Chapter 743: Trial Sword

Practicing for fun...

"Okay."

Situ Jian looked at Mo Hua, whose eyes were sparkling, a little helpless.

After that, Mo Hua began practicing controlling his sword, while Situ Jian stood by, offering guidance and also helping Mo Hua "pick up the sword."

Although Situ Jian hadn't yet learned to control a sword, he came from a family of sword cultivators and had been exposed to many sword cultivation techniques since childhood. Even if he hadn't learned them, he had seen most of them and knew much more than Mo Hua.

With him watching and offering guidance, Mo Hua didn't learn incorrectly.

And under Situ Jian's corrections, Mo Hua's progress in controlling his sword was very fast.

Because he skipped the crucial step of accumulating sword qi and merging sword qi with the sword, he was purely "controlling the sword with divine sense," which wasn't very difficult.

For Mo Hua, who had proven his Dao with divine sense, it was even relatively simple.

The more Situ Jian watched, the more shocked and regretful he became.

"Little Senior Brother's divine sense controlling sword is truly too fast and goes too far, but the power... is really too pitiful to behold..."

It wasn't entirely lacking power.

At least there was a little bit.

However, this bit of power came from the "force" of controlling objects with divine sense, similar to throwing hidden weapons with bare hands, which wasn't very effective.

Furthermore, he was using a "broken sword."

The sword itself wasn't sharp and was also rusted.

Situ Jian shook his head.

Nevertheless, he diligently helped Mo Hua practice "controlling the sword" for a day, until Mo Hua became very proficient, and then the two returned to the sect.

Upon reaching the sect gate, Mo Hua specifically treated Situ Jian to a meal as a thank-you gift for his guidance on sword cultivation.

Being invited to a meal by his junior senior brother within the same sect was quite an honor.

Situ Jian also ate very happily.

After they ate their fill, they each returned to their disciple residences.

After returning to his disciple residence, Mo Hua drew some arrays for a while to digest his food, and then began to ponder his next step.

First, the divine sense controlling sword technique, he had already learned it.

Although he had only learned for a day, he understood the key points.

After that, he just needed to practice more to improve his proficiency in controlling the sword.

Perhaps there were more profound "divine sense controlling sword" techniques, but that was too far off, and he didn't need them currently.

The "Controlling Sword Formula" from Duanjin Gate was sufficient for now.

Next, the most important thing was forging a sword.

As Situ Jian said, his divine sense controlling sword, although fast and far-reaching, lacked sword qi for killing, which was indeed a bit of a waste of natural talent.

But Mo Hua's heart was clear: it was likely impossible for him to cultivate anything in terms of sword qi in this lifetime.

So he could only play to his strengths and avoid weaknesses, using a "sword array" to substitute for "sword qi"...

During the next ten-day break, Mo Hua didn't go to Mount Lianyao, but instead made an appointment with Master Gu and had tea in a small parlor at the Gu family's residence.

The parlor was exquisite and elegant, and equipped with a sound isolation array.

This was a kind of conventional rule for aristocratic families.

Parlors for guests were equipped with sound isolation arrays to protect the guests' secrets and prevent others from eavesdropping.

Mo Hua and Master Gu simply chatted in the small parlor.

He frankly explained his purpose to Master Gu.

Master Gu was startled when he heard it, "Forging spirit swords?!"

"Yes." Mo Hua nodded, "I want to first try forging some spirit swords, gold-attribute spirit swords, the materials are cheaper..."

Because his "controlling sword" was relatively special, using the burst of a sword array for killing, it was basically a single-use item.

If the cost was expensive, he was afraid he would lose his entire family fortune.

"...The shape should be simple, and like the Five Elements Origin Armor, I also want it to be open-source, the array cannot be sealed internally, I want to leave an external interface..."

Mo Hua added point by point.

Master Gu's brows furrowed, and he shook his head, saying:

"To be honest with the young master, the Gu family is not a family of sword cultivators. Our refining business on Mount Gu doesn't refine proper spirit swords. Occasionally, we take orders, but they are all ordinary common street swords, not suitable for the stage..."

"This kind of sword, although it's called a 'sword,' is essentially no different from a knife, spear, or club. It only has the shape of a sword, but not the substance of a spirit sword."

"Most importantly, there is no inherent sword array..."

"As for the sword array..." Mo Hua had just opened his mouth when his heart suddenly sank, and he immediately realized a serious problem.

He couldn't tell Master Gu about the Duanjin sword array.

This sword array was obtained from Duanjin Gate.

No sect would allow its core sword array to be leaked, especially not the narrow-minded Duanjin Gate.

It was not a big deal that he had secretly learned it.

After all, array matters were profound and obscure, and some things he knew, even if he said them, others wouldn't necessarily understand, let alone believe them.

But if Master Gu and his family handled the refining, that would be big trouble.

Once Duanjin Gate found out, Master Gu, this third-grade refining master, and the entire Gu family's refining business on Mount Gu would likely be implicated.

So, the matter of forging swords still couldn't be handled by Master Gu and his family.

Mo Hua's thoughts raced, he thought for a moment, and then said:

"...The sword array is indeed quite troublesome. The sect doesn't teach it, and I can't get a true sword array inheritance for a while..."

"So let's put aside the sword array for now, Master Gu, just refine some simple spirit swords for me, treat them as 'array mediums' to refine, with the shape of a sword and the medium of a tool..."

Master Gu didn't doubt him and nodded slowly, saying:

"Okay, then I'll go back and try according to the young master's requirements."

"Yes." Mo Hua nodded.

After Master Gu returned, he spent about half a month refining several spirit swords according to Mo Hua's requirements.

These were all just ordinary spirit swords.

As Master Gu said, they only looked like "swords" and weren't much different from spirit tools like knives and sticks.

And the inherent structure had an open-source array; essentially, they were general array mediums.

However, they were enough to test the power of "controlling the sword."

Mo Hua took some time to draw the Duanjin sword array inside these spirit swords.

Unlike the sword array used for forging swords at Duanjin Gate, the Duanjin sword array Mo Hua drew on the sword was a compound array system with a self-sufficient spiritual power cycle.

The common Duanjin sword array was powered by the cultivator's spiritual power to amplify the sword qi.

While the modified Duanjin sword array Mo Hua was using changed the pattern of the sword array and added a spirit gathering array as the array core.

The spirit gathering array would "charge" the spirit beforehand, providing spiritual power for the spirit sword. This spiritual power, passing through the sword array, would undergo transformation, thereby transforming into sharp Duanjin sword qi.

Using spirit stones to provide spiritual power in this way meant he didn't need to rely on his own spiritual power.

Mo Hua's spiritual power was weak, and he couldn't use powerful sword techniques anyway.

After drawing the array, Mo Hua sealed the spirit sword.

During the next ten-day break, he went to Mount Lianyao.

Mo Hua found a secluded spot, released his divine sense to confirm that there was no one around and no demon beasts, and then began practicing his sword.

He first drew a turtle on a large stone.

This turtle was his target.

Then Mo Hua began to retreat from a distance, continuously backing up until he was over one hundred seventy zhang away. He sat cross-legged on the spot, took out the spirit sword, and placed it in front of him.

Mo Hua held his breath and concentrated, silently operating the Controlling Sword Formula of the Duanjin controlling sword method, controlling the spirit sword with his divine sense, and then locking onto the turtle on the distant large stone.

With a thought, the spirit sword flashed.

A golden light instantly flew out.

Then he only heard a "boom" sound from the distance, the mountain stone shattered, and stone chips flew.

Mo Hua's eyes brightened slightly, he immediately stood up and ran forward.

The spirit sword had accurately hit the turtle.

The moment it hit, the array activated, the accumulated spiritual power in the spirit gathering array activated the Duanjin sword array, transforming into sharp sword qi, grinding the mountain stone to pieces.

The large stone was already covered with spiderweb-like cracks.

The turtle had also been cut into powder.

While the spirit sword, having endured the sword qi produced by the Duanjin sword array's burst, was covered in cracks and simultaneously scrapped.

Mo Hua's brow furrowed.

The power wasn't weak, but it wasn't as strong as he had imagined either.

First, the transformation of the sword array was still relatively crude.

After all, his usage of the Duanjin sword array and its original purpose were not only in opposite directions but also greatly different.

Transforming a sword array used for "amplification" into one used for "burst killing" was not something that could be done overnight.

Next, the sword array and the spirit sword weren't compatible enough.

The spirit sword couldn't completely bear the sword array's circulation, and the sword array couldn't fully guide the spirit sword's killing qi.

Finally, the quality of the spirit sword itself was too low.

After all, it was a cheap spirit sword, and he couldn't expect too much power from it.

Mo Hua sighed slightly.

It had killing power, but it was still far from enough, at least not reaching his expectations.

He could find a way to solve the problem of the sword array.

According to array principles, he could optimize the array nodes step by step, modify the array patterns, and stimulate the power of the sword array.

But forging a sword was not so easy to handle.

To improve the quality of the spirit sword and the degree of compatibility between the spirit sword and the sword array, ordinary refining masters wouldn't work. It would be best to find a professional "sword forging master" proficient in refining sword weapons.

Master Gu was not very suitable.

Although Master Gu was a third-grade refining master, he had no background in the Gu family, and some secret matters couldn't be told to him, otherwise, he would be dragged into trouble.

Moreover, Master Gu had a large family business, and the vast refining business on Mount Gu relied on him to survive.

He couldn't harm him.

It would be best to find a disciple from an aristocratic family with some background.

Someone from the same sect as him would make communication and forging swords convenient.

He needed someone he could trust.

The standard of sword forging needed to be high.

This matter was related to the power of his "controlling the sword with divine sense"!

And controlling the sword with divine sense was the foundation for comprehending "sword intent."

Therefore, this was also related to whether he could comprehend sword intent and further comprehend the True Divine Thought Transformation Sword Technique...

After Mo Hua returned to the sect, he began to look for someone.

But he scanned around and couldn't find a suitable Taixu Gate disciple who could be his "sword forging master."

Taixu Gate was not famous for sword cultivation after all.

There were also few inheritances of sword forging techniques.

Among the disciples in the sect, there were those skilled in refining tools, but not many who could forge swords.

Even if they could forge swords, they weren't proficient.

This matter couldn't be rushed.

Mo Hua had no choice but to still entrust Master Gu to refine some ordinary "spirit swords" for him to use for now.

Mo Hua also used these spirit swords to constantly practice his controlling sword method.

At the same time, he gradually adjusted the sword array, enhancing the force of the spiritual power transformation and increasing the power of the Duanjin sword array.

But after practicing for a period of time, Mo Hua discovered a very serious problem.

He was losing money completely by practicing his sword!

Every time he practiced controlling his sword, activated the sword array, and burst the sword qi, the spirit sword was also destroyed.

Although this kind of ordinary spirit sword wasn't expensive, it was still a spirit sword, no matter how cheap it was.

The cost of one spirit sword was at least several hundred spirit stones.

He was a rogue cultivator with no family support. Although he still had abundant spirit stones now, if he continued practicing like this, relying on his existing resources, he would go bankrupt sooner or later.

Even if he didn't go bankrupt himself.

Then Master Gu, who was forging swords for him but couldn't ask him for spirit stones, would go bankrupt.

No matter who went bankrupt, it was not a good thing.

"No good!"

This did not conform to his principles of action.

Mo Hua's expression was serious, "I must find a way to both practice controlling my sword and recoup some capital..."

This was Mount Lianyao, and the way to both practice controlling his sword and recoup capital was naturally only by hunting demons.

Mo Hua wandered around the mountain for a while and found helplessly that his controlling sword seemed to be of no use.

With the insufficient power of his controlling sword now, ambushing and killing demon beasts was fundamentally not as effective as using arrays.

Using it for finishing off also seemed redundant.

Finishing off with spells worked just as well, and finishing off with fists and feet also worked. There was no need for superfluous action, scrapping a spirit sword, and using controlling his sword to supplement the damage.

Mo Hua thought hard for a long time but found no good solution.

Suddenly, there was a sharp cry from the sky. Mo Hua was startled and looked up, just in time to see a five-colored variegated demon bird flying over from the horizon.

Mo Hua was slightly stunned, and then suddenly realized.

If killing ground-crawling demon beasts was useless, then he could use it to kill flying creatures in the sky!

Ground demon beasts generally had thick skin and tough flesh, and strong blood qi.

But bird demon beasts flying in the sky, uniquely blessed by heaven, relied on their wings to roam the sky. Compared to ground demon beasts, they were not only smaller but also had much weaker blood qi.

They were just right for him to practice controlling his sword.

And bird demon beasts flying in the sky were harder to capture and hunt than general demon beasts.

Therefore, the materials from flying bird demon beasts were also quite a bit more precious than those from common demon beasts.

Mo Hua looked up at the sky and indeed saw several brown bird demons with eagle beaks and hooked claws, proudly flying back and forth in the sky.

Mo Hua smiled slightly.

After returning to the sect, Mo Hua made some preparations and specifically asked Master Gu to refine several more spirit swords.

Inside the spirit swords, he still drew the Duanjin sword array.

But outside the Duanjin sword array, Mo Hua also set up some flame arrays.

And the edge of the sword was still coated with the poisonous blood of demon beasts by Mo Hua.

After completing his preparations, Mo Hua entered Mount Lianyao again.

He found a secluded small hilltop, sat cross-legged, placed the spirit sword in front of him, and then released his divine sense, scanning the bird demon beasts flying in the sky.

The sky was blue, and white clouds drifted like horses.

Mo Hua sat with his eyes closed.

Occasionally, poisonous bird demon birds flew over, but he ignored them all.

Until a gray-headed eagle falcon soared over from above.

Mo Hua then moved his divine thought, opened his eyes, and a bright light shone in them.

Cang Tou Eagle!

A second-grade initial level eagle falcon demon beast, with red fur and wings, a gray head, capable of flying in the sky, a mouth as hard as stone, and hooked claws like iron. Its nature was fierce, and it ate both demons and people.

This was the flying bird demon beast that Mo Hua had carefully selected to test his sword.

There were many bird demons in the sky, but not all of them could be killed.

Some had hard feathers, which the sword qi might not be able to break;

Some were in groups, killing one would lead to being chased by a group;

Some were too strong and couldn't be provoked;

Some were cunning and suspicious, with keen perception...

Relatively speaking, the Cang Tou Eagle was the easiest to kill.

This kind of eagle class, although its inherent demonic power was strong, apart from its skin and fur defense, its demonic sense perception was all at a medium standard.

It also didn't have the habit of being in groups, so it was relatively easy to start with.

Mo Hua operated the Controlling Sword Formula, controlled the sword with his divine sense, and simultaneously released his divine thought, firmly locking onto the Cang Tou Eagle in the sky.

He waited until it dived to hunt, when the distance to the ground was less than one hundred fifty zhang.

A killing intent flashed in Mo Hua's eyes.

A golden light shot out, breaking through the air.

This golden light was extremely fast, flying through the air, like a silken thread of light, but in an instant, it arrived before the Cang Tou Eagle.

The Cang Tou Eagle was in imminent danger and shrieked desperately, but it was already too late.

The golden sword pierced the Cang Tou Eagle's body, instantly activating the array. The inherent Duanjin sword array transformed into streams of sword qi, grinding half of the Cang Tou Eagle's wing to pieces. The flame array burned its feathers, and a blood mist burst out in the air.

The Cang Tou Eagle fell down urgently like a kite with a broken string.

Mo Hua displayed the Flowing Water Step and arrived at the place where the Cang Tou Eagle had fallen in several flashes.

The Cang Tou Eagle wasn't dead, and its fierce eyes stared at Mo Hua, wishing it could peck out Mo Hua's eyeballs and swallow Mo Hua's flesh.

But a fallen eagle is not as good as a chicken.

Its wing had been ground off by the sword qi, it couldn't fly, and its end was already destined.

Mo Hua spent some effort, using both arrays and spells, to finally slaughter this Cang Tou Eagle.

Then he put in some effort to skin the fur of this eagle demon's head, remove its flesh and bones, and take its demon core.

Mo Hua wasn't a body cultivator, his strength wasn't enough, and he wasn't agile, so he wasted some time.

But after spending half an hour, he finally finished skinning it.

While skinning the eagle, Mo Hua always felt that the demonic power and aura of this eagle's body were somewhat familiar.

But that shouldn't be the case...

Mo Hua's brow furrowed slightly.

He clearly remembered that this was the first time he had hunted this kind of eagle class demon beast.

Why would he feel familiar?

Mo Hua thought for a while but couldn't figure it out. The sky was getting late, so he temporarily put aside his doubts and went down the mountain.

Upon arriving at the mountain gate, Mo Hua sold this Cang Tou Eagle.

Because the Cang Tou Eagle's body was slightly small and the materials were also few, and Mo Hua's sword array had also ground quite a lot of feathers to pieces, it didn't sell for a very high price.

But even so, he exchanged a full one thousand merit points.

After deducting the cost of the spirit sword, he could still earn several hundred merit points.

Mo Hua was very happy.

If he continued practicing controlling his sword like this, not only would he not lose money, but he could also earn a significant amount of merit points!

Mo Hua returned to the sect fully loaded.

After that, Mo Hua lived a period of stable days.

Every day, he cultivated, attended classes, and learned arrays.

During the ten-day break, he would go to Mount Lianyao to practice his sword, kill eagles, and earn merit points.

His days were exceptionally fulfilling and very "wealthy."

The merit points he saved also increased.

Meanwhile, inside Mount Lianyao, the situation was calm.

Now, a very large area of the outer mountain of Mount Lianyao was occupied by Taixu Gate disciples.

Mount Lianyao was dangerous, and hunting demons was full of hidden crises.

This was even more true for sect disciples with no experience in hunting demons.

So newcomers generally didn't rashly enter the mountain to hunt demons.

During this period, the same-session disciples from other sects were mostly still cultivating, and would successively enter the mountain to try hunting demons after their cultivation was solid.

Taixu Gate was an exception.

Or rather, this session's Taixu Gate was an exception.

Because of Little Senior Brother Mo Hua leading the way, most of the Taixu Gate disciples had adapted to life on Mount Lianyao earlier.

And they were the first to arrive and occupied a large area of good land.

Duanjin Gate, for some reason, also entered the mountain very early.

But in their contention with Taixu Gate, they were defeated, so they had to avoid Taixu Gate and find separate places to hunt demons.

There were also disciples from other sects who entered the mountain early.

But their numbers were not many, only five or six people, just to familiarize themselves with the situation on Mount Lianyao.

Then they saw Taixu Gate, with its numerous disciples, team after team, organized, disciplined, with unified spirit tools, and also with standardized demon hunting processes, already starting a "militarized" hunt.

Just looking at this scene, they immediately knew in their hearts.

Taixu Gate, at least the disciples of this session of Taixu Gate, were temporarily unprovokable and could only be avoided...

Therefore, there were disputes in other places.

But within the several outer mountain hilltops occupied by Taixu Gate, everyone was from the same sect, had the same little senior brother, and was on the contrary very harmonious.

Like this, another period of time passed, and it was already the second half of the year.

The number of disciples on the outer mountain of Mount Lianyao gradually increased.

Quite a few disciples from sects, after half a year of cultivation, had solidified their cultivation somewhat and began to successively enter the mountain to try hunting demons.

Among them were the disciples of Tai A Gate and Chong Xu Gate, who had once been in the same qi branch as Taixu Gate...

(End of this chapter)