Chapter 747 – The Young Man
Controlling a sword with divine sense—using the mind as the controller, the spirit sword as the medium, the sword formation as the form, and employing the laws of spiritual power reversal and fusion to create terrifying destructive force...
Just thinking about it made Mo Hua feel a chill.
What a shame though…
He still hadn't formally studied Formation Flows.
As for sword formations, he had only ever learned a single one: the Severing Gold Sword Formation. Let alone distilling complexity into simplicity, or unifying all into one, or even touching the source of the Sword Dao through something like a Sword Dao Formation Flow.
That goal was still far, far off.
But even so, Mo Hua had begun to gain a clearer idea—a direction.
Sword control with divine sense, fused with formation-based lethality.
So from now on, he would study more formation theory, comprehend the laws of all things;
Train more in sword control, to deepen his understanding of the Sword Dao.
One day, he would surely grasp the Great Dao, merge fully with the sword formation, and create a terrifying sword-based ultimate weapon—one that used "Divine Sense Sword Control" as its method, sword as its form, formation as its core, and contained the power of universal laws.
Mo Hua was full of anticipation.
He patted Ouyang Mu's shoulder, eyes gleaming with expectation:
"You must really study sword forging well!"
From now on, all his sword-forging needs would be riding on Little Blockhead.
Ouyang Mu didn't quite understand why, but being affirmed by Mo Hua still made him happy.
So he continued to devote himself diligently to forging.
The current spirit sword's quality had reached its peak.
Its sword-control power had also hit a bottleneck.
Now, Ouyang Mu could only think from other angles—first, by reducing cost.
Mo Hua's "unconventional" sword control method consumed a sword every time it was used.
That meant the spirit sword was a consumable.
Used long-term, it would become a massive expense.
So Ouyang Mu thought—if the power couldn't be raised any further, why not lower the cost and save Senior Brother Mo some merit points?
Merit points were hard to come by.
He knew that from painful experience.
Even though he was now making decent merit points by forging for Mo Hua—eating meat and drinking soup, as they say—the habit of frugality was still deeply ingrained in his bones.
After talking with Mo Hua, Ouyang Mu began trying to "cut corners" reasonably—reducing material costs without reducing effectiveness, using "cheaper" materials to forge spirit swords.
Normally, spirit swords needed to be durable and powerful for long-term use. The forging process was complex, and materials expensive—there was no room for cutting corners.
But for Mo Hua's sword control?
The sword exploded with the formation.
It only needed to work once.
So traditional sword-forging ideas like durability, stability, or aesthetic beauty could be completely thrown out the window.
In fact, the sword could be deliberately made to explode.
Forget being sturdy or refined—it just needed to be flammable, volatile, and fragile.
This, hilariously, had been Mo Hua's own casual suggestion.
Ouyang Mu was stunned to learn that swords could even be forged like that.
Turns out, forging wasn't always about following the manual to the letter.
"Rules for objects are set by people. Objects are dead. People are alive. So we adapt dead things to the needs of the living…"
That's how Mo Hua put it.
It struck Ouyang Mu like thunder in the brain. He looked up in admiration:
"Senior Brother Mo, you know so much!"
Sure, Mo Hua wasn't great at forging, but wow—his ideas really made sense!
"Objects are dead, people are alive. Let people be the center. Don't be bound by form or structure…"
Ouyang Mu nodded earnestly.
And so, the quiet, disciplined, stiff and proper "Little Blockhead" began to be led astray by Mo Hua in the art of forging…
Ouyang Mu soon started experimenting with new forging philosophies.
Let practical need and real-world application guide the process—whatever works, no matter how unorthodox.
Mo Hua found it a lot less stressful.
Now he just had to tell Little Blockhead what kind of spirit artifact he needed, what effect he wanted, what formation it should hold—and the next day, Ouyang Mu would have a blueprint ready.
It helped that the Tai'a Sect and Great Void Sect were located close to each other, so coordination was easy.
And so, months passed by without notice.
Under Mo Hua's leadership, the Great Void Sect's monster-hunting teams grew stronger and larger.
There were more and more "strategies" for hunting monsters.
The whole process became increasingly streamlined, the related spiritual tools more complete, and the entire hunting system more mature.
The number of slain monsters grew, and the variety of materials harvested increased dramatically.
Any Great Void disciple who followed Mo Hua to Monster-Hunting Mountain came back with heaps of merit points.
With such a steady supply of beast materials, Ouyang Mu's forging skills improved rapidly.
At the same time, since he often followed Mo Hua around and helped repair spiritual tools for other Great Void disciples, Ouyang Mu grew close with many of them.
Back in the Tai'a Sect, he was pretty closed off.
As a direct descendant of the Ouyang clan, he had once been expected to shine like his older brother.
But compared to his brother, he was average, awkward, and not good at socializing.
That made the other Tai'a disciples look at him with complicated expressions:
Jealousy, contempt, distance, pity—sometimes all at once.
Ouyang Mu never felt comfortable there.
But with Mo Hua, and the Great Void disciples, he felt relaxed.
He could forge as he pleased, without pressure.
Everyone just called him "Little Blockhead." No one cared about his family name, or compared him to his brilliant older brother.
They simply treated him like a junior brother, a reliable blacksmith. He didn't have to worry about how others saw him.
Though he was still a bit awkward, his expression had become much sunnier, and a gentle, honest smile often appeared on his thin face.
Still… sometimes even he was confused—
How did a Tai'a disciple like him, who barely got along with his own sect-mates, end up so naturally fitting in with the Great Void Sect crowd?
Another month passed. Only two months left before the New Year.
Mo Hua's fourth year in the Great Void Sect was approaching its end, busy as ever.
It was a rest day.
As usual, Mo Hua entered the mountains. Along the way, countless Great Void disciples greeted him warmly:
"Good morning, Little Senior Brother!"
Mo Hua smiled and waved at them one by one.
He walked through the hills until he reached a quiet area, chose a large boulder, sat cross-legged, and laid a spirit sword in front of him.
It was a plain-looking sword, almost "cheap" in appearance.
This was the latest "shatter-type" spirit sword, forged by Little Blockhead based on Mo Hua's requirements.
Since the sword was guaranteed to break anyway—why not go all-in and design it to completely explode?
When the sword formation detonated, the sword would also shatter violently.
There were two big benefits to this:
One, the shattered sword would explode into countless fragments, which would scatter with the sword qi like a rain of hidden weapons—amplifying the damage.
Two, it destroyed the evidence.
Once the sword shattered, no full weapon would remain, making it much harder for others to analyze Mo Hua's technique.
Also, this sword was dirt cheap.
Little Blockhead had spent a long time researching and experimenting before finally creating a working prototype of this "explosion-type" sword.
So now, Mo Hua was testing it.
"Second-grade low-tier avian beasts are no good… too weak."
Mo Hua muttered to himself.
Flying beasts already had weaker blood essence and flimsier bodies than land beasts. The only reason they were troublesome was their speed and mobility in the sky.
But all those advantages were countered by Mo Hua's sword control.
Ever since Little Blockhead improved the spirit sword, Mo Hua could already use one strike to solo-kill an eagle demon.
Now, with several more rounds of iteration, this sword was even stronger—he needed something tougher to test it on.
"A second-grade mid-tier Wood-Eagle Demon."
He had picked this target specifically.
Among second-grade mid-tier beasts, it was on the weaker end—but definitely stronger than a low-tier one.
Mo Hua calmed his mind, spread his divine sense, and waited quietly in place—ready to ambush anything that flew by.
But after waiting half the day, all that passed were low-tier bird demons.
Mo Hua sighed lightly.
Finding a mid-tier second-grade beast in the outer mountains really did require some luck.
Of course… it didn't help that the Great Void disciples had been too efficient.
Sure, Monster-Hunting Mountain had more beasts than they could possibly kill, but even monsters knew how to avoid danger and migrate to safer peaks.
So when the low-tier beasts dwindled, mid-tier ones became even rarer.
Mo Hua frowned.
"Try another spot?"
Maybe outside the Great Void Sect's hunting peaks, he'd have better luck.
It was all outer mountain territory anyway—Mo Hua had already scouted most of it, so there wouldn't be any major danger.
Putting away his sword, Mo Hua stood up and gazed into the distance, then picked a direction that felt like it might lead to a beast encounter, and strode off.
Sure enough, as soon as he left the peaks around the Great Void Sect, the surrounding terrain began to look a bit unfamiliar.
After walking for a while, he spotted a few disciples from other sects.
Some wore sect robes, others didn't.
Those in robes were likely in large groups of fellow disciples for mutual support.
The ones dressed casually were likely small three-to-five-man teams trying to stay low-key and not reveal their sect.
Mo Hua thought for a moment, then quietly took off his own Great Void Sect robe and changed into a simple pale-gray outfit.
Since he was acting alone, it was best to stay discreet.
After traveling for a while longer, he finally spotted traces of a second-grade mid-tier Wood-Eagle Demon.
He spread out his divine sense, followed the trail, and eventually reached a mountain forest—sure enough, the demon eagle was circling high overhead, eyes sharp and cruel, occasionally screeching out a piercing cry.
The eagle demon's massive body radiated an impressive aura.
Its blood essence and demonic power were clearly a whole level above lower-tier second-grade beasts.
Mo Hua glanced behind him first, carefully choosing an escape route.
If this strike didn't seriously wound the eagle, he needed to be able to run immediately.
Getting locked onto by this thing would be a problem.
Once his retreat path was clear, Mo Hua sat cross-legged, drew his spirit sword, and began the process.
He locked on with divine sense, and channeled his spiritual will into the sword.
The moment his will moved, the sword resonated.
A flash of brilliant golden light shot forth—cutting across the sky in a sharp golden line, accompanied by a faint sword hum, and struck the airborne Wood-Eagle Demon like a bolt of lightning.
The moment it hit, golden sword qi burst forth.
The formation's sword energy swirled like a miniature storm, shredding the eagle demon's body.
The spirit sword itself was destroyed in the process, shattered to pieces.
Fragments of the sword, mixed with the exploding sword qi, detonated like golden fireworks in broad daylight.
Both the broken sword and the sword qi tore through the target.
Even for a mid-tier second-grade Wood-Eagle Demon, it was too sudden to defend against.
Its feathers were shredded by the qi, while the shattered blade fragments carved into its flesh.
This shatter-style sword control was, in a way, a new fusion of sword energy and sword weapon.
With a shrill screech, the Wood-Eagle Demon plummeted from the sky.
Mo Hua, already poised to run, brightened at the sight.
This shattered sword technique was even more powerful than he had anticipated.
In his experience, if a flying demon fell straight from the sky, it usually meant it was seriously injured.
He decided to go take a look.
If the beast was heavily wounded and could be finished off, he'd go in for the kill.
Even if the body wasn't whole, a mid-tier second-grade beast was worth a hefty amount of merit points.
But if the Wood-Eagle Demon still had solid demonic energy and wasn't too badly hurt…
…well, then it got lucky. Mo Hua wouldn't push his luck.
He followed the direction the beast had fallen—but when he arrived, he blinked in confusion.
No sign of the demon eagle…
Before him was a small cliff.
It seemed when the Wood-Eagle Demon crashed into the ground, it had flailed about—then, rather inconveniently, tumbled right off the edge.
Mo Hua peered over. The cliff wasn't that high. There was some fog, but he could faintly make out forest below.
Didn't look dangerous.
After some thought, he channeled spiritual power into his limbs and began climbing down, clinging to the cliff face.
But it turned out to be steeper and higher than he'd guessed.
It took him almost a full hour to finally reach the bottom.
At the base was a lush, forested area—but still no sign of the demon eagle.
Mo Hua spread his divine sense, sensing for spiritual traces. Then, using his Heavenly Pattern Deduction, he probed the flow of cause and effect—and finally found some blood that had seeped into the ground, and a faint trace of karmic energy.
Following the trail, he walked for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, when suddenly—
He stopped, looked up, and narrowed his eyes.
He'd found the demon eagle.
But someone else had taken it.
The Wood-Eagle Demon was dead, lying on the ground in a pool of blood, no breath left in it.
Its body was battered with wounds. In addition to the fragmented golden sword cuts from earlier, there was now an obvious new sword wound—sharp, clean, and terrifyingly powerful. That must've been the final blow.
Next to the eagle's corpse stood a teenager.
He wore a pale blue robe, looked quite young, with strikingly handsome features, fair skin, proud eyes, and a gaze sharp as a blade.
Not just his gaze—the whole person gave the impression of a sword unsheathed, all edges and killing intent.
Mo Hua's expression darkened slightly.
After a moment's thought, he didn't bother hiding his presence. He simply stepped out and walked straight toward the youth—stopping ten paces away.
The blue-robed teen heard footsteps and turned slowly. His cold gaze landed on Mo Hua and lingered for a second—startled.
Mo Hua didn't waste words. He pointed at the demon eagle and said directly:
"That beast is mine."
The youth's face turned colder—hostility flashing in his eyes.
"Yours?"
His voice was youthful and crisp—but carried a chill like a blade's edge.
"That's right," Mo Hua nodded, gesturing upward. "I wounded it with my sword. It fell off the cliff and landed here."
Wounded by sword…
The youth glanced at the wounds on the corpse—his hostility grew even stronger.
He sneered coldly:
"Well, it's mine now."
Mo Hua froze slightly, his eyes narrowing.
Expression calm, he asked:
"You… plan to rob me?"
The blue-robed youth also stiffened slightly, but sneered again:
"And what if I am?"
His tone was full of arrogance.
Mo Hua raised a brow.
He could tell—the youth before him was also a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, specialized in sword techniques. His sword qi was refined—clearly a talented disciple from some sect.
But Mo Hua didn't care which sect.
No one at his level had dared rob him before.
And anyone who tried—ended up coughing up blood, sword, and regret.
Besides, this boy's whole demeanor was hostile—clearly not planning to back off.
Mo Hua's gaze turned deep and calm. He said slowly:
"If you dare steal from me… then don't blame me for being impolite."
The forest fell silent. The air turned heavy.
The youth across from him looked calm—but a faint unease crept into his heart.
Something was wrong with this guy…
His blood qi was weak, his spiritual power seemed thin, but… his aura carried a strange pressure.
That instant—he realized this "kid" in front of him was no ordinary person.
That pressure couldn't be described, but it was undeniably there.
His sword heart gave him an instinctive warning: this boy was a true threat.
But strangely… that just made his fighting spirit burn even hotter.
But this only fueled the pride burning inside him.
A swordsman's heart must be fearless and unyielding, always charging forward.
The blue-robed youth felt a mix of nervousness and excitement.
Only by defeating a strong opponent could his swordsmanship truly improve!
Though he didn't know exactly what made this young cultivator before him so strong, instincts don't lie—and neither does the intuition of a sword heart.
Slowly, the blue-robed youth drew his long sword.
It was a simple yet ethereal ancient sword, imbued with an indescribable aura.
The blade shimmered with a faint blue light, like clear moonlight, hiding a subtle, elegant killing intent.
His expression was focused, eyes icy cold, sword qi swirling around him with an unapproachable majesty.
Mo Hua raised an eyebrow.
Sharp sword qi.
He hadn't seen such a powerful swordsman among his peers.
Not even Situ Jian had this kind of sword aura.
In the forest, the sword light flickered, a sudden deadly threat appeared.
Without a word wasted, the blue-robed youth pointed his long sword, and a pale blue sword light shot out like a crescent moon arc, tearing through the air.
Mo Hua's body flowed like water as he calmly dodged.
The sword qi sliced past him, cutting through a tree trunk and embedding into the ground, leaving a clear sword scar.
This scar matched almost exactly with the ones on the Wood-Eagle Demon.
Mo Hua retaliated with a fireball spell.
The fireball wasn't as powerful as the blue sword light but was fast and accurate.
The youth turned himself into a streak of sword light, flashing several times to create distance—but the fireball seemed locked onto him, curving slightly to follow and fly back at him.
His expression darkened, and with a sword slash, he split the fireball in two, canceling it out.
But the fireball's power was clearly no match for the sword qi.
Before he could blink, a second fireball came flying.
His pupils constricted.
This spell was incredibly fast.
He swung his sword again, slicing the fireball apart.
"Fortunately, the power isn't enough…" the youth muttered.
From then on, they exchanged dozens of rounds—fireballs from Mo Hua, sword light from the youth, both moving swiftly through the forest with agile footwork, continuously testing each other.
Both were probing for weaknesses.
Mo Hua wanted to see just how formidable the youth's swordsmanship was.
The youth wanted to uncover what other tricks Mo Hua had.
After a while, Mo Hua felt he had a good grasp.
The sword qi was strong, but only at the peak of mid-stage Foundation Establishment level—maybe the youth had some powerful secret moves, but he wouldn't use them here.
The youth's footwork was sword-dodging style—fast but not faster than Mo Hua's, and straight without much variation, like the sword light itself.
Mo Hua began pondering how to take down this blue-robed youth.
Should he use a close-range small meteor forbidden technique, or keep distance and control his sword with divine sense?
Or maybe secretly set up an array for an ambush, then bombard him with spells…
Mo Hua felt a bit torn.
The dilemma was that some of his more powerful methods weren't suitable.
Though this youth stole his demon beast and was rude, killing him outright would bring trouble.
Winning without killing—that was tricky.
Meanwhile, the blue-robed youth grew a bit irritated.
All this guy did was throw fireballs.
They went back and forth for dozens of rounds, and the kid kept using just fireball spells.
"Is he mocking me?!" the youth growled, then coldly asked, "Is fireball all you've got? What about the Broken Gold Sect's sword techniques? Why don't you use those?"
Mo Hua casually threw two more fireballs and replied, confused: "I'm not from Broken Gold Sect, why would I use their sword methods?"
The youth was momentarily stunned, then slashed out two sword qì beams, canceling the fireballs, before frowning and asking:
"You're not from Broken Gold Sect?"
Mo Hua shot back: "What makes me look like Broken Gold Sect to you?"
The youth pointed at the Wood-Eagle Demon corpse.
"You said you killed that eagle, but aren't those sword scars from Broken Gold Sect sword qi?"
Mo Hua paused, realization dawning.
He'd controlled his sword with a Broken Gold Sect sword formation, so naturally the sword qi was theirs.
Of course, he wouldn't admit it was Broken Gold Sect sword qi.
He said, "That's my family's sword qi. How does it become Broken Gold Sect's?"
The youth frowned.
"That sword qi is metal-element…"
"Metal is one of the Five Elements," Mo Hua said boldly. "There are plenty of sword cultivators who use metal-element sword qi—what does that have to do with Broken Gold Sect?"
The youth faltered and had no comeback.
That made sense.
Broken Gold Sect specializes in metal-element sword qi, but not all metal-element sword inheritance belongs to them.
He'd jumped to conclusions seeing the golden sword scars and assumed the eagle was wounded by Broken Gold Sect riffraff's sword qi—hasty and presumptuous.
The youth quietly sheathed his sword.
Mo Hua was a bit surprised.
"You're not fighting anymore?"
The youth bowed slightly and said honestly:
"I was rude. Sorry…"
Though apologizing, his expression was stiff, clearly uncomfortable.
Seeing him apologize so directly, Mo Hua was a little surprised.
He pointed at the demon beast and said, "So this beast…"
The youth hesitated a moment, then straightforwardly said:
"It's yours."
Mo Hua nodded with satisfaction.
A kid who doesn't steal another's demon beast is a good kid.
Just a misunderstanding, and he had a magnanimous heart—not going to hold a grudge.
Mo Hua folded his arms behind his back, rolled up his sleeves, and his gaze cleared, suppressing the killing intent.
The blue-robed youth glanced over Mo Hua and noticed that strange oppressive aura and unsettling threat had vanished completely in an instant, causing a slight stir inside.
He looked at Mo Hua deeply and solemnly asked:
"What sect are you from?"
Mo Hua frowned slightly.
The youth's tone was straightforward, a bit cold, and tinged with arrogance—rude in manner.
Mo Hua replied:
"Before asking someone's background, you should introduce your own sect first."
The blue-robed youth was taken aback, realizing his oversight.
He cupped his hands and said:
"Outer disciple of Chongxu Sect… Linghu Xiao."
Mo Hua blinked.
Linghu Xiao?
He looked at the youth's cold face and silently thought:
This Linghu Xiao sure hasn't smiled once…
(End of chapter)