Chapter 1016: Guests Arrive

Deep night.

The Dao-law elders of each sect gathered once more.

Still that same hall.

Still those same elders.

On the imitation map, still Mo Hua.

But this time, the match was different.

The "victim" was different too.

The imitation map showed Mo Hua hiding in the small grove, teasing five disciples of Long Ding Sect.

The five Long Ding disciples each held a Concealment-Detecting Mirror.

But inside the mirrors, nothing appeared.

The five stared at each other, like five "great fools"…

"We misjudged Shi Tiangang—it wasn't that he was strong-limbed but simple-minded, unable to see through concealment; it's that Mo Hua's concealment technique truly has something strange about it…"

"Even the Concealment-Detecting Mirror can't detect it… this means the principle behind this concealment technique differs from ordinary transmissions."

"Then what kind is it? Light concealment, Spirit concealment, Eye concealment, Five-Color concealment, Five-Element concealment, or Eight-Trigram concealment?"

"This… through the Fangtian Painting Shadow and this imitation map, it's hard to tell…"

"Only by being physically present, sensing the qi, or using divine sense to peer can one discern truth from falsehood…"

"The Five-Rank Array on the Lun Dao Mountain blocks all external spiritual interference and divine sense surveillance—we can't intervene or discern anything…"

The Five-Rank Array blocked everything outside the arena.

This kind of blockade existed to protect sect disciples, ensuring that when they used their sect's cultivation arts, superior Dao methods, and other rare transmissions during the Lun Jian, they wouldn't be stolen by other cultivators with ill intent and advanced techniques—through divine sense perception, law derivation, or reverse-causality tricks.

After all, the Lun Jian of Qianxue was filled with prodigies, and every prodigy studied supreme Dao scriptures.

If anyone stole them via "perception," "reverse-causality," or "derivation," the consequences would be endless.

But because of this, the Dao-law elders could not, for now, determine the origin of Mo Hua's concealment technique.

"Does the Grand Void Gate have a unique concealment transmission?"

"As far as I know, there isn't one…"

"Then where must his concealment technique have originated?"

"Is there any sect in the entire Qianxue region skilled in concealment?"

"There used to be some, but most have vanished; now no sect specializes in this kind of concealment—it's too useless…"

"So the only option now is to test with different break-concealment spiritual tools?"

In the cultivation world, craftsmanship has developed into fine subdivisions.

Spiritual tools are also highly varied.

Break-concealment spiritual tools are further subdivided according to differences in concealment principles and methods.

There are tools to break Spirit concealment, Water concealment, Color concealment, Light concealment… and so on.

Unusual, obscure, rare concealment techniques have few transmissions and are hard to learn; cultivators who master them are few and far between, and one rarely encounters them.

Thus, the cultivation world generally uses "universal" break-shadow spiritual tools.

For example, the Concealment-Detecting Mirror used by Long Ding Sect disciples is precisely this type of universal break-shadow tool—and it's of high grade.

Generally speaking, even against rare concealment techniques, Long Ding Sect's "Concealment-Detecting Mirror" should still work; it's impossible for it to show absolutely no trace.

But Mo Hua is special.

His Small Five-Element Concealment Technique, honed over years of practice and rich concealment experience, was already perfected.

Especially now that his divine thought has formed a Golden Core, the Small Five-Element Concealment Technique has undergone a qualitative transformation, carrying a faint hint of ultimate mastery.

Therefore, unless a high-grade break-shadow spiritual tool is precisely targeted at the Five Elements, it cannot break his concealment.

"But testing one by one…" an elder frowned, "how long will this take?"

"Send a team of five, each with a different type of break-concealment tool, each testing him once—within a few matches, we'll find it quickly…"

"What if he doesn't conceal himself?"

"This kid is clever—if he senses anything odd, he'll definitely 'pretend incompetence' again; he might not even use this concealment again…"

"If he doesn't conceal himself, what use is it to scan him?"

"Then devise a tactic to surround and force him to conceal himself, then find a way to break his concealment with spiritual tools…"

"To go to so much trouble—for one disciple? No—for one of a disciple's techniques?"

"If we set tactics like this and choose tools like this, how can we possibly win with such inherent limitations?"

"We've said it already—this isn't about winning; it's about determining which school this kid's concealment technique belongs to."

"So we're… strategically forfeiting several matches of Tian Xuanzi's Lun Jian to give points to the Grand Void Gate?"

"We have no choice."

"This is Tian Xuanzi's Lun Jian—each match lost is one less match. Are we really going to waste them like this?"

"You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a child."

"But whose child do we sacrifice, and whose wolf do we catch?"

"Who will the Grand Void Gate face in the next few matches?"

"Xuanqi Sect, Duanjin Sect, and Lingxiao Sect…"

"Xuanqi and Duanjin are manageable, but Lingxiao Sect… won't be easy to deal with."

"Nothing hard about it—just offer more benefits. It's just each sect paying a little blood."

The elders fell silent, clearly hesitant.

"You may not yet realize how serious this problem is…"

The presiding elder's face was solemn. "Don't underestimate this concealment technique. This concealment technique may be far more troublesome than you imagine…"

"This kind of unique concealment, paired with his outrageous divine sense, and his mastery of the five-element spellcraft to a flawless degree, in a certain sense, truly can place him in an 'invincible' position."

"Especially in a decapitation round, it's basically unsolvable."

"If you can't see through his concealment, you absolutely cannot win."

"If we don't find a way to deal with it now, and it drags on to the Earth-tier rounds, or even the Heaven-tier rounds, the trouble will be enormous."

"In the Earth-tier rounds, and the Heaven-tier rounds, every round's victory is precious beyond measure."

"Especially in a decapitation round, this Mo Hua, as long as he can turn invisible, is invincible. Whoever runs into him is out of luck."

"In the end, regardless of whether he can win, he absolutely will not let you win."

"Even if he runs into the top-tier prodigies of the Si Sect, if he can't beat them, he just needs to hide with his concealment, and no one can do anything to him. In the end, he can scrape a draw. The Grand Void Gate can accept that—can you?"

A draw, however, yields no victory points; it's equivalent to both sides losing.

The Si Sect also competes with one another.

Whoever "draws" a round with Mo Hua is equivalent to forfeiting a round, falling behind by a round for nothing in the competition among the Sida Sect.

If it really comes to that, one can only pray that one's luck isn't too bad, and that one doesn't run into this "plague god" Mo Hua.

Thinking this way, everyone got a headache.

They never imagined that the Daoist elders of their own great sects would, one day, be driven to distraction by a single concealment technique.

After a brief silence in the hall, an elder of high virtue and great prestige spoke:

"Then let's do it this way…"

"Sacrifice some Tian Xuanzi rounds to break Mo Hua's concealment. As for compensation, our Sida Sect will cover it."

"The shadow-breaking spirit artifacts will also be arranged by us."

"We cannot let the Grand Void Gate continue to develop like this."

"And this kid called Mo Hua, the champion of the Qianxue array path—we absolutely cannot let him be. Whatever abilities he has, dig them all out as soon as possible, and find a way to counter him to death…"

The elders of the Qitage Sect, upon hearing this, also nodded one after another.

The plan was thus set.

Each sect would temporarily join hands, share what they had, and take "breaking" Mo Hua's concealment technique as the foremost tactical priority for the next several Tian Xuanzi Sword Debates.

Then in the first match, the Xuanqi Sect faced Mo Hua.

Each disciple of the Xuanqi Sect held a spirit mirror of a different design, used to see through concealments based on different principles.

Besides this, they were also equipped with special concealment-breaking formations.

All tactics were also centered around "Mo Hua."

This kind of tactic clearly had great drawbacks.

Targeting only Mo Hua and leaving Linghu Xiao open, the Xuanqi Sect, whose strength was already not that great, could not possibly win.

This was also not a decapitation match—not a round where killing Mo Hua would mean winning.

This left Mo Hua somewhat puzzled.

He couldn't quite figure out what the Xuanqi Sect meant by this.

Was this… handing out points?

It wasn't until the Sword Debate that Mo Hua, being surrounded and forced to deploy his concealment.

The five disciples of the Xuanqi Sect, without a word, immediately activated their spirit artifacts.

Five different mirrors, following different concealment-breaking principles, emitted lights of different colors, all shining toward Mo Hua.

The Gushan Refining Workshop had been revitalized through Mo Hua's hands.

He had participated in the design of many refining diagrams.

Therefore, although his actual refining skill was very low, his theoretical knowledge of refining was actually quite impressive.

Mo Hua only needed one glance at these spirit mirrors to suddenly understand.

"The Xuanqi Sect never intended to win. The purpose of this round was to use different spirit artifacts to break my concealment…"

Mo Hua's mind stirred, and he immediately canceled his concealment, standing openly and letting the light from the five mirrors shine on him.

Concealment-breaking spirit artifacts are used to break concealment.

If he didn't conceal himself, naturally nothing could be broken.

The disciples of the Xuanqi Sect grew angry and struck out, intending to kill Mo Hua.

Mo Hua took a single Flowing Water step, pulled away, and immediately called out to Linghu Xiao and the others:

"Xiaoxiao, come protect me."

Linghu Xiao and the four others no longer hesitated and gathered toward Mo Hua; their tactical center also shifted to protecting Mo Hua.

With this, the pressure on the Xuanqi Sect disciples increased greatly.

Their strength was already on the weaker side, and their physical defense was far inferior to the disciples of the Vajra Sect and the Dragon Cauldron Sect. They didn't dare to tank Linghu Xiao's sword Qi to forcefully kill Mo Hua.

And Mo Hua also flickered in and out of concealment.

When the Xuanqi Sect shone their mirrors, he revealed himself; when they didn't shine them, he concealed himself.

Most infuriatingly, the time it took Mo Hua to switch between concealment and revealing himself was shorter than the time the Xuanqi Sect disciples needed to take out their spirit mirrors and activate the mirror light.

It left the Xuanqi Sect disciples utterly helpless.

The Dao-field elders of the various sects outside the arena also secretly cursed Mo Hua in their hearts as a "little slippery devil"—despicable, shameless, clever as a ghost.

The Xuanqi Sect lost just like that.

Next was the Severing Gold Sect.

The Severing Gold Sect's strength was greater than the Xuanqi Sect's, and having learned from the Xuanqi Sect's lesson, they optimized their tactics against Mo Hua.

The Severing Gold Sword Art was also a top-tier sword art, with extremely strong killing power.

Although Mo Hua, based on his grasp of the Gold-Severing Sect's core inheritance, had custom-made a "Gold-Severing Armor"—using their own shield to defend against their own spear—which could, to a considerable extent, nullify the damage of Gold-Severing Sword Qi.

But this armor, Mo Hua couldn't wear it.

Because his physical body was too weak.

No matter how much the "Gold-Severing Armor" reduced the damage, the remaining Gold-Severing Sword Qi could still take his life. Moreover, with old grudges and new feuds added in, the Gold-Severing Sect disciples truly wished they could kill Mo Hua.

Therefore, in this sword debate of theirs, fueled by hatred, they had practically exerted their full strength.

Gold-Severing sword light filled the sky, the drawn swords flew like snow, all heading straight for Mo Hua's body.

Mo Hua simply couldn't withstand it, and could only rely on his concealment art to save his life.

Moreover, he had to stay fully concealed—he could no longer toy with them the way he had with the Profound Weapon Sect, vanishing and reappearing at will.

Because the moment he reappeared, even for an instant, five swords would come hacking down at him all at once.

This way, the Gold-Severing Sect would have enough time to use different anti-concealment spirit mirrors to test Mo Hua's concealment art.

But once they tested it, there was still a problem.

The five Gold-Severing Sect disciples quickly discovered that the spirit mirrors in each of their hands were intermittently working and not working.

One moment they could reflect Mo Hua.

But after a while, the figure on the mirror would vanish, and suddenly they couldn't reflect him anymore.

After another while, suddenly they could reflect him again.

The five Gold-Severing Sect disciples were completely baffled.

The Dao Law elders outside the arena also frowned one after another.

"What's going on?"

"Is the spirit mirror malfunctioning, or is Mo Hua's concealment art malfunctioning too?"

This question troubled them greatly.

Even after the Gold-Severing Sect was defeated, the elders still couldn't figure it out no matter how hard they racked their brains, and couldn't even sleep.

Late at night.

The sect's great hall.

A group of Dao Law elders gathered inside the hall, staying up all night to study Mo Hua's reproduction image, watching it frame by frame, examining it bit by bit, until finally someone still figured it out.

A lean, sharp-eyed Dao Law elder slammed the table and suddenly realized, "Damn…"

The curse word had already left his mouth before he realized he'd spoken out of turn.

The other elders didn't hold it against him, because they also felt like cursing.

"Speak quickly!"

This Dao Law elder then gritted his teeth and explained:

"This brat, he's learned two kinds of concealment arts! One low-level, one high-level."

"He mixed the low-level concealment and the high-level concealment together and used them both…"

"That's why when you use the Shadow-Breaking Spirit Mirror to reflect him, he appears and disappears intermittently—one moment you can reflect him, the next you can't…"

A hubbub of voices rose throughout the hall.

"It's actually this simple… I really am…"

"I'm impressed by this brat."

"How on earth did this little rascal's brain grow?"

"How does he come up with every kind of trick…"

"That's not a trick, that's the myriad Dao Laws being neither superior nor inferior—wonderful application lies in a single heart…"

"It is a trick…"

……

Once they'd seen through Mo Hua's little trick, naturally it became easier to handle.

They began once more to study Mo Hua frame by frame, one scene after another, to determine which kind of concealment Mo Hua was using at any given moment.

But unfortunately only one round had been fought, so the "samples" were still a bit few.

For the moment, these Dao Law elders still couldn't judge easily.

"Wait until the Lingxiao Sect finishes their fight, then we'll see…"

"That'll have to do."

So in the next round, Mo Hua's group ran into disciples of the Lingxiao Sect.

The Lingxiao Sect was one of the Eight Great Gates; its disciples specialized in spells. It was said to share the same origin as Wan Xiao Sect, one of the Sida Sect, but later a rift had developed and they had each gone their separate ways.

The Lingxiao Sect's tactics were simple and brutal.

All five of them went out together and subjected Mo Hua to a wide-area "spell bombardment."

Jin Guang, fire, stones, hail, water arrows—blanketing the sky and covering the earth.

Mo Hua didn't have a single space to hide, and had no choice but to use his concealment art to dodge.

The battle with the Lingxiao Sect lasted quite a long time, and Mo Hua's concealment art was also exposed almost completely.

After the sword debate ended, Mo Hua's every move was once again placed on the reproduction image for the Dao Law elders of the various sects to study.

And after a session of careful screening and comparison, several sharp-eyed, experienced Dao Law elders finally sighed and said decisively:

"I've figured it out—it's a Five-Element type concealment art."

"Five Elements, huh…"

"Merging into the Five Elements, hiding within heaven and earth… that's why he specifically chose the small grove to conceal himself—the purpose was to borrow the wood, earth, and water elemental Qi within the grove to make it easier to perform the concealment."

"Just as I thought… I had already guessed before that this was a Five-Element type concealment art."

"Then why didn't you say so earlier?"

"Previously, there was no evidence, so I couldn't make hasty judgments; now that we have evidence, I can declare..."

"…"

"But... there are many Five Elements Concealment techniques— which one is this boy using?"

The Daoist elders each held their own views, speculating wildly, yet some had truly figured it out:

"From my observation, it resembles... the Five Minor Concealment Technique of the Five Hidden Sect."

"Isn't the Five Hidden Sect gone?"

"The lineage must have been lost; perhaps this boy got lucky and acquired it..."

"Regardless, knowing the principle is enough."

"Let's prepare some Five Elements-based Dispel Artifacts. In the next Sword Debate, we'll force this boy to reveal his true form!"

"Good!"

The elders all nodded in agreement.

Someone else asked: "Who will they face in the next Sword Debate?"

"The Xiao Yao Men... has a member of the Feng family."

Everyone applauded enthusiastically: "A Feng family scion from Xunzhou—perfect! Now Mo Hua won't escape. Once his concealment is broken, we'll leave him with no way up to heaven, no way down to earth, no burial place for his corpse."

"Mo Hua this brat deserves to die."

"He makes us elders stay up late in meetings every day—if he doesn't die soon, where will our faces be?"

"The Feng family... good. This boy's fate demands his death."

"Let him learn just how treacherous the Sword Debate can be..."

The elders finalized their plan, their hearts filled with great satisfaction.

At this moment, deep night.

In the borderlands of Qianxue Zhou, the Feng family's cave dwelling.

A gaunt Feng family elder, braving the cool night breeze, stood guard outside the cave dwelling, as if waiting for someone.

Half an hour later, hoofbeats echoed from afar.

The Feng elder's expression brightened; he fixed his gaze and saw, through the hazy night, a carriage slowly approaching.

The carriage and horses were unassuming yet luxurious, dusted with travel grime, as if journeying from a thousand li away to attend the gathering.

A banner fluttered in the night, shimmering with flowing light, bearing a Kan trigram with a single character: "Zhang."

Seeing this, the Feng elder immediately stepped forward with a smiling face.

The carriage halted slowly; the curtain parted, and several cultivators of considerable cultivation descended in turn.

The leader was a man with a childlike face and white hair, his bearing extraordinary.

The Feng elder quickly bowed and smiled: "Great Elder, it's been a long time."

The cultivator called "Great Elder" smiled in return: "Brother Feng, we've been Dao companions for years—no need for such formality."

The Feng elder shook his head: "Nonsense. Friendship is friendship; propriety is propriety."

He glanced at the Great Elder, then at the several young talents behind him, and extended his hand in invitation:

"It's late. You've all traveled far—please enter my humble abode and rest awhile."

The Great Elder bowed: "Then we shall trouble you..."

"Not at all! Your presence brings honor to our humble dwelling. Please."

"After you."

After exchanging polite formalities, they dismissed the carriage and entered the Feng family's cave dwelling.

The Feng family was a prominent clan of Xunzhou; this cave dwelling appeared unremarkable from outside, yet within lay a hidden world—graceful pavilions, lush grasses, and a distinct Daoist charm.

The Zhang family's Great Elder and the Feng elder walked together, chatting idly.

"Things have been unsettled lately in Kanzhou..."

"The journey delayed us somewhat... hence our late arrival."

"By the calendar, the Sword Debate must have already begun."

"It has."

"What a pity..."

"No matter. This Tian Xuanzi phase still has its grand performances ahead..."

The group entered the hall and took their seats; attendants arrived to serve tea.

The Zhang family Great Elder sipped his tea, nodded slowly, then asked the Feng elder:

"With Kanzhou in turmoil and affairs piling up, I haven't come to Qianxue Zhou to witness the Sword Debate in nearly three hundred years. Who are the rising talents of this year's Qianxue Dao Debate?"

The Feng elder bowed respectfully, his tone proud:

"Qianxue is a land of flourishing Dao learning, gathering the finest talents from the Nine Provinces, collecting the most exceptional geniuses of the world—there are countless prodigies."

"Of course, the most outstanding are the Four Great Sects."

"This year's Sword Debate, Shen Lin from Qiandao Sect, Xiao Wuchen from Tianjian Sect, Ao Zhan from Long Ding Sect, and Duanmu Qing from Wanshao Sect—all supreme heavenly prodigies. Since the debate began, they've swept all before them, undefeated."

"Below the Four Sects, the Eight Major Sects also boast many prodigies—Linghu Xiao, Shi Tiangang, Qin Cangliu—all quite impressive..."

The Feng elder listed them one by one, then paused, and added:

"But... there is one other. If counted, he is truly an unparalleled monster—talented, yet lacking virtue, with a terrible reputation."

The Zhang Great Elder was surprised. "Who is this person?"

The Feng elder spoke gravely:

"This boy, at mid-Foundation Establishment, possesses a nineteen-mark peak spiritual sense, overpowering the Four Sects to claim the top rank in Array Arts. His talent and cultivation are ordinary, yet his Five Elements techniques are executed with divine mastery—his concealment technique leaves no trace whatsoever..."

"Such a genius actually exists?"

The crowd was stunned by the words.

Elder Zhang was also visibly moved and asked, "What is your name?"

"Mo Hua!"

Among the Zhang clan members, a cultivator in blue robes immediately sprayed out a mouthful of tea.

(End of chapter)