But it is the bottleneck from the Foundation Establishment Initial Stage to the Qi Foundation Middle Stage.
And Mo Hua was still at the stage of Qi Refinement.
Now he was practicing Formation Patterns daily, and his Divine Sense was gradually strengthening, but no matter what, it remained at the pinnacle of Thirteen Stripes.
The divide from Thirteen to Fourteen Patterns seemed as vast as the heavens.
No matter how much the Divine Sense strengthened, it seemed like a drop in the bucket.
He couldn't break through the bottleneck to reach the realm of Fourteen Patterns.
Mo Hua wondered how long he would have to paint before he could advance to Fourteen Patterns, and even though he had learned the Ultimate Formation of Thirteen Stripes, the progress was expected to be very slow...
Mo Hua couldn't help but sigh.
Seeing this, Mr. Zhuang looked at him with a gentle smile and serenely said,
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
"Don't let the rough and distant road ahead make you waver."
"If this is the path you choose, there's no need to hesitate. What you need to do is focus solely on taking each step, moving forward one step at a time..."
"Many things will become clear to you as you go along."
"And many opportunities and turning points can only be discovered on the journey."
Mo Hua's eyes brightened slightly, and he nodded.
Mr. Zhuang then turned to look at Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi, his voice warm as he said,
"The situation with the Bai Family is complicated, and I shouldn't say too much, but these words apply to you both just the same."
Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi both bowed and said, "Yes, Master."
But while Bai Zixi seemed thoughtful, Bai Zisheng still seemed somewhat puzzled.
...
In the days that followed, Mo Hua continued Drawing Formations.