Chapter 872: Expectation

In the following days, Mo Hua felt a little uneasy.

The various experiences in the Jian Tomb were still vivid in his mind.

That deep darkness of the night, the desolate and withered tombs, the broken swords scattered everywhere, the terrifying old ancestor—every single detail would often appear in his thoughts.

Of course, most importantly, this profound and unfathomable forbidden ground ancestor had promised to teach him the true secret of divine sense transforming into a sword!

But Mo Hua felt a bit restless in his heart.

He was not sure if this old ancestor would truly keep his promise and teach him the divine sense sword art.

"Could this old ancestor be deceiving me?"

"Probably not..."

Mo Hua shook his head, "He is an ancestor, already in the Void Realm, why would he have the time to deceive a little Foundation Establishment realm disciple just for fun..."

"But what if this old ancestor breaks his promise..."

Mo Hua frowned tightly.

The divine sense transforming into a sword was within reach.

But it also seemed far away in the sky, drifting uncertainly.

During those next few days, Mo Hua spent them in this state of gain and loss.

Until seven days later.

Mo Hua tidied his clothes, sat properly in the disciple residence, waiting for the old ancestor to come and "grab" him.

But he waited and waited, and the expected void crack still did not appear.

Mo Hua felt a little anxious.

However, it was still early, so he endured his temper and continued to wait.

Finally, near midnight, a terrifying fluctuation suddenly emanated.

The void was abruptly torn apart.

A space crack appeared, and a withered, thin hand reached out.

Mo Hua had experience this time and was not nervous. Instead, he honestly allowed the large hand to grab him and pull him into the void crack.

All around was dark and magnificent, the void was born and destroyed uncertainly, and the laws were mottled and varied.

When he opened his eyes, the night was like ink, the bright moon hung high, withered tombs and broken swords were everywhere, and the woods were dark and silent.

He was back in the forbidden ground of the back mountain.

And that Taixu ancestor, sealed by heavy formations and various chains, sat alone in the middle of the mountain.

Mo Hua let out a breath.

It seemed that this powerful old ancestor did not break his promise; he would indeed teach him the divine sense transforming into a sword.

And the long-bearded old man, at this moment, also silently looked at Mo Hua, and in his heart, the grand anomaly from seven days before reappeared: the bamboo sword engraved with the name "Mo Hua" returning to the tomb, the surging sword qi within the forbidden ground, the humming of the broken swords, the awakening of the ancient sword intent, and the white smoke rising from the tomb to condense into a sword cloud.

"The reason for the Sword Tomb giving birth to smoke... is because of this child?"

The long-bearded old man's gaze was solemn.

Why?

This meant... the inheritance of the true secret of divine sense transforming into a sword should truly fall upon this child.

Is this a sign of my Taixu Sect's divine sense sword path revival?

Mo Hua saw the old man and bowed, saying, "Greetings, old ancestor."

The long-bearded old man slowly opened his mouth and said, "My surname is Du Gu."

Mo Hua was startled and hurriedly cupped his hands, saying, "Greetings, Ancestor Du Gu."

The old man nodded slightly, "From today onwards, I will pass on to you this technique, which has already been listed as a 'forbidden technique' of the Taixu Sect's secret transmission... the true secret of divine sense transforming into a sword!"

Mo Hua's spirit was shaken. He cupped his hands and bowed, respectfully saying:

"Disciple thanks the old ancestor for the grace of transmitting the Dao."

Ancestor Du Gu nodded, his expression solemn, and then went straight to the point:

"Taixu's divine sense transforming into a sword arises from the sword and culminates in the divine."

"Refine qi with the sword, nurture the heart with qi, enter the soul with the heart, refine the divine with the soul, divine out of the body, transform divine sense into sword intent, then you can kill and fight."

"Cultivated to great success, sword, qi, and divine become one body. Flesh and blood, spiritual power, divine sense, none cannot be chopped. Evil demons, demon classes, ghosts, none cannot be killed..."

None cannot be chopped, none cannot be killed...

Mo Hua's heart was shocked.

This sword secret seemed much stronger than he had thought before.

"Did you understand?" Ancestor Du Gu asked.

Mo Hua nodded.

He firmly remembered Ancestor Du Gu's words in his heart and then combined them with his own understanding of cultivating divine sense transforming into a sword. After pondering for a moment, he slowly opened his mouth and said:

"Old ancestor, you just said in the method of divine sense transforming into a sword, 'refine qi with the sword' refers to using the sword, learning sword art, and condensing sword qi, right?"

"'Nurture the heart with qi' refers to practicing sword practice for a long time. When the sword qi is pure, under tempering day and night, the heart naturally also has a sword. This is nurturing the sword heart."

"And 'enter the soul with the heart' means transforming one's sword dao into a heart image and merging it into one's divine soul..."

Just like the Gui Shui Sect's Seven Souls Blood Prison Pupil cultivation method, it uses a "punishment prison diagram" as the heart image, merging it into the divine soul, thus being able to cultivate a pupil technique that can shock others' hearts.

"Merging the heart image into the divine soul is 'refining the divine with the soul'."

"And if you want to unleash the power of divine sense transforming into a sword, you naturally need to 'divine soul out of body', transforming divine sense into sword intent..."

Mo Hua spoke reasonably.

Ancestor Du Gu was surprised in his heart.

This child's understanding of the divine soul Dao, especially of transforming sword qi into sword intent, was actually so thorough, almost breaking through with a single point...

But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel doubtful in his heart and asked Mo Hua, "You... haven't learned this before?"

Mo Hua felt slightly alert in his heart and immediately shook his head, saying, "No!"

Mo Hua's mind moved slightly and he continued, "Disciple just... because of the divine consciousness Dao, I have researched divine consciousness relatively more. I have also inquired everywhere and pondered on my own. This is why I have a rough understanding and probably know some principles of divine sense transforming into a sword..."

Ancestor Du Gu did not comment but also did not pursue the question.

"Since you can understand, I also save effort. You are walking the divine consciousness proving Dao path, so transforming sword qi into sword intent, and even finally divine soul out of body, should be easier to learn."

"Out of body will be more difficult, but divine soul out of body is not something you can learn now. You have to wait until the Golden Core stage..."

Mo Hua actually really wanted to say that he could already go out of his body, but after thinking about it, his method of divine soul out of body was still very crude and might not be seen in the eyes of a figure at the level of the old ancestor. He also didn't say it to avoid making a fool of himself.

Of course, the most important thing was that his evil fetus was parasitizing inside his divine soul and was sealed along with his divine soul.

His divine soul could not go out of his body now.

Ancestor Du Gu did not know these little thoughts in Mo Hua's heart but continued:

"...Your divine consciousness foundation is sufficient. If you want to cultivate divine sense transforming into a sword, the biggest problem is not in divine sense, but in your shallow sword Dao foundation, weak sword qi, and shallow understanding of the sword."

Mo Hua softly said, "Old ancestor, if the sword qi is not cultivated well, can one learn divine sense transforming into a sword?"

Ancestor Du Gu counter-asked him, "If a person doesn't learn to walk, can he learn to run?"

Mo Hua was startled, pondered for a moment, and felt it was reasonable.

But his situation was somewhat special after all.

"Then suppose..." Mo Hua said again, "There is a person who is truly shallow in sword Dao and weak in sword qi, but learns divine sense transforming into a sword?"

Ancestor Du Gu frowned.

He originally wanted to say "impossible," but with his experience and insight, he also knew that in this world, strictly speaking, nothing was impossible.

Foundation Establishment mid-stage, nineteen patterns peak divine consciousness, this was also impossible in his eyes before.

But now he had personally seen it.

So thinking about it, suppose there really was a person who learned divine sense transforming into a sword in a shallow sword Dao situation...

It was not impossible.

Although he had never seen it before.

But fundamentally, not learning the sword well and just wanting to learn divine sense transforming into a sword was no different from not growing good wings and just wanting to fly to the sky.

"Even if there truly is a person who doesn't cultivate the sword and learns divine sense transforming into a sword..." Ancestor Du Gu said with a burning gaze, "Then his divine sense transforming into sword intent is necessarily crude, and his method of divine sense sword Dao is necessarily shallow. He cannot truly enter the hall and enter the room, nor can he fully unleash the might of divine sense transforming into a sword..."

Mo Hua felt inexplicably a little guilty.

The old ancestor was indeed an old ancestor; he was completely right.

He had learned the Transform Sword Style.

But the divine sense transforming into a sword was, as the old ancestor said, indeed very crude.

He had also learned the Shock God Sword.

But this sword secret was borrowed and mixed with the Gui Shui Sect's pupil technique, pieced together from two sides. It indeed had some "blind guess" ingredients and was not necessarily truly high-class.

Mo Hua sighed.

Formation Dao was vast and profound, and it seemed that sword Dao was no less so.

Any cultivator's great Dao, if they wanted to cultivate it to proficiency, even to enter the hall and enter the room, was not easy. They all needed to spend a lot of effort and painstakingly research.

It wasn't something one could achieve by casually tossing things around blindly.

Mo Hua involuntarily became much more humble in his heart.

But thinking about it, he hadn't learned the true divine sense transforming into a sword, only picking up bits and pieces and comprehending some superficial things, yet he could have such might and kill in all directions within the divine Dao.

Then suppose one day he learned the true secret of divine sense transforming into a sword, what kind of unparalleled might would he have?

With divine sense comparable to gods, using the most orthodox true secret of transforming swords of the Taixu Sect, he might not...

Could he even chop true evil gods?

Mo Hua's heart thumped.

He inexplicably thought of the evil fetus parasitizing in his life soul...

Ancestor Du Gu looked at Mo Hua, slightly frowning.

This child, at one moment sighing, at another lost, at another thinking about who knows what, his spirit was vigorous, and his face was full of anticipation.

Are the thoughts of a child who proves Dao through divine consciousness all so lively?

Is it because cultivating divine consciousness and abundant divine sense make thoughts also numerous?

Ancestor Du Gu was a little silent.

On the other side, Mo Hua also didn't know what he had thought through. He nodded, his eyes flashing, and said:

"Old ancestor, I have thought clearly. Tell me, what should I specifically learn now?"

Ancestor Du Gu was silent for a moment and said:

"You should already know that the true divine sense transforming into a sword is not just divine sense alone, but the union of sword, qi, and divine. Only in this way can its greatest might be unleashed."

"There are currently four styles of divine sense sword techniques: Transform Sword Style, Shock God Style, Break God Style Style, and Chop God Style."

"But these divine sense sword styles are still too early for you now."

"Your biggest problem is that your sword Dao is too weak. Therefore, what you need to do now is to make up for this shortcoming, deepen your understanding of the sword Dao, and lay a good foundation for divine sense transforming into a sword."

"I have a book here, 'Sword Dao Initial Explanation.' It contains some of my comprehensions of the sword Dao over these many years, and some methods for condensing sword qi, suitable for beginners to enter."

"Take it back, read it carefully, and try practicing sword qi. Seven days later, you come back, and I will see how you have learned."

Mo Hua took the book "Sword Dao Initial Explanation" with care and reverence and respectfully said:

"Many thanks, old ancestor!"

Ancestor Du Gu nodded and then tore open a void crack, sending Mo Hua back to the disciple residence.

Within the forbidden ground, only Ancestor Du Gu remained.

He pondered in his heart:

"This child... his sword Dao foundation is a bit weak, but his comprehension is very high, his understanding of the divine soul is very profound, and his Dao heart is even more outstanding."

"The hope of my Taixu Sect's divine sense sword Dao inheritance... perhaps it truly lies... on this child?"

Ancestor Du Gu, whose heart was like dead ashes, at this moment could not help but give birth to a sliver of hope.

But this hope of his soon became somewhat disillusioned.

Seven days later.

When he pulled Mo Hua to the forbidden ground again to inspect the results of his sword Dao cultivation, Ancestor Du Gu's face turned iron-blue.

Mo Hua answered fluently about his knowledge and understanding of the sword Dao.

It was obvious that he had seriously read that book "Sword Dao Initial Explanation," and he was very familiar with it.

But on the contrary, the sword qi he had cultivated was weak to the point of being speechless.

"Did you really practice?" Ancestor Du Gu frowned and said.

"I practiced," Mo Hua confirmed.

"How did you practice?"

"Just according to what was said in 'Sword Dao Initial Explanation,' without deviation. I followed the practice, practiced every day, from early to late. I practiced whenever I had time."

"You just practiced to this appearance?"

Mo Hua's face was solemn: "I am only responsible for effort; others are handed over to heaven's will. But very obviously, heaven's will disappointed me..."

His practice for these seven days was like practicing in vain.

No matter how he practiced, the sword qi did not become much stronger.

However, this also seemed normal.

His original foundation was weak, his sword Dao aptitude was not good, he started halfway, and he had only practiced for seven days. It would be strange if he could practice out any results.

Ancestor Du Gu was silent for a moment, sighed, "Forget it, take it slowly."

He also knew that learning sword art well and building a sword Dao foundation was not an overnight affair. He was a bit impatient.

And among the cultivators who had the qualification to be transmitted the divine sense transforming into a sword in the Taixu Sect before, without exception, they were all true geniuses of the sword Dao, one in a thousand, or even one in ten thousand.

These geniuses learned sword art extremely quickly.

Ancestor Du Gu had always taught this kind of sword Dao genius, so he inevitably misjudged the progress of ordinary sword cultivators in learning the sword.

Not to mention, Mo Hua was not even as good as an ordinary sword cultivator.

Judging from his spiritual root aptitude, he could even be considered a sword Dao "fool."

If the Taixu Sect were to accept disciples based on sword Dao aptitude, with Mo Hua's sword Dao talent, not to mention the treatment of being personally taught by the old ancestor in the forbidden ground of the back mountain, he wouldn't even be accepted to sweep the street in front of the mountain gate and learn half a move.

Mo Hua was also a bit troubled.

He learned and practiced, but sword art, especially cultivating sword qi, just wouldn't work.

He had no way either.

Ancestor Du Gu silently looked at Mo Hua and did not make things difficult for him. Instead, he patiently pointed out a few sentences and then said:

"Go back and continue practicing. Seven days later, I will bring you over again."

"Okay, old ancestor."

Mo Hua said respectfully, but as he listened to Ancestor Du Gu's explanation, his expression was more or less still a little confused.

Ancestor Du Gu was in the Void Realm, his tempering of the sword Dao was pure blue, and his attainment was even at its peak.

In comparison, Mo Hua's understanding of sword art was simply too "novice."

Even if Ancestor Du Gu thought he had explained enough "basic" things, these were the basics of the Void Realm. In Mo Hua's eyes, they were still very profound, and it was also somewhat strenuous to understand them.

However, Mo Hua was not discouraged.

No one is born knowing everything.

Any difficult thing always has to be learned.

Learning doesn't necessarily mean you will know, but not learning means you definitely won't.

Mo Hua then held the book "Sword Dao Initial Explanation" and went back to research it himself.

Within the forbidden ground of the back mountain, only Ancestor Du Gu was left again.

He couldn't help but sigh again.

"Can this child really inherit the divine sense transforming into a sword...?"

In the subsequent spare time, besides learning formations, Mo Hua spent all his time reading sword Dao insights and cultivating sword qi.

His comprehension of the sword Dao did deepen a little, but his progress in controlling sword qi was still slow.

This day, after finishing the formation class, Mo Hua was just thinking about the matter of sword art, but he did not notice that Elder Xun had already stood behind him at some point.

Elder Xun silently looked at Mo Hua and suddenly asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Mo Hua was startled, raised his head and saw it was Elder Xun. He then let out a breath, shook his head and said, "Nothing, I am thinking about formations..."

Elder Xun's gaze condensed slightly.

He always felt that the current Mo Hua seemed a little different.

Something on his body, he didn't know if it was "qi mechanism" or "cause and effect," seemed to be undergoing some quiet change in the dark.

Of course, Elder Xun did not think deeply.

Especially seeing Mo Hua's expression, which was a little haggard, as if he had spent time researching something and had not rested well, he felt a lot of heartache in his heart.

Elder Xun then warmly admonished:

"Researching formations is a good thing, but you also need to pay attention to work and rest. Don't work too hard, to avoid divine consciousness drying up and injuring the sea of consciousness."

Mo Hua was moved in his heart, "Thank you, old mister."

Elder Xun nodded, then turned and left. Recently, various matters were entangled, and cause and effect were mixed. He still had many things to do.

Just as he walked a few steps, Elder Xun suddenly remembered something, turned back and asked Mo Hua:

"Right, your divine consciousness..."

Before he finished speaking, he seemed to perceive the thick divine sense aura on Mo Hua's body, and Elder Xun's face changed.

Without waiting for Mo Hua to say anything, he said in a deep voice, "You follow me."

Mo Hua followed Elder Xun, left the Transmission Dao Room, and entered the elder's residence along the mountain path.

Entering the elder's residence, Elder Xun closed the door, sealed the formations, and still activated the compass, isolating a part of the cause and effect. Finally, he carefully asked:

"Your divine consciousness..."

His voice, even unconsciously, carried a hint of expectation.

Mo Hua did not hide it and nodded, saying, "It has become stronger again, already at the nineteen patterns peak..."

Although his tone was very humble, there was still a little bit of pride in his eyebrows.

Elder Xun heard this and choked on his breath. The hand hidden in his sleeve was trembling slightly.

Nineteen patterns... peak!

"You..." Elder Xun paused for a moment, tried to calm his emotions, "Release your divine consciousness completely and let me see."

Mo Hua released his divine consciousness.

Elder Xun, with a trepidatious mood, confirmed it a bit, and then slowly let out a breath. A moment later, he couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion in his heart and repeatedly said:

"Good, good, good..."

His gaze burned as he looked at Mo Hua. In his turbid eyes, a sliver of light appeared, sweeping away his long-time fatigue.

Heaven had truly given the Taixu Sect a treasure!

Ancestors bless...

The turning point had finally come.

In this chaotic chess game of cause and effect, the Taixu Sect finally had a piece, a piece that was enough to reverse heaven and earth!

Elder Xun said, "From now on, you just stay in the sect and don't go anywhere. You don't have to do rewards either. For the courses arranged by the sect, you can attend if you want to, and it doesn't matter if you don't want to."

"You only do one thing: Learn formations."

"I will personally teach you and must exhaustively transmit all the formations in the elementary, middle, and high levels of the two grades, all within the five elements and eight trigrams categories, to you within one year."

"This matter is more important than anything else."

"Within one year, you must fully comprehend all these formations, learn the two grades of formations to the extreme! Become a top master of two grades of formations, combining the strengths of various families and with vast attainments like the sea!"

Elder Xun's tone was incomparably solemn.

Two grades of formations master...

Mo Hua was a little absent-minded and also a little shocked.

It was the first time he had heard Elder Xun say this kind of expectation, and he had never seen such a solemn expression on Elder Xun's face.

It seemed that this matter truly concerned the safety of the inheritance and the survival of the sect...

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, his gaze solemn, and nodded with a serious expression.