The Quest for Immortality

Mo Hua was stunned.

Mr. Zhuang said, ”These days, I have been looking through the notes of predecessors in our sect who practiced the Heavenly Proliferation Technique. After some research and referencing the Riddle Array you encountered, I discovered a problem.”

Mo Hua’s spirit was lifted, and he listened attentively.

”The bottleneck of the Heavenly Proliferation Technique varies from person to person,” Mr. Zhuang said slowly.

Mo Hua was slightly confused. ”Varies from person to person?”

”Do you remember the small notes on the Heavenly Proliferation Technique?” Mr. Zhuang asked.

Mo Hua recalled, ”The bottleneck lies in spiritual sense, and it can only be cultivated by array masters.”

”The problem is with the spiritual sense,” Mr. Zhuang said, looking at Mo Hua. ”Your spiritual sense is too strong. The stronger the spiritual sense, the stronger the bottleneck.”

Mo Hua’s mouth opened wide, and he weakly asked, ”If my spiritual sense were weaker, would cultivating the Heavenly Proliferation Technique be much smoother?”

Mr. Zhuang looked at Mo Hua with a faint smile. ”If the spiritual sense is weak, the bottleneck is weak, and naturally, the effect of the technique is also weak.”

Mo Hua thought for a moment. The benefits of the Heavenly Proliferation Technique were to make the spiritual sense sharp, increase control, and speed up array drawing. However, his spiritual sense was already outstanding, so a slight reduction in effect didn’t seem to matter much.

”Do you think that control over the spiritual sense is not important?” Mr. Zhuang saw through Mo Hua’s thoughts.

Mo Hua honestly nodded.

Mr. Zhuang said, ”The purpose of the Heavenly Proliferation Technique is to unravel arrays through the sea of consciousness, training your control over the spiritual sense. The more complex the array you solve, the sharper your control over the spiritual sense will become after the breakthrough.”

Mr. Zhuang’s expression was filled with emotion. ”Control over the spiritual sense is extremely important for array masters and even for cultivators. It affects the speed of drawing arrays and the time needed to cast spells.”

In simple terms, the arrays would be drawn faster, in greater quantity, and the spells would be cast more quickly.

Mo Hua nodded. ”So, this technique is quite powerful, isn’t it?”

”As I said earlier, it depends on the individual.” Mr. Zhuang’s gaze sharpened. ”The stronger the spiritual sense, the more the technique enhances it; the weaker the spiritual sense, the more useless the technique becomes.”

Mo Hua’s eyes lit up.

His spiritual sense was not weak; in fact, it was very strong.

It seemed he had made the right choice. The Heavenly Proliferation Technique was the most suitable for him.

Feeling a bit proud, Mo Hua was quickly doused with cold water by Mr. Zhuang. ”Although the stronger the spiritual sense, the more effective the technique, the bottleneck also becomes stronger, and the Riddle Array becomes more complex.”

Mo Hua furrowed his brows.

Mr. Zhuang said, ”Your mid-stage Qi refining sea of consciousness Riddle Array was already a First Grade Composite Array. So, what level of Riddle Array do you need to solve to break through to the Foundation Building stage?”

Mo Hua was shocked. ”It won’t be a large array, will it...”

”Not necessarily. Strictly speaking, although large arrays fall under the First Grade category, they are not meant for First Grade array masters to learn.”

”Teacher, can I learn large arrays now?” Mo Hua asked.

”Not yet.”

”Oh,” Mo Hua nodded.

Since Mr. Zhuang said so, he wouldn’t aim too high for now.

The immediate priority was to solve the technique’s problem.

Mo Hua asked, ”The stronger the spiritual sense, the stronger the bottleneck. How should I break through the Foundation Building bottleneck in the future?”

Mr. Zhuang glanced at Mo Hua and said calmly, ”It’s actually simple. You just need to make your spiritual sense stronger.”

Mo Hua furrowed his brows even tighter, realizing a problem. ”Teacher, if the stronger the spiritual sense, the stronger the bottleneck, does that mean no matter how strong my spiritual sense gets, the bottleneck will always increase? If so, can simply strengthening the spiritual sense break through the bottleneck?”

Mr. Zhuang’s gaze sharpened. ”Therefore, your spiritual sense growth must exceed the limit.”

Mo Hua’s heart tightened. ”The limit between Qi refining and Foundation Building?”

”That’s right,” Mr. Zhuang nodded.

”How much difference is there between the spiritual sense in Qi refining and Foundation Building?” Mo Hua asked.

Mr. Zhuang said, ”The spiritual power of cultivators is quantified in cycles, but spiritual sense is not easily unified for quantification.”

”One commonly used method is to measure the strength of a cultivator’s spiritual sense by its external range.”

”A Qi refining stage cultivator’s spiritual sense can extend ten to twenty zhang. The stronger the spiritual sense, the farther it extends; the weaker, the closer.”

Mo Hua nodded. During spellcasting, he relied on his strong spiritual sense for a longer range, giving him an advantage.

”But this method is not precise. Some cultivators have a naturally farther spiritual sense range, but their spiritual sense strength is average. Some are not good at extending their spiritual sense, but their sea of consciousness is very solid and deep.”

”The most accurate way to measure spiritual sense is through drawing arrays.”

”Drawing arrays?” Mo Hua was puzzled. ”The number of array patterns?”

”Exactly,” Mr. Zhuang nodded. ”Just as array masters measure the level of arrays by the number of patterns, measuring spiritual sense strength by the number of patterns is the most accurate method.”

”A Qi refining stage cultivator who can draw one pattern has a spiritual sense of one pattern. Two patterns mean a spiritual sense of two patterns, and so on. Drawing nine patterns means a spiritual sense of nine patterns.”

”And nine-pattern spiritual sense is the limit for Qi refining stage cultivators.”

Mo Hua pondered silently. ”Then the spiritual sense of a Foundation Building cultivator is ten patterns?”

Mr. Zhuang nodded.

”Just one pattern difference?” Mo Hua was stunned.

Mr. Zhuang smiled faintly. ”It seems like just one pattern, but the amount of spiritual sense is doubled.”

Mo Hua was shocked. ”Why is there such a big difference?”

Mr. Zhuang explained, ”Because breaking through from the ninth level of Qi refining to Foundation Building involves a qualitative change in spiritual power, doubling the spiritual sense. Therefore, a Foundation Building cultivator’s spiritual sense for drawing Second Grade arrays starts at twice that of a ninth-level Qi refining cultivator.”

”Nine-pattern Qi refining, ten-pattern Foundation Building. The spiritual sense of nine patterns doubled to reach the ten-pattern level.”

”And this doubling is the spiritual sense limit and the insurmountable gap for cultivators!”

Mo Hua was shocked. No wonder he always felt that since becoming a First Grade nine-pattern array master, his spiritual sense improvement seemed like a boundless sea.

The gap was so large, the chasm so deep.

”Is it possible for a Qi refining stage cultivator to have a ten-pattern Foundation Building spiritual sense?” Mo Hua asked weakly.

”It’s possible,” Mr. Zhuang said, looking at Mo Hua meaningfully.

Mo Hua breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it was possible.

Then his heart skipped a beat, suddenly understanding. ”Do I need to have a Foundation Building spiritual sense to solve the Riddle Array and break through the bottleneck to become a Foundation Building cultivator?”

Seeing that he understood, Mr. Zhuang nodded and said, ”That’s right. The stronger the spiritual sense, the stronger the bottleneck. But no matter how strong the bottleneck, it’s still a Qi refining stage technique. If your spiritual sense surpasses the Qi refining stage limit, you can naturally break through the bottleneck. This means...”

Mr. Zhuang looked at Mo Hua and said slowly, ”Other cultivators must break through to Foundation Building to have a Foundation Building spiritual sense. But you are different. You must have a Foundation Building spiritual sense first to become a Foundation Building cultivator!”