Chapter 1006: Outreach

Linghu Xiao's expression was cold.

Ouyang Xuan wore a sneer.

Mo Hua, Cheng Mo, and Situ Jian all had subtle expressions.

The boy said nothing else; after delivering his threat, he shot Linghu Xiao another mocking glance, then walked off with his head held high.

After he left, the arena fell silent for a moment.

Mo Hua gradually realized something, frowning:

"He told us to remember his name—but… didn't he forget to say what it was?"

Situ Jian pondered, "Could he assume we all already know who he is?"

Cheng Mo asked curiously, "Who is he?"

Mo Hua pulled out the Grand Void Token, found his opponent's name, scanned the five names across from him, stirred his mind slightly, performed a quick calculation, and uncovered his name:

"Wu Ming."

"His name is 'Wu Ming'?"

"The character 'Wu' is mouth and heaven; 'Ming' is sun and moon."

"Oh… so he's from the Wu family," Cheng Mo said.

"The Wu family?" Mo Hua asked.

"A family of talisman makers, rich from selling spirit stones," Situ Jian replied succinctly. "Their main clan is in Kunzhou, but branches of the Wu family are scattered across the Nine Provinces."

"Very rich?"

"Yes, very rich," Situ Jian nodded. "Qianzhou, due to its long lineage and openness to talents from across the land, is blessed with outstanding people and fertile land, gathering many noble families."

"Kunzhou, by contrast, boasts fertile soil and abundant resources, making it the wealthiest of the Nine Provinces—and thus nurturing a host of extravagantly rich clans and powerful households."

"The Wu family is one such Kunzhou household. Because of their wealth, they can afford the 'money-burning' talisman craft—talisman scrolls are expensive, the industry is highly profitable, and with compound gains, the Wu family has grown ever larger…"

Situ Jian explained it all to Mo Hua in detail.

He was steady, meticulous, thoughtful, and eager to learn, well-versed in noble family affairs; most of Mo Hua's knowledge about clans came from him.

But Mo Hua had one question:

"Why are talisman scrolls 'highly profitable'?"

In daily combat with cultivators, he rarely saw anyone use talisman scrolls.

Talismans were merely supplementary tools—used for emergencies or escape. So far, he had never seen a cultivator rely primarily on talismans as their main offensive method.

Situ Jian said, "There are many reasons: high cost, Dao Court regulation, single-use consumption… Most cultivators don't overuse talismans."

"The higher the cultivator's rank, the more refined their Dao lineage, the less they rely on talismans."

"The greatest use of talismans lies in Daoist wars and large-scale cultivator battles, for temporary fire suppression and pinpoint explosions."

"Daoist wars are about burning spirit stones."

"If you don't burn spirit stones, you burn lives."

"The best way to burn spirit stones in war is through arrays."

"But arrays are massive, complex, dependent on array masters for coordination, tedious to set up, hard to repair, require prior preparation, and during battle, have many limitations and poor effectiveness."

"Beyond arrays, there are talismans—simple, direct, convenient, brutal; once unsealed, they can be used immediately, with formidable destructive power."

"Generally, the Dao Court or major powers buy large quantities of talismans at preferential prices as 'military equipment' for mass cultivator combat."

"But producing talismans demands enormous financial backing. Only a few extremely wealthy Kunzhou clans, with excellent disciple spiritual roots, abundant spiritual energy, strong family foundations, plentiful spirit stones, and rich local resources, can sustain large-scale talisman production…"

Mo Hua nodded, understanding roughly.

Talismans were "arms."

The Kunzhou clans were "landlords."

Landlords selling arms generated huge profits and became "powerful households."

Mo Hua glanced down at the match list; their opponent this time was the Shierliu Sect's "Spirit Talisman Gate."

"Spirit Talisman Gate…" Mo Hua murmured.

"Spirit Talisman Gate is a sect specializing in talisman crafting," Situ Jian said. "Some major Kunzhou clans don't expect their disciples to learn the lineages of the Si Sect or Eight Gates; instead, they prefer them to systematically study rare talisman arts."

"Thus, although Spirit Talisman Gate is a Shierliu Sect and excels in talisman-making, it also has disciples with quite decent talent."

"More importantly, Spirit Talisman Gate is also very rich."

Mo Hua asked curiously, "How rich?"

Situ Jian said, "Supposedly, richer than most of the Eight Gates."

"Why?" Mo Hua didn't understand. "Do they have a talisman-making industry? Do they sell talismans themselves?"

Situ Jian nodded. "Probably…"

But he didn't actually know the details.

At that moment, Ouyang Xuan, who had been scowling beside them but had been secretly listening, spoke coldly:

"Because they're funded by Kunzhou's powerful households."

"Funded by Kunzhou's powerful households?" Mo Hua was surprised.

Seeing that even "deeply reserved" Mo Hua didn't know this, Ouyang Xuan let out a faint, hidden sneer and said:

"Some Kunzhou powerful households, like the Wu family, provide vast amounts of spirit stones and abundant resources to support Spirit Talisman Gate's research into talisman arts."

"The talisman techniques developed by Spirit Talisman Gate are then fed back to the Kunzhou powerful households."

"Meanwhile, Spirit Talisman Gate reserves certain 'top-tier' admission slots for Kunzhou's powerful households, maintaining ties through master-disciple relationships and shared interests."

"This funding is extremely generous—enough to rival the spirit mine share of Shierliu Sect's Qianlong Mountain."

"Thus, Spirit Talisman Gate, a Shierliu Sect, is richer than most of the Eight Gates."

"Other sects mostly follow pure lineage systems, with only occasional minor industries."

But the Spirit Talisman Sect follows a system that fuses sect and aristocratic clans, sharing cultivation techniques and deeply intertwining interests...

Ouyang Xuan, usually silent and reserved, spoke at length.

Mo Hua fell into deep thought.

A fusion of sect and aristocratic clans...

On the surface, it appears mutually beneficial.

But at its core, isn't it merely a dual "monopoly" over cultivation lineage and cultivation resources?

In the end, the sect and the aristocratic clans join forces, growing stronger together to achieve ultimate monopoly.

Then who, in the end, suffers the consequences?

Mo Hua fell silent for a moment, then turned to Ouyang Xuan: "How do you know all this?"

Ouyang Xuan snorted coldly, his expression dismissive, yet answered Mo Hua honestly: "I overheard it when the Ancestor and the Sect Master were talking."

"Oh..." Mo Hua nodded.

Ouyang Xuan could eavesdrop on conversations between the Ancestor and the Sect Master—his status must be higher than I previously thought.

"Are there restrictions on the talismans used in the Sword Debate?" Mo Hua asked Sister Situ.

Sister Situ nodded. "After all, this is a Sword Debate. Talismans and arrays, if used in large quantities, severely disrupt balance."

Especially those "rich boys" who throw talismans like they're free—no one could afford that.

"But restrictions apply only to rank and quantity, not type," Sister Situ added. "The Spirit Talisman Sect will likely specially forge rare high-grade talismans for the Sword Debate."

"Hmm." Mo Hua nodded slowly. "Fine. Let's just fight first."

"Little Brother..." Sister Situ fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Do we still use our old tactics?"

That basic strategy was too crude.

We've used it so many times—surely opponents have already devised countermeasures.

If we keep using it, we might not win anymore.

Mo Hua smiled. "No problem. Use it once more."

He glanced at Sister Situ, Cheng Mo, Linghu Xiao, and Ouyang Xuan, and said with deep meaning:

"This is heavy-load training for you—using battles as practice, refining your synergy."

"After all, if I stepped in, the battle wouldn't be like this at all..."

Cheng Mo, Sister Situ, and Linghu Xiao froze, then their eyes lit up as they all nodded: "Yes, Little Brother."

Ouyang Xuan said nothing, but a deep wariness flashed in his eyes—perhaps even...

Fear.

In the Sword Debate arena, mountains and rivers twisted intricately.

Mo Hua and the others entered the arena.

Outside, the Skyward Illusion Screen flickered, then revealed Mo Hua and his companions, sparking widespread murmurs.

Almost all of it was negative.

Mostly accusations like "Grand Void Gate is finished," "The Ancestor is senile, the Sect Master is incompetent, the Elders fawn on power," "Disciples dare not speak out."

Alongside that, cries of sympathy: "Poor Linghu Xiao," "Poor Ouyang Xuan," "Poor Big Guy," "Poor Sword-Bearing Boy"...

And also: "How is this shameless Mo Hua still here?" "I want to see how long he can keep faking it," "Shame of Grand Void Gate," "Useless waste"...

All the same old talk.

While outside, criticism surged like a tide, inside, the battle began.

It was still a five-on-five free-for-all.

The match format hadn't changed; Mo Hua had no intention of altering tactics, sticking instead to the most basic combat style, letting Linghu Xiao and the others fight on their own to cultivate instinctive coordination.

The arena wasn't large, and Mo Hua's spiritual sense was too powerful—he could scan once and know exactly where the opponents were.

But he didn't speak up to warn them.

Because it wasn't yet time for him to employ his true "underhanded tactics."

The two sides met normally.

Mo Hua's five: Cheng Mo, the "Big Guy," stood at the front, the others arrayed beside him in the most basic formation.

The Spirit Talisman Sect's front line was a formidable youth.

The same confident, arrogant boy who had threatened Linghu Xiao before.

Wu Ming of the Wu Clan, Kunzhou aristocracy.

Wu Ming wore splendid armor, his arms sheathed in crimson, shimmering arm guards—luxurious and imposing, clearly extremely expensive.

This armor was custom-made.

The arm guards were his painstakingly forged embryonic spirit weapon.

Besides Wu Ming, the other four Spirit Talisman Sect disciples also wore fine armor, glowing with the aura of "money is no object."

Though the Spirit Talisman Sect was only a Twelfth-Tier Sect, its members were either rich or noble.

Wu Ming and his group were all top-tier core young masters.

Mo Hua took one look and knew their gear had all been custom-made at great cost for the Sword Debate.

Their quality was two or three tenths higher than the custom spirit weapons from Gushan Armory.

But the price? Likely over ten times higher.

And still, they were consumables.

Only Kunzhou aristocratic heirs would dare spend so many spirit stones on such things.

Mo Hua watched, silently amazed.

Normally, once the two sides met, they would start fighting right away—no nonsense, no dawdling.

But this time was different. Before the battle began, Wu Ming seemed to have something to say.

The Lingfu Sect didn't strike first.

Mo Hua also didn't let anyone make a move, wanting to hear what he had to say.

Wu Ming extended his arm vambrace, blazing with firelight and extremely ornate, pointed it at Linghu Xiao, and sneered:

"Linghu Xiao, today, you will surely lose at my hands!"

"I will prove to Miss Lu that you, this so-called sword dao genius, are nothing but a coward, a loser, completely unworthy of her even a single glance…"

His first half of the sentence was still fine, quite imposing.

The second half got a bit abstract.

Mo Hua couldn't help but look at Linghu Xiao and ask, "Who is Miss Lu?"

He had thought this was a clash of heaven's favorites, but hadn't expected it to also involve gossip.

Linghu Xiao also looked a bit dazed, having absolutely no idea what this Wu Ming was raving about.

His appearance like this enraged Wu Ming.

Wu Ming suppressed his fury and said coldly:

"Still playing dumb with me? Truly a coward." "Today I will let everyone know that you, this so-called sword dao genius, are nothing but an empty-named waste!"

"I will use my family's inherited Glazed Bright Flame Fist Art to blast you to death with my own hands!"

What he said was quite imposing.

But Mo Hua hadn't been listening to him at all. Instead, his gossip-loving heart ignited, his eyes lit up, and he whispered to Linghu Xiao:

"Do you have some secret affair with this 'Miss Lu'?"

Cheng Mo and the others all turned to look at Linghu Xiao, eyes gleaming.

Even Ouyang Xuan wore a curious expression.

Linghu Xiao's face darkened.

If anyone else had asked this, he would have already cleaved them with his sword.

But the one asking was Mo Hua, so he could only keep a stiff face and say unhappily, "No… I don't even know who this Miss Lu is."

Mo Hua nodded, somewhat deflated.

No melon to eat…

And the way the few of them were whispering to each other, acting as if no one else existed, further infuriated Wu Ming.

"Kill!"

Wu Ming coldly commanded, then circulated his spiritual power, activated his arm vambrace, executed the Glazed Bright Flame Fist, and charged at the forefront, carving a surging trail of firelight as he rushed straight at Mo Hua and the others.

Cheng Mo swung his great axe and met him head-on.

Linghu Xiao and the others also drew their swords one after another.

Only Mo Hua tapped his foot, nimbly and lightly left the crowd, broke free from the battle, and stood aside to watch the fight.

In front of the Fangtian Painting Shadow, his move of "fleeing the battle, teammates forward while I retreat" was seen clearly by everyone.

Immediately, another wave of cursing rose:

"Again?"

"Still not making a move?"

"Still watching?"

"The thickness of his skin is truly a sight to behold."

Someone also offered comfort: "Don't make it hard for him. He can't do anything—how could he make a move? The moment he does, he'll be exposed…"

"Did you see his Dao Discussion Jade? His defense is absurdly bad—he probably can't take a single hit. The moment he goes up, he'll get 'slaughtered.'"

"After watching this long, you still expect him to make a move? I can only say, if someone's brain doesn't work, it can be fed to demons and monsters…"

……

The outer arena buzzed with discussion.

In the inner arena, no one from the Lingfu Sect took Mo Hua seriously either.

It had been the same before—Mo Hua just stood aside "watching the show," no need to bother with him.

As long as they dealt with his four teammates, taking care of this Mo Hua would be effortless.

Led by Wu Ming, the five disciples of the Lingfu Sect began to surround and attack Linghu Xiao's four-person team.

Wu Ming might look like a disciple "blinded by lust," fighting for pride, but their "tactics" were carefully designed, and they gave Linghu Xiao full respect.

They didn't dare let Linghu Xiao go all-out at all.

Therefore, right from the start, two body cultivators were sent—one wielding a low-sweeping saber, the other wielding refined iron claws—to stick close and entangle Linghu Xiao.

Linghu Xiao was unable to execute any high-tier, high-damage sword techniques.

If he forced them out, the two body cultivators would surely interrupt him.

If he used his only Golden Body talisman to prevent his sword techniques from being interrupted, the opponents would surely temporarily retreat, drag things out until his Golden Body faded, then come back and continue wearing him down—and he could only be "aggrieved" to death like this.

This was also a common tactic in the Sword Discussion Grand Meeting, used against a lone standout "heaven's favorite" disciple.

The premise of this method was that the heaven's favorite had to be a spiritual cultivator who needed to charge up to cast, or a ranged sword cultivator.

His teammates couldn't help him either.

And now, with the Lingfu Sect outnumbering them, this set of tactics was perfectly applicable.

This tactic had been used against Linghu Xiao by other sects before.

But the Lingfu Sect's disciples were stronger, their spiritual weapons better, and the effect was even more pronounced.

Moreover, Linghu Xiao's team had won all the way to here almost entirely on "raw strength"—four against five. Their tactics, though practiced, were fairly basic. With so many sects and so many pairs of eyes watching, they had long since been studied inside and out.

Once they'd been thoroughly studied, every move of theirs could be targeted.

Moreover, they were still down one person.

Linghu Xiao continued to be whittled down by the two body cultivators.

Cheng Mo's physical body was strong enough, but his killing power, compared to a top-tier prodigy, was still lacking — he could only stalemate with the disciples of the Spirit Talisman Sect.

Sister Situ's sword was a "jack-of-all-trades," but without tactical coordination, in a Sword Discourse Assembly thick with prodigies, her ability wasn't especially outstanding either; despite holding the upper hand, she couldn't win in a short time.

Ouyang Xuan, meanwhile, had engaged Wu Ming.

Wu Ming's strength was middling, but his full set of spirit-artifact equipment was simply too good.

Ouyang Xuan also held the upper hand, but in the short term, he couldn't finish Wu Ming off either.

During this time, the Spirit Talisman Sect would likewise rotate their offensive, relying on their numbers advantage — disciples coordinating with one another to suppress the enemy together.

The Grand Void Gate, however, could not.

Outnumbered, they could only fight reactively, with no room at all to shift the momentum of the offense.

And under these circumstances, Linghu Xiao's spiritual energy was also being rapidly depleted.

Linghu Xiao's killing power was top-tier, but high killing power meant high spiritual energy consumption — in a one-versus-two, he couldn't hold out much longer either.

Just as Linghu Xiao's spiritual energy was nearly spent—

Wu Ming sensed the moment had come. His eyes lit up at once. "I'll do it!"

He abandoned Ouyang Xuan and began switching his attack to Linghu Xiao.

Meanwhile, the two who had been grinding down Linghu Xiao shifted over to pin Ouyang Xuan.

Cheng Mo and the others immediately understood what this Wu Ming was after.

He was shouting at the mouth, saying he would defeat Linghu Xiao.

But his actual plan was to let his two teammates wear down most of Linghu Xiao's spiritual energy, then have him step in to "duel" Linghu Xiao — using this method to defeat the Grand Void Gate's sword-path prodigy.

Shameless? It was indeed shameless.

But this was the Sword Discourse after all — if he truly won, no one would say anything.

Even if he stepped on his teammates' shoulders to cut down the Grand Void Gate's prodigy, that still counted as a "win."

That wasn't enough yet.

Wu Ming also pulled out a dark silver, flowing-light jade talisman. After crushing it, a layer of refined-iron light swiftly spread across his whole body, condensing into a coat of "iron armor."

A high-grade Iron Armor Talisman.

It was a rare talisman — once crushed, spiritual energy would condense into iron armor, able to defend against sword-qi slashes.

Each disciple in the Sword Discourse could only choose one talisman.

Linghu Xiao had chosen the "Golden Body Talisman," while this Wu Ming had chosen the Spirit Talisman Sect's specially made "Iron Armor Talisman."

The purpose was to counter Linghu Xiao.

With the Iron Armor Talisman protecting him, within a quarter of an hour he could greatly reduce the damage from Linghu Xiao's sword qi.

Wu Ming wanted to use this quarter of an hour to decide the match.

This was also his once-in-a-thousand-years chance.

Spiritual energy pushed to full power, his Dao technique operated to the extreme.

Every punch of the Glazed Bright-Fire Fist carried raging flames — punch after punch, like a rain of fire, surging toward Linghu Xiao.

Most of the fiery fist-shadows were nullified by sword-light.

But some still blasted onto Linghu Xiao's body, seeping bit by bit into the Discourse Jade he wore.

Linghu Xiao gritted his teeth and held on.

Yet Wu Ming only fought harder and harder, his momentum for the moment like a long rainbow.

At this point, most of the cultivators in the outer stands, seeing the situation, felt their hearts give a sudden "thump."

Linghu Xiao was going to lose!

They didn't like the Grand Void Gate — saying the Grand Void Gate was finished was mostly because of a certain array-path chief who didn't live up to his reputation.

Toward Linghu Xiao, this sword-path prodigy who bore every burden without complaint and single-handedly dragged the team forward, most cultivators still felt a measure of recognition in their hearts.

Now watching Linghu Xiao being beaten down, they all felt terrible about it.

And at the thought that Linghu Xiao was about to lose, they were again seized with heartache and regret.

"Heaven envies the talented!"

"Born in the wrong era!"

"Such a fine seedling — how did he have the rotten luck to end up in the Grand Void Gate…"

Inside the arena, meanwhile, Wu Ming's expression grew ever more smug.

Being able to beat down a prodigy like Linghu Xiao was enough to let him hold his head high.

With the Iron Armor Talisman boosting him, if things continued this way, Linghu Xiao was bound to lose.

Even if Linghu Xiao used his Golden Body Talisman and brought out a top-tier killing-stroke sword art to trade blows with him head-on, he wasn't afraid.

Setting aside whether Linghu Xiao, worn down as he was now and depleted of spiritual energy, could even bring off a killing stroke — even if he did, the time needed to build up power and condense qi would be more than enough for Wu Ming to blast him to death.

The worst case would just be both sides perishing together.

But with the Iron Armor Talisman protecting him in the short term, even taking one of Linghu Xiao's sword strikes head-on might not kill him.

"I can kill him!"

At this thought, Wu Ming grew even more excited, his assault fiercer and fiercer, wanting to defeat Linghu Xiao utterly and let him die in frustration…

Just then, Mo Hua at the edge of the arena let out a soft sigh.

He knew — this was as far as it went.

This basic set of tactics could only carry them so far; from here on, they'd have to switch up their approach.

Mo Hua slowly raised his arm, and Bai Xi's hand finally emerged from his sleeve, extending two fingers.

Outside the arena, quite a few sharp-eyed cultivators immediately caught this moment on the massive Fangtian illusion projection.

They saw Mo Hua, who had been watching the fire from across the mountain and standing by idly, finally pull his hand out from his sleeve.

Everyone's heart gave an abrupt, inexplicable lurch.

"This Grand Void Gate array-path champion is finally going to make a move?"

"His first move at the Sword Discourse Assembly?"

"The situation has reached this point—what does he want to do? And what can he even do?"

They felt a sudden tension welling up inside them.

And inside the arena, Wu Ming, whose killing intent was at its peak, also sensed this abnormality the instant Mo Hua raised his hand.

He had only been "ignoring" Mo Hua, but that didn't mean he had truly forgotten about him.

The Sword Discourse was a five-person contest.

It was just that this Grand Void Gate "array-path champion" had accomplished nothing throughout the Sword Discourse so far, like a "waste."

So everyone had acted as if he didn't exist.

But now, he had actually raised his hand.

"What does he want to do?"

A sliver of unease stirred in Wu Ming's heart.

Then, with a sidelong glance, he caught a flicker of firelight, saw the condensed basic spell-form, and immediately laughed.

"Fireball Art?"

"A mere Fireball Art?"

"From this far away, he wants to use a fireball…"

And then in an instant, Wu Ming felt a deafening "Boom—" explode in his mind, as if a fiery cannonball, at a speed so inconceivable he couldn't even perceive it, had slammed directly into his skull…

(End of Chapter)