Chapter 834: Shocking God Sword

"Refining Qi cultivators can externalize divine sense; Foundation Building cultivators can control objects with divine sense; Upon reaching Gold Core, control over objects is greatly accomplished, and the cultivator's ability to control artifacts and swords will also reach a new level."

"Only in the later stage of Gold Core can one involve methods of divine soul leaving the body. True mastery of divine soul leaving the body is achieved at Featherization."

"This is the general progression of a cultivator's divine thought power..." Xun Zixian said.

Mo Hua asked doubtfully, "But, Shui Yan... that rogue cultivator I encountered, he was only at the peak of Foundation Building, yet he used pupil techniques. Doesn't that mean he mastered the method of divine soul leaving the body while still in the Foundation Building realm?"

"That's why I said, this is the situation for general cultivators," Xun Zixian explained. "Foundation Building cultivators are not incapable of divine soul leaving the body, but their divine sense is not strong enough, and leaving the body is very dangerous."

"His pupil technique, if used against general cultivators, is fine. But once he encounters a cultivator proficient in divine thought killing, he will be defeated instantly. This is not the most terrifying part. What's truly terrifying is encountering other evil spirits, or even some unknown existences. There's a risk of the divine soul being devoured."

"Once the life soul and seven souls are partially swallowed by evil spirits, the cultivator will become dim-witted in minor cases, or mad in severe cases. Even the destruction of both soul and Dao is possible."

"The divine soul is far more precious than flesh, blood, and spiritual power. It should not be consumed easily."

Mo Hua secretly glanced at Xun Zixian and asked, "Elder Xun, you are in the later stage of Gold Core. Have you learned 'divine soul leaving the body' yet?"

Xun Zixian shook his head. "I haven't learned it."

Mo Hua was startled, greatly surprised. "You actually haven't learned it?"

He had thought that given Elder Xun Zixian's interest in the way of divine thought, he would at least try to learn it himself.

"Ancestor doesn't allow it." Xun Zixian sighed.

After speaking, he shook his head again. "It's not just not allowed, it's explicitly forbidden."

"All elders of Taixu Gate are not allowed to cultivate the method of 'divine soul leaving the body'. This is a strict order set by the Ancestor."

Mo Hua frowned and softly asked, "Because... divine thought transforming into a sword?"

Xun Zixian's gaze trembled, and he stared at Mo Hua for a moment. "Have you been secretly inquiring about this before?"

"I inquired a little bit..." Mo Hua said.

"What did you find out?" Xun Zixian's eyebrows slightly raised.

"Nothing," Mo Hua shook his head. "I didn't find out anything at all. It seems everyone is taboo about this and unwilling to mention it."

Xun Zixian nodded. "That's natural. The sect has already set the rule to list this sword method as a forbidden technique, not allowing disciples to cultivate it again. The elders naturally won't mention it again either. Of course, there's another reason why you couldn't find out anything..."

"Another reason?"

Xun Zixian nodded and looked at Mo Hua, saying, "The Ancestor specifically targeted you and instructed us elders not to tell you a single word related to 'divine thought transforming into a sword'..."

Mo Hua opened his mouth, surprised.

"The Ancestor targeted me? It's not that serious, right..."

"You should understand," Xun Zixian lifted his eyes and looked at Mo Hua, saying, "Your situation is special. Your flesh body spiritual root aptitude is ordinary, but your divine sense talent is exceptional, and you are naturally intelligent and very curious. If you knew that within Taixu Gate there is a sword method called 'divine thought transforming into a sword', you would definitely rack your brains to try and learn it..."

"This..."

Mo Hua couldn't deny it at all.

He did indeed rack his brains to learn it.

Xun Zixian sighed. "The Ancestor is just afraid of this point. This set of sword techniques can no longer be learned."

"Why?" Mo Hua couldn't help but ask.

Xun Zixian's gaze was complex, even with some pain. "Have you been to the back mountain yet?"

"Back mountain?"

"The back mountain of Taixu Gate."

Mo Hua was startled and shook his head. "That's forbidden ground. I haven't been there."

Xun Zixian nodded slightly. "I went there once before..."

"Within the back mountain, there is a 'Sword Tomb'. In the Sword Tomb, countless broken swords are buried, and also buried are countless... bones of sword cultivators."

Xun Zixian took a deep breath, his tone sorrowful. "These sword cultivators were all cultivators of divine thought transforming into a sword. They are our predecessors of Taixu Gate."

Mo Hua's pupils shook.

"This is the reason..." Xun Zixian sighed. "Those who cultivated divine thought transforming into a sword died faster than others. The more talented the disciples, the faster they learned the sword method, and the easier it was for them to die young."

"Divine soul leaving the body, transforming into a sword to kill, wandering between life and death."

"Strong is strong, but overly rigid breaks easily, with no room for maneuver."

"Among divine thoughts, there are too many terrifying killing intents... Enemies of flesh, blood, and spiritual power have form and are visible. However, divine thought enemies are more powerful and more obscure. Sometimes when facing them, it is clearly a fearful strong enemy, but you are completely unaware."

"Therefore, among those in Taixu Gate who could cultivate to Cave Void and become Ancestors, there were very few."

"In other sects, when they encounter disciples with stunning natural talent, the sect often places expectations on them. Such disciples, as long as they cultivate steadily, can stand alone in the future."

"While in our Taixu Gate..."

Xun Zixian's expression was somewhat bitter. "When we encounter disciples with good natural talent, instead, apprehension arises in our hearts."

"The more stunning the natural talent, as long as one cultivates divine thought transforming into a sword, they will face countless invisible killing intents. The cultivation path is full of thorns step by step. Once injured, the life soul will be damaged. In minor cases, the Dao path will be broken; in severe cases, one will die young midway..."

Xun Zixian was very heartbroken.

Mo Hua also sighed emotionally.

No wonder...

It is clearly a superb sword technique, yet it is kept high in the pavilion, no longer passed down.

Before, he had some guesses, speculating that this sword technique must have very big side effects, which is why the sect didn't pass it down.

Now that he had listened to Elder Xun's explanation related to divine soul, he truly understood the dangers within.

Others who practice swords waste swords; Taixu Gate disciples who practice swords waste their lives.

If a sword breaks, it can still be recast. If the life soul is injured, it cannot be repaired even if one wants to.

And now the cultivation world is peaceful. Disciples of aristocratic families live in luxury. This divine thought transforming into a sword, even if the sect wanted to pass it down, probably not many disciples would dare to learn it.

"Then, if our Taixu Gate doesn't pass down divine thought transforming into a sword and doesn't learn divine soul leaving the body, wouldn't we fall far behind other sects?" Mo Hua asked again.

"Falling behind is natural," Xun Zixian said, "However, it's still acceptable."

"Without divine thought transforming into a sword, there are still some other miscellaneous inheritances. Although they are insufficient compared to the top, they are more than enough compared to the bottom. It's still alright to muddle through in the eight great gates, just inevitably at the bottom."

"Some elders in the gate, including several Ancestors, are also researching methods to improve divine thought transforming into a sword, no longer relying purely on divine soul, but using alternative sword intent to amplify the killing power of sword qi."

"If the research is successful, it will also be a unique and superior sword Dao inheritance in another way, but in terms of power, it will still be far inferior to divine thought transforming into a sword."

"As for divine soul leaving the body..."

Elder Xun Zixian paused and then said, "This kind of method is originally heterodox. The vast majority of cultivators, even those who reach Featherization, will not specifically go to learn the method of 'divine soul leaving the body'."

Mo Hua was somewhat confused. "Even Featherization doesn't learn it? Because it's dangerous?"

"Yes," Xun Zixian nodded. "Divine thought transforming into a sword is extremely dangerous, involving divine soul leaving the body and performing killing."

"Pure divine soul leaving the body, even if not used for killing, is not considered safe either."

"After all, if the divine soul is not strong and lacks divine path knowledge, one fundamentally doesn't know what demons and ghosts are exactly drifting in the four directions of this heaven and earth. Once the divine soul leaves the body and gives these evil spirits an opportunity, then the trouble is big."

"Featherization realm cultivators, even in great families, are pillars. If they risk their divine soul leaving the body and thus become 'possessed by evil', it will be a huge loss."

"Furthermore, for ordinary cultivators, divine soul leaving the body is not of much use either."

"Cultivators emphasize 'the strong defeat the weak' in killing and fighting. But the divine soul itself cannot cultivate. Your divine soul is not much stronger than others, so what is the use of leaving the body?"

"And the method of divine soul leaving the body is itself extremely difficult to cultivate."

"Most cultivators in this world know how to practice martial arts with their flesh bodies and rampage, how to condense techniques with spiritual power and unleash myriad fierce attacks, but very few people are willing to calm their hearts, look inwards, and ponder matters on their own divine souls..."

Mo Hua nodded slowly.

Xun Zixian gazed at Mo Hua and said meaningfully, "The Ancestor didn't let the elders in the sect tell you these things because he worries about you. But 'blocking is not as good as diverting'. You are a smart child and have a strong thirst for knowledge. If you don't make things clear, you definitely won't let go. Since that's the case, it's better to tell you the pros and cons clearly so you know how to choose."

Mo Hua said sincerely, "Thank you, Elder."

Xun Zixian waved his hand, suddenly thought of something, his eyebrows and eyes raised, and also said sincerely:

"I've told you everything I know. Now you are probably still not satisfied. If later, your cultivation is higher and your experience is broader, and you know some more profound divine path knowledge, don't forget to tell me..."

Mo Hua nodded continuously. "Okay, definitely!"

After chatting for almost long enough, Mo Hua then stood up to bid farewell.

The boy sent Mo Hua to the door, looking at Mo Hua's receding figure in the distance, lost in thought.

He had heard bits and pieces of the conversation between Mo Hua and Elder Xun Zixian just now, but he didn't understand a single sentence.

"I don't know what origin this big brother with the surname Mo has. He's actually so powerful. He doesn't look much older than me, but he can already exchange knowledge of the cultivation path with the knowledgeable Uncle Zixian..."

The boy's eyes unconsciously showed some yearning.

"Shu Er..."

Elder Xun Zixian's voice came from inside.

The boy then came back to his senses and said, "Elder, I'm coming." He then reluctantly looked at Mo Hua again and turned back into the Elder's residence.

Meanwhile, Mo Hua was completely focused on thinking about the matter of "divine soul leaving the body" and didn't notice that a small boy had been stealthily looking at him.

Like this, he walked and thought, all the way back to the disciple residence.

After arriving at the disciple residence, Mo Hua closed the door and windows, took out the Shui Prison forbidden box again, and began to ponder.

Above the water-blue forbidden box, the bloody prison diagram was ferocious and terrifying, somewhat hideous.

This was not a simple diagram.

Even, it wasn't a simple pupil technique in itself. Its core was a method of "divine soul leaving the body".

However, Elder Xun Zixian didn't know the method of divine soul leaving the body.

Within Taixu Gate, teaching knowledge about divine soul leaving the body is also prohibited.

According to Elder Xun Zixian, general cultivators, even upon reaching Featherization, would not specifically go to learn divine soul leaving the body.

But Mo Hua was different.

He could now confirm that "divine soul leaving the body" was just a prerequisite method for "divine thought transforming into a sword".

If one wanted to sheathe divine thought and transform it into a sword, one must first master divine soul leaving the body.

As for the drawbacks of divine soul leaving the body, Mo Hua weighed them and felt that they were not too serious for him.

After all, his strongest point was his divine sense.

If Shui Yan Luo, this rogue cultivator who wasn't even a proper array master, could learn some superficial knowledge of divine soul leaving the body, why wouldn't he have a reason to learn it?

But the problem now was, how to learn it?

Mo Hua placed the Shui Prison forbidden box in front of him, gazing at the Dao prison diagram on it.

"According to Elder Xun Zixian, the divine soul has three souls and seven souls. If one wants to leave the body, that method of leaving the body must necessarily be related to the 'souls'."

"Any pattern is a symbol."

"Then this Dao prison diagram is very likely not just referring to a Dao prison, but some kind of... symbol related to the divine soul?"

"Eight prisons, eight punishments, eight sinners..."

"This number eight doesn't match the three souls and seven souls, does it?"

Mo Hua frowned.

He carefully re-examined Elder Xun Zixian's words, and suddenly, he had an epiphany.

"Although people have three souls and seven souls, the heaven soul and earth soul drift outside the body, lodging in heaven and earth. Only the life soul remains in oneself."

"There are actually only one soul and seven souls inside the human body, adding up to exactly 'eight'."

"Seven souls parasitize above the life soul..."

Mo Hua looked at the forbidden box again.

In the center of the pattern on the forbidden box, among the eight prisons, the largest one was in the center, and the other seven were distributed around the center, with the center as the focal point.

This exactly corresponded to the principle of "seven souls parasitizing above the life soul".

Each of the seven prisons around the perimeter had a lock, and chains were on the locks, connecting together and converging on the gate of the central prison.

The sinners in the seven prisons suffered different punishments, but upon careful discernment, it was discovered that they were all parts of the punishments suffered by the sinner imprisoned in the central large prison...

Mo Hua's thoughts suddenly became clear.

The Dao prison diagram on the forbidden box, with one central prison and seven peripheral prisons, matches the cultivator's one soul and seven souls. It is more like a "擬相圖" (Nǐ Xiàng Tú - simulation diagram) of a secondary divine soul.

The diagram presented is the heart image of the cultivator.

The cultivator often visualizes this diagram, firmly imprinting the image of the sinners suffering punishments in the diagram in their hearts, forming a "heart image", and then engraving this heart image into the divine soul.

In this way, the divine soul will inherently carry the majesty and baleful aura of a prison.

A prison is primarily for killing.

The divine soul containing the "prison" image, as soon as it leaves the body, can cause damage to others' divine sense, making them frightened, fearful, and even causing their livers and gallbladders to shatter and die.

Therefore, the Shui Prison Gate's "nourishing balefulness" ultimately is "nourishing the soul".

By upholding Dao laws and executing sinful people, they cultivate a body of upright qi and baleful aura, which they integrate with their divine soul to make evildoers fear.

But Shui Yan Luo was different. He didn't know how to nourish the soul, only how to "nourish balefulness". He even used demonic path methods to transfer balefulness, creating massive killing karma for the sake of nourishing balefulness.

If he purely nourished these baleful energies, it would be fine.

However, if the day truly came when he cultivated to the point where balefulness entered his soul, those "dead baleful" energies he indiscriminately killed to nourish would likely immediately riot and backlash his divine soul, driving him mad and making his life worse than death.

Mo Hua's heart stirred.

He involuntarily thought of a way to "pit dead" Shui Yan Luo without doing it himself...

Mo Hua's gaze slightly brightened.

However, he hadn't found Shui Yan Luo yet, so he couldn't make a move for the time being.

For now, he should first learn the pupil technique.

Mo Hua began to try cultivating according to the theory he had summarized.

He calmed his heart and mind, visualized the Dao prison diagram on the forbidden box, and firmly remembered these Dao prison diagrams in his heart, turning them into a "heart image".

At the beginning, nothing happened.

The diagram was still a diagram, with no anomaly.

Mo Hua's mental state also didn't change in the slightest.

But he was not discouraged.

Any method is difficult to learn at the beginning. One needs to explore step by step, try one by one, and research little by little.

Just like when he learned those complex and profound array methods, the emphasis was on dripping water penetrating stone, not achieving success in one step.

Mo Hua, who learned array methods every day, was very familiar with this process.

He concentrated his attention to the extreme, putting his whole heart on the Dao prison diagram.

He didn't know how long passed, but Mo Hua's heart trembled, and his divine sense finally reacted.

In the divine sense lodged in his sea of consciousness, a mysterious change seemed to occur, as if something was "self-awakening".

Mo Hua's spirit was uplifted, and he began to concentrate and trace the source.

From external divine sense, he gradually turned his attention inwards, sensing the source from which divine sense is derived.

Again, he didn't know how long passed. After experiencing a vague and difficult-to-describe exploration, Mo Hua's heart and spirit trembled, and he finally traced something in his heart that belonged to him, but which he had always been unaware of the existence of—

"Divine soul".

This feeling was very subtle.

Mo Hua "sensed" his own divine soul.

It was as if he saw himself from a bystander's perspective, saw the "self" dormant in the deepest part of his heart.

And his "divine soul" was very complex.

Among them were various hard-to-describe breaths, difficult to distinguish between clear and turbid, interwoven and floating and sinking, a murky mess.

Mo Hua then discovered that he seemed unable to understand "himself".

And after perceiving the divine soul, the subsequent process was relatively simple for Mo Hua.

Fuse the "heart image" into the divine soul.

Mo Hua began to fuse the "heart image" of the punishments imposed on the sinners in the "Dao prison diagram" into his own divine soul.

This action was a bit like "remolding" his own divine soul consciousness.

The fusion process was also very smooth.

Mo Hua only felt his divine soul tremble, and a desire to "hate evil as an enemy" surged from his heart, as if all evildoers in this world deserved to die!

All sinners should be thrown into the Dao prison, severely tortured, and killed with cruel means, only then could their sins be erased...

This cognition, along with the heart image of the Dao prison, seemed to be engraved in his divine soul.

Mo Hua's gaze was slightly ferocious, the baleful aura in his eyes grew heavier and heavier, and his whole person exuded a ruthless and spicy temperament of a "cruel official".

"Not right!"

Mo Hua's heart immediately became alert.

He forcibly restrained his heart and spirit, calmed his emotions, and prevented these prison heart images from continuing to be engraved into his own divine soul.

He isolated his divine soul perception, cut off the fusion of the heart image, and only then did Mo Hua relax. His gaze became clear again, and the baleful aura in his eyes dissipated.

Mo Hua involuntarily let out a breath.

"Almost went down the wrong path..."

Engraving the prison "heart image" of Shui Prison Gate in his own divine soul. Once successful, this heart image would be deeply engraved in his own divine soul.

Although after that he could use the pupil technique of Shui Prison Gate, Mo Hua thought about it a bit and felt that this was not what he wanted.

He fundamentally didn't want to nourish the "upright balefulness" of Shui Prison Gate.

Although he always admonished himself that he was a righteous path cultivator and should seek the Dao openly and aboveboard, he also understood that some "righteousness and evil" in this world are not so easy to distinguish.

Where there is righteousness, there must be evil.

Dividing clearly and pursuing extreme "righteousness" is very likely to lead one down the path of "evil" instead.

Mainly, this also doesn't conform to his temperament.

Mo Hua himself felt that his interpersonal skills were still very good.

Even if he wasn't "loved by everyone and flowers bloom upon seeing him," he could at least be considered cordial and harmonious with people.

Even the always eccentric Uncle Gu, although he never said anything nice, was still quite caring towards him at crucial moments.

When danger arose, he would still protect him from behind.

And Master also told him to walk the path of auxiliary killing, to learn how to borrow strength, and to get along well with others.

Since that was the case, cultivating a body of baleful aura and being cold-faced every day like Uncle Gu, making people keep away, was not a good thing.

Furthermore, he was an array master and would focus on the array path in the future.

Once a "heart image" of Shui Prison Gate was engraved in his divine soul and affected by it, he would probably only think about killing demonic cultivators, evil cultivators, and magical cultivators afterward, and think about torturing these sinners to death with all sorts of cruel tortures.

If this happened, he would be destined to only focus on prisons and walk the path of a "Diǎn Sī" (典司) in the Dao Court Si.

This did not align with Mo Hua's plan for himself.

So, the upright balefulness of Shui Prison Gate cannot be nourished, and the prison heart image cannot be fused.

If the prison method cannot be fused, then what else can be fused?

Mo Hua frowned, thought silently for a while, and suddenly was startled, murmuring, "Then... just fuse the sword method?"

Fuse divine thought transforming into a sword?!!

How exactly to fuse?

Mo Hua's brows were tightly furrowed as he concentrated and thought. Then, as if possessed, he suddenly thought of a sword technique name:

Shock God Sword!

In Mo Hua's mind, some scenes and sounds emerged.

These were what he had intermittently deduced from a piece of karma-entangled fog at the very beginning.

"Xuan Er..."

"This set of sword techniques, I originally shouldn't teach you, but I don't want... I Taixu Gate, to break this inheritance..."

"Your foundation is already solid. Today I will teach you..."

"Shock God Style!"

Mo Hua's heart trembled, and he couldn't help but take out the broken sword from his storage ring, the one he had obtained from the blood-colored fishing village.

This was the first time he had taken out this broken sword within the Taixu Mountain Gate.