Chapter 1: Mo Hua
Year 20,022 of the Dao Calendar, 10th of September.
Tongxian City, the mountain outside the Tongxian Sect.
Ten-year-old Mo Hua, wearing a simple outer disciple robe, sat bored behind a large stone at the foot of the mountain, holding a piece of grass root, intently drawing complex patterns on the ground.
At the time of the Rabbit hour, disciples of the sect began to ascend the mountain in groups of two or three, chatting and laughing.
A chubby boy, wearing an outer disciple robe with expensive jade accessories, with a round face and small eyes, accompanied by two or three followers, spotted Mo Hua, who was drawing something behind the stone, enjoying himself.
The chubby boy looked left and right, and upon realizing there were no sect instructors nearby, he cautiously called out,
"Mo Hua!"
Mo Hua lifted his head, revealing a handsome, almost picture-perfect face, with eyes as clear as a pool of water.
The chubby boy lowered his voice, "Is it done?"
With the seriousness of an adult, ten-year-old Mo Hua patted his chest, "I'll handle it, don't worry." He then pulled several formation drawings from his storage bag, white paper and red ink, and handed them to the chubby boy.
"Check if there's anything wrong."
The chubby boy took them with great care, flipped through the sketches, looked at them seriously, then frowned,
"I don't understand…"
Mo Hua patiently explained,
"The task given by the instructor is based on the basic patterns of the five elements formation. I drew them for you, and specifically made six mistakes, so that the instructor won't realize that these formations weren't drawn by you…"
"Six mistakes… is that a bit too much?"
Mo Hua silently looked at him.
The chubby boy immediately recognized his mistake and reflected,
"One shouldn't be too greedy. It's enough if I can submit the task assigned by the instructor. If I do too well, it'll raise suspicion. If the instructor finds out and my father knows, he'll definitely beat me up. It's just not worth it…"
Mo Hua nodded, "As expected of Young Master An, you figured it out so quickly!"
The chubby boy shoved two spirit stones into Mo Hua's hand, "Mo, you have good judgment, knowing I'm smart! Here's the spirit stones. Next time when the instructor assigns a formation task, I'll come to you!"
After saying that, he stuffed the formation into his chest and quickly ran up the mountain.
Mo Hua carefully stored the two spirit stones and resumed drawing on the ground with the grass root.
Soon after, another young master, holding a golden fan, appeared. His face was sharp, and his body was adorned with even more jade ornaments.
Mo Hua handed him a formation drawing as well. The skinny young master glanced at the formation and gave a signal to his servant, who then stepped forward, took the drawing, and handed Mo Hua two spirit stones.
The skinny young master took the formation drawing but didn't leave. He suddenly closed his fan and arrogantly said, "I'm also quite skilled in formations, but I don't have time for these basic patterns, so I asked you to write them for me."
Mo Hua couldn't be bothered with him and continued drawing on the ground with the grass root.
The skinny young master, somewhat frustrated, sneered, "I heard that among the early-stage Qi Refining disciples of Tongxian Sect, your formations are the best. I wonder how they compare to mine. We should have a competition when we have time?"
Mo Hua thought to himself, if you're asking me to help you with your formation homework, how good do you think you are?
But following the principle of "harmony brings wealth," Mo Hua raised his head and praised him with pleasant words,
"Of course, your formation skills are far superior. The Qian family is the largest clan in Tongxian City, their formation inheritance is unmatched by any other cultivators."
The skinny young master's expression softened, then asked,
"Then tell me, among the early-stage Qi Refining disciples of Tongxian Sect, who can compare to me in terms of formation skills?"
"There are some…"
The skinny young master became displeased, "Who are they?"
"Well, it's a bit too many to count right now."
The skinny young master clearly became angry.
"This is a good thing!" Mo Hua, with eyes wide open, lied.
The skinny young master sneered, "My family background isn't worse than yours, I have more spirit stones than you, yet my formations are inferior. There are many such people, are you trying to say that I'm talentless, not as good as others? What's so good about that?"
Mo Hua said, "Cultivators in Tongxian City, no matter how talented they are, no matter how well they learn, they still end up entering the Qian family's Wanbao Tower, refining weapons, pills, and drawing formations for your Qian family..."
"Think about it, you're still in Qi Refining, yet you already have Foundation Establishment cultivators working for you. You're a first-tier formation master, and second-tier formation masters listen to your orders. How impressive is that? The stronger your subordinates, the more impressive you seem!"
The skinny young master froze, then suddenly understood, "That makes a little sense!"
"Understand now?"
The skinny young master nodded and looked down at the countless cultivators below, proudly raising his neck,
"Not bad! Not bad! No matter how high your talents are, no matter how hard you work, in the end, you'll all be working like cattle for my Qian family!"
With a harsh look on his face, the young master of the Qian family swaggered off.
After tricking the Qian young master away, Mo Hua continued to practice formations on the ground with the grass root.
Not long after, a few wealthy cultivators came by, exchanging spirit stones for several formation drawings. By the time Mo Hua finished selling the last of the formations, he had accumulated twelve spirit stones.
Twelve spirit stones was quite a lot for a lone cultivator, but still far from enough for true cultivation.
Mo Hua sighed, a hint of helplessness appearing on his youthful face.
Low-level cultivators, there is no hope for cultivation...
More than twenty thousand years ago, in the first year of the Dao Calendar, the greatest power in the cultivation world—Dao Court—unified the Nine Realms, sealing the great families and sects, establishing a unified ranking system, and regulating the hierarchy of cultivators.
Dao Court also issued the "Dao Laws," restricting cultivators from committing murders, robberies, or taking unfair advantages.
The cultivation world thrived and flourished for over twenty thousand years, expanding greatly, with cultivators numbering in the billions.
However, despite Dao Court's prosperity, and the noble families thriving, with sects standing strong, it was only the lowly scattered cultivators, with no backing, who lived in hardship and had no hope of advancing in their cultivation.
Over two thousand years, those without spiritual roots, the ordinary people, were gradually weeded out. Only those with spiritual roots, capable of cultivating, remained. But the more cultivators there were, the more spiritual energy was consumed, and soon, the energy in the world was exhausted.
Now, for a cultivator to advance, they not only need inheritance but also spirit stones.
The major families occupy the spiritual mines, and the low-level cultivators are starved of spirit stones. Large sects monopolize inheritance, and the ordinary scattered cultivators have no means to cultivate.
In Tongxian City, the vast majority of scattered cultivators neither have inheritance nor spirit stones. They will live their entire lives as Qi Refining cultivators.
Qi Refining is but a humble ant under the vast heavens.
And Mo Hua is one of those billions of ants.
And most likely, he will remain that way his entire life.
A hint of bitterness appeared on Mo Hua's innocent face.
The Dao may be equal, but cultivation is far from equal...
Mo Hua is a second-tier Qi Refining cultivator, born into a family of Qi Refining cultivators. Both his parents are in the Qi Refining realm.
His father, Mo Shan, makes a living hunting monsters, constantly fighting beasts, with countless scars on his body. His mother works as a cook in a kitchen, suffering from the heat of the stoves, often coughing from lung pain.
His parents, living frugally, saved every spirit stone they had just to get Mo Hua into the outer sect of Tongxian Sect.
However, no matter how hard Mo Hua practices, his mediocre spiritual root, although slightly better than ordinary people, means he is still destined to be a mediocre cultivator in a world full of geniuses.
No matter how hard he trains, he will most likely only become a Qi Refining cultivator.
With his poor family background and no spirit stones, Mo Hua will be like other disciples, reaching the sixth level of Qi Refining before leaving the sect and trying to make a living through other means.
But Mo Hua is also naturally frail!
Cultivators in the Qi Refining stage usually rely on physical strength for tasks like weapon refining or monster hunting, which require strong bodies. Mo Hua's weak constitution means he might not even be able to find work to support himself.
If he ever marries and has children, the burden will increase, and all the spirit stones will go towards supporting his family.
Without spirit stones, Mo Hua's cultivation will stagnate forever, and he will remain a Qi Refining cultivator his entire life.
Just like all the poor scattered cultivators in Tongxian City.
Just like the billions of low-level cultivators in the cultivation world.
A lifetime of nothing but Qi Refining...
Ten-year-old Mo Hua sighed, adjusting his mindset, then entered the sect for class. After a day of cultivation, Mo Hua returned to his disciple quarters, read some cultivation books, and by midnight, lay in bed.
As Mo Hua closed his eyes, a broken stele appeared in his sea of consciousness.
There were no words on the stele, but from the moment Mo Hua laid eyes on it, he knew the stele's name:
Dao Stele!
(End of Chapter)