Chapter 1022: Earth Character Sword Debate

The day before the "Earth" Character Sword Debate.

A small grove on Tai Xu Mountain.

Beneath a towering ancient tree, Mo Hua sat with the Earth Character Sword Debate disciples of Tai Xu Mountain, preparing for battle.

The elimination rate for the Tian Xuanzi division is generally around nine out of ten.

The elimination rate for the Sida Sect is slightly lower.

Because Tai Xu Gate has so many disciples, its elimination rate is even higher than that of the Eight Great Sects.

The number of teams that actually advance is not large, merely matching the average of the Eight Great Sects.

Until now, Tai Xu Gate's advantage has been its sheer numbers.

The lower-tier disciples benefit from Mo Hua's preliminary formulation of the "Heavenly Prodigy Dao Soldiers," combining formations, spiritual artifacts, and tactics, allowing them to unleash greater combat power.

But at higher-level battles, especially in the Tian Xuanzi and Earth Character Sword Debates, this advantage gradually diminishes.

The number of high-end prodigy disciples within Tai Xu Gate cannot compare to those of powerful sects like the Golden Vajra Sect, the Free and Easy Sect, or the Ling Xiao Sect among the Eight Great Sects.

Let alone when compared to the Sida Sect.

Therefore, Mo Hua is already very satisfied with the current elimination rate.

According to his original expectations, the elimination rate would have been even worse.

And Tai Xu Gate's current ranking remains third.

This ranking is already very high, and it has also slightly exceeded Mo Hua's expectations.

The reasons behind it are complex.

On one hand, naturally, his own team with Linghu Xiao has won continuously, accumulating many victory points and establishing considerable momentum.

On the other hand, credit must go to Duan Jin Sect.

Duan Jin Sect's core inheritance leaked into the hands of this monstrous formation master, causing them to suffer a total defeat against Tai Xu Mountain during the Tian Xuanzi Debate, handing over a great many points.

The final reason is the efforts of their fellow disciples—the "younger brothers."

Some of these disciples, once unremarkable within the sect, have, through successive matches in the Sword Debate, become like iron forged by hammer blows, slowly revealing their sharp edges.

Under Mo Hua's leadership as their junior brother, these disciples have united, stood as one, gritted their teeth, and fought each match with all their strength.

Although most of them were still eliminated in the Tian Xuanzi division.

Yet they earned Tai Xu Mountain many victory points.

Otherwise, Tai Xu Mountain could never have maintained third place.

And these seemingly ordinary disciples, after being tempered by the Sword Debate, have begun to show signs of "transformation."

Among them, the most obviously transformed, and with the best Sword Debate results, is a team from Tai A Sect.

This team consists of five brothers, all surnamed Ouyang, with names that are auspicious: Fu, Lu, Shou, Xi, and Cai.

But despite their auspicious names, their origins were extremely poor.

They were relatives by marriage of a minor branch of the Ouyang clan, originally not even bearing the Ouyang surname; after their parents died early, they suffered hardship from childhood, and their clan could not afford to raise five growing boys.

Half-grown boys drain their fathers' resources.

Moreover, they were cultivators—not only did they eat, they needed to cultivate.

Cultivation techniques, spiritual items, spiritual stones—all required money.

Such expenses were far beyond the means of a minor branch family.

Yet these five brothers possessed decent talent; if they were not allowed to cultivate properly, their gifts would be utterly wasted.

Thus, the clan elders arranged connections to have them adopted into the Ouyang household, becoming heirs to an elder who had died unexpectedly with no descendants.

The Ouyang clan was large and wealthy, and did not lack food or clothing for five more boys.

Of course, since they were adopted, their cultivation rations would not be generous.

Fortunately, these five brothers had endured hardship and knew how precious this opportunity to cultivate was, so they trained harder and more diligently than ever.

With their good talent and brotherly unity, mutual encouragement, their cultivation advanced rapidly—even without guidance from senior elders, they forcibly earned admission into Tai A Sect through their own strength, a truly astonishing feat.

But their humble origins and shallow foundations meant that after joining Tai A Sect, though they still trained hard, surrounded as they were by the clan's true-born prodigies, they inevitably became "indistinguishable from the crowd."

Until the Sword Debate, when Mo Hua "promoted" these five brothers, giving each one a heavy armor and a massive sword, and telling them one phrase:

"Don't worry about anything else—just slash anyone you see."

The fate of these five brothers was thus utterly transformed.

They came from poor backgrounds, had no relatives or mentors, and in Tai A Sect, where prodigies abounded, they naturally felt some insecurity and shyness.

They also appeared somewhat dull and simple-minded.

They did not understand, nor could they execute, overly clever tactics.

But Mo Hua's four words—"slash anyone you see"—were simple, direct, and crystal clear.

Whenever these five brothers stepped onto the battlefield and repeated Mo Hua's words, boundless courage and battle intent surged within them; their nervousness vanished, their fear vanished, their hesitation vanished, their confusion vanished—nothing else mattered, only "slash anyone you see."

No matter who.

No matter which sect they faced, which prodigy, whether their status was high or low, their cultivation strong or weak.

Just slash forward.

Beneath their heavy swords, truth was revealed, and victory, defeat, life, and death were decided.

These five brothers had grown up together, eating, living, and cultivating side by side, studying the same techniques, practicing the same Dao, sparring with each other, pushing each other, improving together, sharing fortune and hardship—truly united as brothers, blood thicker than water.

Their coordination was extraordinarily seamless.

Once on the battlefield, the five towering, imposing brothers stood side by side, clad in heavy armor, wielding massive swords, like five identical "war gods" carved from the same mold, their aura deeply intimidating.

The five brothers swung their massive swords together.

Five as one, one as five.

Once engaged, under surging killing intent, their massive swords became like kitchen cleavers, slashing and hacking wildly like a hurricane.

Added to this, the brothers were united in heart, chanting Mo Hua's words "cut down anyone you see," truly giving off a "demonic" aura of being seeded with a demonic heart, single-minded, relentless, and possessing the courage of ten thousand men against one.

During the sword debates, many sect disciples were simply stunned and cut down.

Upon first meeting, five big men charged forward, saying nothing, swinging their great swords straight at the face—swish, swish, swish—they slashed.

One's vision went black; by the time they came to their senses, they were already "dead" and eliminated.

They didn't care about logic at all.

As the saying goes, chaotic swords kill the master.

If you say they lack tactics, the five were perfectly synchronized, even their spiritual weapons were matched.

But if you say they have tactics…

There was nothing but the word "slash."

Fighting them was also extremely frustrating.

Their great swords swept through, chaotic blades like tangled hemp, overwhelming and lawless, with no patterns or routines.

If you could hold out, you could fight back; if you couldn't, you were gone.

Of course, these five brothers couldn't win every match—there were plenty of losses too.

But with the heavy armor Mo Hua specially selected for them, which granted immunity to most spells and slashes, and their great swords that suppressed spiritual energy, even slightly weaker teams had no defense at all—barely upon contact, they were crushed by the great swords.

Stronger teams had mixed results.

But even strong teams had to tread extremely carefully against the Tai'e Five Brothers.

Otherwise, if they slipped up even once, the great swords would unleash a frenzy of slashes, and they might be slashed into shock.

And these five brothers had very simple minds.

Listen to Young Brother Mo, go up, and slash.

Win if you win, lose if you lose—they didn't care either way.

Precisely because they had no doubts, no hesitation, their slashing was decisive.

After dozens of sword debates, facing different sect teams, the five brothers' debate experience grew richer, their swordplay steadily refined, and the killing power of their great swords grew stronger.

Thus, this "Tai'e Five Brothers," who before the tournament were neither favored nor even noticed, forcibly carved their way from the Tian Xuanzi division all the way to the Di Zi division.

Even Mo Hua was astonished.

Besides the Tai'e Five Brothers, most other teams advancing to the Di Zi debate were familiar faces.

For example, Yang Qianjun's "Dao Bing Team."

Yang Qianjun came from the Yang family, a Dao Bing lineage, raised from childhood immersed in Dao Bing formations and tactics.

After the three mountains merged, he gathered disciples from Tai'e Mountain and Chongxu Mountain—also Dao Bing lineages—and formed a true "Dao Bing Team."

This was a genuine, pure "Dao Bing Team," not the Dao Bing prototype Mo Hua had expanded upon.

Everything strictly followed Dao Bing tactics, formations, and equipment.

Added to this were the complete formation arrays and spiritual weapon supplies provided by Mo Hua.

Yang Qianjun's team also advanced to the Di Zi division.

The other teams were all top disciples of the Three Mountains.

Even Hao Xuan's team advanced.

His team relied entirely on mobility—chasing, fleeing, then snatching victories when they could.

Their advancement was purely due to good luck.

Mo Hua found it unbelievable.

He even faintly felt as if the ancestral spirits of Grand Void Gate were, in some unseen way, protecting him and Grand Void Gate.

Everyone gathered beneath the tree.

Tomorrow was the Di Zi debate.

Mo Hua briefly laid out the tactics, selected suitable formations and spiritual weapons for them, then said:

"That's the situation—give your all in the Di Zi division."

"Win if you can; if you lose, don't be discouraged."

"Yes, Young Brother Mo," everyone nodded in unison.

The coming debates could no longer be solved by tactics alone.

Everyone knew this.

Yet all present still deeply appreciated Mo Hua.

Without Mo Hua, they might never have made it to the Di Zi debate.

Especially the Tai'e Five Brothers, who genuinely admired and were grateful to Young Brother Mo.

Without Mo Hua's guidance and the formations and spiritual weapons he provided, they could never have fought their way from the Tian Xuanzi division to this point—now, even just reaching the Di Zi division of the debate tournament,

was enough to make the elders of Tai'e Mountain look at them with new eyes.

Even stern elders of the Ouyang clan would greet them with smiles.

The weak are ignored.

But once one demonstrates strength or sufficient potential, they earn more goodwill.

Though the five brothers appeared simple-minded, they understood this clearly.

All of this was given to them by Young Brother Mo.

Without Young Brother Mo's help, without the opportunity he gave them, they could never have risen to prominence in the debate tournament.

Thus, to outsiders, the Tai'e Five Brothers—fierce and formidable, their five grotesque great swords striking terror into opponents—listened obediently to Mo Hua, who was short and easygoing.

Whatever Mo Hua said, they nodded repeatedly, memorized it deeply, even with a hint of "loyal devotion."

After preparations were complete, everyone dispersed.

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Mo Hua returned to the disciples' quarters and began planning for his Earth-character Sword Debate.

So far in the debate, he has revealed no small number of his hidden cards.

The remaining cards are dwindling with each use.

The Earth-character Sword Debate will pit him against the Si Sect's true prodigies—difficulty doubled—and the battles ahead will only grow harder.

Even tomorrow's debate will be a grueling, desperate struggle.

Mo Hua pinched his fingers, silently calculating in his mind, and sighed deeply, his gaze growing profound.

"This is going to be tough…"

……

In a certain sect's grand hall.

The Dao Law elders gathered together, each with a grim expression.

After countless sleepless nights and countless viewings of the Shadow Copy, they finally cracked his concealment—thought they had won, that the boy was surely dead…

Then, he suddenly revealed a bizarre movement technique.

At that moment, a group of Dao Law elders watched helplessly, their throats tight with suppressed rage, barely holding back a mouthful of blood.

"This brat is truly a master of hiding!"

"He possesses an ultimate movement technique yet held it back through so many matches—playing cat-and-mouse like a rat!"

"The boy's cunning and deviousness—I've never seen its like in my life."

"This patience and restraint rivals even the oldest of them."

"Patience and restraint? He's just quietly evil! His nature is vile—he delights in tormenting others, his conscience is rotten!"

"Youngsters these days have no sense of martial honor…"

A group of elders, worn out from countless sleepless nights, now erupted in righteous indignation, voicing their "denunciations" of Mo Hua.

"Enough," someone finally snapped, "let's talk about something important…"

"We're senior elders of a great sect, respected figures—sneaking behind a junior disciple's back to slander him? What kind of image is that?"

The hall fell silent.

But the elders' expressions remained grim.

"Has his movement technique been traced to its origin?" someone asked.

"It has, but it's complicated—there are traces of many advanced movement techniques."

"Which advanced techniques exactly?"

"Didn't I just say? All of them—just a bit of each."

"How did this boy's mind grow? He fused so many techniques together, yet if you try to pin down which one it truly is, you can't say for sure…"

"That's just nonsense!"

"Enough—what's the point of talking about this now? His technique is this advanced—if we know its origin, how do we counter it? Who can counter it?"

"Use the Spirit-Binding Chains…"

"Can you even lock him down?"

"What about the Stasis Spell?"

"Can your spell outpace his?"

"A formation…"

"Wielding a sword before Guan Gong? You forgot his status?"

Everyone felt a tightness in their chests.

The hall fell silent for a moment.

Ultimately, movement technique is a core cultivation "hard power"—once it becomes absurdly strong, it's not easily countered.

And every possible counter to movement technique happens to be exactly what Mo Hua excels at.

Other minor tricks are even less likely to work.

Not to mention, Mo Hua's sharp and powerful spiritual sense alone is an insurmountable gap.

After a moment of silence in the grand hall, an elderly elder spoke slowly:

"His movement technique… cannot be countered…"

This statement settled the matter.

"At this point, we can no longer deny it—even with only his Five Elements spells and this elusive movement technique, Mo Hua is worthy of being ranked among the true Sword Debate 'prodigies.'"

"With Linghu Xiao of the Grand Void Gate, plus this Mo Hua, they form a true one-sect, dual-prodigy team."

Murmurs rose in the hall.

The elders debated fiercely, clearly disagreeing—but none could easily refute it.

The elderly elder cleared his throat, and the hall fell quiet; he continued: "Still, there's no need to worry."

"This Mo Hua has clear strengths and weaknesses."

"His greatest strength is that his abilities cover damage, control, restraint, survival, and escape—he is a complete 'support' cultivator."

"His greatest weakness… is that he is ultimately only a support."

"He relies heavily on teammates, especially Linghu Xiao."

"When his teammates are strong, he is strong."

"Conversely, without teammates, his entire skillset amounts to little."

"Most importantly, he lacks independent offensive capability."

"Without teammates, he can't kill anyone."

"His low-tier Five-Element spells are indeed exquisite, and their power is not bad either."

"But that was at the Tian Xuanzi Bureau, against ordinary sect prodigies—he could only muddle through there."

"Besides, his feeble spiritual power can't sustain truly large-scale, prolonged spiritual combat."

The elderly elder shook his head. "This is the Prodigy Sword Debate. If you can't rely on your own strength to independently slay your opponents, and only pick off kills with spells, you'll ultimately just be a 'liability.'"

"The further it goes, the more useless he'll be…"

"If this kid only has this level of skill, no matter how good his movement technique is, he won't get far."

"In the Di Zi Sword Debate, you can't win on movement technique alone."

"In fact, we won't even need to wait until later—the first Di Zi Sword Debate match tomorrow should already settle things…"

The elderly elder finished speaking in a low voice, slowly closed his eyes, and began to rest his spirit.

His words analyzed Mo Hua very thoroughly.

They also incisively pointed out the Achilles' heel of Mo Hua's Daoist spell inheritance.

After all, support is only support.

You can't kill people relying on support.

Only when his teammates are strong can he be strong; without teammates, he's nothing.

Everyone nodded repeatedly, especially when they thought of the Sword Debate match roster divined yesterday by the Dao Debate Heavenly Instrument—when they thought of Mo Hua's group on that list, and their opponents in the first Di Zi Sword Debate match, their gazes subtly sharpened.

"This first Di Zi Sword Debate match will be a show of force!"

……

The next day, after a long stretch of solemn and elaborate Sword Debate ceremony.

The Di Zi Sword Debate officially began.

And in the very first match, Mo Hua had to take the field.

His opponent was a disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect—one of the Sida Sect, which inherited the Way of the Heavenly Sword.

Moreover, not an ordinary prodigy.

He was the top disciple of this generation of the Heavenly Sword Sect, the strongest among countless sword Dao elites—the number one Heavenly Sword of this generation.

Xiao Wuchen.

This was absolutely, in everyone's eyes, the most brilliant and most intense match of this Sword Debate Convention so far.

The Di Zi Bureau opens with such a fine show.

So much so that the already packed-to-the-rafters Debate Dao Mountain became even more impassable.

Everyone wanted to catch a glimpse of the Heavenly Sword Sect's number one's bearing.

Likewise, they also wanted to see the clash between the Grand Void Gate and the Heavenly Sword Sect.

This was truly the focus of ten thousand gazes.

Outside the arena, Elder Zhang, Zhang Lan, Wenren Wan, Yu'er, Gu Changhuai, and many other aristocratic cultivators, sect disciples, Daoist friends and relatives who were acquainted with Mo Hua, were all silently watching this match, silently wishing Mo Hua well.

For Mo Hua, this was a true, top-tier strong enemy.

In their hearts they looked forward to Mo Hua's performance, but even more, they felt anxious and worried.

Amid this tense and burning atmosphere, the first Di Zi Sword Debate match began.

The Debate Dao Bell rang, and the two sides clashed.

Figures interweaved, sword Qi and spells clashed violently.

And then in just an instant, the Grand Void Gate was routed.

Xiao Wuchen of the Heavenly Sword Sect—at the peak of Foundation Establishment, unrivaled in sword Dao—leading four Heavenly Sword Sect prodigy disciples, in just one clash, one round, crushed Mo Hua's five-person Grand Void Gate team in an almost overwhelming manner.

(End of this chapter)