Chapter 892: Demon Sect

Mount Taixu, back mountain.

Elder Xun, carrying a pot of wine, slowly walked into the back mountain's forbidden area, into the Sword Tomb where killing intent was scattered and sword energy had withered.

In the Sword Tomb, Patriarch Dugu still sat guard like a solitary rock on a cliff, unmoved by wind and rain.

Elder Xun placed the wine pot in front of Patriarch Dugu and said,"Senior Brother, today is a great joyous day, have a drink."

Patriarch Dugu slowly opened his eyes, his gaze slightly condensed, and he said with some disbelief,"The Three Sects... have truly merged again?"

"Yes, indeed..." Elder Xun said with gratification, "They have merged again, and now are one family again... It's just a pity about the name, its fate is too great, it cannot be used again."

His expression then became somewhat regretful.

These old patriarchs were still very attached to the names of their ancestors.

Patriarch Dugu's expression was complex, then he silently looked at Elder Xun and said in a dry voice,"Junior Brother, you've worked hard..."

The merging of the Three Sects was a major undertaking, and the difficulties were immense.

To truly cover the secrets of heaven, seek opportunities, overcome heavy difficulties, and promote the merging of the Three Sects into one lineage, both openly and secretly, required an unknown amount of scheming and effort.

And he, having been invaded by the Heavenly Demon, could only remain trapped guarding the forbidden area of the Sword Tomb.

Normally, if the secrets of heaven were not chaotic, and cause and effect were not abnormal, to adhere to his original intention, he would not even release his divine sense.

Completely, he was just a "blind" and "deaf" person, completely unaware of matters outside the Sword Tomb, and unable to offer any help.

All these burdens naturally fell on the shoulders of this junior brother of his.

This junior brother Xun, who was silent and had average aptitude in the Way of the Sword in his youth, was now the true reliance of Mount Taixu as times had changed.

On the contrary, he himself, this sword dao prodigy with extraordinary aptitude and high hopes placed upon him, was now like a useless person, buried alive in the Sword Tomb.

He had let down Mount Taixu's nurturing and had also burdened this junior brother of his.

Patriarch Dugu's heart was heavy with emotion, but it was all hidden within him, unspoken.

He looked again at the wine pot in front of him and shook his head,"The Heavenly Demon disturbs my spirit, I cannot drink wine..."

"Rest assured, I diluted it with water for you, drinking a mouthful will do no harm," Elder Xun said, "Just treat it as celebrating the Three Sects, the shattered mirror reunited."

Patriarch Dugu was silent.

Elder Xun sighed and said with a nostalgic expression, "This is Qing Wine, it was... brewed by Master in the past, I saved it until now."

Patriarch Dugu was somewhat moved upon hearing this, then tremblingly picked up the wine pot and took a shallow sip.

After drinking, he frowned and said, "You deceive me? This was not brewed by Master."

Elder Xun nodded, "Master left some wine materials, and later I continued to brew it."

"As expected, your brewed wine doesn't taste good, it's better not to drink it."

"I'm not really making you drink, today the Three Sects have merged, I'm just letting you celebrate a bit, taste a flavor..."

Patriarch Dugu put down the wine pot, pondered for a moment, and suddenly said,"This matter, how would those two kids, Ouyang and Linghu, agree?"

The "kids" in Patriarch Dugu's mouth referred to Patriarch Ouyang of Mount Tai'a and Patriarch Linghu of Mount Chongxu.

These two, their seniority was lower than his, and they reached Dongxu stage later than him.

Elder Xun said, "The secrets of heaven are obscure, cause and effect have undergone tribulations and changes, the future is unpredictable, plus their two sects are themselves struggling to protect themselves and can only seek change to survive, so this timing for the merging of the Three Sects naturally arrived..."

"Of course, there is another important reason that made Tai'a and Chongxu willing to rebuild their mountain gates with my Mount Taixu as the head."

Elder Xun said with profound meaning, "This time at the Lun Dao Assembly, my Mount Taixu won first place in the Lun Array!"

"Lun Array first?"

Patriarch Dugu was startled and said with some surprise, "My Mount Taixu, our array law can get first place?"

Lun Sword first, he could tentatively believe it a bit.

But array law first?

What did Mount Taixu rely on?

The ancestors fundamentally had no such foundation...

"Who got it?" Patriarch Dugu asked.

Elder Xun said with gratification, "This child, Senior Brother, you probably don't know. He was originally not from Mount Taixu, nor was he a disciple of a prominent family. He was still entrusted by others, forcefully stuffed into my Mount Taixu mountain gate, called Mo Hua..."

Patriarch Dugu was stunned, he almost suspected his ears had a problem.

"Who?"

"Mo Hua."

Elder Xun repeated it again, his expression emotional, "Speaking of which, it is also the ancestors' blessing, if not for this child falling from the sky and landing in my Mount Taixu, let alone the merging of the Three Sects, even passing the hurdle of the Lun Dao Assembly would not have been easy..."

As he spoke, he suddenly saw that Patriarch Dugu's expression was different, his heart moved, and his gaze slightly condensed:

"Senior Brother, this child... you know him?"

Patriarch Dugu's heart skipped a beat.

Not only do I know him, I also taught him sword law...

He couldn't say such words, but he also disdained to lie, only his expression was indifferent, not uttering a single word.

Elder Xun was slightly startled, thought for a moment, and then first shook his head.

"How could Senior Brother possibly know Mo Hua?"

"Senior Brother was injured by the Heavenly Demon and then sealed by the Taixu Trapped God Lock, his body and divine thoughts sealed, trapped in this Sword Tomb forbidden area. For so many years, he hasn't taken a single step out."

"Mo Hua that child, it's also impossible for him to run to the back mountain, this is a forbidden area, even if he wanted to come, he couldn't."

"Moreover, Mo Hua draws array law under my watchful eyes every day, plus cultivates, attends classes, where would he have time to run to the back mountain?"

One old patriarch, one young disciple.

The two of them had no blood relation or family ties.

Not even a bit of cause and effect, how could they possibly know each other?

Elder Xun thought to himself.

Patriarch Dugu's heart was also somewhat puzzled.

Mo Hua... Is it the same name?

This "Mo Hua" is perhaps not the Mo Hua he knows?

Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence...

And the "Mo Hua" he knew, although his divine sense was strong, was after all only in the Foundation Establishment mid-stage, with an innocent and cheerful face, not too much like the appearance of an "array law expert."

Patriarch Dugu's gaze slightly flickered and he asked, "What does this Mo Hua look like, what is his origin..."

Elder Xun was not suspicious and began to lavish praise, depicting the image of Mo Hua in his heart:

"Not old, Foundation Establishment mid-stage, handsome appearance, the more you look the more likable, spiritual root is a bit poor, but his comprehension is very high, diligent, hardworking, effort, progressive, extraordinary dao heart, not arrogant or discouraged, polite, and very sensible..."

Elder Xun praised Mo Hua to the heavens.

Patriarch Dugu was silent.

He could confirm that this Mo Hua was exactly the Mo Hua he had pulled into the Sword Tomb.

But this Mo Hua was also a little different.

At least the Mo Hua in his junior brother's eyes was quite different from the Mo Hua in his own eyes...

"You say, he's in the Foundation Establishment mid-stage, can he win the top spot in the Lun Dao?"

"Yes."

Patriarch Dugu frowned, "This doesn't mean that in the Foundation Establishment mid-stage, he can draw nineteen-pattern array law?"

Elder Xun nodded, his expression gratified.

This time he had allowed Qian Xue to open his eyes to the outside world. Now, it could be considered that he had also allowed this senior brother of his to open his eyes once.

"Not wrong," Elder Xun nodded, "Foundation Establishment mid-stage, nineteen-pattern peak divine sense, and this divine sense, tempered through countless times of drawing array law, is incomparably deep, exceptionally solid..."

Patriarch Dugu's pupils slightly shrank.

He knew Mo Hua's divine sense was deep, and also knew his divine sense was super-level.

But divine sense being super-level, yet being able to learn profound array law, only explains that he is not only talented but also willing to put in effort, and also explains that he is very proficient in the use of divine sense.

Moreover, the foundation of his divine sense was much deeper than he had imagined.

"So to speak, perhaps he really can open another path and learn the true formula of transforming divine thoughts into sword?"

Patriarch Dugu's heart trembled, and a hint of sharp light flashed in his eyes.

Elder Xun still wanted to say something, but he saw Patriarch Dugu's expression, especially that wisp of sharp light in his eyes.

Elder Xun was silent, his gaze also calmed down.

He silently looked at Patriarch Dugu and said with a serious expression:

"Senior Brother, you won't be thinking... of teaching this child the divine thoughts transform sword, will you?"

Senior brothers from the same sect, with so many years of friendship, how could Elder Xun not know the obsession of this senior brother of his, how could he not see through his thoughts.

Patriarch Dugu was silent.

What could he say?

He couldn't possibly say, in fact, I've already taught him...

Elder Xun's face then fell, "Senior Brother, you absolutely must not forget, the Taixu divine thoughts transform sword true formula has already been listed as a forbidden technique by the sect. No person can teach it, and no disciple can learn it."

"In these years, how many disciples have died, been injured, or been crippled because of this divine thoughts sword dao inheritance?"

"Senior Brother, I know your obsession, that this supreme sword formula is covered in dust, you are unwilling in your heart, but this sword law really cannot be passed on again."

"Especially Mo Hua..."

Elder Xun's face was incomparably serious, "Even if his divine sense is strong again, and his divine thoughts talent is good again, you cannot teach him the divine thoughts transform sword true formula!"

"His path is the path of an array master! This child is destined to become an array law grandmaster who overlooks the nine provinces and whose attainments pierce the heavens!"

"This concerns the future of my Mount Taixu."

"In case he is curious for a moment, learns the divine thoughts transform sword, wastes his sea of consciousness, and injures his divine soul, that would be a loss of heaven's magnitude!"

"This seedling absolutely cannot have the slightest mishap!" Elder Xun said in a firm tone.

Patriarch Dugu said faintly, "Understood."

Elder Xun frowned, "Senior Brother, have you really understood?"

Patriarch Dugu raised an eyebrow, "Do you insist on making me say it a second time?"

Elder Xun didn't mention it again, but after pondering for a while, he felt slightly relieved.

Senior Brother is not someone who doesn't distinguish between what is important and what is not.

Moreover, with Senior Brother's pride and discerning eye, without reason, without even having seen Mo Hua, how could he truly be thinking of teaching a small Foundation Establishment disciple the divine thoughts sword formula?

It must be that he himself was overthinking...

Of course, it is also possible that because the matter concerns Mo Hua, he himself is a bit too nervous.

Elder Xun took back the wine pot from in front of Patriarch Dugu, "Alright, one sip is enough, I won't disturb your quietness."

"Go on, go on." Patriarch Dugu waved his hand.

Elder Xun got up to leave, but after walking a few steps, he frowned again and turned his head to stare at Patriarch Dugu.

Patriarch Dugu asked, "Anything else?"

Elder Xun shook his head, "Nothing, I just feel..." He looked carefully at Patriarch Dugu a few more times and said, "Senior Brother, you seem a bit changed."

"Changed?" Patriarch Dugu paused.

"Um." Elder Xun thought for a bit and said, "You've become more open-minded..."

And... a bit more "lively"?

He spoke more than before, and his emotions were also more evident.

Just like being infected by something, vaguely, there was still a hint of familiarity...

Patriarch Dugu's face darkened, and he said coldly, "Anything else? If not, hurry up and go, I want to nurture my spirit."

Elder Xun shook his head, "Then Senior Brother, take care."

The Three Sects had just merged, and there were also many matters, he indeed didn't have much free time.

Elder Xun then left.

Inside the silent and solemn Sword Tomb, Patriarch Dugu sat alone in meditation.

After a moment, he frowned and silently muttered a name:

"Mo Hua..."

Wait until the next seven-day period.

When Patriarch Dugu tore open the void, pulled Mo Hua in front of him, taught him sword law, and examined his sword law homework, the pair of eyes like withered mountains hiding swords couldn't help but stare at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua was stared at somewhat uncomfortably, then softly asked,

"Old Patriarch, why are you staring at me?"

Patriarch Dugu's expression was indifferent, wanting to speak but stopping, he thought for a moment, and eventually didn't say it, only said, "Just learn your sword peacefully."

"Oh."

Mo Hua then silently waved the bamboo sword in his hand and went to chop the wood on the back mountain.

The wood on the back mountain, he didn't know what grade it was, it was harder than stone, every time he chopped with a sword, his tiger's mouth was shaken numb.

But Patriarch Dugu said, this is a necessary course for sword cultivators.

The important thing is not chopping wood, but cultivating the tacit understanding between person and sword in the process of chopping wood, cultivating to the point where sword and hand are one, and person and sword are one, thus when transforming divine thoughts into sword, one thought moves and sword intent is born, fusing the sword into the soul, the sword roams the Taixu, driven as a divine envoy, invincible.

Mo Hua felt it was very reasonable.

He had considered it, although the sword moves he practiced were actually not powerful and basically useless.

But in the worlds of divine thoughts such as the sea of consciousness, nightmares, and illusions, coordinating with his transform sword style, it could greatly show its skills.

Mo Hua knew his situation.

His sword law was not good, when he used the transform sword style in the sea of consciousness before, he purely relied on the sharpness of his divine thoughts, randomly chopping.

Because his divine thoughts were too strong, even just a pure transform sword style, facing most monsters, he could mostly defeat them with one sword.

But this sword move was after all too crude.

If there was an opportunity, he still needed to research and temper it, striving for further skill.

In reality, forget it, his body is weak and he cannot become a sword cultivator expert.

But it's different in the sea of consciousness, with divine thoughts incarnated and holding a divine thoughts sword, the sword moves he learns can definitely be useful.

Therefore, although no matter how Mo Hua chopped, he couldn't injure this back mountain wood a bit, he still chopped very seriously.

Without accumulating steps, one cannot reach a thousand miles.

The seemingly grand sword dao is hidden in this simple one move, one sword.

Mo Hua's expression was focused, his spirit concentrated.

The sword moves he chopped out were really inferior, fundamentally unable to injure people.

But between each move and style, he still infused all his heart and spirit.

Patriarch Dugu silently looked at Mo Hua, sighing slightly in his heart:

"Sword moves like rotten wood, yet his sword heart is like uncarved jade..."

"Plus he is proficient in array law, and his divine thoughts are super-level..."

Patriarch Dugu looked at Mo Hua, his gaze slightly condensed, not knowing what he was thinking in his heart...

Days passed one by one.

After the Three Sects merged, Mount Taixu underwent very big changes.

But to Mo Hua, it was as if nothing had changed.

He still cultivated as usual, attended classes, learned array law, learned sword law, still went to substitute teach array law as usual, and it was still the same, there was a bunch of people calling him little senior brother.

It's just that he taught more disciples.

There were also more disciples who called him little senior brother.

Time passed, and another month went by, and after this month of cultivation, Mo Hua basically confirmed one point:

Within this year, he definitely cannot break through to the Foundation Establishment late-stage.

Until now, he hadn't even touched the bottleneck.

Mo Hua's hanging heart finally settled down.

He could only walk through the back door.

Elder Xun also kept his promise and didn't make him repeat a grade.

Although this decision broke the sect's rules, rules are originally for breaking, and moreover, this is Mo Hua.

He is the only top array dao talent that Mount Taixu has had so far.

Even if Mo Hua didn't mention it, Elder Xun couldn't possibly truly make him repeat a grade.

Another month passed after that, and then it was the year-end assessment.

Mo Hua closed his eyes, steadily, tested a first-class six third, and then this year also counted as having passed.

Then it was the New Year celebration.

This New Year, Mo Hua's treatment was just very grand.

The family heads of the Shangguan family, Wenren family, and Gu family personally sent invitations, inviting Mo Hua to attend the year-end banquet.

The invitations were handwritten by the family heads of the three families, and then delivered to Mount Taixu by Wenren Wan.

Because of Mo Hua's relation, Wenren Wan's status in Mount Taixu also rose in a straight line. All the elders saw Wenren Wan as if they were seeing "Guanyin delivering a treasure," very kind and enthusiastic.

Mount Taixu even broke the rules and gave her a "guest elder" identity.

Of course, it was just an identity, with no real power and no need to do labor.

But this was the "Mount Taixu" after the Three Sects merged, although its rank was not too high, its forces had expanded more than twice.

This noble "identity" was very precious.

Therefore, it was much more convenient for Wenren Wan to enter and exit Mount Taixu.

She handed the hot gold inlaid jade, exquisitely famous invitations to Mo Hua, but said,

"No need to take it to heart, if you have time, go, if you really don't have time, there's no need to force yourself to socialize. This kind of year-end banquet is still quite boring."

Although from the Wenren family, married into the Shangguan family, and having deep friendship with the Gu family.

But Wenren Wan also deeply knew that the human feelings of the families in the world were indifferent, it was a place of desires, a field full of scheming for fame and fortune.

She didn't want Mo Hua to be contaminated by these too early.

She also didn't want these things to affect Mo Hua's cultivation and learning of array law.

Mo Hua pondered for a moment and asked, "How many delicious things are there?"

Wenren Wan was startled, then pursed her lips and smiled:

"This is the year-end banquet of the three families, the spectacle is bigger than before, the guests are also more noble, and the delicious things are endless..."

Mo Hua's eyes lit up and he nodded, "Then I'll go."

Wenren Wan smiled, "Good."

During the New Year, Mo Hua then went to the Gu family to participate in the year-end banquet.

Elder Xun also agreed to this matter.

He didn't want Mo Hua to show his face too much, to avoid being targeted.

But the Gu family was different, the Gu family was a clear stream, and their friendship with Mo Hua was relatively deep.

The Shangguan family and Wenren family also had more or less some origins with Mo Hua.

This year-end banquet, it was alright to participate a bit.

It also let Mo Hua appropriately experience the treatment he should have as the top array dao talent of the Qian Xue state boundary, who horizontally suppressed countless geniuses and disciples at the Lun Dao Assembly.

And the Gu family indeed treated Mo Hua with utmost hospitality.

Before, when Mo Hua went to freeload meals, he always sat at the same table with Aunt Wan, in a slightly less prominent position at the banquet.

Now, he still sat at the same table with Aunt Wan and Yu'er.

But this seat was already next to the Gu family head.

Even at the banquet, the always serious and rigid Gu family head, Gu Shouyan, would smile at Mo Hua and amiably ask him what he wanted to eat.

Shangguan family head, Shangguan Ce, and Wenren family head, Wenren Jingxuan, also sat not far away, on seats slightly higher than Mo Hua's.

As long as there was free time at the banquet, they would chat with Mo Hua.

The topics of conversation were also obviously carefully considered.

They would often chat for a few sentences, then chat about array law, and then naturally praise Mo Hua, saying his array law aptitude was extraordinary, his attainments were deep, and his future prospects were surely boundless.

They were all family heads, and all of them were intelligent individuals, wanting to deliberately "flatter" a young disciple in their words, their speaking skills had truly reached perfection.

Gentle breeze and light rain, yet impenetrable.

Neither losing their identity nor appearing abrupt, yet revealing subtle care that moistens things silently.

Mo Hua was also in a very good mood because of this, and ate several more chicken legs.

Wenren Wan's eyes were full of smiles.

Yu'er was also very happy, following by Mo Hua's side, imitating, gnawing on chicken legs with his hands.

This time no one dared to find fault with him again.

No one dared to say Yu'er was learning "badly"—because the person he was learning from was the array law champion of the Lun Dao Assembly in the Qian Xue state boundary.

As long as you are an absolute genius, whatever you do is right.

Just like this, this banquet, the host and guests were all happy.

However, on Mo Hua's lower hand side, there was a Shangguan family elder who was obviously of no low status, whose face was very ugly from beginning to end, almost the same color as the pig elbow on the banquet.

Mo Hua quietly asked Wenren Wan for the name of this elder:

Shangguan Wang.

"Shangguan Wang..."

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, and silently remembered this name.

After the year-end banquet, Mo Hua ate his fill again, then as usual strolled around the Gu family's backyard to digest.

Unexpectedly, there were many elders who rushed to give Mo Hua gifts.

They were all not very precious, but full of thoughtful gifts.

Mo Hua said, "That's how embarrassing," but in the end, he still "couldn't decline the sincerity," and received them all one by one.

As he walked, Mo Hua thought of Gu Changhuai.

He didn't seem to see much of Uncle Gu at the year-end banquet.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then found the study room, and indeed saw Gu Changhuai sitting alone at his desk, still flipping through jade slips.

Gu Changhuai was somewhat surprised to see Mo Hua, "You actually have time to run around everywhere?"

The Gu family's year-end banquet this year was basically held for Mo Hua.

The family heads of the Shangguan and Wenren families also had intentions beyond the wine, wanting to build some relations with Mo Hua in advance and tie a good fate.

Mo Hua, however, said casually, "I just came to freeload a meal."

His gaze swept across the jade slips on Gu Changhuai's desk, and he asked curiously, "Is the Dao Court Division very busy recently?"

"It's okay..." Gu Changhuai said perfunctorily.

Mo Hua, however, didn't believe it.

Looking at Uncle Gu's expression, it was obvious that he was hiding something.

Moreover, he was still busy at the year-end banquet, there must be some important matter.

Mo Hua asked, "Is there another case recently?"

Gu Changhuai didn't want to say, and wanted to muddle through with a few sentences, but then suddenly thought that Mo Hua was already different from the past.

Mo Hua already knew a lot of things, even possibly more than himself.

And with his curious nature and habit of getting to the bottom of things...

Gu Changhuai had some headache.

After a while, he sighed, looked around, closed the doors and windows, sealed the array law, confirmed that no secrets would be leaked, and then said with a serious expression:

"There has been another extermination case, and this time, the action is more rapid, the killing is more decisive. The Dao Court Division investigated... it is the work of an organized magic sect."

"Magic sect?"

"Magic sect?"