Chapter 740: Wielding the Sword

"Look, look, just learn it..."

Old Mister Xun fell silent, the pen in his hand also stopped.

With slightly lowered eyebrows, Xun Ziyou quietly lifted his eyes, looked at Old Mister Xun, and mustered the courage to ask:

"Old Ancestor, isn't this... also what you taught?"

Old Mister Xun's pale eyebrows rose slightly. He looked at Xun Ziyou and said faintly,

"What, is that not allowed? Are you questioning me, your old ancestor?"

Xun Ziyou's mustered courage instantly scattered. He said awkwardly, "I wouldn't dare."

He then softly muttered,

"But Old Ancestor, you can't be so biased... You don't teach the sect disciples, you don't teach the Xun family disciples, and yet you teach everything to Mo Hua...

And they're all good things...

Drawing the ground as an array, and also deducing sword qi...

Why didn't you also teach him the secret of divine thought turning into sword?"

Old Mister Xun immediately rebuked,

"What nonsense are you talking about?!

Is that something that can be taught? Do you want to harm him?

Every time you split with a sword, your divine thought is consumed. This is cutting off your own path of divine sense!

I've already sealed my divine thought and haven't used this sword secret for several hundred years. You still want this child to learn it? You want his divine sense to self-damage and cut off his foundation?"

Seeing Old Mister Xun angry, Xun Ziyou immediately dared not speak.

Old Mister Xun frowned, thought for a moment, and then instructed,

"You, and those elders in the sect... Privately emphasize to them again that no one is allowed to mention the matter of divine thought turning into sword in front of Mo Hua...

Not a single word!"

Old Mister Xun's gaze condensed, and he sighed slightly.

This child is too clever, his divine sense is strong, and his curiosity is also heavy. If he ever hears that Tai Xu Sect has such a sword secret, he will definitely try with all his heart to learn it...

Xun Ziyou cupped his hands helplessly and said, "Yes."

Old Mister Xun silently looked at him, "You should know the consequences of divine thought turning into sword, right?"

Xun Ziyou was startled, and then his expression became desolate.

He had just said it casually, but his heart was still clear.

Scene after scene of memories surged into his heart:

Old Ancestor Dugu on the back mountain.

That sword tomb with broken swords all over the mountain.

Senior Brother Dugu Xuan, who once held everyone's hope, was outstanding in the path of the sword, yet his life spirit sword broke and he vanished without a trace...

As well as the Tai Xu Sect, which is now becoming increasingly desolate.

Xun Ziyou suppressed his expression and solemnly cupped his hands again,

"Yes."

Old Mister Xun nodded slightly.

"What about the Duan Jin Sect over there..." Xun Ziyou said again, "There won't be any trouble, right?"

Old Mister Xun thought for a moment, then said,

"You keep this under wraps. Don't let others know about this kind of matter. Mo Hua is a clever child and definitely won't say anything himself. You also won't say anything, so the Duan Jin Sect over there definitely won't know.

This matter of deducing sword qi...

Old Mister Xun paused slightly and couldn't help but say, "It violates the common sense of cultivation... It's fundamentally not something ordinary cultivators can learn.

As long as it's not spoken about, the Duan Jin Sect over there, even if they racked their brains, won't be able to figure out what's going on."

Xun Ziyou's heart felt slightly cold.

It's fundamentally not something ordinary cultivators can learn...

That means Mo Hua's talent might indeed be extraordinary.

No wonder... Old Ancestor values Mo Hua so much.

Xun Ziyou asked again, "What if the Duan Jin Sect sees the sword array and suspects our Tai Xu Sect?"

Old Mister Xun said firmly, "Then just stick to this: this is not a Duan Jin Sect sword array!"

Xun Ziyou was stunned.

Old Mister Xun said indifferently, "How can their Duan Jin Sect prove that this sword array belongs to them? Do they dare to take out their own sword array to compare?"

Xun Ziyou was still uneasy, "But, this is of the gold element..."

Old Mister Xun raised an eyebrow, "A gold element sword array is just a Duan Jin Sect sword array? Do they have such a big reputation?

Are the Rong Jin sword array, Po Jin sword array, and Geng Jin sword array inherited by the various gold sword sects in the Nine Provinces all theirs?"

Xun Ziyou pondered for a bit, "That seems right too..."

Catch the thief with the stolen goods.

If they didn't catch him red-handed with the stolen goods, why would they dare to slander our Tai Xu Sect disciples?

What's more, he still has the Old Ancestor backing him up.

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that this sword array, strictly speaking, wasn't originally "stolen" by Mo Hua, but rather "seen" by him through his own ability.

You can use a sword in front of him, but can't you let him use his eyes to "look" at you?

Looking at it once allows you to learn your inheritance. How can this kind of matter be blamed on Mo Hua?

Xun Ziyou slowly nodded, sighing involuntarily in his heart. The Old Ancestor is indeed the Old Ancestor.

Whether it's cultivation or thick skin.

"Old Ancestor, I understand," said Xun Ziyou.

Old Mister Xun waved his hand.

Xun Ziyou then stood up and respectfully took his leave.

After Xun Ziyou left, Old Mister Xun sat alone, his eyebrows furrowing even tighter.

"Deducing sword qi..."

"How exactly is this deduced?"

"Could it be..."

Old Mister Xun's heart palpitated. That supreme secret algorithm that penetrates the secrets of the heavens and derives all principles, once again floated in his mind:

Heavenly secret derivation!

"What exactly did that kid with the surname Zhuang teach this little disciple..."

"But that's not right..." Old Mister Xun frowned, "If he didn't teach the Immortal Heaven Array Stream, why would he teach the heavenly secret derivation?

Is this something that can be learned in the Foundation Building realm?"

Old Mister Xun's gaze condensed slightly.

Tai Xu Mountain was serene, and the elder's residence was quiet.

Old Mister Xun continued to write something on the paper. After finishing, he collected the paper, then took out his compass, his gaze sinking slightly. He murmured in a low voice,

"This child's secrets are possibly deeper and more unfathomable than I thought...

It's best to add another 'lock' to this child's karma..."

Mo Hua continued to research the Duan Jin sword array.

A sword array is a link in the inheritance of sword techniques, the core of a sword weapon, and also the key to the path of the sword.

Mo Hua wanted to learn Tai Xu Sect's divine thought turning into sword.

When he was in the small fishing village, he had already learned the basic "turning sword style" through tracing the source of karma.

But this turning sword style was just the tip of the iceberg.

Moreover, because he was a "rookie" in sword techniques, his "turning sword style" lacked the foundation of sword techniques as its root and was learned very crudely.

It was just copying the gourd and drawing the ladle, simulating the "sword shape" with divine thought.

This kind of turning sword style already had decent power.

But this power relied on his own powerful and qualitatively changed divine sense, not on an exquisite divine thought method.

Mo Hua wanted to go further and learn a more profound divine thought turning into sword.

But now he had no way to do so.

He wasn't convenient to ask Old Mister Xun.

If he asked about arrays, Old Mister Xun would be very happy, but if he asked about sword techniques, Old Mister Xun would surely be very unhappy.

He would definitely think he was "not attending to proper business" and had a restless mind.

As for the other elders, whether he was unfamiliar or familiar with them, no matter how Mo Hua probed, he couldn't find any information.

Except for that senior sword cultivator in the small fishing village, Mo Hua had not seen anyone else from Tai Xu Sect who mastered divine thought turning into sword until now.

This secret of divine thought sword seemed to have disappeared in Tai Xu Sect.

This was very strange.

Mo Hua sighed.

Since there was no way, he could only figure it out himself.

Divine thought turning into sword is rooted in the foundation of sword techniques.

Mo Hua's sword path foundation was pitiful.

So he wanted to improve his understanding and knowledge of the sword path.

Sword qi is fine, and sword weapons are fine, all of which he could research.

See if he could indirectly, through his understanding of the sword path, further comprehend the true meaning of "divine thought turning into sword".

Now, the Duan Jin sword array, with swords and arrays, was a good opportunity.

But this sword array was an absolute secret inheritance of the Duan Jin Sect.

He had to learn it secretly and couldn't let the Duan Jin Sect know.

At least he couldn't let them know that he had their Duan Jin sword array.

For several days, Mo Hua worked tirelessly, researching the sword array's sword patterns, structure, usage, and principles whenever he had time.

The sword array was incomplete, so he couldn't learn it fully, but his understanding of the Duan Jin sword qi became deeper and deeper.

Based on the principles of the Duan Jin sword qi, Mo Hua improved the Ke Jin armor.

Inside this armor, he used the skeleton of a fire demon that could isolate sword qi and added an array to increase the offset of sword qi.

Mo Hua drew the diagram and handed it to Master Gu.

Although there was only one set, Master Gu was not slack. He personally worked overtime to refine this set of "Ke Jin armor".

To distinguish it, Mo Hua named this set of armor "Duan Jin Jia".

This armor, as the name suggests, mainly defends against gold element sword qi, its purpose being to restrain the Duan Jin Sect.

But this Duan Jin armor was just the first version and still needed improvement, and the Duan Jin sword array had not yet been completely deduced.

"I still need that pretty boy..."

Mo Hua thought silently.

Soon it was the seasonal rest, which was also the day of the appointed battle.

Inside the Refining Demon Mountain.

Cheng Mo put on the newly improved "Duan Jin armor" refined by Mo Hua and started shouting towards Song Jian again.

He had been injured before, but after one season, he had already healed.

Cheng Mo, who had thick skin and flesh, was again someone who forgot the pain after the wound healed. He immediately provoked, "Pretty boy, last time you were lucky and escaped a calamity. Today I will beat you until you kneel and call me grandpa!"

Song Jian's face was livid, "You're seeking death!"

The two quickly fought again.

Song Jian started more ruthlessly this time, and his sword qi was more fierce.

Cheng Mo's face showed off, and his heart was originally a little worried, but once he started fighting, he suddenly felt much less pressure.

Song Jian's sword qi looked dazzling with golden light flashing, but when it hit him, not only was the power greatly reduced, but the pain was also much lighter.

This set of armor not only defends against gold element spirit power but also reduces the power of sword qi by a lot.

Cheng Mo was a little unbelievable.

The custom spirit weapons of his little senior brother were becoming more and more absurd, actually even being able to defend against the town sect sword secret of a twelve-stream sect...

Cheng Mo was a little speechless.

And with this set of armor on, he could endure several more swords from Song Jian and also earn more merit.

Cheng Mo's spirit shook, he roared, and fought with Song Jian again.

The scene was in a stalemate for a while.

Mo Hua watched from the side, using the heavenly secret derivation to deduce Song Jian's spirit sword qi, supplementing the Duan Jin Sect's Duan Jin sword array.

At the same time, he estimated the effect of the Duan Jin armor through the power of Song Jian's sword qi.

Song Jian was completely treated as a "little white rat" by Mo Hua.

But he himself was still unaware.

They fought for nearly an hour and a half. Mo Hua used his old trick again, using the smell of blood to attract demon beasts to cause trouble and use this to collect "troops".

Cheng Mo scolded and cursed again, spewing ruthless words, and then slipped away.

Song Jian was so angry that his whole body trembled, but he was helpless.

After that, under Mo Hua's dark manipulation, Cheng Mo fought with Song Jian several times more in appointed battles.

Song Jian was fired up and didn't care about anything else. As long as he could fight with Cheng Mo, he didn't care about anything else.

Every time he saw Cheng Mo, he would raise his sword and attack, his eyes red, hating Cheng Mo and wanting to cut him into a thousand pieces.

Cheng Mo, on the other hand, didn't care.

He was following orders to "endure beatings".

The first time they fought, his armor wasn't good, and he still suffered quite a few injuries.

But after several times, Mo Hua's refined armor became stronger and stronger, capable of both breaking gold and defending against sword qi, so he became more and more fearless.

What's more, his little senior brother still paid him a "salary".

One hundred merit for half an hour, quite generous.

After several more appointed battles, Mo Hua observed the Duan Jin sword qi and finally deduced the complete Duan Jin sword array.

This was a very rare town sect sword array.

Mo Hua couldn't wait to start learning the Duan Jin sword array.

He wanted to know the deeper principles of the sword array and the more profound essence of the sword path.

This would be of great help to him in comprehending the "sword path".

After a few more days, through dozens of simulations of the Duan Jin sword qi and comprehension of the Duan Jin sword array, Mo Hua gradually mastered the Duan Jin sword array.

But at the same time, he suddenly discovered a shocking fact:

The essence of a sword array is to achieve a kind of spirit power form change through the array, thereby enhancing killing power.

In other words, the essence of sword qi is the "form change" of spirit power.

A sword array is a means of transforming spirit power into sword qi.

"Spirit power level change..."

Mo Hua was shocked, his mind quickly turned, drawing analogies, and instantly thought of two other kinds of spirit changes:

The reverse solution of the inverse spirit array, and the fusion of the small meteorite technique.

Array collapse, technique fusion, sword technique form change...

These three different forms, but tracing back to the source, their essence is the inherent structure of spirit power, which derives various changes according to the laws of the great path.

And the so-called "sword technique", its essence is also a kind of spirit power "form change" method.

This kind of method does not involve the inherent deep change of spirit power but changes the external form of spirit power, making it "sharpened", becoming as sharp as a sword, thereby enhancing killing power.

Spirit power as substance, with the sword as form.

Mo Hua suddenly realized.

Subsequently, he suddenly had another bold idea:

If spirit power can achieve "form change" through a sword array and turn into sword qi...

Does that mean that even if you don't have a foundation in sword techniques and don't cultivate sword qi, you can still transform powerful, killing sword qi through a sword array?

Play to your strengths and avoid your weaknesses.

Play to the strength of the array, avoid the weakness of sword techniques?

Mo Hua's heart leaped.

So, can he, without a foundation in the sword path, still walk the path of a "sword cultivator"?

Just, not a sword cultivator who cultivates sword qi himself, but a sword cultivator who extremely relies on sword arrays.

Of course, Mo Hua didn't care.

Whether it's sword qi or a sword array, a sword cultivator who can kill enemies is a good sword cultivator.

But... how to kill?

Mo Hua lay on the desk of the disciple's residence, thinking silently.

First, he needed to forge a sword.

This was beyond doubt.

Without forging a spirit sword, there is naturally no medium to bear the "sword array". Without a sword, there is no array, and there is no talk of "sword cultivator", let alone killing in the sword path.

How exactly to forge the sword will be discussed later.

The problem is, after forging a spirit sword and drawing a sword array on it, then what?

How to use the sword to kill?

Mo Hua frowned.

Using the sword at close range to chop is definitely not an option.

He didn't have that physical strength.

Urge sword qi from a distance?

Mo Hua shook his head.

Not that either...

His spirit power was insufficient, so the sword qi he urged would also be weak, no match for other sword cultivators.

Moreover, these two methods of attack were both means that ordinary sword cultivators would use, and had little to do with sword arrays, so they couldn't exploit his advantage.

Plus, his original sword techniques were shallow, and learning how sword cultivators used swords would be like drawing a tiger that didn't resemble a dog, instead becoming a weakness.

Mo Hua sighed.

It's true that things are easier said than done.

The principles of cultivation are one thing, but actual application is another.

"I don't know if there is any method that can play to my strengths and avoid my weaknesses, cover up my shortcomings of weak spirit power and poor sword techniques, and thereby maximize the power of the 'sword array'..."

Mo Hua reviewed all the sword cultivator methods he knew in his mind, and then suddenly his heart shook, and he thought of two words:

Control sword.

Mo Hua's memory became momentarily hazy.

Long ago, under the large locust tree at the Zuo Wang Residence.

His little senior brother's excited voice echoed in his ears again:

"After Foundation Building, you can control objects..."

"Controlling these tables and chairs is nothing great, but you can control swords!"

"Think about it, controlling swords with divine sense! From a distance, your divine thought moves, and the sword flies past with a whoosh, killing enemies a thousand miles away! Isn't that very powerful..."

At that moment, Mo Hua actually had a feeling of being "in another world".

These words seemed to be from a long time ago, and yet they seemed to be just yesterday.

Little Senior Brother...

Mo Hua sighed slightly, then calmed down and seriously thought about the matter of "control sword".

After Foundation Building, one can control objects with divine sense, and naturally also control swords.

But he had never seen a true "control sword" until now.

Although the Duan Jin Sect's Duan Jin control sword secret had the words "control sword", this sword secret's "control" was more about "sword qi".

Using the spirit sword to store force to display more powerful Duan Jin sword qi.

This was still a big difference from what his little senior brother said and his own understanding of "controlling swords with divine sense, killing enemies a thousand miles".

He didn't know if the Duan Jin Sect's control sword secret was just like this.

Or perhaps, this was just the initial stage of control sword, and they had not cultivated to the level of true "control sword".

"Control sword..."

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, his eyes slightly bright.

Control the sword with divine sense, use the sword as the medium for the array, use the array as the core, use the array to simulate sword qi, and use this to kill.

Mo Hua thought about this idea and was suddenly shocked to discover that "controlling swords with divine sense" really seemed to be able to play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses, solving all the drawbacks in his sword path killing.

His spirit power was poor, so he wouldn't use spirit power, he would use spirit stones.

His sword qi was weak, so he would rely on the sword array, derive powerful "sword qi" through the form change of spirit power.

His body was weak, so he simply wouldn't let others get close.

Control swords with divine sense, kill enemies a thousand miles away, use powerful divine sense to control swords, and "snipe" enemies from super far distances...

Mo Hua's expression changed, his gaze shining.

Just thinking about this scene made his blood boil a little.

But Mo Hua thought for a moment and immediately realized that if he used such a "control sword" method, the spirit sword could only be "one-time".

Once the sword was unleashed, whether it killed the enemy or not, it couldn't be retrieved.

The cost was indeed a bit high.

But you can't catch a wolf without risking your children.

The cost of some spirit swords is ultimately not as important as powerful killing methods.

If this kind of super far distance sniping "control sword" can really be cultivated successfully, in terms of range, power, concealment, and safety, it will be stronger than the sword techniques of ordinary sword cultivators by a whole level.

Wasting several spirit swords is also worth it.

Mo Hua nodded slightly, then started to grasp the time and utilize the crack of the Duan Jin sword array to refine a true "Duan Jin armor".

He had planned to let his little junior brothers wear the Duan Jin armor and go to the Refining Demon Mountain territory to seize it from the Duan Jin Sect.

With the Duan Jin armor, the Duan Jin Sect would definitely not be an opponent.

After defeating the Duan Jin Sect disciples and seizing the territory, they could start efficiently killing demon beasts and peeling materials.

Before, hunting demons was for merit and demon blood.

Now Mo Hua had another purpose:

Forge swords!

Following his heart's intent, he would forge special spirit swords containing "sword arrays", thereby further trying true "control sword" and carrying out super far distance killing!

If one day, his control sword cultivation was successful.

Then within the reach of his divine sense and the presence of his sword array, the life and death of all things would be decided in a single thought!

(End of this chapter)