Chapter 659: Year-end Assessment

Latest website: bixiashenghua

Every year, before the sect’s cultivation period ends, there's a year-end assessment.

This assessment evaluates the disciples' scores in various subjects.

It serves as an examination for the disciples, a kind of benchmark, and also affects their reputation within the sect and the extent to which the sect values them.

It also gives disciples something to report to the elders in their families when they take their annual leave to go home.

Whether this year will be passed with laughter or tears depends solely on the year-end assessment.

The process of the year-end assessment is similar to regular assessments, only more formal, with more cumbersome procedures, and more significant importance.

At the same time, the punishment for cheating will also be more severe.

Three days after the assessment, Mo Hua received his "score sheet".

It was average, with one 'A' and six 'C's.

Array was undoubtedly an 'A'.

Because the highest possible grade is 'A'.

Mo Hua's spiritual sense of sixteen patterns, and his extremely deep foundation in array, allowed him to answer some second-grade, and even less than second-grade array questions, with ease.

The arrays he drew were perfect and flawless in every stroke.

Old Mr. Xun sighed inwardly.

He even considered creating a new rating for Mo Hua, within the 'A' category, but after thinking it over, he restrained that impulse.

One must not be too ostentatious.

One should remain low-key when necessary.

Besides the 'A' in array, all other subjects, without exception, were 'C'.

Which simply means barely passing.

The six 'C's included cultivation, tool refining, pill refining, talisman refining, Dao methods, and cultivating the hundred arts.

Mo Hua was diligent in his cultivation, but his cultivation speed was below average.

His spiritual root was poor, and he had not yet established a "Dao foundation" in body refining or spiritual power, so his foundation was weak, which resulted in his displayed cultivation being somewhat poor.

The elder who taught cultivation, True Person Yu Hua, an inner sect elder, perhaps out of consideration for Old Mr. Xun, privately said to Mo Hua:

"You can't go on like this..."

"I can only give you a 'C'..."

"Cultivation foundation, cultivation speed, blood energy and spiritual power, cultivation potential..."

The cultivation elder paused, and said euphemistically: "...all have a very large room for improvement..."

Mo Hua was momentarily unsure whether he should feel disappointed or touched...

The cultivation elder continued:

"My requirements for you aren't that high either, act according to your ability, it's fine if your foundation is a bit weaker, but for cultivation, you still need to put in more effort, at least keep up with your realm..."

"Otherwise, three years later, if you're still in the early stage of Foundation Building, you'll have to 'repeat the grade'..."

Mo Hua was startled, "Repeat the grade?"

"Yes." The elder said, "You'll stay for another session, cultivating for another three years with the junior brothers and junior sisters of the next session."

"If you can advance to the mid-stage of Foundation Building within three years, you'll move up, otherwise you'll stay down..."

"If you stay for several sessions, the sect will have no choice but to advise you to withdraw..."

Mo Hua was scared, "They'll even advise me to withdraw?"

If he couldn't advance, wouldn't he also be advised to withdraw...

The cultivation elder seemed to see through Mo Hua's thoughts and said kindly:

"Don't worry..."

No one would dare to advise you to withdraw...

With Old Mr. Xun standing behind you, who in the entire Tai Xu Sect would dare to offend Old Mr. Xun and advise you to withdraw...

Even if you stayed for fifty or a hundred years, the Tai Xu Sect could afford to support you...

Of course, these kinds of words cannot be said openly.

The cultivation elder thought for a moment, then comforted Mo Hua:

"Foundation Building cultivation is actually not that difficult, as long as you follow the elder's teachings, cultivate diligently and seriously, your realm will break through, and you won't be advised to withdraw..."

Mo Hua was a little doubtful.

From the early stage of Foundation Building to the mid-stage within three years.

Another three years from the mid-stage of Foundation Building to the late stage?

"Elder, isn't cultivation very difficult? Is three years enough for one major realm in Foundation Building?" Mo Hua asked.

The cultivation elder said: "Qi Refining and Foundation Building were originally not difficult, with enough spiritual stones and spiritual objects, even a pig could be force-fed to Foundation Building..."

"The difficulty of Qi Refining lies in how to consolidate the root and cultivate the origin, temper the realm, and lay the Dao foundation..."

"The difficulty of Foundation Building lies in how to consolidate the Dao foundation, forge one's own path, and progress on this basis..."

"The cultivation of pure realm, these two are actually not difficult..."

"The difficulty comes after Golden Core..."

The cultivation elder sighed.

"Golden Core is a major threshold of the Dao, and it has very high requirements for spiritual root, blood energy foundation, spiritual power Dao foundation, cultivation comprehension, and cultivation opportunities..."

"Golden Core is not something you can achieve by burying your head in cultivation and piling up some spiritual stones..."

"Forming Core cultivators, the fastest take several years, the slowest several decades, and being stuck for hundreds of years is also common..."

"Even disciples from noble families, with outstanding talent, many stop before the threshold of Golden Core their entire lives..."

Mo Hua's heart tightened.

Forming Core is actually so difficult...

"So, even in grade-five noble families, Golden Core cultivators are considered absolute core strength..."

The cultivation elder saw Mo Hua with a worried face, then comforted him:

"However, you don't need to think too much..."

"Whether it's difficult or simple, you have to cultivate step by step, you can't rush..."

"If you are single-minded towards the Dao, with a pure heart, perhaps those hidden obstacles will be suddenly crossed over with a surge..."

"If you are burdened by worries, and concerned about gains and losses, you will stumble everywhere instead, losing your sharp and enterprising Dao heart, and be trapped at the threshold of Golden Core for a long time..."

"Those useless obstacles, you don't need to dwell on them..."

Mo Hua's eyes lit up, and he cupped his hands, saying:

"Thank you for your teachings, Elder, disciple will remember!"

The cultivation elder nodded with satisfaction.

Mo Hua thought for a while, and still said softly:

"Elder, the vast majority of cultivators in this world should all just be in Qi Refining, right..."

The cultivation elder was startled, his eyes somewhat meaningful.

"That's right."

"Then they..."

"If they are stuck in Qi Refining their entire lives, their problem is mostly not in their aptitude, their cultivation bottleneck is only one word..."

The cultivation elder said faintly: "Poverty."

Mo Hua's heart felt a little sour.

The cultivation elder looked at Mo Hua with profound eyes, and a trace of surprise that he himself hadn't noticed appeared in his expression.

In the end, he only restrained his emotions, and nodded slightly, saying:

"Don't think too much, you are in Foundation Building, just cultivate well..."

"If your cultivation is slow, and you repeat grades, although you won't be advised to withdraw, it will still be a bit embarrassing..."

Mo Hua nodded, then was startled, and his heart grew cold.

That's right, the elder reminded him...

He is currently the "little senior brother" among his peers.

If he repeated a grade, he would have to call his current peers "senior brother" and "senior sister"!

In one go, there would be a difference of two junior generations!

No!

Absolutely not!

Mo Hua's little face was serious.

He must speed up his cultivation, even if it means sacrificing other things, he absolutely cannot repeat a grade!

Otherwise, he will lose his dignity as a "little senior brother"!

The cultivation elder was startled, and didn't know why, this child Mo Hua suddenly became full of fighting spirit...

But this is also good.

He also didn't say anything more.

"It's just..."

The cultivation elder looked at Mo Hua silently again, and sighed inwardly.

Forming Core is difficult...

His spiritual root is indeed too poor, and he doesn't know if he can cross that threshold when the time comes...

Mo Hua was still unaware of these things.

Besides cultivation, he only got a 'C' grade in tool refining, pill refining, and talisman refining.

There was nothing to say about these, they were stable performances.

From the elders' teachings to the disciples of the same sect, even Mo Hua himself, no one felt any surprise.

On the contrary, the elder who taught Dao methods, Elder Yi, was more familiar with Mo Hua, and said during a chat:

"I can only give you a 'C' too..."

"I want to give you higher, but I can't..."

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter."

Mo Hua instead comforted Elder Yi.

The rating of Dao methods is divided into three categories: spells, martial arts, and sword arts.

It's fine for sect disciples as long as they are proficient in one.

After all, true spirit-body dual cultivation, and also dual cultivation of sword arts, are rare even in the Qian Xue State boundary where geniuses are gathered, and cannot be taken as a standard for general cultivators.

Especially cultivators like Mo Hua, who are "standard" under the standard.

Elder Yi still felt a little regretful, and sighed:

"Your spells are very complete, and you use them very well. Your fighting mindset is also far superior to ordinary cultivators..."

"But these things are not things that are easy to assess..."

"Spell assessment is the most straightforward and direct. The most important thing is the grade of your spells and the number of spiritual power cycles in your casting..."

"So you are at a disadvantage in this regard..."

"And you don't know any extremely powerful spells..."

Saying this, Elder Yi was suddenly stunned for a moment.

He thought of that day again, when Mo Hua blasted the spell puppet in the Dao methods room into ashes, and also heavily injured himself, that unknown, terrifying flame spell...

Elder Yi frowned, thought for a moment, then shook his head again.

That doesn't count either...

It was just an unstable spell that was accidentally fiddled out...

And it can't be used for assessment.

The risk of getting out of control is so high, it cannot be used casually.

This child Mo Hua should also not dare to continue using it... right?

Elder Yi looked at Mo Hua, who had lively eyes and a clever face, and suddenly became a little uncertain again.

"Mo Hua..."

Elder Yi hesitated for a long time, and still said secretly:

"That spell last time, absolutely don't use it again..."

"Um um!"

Mo Hua nodded.

He wouldn't use that spell from last time again.

But he had already improved a new version, so he could just use the new one later.

Furthermore, one course that received a 'C' was cultivating the hundred arts.

Array, pills, talismans, and tools are also kinds of "cultivating the hundred arts".

But because of their large scale, long inheritance, deep foundation, and many cultivators, they are considered the "mainstream" of cultivation, with a special status, separated into categories and made into separate courses.

Besides array, pills, talismans, and tools, there are many other cultivation skills.

These skills are either derived branches of array, pills, talismans, and tools, or are related to the life, production, and fighting of cultivators, but are less prominent cultivation skills.

For example, spirit planting, meals, blood drawing, mining, zither arts, spirit dance, chess arts, architecture, etc...

Although everyone says on the surface that cultivating the hundred arts are treated equally, and the categories are equal.

In reality, once things are related to people, they naturally divide into three, six, and nine grades.

Things like zither arts, chess arts, and spirit dance appear elegant and are easily looked upon favorably.

While some physically demanding skills, such as spirit planting, mining, and architecture, are not very welcomed.

The sect also does not force it.

Disciples can learn a little of various categories if they are interested, at least understand some theoretical things.

But for assessment, the focus is still on cultivating skills that disciples from noble families will use in the future, such as zither arts, spirit dance, and chess arts.

Skills that Mo Hua was familiar with, such as spirit planting, mining, and architecture, were not counted as assessment scores by the sect.

Especially meals.

Mo Hua's mother, Liu Ru Hua, had extremely good cooking skills.

Mo Hua had a "bloodline inheritance".

During his travels, he was responsible for the master, the puppet old man, the little senior brother, and the little senior sister's three meals a day.

If they really assessed meals, with his craftsmanship, he could easily defeat all the disciples in his session!

What a pity, meals were also not assessed...

What Mo Hua was good at was not assessed.

What was assessed was what he was not good at.

But there was one exception, and that was "chess arts".

This is something Mo Hua once thought he was good at...

Because whether in Tong Xian City or on his travels, when Mo Hua had nothing to do, he often played chess with Puppet Grandpa.

Mo Hua felt that Puppet Grandpa was a high-ranking person, and his chess skills were definitely superb.

And he could tie with Puppet Grandpa in chess, playing a fifty-fifty game.

That means his own chess skills are definitely not bad!

But when it came to the actual assessment, he was dumbfounded...

The sect's assessed chess arts were too utilitarian, too deliberate, step by step, good at calculation, and completely lacked fun...

He played eighteen games, and only won two...

Mo Hua then realized there was a possibility...

Either the sect's chess arts teaching was misguided.

Or maybe...

He and Puppet Grandpa were both bad chess players...

Mo Hua was a little disheartened.

It was bad enough that he was bad, but he didn't expect that Puppet Grandpa's chess skills would also decline in reputation because of him...

Mo Hua sighed deeply.

The sect prioritizes the superficial over the practical.

Or perhaps, it's not just the Tai Xu Sect, but the entire Qian Xue State boundary is probably like this.

Therefore, in this course of cultivating the hundred arts, Mo Hua muddled through and also got a 'C' grade...

This "score sheet" with one 'A' and six 'C's was to be taken back for his parents to see.

Other disciples who also got one 'A' and six 'C's all frowned with bitter faces and didn't dare to take it home.

Mo Hua, on the other hand, was fine.

He mailed the score sheet back to Li State, and attached a family letter, roughly as follows:

Dad and Mom:

I tried my best to learn, but there are too many geniuses in the sect. I really can't compare, and I narrowly lost a little bit, getting six 'C's...

What a pity...

Fortunately, my array is still very powerful!

Even in the Tai Xu Sect, one of the eight great sects in the Qian Xue State boundary, my array is not much worse than other geniuses...

Old Mr. Xun also praised me a lot.

In addition, I am already quite familiar with the Tai Xu Sect...

The relationships in the Dao Court Division are also sorted out!

You don't need to worry at all.

The New Year is approaching, Dad and Mom, eat some good food!

I'll come home when I reach Golden Core!

Mo Hua.

Mo Hua simply mailed the score sheet along with the letter.

Li State is far away.

Entering Li State, Tong Xian City is similarly very remote.

He just didn't know when this family letter would be mailed, and when he would receive a reply...

After the year-end assessment, there was a month-long New Year holiday.

Sect disciples could go home or stay in the sect.

Mo Hua stayed in the sect.

Li State was too far, and he couldn't go home, so he could only think about his parents, Elder Yu, and other neighbors, friends, and little companions from Tong Xian City...

Guessing what they were doing now.

Whether it was lively, walking around everywhere, watching beast fights, and eating good food.

Whether Tong Xian City was decorated with lanterns and streamers, lively and extraordinary, and whether there were brilliant fireworks to watch in the evening...

"I wonder if they are thinking of me..."

Mo Hua sighed.

The next day, Yu Er also wanted to go home. Before leaving, he tightly grasped Mo Hua's sleeve with his small hand, looking at Mo Hua with teary eyes.

Wen Ren Wei saw this, and then said:

"Young Master Mo, why not come to the Shang Guan family together and spend the New Year festival?"

Mo Hua thought for a while, then shook his head, "I won't go to the Shang Guan family..."

The Shang Guan family's power was extremely great, and there were definitely many rules and strict management.

He wasn't familiar with them, so he wouldn't be comfortable going there.

Moreover, there were definitely some old and cunning ancestors in the Shang Guan family.

Mo Hua subconsciously didn't want to deal with these kinds of "ancestors", lest he be targeted.

"Then, how about going to the Gu family?" Wen Ren Wei said again.

Mo Hua was startled.

The Gu family...

Seems okay.

Uncle Gu was there, and he had been there a few times, and Old Mr. Xun also said that the Gu family was considered a "clear stream" of the Dao Court Division, and their family style was still considered upright.

But Mo Hua still hesitated a little.

He wanted to research the fireball forbidden technique again during the New Year.

Yu Er pulled Mo Hua's clothes corner again, his eyes full of reluctance.

Mo Hua's heart softened, and he sighed: "Okay then."

Yu Er immediately smiled through his tears.

So, little Yu Er held Mo Hua's hand, and they went to the Gu family all the way happily, skipping and jumping.

Wen Ren Wan was also very happy to see Mo Hua.

By the way, he also asked Mo Hua about the sect assessment.

After learning about Mo Hua's "one 'A' and six 'C's", Wen Ren Wan was a little surprised.

He still thought that Mo Hua's sentence "good at array" was just for fun, but he didn't expect that he was really good at array...

In the Tai Xu Sect, one of the eight great sects in the Qian Xue State boundary, getting an 'A' grade in array was indeed extraordinary.

Wen Ren Wan was happy for Mo Hua.

As for the six 'C's behind the "one 'A'", Wen Ren Wan subconsciously ignored them.

No one is perfect.

Mo Hua's circumstances were different, so he couldn't be too demanding.

"Treat this place as your own home, don't be restrained." Wen Ren Wan said kindly to Mo Hua.

"Thank you, Aunt Wan." Mo Hua smiled.

Gu Chang Huai on the side was a little helpless.

This was the Gu family...

What a pity, he had no say in front of Wen Ren Wan.

After that, Mo Hua temporarily stayed at the Gu family and played with Yu Er for a few days.

Yu Er couldn't always stay at the Gu family either. He was a direct descendant of the Shang Guan family, and his identity was special. Some itineraries were arranged in advance, whether he was willing or not.

According to the arrangements, Yu Er would play at the Gu family for a few days first, then return to the Shang Guan family before the New Year to celebrate the New Year, and then visit the Wen Ren family after the New Year.

He would return to the Gu family before the end of the New Year holiday, rest for two days, and then return to the Tai Xu Sect.

Mo Hua couldn't follow Yu Er around everywhere, and could only accompany Yu Er at the Gu family for these few days before the New Year.

After playing for a few days, Yu Er bid farewell to Mo Hua, returning to the strict Shang Guan family with a look of "life is unbearable".

After that, Mo Hua strolled around Qing State City for a while, observing the local customs and human feelings, and then prepared to bid farewell and return to the sect.

He still had to inform the Gu family about returning to the sect.

Mo Hua went to find Gu Chang Huai.

Gu Chang Huai was neither surprised nor did he try to keep him.

This child Mo Hua had too many tricks up his sleeve, he couldn't manage him, and was too lazy to.

"There is one thing..." Gu Chang Huai said, "The demon cave has been destroyed, and the Fire Buddha is also dead. The Dao Court Division will issue merits, and I will convert some for you..."

"But this kind of matter involves many procedures, and the process is slow. You have to wait longer..."

Mo Hua's eyes lit up, and he nodded in a hurry, "Um um!"

Merits are good things!

It's okay if it's a little slow, as long as he can get them.

Uncle Gu is still quite true to his word...

After that, there was nothing more to chat about. Gu Chang Huai's temperament was also cold, so Mo Hua prepared to leave.

Just as he was about to stand up, someone came to the door.

It was a quite old, ruddy-faced woman with a festive look, who seemed to be a relative elder of the Gu family.

As soon as the Gu family elder entered the door, she smiled and said to Gu Chang Huai:

"Chang Huai, it's rare for you to be back. I have something to say to you about marriage..."

Gu Chang Huai's face turned black.

Mo Hua, who had just stood up, blinked his eyes, and silently sat down again, still quietly stretching out his small hand, taking a piece of melon from the fruit plate on the side table, putting it in his mouth and taking a bite.

(End of the chapter)

Latest website: bixiashenghua