Chapter 2: The Dao Stele

From the time Mo Hua could remember, this Dao Stele had appeared in his Sea of Consciousness, along with a few vague and indistinct memories.

In those memories, Mo Hua lived a short life in another world devoid of spiritual energy. His family was ordinary, but he studied hard, achieved good grades, and eventually got into university. He majored in fine arts and had a passion for traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy.

After graduating, he joined a major corporation as a graphic designer. He worked long hours and, in his twenties, died from overwork.

As a student, he studied tirelessly; after graduation, he toiled at his job. His life passed in a state of tension and anxiety.

When he came to his senses, he realized he had lived in a daze and died without warning.

In those final moments before death, his life flashed before his eyes like a carousel of fleeting images.

Looking back on his life, he realized he had accomplished nothing of true value: he hadn't honored his parents, pursued his dreams, had love, or even seen the vast beauty of the world…

These memories were hazy, and sometimes Mo Hua couldn't tell if they were real or not.

The famous saying of Zhuangzi, "Zhuangzi dreams he is a butterfly, not knowing whether he is Zhuangzi dreaming of a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming of Zhuangzi," came to his mind.

As time passed, Mo Hua stopped worrying about it.

The past was gone, and now, he was just ten years old, living in the world of cultivation.

He was a cultivator.

One who could comprehend the Heavenly Dao, traverse the Nine Regions, pluck the sun and moon with a flick of the wrist, and bury stars with a wave of the hand!

Or, he could be the kind of cultivator who spent his entire life in Qi Refinement, neither capable of flight nor proficient in martial arts, barely able to use a few spells, and lived a humble life…

Without the Dao Stele, Mo Hua figured he would probably be the latter.

The Dao Stele hovered within his Sea of Consciousness.

Ancient and expansive, it had a peculiar and incomplete shape. Its surface appeared to be intangible, yet seemed to carry a vast and profound aura. In one moment, it felt like boundless energy was swirling around it; in the next, it was silent as the void, utterly empty…

On the ethereal surface of the stele, one could draw formations, and each time Mo Hua drew a formation, his Spiritual Sense would strengthen.

In the world of cultivation, all skills respected the art of formations!

Formations were the most difficult skill to learn among the various disciplines of cultivation. At the heart of learning formations was the importance of Spiritual Sense!

Formations were composed of formation patterns, the embodiments of the Heavenly Dao painstakingly captured by ancient cultivators through arduous insights.

These formation patterns resembled ancient script and minimalist art, containing boundless mysteries.

When drawing formations, the Sea of Consciousness communicates with the Heavenly Dao, consuming vast amounts of Spiritual Sense.

Cultivators with insufficient Spiritual Sense cannot draw formations; if they try, they risk Spiritual Sense depletion or even the shattering of their Sea of Consciousness, leading to death. To become a Formation Master, one must constantly study and practice various formation diagrams.

Thus, formations are hard to learn and practice. Formation Masters often risk their lives by depleting their Spiritual Sense, which can result in their Sea of Consciousness collapsing, and subsequently, their death.

When Mo Hua drew formations on the Dao Stele, his Spiritual Sense was consumed. However, once he erased the formation, that Spiritual Sense would instantly return, leaving him with an even fuller reserve.

From existence to emptiness, and from emptiness back to existence—a profound Dao, wondrous beyond measure.

Additionally, each time Mo Hua drew a formation, his Spiritual Sense would increase, even if only slightly. But, however minute, this increase was significant.

As far as Mo Hua knew, there were no cultivation methods in the world of cultivation specifically for enhancing Spiritual Sense; its growth largely depended on breakthroughs in cultivation stages.

Therefore, even the slightest increase in Spiritual Sense was incredibly precious.

As long as Mo Hua continued to draw formations on the Dao Stele, he could improve his formation skills, and his Spiritual Sense would continue to grow.

With a powerful Spiritual Sense, Mo Hua would be able to learn more complex, higher-level, and stronger formations.

One day, he would surely become a formidable Formation Master through this method.

A Formation Master held a position of great honor; even an ordinary, unranked Formation Master could earn a substantial amount of spirit stones by drawing formations for others.

Once he became a Formation Master, able to draw various mystical formations, he would have a foundation upon which to build. He would not remain a Qi Refinement cultivator his entire life.

Mo Hua silently vowed in his heart.

But becoming a Formation Master was no easy task.

Formations were hard to learn, and the path to becoming a Formation Master was arduous.

In the disciplines established by the Dao Court, the certification for a Formation Master was the strictest, even the most stringent.

Formations were composed of formation patterns. The simplest formations contained only one pattern, and with each additional pattern, the formation's level increased, enhancing its efficacy while greatly increasing the required Spiritual Sense.

To draw one to five formation patterns allowed one to be considered a Formation Apprentice.

To draw six to eight formation patterns qualified one as a Formation Master, though this kind of Formation Master wasn't ranked by the Dao Court.

Only those who could draw nine formation patterns and pass the Dao Court's ranking assessment could become a true First-Grade Formation Master.

For a Qi Refinement stage cultivator, achieving the status of a First-Grade Formation Master was akin to reaching the heavens in a single bound.

A First-Grade Formation Master would be a prized guest in the great families and sects. Even Foundation Building cultivators would not easily offend them. Without even lifting a finger, they would receive a monthly allowance of spirit stones from the Dao Court's Tian Shu Pavilion and would have countless young, beautiful female cultivators lining up to become their Dao Companions.

Apart from the extreme difficulty of the assessments, each province also had a quota for First-Grade Formation Masters. Becoming one depended not only on hard work but also on fate.

If one's luck was poor and the provincial quota was already filled, even if they achieved the proficiency of a First-Grade Formation Master, they would have to wait for the next assessment.

Many Formation Masters spend their lives trying and failing to reach this goal.

Countless cultivators at the bottom pour their hearts and souls into this pursuit, growing gray and weary without ever fulfilling their dreams of promotion to First-Grade Formation Master.

The so-called quotas of the Dao Court are often little more than an excuse for powerful families and sects to secure titles for their direct descendants or disciples, elevating them as publicly celebrated talents.

For those who devote their lives to becoming a First-Grade Formation Master, they are merely dust beneath the feet of these privileged few.

Now, it was already night. Mo Hua lay in his disciples' quarters, his Spiritual Sense diving into his Sea of Consciousness, continually practicing formations on the Dao Stele.

The formation he practiced was called the Dual-Element Formation. It contained two formation patterns and was considered one of the foundational formations.

But Mo Hua had never succeeded in drawing this formation before.

For disciples in the early stages of Qi Refinement, the typical formation they learned had only one formation pattern. Even among the early Qi Refinement disciples of the Tongxian Sect's outer sect, only a few could fully master a single formation pattern.

But Mo Hua was already familiar with single-pattern formations, drawing them with ease.

He aspired to learn more challenging formations, so each night, he practiced the Dual-Element Formation, with its two formation patterns, on the Dao Stele.

After numerous nights of repeated practice, like the persistent drip of water wearing down stone, Mo Hua finally succeeded.

For a Formation Master, each additional formation pattern was a threshold; drawing an extra pattern meant ascending another step.

Being able to draw two formation patterns signified that Mo Hua's Spiritual Sense and formation skills already surpassed those of his peers.

Among the early Qi Refinement disciples in the outer sect of the Tongxian Sect, his formation skills were likely unmatched.

Mo Hua exhaled deeply, and when dawn broke, he withdrew his Spiritual Sense from his Sea of Consciousness and opened his eyes.

Despite a whole night spent practicing formations, Mo Hua's mind was still clear, and he felt no fatigue, as if he had merely enjoyed a peaceful night's sleep.

He opened the window, and the first light of dawn bathed his fair face.

As the sun rose over the horizon, the sky blazed with radiance.

At ten years old, Mo Hua took a deep breath and gazed out at the landscape with a determined look in his eyes.

As long as he continued to practice formations and hone his Spiritual Sense, one day, he would become a First-Grade Formation Master.

At that moment, like the rising sun, he would take a great step toward his pursuit of the Dao and never be confined to Qi Refinement alone!