Chapter 739 – Sword Control
Just watched and learned it...
Elder Xun fell silent, his writing brush coming to a stop.
Xun Ziyou, who had been bowing slightly with lowered eyes, secretly glanced up at Elder Xun.
Then, summoning all his courage, he asked:
"Old Ancestor… don't tell me you taught him that too?"
Elder Xun raised a pale eyebrow and gave Xun Ziyou a sideways glance.
He replied blandly:
"What? Is that a problem? Are you questioning your Old Ancestor?"
The courage Xun Ziyou had just mustered instantly deflated.
He quickly said:
"I wouldn't dare."
Then, in a small mutter:
"Still… Old Ancestor, you really are too biased…
You don't teach the sect disciples, you don't teach the Xun clan disciples—
You just dump all the good stuff on that Mo Hua kid…"
"It's always the best stuff too… One minute he's drawing formations in the dirt, the next he's deducing sword Qi…"
"Why don't you just go ahead and teach him the Divine Will Sword Manifestation Manual too?"
At that, Elder Xun immediately scolded:
"Nonsense!"
"That technique is not something that can be casually taught!
Are you trying to get him killed?"
"Every sword strike drains divine will. It's a path that severs one's own spiritual sense!"
"I've sealed off my divine will and haven't touched that sword art in centuries—
and you want him to learn it? You want him to damage his spiritual consciousness and cripple his foundation?"
Xun Ziyou didn't dare say another word after that outburst.
Elder Xun furrowed his brows, fell into thought for a moment, then ordered:
"You—and all the other elders in the sect—
Make it absolutely clear: no one is to speak a single word about the Divine Will Sword Manifestation Manual in front of Mo Hua."
"Not. One. Word."
His gaze grew sharp, and he sighed faintly.
That child is too clever, with too powerful a divine sense… and far too curious.
If he ever even catches wind that such a sword art exists in the Great Void Sect… he'll definitely rack his brains trying to learn it…
Xun Ziyou reluctantly cupped his hands.
"Understood."
Elder Xun gave him a long look.
"You do know what happens if someone uses that sword technique… right?"
Xun Ziyou froze—then nodded with a somber expression.
He had only been speaking out of frustration… but of course, he remembered.
Scene after scene flashed through his mind:
Ancestor Dugu on the back mountain.
The Sword Grave filled with broken blades.
Senior Brother Dugu Xuan—once the sect's brightest rising star in swordsmanship, whose life-bound spiritual sword shattered, vanishing without a trace…
And now, the gradually fading Great Void Sect itself.
Xun Ziyou reined in his emotions and gave a deep, respectful bow.
"Yes."
Elder Xun nodded slightly.
"And that Broken Gold Sect situation…" Xun Ziyou added,
"It won't cause any trouble, will it?"
Elder Xun thought briefly, then replied:
"You clean it up. Don't let it spread. That Mo Hua kid is clever—he definitely won't talk.
As long as you don't talk, Broken Gold Sect won't find out anything."
"Deducing sword Qi…" Elder Xun paused here. Even he couldn't help but mutter:
"It violates basic cultivation logic… That's just not something normal cultivators can do."
"As long as it doesn't get out, the Broken Gold Sect can twist their heads off trying to figure it out, and they still won't guess what really happened."
Xun Ziyou felt a chill in his heart.
Not something ordinary cultivators can do…
That meant—Mo Hua's talent might really be… off the charts.
No wonder… the Old Ancestor had such a high opinion of him.
"But what if the Broken Gold Sect does see the sword array," Xun Ziyou asked, "and suspects our Great Void Sect?"
Elder Xun said firmly:
"Then we flatly deny it. Just say—it's not their sword array."
Xun Ziyou hesitated.
Elder Xun continued, completely unfazed:
"How are they going to prove it's theirs?
Are they bold enough to bring out their own sword arrays and compare?"
Xun Ziyou still felt unsure.
"But it is metal-type…"
Elder Xun raised an eyebrow:
"A metal-element sword array means it belongs to them? Who do they think they are?"
"So all the Melting Gold Arrays, Breaking Metal Arrays, Geng Metal Arrays inherited across the nine provinces…
all belong to the Broken Gold Sect too?"
Xun Ziyou considered it…
"...Yeah, that does sound ridiculous."
No evidence, no crime.
If they didn't catch Mo Hua in the act, or find the actual materials, how could they accuse a Great Void disciple of theft?
Not to mention—they had the Old Ancestor backing them.
Even taking ten thousand steps back, this sword array wasn't even something Mo Hua "stole" per se—
He watched it. And then figured it out.
If you dare use your sword in front of him, you can't stop him from watching, right?
If just watching once was enough for him to learn your inheritance… how is that his fault?
Xun Ziyou slowly nodded, inwardly marveling:
Old Ancestor really is the Old Ancestor.
Not just cultivation level—his shamelessness too.
"I understand now," said Xun Ziyou.
Elder Xun waved his hand.
Xun Ziyou stood, bowed, and respectfully took his leave.
After he left, Elder Xun sat alone, his brows gradually tightening.
"Deducing sword Qi…"
"How exactly… did he deduce it?"
"Could it be…"
Elder Xun's heart trembled. A certain supreme method—one that could pierce fate and deduce all principles—surfaced in his mind:
Heavenly Pattern Deduction!
"That brat from the Zhuang clan… what exactly did he teach that little disciple…?"
"No, something doesn't add up…" Elder Xun frowned.
"He never taught the Celestial Heaven Array lineage… so why would he teach that?"
"Is that something a Foundation Establishment cultivator can even handle?"
Elder Xun's gaze grew sharp.
The quiet of the Great Void Mountain and the Elder's Residence pressed down around him.
He continued writing something on the paper before him.
Once done, he set it aside, then took out his personal compass.
His eyes darkened slightly, and he muttered:
"The secrets on that child… may run far deeper than I imagined…"
"It would be best… to add another lock to his karmic threads."
Meanwhile, Mo Hua was still poring over the Broken Gold Sword Array.
The sword array was a piece of the greater sword inheritance—a key to forging spiritual swords, and a cornerstone of sword cultivation itself.
Mo Hua wanted to learn the Divine Will Sword Manifestation of the Great Void Sect.
Back in that small fishing village, he had used karmic tracing to learn a rudimentary "Sword Manifestation Style."
But that was only a superficial version.
And because Mo Hua was still a complete noob at sword techniques,
his Sword Manifestation was crude and unrefined.
It was basically just imitating the shape of a sword with his divine sense.
Still—
Even that rudimentary Sword Manifestation already packed a punch.
But its power came purely from his strong, mutated divine sense,
not from any real mastery of divine-will sword arts.
Mo Hua wanted to go further—
To learn a deeper, more advanced Divine Will Sword Technique.
But he had no leads at all.
He couldn't go ask Elder Xun.
If he asked about formations, Elder Xun would be delighted.
If he asked about sword arts… Elder Xun would be irritated—thinking he was being "undisciplined" and "scattered."
He tried subtly questioning other elders, whether familiar or not—
but no matter how much he probed, no one let anything slip.
Aside from that sword cultivator senior in the fishing village,
Mo Hua hadn't seen anyone else in the Great Void Sect who practiced Divine Will Sword Manifestation.
It was as if the entire technique… had vanished from the sect.
Which was very strange.
Mo Hua sighed.
Since he had no way in through conventional means, he could only rely on himself.
Divine Will Sword Manifestation required a deep foundation in swordsmanship.
But Mo Hua's own foundation in sword arts... was absolutely tragic.
So he figured he should start by deepening his understanding and awareness of the Way of the Sword.
Whether it was sword Qi or sword-crafting, he could study either path.
Maybe through indirect exploration—by understanding swordsmanship better—he could gradually grasp the true meaning behind manifesting a sword with divine will.
And right now, the Broken Gold Sword Array—which involved both swords and formations—was a perfect opportunity.
However, this sword array was a core secret of the Broken Gold Sect.
He absolutely had to study it in secret.
The Broken Gold Sect must not find out.
At the very least, they must not know that he had their array in his hands.
In the days that followed, Mo Hua became utterly absorbed—eating, sleeping, and everything else became secondary.
Whenever he had a free moment, he was studying the sword runes, layout, functions, and principles behind the sword array.
The array was incomplete, so he couldn't fully master it yet—
But his understanding of Broken Gold Sword Qi was deepening day by day.
Using this understanding, he refined his earlier version of the Anti-Metal Armor.
He redesigned the armor with internal structures made from Fire Demon bone, which could block sword Qi,
and he added arrays that further dissipated and deflected the power of sword Qi.
Once he finished the blueprint, he handed it over to Master Gu.
Even though there was only one set, Master Gu didn't slack off—he personally worked overtime to forge this improved armor.
To distinguish it from the previous version, Mo Hua gave it a new name:
"Broken Gold Armor."
As the name implied, its primary function was to defend against metal-element sword Qi—specifically, to counter the Broken Gold Sect.
Of course, this was only the first version of the armor.
There was still room for improvement, and the Broken Gold Sword Array hadn't been fully deduced yet.
"Still gotta rely on that pretty boy…" Mo Hua thought to himself.
Soon, the next rest period arrived—also the day of their scheduled duel.
Inside Demon-Refining Mountain—
Cheng Mo donned the newly upgraded Broken Gold Armor, and once again began taunting Song Jian.
He had been injured last time, but after ten days, he had fully recovered.
With his thick skin and reckless personality, Cheng Mo had already forgotten the pain.
Now he was hollering again:
"Pretty boy! You just got lucky last time—barely escaped with your life. Today I'll beat you until you're kneeling and calling me Grandpa!"
Song Jian's face darkened like a thundercloud.
"You're courting death!"
The two quickly clashed again.
This time, Song Jian came in harder and faster—his sword Qi fiercer than ever.
Cheng Mo, though posturing bravely on the outside, had still been a little nervous inside.
But the moment they crossed blades, he instantly felt the pressure lift.
Song Jian's sword Qi still glittered gold and looked razor-sharp—
But when it hit Cheng Mo, the damage was clearly reduced, and the pain wasn't as intense as before either.
This armor wasn't just blocking metal-type spiritual energy—it was weakening sword Qi itself.
Cheng Mo was stunned.
Little Senior Brother's custom gear is getting more and more outrageous…
It can even defend against the signature sword techniques of a top-tier sect?!
He couldn't help but be amazed.
And now, with this armor, he could take a few more sword hits from Song Jian—
which meant more combat merit rewards for him!
Energized, Cheng Mo let out a shout and jumped back into the fight.
The duel quickly became a stalemate.
Off to the side, Mo Hua was calmly watching—
While secretly using Heavenly Pattern Deduction to analyze Song Jian's sword Qi and fill in the missing parts of the Broken Gold Sword Array.
At the same time, he observed the effectiveness of the armor, based on how Song Jian's sword Qi performed.
Song Jian… was basically Mo Hua's little lab rat—
though he had absolutely no idea.
After nearly an hour and a half of fighting, Mo Hua once again pulled his signature trick—
he used the scent of blood to lure in demon beasts, creating chaos and forcing the duel to end early.
Cheng Mo hurled a few parting insults and quickly slipped away.
Song Jian trembled with rage—but could do nothing.
In the days that followed, under Mo Hua's secret manipulation, Cheng Mo and Song Jian fought several more rounds.
Song Jian was burning with fury—he didn't care about anything anymore.
As long as he could fight Cheng Mo, the rest didn't matter.
The moment he saw Cheng Mo, his eyes turned red, and he would immediately attack, wishing he could chop him into a thousand pieces.
Cheng Mo, on the other hand, didn't mind at all.
He was paid to get beaten up.
The first time, the armor wasn't good enough, so he took some real injuries.
But in the later fights, Mo Hua's armor got better and better—blocking sword Qi and weakening its force.
He became increasingly fearless.
And besides, Little Senior Brother was paying him good money:
100 contribution points for every half-hour—not a bad deal at all.
After several more duels, and continuous observation of Broken Gold Sword Qi,
Mo Hua finally completed his deduction of the full Broken Gold Sword Array.
This was a rare and powerful sect-defining array.
Mo Hua immediately began studying it.
He wanted to uncover its deeper mechanisms and learn the deeper truths of sword cultivation.
This was hugely beneficial to his efforts to comprehend the Way of the Sword.
Several more days passed.
After dozens of simulations and deep contemplation of the array,
Mo Hua gradually gained true mastery over the Broken Gold Sword Array.
But along the way—he suddenly stumbled upon a shocking realization:
The essence of a sword array…
was to transform spiritual energy on a structural level—reshaping it to enhance lethality.
In other words—
Sword Qi was a form of spiritual energy transformation.
Sword arrays were techniques for reshaping spiritual energy into sword Qi.
"A transformation on the spiritual energy level…"
Mo Hua was stunned. His thoughts spun rapidly—and he quickly drew connections to two other concepts:
The reverse unraveling of anti-spirit formations.
The fission effect of his Mini Meteor Technique.
Formation collapse.
Spell fission.
Sword technique transformation...
These three were different in form—but in essence, they all revolved around manipulating inner structures of spiritual energy according to the laws of the Dao, creating powerful new effects.
So-called "sword techniques," then—
were just another way of reshaping spiritual energy.
It didn't alter the energy at its core, but changed its external form—
Sharpening it, turning it into something sword-like and lethal.
Spiritual energy as substance—shaped like a sword.
Suddenly—Mo Hua saw it.
Then, a bold idea flashed in his mind:
If spiritual energy could be transformed into sword Qi via a sword array—
Then wouldn't that mean… even without any sword training,
he could still generate powerful, deadly sword Qi through arrays alone?
Play to strengths, avoid weaknesses.
Use his mastery of formations to compensate for his lack of sword skills.
Mo Hua's heart skipped a beat.
In that case… could I actually walk the path of a sword cultivator… without a sword cultivator's foundation?
Not a conventional sword cultivator—
But a formation-based sword cultivator, one who relied entirely on arrays.
Of course, Mo Hua didn't mind.
Sword Qi or sword array—if it could kill enemies, it was a good sword technique in his book.
But the question was… how?
Mo Hua slumped over his desk in the disciple quarters, quietly pondering.
The first step was obvious: forge a sword.
There was no doubt about that.
Without a proper spiritual sword, there was no vessel to hold a sword array.
No sword, no array—then what sword cultivator are you?
But… how exactly to forge a sword—
That was a problem for later.
The bigger question was: once he had the sword forged, with the array inscribed—
Then what?
How would he use it to kill?
Mo Hua furrowed his brows.
Using a sword for close combat? Definitely not an option.
He didn't have the physical strength for that.
How about launching sword Qi from afar?
Mo Hua shook his head.
That wouldn't work either...
His spiritual power was weak. Any sword Qi he managed to fire off would be feeble—nothing compared to actual sword cultivators.
Besides, those two attack methods were standard fare—any sword cultivator could use them. They didn't leverage his unique edge with arrays at all.
And with his shoddy sword skills, trying to imitate a sword cultivator would just make him look like a knockoff—like drawing a tiger and ending up with a dog.
Mo Hua let out a sigh.
Theory was easy. Execution was another beast entirely.
The principles of cultivation were one thing, but actual application... that was a whole different game.
"Is there a way… to play to my strengths, hide my weaknesses—mask my low spiritual power and poor sword technique—yet still unleash the full might of a sword array?"
Mo Hua mentally ran through every sword cultivator technique he knew.
Then suddenly—his eyes widened.
He remembered two words:
Sword Control.
His memory blurred for a moment.
Long ago, beneath the great pagoda tree outside Zuo Wang Residence...
His little senior brother's excited voice echoed in his ears once more:
"Once you reach Foundation Establishment, you can start controlling objects!"
"Sure, floating tables and chairs isn't a big deal—but imagine controlling a sword!"
"Picture this: Divine sense controls the sword! From far, far away, with just a thought—whoosh—the sword flies out and slays an enemy a thousand miles off! Isn't that cool as hell?"
…
In that instant, Mo Hua felt like he had been pulled across lifetimes.
Those words felt like they'd been said forever ago… and yet also like they'd just been spoken yesterday.
Little Senior Brother…
Mo Hua sighed softly, then took a deep breath and began seriously pondering the concept of sword control.
At Foundation Establishment, cultivators could use their divine sense to manipulate objects—naturally, this included swords.
But so far, he had never actually seen a real display of "sword control."
The "Broken Gold Sword Control Art" from the Broken Gold Sect might have "sword control" in the name,
but what it really controlled was sword Qi.
It used the spiritual sword to build up energy and release powerful Broken Gold Sword Qi.
That was completely different from what his senior brother had described—
and different from Mo Hua's own understanding of "controlling a sword with divine will to kill from afar."
Maybe this was just the early stage of true sword control—
or maybe the Broken Gold Sect's technique simply didn't go that far.
"Sword control…"
Mo Hua pondered the idea, and his eyes slowly lit up.
Controlling a sword with divine sense, using the sword as an array medium, with the array as the core, and simulating sword Qi through formations to attack—
Following this line of thought, he was suddenly stunned.
This… this really might be the answer!
With divine sense sword control, he could truly play to his strengths and avoid all his weak points:
His spiritual power was low? Then don't use spiritual power—use spirit stones.
His sword Qi was weak? Then rely on sword arrays, shape spirit energy into sharp, lethal forms.
His body was fragile? Then just make sure no one ever got close.
Control swords with divine sense. Kill from a thousand miles away.
Snipe the enemy with precision at extreme range—like a one-man cultivator drone strike.
Mo Hua's eyes lit up. His blood stirred.
Even just imagining it made his heart race.
But after a moment's thought, he realized—
if he pursued this kind of sword control technique, the swords themselves might have to be disposable.
Once launched—whether they killed or not—they probably couldn't be retrieved.
High cost, for sure.
But you can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a lamb.
Losing a few spiritual swords was a small price to pay for such a powerful and safe long-range killing method.
If he truly mastered this kind of ultra-long-range sword control—
in terms of range, power, stealth, and safety—it would be superior to most traditional sword arts.
A few broken swords? Totally worth it.
Mo Hua nodded to himself, then immediately threw himself into action.
He began refining the real version of the Broken Gold Armor, using everything he'd learned from deconstructing the Broken Gold Sword Array.
His plan?
Let his junior brothers wear the armor, and then march right up and take over the Broken Gold Sect's territory in Demon-Refining Mountain.
With this armor, the Broken Gold Sect wouldn't stand a chance.
Once they beat their disciples and seized the land, they could start efficiently hunting beasts and harvesting materials.
Before, they hunted beasts for merit points and monster blood.
Now, Mo Hua had another objective:
Forging swords.
He wanted to forge unique spiritual swords, according to his own vision—
each one embedded with a sword array—to start testing true sword control and its potential for ultra-long-range kills.
If one day, he mastered sword control…
Then wherever his divine sense reached— wherever his sword arrays reached— Life and death would lie in the flick of a single thought.
(End of Chapter)