Chapter 218: Year Gift

Several days before the New Year Festival, Mo Hua went to visit Mr. Zhuang bright and early, bringing some New Year gifts, all personally prepared by Liu Ru Hua.

Mr. Zhuang doesn't need things like spirit stones and spirit tools.

Liu Ru Hua thought for a long time, not knowing what to send, so she just followed custom and made a lot of delicious food to show her sincerity.

Liu Ru Hua started preparing more than ten days in advance, bustling around until just now to finish everything.

There was sauce meat from different demon beasts, such as cows, sheep, pigs, and dogs, with different parts and different flavors. There were also colorful cakes made from different grains, as well as wines refined from osmanthus, peach blossoms, and wild mountain fruits.

Even Mr. Zhuang, who was used to eating well, couldn't help but be a little surprised when he saw it all.

"So much! How will we finish it all?"

Immediately, he started tasting them one by one with great interest, occasionally frowning and asking, "What kind of meat is this? I've never tasted it before..." and occasionally nodding in praise: "This taste isn't bad."

Mo Hua just stayed by the side, chatting with Mr. Zhuang.

He told Mr. Zhuang which demon beast the meat was from, which spices were added, and how many hours it was cooked over a large or small fire.

Or he would ask some small questions about array methods, and occasionally they would chat about interesting things happening in the city.

Many things were still told to him by An Xiao Fu.

An Xiao Fu is now a small manager at Fu Shan Lou. He deals with diners every day and chats and gossips with others when he has nothing to do. He's heard a belly full of stories and tells them to Mo Hua with added details when he has free time.

Mo Hua found them interesting to listen to, so he would tell Mr. Zhuang. Mr. Zhuang, while drinking wine and eating meat, also listened with relish.

After chatting for a long time, Mo Hua saw that the bamboo room was quiet and secluded, but inevitably lonely, so he asked:

"Mr., do you want to go out and see for yourself during the New Year? It's very lively outside."

Mr. Zhuang seemed to always stay inside this Zuo Wang Ju, either resting in the bamboo room, watching the water on the bridge, or sitting in the courtyard, looking at the mountain scenery, the clear wind, the morning sun, and then the evening glow.

Mo Hua had never seen Mr. Zhuang go outside.

Mr. Zhuang smiled, "It's quiet here, I don't like noise."

"Oh, oh." Mo Hua nodded, "Then am I disturbing you by coming to talk?"

Mr. Zhuang shook his head, "It's too quiet, and I get bored. Talking with you is quite good."

Mo Hua then felt relieved.

The clear wind brushed through the room, and the bamboo grove outside rustled. Flowers and grass swayed.

Mo Hua and Mr. Zhuang chatted for a long time, their crisp and mellow voices intertwining and merging into the mountains with the wind.

Not until he saw that Mr. Zhuang looked a little tired, perhaps having eaten too much and feeling a bit sleepy, did Mo Hua stand up to say goodbye:

"I won't disturb Mr.'s rest. My mother also made some rice cakes for the New Year, they're sweet, soft, and sticky. I'll bring some for you to taste in a few days."

Mr. Zhuang smiled, "Go on."

Mo Hua said goodbye to Mr. Zhuang and then found Kui Lao, also bringing some New Year gifts.

Mo Hua knew Kui Lao's preferences.

Although Kui Lao looked old, he didn't like to eat soft and sticky things. He liked to eat crispy things, things that made a sound when he ate them.

Therefore, what Mo Hua sent were some crispy pastries and several boxes of pine nuts, some original flavor, some five-spice flavor, and some spicy flavor.

Kui Lao put everything into his sleeve, and then took out a chessboard from his sleeve, looking at Mo Hua.

Seeing that the sky was still early, Mo Hua nodded, "Let's play!"

The clear wind drifted, fallen leaves floated over, and the sounds of stones being placed on the board echoed in the courtyard.

The two terrible chess players played Five Elements Chess like this for half the day.

In the evening, Da Hu and the others called Mo Hua to watch a demon-fighting play.

They were the ones performing this play, along with Da Ping and Da Zhu from the tool refining workshop.

The knives, swords, and vine armor used in the play were ready-made. The props for dressing up as demon beasts were borrowed. Da Hu and the others were both having fun and earning some rewards.

Originally, Da Hu and Da Ping were going to play the demon hunters because they were demon hunters themselves.

The demon beasts were to be played by Da Zhu and several disciples from the tool refining workshop, but Da Hu and his two brothers disliked the way Da Zhu and the others acted. The demon beasts looked very dull, like fools. So they decided to play the roles themselves.

The demon beasts in Da Hei Shan are very fierce, and being dull wouldn't do.

So in the end, it turned out that Da Hu and the three demon hunters played the demon beasts, and Da Zhu, the tool refining master, played the demon hunter.

Several people still put on a show.

Mo Hua stood on the side, clapping and giving them rewards.

The surrounding cultivators also joined the fun, taking out a few broken spirit stones as encouragement.

After the performance, Da Hu and the others took Mo Hua and went to find some good places to eat and play, walking and playing as they went.

Da Hu had already reached the seventh layer of Qi Refinement, considered a cultivator in the late stage of Qi Refinement.

Mo Hua humbly asked for guidance, "What should I pay attention to when breaking through to the late stage of Qi Refinement?"

He was now at the sixth layer of Qi Refinement, just one step away from the seventh layer, which is the late stage of Qi Refinement.

Although his cultivation method was different from Da Hu's, he could listen to his opinions and use them as a reference, so he would have a good idea in his heart.

Da Hu scratched his head, "Just cultivate normally. Then you need some spiritual items. My cultivation method uses Luo Yang Cao and Rong Huo Shi, and then some pills. You can break through."

"Is it that simple?"

"Not every breakthrough attempt is successful. I was lucky this time, otherwise, I would have to try several times." Da Hu said.

Shuang Hu, who was on the side, said: "I failed once, otherwise I would also be in the late stage of Qi Refinement now."

"What happens if you fail?"

"Just keep cultivating, save spirit stones again, buy spiritual items and pills again, and then try to break through again."

Shuang Hu said indifferently, "Anyway, as long as cultivators don't die, they have to do this kind of thing, unless you accept your fate, or are too poor to have spirit stones, or you get married and have a family, and the burden is too heavy."

Mo Hua nodded, "It sounds simple, but you have to always persist, and persist for a lifetime. That's not simple."

Xiao Hu said worriedly: "The main thing is that some spiritual items are too expensive, and it's not easy for rogue cultivators to buy them. Some are even impossible to buy. One breakthrough attempt consumes everything. If you fail, you have to buy another set."

Da Ping and Da Zhu also nodded on the side, "Exactly, exactly! Where do rogue cultivators get so many spirit stones and such wide connections to buy those spiritual items?"

Everyone became a little worried.

Mo Hua also followed along in his worry, suddenly remembering that his cultivation of Tian Yan Jue didn't require any spiritual items at all and didn't cost many spirit stones. He secretly relaxed.

The bottleneck of Tian Yan Jue is in the sea of consciousness, in array methods, not in spiritual items.

He originally chose this cultivation method just because of this point.

Mo Hua secretly rejoiced in his foresight.

But then he thought again, although breaking through with Tian Yan Jue doesn't require spiritual items, it requires solving puzzle arrays.

Puzzle arrays are profound and complex, obscure and changeable. It's not an easy matter to solve them.

The Great Dao is one drink and one peck; it's still relatively fair. It won't let you get any advantages.

I just don't know what kind of puzzle array will be in the sea of consciousness this time...

Mo Hua calculated silently in his heart:

"I'm already at the sixth layer of Qi Refinement. I estimate it won't be long before I can complete the sixth layer of Qi Refinement. At that time, I'll try to break through, and I'll know exactly what kind of puzzle array I need to solve this time."

Thank you for the reward from Wang Shui Lun Lian.