New Year Gifts

A few days before the New Year, Mo Hua visited Mr. Zhuang early in the morning, bringing some New Year gifts that Liu Ruhua had personally prepared.

Mr. Zhuang didn't need things like spiritual stones or spiritual tools.

Liu Ruhua pondered for a long time, unsure what to give, and finally decided to follow tradition and make a lot of delicious food to express her gratitude.

Liu Ruhua had started preparing ten days in advance, busily working until everything was ready.

The gifts included various types of marinated meats from different parts of different beasts like cattle, sheep, pigs, and dogs, colorful cakes made from various grains, and wines brewed from osmanthus, peach blossoms, and wild mountain fruits.

Even Mr. Zhuang, who was used to good food, was surprised at the sight.

"So much food, how can I possibly finish it all?"

But soon, he eagerly began tasting each item, occasionally frowning and asking, "What meat is this? I've never tasted it before…" Other times, he nodded in praise, saying, "This tastes quite good."

Mo Hua stayed by his side, chatting with Mr. Zhuang.

He told Mr. Zhuang about the types of beast meat, the spices used, whether it was cooked over high or low heat, and for how long.

He also asked some small questions about arrays and shared some interesting stories from around the city.

Many of these stories were ones An Xiaofu had told him.

An Xiaofu, now the junior manager of Fu Dining Hall, interacted with customers daily, chatting with them and gathering a bellyful of stories, which he then embellished and shared with Mo Hua during their idle times.

Mo Hua found these stories amusing and relayed them to Mr. Zhuang, who enjoyed listening while drinking wine and eating meat.

After chatting for a while, Mo Hua noticed that the tranquil and secluded bamboo room could sometimes be lonely, so he asked:

"Sir, would you like to go out and see the festivities for the New Year? It's quite lively outside."

Mr. Zhuang seemed to always stay in Zuowang Residence, either resting in the bamboo room, watching the water from the bridge, or sitting in the courtyard, gazing at the mountains, the breeze, the sunrise, and the sunset.

Mo Hua had never seen Mr. Zhuang leave the house.

Mr. Zhuang smiled, "I prefer the quiet here; I don't like noise."

"Oh, I see." Mo Hua nodded, "Then am I disturbing you by talking with you?"

Mr. Zhuang shook his head, "Too much quietness can be boring. It's nice to talk with you."

Mo Hua felt relieved.

A gentle breeze flowed inside, rustling the bamboo outside, and swaying the flowers and grasses.

Mo Hua and Mr. Zhuang chatted for a long time, their clear and rich voices blending with the wind, drifting into the mountains.

Finally, noticing that Mr. Zhuang seemed a bit weary, perhaps from eating too much and feeling drowsy, Mo Hua stood up to say goodbye:

"I won't disturb your rest any longer, sir. My mother also made some rice cakes, sweet, soft, and glutinous. I'll bring some for you to try in a few days."

Mr. Zhuang smiled, "Go on then."

Mo Hua bid farewell to Mr. Zhuang and then visited Elder Kui, bringing some New Year gifts as well.

Mo Hua knew Elder Kui's preferences.

Despite his old age, Elder Kui didn't like soft and glutinous foods; he preferred crispy snacks and things that made a sound when eaten.

So, Mo Hua brought some crispy pastries and several boxes of pine nuts, including original, five-spice, and spicy flavors.

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

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

A gentle breeze blew, fallen leaves fluttered, and the sound of chess pieces falling filled the courtyard.

The two poor chess players spent half a day playing the five-element chess game.

In the evening, Da Hu and his friends invited Mo Hua to watch a monster fighting play.

The play was performed by them, along with Da Ping and Da Zhu from the crafting workshop.

The swords and vine armor for the play were ready-made, and the props for the monster costumes were borrowed. Da Hu and his brothers performed to join in the fun and to earn some tips.

Originally, Da Hu and Da Ping were going to play the demon hunters since they were actual demon hunters.

The monsters were to be played by Da Zhu and a few apprentices from the crafting workshop, but Da Hu and his brothers thought Da Zhu and the others didn't act like real monsters—they looked too silly and dumb—so they decided to play the monsters themselves.

The monsters in Black Mountain were fierce, and being silly wouldn't cut it.

So in the end, it became that Da Hu and his two fellow demon hunters played the monsters, while Da Zhu, the artifact craftsman, played the demon hunter.

Their performance was quite convincing.

Mo Hua stood to the side, applauding and tipping them.

The onlookers, joining in the fun, also contributed some fragmented spiritual stones as encouragement.

After the performance, Da Hu and his friends took Mo Hua to find some delicious food and fun places, wandering and playing along the way.

Da Hu had already reached the seventh layer of Qi Refining, which was considered late-stage Qi Refining.

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

He was currently at the sixth layer of Qi Refining, and his next step would be the seventh layer, entering the late stage.

Although his cultivation method was different from Da Hu's, he could still listen to his advice and have a reference point, giving him some idea.

Da Hu scratched his head, "Just continue normal cultivation, and you'll need some spiritual materials. My cultivation method uses Luoyang Grass and Melting Fire Stones, along with some pills, to break through."

"Is it that simple?"

"Not every breakthrough is successful. I was lucky this time; otherwise, it might take several attempts." Da Hu replied.

Shuang Hu added, "I failed once, otherwise, I would also be at the late stage of Qi Refining by now."

"What do you do if you fail?"

"Continue cultivating, save up more spiritual stones, buy more spiritual materials and pills, and then try to break through again."

Shuang Hu said nonchalantly, "As long as a cultivator is alive, they have to keep doing this, unless you give up, run out of spiritual stones, or have too many family responsibilities."

Mo Hua nodded, "It sounds simple, but to persist throughout your life, that's not simple at all."

Xiao Hu sighed, "The main issue is that some spiritual materials are too expensive and hard for rogue cultivators to buy. Some aren't even available. A single breakthrough can exhaust all your resources, and if you fail, you have to buy them all over again."

Da Ping and Da Zhu also nodded in agreement, "Exactly! Where can rogue cultivators get so many spiritual stones and connections to buy those materials?"

Everyone seemed a bit troubled.

Mo Hua felt troubled too but suddenly remembered that his cultivation method, the Tian Yan Technique, didn't require any spiritual materials or a lot of spiritual stones, so he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The bottleneck of the Tian Yan Technique lay in the Sea of Consciousness and the array, not in spiritual materials.

This was precisely why he chose this cultivation method.

Mo Hua secretly congratulated himself on his foresight.

But then he thought, although the Tian Yan Technique didn't need spiritual materials, it required solving an array puzzle.

The puzzle arrays were profound, complex, and ever-changing, not easy to decipher.

The Dao has its balance; it wouldn't let anyone take shortcuts.

He just wondered what kind of array puzzle would be in his Sea of Consciousness this time…

Mo Hua silently calculated in his mind:

"I'm already at the sixth layer of Qi Refining; it shouldn't be long before I reach the peak of the sixth layer. Once I attempt to break through, I'll know what kind of array puzzle I need to solve this time."

(End of the Chapter)