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Chapter 18 - Chapter 18: The Choice

Chapter 18: The Choice

"Forget it. Better to focus on what's in front of me first…"

Mo Hua sighed inwardly, then obediently flipped to the lower-mid-grade cultivation methods.

"Lesser Five Elements Art": A lower-mid-grade cultivation method, suitable for five-element spiritual roots. Allows cultivation of 70 cycles of spiritual energy. Requires refining at least 1,000 spirit stones to reach full Qi Refining stage. Needs spiritual treasures like Centennial Earth.

"Rejuvenation Art": Lower-mid-grade, suitable for wood roots. Cultivates 75 cycles. Needs 1,100 spirit stones and materials like Evergreen Wood or Evergreen Leaves aged ten years or more.

"Hundred Flames Art": Lower-mid-grade, suitable for fire roots. Cultivates 60 cycles. Requires 900 spirit stones and treasures like Molten Fire Stone.

Lower-mid-grade methods still required a fair amount of spirit stones, though much less than the upper-grade ones.

But there's always a tradeoff—lower cost meant less power.

With Mo Hua's lower-mid-grade roots, cultivating a method of the same level would result in spiritual energy only slightly over half of what someone with low-upper-grade roots could generate at the same realm.

And that's just comparing to low-upper grade.

If you compared it to mid-upper or high-upper methods, the gap in spiritual power would grow even more drastic as cultivation progressed.

At higher levels, the difference in root quality became a chasm.

And spiritual roots were innate—unchangeable.

"Some people really are born with Heaven's blessings…"

Mo Hua shook his head. Still, since he couldn't change his roots, there was no point dwelling on it.

He flipped to the final page of the Cultivation Method Catalog, and suddenly froze.

"Transmission fee…? What the heck is that?"

There was a small note below:

"All cultivation methods in Tongxian Sect are painstakingly collected, researched, and refined by generations of sect leaders and elders.

As such, disciples must pay a spirit stone fee to obtain the right to inherit one."

Then, the specific fees were listed:

Lower-upper-grade methods required a 1,100 spirit stone fee, discounted to 998 for their rarity.

Mid-grade methods were a little cheaper.

Lower-mid-grade methods were the most affordable, but still cost 200 spirit stones.

Mo Hua was stunned.

There's a fee to inherit the technique too?!

He'd never even heard of this before!

How could the sect charge so arbitrarily?! This is robbery!

With only eight spirit stones to his name, Mo Hua could only let out a powerless sigh.

This cultivation world… was a little too real and pragmatic.

"You must choose your method and pay the transmission fee. Once you've done so, the sect will pass on the cultivation technique to you," Instructor Yan said.

"This is a major decision. I suggest you discuss it with your parents first. Don't chase something too lofty, but also don't be short-sighted and miss your chance at a cultivation future."

With that, Instructor Yan left.

Judging by his expression, he didn't seem thrilled to be enforcing the transmission fees either.

As soon as he was gone, the room erupted into chatter. Some disciples looked excited, others miserable.

"Transmission fee? Never heard of that before…"

"Who knows? If the sect demands it, what can we do? Not pay?"

"Just the fee for the Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Art is over a thousand spirit stones. Sheesh…"

"If you really wanna learn that one, better be ready to sell your soul to the sect."

"Thanks, but my roots aren't worthy anyway."

"My parents both had mid-grade roots—so why are mine low-grade?! There's barely anything I can choose from!"

"Read On the Evolution of Spiritual Roots in Cultivators. It explains how mid-grade parents can have a low-grade kid like you…"

"Say… does anyone here actually have upper-grade roots?"

"Yeah, I have a distant cousin with upper-grade roots—but his dad's a gambler and his mom's lazy. The family's dirt poor. He had to settle for a lower-mid-grade method. Completely wasted his talent. Tragic…"

"So even if I had high-grade roots, I still couldn't afford the method."

"You could always marry rich."

"Like hell I would!"

As the others talked, Mo Hua rested his chin in one hand, deep in thought.

This whole inheritance fee situation had really caught him off guard.

There were suitable methods in the catalog for him, but his parents had only just managed to scrape together his tuition.

They had no way of pulling together 200 more spirit stones any time soon. Even if they borrowed from others, the burden would be crushing.

"If that's the case… then I'll just put off choosing a method for now. I'll stick with the basic Breathing Technique, and save up enough spirit stones by drawing arrays. I've only just reached the third layer—there's still time before I hit the fourth."

Mo Hua tossed the catalog into his storage pouch. He had no intention of showing it to his parents anytime soon.

Right now, the priority was clear—draw arrays. Earn spirit stones.

His daily routine remained the same—cultivation, classes, and array drawing in his spare time.

Sect life, while repetitive, was still peaceful.

Tongling Peak was beautiful—lush greenery, veiled in gentle mist, filled with birdsong and floral fragrance.

After class, outer sect disciples would often explore the mountain trails.

The female disciples would admire flowers in groups, while male disciples chased after spirit beasts.

Young cultivators with budding affection whispered among flower groves, while others brawled over petty rivalries.

But none of that involved Mo Hua.

He poured all his energy into array studies.

Aside from meals and class, every minute went into perfecting his diagrams. Even at night, he practiced drawing array runes on stone tablets.

Among his old acquaintances, Da Hu was already at the fifth layer, and Shuang Hu and Xiao Hu had reached the fourth—all now training on Tongxuan Peak.

Though the two peaks weren't far apart, they rarely visited—knowing Mo Hua was busy with arrays and didn't want to disturb him.

Mo Hua had a smart, gentle face that looked utterly harmless.

He was kind and polite, and fairly well-liked on Tongling Peak. No one really thought of bullying him.

Besides, he was excellent at arrays and favored by Instructor Yan.

Anyone who messed with him would face serious consequences—Yan loathed troublemakers and strictly punished any disciple who disrupted their training.

Not to mention, Da Hu and his brothers always looked out for Mo Hua.

They were big, muscular, body cultivators—planning to join Black Mountain in the future as demon hunters.

They were always eager to spar, and if Mo Hua were ever in trouble, they'd come charging down from Tongxuan Peak in no time.

Mo Hua kept his head down and cultivated quietly. The only disciple he had real interaction with was Fatty An.

He returned the ten spirit stones he'd borrowed from him before the New Year.

Fatty An was stunned. He'd clearly forgotten. It took him a while to even remember the loan.

The An family was a prominent clan in Tongxian City, and ten spirit stones meant little to someone like Fatty An.

Of course, it was also entirely possible he just had a terrible memory.

After frowning and thinking for a while, Fatty An gave a complex expression and said,

"In all my life, you're the first one to borrow spirit stones and actually think to pay them back."

Mo Hua couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"This is what they mean by 'the silly rich heir'…"

Some loans he probably forgot, and others were just never paid back.

He didn't need the spirit stones, so over time, he just got used to it.

"You're so… ki—kindhearted. Be careful people don't take advantage of you."

Mo Hua had started to say "dumb" but switched it at the last second, patting Fatty An's shoulder tactfully.

Fatty An looked even more moved.

"Brother Mo… everyone says I'm dumb, but only you see that I'm just kindhearted. Out of all the disciples I've met, you're the smartest! No wonder your arrays are so amazing!"

Mo Hua… didn't quite know what to say to that.

Over a month passed.

The sect declared a ten-day rest and gave the disciples two days off.

Mo Hua left the sect and headed to Fateful Connections Pavilion on North Street.

He handed over the finished Bright Flame Arrays to Manager Wang and asked,

"Do you have any arrays that are a bit harder than the Bright Flame Array—ones that pay more spirit stones?"

Manager Wang gave him a look. "Your older brother sent you to ask?"

"Yes!" Mo Hua nodded earnestly.

"Well, there's one…" Wang rummaged behind the desk and pulled out a scroll.

It was an array diagram with several unfamiliar runes.

"Earth-Stabilizing Array—used to reinforce soil and stone. Usually used when cultivators build homes or fortify doors and windows.

It's a bit harder than the Bright Flame Array. Payment is two spirit stones per array."

Two spirit stones—twice as much as the Bright Flame Array.

"Can I take a look at the array diagram first?"

Manager Wang rolled his eyes. "What's the point? Your brother's the one who needs to approve it."

Still, he handed over the explanation scroll.

These entry-level arrays weren't particularly rare, so there was no harm in letting Mo Hua read it.

Mo Hua flipped through the scroll and found many unfamiliar runes—symbols neither he nor the sect instructors had seen before.

"No idea how long it'll take to learn this…"

The sect's transmission fees were too expensive. Earning enough through Bright Flame Arrays would take forever.

He wanted to draw more advanced arrays—but he hesitated.

If he failed to complete them in time, he'd lose the deposit.

If he couldn't learn it fast enough, it would be a complete loss of spirit stones.

"Whatever. You can't catch a wolf without risking a child!"

Mo Hua made up his mind.

Even if he failed to learn it in time and lost all 20 spirit stones, he'd just go back to drawing Bright Flame Arrays to earn them back.

If he wanted to become a true array master, he'd have to face far harder arrays than this.

He couldn't possibly draw Bright Flame Arrays his whole life.

(End of Chapter)

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