https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-742-Testing-the-Sword-End-of-Chapter-/12543451/
Chapter 741: The Sword-Flying Genius
Chapter 741: The Sword-Flying Genius
Within the treacherous mountains of Lianyao Mountain, the morning glow painted the landscape in a soft hue, and the vegetation flourished with vibrant greenery. Despite being a gathering place for dangerous magical beasts, Mo Hua strolled through the scenery as if on a leisurely outing, his expression relaxed and his steps light, even humming a little tune as he went.
At the foot of a hill, Mo Hua stopped to retrieve some fruit wine, cakes, and dried meat from his storage bag. He settled down to enjoy the morning view while indulging in his tasty treats.
After a while, a figure approached from the distance.
Mo Hua immediately stood up and waved excitedly, calling out, "Shi Tuo, over here!"
A tall and handsome young man with a fiery sword strapped to his back smiled and greeted Mo Hua as he walked over.
It was Shi Tuo Jian.
He was also someone Mo Hua had sought out as a "sparring partner" for sword-flying.
Both hailing from Lizhou, they were probably considered old acquaintances.
During Mo Hua's time in Lizhou, he had crossed paths with the Shi Tuo family and was acquainted with the siblings Shi Tuo Fang and Shi Tuo Xiu, as well as several other cultivators like the elder Shi Tuo Jin.
However, the Shi Tuo family was quite large, and these individuals were likely distant relatives, probably not well-acquainted with Shi Tuo Jian either.
Mo Hua didn't mention it.
The two young men sat amidst the morning glow and the mountain scenery, savoring their wine and delicacies.
Once they were satiated, they began their sword practice in earnest.
Before they started, Shi Tuo Jian still had a question on his mind:
"Little Shi Xie, you're not a sword cultivator, are you? Why the sudden interest in sword-flying?"
Mo Hua's expression turned serious as he improvised, "The Duan Jinmen sect is inherently petty and resorts to despicable means. Although they've temporarily retreated, who knows if they'll regroup and strike again in the future? It's best to be prepared and learn more about sword-flying techniques."
"And it's not just the Duan Jinmen sect. There are so many sword cultivators in Qian Xuezhou, it's wise to learn more and avoid falling prey to their tricks in the future..."
"Know yourself, know your enemy, and you shall emerge victorious a hundred times."
"Oh." Shi Tuo Jian nodded slowly, impressed. "As expected of Little Shi Xie, always thinking ahead."
"Is it that far-fetched?"
"Yes," Shi Tuo Jian affirmed. "True 'sword-flying' is a technique that can only be learned at the late Qi Refining stage, and one can only achieve some success in it at the Golden Core stage."
Mo Hua was taken aback. "That far?"
Shi Tuo Jian looked at Mo Hua, realizing that his little Shi Xie knew very little about the subject...
Sighing, Shi Tuo Jian sat down on a large rock and began to explain from the beginning: "All sword cultivators start their training with sword qi. They infuse their spiritual energy into their swords, laying the foundation for their sword path."
"However, in the initial stages of cultivation, the sword qi generated by their spiritual energy is not strong enough, so they need to rely on spiritual swords to amplify their sword qi and enhance their offensive power."
"The earlier the stage, the shallower the cultivation, and the weaker the sword qi. Sword cultivators heavily depend on their swords during this period."
"But as they progress to the later stages, their cultivation deepens, and their sword qi strengthens. They can then achieve a state where their body becomes the sword itself, reducing their reliance on external swords."
"Of course, sword cultivators who continue to wield swords will become extremely powerful."
"This is because the 'sword-flying' technique, which combines sword qi and the sword itself, results in a formidable force that far surpasses the ordinary."
"How powerful can it be?" Mo Hua asked, intrigued.
Shi Tuo Jian shook his head. "I don't know..."
Mo Hua: "..."
Shi Tuo Jian scratched his head, a little embarrassed. "Well, it's really strong... But I haven't learned the true 'Li Huo Sword-Flying Manual' yet, so I can't say for sure how strong it is."
"So, that Duan Jinmen Shi Xie we met before, who used the Duan Jin Sword-Flying Manual, wasn't truly 'sword-flying' then?"
"Which Duan Jinmen Shi Xie?"
"The one who was stripped of his clothes, hung from a tree, and had a turtle drawn on his back."
"Oh." Shi Tuo Jian remembered and nodded. "Yes, that's correct."
Shi Tuo Jian explained to Mo Hua, "He did cultivate the sword-flying technique, but with his cultivation level and understanding of the sword path, he couldn't unleash the true power of sword-flying. His version is still at the superficial level of sword qi..."
"True sword-flying..."
Shi Tuo Jian's expression turned solemn, his eyes gleaming with aspiration:
"First, one must cultivate incredibly powerful sword qi."
"Then, one must attempt to fuse their sword qi with their sword."
"After that, using their spiritual sense, they control the spiritual sword infused with sword qi, lock onto their target from a distance, and strike them down with a flying sword."
"Only by mastering this sword-flying technique, where spiritual sense controls the sword, fused with sword qi, can one eventually cultivate 'sword intent' as they delve deeper into its mysteries..."
"Sword intent?!"
Mo Hua's expression changed, and he exclaimed in shock.
Shi Tuo Jian was startled by his reaction and asked softly, "Little Shi Xie, is something wrong?"
Mo Hua realized he had let his excitement get the better of him and quickly composed himself, patting Shi Tuo Jian's shoulder. "No, you're absolutely right!"
"Continue..."
Shi Tuo Jian hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "That's all I know..."
Mo Hua was taken aback. "That's it?"
Shi Tuo Jian nodded. "The mysteries beyond sword intent are too profound for me to comprehend with my current cultivation level."
Forget about sword intent; he hadn't even properly learned "sword-flying" yet.
"Alright then." Mo Hua sighed.
Although he couldn't learn about the deeper aspects of "sword intent," he at least understood one crucial point: spiritual sense controlled the sword, and the fusion of sword qi, the sword itself, and spiritual sense nurtured the birth of "sword intent."
Sword-flying was the culmination of the unity of sword qi and the sword.
But at the same time, it was also the beginning of "sword intent."
This concept was critical and somewhat "beyond the syllabus," something that the sect's teachings wouldn't cover.
Sword-flying technique...
If it could only be learned at the late Qi Refining stage and achieved at the Golden Core stage, it was likely a technique that would be taught in the next Qi Refining stage curriculum or even after entering the inner sect.
Indeed, one could always learn something from others. Mo Hua silently acknowledged the benefits of seeking guidance from fellow disciples.
"So, how exactly does one use spiritual sense to control the sword?"
"Is it similar to using spiritual sense to manipulate objects?"
"Do you just use your spiritual sense to control the spiritual sword and stab at your target from a distance?"
Mo Hua asked curiously.
Shi Tuo Jian explained, "The general process of sword-flying involves first accumulating sword qi, then infusing it into the spiritual sword, and finally controlling the sword with your spiritual sense.
"However, sword flight is more challenging and consumes more spiritual sense than regular object manipulation, and seeking out enemies is more difficult..."
Mo Hua committed every word to memory.
However, for the earlier part about "accumulating sword qi and infusing it into the spirit sword," he simply skipped over it.
Since his sword qi was too weak, infusing it into a spirit sword would be useless.
He planned to directly substitute it with a "sword formation."
By omitting these two parts, he wouldn't need so much "preparation" and could simply use his spiritual sense to seek out enemies, fly his sword through the air, and strike from a distance.
Everything else could be left to the "formation."
"To truly understand how to use spiritual sense to fly a sword, break through the air, and kill enemies, one must learn a special method of sword flight..."
Shi Tuo Jian's expression turned slightly apologetic as he said this, and he continued to Mo Hua, "My Shi Tuo family does possess a 'spiritual sense sword flight' technique. Before I entered the sect, my father asked me to carry it with me at all times so that I could learn it in the future..."
"But this is a family secret and cannot be passed on. I cannot teach it to you..."
Shi Tuo Jian was very honest.
"Mmm, it's fine." Mo Hua nodded.
He appreciated Shi Tuo Jian's intentions.
However, he also had his own methods for sword flight.
Obtained from Elder Jiang, the "Golden Severing Jade Slip" contained the "Golden Severing Sword Flight Manual," which included a section on 'sword flight.'
Mo Hua had secretly studied it the night before.
But some of the sword cultivation terms were rather obscure, and he didn't fully understand them.
Now, with Shi Tuo Jian explaining the fundamentals of sword flight from the basics of sword cultivation, Mo Hua was beginning to gain some insight.
Mo Hua sighed softly.
His foundation in sword cultivation was just too lacking.
Without Shi Tuo Jian's explanations, he would have been clueless if he tried to figure it out on his own.
"There's also the matter of spiritual sense..."
Shi Tuo Jian continued, "For spiritual sense sword flight, if your spiritual sense isn't strong enough, you won't be able to fly a sword. So, spiritual sense is also a key factor in sword flight..."
"As we all know, when spiritual sense is released, it has a limited range."
"Starting from the Foundation Establishment stage, one thread of spiritual sense is roughly equivalent to ten zhang in distance. A typical early Foundation Establishment cultivator with eleven threads of spiritual sense can release it to a distance of over a hundred zhang..."
"At the peak of Foundation Establishment, with nineteen threads of spiritual sense, the range increases to over a hundred and several tens of zhang, infinitely approaching two hundred zhang, but never quite reaching it..."
"If one breaks through to the Golden Core stage, the range instantly doubles to four hundred zhang..."
Mo Hua nodded slightly, "So, the range for a typical late Foundation Establishment cultivator using spiritual sense to fly a sword is around a hundred and ninety zhang?"
Shi Tuo Jian shook his head, "Not that far."
Mo Hua was taken aback, but after a moment's thought, he understood:
"Is there further reduction?"
"Of course," Shi Tuo Jian nodded, "When spiritual sense is released without any constraints, its range is at its maximum. But once it's used to manipulate an object, the distance decreases."
"For more challenging tasks like sword flight, the reduction is even more significant."
"Generally speaking, when a Foundation Establishment swordsman uses spiritual sense to fly a sword, the range of their spiritual sense may even be reduced by more than half."
Mo Hua was slightly stunned, "So, you're saying that even at the late Foundation Establishment stage, the typical range for sword flight is only a hundred-something zhang?"
Shi Tuo Jian nodded slightly, "Excluding those with extraordinary sword cultivation talent, this is the case for most swordsmen."
"Those with extraordinary sword cultivation talent? Are there any in the Tai Xu Sect?" Mo Hua asked, his eyes drifting to Shi Tuo Jian, whose name included the character for 'sword.'
Shi Tuo Jian felt a bit embarrassed under Mo Hua's gaze and sighed, "Little Shi Xie, don't look at me like that... While it's true that my talent is considered top-notch in the Shi Tuo family, or even in the surrounding states..."
"But here in Qian Xue State, I'm only considered average."
"As for the Tai Xu Sect, although there are those with better sword cultivation talent than me, they're not that much better."
Shi Tuo Jian paused, glancing at Mo Hua, and continued with a helpless tone:
"What I'm about to say may sound unpleasant, but it's the truth..."
"Those with such extraordinary sword cultivation talent would typically join one of the Four Great Sects, starting with the Sword in the Heavens Sect, which is renowned for its sword cultivation. The other three Great Sects would be their next choice."
"Such sword cultivation geniuses would never join our Tai Xu Sect, as our sect's sword cultivation traditions are indeed lacking..."
"It's not entirely without merit, though. Our sword techniques are adequate, just not outstanding compared to the best."
Mo Hua's eyes narrowed slightly as he asked in a soft voice, "Shi Tuo, have you heard of 'Divine Thought Transformation Sword'?"
Shi Tuo Jian was taken aback, "Divine Thought Transformation Sword? What kind of sword technique is that?"
When Mo Hua saw that he hadn't heard of it, he said, "Never mind, I heard it from a storyteller, so I'm not sure if it's true."
Shi Tuo Jian felt a sense of helplessness.
Could one even trust the words of storytellers?
Little Shi Xie was reliable when he wanted to be.
But at other times, he would spout nonsense, appearing a bit... naive and eccentric.
Mo Hua asked again, "I've learned a little about sword flight, so can you watch me and tell me if my technique is correct or not?"
"Mmm." Shi Tuo Jian nodded, but halfway through, he froze, confusion spreading across his face:
"Little Shi Xie, where did you learn 'sword flight'?
"And, aren't you only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage?
"Also, you're not a swordsman, so you don't cultivate sword qi. Without merging your spirit sword and sword qi, how can you fly a sword?"
Mo Hua shushed him, whispering, "I stole the technique, so don't tell anyone."
Although he said he "stole" it, his expression was one of complete confidence.
Shi Tuo Jian was left speechless by Mo Hua's "honesty" and could only nod dumbly.
"I don't cultivate sword qi, so I'm just trying to use pure spiritual sense to fly a sword and see how it goes. It's just for fun..."
As he spoke, Mo Hua took out a "broken sword."
No wonder he was the senior disciple; his way of thinking and acting was extraordinary.
"Alright then," Shi Tuo Jian sighed. "Let's first test the range of your sword-flying."
He looked around and then pointed to a hill on the other side, "Little Senior Brother, stand here and fly your sword towards that hill over there."
"Okay!" Mo Hua nodded.
Then, recalling the techniques from the Duan Jin Sword-Flying Manual's "Sword-Flying Chapter," he began to circulate his spiritual sense to manipulate the old spiritual sword.
Sword-flying was a unique type of "object manipulation" technique.
Spiritual sense painting was also a form of object manipulation.
However, spiritual sense painting emphasized intricate and flexible control, while spiritual sense sword-flying emphasized instantaneous suppression and extreme sword speed.
But as long as it was a spiritual sense technique, it wasn't a difficult task for Mo Hua.
Even if sword-flying was extremely challenging, it couldn't compare to the Heaven's Mystery Calculation and the Heaven's Mystery Trick Calculation, which were the most profound aspects of spiritual sense techniques.
Mo Hua began to fly the sword.
He focused intently, holding his breath as he released his spiritual sense to firmly "grip" the old spiritual sword in front of him, achieving complete "object control."
Then he glanced at the hill opposite him, and his spiritual sense suddenly intensified, flowing rapidly to impart a powerful potential energy to the spiritual sword.
Then, golden light flashed.
Shi Tuo Jian heard a "swish" as the sword in front of him lit up with golden light, drawing a golden line in the air before disappearing in the blink of an eye.
He didn't even have time to react to what had just happened.
It was too fast...
Shi Tuo Jian looked towards the hill, his expression filled with astonishment.
"Where's the sword?"
It was clearly flying towards the hill, so why was the sword gone? Shi Tuo Jian gazed into the distance, and his expression suddenly became slightly shaken.
There was a forest behind the hill.
The sword...
It seemed to have flown over the hill and into the forest on the other side.
"No way..."
Shi Tuo Jian suppressed his astonishment and used his movement technique to quickly flash over to the forest on the other side. He released his spiritual sense to search for a while and indeed found a spiritual sword embedded in the trees.
The spiritual sword was old and rusty, and it was the broken sword that belonged to his junior brother.
Shi Tuo Jian turned back and estimated the distance, and a huge wave suddenly surged in his heart.
This distance was about...
170 or 180 zhang?!
Shi Tuo Jian's scalp went numb, and he couldn't believe it.
This junior brother of his was a freak!
Reaching a distance of 170 or 180 zhang in sword-flying at the mid-Golden Core stage was just too outrageous! Shi Tuo Jian sighed and picked up the broken sword before returning to Mo Hua's side. He couldn't help but ask, "Little Senior Brother, how strong is your spiritual sense?"
Mo Hua replied vaguely, "It's just average... probably slightly stronger for the mid-Golden Core stage, after all, I'm an array master, and I draw arrays every day."
Shi Tuo Jian felt a mix of emotions.
Your "slightly stronger" is probably a huge understatement.
Although they were from the same sect and lived together, Shi Tuo Jian already knew that Mo Hua had strong spiritual sense, but he never expected it to be this strong.
No wonder his junior brother was so good at arrays.
No wonder Elder Xun personally selected him to be the "senior brother" in arrays.
Shi Tuo Jian didn't pry further.
Since everyone had different talents in cultivation, his junior brother must have had outstanding qualities in other areas to make up for his weak blood energy and spiritual energy, allowing him to join the Tai Xu Sect.
Just like how some people were born with abundant blood energy, some had superior spiritual roots, and some had a natural talent for the sword.
His junior brother probably had naturally strong spiritual sense.
Since Shi Tuo Jian didn't learn arrays or cultivate spiritual techniques, he wasn't very sensitive to spiritual sense cultivation, and he didn't quite understand what this meant.
What shocked him even more was another matter:
"Little Senior Brother, there doesn't seem to be any reduction in the distance of your sword-flying..."
Mo Hua was taken aback and thought for a moment before slowly nodding, "Seems like it..."
His spiritual sense was currently at the peak of seventeen strands, just a hair's breadth away from eighteen strands.
And the distance of his sword-flying seemed to be right at the limit of his spiritual sense, between 170 and 180 zhang.
The distance of his spiritual sense projection was exactly the same as the distance of his sword-flying.
There wasn't the slightest bit of reduction.
Mo Hua thought for a moment and soon understood.
It was a qualitative change in spiritual sense!
Because of the qualitative change, his spiritual sense was extremely tough and could bear a heavier load, so there was no reduction in the distance of his sword-flying.
Mo Hua's eyes lit up.
This meant that the range of his sword-flying attacks was likely almost double that of ordinary sword cultivators of the same spiritual sense level.
And this comparison was with those at the same spiritual sense level.
If compared with sword cultivators of the same cultivation stage, the difference might be even greater.
Shi Tuo Jian was stunned and then exclaimed, "Little Senior Brother, you're also a sword genius..."
Then he felt that something was wrong, so he corrected himself, "You should be a 'sword-flying' genius."
Because his junior brother was only good at sword-flying.
Aside from that, his attainments in the sword path, especially in sword qi, were negligible...
Shi Tuo Jian sighed and deeply lamented, "What a waste, Little Senior Brother. Your sword-flying is fast and far, and you're a natural 'sword-flying' genius, but without cultivating sword qi, there's no power in your sword at all..."
Shi Tuo Jian sighed again.
Able to fly a sword but without sword qi.
It was like a master of spear techniques who was unmatched in spear skills but lacked a "spearhead," unable to pierce through anything.
It was such a waste of talent.
Shi Tuo Jian wore a regretful expression.
Mo Hua smiled and said, "It's fine. I'm not a sword cultivator anyway; I'm just playing around with sword-flying..."
(End of Chapter)
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