Chapter 742: Sword Controlling Genius

Having arrived inside Lian Yao Mountain, the morning glow covered the mountain, and the vegetation was lush green.

Although it was clearly a dangerous mountain forest where demonic beasts gathered, Mo Hua strolled along as if on a spring outing. His expression was relaxed, his footsteps light, and he was even humming a little tune.

He stopped when he reached a place on the mountainside. From his storage bag, he took out some fruit wine, pastries, and dried meat. He ate and savored the flavors while admiring the early morning mountain scenery.

After a while, a figure appeared in the distance.

Mo Hua immediately stood up, waved with a joyful expression, and shouted:

"Situ, over here!"

A tall and handsome young man, carrying the Li Huo Sword on his back, smiled and greeted him upon hearing the sound. He walked towards Mo Hua.

The person who arrived was precisely Situ Jian.

He was also the "sparring partner" Mo Hua had found for practicing sword flying.

Counting it up, since both of them were from Lizhou, they should be fellow townsmen.

When Mo Hua was in Lizhou before, he had interacted with the Situ family. He knew the Situ family's siblings, Situ Fang and Situ Xiu, as well as Elder Situ Jin and many other cultivators.

However, the Situ family was very large, and these people were likely part of the Situ family's branch. They were probably not familiar with Situ Jian.

Mo Hua thus did not mention it.

The two of them were on the mountain, enjoying the morning glow and the mountain scenery while eating delicious wine and food.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, they formally began practicing sword.

Before practicing sword, Situ Jian still had some doubts:

"Little Senior Brother, you're not a sword cultivator, right? Why did you suddenly think of sword flying?"

Mo Hua's face was serious as he casually made up an answer:

"The Duan Jin Gate is naturally stingy and their methods are despicable. Although they have temporarily ceased their activities, it is not certain they won't make a comeback later. Therefore, I need to guard against future troubles and study the sword flying method more."

"Moreover, it's not just the Duan Jin Gate. Within the borders of Qian Xuezhou, there are so many sword cultivators. I always need to learn more to avoid falling into their ways in the future..."

"Know yourself and know your enemy, and you can win a hundred battles."

"Oh." Situ Jian nodded slowly, praised him, and said, "As expected of Little Senior Brother, you think really far ahead."

"Far ahead?"

"Mm." Situ Jian said, "True 'sword flying' is something you can learn in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, and a sword move you can achieve some success with at the Golden Core realm."

Mo Hua was startled, "That far?"

Situ Jian looked silently at Mo Hua, thinking to himself, "So Little Senior Brother, you didn't know anything after all..."

Situ Jian sighed, then found a large stone to sit on and explained to Mo Hua from the beginning:

"Any sword cultivator practicing sword must start with sword qi. Using spiritual power to transform into a sword is the foundation for entering the sword path."

"But when sword cultivators first learn the sword, the spiritual power transformed sword qi is not strong. Therefore, they need to borrow a spiritual sword to amplify the sword qi and enhance its killing power."

"The earlier the stage and the shallower the cultivation, the weaker the sword qi, and the stronger the sword cultivator's dependence on the sword weapon."

"And at the later stage, as cultivation deepens and sword qi strengthens, one can be without a sword in hand, the body itself is the sword, and they are not particularly dependent on the sword weapon."

"Of course, a sword cultivator with a sword will still be very strong."

"This is because the 'sword flying' method, which unites sword qi and sword weapon, complements each other and possesses extraordinary killing power."

"How strong can it be?" Mo Hua was very curious.

Situ Jian shook his head, "I don't know..."

Mo Hua: "..."

Situ Jian said somewhat awkwardly, "Anyway, it's very strong... but I haven't learned the true 'Li Huo Sword Flying Art', so I also don't know how strong it is."

"Then that means, the Duan Jin Gate Senior Brother we encountered before, who used the Duan Jin Sword Flying Art, was also not using true 'sword flying'?"

"Which Duan Jin Gate Senior Brother?"

"The one who was stripped of his clothes, hung on a tree, and had a turtle drawn on him."

"Oh." Situ Jian remembered, nodded, "Yes."

Situ Jian explained to Mo Hua, "He did cultivate sword flying art, but with his cultivation and sword path attainment, he was still not enough to display true sword flying. So his sword flying only remained at the shallow level of sword qi..."

"True sword flying..."

Situ Jian's expression was stern, and his eyes revealed longing:

"First, you must cultivate your sword qi to be very powerful."

"Then, you will try to fuse the sword qi with the sword weapon."

"Then, with your divine sense, control the spiritual sword that is fused with sword qi, lock onto the enemy, and kill the enemy from a long distance with a flying sword."

"Only such a sword flying method, with the sword weapon controlled by divine sense and also fused with sword qi, the three united, cultivated to a high depth, can step by step cultivate 'sword intent'..."

"Sword intent?!"

Mo Hua's expression changed, and he said in shock.

Situ Jian was startled and softly asked:

"Little Senior Brother, what's wrong?"

Mo Hua then realized he was somewhat excited. He immediately put on a calm appearance, patted Situ Jian's shoulder, and said:

"No, you said it very well!"

"Keep going..."

Situ Jian was stunned for a moment, then shook his head: "It's gone..."

Mo Hua was startled, "Gone?"

Situ Jian nodded: "Matters after sword intent are simply too profound. My current cultivation is still shallow, and I cannot comprehend them..."

Not to mention sword intent, he had not even truly learned 'sword flying' yet.

"Alright." Mo Hua sighed.

Although he couldn't ask about the deeper 'sword intent', which was a bit of a pity, he at least understood one important point:

Divine sense sword flying, with sword qi, sword weapon, and divine sense fused as one, can nurture "sword intent".

Sword flying is the great success of the method that unites sword qi and sword weapon.

But at the same time, it is also the beginning of "sword intent".

This is a very key thing, and it is somewhat "beyond the syllabus". The sect's Dao methods teaching will not teach it.

Sword flying method...

If you can learn it in the late stage of Foundation Establishment and have small success in the Golden Core realm.

Then at least it is a method that can be imparted in the next academic year of the late stage of Foundation Establishment, or even after entering the inner sect.

Indeed, when three people walk together, one must have a teacher. Casually consulting fellow disciples always has benefits.

Mo Hua secretly nodded in his heart.

"Then how exactly do you control divine sense sword flying?"

"Is it the same as controlling objects with divine sense?"

"Do you just manipulate the spiritual sword with divine sense and stab it towards a distant place?"

Mo Hua asked curiously again.

Situ Jian said: "The general process of sword flying is to first accumulate sword qi, then inject the sword qi into the spiritual sword, and then control the sword with divine sense."

"Wait until the divine sense, spiritual sword, and sword qi are fused as one, reaching the complete 'sword flying' state. Then use divine sense to seek the enemy, control the sword to break through the air, and kill the enemy from a long distance..."

"Sword flying is based on controlling objects. The stronger the ability to control objects, the better the foundation for sword flying."

"But compared to general object control, sword flying is more difficult, consumes more divine sense, and it is harder to seek the enemy..."

Mo Hua remembered every word and sentence firmly.

However, the first part, "accumulate sword qi, inject spiritual sword", he skipped directly.

Because his sword qi was too weak, injecting it into a spiritual sword was useless.

He planned to use the "array method" instead.

Skipping these two parts, there is no need for so much "foreplay". It's simply direct: use divine sense to seek the enemy, control the sword to break through the air, and kill the enemy from a long distance.

Other things, just leave them to the "array method".

"Specifically, how to control the sword with divine sense and break through the air to kill the enemy is actually a special method of using divine sense. You need to learn a special sword flying method..."

Situ Jian said up to this point, his expression slightly apologetic. He said to Mo Hua, "My Situ family does have a 'divine sense sword flying' method. Before I entered the sect, my father let me carry it with me and keep it for later learning..."

"But this is a family inheritance and cannot be spread outside. I also can't tell you..."

Situ Jian was very honest.

"Mm mm, it doesn't matter." Mo Hua nodded.

He understood Situ Jian's intention.

However, he actually also had a sword flying method.

From the "Duan Jin Sword Flying Art" in the piece of Duan Jin jade slip obtained from Senior Jiang, one part included the 'sword flying' method.

Mo Hua had already secretly studied it last night.

But some sword path terms were quite obscure, and Mo Hua didn't understand them too well.

Now that Situ Jian explained the sword flying method relatively comprehensively, starting from the foundation of the sword path, Mo Hua gradually had some enlightenment.

Mo Hua sighed slightly.

His own foundation in the sword path was too poor after all.

Some things, if Situ Jian hadn't said them, he simply couldn't have figured them out by himself behind closed doors.

"And then there is the problem of divine sense..."

Situ Jian continued, "Divine sense controls the sword. If the divine sense is not strong, it naturally cannot control the sword. Therefore, divine sense is also key to sword flying..."

"As we all know, the external release of divine sense has a range."

"Starting from Foundation Establishment, one pattern of divine sense is probably equivalent to ten zhang. A general cultivator in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, with around eleven patterns of divine sense, can release their divine sense externally for over a hundred zhang..."

"At the peak of Foundation Establishment, with nineteen patterns of divine sense, the external release distance of divine sense is over one hundred zhang, infinitely close to two hundred zhang, but it will not reach two hundred zhang..."

"If you break through to Golden Core, it is directly four hundred zhang..."

Mo Hua nodded slightly, "So a general cultivator in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, the distance they can control a sword with divine sense is about one hundred ninety zhang?"

Situ Jian shook his head, "Not that far."

Mo Hua was somewhat surprised. After thinking for a moment, he understood:

"Will it attenuate?"

"This is natural," Situ Jian nodded, "When divine sense is released externally without restraint, the range is naturally the farthest. But once it controls objects, the distance will attenuate."

"If it's a higher difficulty sword flying, it attenuates even more."

"Generally speaking, a sword cultivator in Foundation Establishment controlling a sword with divine sense, the external release range of divine sense may even attenuate to more than half."

Mo Hua was slightly startled, "So you mean, even in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, the general range of divine sense controlling a sword is also about a hundred-plus zhang?"

Situ Jian nodded slightly, "Excluding those exceptionally talented sword path geniuses, a general sword cultivator is about like this."

"Exceptionally talented sword path geniuses? Do we have them at Tai Xu Gate?"

Mo Hua asked, and then silently looked at Situ Jian, whose name contained "jian" (sword).

Situ Jian felt somewhat sweaty under Mo Hua's gaze and sighed:

"Little Senior Brother, don't look at me... My talent in the Situ family, or in the several state borders near the Situ family, is indeed among the top ranks..."

"But within the borders of Qian Xuezhou, I can only be in the mid-stream."

"As for within Tai Xu Gate, although there are those with better sword path talent than me, they are actually not much better."

Situ Jian paused, looked at Mo Hua, and said somewhat helplessly:

"Although these words are somewhat unpleasant, they are also the truth..."

"Truly talented sword path geniuses like that, generally speaking, will join the four major sects. The first in the sword path is the Heavenly Sword Sect, and next they will choose from the other three of the four major sects."

"Such sword path geniuses will not join our Tai Xu Gate. After all, our Tai Xu Gate's sword path inheritance is really nothing commendable..."

"It's not that there's nothing commendable, it's just that compared to the top, some sword arts are insufficient, compared to the bottom, they are sufficient..."

Mo Hua's gaze slightly condensed, and he softly asked:

"Situ, have you heard of 'divine thought transforming into sword'?"

Situ Jian was startled, "'Divine thought transforming into sword'? What kind of sword art is this?"

Seeing that he had not heard of it, Mo Hua said, "Nothing, I heard it from storytellers. I don't know if it's true or false."

Situ Jian felt somewhat helpless in his heart.

How could you believe the words of storytellers...

When Little Senior Brother is reliable, he is really reliable.

But he occasionally talks nonsense, and he seems a bit... innocent and uninhibited.

Mo Hua said again, "I've learned a bit of the superficial knowledge of sword flying. You can help me see if the technique is correct..."

"Mm." Situ Jian nodded, but halfway through his nod, he was suddenly stunned, his face puzzled:

"Little Senior Brother, where did you learn 'sword flying'?"

"Moreover, you're only in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, right?"

"Also, you're not a sword cultivator and don't cultivate sword qi. Your spiritual sword and sword qi cannot be fused as one, so how do you control the sword?"

Mo Hua made a "shhh" sound and quietly said to Situ Jian, "I learned it secretly, don't tell others."

He said he "learned it secretly", but his expression was righteous.

Situ Jian saw Mo Hua being so "honest" and nodded dumbly.

"I don't cultivate sword qi, I just purely use divine sense to control the sword, try out the effect, and practice for fun..."

Saying this, Mo Hua took out a "broken sword".

It was called a broken sword, but it wasn't that broken. It was just dirty. He didn't know which corner it had been stuffed in or how long it had been accumulating dust. There were still rust marks on it.

It was the first time Situ Jian had seen someone use a "broken sword" to practice sword flying...

As expected of Little Senior Brother, his thoughts and actions are different from ordinary people.

"Alright." Situ Jian sighed, "Then let's first try the range of sword flying."

He looked around, then selected a direction, pointed to the opposite mountainside, and said, "Little Senior Brother, just stand here and control the sword to fly towards the opposite mountainside."

"Okay!" Mo Hua nodded.

Then he recalled the method from the "Sword Flying Chapter" in the Duan Jin Sword Flying Art and began to operate his divine sense to manipulate the worn-out spiritual sword.

The sword flying method was considered a special "object control" method.

Controlling ink was also considered object control.

Only, controlling ink emphasized the complexity, delicacy, flexibility, and changeability of divine sense control.

While controlling a sword with divine sense emphasized instant strong pressure and extremely fast flying swords.

But as long as it was a method of divine sense, to Mo Hua, it was not a difficult matter.

Even if controlling a sword with divine sense was more difficult, it could not compare with the Heaven Machine Derivation, which exhausted the principles of arrays, and the mysterious Heaven Machine Trickery Calculation among the divine sense methods.

Mo Hua began to control the sword.

He concentrated, held his breath, focused, released his divine sense, tightly "grasped" the worn-out spiritual sword in front of him, achieving complete "object control".

Then he glanced at the opposite mountainside, his divine sense suddenly strengthened and circulated rapidly, endowing the spiritual sword with powerful momentum.

Then a golden light suddenly flashed.

Situ Jian only heard a "whoosh" sound. The sword light in front of him flickered, drawing a golden line that flashed and disappeared. The spiritual sword had vanished.

He didn't even react to exactly what had happened.

Too fast...

Situ Jian looked towards the opposite mountainside, his expression somewhat dazed.

"Where's the sword?"

It was clearly flying towards the opposite mountainside, how did the sword disappear?

Situ Jian's gaze extended, looking into the distance, and his expression suddenly changed slightly.

Behind the mountainside, there was a mountain forest.

This sword...

Seemed to have flown over the mountainside and entered the opposite mountain forest.

"Could it be..."

Situ Jian suppressed the shock in his heart, displayed his movement technique, and arrived at the opposite forest in several flashes. He released his divine sense to search for a while and indeed found a spiritual sword embedded in the forest wood.

The spiritual sword was worn-out, still with rust marks, precisely Little Senior Brother's sword.

Situ Jian turned back and looked, estimated the distance, and instantly a stormy wave surged up in his heart.

This estimate was about...

One hundred seventy or eighty zhang?!

Situ Jian's scalp went numb, finding it hard to believe.

This Little Senior Brother of mine, is he a freak?

Controlling a sword for one hundred seventy or eighty zhang in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, is that even reasonable?

Situ Jian sighed, picked up the broken sword, returned to Mo Hua's side, and couldn't help but ask:

"Little Senior Brother, how strong is your divine sense exactly?"

Mo Hua said vaguely, "Just average... The divine sense in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment might be slightly stronger, after all, I am an array master and draw array methods every day."

Situ Jian's mood was complex.

Your "slightly stronger" is probably a bit too strong.

He and Mo Hua were in the same sect and even the same disciple residence, so they could be considered to get along day and night. He had known early on that Mo Hua's divine sense was strong, but he never thought it could be this strong.

No wonder Little Senior Brother's array methods could be learned so well.

It was also no wonder that Elder Xun appointed him as the "Little Senior Brother" of the array path.

Situ Jian also didn't delve into it further.

Because everyone's cultivation talent is different, Little Senior Brother's blood qi and spiritual power are so weak, yet he can join Tai Xu Gate. In other aspects, he must have extraordinary points.

Just like some people are born with thick blood qi, some are born with good spiritual roots, and some are born with high sword path talent.

Little Senior Brother might just be born with strong divine sense.

Situ Jian didn't learn array methods or cultivate divine thought, so he wasn't sensitive to the realm of divine sense and didn't understand what this meant either.

What shocked him more was another matter:

"Little Senior Brother, your sword flying distance... didn't attenuate?"

Mo Hua was startled, thought for a moment, and slowly nodded:

"It seems so..."

His current divine sense was at the peak of seventeen patterns, only a thread away from eighteen patterns.

And the sword flying distance also seemed to be stuck between one hundred seventy zhang and one hundred eighty zhang, which was the limit of his divine sense's external release.

The external release distance of divine sense was the distance of sword flying.

Not a bit of attenuation.

Mo Hua pondered slightly and understood in his heart.

Divine sense qualitative change!

Because of the qualitative change of divine sense, divine thought was extremely tough, and the bearing capacity was also high, so the distance of sword flying would not attenuate.

Mo Hua's eyes brightened.

This meant that his sword flying attack range was very likely nearly double that of ordinary sword cultivators.

This was still comparing with divine sense at the same realm.

If it was compared with sword cultivators at the same cultivation realm, it would probably be even farther.

Situ Jian was lost in thought and immediately exclaimed, "Little Senior Brother, you should also be considered a sword path genius..."

Afterwards, he felt something was wrong and then corrected himself:

"You should be considered a 'sword flying' genius."

Because Little Senior Brother was only strong in sword flying.

Besides, his attainment in the sword path, especially in sword qi, was simply not worth mentioning...

Situ Jian sighed, deeply regretting:

"It's a pity, Little Senior Brother. No matter how fast or far your sword flying is, you are a born 'sword flying' genius, but you don't cultivate sword qi, and there is no power on the sword at all..."

Situ Jian sighed again.

He could only control the sword, but there was no sword qi.

It was like a gun skill expert whose gun technique was peerless but had no "gun head" and couldn't stab people to death.

It was really a waste of talent.

Situ Jian's face was full of regret and pity.

Mo Hua smiled and squinted his eyes: "It doesn't matter, I'm not a sword cultivator anyway, I'm just practicing for fun..."

(End of this chapter)

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