Chapter 523: Nine Layers

After one shichen, Mo Hua then saw the Longquan Waterfall.

The Si River was horizontally broken, amidst green mountains and black cliffs.

Turbulent river water, like white silk, fell upside down, forming a waterfall, and was torn open by the mountain rocks, scattering down like silk cloth.

It was simply beautiful and magnificent.

Mo Hua and the two others all looked somewhat surprised, their three pairs of eyes flashing brightly.

Tongxian City was relatively dry, with many mountains and few rivers.

Mo Hua had also never seen such a big waterfall.

Although Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi came from a prominent family background, they had been raised in the family since childhood. When they went out again and traveled on main roads in a hurry, they rarely saw this kind of natural scenery.

The waterfall splashed on the mountain rocks, sending out water droplets, round like jade.

The clouds and fog between the mountains, and the water mist of the waterfall, were hazy and condensed into one piece, weaving the sunlight into gorgeous colors.

Mo Hua looked on, entranced, and suddenly felt somewhat doubtful:

"Master, why is this waterfall called Longquan Waterfall?"

It was just a waterfall, it had neither a dragon nor a spring.

Moreover, it didn't look like a dragon either.

Mister Zhuang's gaze swept over the waterfall, looking towards the seven-colored water mist, his expression somewhat sentimental:

"A sword was once hidden here, its name was Longquan, so the waterfall's name is also called Longquan."

"Longquan Sword..."

Mo Hua silently recited, and then asked, "Is it a good sword?"

Mister Zhuang was slightly startled, his gaze obscure, and he murmured:

"It is a good sword, very fitting for its owner..."

As if recalling some past event, Mister Zhuang's gaze was somewhat regretful, and also held some unspeakable regret and pity.

Mo Hua's eyes brightened, and he immediately understood.

There was definitely a story in this!

But he also didn't ask, even if he asked, Master would definitely not say.

"Longquan Sword..."

Mo Hua silently remembered this sword name.

After passing the Longquan Waterfall, the group continued south.

The border of the Da Li Mountain state was still very far away.

The cultivation world was very big, divided into nine states in total.

And among the nine states, the territory of each state was very vast, boundless and endless at a glance.

Within the nine states, they were again divided into state borders based on rank.

Each state border had different mountains and rivers, with unique scenery. Cultivators built cities based on the mountains, their clothing and food each had their own characteristics, and their customs were also different.

As Mo Hua walked, he observed, broadening his horizons significantly and gaining a lot of knowledge.

When they encountered some special ingredients, Mo Hua would buy them, consult the methods of local cultivators, then try to make some and give them to Mister Zhuang, and his senior brother and sister to taste.

Although they weren't necessarily all delicious, indeed, the flavors were vastly different, and they were very interesting to eat.

Kui Lao didn't like these meals.

He only liked to eat nuts such as pine nuts and hazelnuts.

Sometimes, when they encountered them, Mo Hua would also buy some and fry them for Kui Lao to eat.

Or, among the mountains, if some ancient trees bore unknown pine fruits, seeds, or fruits, and were not poisonous, Mo Hua would also pick some and fry them for Kui Lao to taste.

In return, Kui Lao would often give Mo Hua pointers on spells:

"Your fireball technique is learned well, and used well, but it's a bit mixed."

Mo Hua also had this doubt.

In reality, the fireball technique he used was deep red, with a slight sign of condensation.

But the fireball technique he manifested in his sea of consciousness was bright red, and the spiritual power was instead like silk, overlapping layer by layer, like using spiritual silk to coil a ball of flame threads.

After Mo Hua explained to Kui Lao, he then asked:

"Grandpa Kui, which direction should I cultivate in?"

Should it be deepening the spiritual power, or making the spiritual power like silk.

Kui Lao shook his head and said:

"When there are two choices before you, don't first think about which one to choose, but first think, can I not have both?"

"If you can have both, then have both."

"If you can't have both, then make a choice."

"Cultivators who think of choosing one out of two from the beginning are all stubborn."

Mo Hua's mouth was agape.

He didn't expect that the always serious Kui Lao would actually say such words.

"Then what if neither of the two choices can be chosen?" Mo Hua asked softly.

"Then there's no need to spend effort on this matter. Matters that cannot be chosen are meaningless even if you consider them, it's just a waste of time." Kui Lao said.

Mo Hua nodded, deeply agreeing.

Afterward, he thought of something again, frowned, and said:

"Grandpa Kui, what if someone forces me to make a difficult choice in the future?"

Kui Lao said directly: "Then you just take care of that person!"

Mo Hua was stunned.

Kui Lao said again: "Take care of that person, and no one will force you to choose, you can have both."

"What if I can't defeat him, can't take care of him?"

"Then you can only blame yourself for being incompetent." Kui Lao said hoarsely, "In this situation, you are forced into helplessness, it doesn't matter how you choose."

Mo Hua nodded, "So strength must be strong, so that in the future I can choose what I want..."

Mo Hua carefully pondered for a moment, suddenly realized that he had strayed a bit, and then returned to the matter of spells:

"Grandpa Kui, can I have both kinds of changes in the fireball technique?"

Kui Lao nodded, "The deep red fireball is the state of spiritual power, the fireball turning into silk is the form of spiritual power, the two do not conflict, you can have both, but..."

Kui Lao looked at Mo Hua, "It's very difficult."

Mo Hua asked: "How to do it?"

Kui Lao hesitated slightly. He originally didn't want to say too much, but looking at the pile of pine nut shells he had cracked on the ground, he felt a bit guilty from eating people's food, and then said:

"It's still a bit early for you to learn now, but you can understand it first."

Mo Hua immediately sat up straight, listening seriously.

But Kui Lao didn't say anything, instead, he took out a clump of cotton wool from who knows where.

This clump of cotton wool was just ordinary cotton wool.

Kui Lao condensed it in the palm of his hand, and the cotton wool received force, compressing itself, twisting together, forming a cotton thread.

Mo Hua's eyes brightened slightly, somewhat thoughtful.

Afterward, Kui Lao took out another clump of cotton wool, and did the same, compressing it and twisting it together, forming another cotton thread...

He continued condensing until there were more than ten cotton threads.

Kui Lao's gaze turned cold, and his divine sense moved.

The more than ten cotton threads instantly twisted and intertwined, seemingly without rules, but secretly containing rhythm as they condensed together, weaving into a ball of thread.

This ball of thread was the same size as the previous clump of cotton wool.

But the internal structure was completely different.

Kui Lao looked at Mo Hua and asked: "Understood?"

Mo Hua furrowed his brow and said truthfully:

"Understood... a little bit..."

"No harm, you remember it well."

Kui Lao raised his hand, and the newly rubbed ball of thread instantly turned to ash and smoke, leaving no trace in his palm.

"The principles of complex spells are often hidden in the most simple and ordinary things."

"For example, this ball of thread."

"Another example, one mountain, one water, one cloud, one rain, one grass, one wood between heaven and earth..."

Mo Hua nodded and said frankly:

"Grandpa Kui, I remembered, but I still don't quite understand..."

Kui Lao's mouth corner curled up slightly, revealing a smile that wasn't quite a smile, "It doesn't matter, look more, learn more, think more, there will be a day when you understand."

"Um!" Mo Hua nodded seriously.

Kui Lao thought for a moment and said again:

"This spell technique, I will only demonstrate it once, watch carefully."

Mo Hua's spirit was jolted.

Kui Lao spread open his palm, and a fireball appeared. The fireball was a light red gaseous form, and then, following Kui Lao's divine sense guidance, the spiritual power compressed inward, condensing into a deep red fire silk.

The fire silk contained shocking spiritual power, floating in the air.

Afterward, Kui Lao's palm again produced a fireball.

Then the fireball again condensed into fire silk.

After more than ten rounds like this, Kui Lao's palm no longer had a fireball, but had more than ten deep red, scorching hot and shocking fire silks.

Kui Lao's gaze sank, and his divine thought moved.

These fire silks intertwined together, condensing into a small fireball.

This fireball technique, where the spiritual silk entwined, was more like weaving a spiritual power thread ball with flames as threads, rather than a fireball.

Multiple layers of compression, spiritual power restructuring.

It seemed like a simple fireball technique, but it permeated with shocking power.

Kui Lao casually waved his hand, and this fireball flew out quickly, falling into the surging river water beside it.

An ear-piercing strange sound suddenly rang out.

Like cold water poured into oil, the river surface immediately boiled up.

Mo Hua followed the sound and looked, instantly opening his mouth wide.

A large river, a huge lake surface, was actually evaporated out a large empty hole by a small fireball technique.

Water vapor all around formed clouds and mist, hot gas steamed up.

After a moment, the river water poured back.

The sound of surging tide water rang out.

The river water poured into the empty hole, and the originally calm river surface formed a huge vortex.

Mo Hua's mood was like this river water, unsettled for a long time.

Kui Lao had just used spiritual power, although he was refining qi and casting spells, it was only a first-grade fireball technique.

But a fireball technique could actually produce such huge killing power?

Mo Hua looked at Kui Lao, his expression shocked and full of admiration.

Kui Lao felt comfortable, but his expression was still indifferent.

He patted Mo Hua's shoulder, "Remembered, practice more, learn more."

Mo Hua nodded somewhat dazedly.

Kui Lao left contentedly.

To the side, Mister Zhuang actually complained to him: "What are you teaching him this for?"

"If he can learn it, why shouldn't I teach him?"

"He doesn't even know what this is, and you're just teaching him?"

Kui Lao didn't speak, and after a moment, he silently said:

"I'm afraid if I don't teach him again, there will be no opportunity to teach him..."

Kui Lao turned his head and looked at Mister Zhuang again, "Don't you think so too?"

Mister Zhuang's words stopped, he was silent for a long time, and then sighed helplessly.

Mo Hua's expression was excited.

What a powerful fireball technique!

This kind of power completely exceeded his understanding.

Mo Hua impatiently tried it himself, but found that he simply couldn't do it.

The principle seemed simple, spiritual power was like cotton wool, first condense spiritual power into fine silk, then weave the spiritual silk into a spiritual power thread ball...

But in reality, it was not at all the case.

Mo Hua's divine sense was already very strong, at the peak of the thirteenth pattern of Foundation Building, he cultivated the Tianyan Jue, learned the Ling Shu Array, and his spiritual power control was not weak.

But even with such strong divine sense and meticulous control, he still couldn't even condense spiritual power into silk threads.

Mo Hua was somewhat surprised and disappointed.

But thinking about it, he felt it was normal again.

If such a powerful spell was really so easy to learn, that would truly be a daydream.

Mo Hua completely remembered every bit of Kui Lao's spell casting.

He would ponder it whenever he had free time, hoping that one day in the future, he could also cast such a terrifying fireball technique...

Mo Hua's eyes revealed anticipation.

Whether it was array or spell.

There was still much he wanted to learn.

As long as he persevered in learning, there would be a day when he could integrate all of these, master profound arrays, and control powerful spells.

Afterward, the journey was mostly peaceful.

Although they rushed day and night, enduring wind and dew, it wasn't considered hard.

Mo Hua adapted to local conditions, changing patterns and making various meals. His cooking skills also gradually grew day by day, and the meals he made also became more and more appealing in color, aroma, and taste.

The carriage traveled leisurely.

Mister Zhuang rested in the carriage, while Mo Hua and the two others gathered around a small table, either drawing arrays, reading books, or doing various cultivation homework.

Occasionally, when they stopped to rest and had ample time, he would play several games of chess with Kui Lao.

They still played simple Five Elements Chess.

The two of them played very happily.

Although Mister Zhuang had seen it many times and wasn't surprised, he was still somewhat unexpected. He didn't expect that Mo Hua could really play chess with Kui Lao.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi were somewhat confused.

Sometimes, when Mo Hua went to buy vegetables, walk the big white dog, or find time for arrays, they also played several games with Kui Lao.

But without exception, they were all disliked by Kui Lao.

Kui Lao disliked Bai Zixi for being too clever, even in Five Elements Chess, she was meticulous and didn't give an inch.

As for Bai Zisheng, he disliked him for being too reckless.

It was okay to eat every day, but when playing Five Elements Chess, he only knew how to "eat," with no standard at all.

Mo Hua was better.

He was natural and smooth when playing chess.

He neither deliberately thought too much nor rashly ate greedily.

Of course, it was also mainly because the two of them had similar chess skills, there was no utilitarian win or loss, it was purely for fun.

Mo Hua accompanied Kui Lao in playing chess.

Kui Lao would also carve some puppets for Mo Hua.

At first, they were only tiger puppets the size of palms, but later, after Kui Lao coughed up more pine nuts, he began to accept various requests from Mo Hua.

Such as wolves, insects, tigers, leopards, and strange beasts.

When Mo Hua saw one, he would pester Kui Lao to carve him one.

After carving, Mo Hua would then draw Ling Shu Arrays on them.

Then he could control a bunch of beast puppets chasing, playing, and frolicking in the grassland, which was novel and lively.

Since he was carving for Mo Hua, Kui Lao couldn't show favoritism.

He also carved some puppets for Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi.

For Bai Zisheng, he carved a green dragon. Although it was majestic, it couldn't fly. Even with the Ling Shu Array carved on it, it could only crawl on the ground.

For Bai Zixi, he carved a colorful phoenix.

Besides the Ling Shu Array, Mo Hua also drew a five-color array on the phoenix's wings.

Once it spread its wings, it was like a peacock fanning its tail, with multicolored spots and flashing spiritual light, very gorgeous...

After this, whenever they had leisure, Bai Zisheng would play fight beasts with Mo Hua in the grassland, controlling his green dragon to have a dragon-tiger battle with Mo Hua's "underlings," the palm-sized tigers and many beasts.

Bai Zixi, on the other side, held that gorgeous phoenix, watching Mo Hua and Bai Zisheng playing happily, her gaze clear like autumn water, with a faint smile...

Like this, everyone came along the way.

They walked over mountains, crossed over waters, experienced sunrises and sunsets, and watched clouds roll and unfold.

Along the way, they also encountered quite a few people and events.

Some were ignorant rogue cultivators, ferocious criminal cultivators, and evil cultivators who didn't follow the right path.

But most of them had low cultivation and weak dao methods.

Bai Zisheng, with his spear, guarded the pass alone.

Mo Hua watched from the side, occasionally using the Water Prison technique to control the field and the Fireball technique to finish them off, making them defeated utterly.

Besides them, most were some poor and down-on-luck loose cultivators.

Like Tongxian City, Nanyue City, and other ordinary small immortal cities.

The lives of loose cultivators were mostly very difficult.

Those in high positions saw everything as a tapestry of flowers.

Only by truly having their feet on the ground would they know how much warmth and coldness there was in the world, and how much suffering there was for the people of the world.

Array masters should comprehend the heavenly dao and benefit all living beings.

Mo Hua carefully remembered these words. When he encountered poor people or suffering events, he would also do his best to draw some arrays and help them.

The journey was long, and the carriage ambled along.

Half a year later, Mo Hua finally arrived at the border of the third-grade Da Li Mountain state.

And at this time, Mo Hua was fourteen years old, and his cultivation, through gradual accumulation and diligent practice, had also reached the ninth layer of Qi Refining.

He was only one step away from Foundation Building.

Tomorrow, I will ask for a day off.

I have been writing for seven months without taking a day off, and I haven't really rested.

So I will reward myself with a day off.

Mainly, the content of the detailed outline is a bit much, and I want to reorganize it.

I also want to summarize the problems in writing.

By the way, I also want to get a good night's sleep and adjust my mindset a bit.

There is still a lot to write, so I can't rush for a moment, I need to persevere in the long term, flowing like a thin stream.

(End of this chapter)