Chapter 736: Snatching the Sword
Chapter 736: Snatching the Sword
Small-scale battles between cultivators involve intricate strategies, tactics, and a variety of methods, resulting in numerous variables that can change the outcome.
On the other hand, large-scale cultivator battles are more straightforward, focusing on the back-and-forth of offense and defense. Having the upper hand in either offense or defense greatly increases the chances of victory.
The same could be said for the conflict with Duan Jimen.
Being able to counter their gold armor and defend against their metal-attributed techniques would give one the advantage in a direct confrontation, assuming equal cultivation levels.
However, this only applies to ordinary disciples of Duan Jimen.
Ordinary disciples of Duan Jimen cultivate metal-attributed techniques, utilizing metal spiritual power in their spells and martial arts. Even if they cultivate sword techniques, they are usually basic metal-attributed sword techniques or the introductory Duan Jin Yu Jian technique. Their metal armor is sufficient to defend against such attacks.
However, the core disciples are a different story.
Most core disciples of Duan Jimen possess exceptional talent in sword cultivation and practice the most orthodox Duan Jin Yu Jian technique, wielding high-grade metal spiritual swords.
A fraction of the power in their sword techniques comes from metal spiritual power, but the core of their might lies in the pure and refined Duan Jin Sword Qi.
When empowered by high-grade metal swords, this sword qi becomes even more formidable.
It far surpasses the rudimentary Duan Jin Sword Qi that Mo Hua has cultivated, and its power is far greater than the sword techniques used by the traitorous Jiang Laoda, whom Mo Hua encountered in the past.
Jiang Laoda's sword techniques were stolen.
As his lineage was not orthodox, the power of his techniques naturally couldn't compare to that of these core, legitimate disciples.
"Duan Jin Yu Jian technique..." Mo Hua muttered to himself.
He now realized that he might have underestimated this sword technique.
As one of the Twelve Flows, the signature sword technique of Duan Jimen has a long heritage and is far more complex than he initially thought.
Using the Ke Jin armor to counter ordinary metal-attributed techniques might be effective.
However, trying to counter the Duan Jin Sword technique with it is a far-fetched idea.
Come to think of it, if it were that easy to counter, the disciples of Duan Jimen, known for their aggressive behavior, would have had their teeth knocked out by now, and they wouldn't be so arrogant.
Duan Jimen wouldn't have maintained their position among the Twelve Flows for so long.
However, just because it's difficult to counter doesn't mean there's no way to do so.
It's always worth trying, even if success isn't guaranteed.
Not trying at all is a sure path to failure.
Mo Hua decided to do some research...
In the dining hall where the disciples resided, Mo Hua propped his cheek with his hand and asked Situ Sword, who was sitting nearby, "Sword cultivators, how important are their spiritual swords?"
Sitong Sword was taken aback but nodded, "Of course, it's crucial."
What kind of sword cultivator would they be without their sword?
"How crucial is it, exactly?" Mo Hua asked further.
Si Tu pondered for a moment before replying, "Sword techniques are considered a unique type of technique. They emphasize the unity of the cultivator and their sword."
"The initial stage of unity between the cultivator and the sword refers to the fusion of the cultivator's spiritual power with the spiritual sword, thus generating a more potent sword qi."
"Without a spiritual sword, the sword qi generated by a cultivator isn't that much more powerful than ordinary spells. However, once empowered by a spiritual sword, the might of the sword technique rises to a whole new level."
"There's a world of difference between sword cultivators who possess swords and those who don't. It's like comparing heaven and earth."
"There's a saying in the cultivation world: 'A sword cultivator with a sword is like a dragon, but without a sword, they're worse than a dog.' Although it may be an exaggeration, it highlights the importance of a sword weapon to a sword cultivator."
"Body cultivators rely on their physical bodies, and spiritual cultivators rely on their spiritual seas. As for sword cultivators, their entire cultivation journey heavily depends on their sword weapon."
"A good sword weapon can empower a sword cultivator, allowing them to soar to new heights and even 'defy the heavens and change their fate'."
"Therefore, all sword cultivators treasure their spiritual swords and dream of obtaining an ultimate divine sword, an unparalleled weapon."
As he spoke, Situ Sword's eyes gleamed with yearning.
"Oh..." Mo Hua murmured, finally understanding.
Although Situ explained it well, Mo Hua couldn't truly grasp the concept as it wasn't his area of expertise.
This was the orthodox path of sword cultivation, which had little to do with him.
Mo Hua was realistic about his limitations. With his poor foundation and lack of family background, he was not only far behind others in the orthodox path of sword cultivation, but he also knew he wouldn't be able to persevere for long...
"Then what about the higher levels of 'unity between the cultivator and the sword'? What are they like?" Mo Hua asked.
Steward Sword shook his head, "That involves profound sword intent, which I haven't cultivated yet, so I don't fully understand it."
"Alright," Mo Hua nodded.
He was quite the opposite.
Compared to other sword cultivators, he was clueless about unifying sword qi and sword weapons.
However, he was quite familiar with sword intent, having already learned the 'Sword Transformation' style of the God-Thought-into-Sword technique.
However, the crude 'Sword Transformation' style he had learned probably didn't count as orthodox sword intent.
"Then why does the sword weapon amplify the power of sword qi?" Mo Hua asked further.
Up to this point, the only methods he knew of amplifying spiritual power were the Five Elements Source Formation and the Five Elements Source Armor, which he had painted with the formation.
Aside from these, no spiritual artifact possessed the effect of "spiritual power amplification."
The Five Elements Source Formation was the signature move of the Five Elements Sect, an extremely difficult and rarely inherited technique.
As far as he knew, only he possessed the Five Elements Source Armor.
However, sword weapons were different. While the art of forging swords was scarce and closely guarded by the various aristocratic families and sects, it was relatively more "common" compared to the Five Elements Source Formation.
Mo Hua pondered for a moment and added, "Is it because of the sword formation?"
"Yes," Situ Sword replied, "The reason spiritual swords can amplify sword qi is that during their forging, a sword formation is sealed within them, integrating the sword and the formation into one."
"When spiritual power is channeled into the spiritual sword, it flows through the sword formation, resulting in a sharper and more potent sword qi."
Mo Hua asked, "Have you ever seen a sword formation?"
"No," Situ Sword shook his head, "The inheritance of sword formations is the core secret of sword cultivator families. Even legitimate formation masters within the family aren't allowed to learn it casually."
"Are the requirements that strict?"
"Extremely strict," Situ Sword said solemnly, "I'm not sure about other families, but in the Situ family, the inheritance of the Li Huo Sword Formation is extremely rigorous..."
"It's only passed down within the family, not to those who marry in, nor to those who marry out. It's not passed to illegitimate children, and even legitimate children must sign a 'death pact', swearing that they would rather die than pass on the technique. Only then can they qualify to learn the sword formation..."
Mo Hua was stunned by what he heard.
Previously, he had only heard Master Gu mention that sword formations were the core inheritance of sword cultivator families and were extremely valuable.
However, he never expected them to be valued to such an extent...
The more he heard, the more curious he became.
What exactly did these sword formations look like...?
He needed to find a way to get his hands on one and study it.
The two locked eyes, and Mo Hua asked in a soft voice, "Can I take a look?"
Situ Sword hesitated, "Little Senior Brother, you... won't take it apart, will you?"
Mo Hua nodded quickly, "No, no! I just want to take a look..."
Seeing that Situ Sword still couldn't bear to part with his sword, Mo Hua said, "Just here, I'll only take a quick look."
Situ Sword reluctantly handed over the Lihuo sword, which he always carried with him and treated as his life.
Mo Hua solemnly took the sword and found it to be surprisingly heavy, with a slight burning sensation.
The blade was also crafted from an unknown material, crystalline like jade and sharp as iron, with a faint reddish hue flowing across its surface.
Mo Hua narrowed his eyes, examining the hilt of the Lihuo sword to see if there were any seams or if it could be taken apart.
Situ Sword tensed up immediately.
Fortunately, Mo Hua didn't plan on actually taking it apart.
He inspected it carefully but found no way to disassemble it, so he returned the Lihuo sword to Situ Sword with a nod of thanks.
Situ Sword breathed a sigh of relief and quickly sheathed his sword.
While the Lihuo sword was in Mo Hua's hands, he had felt nervous and anxious.
Mo Hua, on the other hand, sank into contemplation.
The Lihuo sword was Situ Sword's treasure, and he didn't want to damage it. If he accidentally broke it, he would feel extremely guilty.
After some thought, Mo Hua said to Situ Sword, "During the next break, let's go into the Monster Refining Mountain and get a few spiritual swords from Duan Jinmen."
Part of the power of sword qi comes from sword formations.
By taking apart the Duan Jin sword, he could study both the sword formation and how to improve the Ke Jin armor to defend against the true Duan Jin sword qi.
However, Situ Sword shook his head, "It's probably useless to take one by force. Usually, there's a self-destruct array drawn inside spiritual swords. If you try to force it open, the sword formation will self-destruct..."
Mo Hua was taken aback but soon agreed.
Since this sword formation was so valuable, it made sense that there would be some kind of self-destruct mechanism in place.
Nevertheless, they still had to try and take one.
They wouldn't know if they could take it apart until they got their hands on it.
"It's fine, let's just try to get one first," Mo Hua said.
Situ Sword wanted to persuade him further, but he suddenly realized something and quickly nodded, "Yes, of course! We should definitely try to get one! We won't know if it will self-destruct unless we try to take it apart."
"Little Senior Brother, I'll help you get one too!"
It didn't matter if they took apart the Duan Jin sword from Duan Jinmen, as long as they didn't touch his Lihuo sword.
Mo Hua was deeply touched.
In his heart, Situ Sword had just been promoted to the status of a "great person."
...
A few days later, the break arrived, and Mo Hua gathered Cheng Mo, Situ Sword, and a few others, forming a group of five that once again ventured into the Monster Refining Mountain.
Mo Hua didn't call for the other disciples to join them.
He had considered that without optimizing the Ke Jin armor and finding a solution for the Duan Jin sword qi, the probability of his junior disciples getting injured would increase, and it wouldn't be worth the risk.
Moreover, this time they were going to "take" things, so they needed to travel light and act quickly. A smaller group was more suitable for their mission.
Once inside the Monster Refining Mountain, Mo Hua, now familiar with the terrain, quickly located a small group of eight Duan Jinmen disciples.
Their leader was a young man with a delicate appearance.
With a quick glance and a slight sense of their spiritual power, Mo Hua was able to gauge their strengths.
They were all at the mid-foundation establishment stage.
There were three body cultivators, two spirit cultivators, and the remaining three were sword cultivators.
The body and spirit cultivators didn't have any swords, so there was nothing worth taking from them.
The real targets were the three sword cultivators.
Each of them carried a golden spiritual sword, and the one carried by the delicate-looking leader seemed to be of the finest quality, shining with a brilliant golden light.
The more Mo Hua looked at it, the more he liked it.
He had made up his mind; from this moment on, this sword now belonged to the Mo family.
These Duan Jinmen disciples were completely unaware of the impending danger, chatting leisurely as they searched the mountain.
"Those cowards from Tai Xu Men are nowhere to be seen..."
"They probably didn't dare to show up."
"They must have realized how powerful we are and decided to back off. Good for them, at least they know their place."
One of them scoffed, "To dare to go against our Duan Jinmen, they must have guts of steel!"
Another added worriedly, "Those Tai Xu Men guys are sneaky. The fact that they're not showing themselves could mean they're up to something. We should be careful..."
The leader waved his hand dismissively, "It doesn't matter. This entire mountain range is filled with our Duan Jinmen disciples. How dare they..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a tall and burly disciple suddenly appeared, his twin axes chopping down and catching one of the overconfident Duan Jinmen disciples off guard, sending him tumbling to the ground.
The delicate-looking leader was stunned for a moment before his face twisted in anger.
"Ambush!"
But before they could react, Yang Qianjun struck again, his spear piercing out like a dragon and taking down another Duan Jinmen disciple.
At the same time, Situ Sword's Lihuo sword appeared in a flash, its fiery blade and sharp sword qi unexpectedly stabbing into the thigh of another Duan Jinmen disciple, who let out a painful cry and fell to his knees.
Without pausing, Situ Sword channeled all his spiritual power into his next attack, determined to help his Little Senior Brother obtain a Duan Jin sword!
He had to prevent Little Senior Brother from setting his sights on his Lihuo sword.
The core disciple of Duan Jinmen, the delicate-looking leader, was furious. He tried to draw his sword to fight back, but as he pulled it halfway out, the back of his head suddenly throbbed with pain, causing his vision to blur.
"A club to the head?!"
The young man was dazed for a moment before he realized what had happened. He quickly took out a golden body protection talisman, intending to activate it.
However, before he could do so, a fireball whistled through the air and exploded on his arm, causing him to drop the talisman in pain.
As he reached down to pick it up, Hao Xuan swiftly kicked the talisman away.
On the other side, the ordinary Duan Jinmen disciples were no match for Cheng Mo and the others, who were experienced, well-coordinated, and had been "mentored" by Mo Hua.
Caught off guard by the ambush, four of them were quickly subdued, while the remaining three cowered in fear, not daring to step forward.
Cheng Mo and his group then turned their attention to the delicate-looking leader.
Even while running away, he didn't forget to leave a threatening message. "You despicable cowards! Just you wait, I'll..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a blue light flashed, and a chain appeared out of thin air, binding him tightly.
The pretty boy was shocked and terrified.
"What kind of magic is this?" he exclaimed.
Just as he was about to struggle, Cheng Mo had already taken large strides to stand before him, with his twin axe heads resting on the pretty boy's neck.
The pretty boy seethed with anger and shouted, "You bunch of scumbags! How dare you..."
Cheng Mo kicked him in the gut, causing him to clutch his stomach and swallow the rest of his curse.
Mo Hua didn't hold back either. His hand moved like lightning as he stealthily grabbed the broken golden sword from the pretty boy's waist and tucked it into his own. Then, without any hesitation, he decisively ordered, "Retreat!"
He had sensed that other Duan Jinmen disciples were rushing over, and their numbers seemed substantial.
It was best to withdraw at this moment to avoid further entanglement.
Cheng Mo and the others nodded in agreement.
The group of five quickly and efficiently made their escape.
The pretty boy stood there, stunned for a moment, before lowering his head to discover that his broken golden sword was missing from his waist.
"My sword!"
Rage burned in his heart.
When he looked up again, the surroundings were empty, and the figures of his assailants were nowhere to be seen.
"You bunch of bastards! I won't let you get away with this!" the pretty boy grit his teeth and vowed.
Soon after, a group of Duan Jinmen disciples surrounded him, offering their concerns.
"Brother Song, are you alright?"
The pretty boy's face turned pale with anger.
These useless fools! How could they ask if he was alright? He was currently in pain, his abdomen burning from the kick, but he had no time to dwell on that now; his sword was the priority.
This was the spiritual sword he had nurtured for a long time, intending to use it as the embryo for his future life-bound sword.
"My sword has been stolen!"
Upon hearing this, the expressions of the crowd turned grave.
"Go!" the pretty boy ordered furiously. "Find those few little bastards and get my sword back!"
"Yes!"
The Duan Jinmen disciples nodded in compliance.
The Duan Jinmen sect had two prominent families, one with the surname 'Jin' and the other, 'Song'.
This pretty boy with the surname Song was a core member of the Song family, the second most central lineage within the sect, aside from the Jin family.
His orders were not to be taken lightly by the ordinary disciples.
The Duan Jinmen disciples gathered together and began searching the mountain.
They initially thought that with their numbers, it would be easy to capture a few Tai Xu Men disciples.
However, they soon realized their mistake.
Mo Hua and his group had seemingly vanished into the mountain, leaving no trace behind.
These Duan Jinmen disciples were all at the mid-foundation establishment stage, and their spiritual senses were at most fourteen strands.
With their spiritual senses, they couldn't detect Mo Hua's seventeen strands of spiritual sense, which had undergone a qualitative change.
Moreover, they were in the Refining Beast Mountain.
Mo Hua was now intimately familiar with the outer regions of the Refining Beast Mountain, moving through it as if it were his own backyard.
Trying to find Mo Hua in the mountain was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Thus, by the time the Duan Jinmen disciples were frantically searching, Mo Hua had already returned to the Tai Xu Men with the pretty boy's broken golden sword in his possession.
The Duan Jinmen disciples continued their fruitless search like headless flies until darkness fell, and the beasts of the mountain began to stir. Fearing for their safety, they had no choice but to leave and return to their sect.
The pretty boy, whose spiritual sword had been taken by Mo Hua, returned to the Duan Jinmen with a gloomy face. In front of the disciple's residence, he encountered a tall and thin man with a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation.
This person was none other than Jin Gui.
Jin Gui saw the pretty boy and greeted him with a smile, cupping his fists in salute. "Brother Song Jian."
The pretty boy, whose name was Song Jian, frowned at the greeting but still replied with a perfunctory, "Brother Jin."
His attitude, however, was indifferent and distant.
The two prominent families of the Duan Jinmen sect, the Jin and Song families, were not on amicable terms.
Within the sect, they vied for power, from the position of the sect leader and deputy sect leader down to the elders and instructors. This had created quite a few grudges between the two families.
However, since they belonged to the same sect, they maintained a superficial peace.
"How did the mountain patrol go?" Jin Gui asked with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Song Jian's face turned ugly, but he still replied truthfully, "The Tai Xu Men cowards ambushed us. They dared not show their faces in large numbers, but a few of them launched a despicable sneak attack and stole my broken golden sword..."
His sword was lost?
Jin Gui's heart filled with silent laughter, and he feigned sympathy. "A spiritual sword is as important as life to a sword cultivator. How could Brother Song lose his spiritual sword...?"
Song Jian could hear the mockery in his tone, and his anger rose as he retorted, "Brother Jin is right. Even if I lose face, I must get that sword back."
Jin Gui was taken aback for a moment, and his face turned ashen.
This was a jab at him, alluding to the incident where he was stripped and hung from a tree, painted like a turtle.
The two of them exchanged subtle insults, each trying to hurt the other.
Jin Gui smiled and said, "Do you want me to gather some Jin family disciples tomorrow to help Brother Song retrieve your sword?"
"No need," Song Jian replied coldly. "If something from my Song family is lost, we will definitely take it back. If my family can't retrieve it, your Jin family certainly won't be able to..."
The two of them locked eyes, their gazes filled with animosity.
Finally, Jin Gui smiled and said, "Then, Brother Song, good luck to you."
Song Jian also replied, "Brother Jin, may fortune favor you as well."
After exchanging cold glances, they turned away from each other, both of their hearts filled with resentment. They simultaneously coldly huffed:
This Duan Jinmen sect, whether it belongs to the Jin family or the Song family, remains to be seen...
After passing each other, they returned to their respective disciple residences. However, as they thought about what had transpired, a new idea emerged in their minds.
Jin Gui's eyes turned red with fury as he smashed a table. "That little brat who drew on my body will one day be torn to pieces by me!"
Song Jian crushed a teacup, his face twisted with anger. "That little punk who stole my broken golden sword will one day pay a hundredfold!"
...
At that moment, Mo Hua, the one who had drawn on Jin Gui and stolen Song Jian's sword, was in the disciple's residence, calmly and intently studying the golden sword in his hands.
This was an extremely valuable spiritual sword.
He was considering whether or not he could dismantle it.
If he could take it apart, could he obtain the sword formation within? And if he obtained the sword formation, would that mean...
He could forge a genuine spiritual sword himself? Mo Hua's eyes lit up, and his heart was filled with anticipation.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
