Chapter 1013: Invisible

The sword discussions between the Kongming Gate and the Jin Gang Gate have concluded. Every movement, method, and technique used by Mo Painting in this sword discussion, every advance and retreat, every positioning detail, was copied down by the "Xiangying Diagram" and transmitted to various sects, into the hands of the elders in charge of the sword discussions.

In the Qian Xue Territory, from the four major sects, eight great gates, to the twelve minor sects, many elders are watching Mo Painting's Xiangying Diagram, analyzing his every move. Some sect elders even jointly hold meetings to discuss this matter.

In a grand hall, the Xiangying Diagram is hung high. On the diagram, Mo Painting appears and disappears intermittently. In the hall, various sect elders also exchange opinions:

"So it is."

"I was just saying, how could this spirit cultivator, without learning some life-saving methods, get by? With this boy's shrewdness and cunning, it's impossible that he has no trump cards. It turns out to be a stealth technique."

"His movement skills are indeed unremarkable. On the contrary, this stealth technique is truly exquisite beyond compare; it's clear he put in a lot of effort."

"Didn't anyone collect this intelligence before?"

"The Kongming Gate treats him as a 'little ancestor' to supply, and the news is guarded too strictly."

"The Court Division over there seems to have intervened. All of Mo Painting's related files have been sealed."

"Someone mentioned before that he knows stealth techniques, but it was just a casual remark, not taken seriously."

"The most crucial problem is that no one could have imagined his stealth technique would be so strong."

"Why?"

"Because... his divine sense is strong?"

"Yes, the core of stealth technique is not in the technique itself, but in the divine sense."

"Don't forget, this Mo Painting, when he was at the mid-stage of Foundation Building, already had a nineteen-pattern divine sense..."

"Nineteen-pattern peak," someone added. "Nineteen-pattern and nineteen-pattern peak are not the same concept."

A body-refining elder, not understanding the nuances between divine senses, then said: "Still nineteen-pattern though... what's the difference?"

"This..."

An elder with profound knowledge then said:

"The difference within is too great."

"Divine sense is different from spiritual power. It is ethereal and formless, with a completely different cultivation quantification system."

"From the late stage of Foundation Building to the peak of Foundation Building, it's still Foundation Building after all, and the difference won't exceed a small realm."

"But between the nineteen-pattern divine sense and the twenty-pattern, there is a chasm."

"This chasm is precisely the nineteen-pattern peak."

"The divine sense gap between nineteen-pattern peaks is truly like heaven and earth from beginning to end, no less than from ten-pattern to nineteen-pattern."

"This chasm is the restriction of the Heavenly Way, and also the gift of the Heavenly Way."

"With this vast chasm, Foundation Building cultivators cannot break through the 'heavenly barrier' of the nineteen-pattern peak and foolishly attempt to reach the twenty-pattern Golden Core divine thought realm. This is the restriction of the Heavenly Way."

"And once a Foundation Building cultivator breaks through to Golden Core, their divine thought will naturally step into the twenty-pattern."

"The Heavenly Way will give you this nineteen-pattern peak divine sense for free. It's equivalent to your divine sense increasing by a fold upon breaking through to Golden Core. Therefore, this is also the gift of the Heavenly Way."

His old-fashioned cultivation remarks were understood by some elders, while another part remained a bit vague and unclear. Then someone asked: "Then what level is this Mo Painting's divine sense now? Which step of the nineteen-pattern peak?"

The aged elder shook his head: "Who can see that accurately? The nineteen-pattern peak is originally the Heavenly Way's 'chasm zone,' and there is no quantifiable standard."

"Moreover, divine sense cannot be cultivated. Cultivators who can reach the nineteen-pattern peak divine sense realm are few and far between, reference cases are scarce, and there is no way to set a scale."

"But no matter what, this Mo Painting, although his divine sense is still at the nineteen-pattern peak, is definitely stronger than before."

"As for how much stronger... it's hard to say."

The elder with the "scholar" appearance shook his head.

Everyone frowned, their expressions somewhat grave. Someone else asked: "Then could his divine sense be twenty-pattern?"

The surroundings suddenly quieted down. A crowd of elders all felt stifled. The elder with the "scholar" appearance frowned, somewhat impatiently said:

"Putting together what this old man just said, did you not understand a single word?"

"What is called 'heavenly barrier'? What is called 'chasm'? What is called 'Heavenly Way restriction'?"

"If he crossed this heavenly barrier, leaped this chasm, and broke this Heavenly Way restriction, wouldn't heaven and earth suddenly change, and anomalies fill the sky?"

"Would this still be tolerable?"

"You've all become elders, before speaking, use your brain to think carefully."

The speaking elder was scolded to the point of embarrassment.

"Then if his divine sense is so strong, doesn't it mean that no one can see through his stealth technique? Then in the sword discussion, isn't he invincible?"

"Shi Tiangang is a body cultivator, his divine sense is not good, that's why he couldn't recognize it."

"What influence does being a body cultivator or not have? If you substitute an array master, can their divine sense be stronger than his?"

"Don't forget, he was the champion in the previous array discussion. In the entire Qian Xue Territory, there are so many array law prodigies, none surpassed him, and that was three years ago."

The crowd fell silent. But soon, someone's eyes flashed, and they proposed: "Then... use spiritual tools?"

"Cultivators' divine sense has strong and weak suppression. The weak one cannot clearly see the details of the strong one and is easily manipulated. But spiritual tools are different. They are originally inanimate objects and won't be too affected."

"This is a method."

"Not only spiritual tools, but also manifestation dust."

"Cultivators are no different from others; they are good at borrowing from objects."

"So... this is also a method."

The crowd of elders discussed and then roughly had a plan.

The next sword discussion was the Kongming Gate against the Longding Sect. The Longding Sect, one of the four major sects, inherits the Longding body refining method. Legend has it that the ancestor who founded the Longding Sect had 'merits from following the dragon' and was quite related to the Court, thus passing down the 'Longding Gongfa'. They used the blood of karma dragons to cleanse marrow and cut veins, and the phase of green cauldrons to refine the dharma body.

The Longding body refining method is an extremely superior ancient inheritance. Of course, these inheritances passed down to the present, truly related to 'dragons', are definitely few and far between. At most, they have the form, but not the essence. Mo Painting could figure this out without using his brain. The Longding Sect has been inherited for so many years, and there are so many disciples under the sect. If they all used 'karma dragon blood to cleanse marrow and cut veins,' they would have gone bankrupt long ago.

What kind of existence is a dragon? Even if it's a karma dragon, it's still noble beyond compare. Where would there be so much blood for you to refine your disciples' bodies? If they really had so much 'karma dragon blood,' the Court would definitely first order your sect to close its doors and hand over the 'dragon blood' to the public. If you weren't convinced, they would just find an excuse and exterminate your whole sect.

According to Mo Painting's knowledge, the so-called 'karma dragon blood to cleanse marrow and cut veins' probably uses spiritual objects containing karma dragon aura, such as 'dragon blood fruit,' 'dragon blood grass,' and other heavenly materials and earthly treasures, to perform body quenching. Of course, these heavenly materials and earthly treasures with 'dragon' in their names are actually also precious beyond compare, not something ordinary cultivators can afford. Using this to quench the body, the cultivated techniques would definitely be powerful. Therefore, the Longding Sect is one of the four major gates. The disciples who join the Longding Sect all have either rich or noble family backgrounds.

This time, facing Mo Painting are the Longding Sect's first-class disciples, similarly with deep cultivation, very strong physical bodies, and decent dao methods. Among them, the strongest is certainly not comparable to the Jin Gang Gate's senior brother Shi Tiangang. But the average strength is slightly superior to the previous Jin Gang Gate. The five of them are all equipped with a 'Peep Hidden Mirror' and have brought manifestation dust.

The Peep Hidden Mirror can peek through stealth. Manifestation dust can manifest traces. Their tactics are relatively direct and also relatively extreme: the five of them all go to kill Mo Painting. As long as one person can kill Mo Painting, they can win. Because this match is a decapitation round. Mo Painting is still the 'leader' of the Kongming Gate team.

Five Longding Sect experts killing a Foundation Building realm spirit cultivator. This spirit cultivator is still 'thin-skinned and tender', can be killed with one punch. Furthermore, Mo Painting's low-end movement skills are not worth worrying about. The only thing to be wary of is his stealth technique, which is also targeted by five people.

Not only the five people from the Longding Sect, but even various sect elders, various family high-levels, and the vast number of spectators outside the arena cannot imagine how Mo Painting could possibly survive. This is almost a sure-death situation. Furthermore, this is precisely a 'decapitation race'. As long as they go all out and kill Mo Painting, they can win. As long as they kill Mo Painting, they don't even need to worry about the most troublesome sword dao prodigy, Ling Huxiao. The Longding Sect can win.

"Heaven does not help the Kongming Gate; Mo Painting should die in this round!" This sentence almost floats in everyone's hearts.

Therefore, as soon as the sword discussion began, the five people from the Longding Sect shouted together: "Kill!" Then, like dragon roars and tiger growls, their qi and blood surged. The five people suddenly made a move, killing together towards Mo Painting.

Mo Painting said nothing, turned around, and ran towards the small woods. Ling Huxiao and the other four made a move, wanting to block the five disciples of the Longding Sect. But these five are body cultivators who practice the Longding Gongfa. Their strength is like dragons and tigers, their bones are like copper cauldrons, their attack is high, their defense is high, and their movement is fast. Under the tactic of 'no need to engage, just behead Mo Painting,' after just a few rounds, the five people broke through Ling Huxiao and the others' defense from various angles and killed their way into the small woods.

The woods were quiet, the tree shadows were heavy, sunlight cut into broken shadows, a piece of serene and peaceful, and there was no sign of Mo Painting. But the five disciples of the Longding Sect only had cold smiles on their faces. The trick of stealth technique, playing it once is enough. This is the sword discussion assembly. Don't rely on hard strength, don't rely on cultivation dao methods. Only thinking of relying on those small tricks, scheming and plotting, will only invite ridicule.

The five people each held a gold-inlaid and jade-embedded Peep Hidden Mirror, whose light was as serene as lake water. They shone it towards the small woods from five angles. Then, the cold smiles hanging on the corners of the five people's mouths all froze.

"Shine again!"

The five people shone again. White light swept once, and on the Peep Hidden Mirror, every blade of grass, every tree, every insect, and every stone in the small woods were clearly presented. But there was just no Mo Painting.

Not only were the five disciples of the Longding Sect somewhat confused, but even the various sect dao method elders outside the arena couldn't help but look at each other. The spectating cultivators discussed even more fervently; they saw clearly: 'Isn't Mo Painting just standing in front of them? What are these five people holding spiritual mirrors doing, zoning out?'

"The Peep Hidden spiritual mirror can't peep through stealth? Is it broken?"

"Isn't the Longding Sect one of the four major sects? They shouldn't lack money. How could they still use this 'expired spiritual tool'?"

"This is the sword discussion assembly. If the Peep Hidden Mirror given to the disciples cannot peep through stealth, aren't they making trouble for themselves?"

"They are one of the four major sects, so it shouldn't be to that extent."

"Then what is the situation now?"

In the arena, the five disciples of the Longding Sect also felt a blankness in their hearts. They never thought there could still be a situation where the Peep Hidden Mirror couldn't peep through stealth. In this way, the situation completely changed.

"Sprinkle the manifestation dust!" The Longding Sect's leading disciple immediately said. The five people then separately recited incantations and cast spells, urged their divine sense, and began to control objects, sprinkling the dust from a box towards the small woods. These dusts floated in the air, and as long as they stuck to the body, they couldn't be shaken off in a short time. As long as Mo Painting fell into the dust, he would also reveal his body outline and could no longer hide his figure.

But as soon as this manifestation dust diffused in the small woods, a strong wind suddenly rose, howled and came, rolled the dust, and drifted everywhere towards the outside of the woods.

"Mad Wind Array!" The Longding Sect disciples gritted their teeth and said. A Mad Wind Array was set up around the small woods. Once activated, it would stir up strong winds and completely scatter the manifestation dust.

"This damn boy is truly cunning!"

And with the Peep Hidden Mirror invalid and the manifestation dust scattered, all their means targeting Mo Painting were invalid. The Longding Sect originally felt that they had given Mo Painting enough 'respect'. They brought spiritual tools and used manifestation dust. But now it seems that this 'respect' is still too superficial, not sincere enough.

And taking advantage of this time, Ling Huxiao and the other four also killed their way over. Unable to find Mo Painting, the five people from the Longding Sect could only fight with Ling Huxiao and the others. Fortunately, their strength was still strong. In a head-on confrontation, they were completely not inferior to the Kongming Gate, and they were five against four.

But as they fought, fireball techniques began to fly out in the small woods. Mo Painting also showed his head and used spells to support his teammates.

"Kill him!" The Longding Sect's leading disciple immediately pointed at Mo Painting and shouted coldly. Two Longding Sect disciples immediately flashed their bodies, like tiger roars and dragon chants, urged their movement skills, and rushed into the woods. But looking around, the woods were deep, and there was no longer any trace of Mo Painting. They could only retreat again.

But as soon as they retreated, Mo Painting showed his head again, pointed his fingers frequently, and whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, threw fireball techniques at them again, threw water prison techniques... The two Longding Sect disciples were furious beyond measure. Enduring the spells, they rushed into the woods again. As soon as they rushed in, Mo Painting disappeared again. They retreated again, Mo Painting showed his head again, and threw spells at them again.

The five people from the Longding Sect felt their lungs were about to explode with anger. The audience outside the arena also watched until their blood surged and their heads buzzed.

Too despicable!

Truly too despicable!

For so many years, so many sessions of the sword discussion assembly, they truly haven't seen such shameless, such sneaky disciples. Even though it's the sword discussion assembly, with so many people watching. If you don't want face, can't your sect behind you still not want face? Always using low-level spells to disgust people, is it really interesting?

But Mo Painting truly felt very interesting. When enemies came, he ran; when they chased close, he stealth; when enemies retreated, he threw spells from afar again. And this back and forth tied up two Longding Sect disciples. The remaining three were suppressed by Ling Huxiao and the other four and had already been hit by many Kongming Sword Qi. The Longding Sect's formation was also disrupted by him.

The Longding Sect disciples also realized that this was not good: "Don't worry about Mo Painting, kill Ling Huxiao first." This was a helpless method. The other two Longding Sect disciples received the order, gave up on Mo Painting, came back to assist, and the five people joined forces to surround and attack Ling Huxiao and the other four. For a time, dragon qi surged, cauldron sounds boomed, and sword qi swept, cutting gold and shattering jade.

No one cared about Mo Painting, and Mo Painting was even happier. He began to stand at the edge of the small woods, release his divine sense, coordinate the overall situation, and throw spells without scruple. Mainly fireball techniques, mixed with some golden ring techniques, golden flash techniques, water prison techniques, wood binding techniques, quicksand techniques... and so on, small five elements spells that were not powerful but had very disgusting effects.

The Longding Sect disciples suffered unspeakably. In the past, these heaven's proud sons wouldn't even look at such low-level five elements spells. In their eyes, there were only powerful superior dao methods. Using this kind of insignificant small spells would only be ridiculed. But now, they were frequently tortured and humiliated by these low-level small spells, made to look ridiculous.

On the grand sword discussion assembly, under the gaze of various sects, various families, and cultivators from all over the nine provinces, being 'insulted' by insignificant low-end five elements spells... At this moment, the disciples of the Longding Sect also finally personally experienced why so many sects and so many disciples gritted their teeth at Mo Painting and hated him to the bone.

The sword discussion was still ongoing. The cultivators from both sides were still in melee. Sword qi and spells flew chaotically, and fists and feet bombarded, very intense. But letting Mo Painting play freely in the battle situation would definitely not have a good result. Gradually, the Longding Sect was just struggling. Their average strength was strong, but the problem was that no one was like Ling Huxiao, a true 'prodigy'. Many times, in stalemate situations, a 'prodigy' is needed to break the deadlock and turn the tide. Precisely because of this, prodigies are praised by everyone and anticipated by thousands. Without a prodigy to break the situation, the situation will only worsen.

Furthermore, after fighting with Shi Tiangang of the Jin Gang Gate, Ling Huxiao was tempered, and his sword qi was even stronger. Ouyang Xuan and the others also gained experience in dealing with 'powerful body cultivators'. Mo Painting's spells were also more proficient, more crafty, and more insidious. Therefore, the Longding Sect could only retreat step by step.

And this was still not the most infuriating. The most infuriating thing was that the Longding Sect gradually realized that from the beginning of this sword discussion, they had no possibility of 'victory'. Because this is a 'decapitation' race. Mo Painting is that 'leader'. This leader can stealth, and no one can see through his stealth. In other words, he naturally stands in an undefeated position. Even if they can kill all four of Ling Huxiao, it's useless. As long as Mo Painting finds a place to squat and activates his stealth, no one can fundamentally find him. If they can't find him, they can't kill him, and they can't decapitate him.

This round, from the start, is a 'dead end', fundamentally impossible to win! Thinking this way, the hearts of the several disciples of the Longding Sect all cooled down. How can they still play in a round destined not to win? Even if they go all out, at most they can only strive for a 'draw', but the Kongming Gate will definitely not agree. Moreover, the opponent's 'leader', Mo Painting, can stealth and dodge all harm if he sees the situation is not good. But their Longding Sect cannot. Their leader cannot 'stealth'. Not only can't he 'stealth', but he will always be exposed to the Kongming Gate's attacks and always suffer Ling Huxiao's sword qi chopping.

A wisp of despair spread in their hearts, deeper and deeper. But this is the sword discussion assembly, and they are disciples of the four major sects. Although the situation was not good, they were still unwilling to give up. In the subsequent battle, the disciples of the Longding Sect still sought other means to try to break this deadlock. The main one was to find ways to lure Mo Painting and kill him. Mo Painting is too fragile, and his tolerance is too low. As long as he is slightly careless and exposes any small flaw, any of the five people from the Longding Sect can kill him with one punch.

But Mo Painting's divine sense is too strong, and he is also too clever. As long as there is a little sign of danger, he immediately stealths and drills into the small woods. No one knows where he 'hides'. The audience outside the arena knows, though. They wish they could break the five-grade great array, fly into the sword discussion arena, and personally tell the Longding Sect disciples Mo Painting's position. Tell them that Mo Painting hasn't gone far at all! He's just stealth, riding on the big tree, watching their jokes with a leisurely face. But unfortunately, they can't do it.

Just like this, the situation worsened step by step. In the end, one of the four major sects, the grand prodigy disciples of the Longding Sect, were truly disgusted by Mo Painting's stealth technique to the point of defeat in one field, and just like that, they lost.

Everyone's heart felt a bit strange. They all realized that Mo Painting's stealth technique was a bit abnormal. This was a stealth that 'cannot be peeped through'. This also means that Mo Painting will be an 'invisible' spirit cultivator...

How to kill an invisible spirit cultivator?