Chapter 16 Qi Refinement Level 3_1

Mo Hua entered Tongxian Gate, marking the beginning of a new year of sect life.

The Tongxian Gate was a First Grade Sect, the lowest among the ranks in the Tao Cultivation World.

The hierarchical structure of sect grades in the Tao Cultivation World was exceedingly strict.

When a sect was first established, it had to undergo an assessment, which was reviewed and adjudicated by the Taoist Court.

The criteria for assessment were rigorous, strictly evaluating a sect's assets, occupied mountain ranges, depth of inherited foundation, moral character of the Sect Leader, the cultivation and quantity of Elders and instructors within the sect, and even the number of disciples it could accommodate.

The promotion of a sect's grade was even harsher—it required several high-rank cultivators to have presided over the sect and passed down teachings for a set number of years before applying to the Heavenly Right Pavilion of the Taoist Court for an upgraded grade.

For any sect, a grade promotion was a major event, requiring years of preparation, establishing connections with the Taoist Court, and spending a large amount of manpower and financial resources.

Within Tongxian Gate, only the old Sect Leader had reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, a standard far from qualifying as a Second Grade Sect. By all estimations, the sect would not qualify for a promotion within the next century.

Moreover, Tongxian Gate's assets only consisted of three mountain peaks: Tongling Peak, Tongxuan Peak, and Tongming Peak.

Outer disciples in the early stage of Qi Refinement, ranging from the first to the third layers, practiced Tao cultivation on Tongling Peak. For those in the middle stage, ranging from the fourth to the sixth layers, they cultivated on Tongxuan Peak. As for the few late-stage Qi Refinement disciples, ranging from the seventh to the ninth layers, they were also settled on Tongxuan Peak due to their small numbers.

Inner disciples and personal disciples, as well as the Sect Leader, Elders, and instructors, resided and cultivated on Tongming Peak.

It was said that there used to be a Tongxian Peak, which was exclusively designated for the Sect Leader and Elders to live and cultivate. However, due to poor management and overwhelming debt, it was sold off with heavy hearts.

How could Tongxian Gate truly be called Tongxian Gate without Tongxian Peak?

Sect Leaders across generations had vowed to buy Tongxian Peak back, but unfortunately, this grand aspiration had yet to be realized.

Disciples on each peak were divided into four classes: A, B, C, and D. The quality of disciples decreased from Class A downward, and the sect's level of attention and resources allocated followed suit.

Class A typically only admitted so-called "Heaven's Chosen Sons," requiring exceptional spiritual roots, unparalleled talent and comprehension, and rapid cultivation progress.

Of course, if a disciple had connections with the Sect Leader or Elders, or was willing to donate a substantial amount of spirit stones to the sect, they could also enter Class A.

In short, you either needed talent, connections, or wealth.

Class B consisted of disciples with average spiritual roots but good talent and understanding, coupled with diligence and strong overall performance.

Class C disciples had average spiritual roots, comprehension, and performance, while Class D disciples tended to have even poorer spiritual roots and results, essentially scraping by day to day.

Mo Hua was placed in Class B, categorized as a disciple with average spiritual roots but relatively diligent, with decent performance across subjects.

Being only at the second layer of Qi Refinement, Mo Hua lived, ate, and cultivated on Tongling Peak, the peak with the largest number of disciples in Tongxian Gate.

After entering the sect and exchanging greetings with familiar peers, Mo Hua began his year of study and cultivation.

*For lower-level cultivators, no matter how destitute, they must gather some spirit stones to send their children to sects for cultivation. At least this would provide them with a foundational understanding of cultivation and prevent them from being completely ignorant about the Tao Cultivation World.*

*This was why Tongxian Gate had the most disciples in the early stage of Qi Refinement.*

When reaching the middle stage of Qi Refinement, whether one could continue cultivating depended on two factors: the cultivator's innate talent and their family's wealth.

Some loose cultivators' families couldn't afford more spirit stones, forcing their children to drop out, take odd jobs refining artifacts, or hunt monsters in the mountains—just barely scraping by. The annual tuition of a hundred spirit stones was no small amount. Otherwise, before their children achieved any cultivation success, their families would starve.

Reaching the late stage of Qi Refinement and continuing to cultivate within the sect was even rarer.

Mo Hua noticed several familiar peers were absent. After inquiring, he found out that they had dropped out due to impoverished family situations compounded by unfortunate circumstances, making them unable to pay the tuition.

*The Tao cultivation path was intricate yet profound. Without proper guidance, one could unknowingly make countless mistakes. Dropping out during the early stages of Qi Refinement meant that, unless blessed with extraordinary fortune, there was slim hope of making any progress in cultivation.*

Mo Hua sighed softly, feeling quite regretful. However, his own circumstances were hardly ideal and left him with little time to dwell on such emotions.

Mo Hua juggled attending classes, cultivating, and sketching formations during his free time, leading a busy yet fulfilling life.

Several months later, without really noticing, Mo Hua broke through to the third layer of Qi Refinement.

Progress in the Qi Refinement Realm mainly depended on persistence and accumulation. By cultivating consistently every day and spending spirit stones effectively, one could naturally achieve breakthroughs.

*But for loose cultivators, spirit stones were the resource they perpetually lacked.*

*Breaking through small realms relied on accumulation, while breaking through mid realms brought bottlenecks. These bottlenecks required certain heavenly materials and earthly treasures or pills to help overcome them.*

*As for breaking through great realms, like advancing from Qi Refinement to Foundation Establishment, it was almost entirely a matter of destiny. For most lower-level loose cultivators, this was a chasm they could never cross in their lifetime.*

Each advancement in realm brought immense benefits to cultivators.

Now at the third layer of Qi Refinement, Mo Hua felt his spiritual power had grown more abundant, and his divine sense naturally became stronger as well.

The Bright Fire Formation, which he used to struggle with, now seemed effortless, even allowing him to recover quickly afterward.

Despite expecting this improvement, Mo Hua was still pleasantly surprised.

*No wonder so many cultivators endured the monotonous routine of cultivation, relentlessly striving to improve their realms. This kind of humble yet profound joy following arduous efforts—this must be the true essence of happiness.*

At ten years old and at the third layer of Qi Refinement, Mo Hua ranked above average within Class B.

Reaching the third layer, Mo Hua now needed to choose a cultivation technique.

One day, after a lecture, Instructor Yan asked several disciples at the third layer of Qi Refinement to stay behind, including Mo Hua.

Instructor Yan kept Mo Hua and the others back and then candidly said,

"This was initially Old Instructor Zhou's responsibility, but he has been feeling unwell, so I'm stepping in temporarily to discuss cultivation techniques with you."

"The most important thing for a cultivator is spiritual power, whether you practice body cultivation or spiritual cultivation, whether drawing formations, alchemy, artifact refining, or rune making—it all requires spiritual power. With strong spiritual power, you'll rise above others; with weak spiritual power, you'll fall behind. The fundamental divide among cultivators lies in spiritual power."

"A cultivator's spiritual power is determined by their cultivation technique, and cultivation techniques are determined by spiritual roots. The type of spiritual roots you have dictates which cultivation techniques you can practice, and the choice of technique determines the level of spiritual power you can achieve."

"Spiritual roots are innate, foreordained, and cannot be altered through later efforts. While you can't choose your spiritual roots, you can choose the cultivation technique you practice."

"Selecting an appropriate cultivation technique can have tremendous benefits for your future cultivation. Poor spiritual roots coupled with the right technique can lead to a relatively sustainable cultivation journey, whereas excellent spiritual roots paired with the wrong technique often equate to severing the path to immortality."

"Therefore, regardless of whether your spiritual roots are good or bad, the matter of cultivation techniques must be treated with utmost caution…"

"Cultivation techniques..." Mo Hua muttered to himself.

Mo Hua possessed lower-mid-grade spiritual roots with a small Five Elements attribute—considered mediocre among his peers in Tongxian City.

He could only wonder what kind of cultivation techniques his spiritual roots would allow him to learn.