Chapter 736: Snatching Swords
Small-scale cultivator duels are all about schemes, strategy, and trickery—lots of variables in play.
But in large-scale cultivator battles, when things get chaotic and both sides charge in like a swarm, it's actually the basic offense-defense balance that determines the winner.
If one side gains an edge in either attack or defense, the odds of victory increase significantly.
The clashes with the Broken Gold Sect followed this principle.
With anti-metal armor that could block metal-element techniques, the Great Void Sect could hold the upper hand in a straight-up brawl—but only against regular disciples of the Broken Gold Sect.
Ordinary Broken Gold disciples cultivate metal-element techniques and martial arts. Even if they practiced sword arts, they were either generic metal sword techniques or basic-level Broken Gold Sword Arts.
Against them, anti-metal armor worked just fine.
But core disciples were a different story.
"What does a higher-level 'Man and Sword as One' look like?" Mo Hua asked.
That was the hallmark of orthodox sword cultivators—not really his field, but still curious.
"Body cultivators rely on their flesh. Spiritual cultivators rely on their qi sea. But sword cultivators? Their strength depends heavily on their sword."
"A sword cultivator with a sword and one without a sword are like two entirely different species—worlds apart."
"There's an old saying in the cultivation world: 'With sword, a dragon. Without sword, not even a dog.' Bit of an exaggeration, sure, but it shows how vital the sword is to a sword cultivator."
Though Situ Jian explained well, Mo Hua still found it hard to feel the difference.
But when it came to countering the Broken Gold Sword Art, he realized that just relying on anti-metal armor was probably wishful thinking.
"The Broken Gold Sword Art…"
If a sword cultivator loses their sword, are they even a sword cultivator anymore?
Mo Hua began to see the picture more clearly.
It was leagues beyond what he had encountered before—like Boss Jiang's stolen and bastardized sword art, used to abduct cultivators. That was nothing compared to this.
The Broken Gold Sect hadn't held its place among the Twelve Streams for nothing.
Situ Jian shook his head. "To go beyond that, you'd have to grasp Sword Intent. I'm not there yet, can't say I understand it."
Only now did he realize—he had been underestimating the Broken Gold Sword Art.
Mo Hua silently memorized what he heard.
Situ Jian nodded in agreement. "Exactly."
"That's why every sword cultivator treats their spirit sword like a treasure—and dreams of one day wielding a peerless divine sword."
"All right," Mo Hua nodded.
Anti-metal armor was good for countering basic metal-elemental techniques.
But clearly, he needed to dig deeper…
In the disciples' dining hall, Mo Hua propped his chin on his hand and casually asked Situ Jian beside him:
"Situ, are spirit swords really that important to sword cultivators?"
Situ Jian's eyes lit up with longing at the question.
"How important, exactly?" Mo Hua pressed.
"Oh…" Situ Jian scratched his head.
His own inheritance wasn't very orthodox, so his sword's power couldn't compare to that of core, direct-line disciples.
Still—just because something is hard to counter doesn't mean it's impossible.
"Beginner-level 'Man and Sword as One' means the cultivator merges their spiritual energy with the spirit sword, unleashing even stronger sword qi."
Trying might not guarantee success.
"But not trying guarantees failure."
"A good sword can empower a sword cultivator like wings on a tiger—it might even 'defy the heavens and rewrite fate.'"
Situ Jian added thoughtfully, "Sword techniques are a special kind of Dao art. They're all about achieving unity between person and sword."
Without a spirit sword, the sword qi a cultivator produces isn't much stronger than ordinary spells. But with a spirit sword, the power level jumps dramatically.
And in the hands of a core disciple, wielding a high-grade metal-element spirit sword—the sword qi's power became terrifying.
Boss Jiang's sword art had been stolen.
But the Broken Gold core disciples had top-tier sword aptitude, cultivated the authentic Broken Gold Sword Art, and were equipped with top-quality spirit swords.
Mo Hua was self-aware—his foundation was weak, he had no family background, and was hundreds of steps behind in the orthodox sword cultivator path.
The Broken Gold Sect's signature sword art—passed down through generations—wasn't some half-baked technique he could casually counter.
Let's face it: if it were that easy to deal with, the Broken Gold Sect's arrogant disciples would've had their teeth kicked in long ago.
The true strength of their sword art lay not in metal-elemental power, but in pure, concentrated Broken Gold Sword Qi.
Far beyond the clumsy sword qi Mo Hua himself could wield.
And when it came to combining sword qi with sword tools—he was basically clueless.
He did have some experience with Sword Intent, at least.
After all, he had studied the "Transform Sword" stance of using divine sense to form a blade.
But honestly, that crude version of the stance probably didn't count as legitimate Sword Intent at all…
"So why," Mo Hua asked again, "does the sword itself increase the power of sword qi?"
Until now, the only method he had encountered for amplifying spiritual power was the Five Elemental Source Array—or armor embedded with those formations.
Other than that, no spirit tool had ever boosted spiritual power like that.
And the Five Elemental Source Array was the core secret of the Five Element Sect—extremely hard to learn, and harder to pass down.
For now, he was probably the only one producing Five Element Source Armor.
But swords? Different story. Though sword-forging methods were rare and closely guarded by powerful clans, compared to formation arts, swordcraft was still more "accessible."
Mo Hua pondered a moment and added:
"Is it because of the sword array?"
"Exactly," Situ Jian nodded. "A spirit sword enhances sword qi because it's embedded with a sword array during forging—the sword and the array are one."
"When spiritual energy is injected into the sword, it flows through the internal array, and the sword qi it unleashes becomes even sharper."
Mo Hua asked again, "Have you ever seen a sword array?"
"Nope," Situ Jian shook his head. "The sword array lineage is a top-secret within clans. Even the direct-line array masters in the family can't access it easily."
"Is it really that strict?"
"Extremely." Situ Jian answered seriously, "I can't speak for other clans, but in my own Situ Clan, the Blazing Fire Sword Array is guarded tightly."
"No outsiders. Not for those who marry in. Not for those who marry out. Not for collateral lines.
Even direct descendants must sign a 'death contract'—an oath to never pass it on, even under threat of death—just to gain the right to study the sword array…"
Mo Hua was speechless.
He had only vaguely heard from Uncle Gu that sword arrays were the core of sword clans' legacies, incredibly precious.
But this… this was on another level.
The more he heard, the more curious he became.
What did a sword array actually look like…?
He had to find a way to get his hands on one for study.
Mo Hua's gaze flicked toward the Blazing Fire Sword resting in its sheath at Situ Jian's side.
Situ Jian instantly tensed up, instinctively guarding his sword.
Their eyes met. Mo Hua asked softly:
"Can I take a look?"
Situ Jian hesitated. "Little Senior Brother… You're not gonna take it apart, right…?"
Mo Hua immediately nodded, "Of course not! Just want a peek…"
Seeing Situ Jian still reluctant, he added:
"I'll just look here. Two seconds, that's all."
Only then did Situ Jian—reluctantly—hand over the sword he wore at all times and treated like his life.
Mo Hua received it solemnly. It was heavy in his hand and slightly warm to the touch.
The blade—whatever it was forged from—shone like jade, sharp as iron, with faint streams of fiery red flowing across it.
Narrowing his eyes, Mo Hua examined the hilt, checking for any seams… maybe a way to open it up.
Situ Jian's nerves spiked instantly.
Luckily, Mo Hua hadn't actually intended to disassemble it.
He looked it over carefully, found no obvious points of entry, and returned it solemnly.
"Thanks."
Situ Jian breathed a huge sigh of relief and quickly stowed the sword away again.
While the sword was in Mo Hua's hands, he had felt constantly on edge.
Mo Hua, meanwhile, was deep in thought.
The Blazing Fire Sword was Situ Jian's treasured weapon—not exactly something he could take apart at will. If he really broke it, he'd feel way too guilty.
After a moment of consideration, Mo Hua turned to Situ Jian and said:
"Next rest cycle, let's head into Demon Refining Mountain and 'borrow' a few spirit swords from the Broken Gold Sect…"
The power of sword qi partially came from the sword array within the weapon.
If they could dismantle a Broken Gold Sword, not only could they study the sword array, but also figure out how to improve the anti-metal armor to resist true Broken Gold Sword Qi.
Situ Jian, however, shook his head.
"Even if we steal them, it might be useless. Most spirit swords have self-destruct formations inside. If you try to force them open, the sword array will destroy itself…"
Mo Hua paused, thought it over, and nodded—he had a point.
Given how precious sword arrays were, it made sense to have some self-destruction measures in place.
Still… even if that's the case…
"We're stealing them anyway," Mo Hua said casually.
Situ Jian wanted to object, but suddenly froze—then his expression changed as he realized:
If Little Senior Brother doesn't get his hands on a Broken Gold Sword, then with his obsessive curiosity about formations… he'll eventually set his sights back on my Blazing Fire Sword!
Situ Jian's heart clenched, and he quickly nodded with conviction:
"Right! Exactly! We have to steal some! How would we know if the sword self-destructs or not unless we open one up?"
"Little Senior Brother—I'll help you rob them!"
Let them dismantle the Broken Gold Sect's swords all they want.
As long as they don't touch his Blazing Fire Sword, it was all good.
Mo Hua was genuinely moved.
In his heart, Situ Jian was now officially promoted to a truly good guy.
A few days later, the ten-day break arrived again.
Mo Hua called up Cheng Mo, Situ Jian, and a few others—five of them in total—then headed for another visit to Demon Refining Mountain.
He didn't bring the rest of the disciples.
He'd considered it carefully. Without first improving the anti-metal armor and finding a solution for Broken Gold Sword Qi, his junior disciples would be at much higher risk of injury. Not worth it.
Besides, this mission was essentially a heist—they needed to be fast and light. More people would just slow things down.
Once in the mountain, Mo Hua navigated easily. Before long, he spotted a small group of Broken Gold Sect disciples.
There were eight of them, led by a smug young noble-looking man—your typical pompous "pretty boy."
Mo Hua swept his gaze across them and extended his spiritual sense. In moments, he had a rough read on their strength.
All of them were at mid-stage Foundation Establishment.
Three were body cultivators, two were spiritual cultivators, and the remaining three were sword cultivators.
The body and spirit cultivators didn't carry swords—not worth looting.
But those three sword cultivators? Jackpot.
Each of them wore a golden spirit sword, and the one on the pretty boy leader's waist was particularly fine—gleaming with golden brilliance.
The more Mo Hua looked at it, the more he liked it.
He made up his mind:
That sword's last name is "Mo" now.
The Broken Gold disciples had no idea danger was lurking. They were still casually chatting while combing through the mountain:
"Haven't seen those cowards from the Great Void Sect lately…"
"Probably too scared to show up."
"Guess they finally realized how mighty the Broken Gold Sect is. Smart of them."
Someone snorted,
"Anyone who dares mess with us must've eaten bear gall and leopard guts."
Another added warily,
"Still, we should be careful. Those Great Void brats are sneaky. If they're not showing up, they're probably scheming something…"
The pretty boy leader, however, waved it off.
"Relax. The whole mountain's crawling with Broken Gold disciples now. What can they possibly do…"
Before he could finish his sentence—
BAM!
A towering, burly disciple suddenly lunged out from nowhere, axes swinging downward—caught completely off guard, one of the smirking Broken Gold disciples was instantly flattened.
The pretty boy froze—then his face contorted in panic.
"Ambush!!"
Before they could react, Yang Qianjun darted in like a flash. His spear struck like a dragon and skewered another Broken Gold disciple from behind.
Meanwhile, Situ Jian's Blazing Fire Sword flared to life.
With searing flames and razor-sharp sword qi, he struck another disciple's thigh before the man even noticed him.
The injured disciple collapsed with a scream.
Situ Jian, not wasting the opportunity, poured more spiritual power into his sword and charged at the next one.
He was especially motivated this time, muttering to himself:
I must help Little Senior Brother get that sword!
So he stops thinking about dismantling my Blazing Fire Sword!
The pretty boy—clearly a core disciple—was furious. He tried to draw his sword to counterattack, but the moment his hand gripped the hilt—
Whack!
A blunt object slammed into the back of his head. Stars exploded in his vision.
"A sneak attack?!" he thought, dazed.
He instinctively reached for a Golden Body Talisman to activate…
But before he could trigger it, a fireball screamed in and exploded on his arm.
He winced in pain, hand twitching, and dropped the talisman. He bent to pick it up—
Too late.
Hao Xuan's foot came flying in and sent the talisman soaring into the bushes.
On the other side, the ordinary Broken Gold disciples were no match for Mo Hua's team—disciples who had battle experience, solid teamwork, and the benefit of Mo Hua's tactical training.
Caught completely off guard, the battle ended in barely ten exchanges.
Four were taken down, three others stood trembling, too scared to move.
Cheng Mo and the others redirected their focus toward the pretty boy.
Sensing the tables had turned, the pretty boy activated his Golden Escape Step technique and bolted—vanishing in a flash of golden light, already several zhang away.
While fleeing, he even found time to shout:
"You despicable rats! Just wait—I'll—"
He never finished.
A sudden flash of blue light—a chain appeared out of thin air, coiled around him, and yanked him to a halt.
He was horrified.
"What kind of spell is this?!"
He struggled frantically, but Cheng Mo had already rushed up, axes crossed and pressed against his neck.
The pretty boy cursed furiously:
"You filthy trash! You—"
Cheng Mo silenced him with a solid kick to the gut. The words choked halfway and died in his throat.
Mo Hua didn't waste time.
Like a flash of lightning, his hand darted out and snatched the golden sword from the pretty boy's waist, slipping it into his own robe without anyone even noticing.
Then he barked:
"Retreat!"
He'd already sensed other Broken Gold disciples approaching fast—and in numbers.
Time to go. No need to linger.
Cheng Mo and the others nodded.
With swift coordination, the group of five vanished like the wind.
The pretty boy stood there stunned.
Then he looked down and realized—
"My sword… it's gone?!"
"MY SWORD!!"
"My sword!!"
Rage surged through the pretty boy as he shouted.
He looked up, only to find the area around him empty—those people were long gone.
"You bunch of bastards! I won't let you get away with this!"
he growled through gritted teeth.
Moments later, a crowd of Broken Gold Sect disciples came rushing over, full of concern.
"Brother Song, are you alright?"
Pretty boy Song's face was pale with fury.
Was he supposed to look alright? His gut was still burning with pain! But now wasn't the time for nursing injuries—the sword was more important.
That was a spirit sword he had been nurturing for ages, preparing it as the embryo for his future life-bound sword!
"They stole my sword!!"
Everyone's expression turned grim.
"Go!" Song barked. "Find those little bastards and get my sword back!"
"Yes, sir!"
The Broken Gold Sect disciples nodded and scattered.
In the sect, there were two major families: the Jin (Gold) family and the Song family.
This "pretty boy" Song Jian was the direct descendant of the Song family—the other core bloodline besides the Jin family.
When he gave an order, no one dared ignore it.
Soon, the Broken Gold disciples regrouped and began combing the mountain.
They thought: with so many of us, how hard could it be to catch a few Great Void brats?
But they were quickly proven wrong.
Mo Hua and his crew were like ghosts—completely vanished.
These Broken Gold disciples were all mid-Foundation Establishment at best, with spiritual sense no stronger than 14 runes.
There was no way they could detect Mo Hua, whose spiritual sense had already hit 17 runes and undergone a qualitative transformation.
Not to mention… this was Demon Refining Mountain.
Mo Hua was now more familiar with its outer regions than he was with his own backyard—moving through it was effortless.
Trying to find Mo Hua here? Like fishing a needle out of a haystack.
By the time Mo Hua had already left the mountain and returned to the Great Void Sect—spirit sword safely tucked in his robes—the Broken Gold Sect disciples were still buzzing around the forest like headless flies.
But as night fell, the mountain beasts began to stir restlessly. The disciples dared not stay longer and had no choice but to retreat.
Song Jian, the one who had lost the sword, returned to the sect fuming, only to run into a tall, skinny senior brother with late-Foundation Establishment cultivation outside the disciple quarters.
This was none other than Jin Gui.
Jin Gui smiled and cupped his hands:
"Junior Brother Song Jian."
Song Jian frowned but returned the greeting with forced politeness:
"Senior Brother Jin."
His tone was lukewarm at best.
The Jin and Song families never got along. From sect leader to vice leader, elder to instructor—they constantly fought over power.
Though they put on a civil front, their rivalry ran deep.
"So, how did the patrol go?" Jin Gui asked with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Song Jian's expression turned ugly. He replied honestly,
"Those Great Void cowards didn't dare show themselves—only a few sneak-attacked us… and stole my Broken Gold Sword."
He lost the sword?
Jin Gui laughed to himself but outwardly sighed,
"A spirit sword is like life itself to a sword cultivator. Junior Brother Song, how could you let it get taken…"
Of course Song Jian caught the mocking tone. Eyes flashing, he snapped back,
"You're right, Senior Brother. Even if I lose face, I must not lose the sword."
Jin Gui's expression froze. His face turned an ashen gray.
That jab hit home—a direct dig at the infamous incident where he had been stripped and hung from a tree with turtle drawings all over his body.
The two continued exchanging passive-aggressive jabs.
Jin Gui smiled again:
"Shall I gather a few Jin family disciples tomorrow and help retrieve your sword?"
"No need," Song Jian replied coldly. "If the Song family can't get back what was ours, there's no way your Jin family could either."
They locked eyes—no warmth between them.
Jin Gui chuckled,
"Then I wish you luck, Junior Brother Song."
"And the same to you, Senior Brother Jin. You'll need it."
Their expressions turned frigid as they brushed past each other, both letting out identical cold snorts in their minds:
"This Broken Gold Sect—should it be 'Jin' or 'Song'? Still undecided…"
Back at the disciple quarters, both men were brooding. Memories of humiliation stirred their hatred—each fuming anew.
Jin Gui, eyes bloodshot, slammed his palm down and shattered a table:
"That little brat who drew turtles all over me—one day, I'll tear him limb from limb!!"
Song Jian crushed his teacup in his hand:
"That bastard who stole my spirit sword—he'll pay a hundredfold, one day!"
And at this exact moment—
The very same brat who doodled turtles on Jin Gui and stole Song Jian's sword,
—was sitting peacefully in his room in the disciple quarters, acting like nothing had happened at all.
Mo Hua was studying the gleaming Broken Gold Sword in his hand with laser focus.
It was a rare and high-grade spirit sword.
He was wondering… could it be taken apart?
If he could take it apart, would he uncover the sword array within?
And if he got the sword array…
Would that mean—
He could start forging true spirit swords himself?!
Mo Hua's eyes lit up, brimming with excitement.
(End of Chapter)