Chapter 739: Sword Array

An hour later, Mo Hua stared at the ruined Golden-Breaking Sword before him—its blade curled inward, scorched black—and fell into deep thought.

This precious upper-grade Golden-Breaking Sword had been utterly destroyed in his hands in less than an hour.

Mo Hua confirmed one thing:

The sword array inside a spiritual sword really would self-destruct.

At the very least, the spiritual sword before him had destroyed itself.

Even though he had been extremely careful, calling on every bit of artifact-refining knowledge he possessed, it had still been useless.

The Golden-Breaking Sword would rather die than yield, and was utterly ruined.

The sword array inside had also ** vanished.

Mo Hua hadn't even managed a single glance—he didn't even know what array lineage the sword array used, or how many array patterns it contained…

Mo Hua sighed deeply, his heart aching.

These two methods were both unusable for now.

Mo Hua lay on the bed, racking his brains, turning over every method he had at his disposal again and again, when suddenly a flash of inspiration struck—he thought of a way:

"Derivation calculation!"

What a terrible waste…

Then…

The means of punishment also had to be measured; otherwise, sooner or later, his temperament would grow violent and he would become a bloodthirsty great demon.

But for now, he still had to consider the matter of the "sword array" first.

Did that not mean…

At least for now, it was absolutely impossible.

Mo Hua mourned the upper-grade spiritual sword for a moment, then began considering when to toss this "broken sword" to Master Gu to see if it could be melted down in the furnace and put to some use.

"The sword array will self-destruct, so even if I seize a spiritual sword, I can't obtain the array by dismantling it."

"Neither works…"

"Then if I want to obtain a sword array, where should I start?"

The difficulty was bound to be extremely high.

The artifact-forging workshop of the Golden-Breaking Sect was surely heavily guarded; how could a mere mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator like him possibly sneak in…

This would betray the teachings of his parents, his master, Mr. Xun, and the various elders of the Grand Void Gate.

Since he never knew in the first place, interrogation would be useless.

Suppose a sword cultivator used the sword array within a spiritual sword to unleash sword Qi.

Even Mo Hua himself found it somewhat hard to believe.

Wouldn't that mean… he was going to defy the heavens?

From now on, whoever brandished swordsmanship before him, he would strip bare the very foundations of their sword weapon's inheritance!

Moreover, this sword array could amplify sword Qi—such a secret, even if it couldn't compare to the Five Elements Source Array, was by no means ordinary.

Capture a Golden-Breaking Sect disciple and torture them?

Too brutal.

Or perhaps, find a way to obtain a Golden-Breaking Sect sect token and see if some manipulation could be done?

He began mulling over ways to solve the problem.

He didn't even understand the profound magnet array yet, and had no idea how to tamper with it.

Such a secret was not something an ordinary disciple could know.

But whether it would work or not, he'd still have to find a way to test it…

Could he use the traces of sword Qi to reverse-derive the top-secret sword array sealed within the sword weapon?

Mo Hua drew in a sharp breath.

This iron board was meant for dealing with criminal cultivators, evil cultivators, and demonic cultivators.

What a fine spiritual sword—gone just like that.

Moreover, even with severe torture, it probably wouldn't work.

There still had to be a measure of good and evil.

No good…

Divine sense derivation could use the spiritual traces of an array to reverse-derive the array's patterns.

Inquire where the Golden-Breaking Sect's artifact-forging workshop was, sneak in secretly, and steal the sword array's secrets?

Since he could no longer go out to capture criminal cultivators, his improved array punishment board had been unused for a long time—perfect to let a Golden-Breaking Sect disciple have a taste?

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then shook his head again.

Mo Hua was somewhat at a loss.

The ordinary disciples of the Golden-Breaking Sect, though they had some friction with the Grand Void Gate and behaved shamelessly, hadn't committed crimes to that extent.

Even if he got his hands on a Golden-Breaking Sect sect token, it would be useless.

Those Golden-Breaking Sect disciples didn't look like sharp ones, and few had strong divine sense—it was unlikely they could learn such a complex sword array.

Mo Hua thought it over, then denied each idea himself.

The next day, Mo Hua found Sister Situ again.

"Sister Situ, I have something I need your help with."

Sister Situ was somewhat puzzled, then said, "Is it about the Golden-Breaking Sword?"

"No," Mo Hua said, "that sword is already ruined."

Sister Situ was stunned, and then was completely dumbfounded.

"Wrecked?!"

"It's only been one night! How could a top-grade spiritual sword be ruined so quickly?" Sister Situ was stunned.

Mo Hua silently thought:

More precisely, it was ruined in just one hour…

"These are trivial matters, no need to worry."

Sister Situ felt a pang of regret.

How could this be trivial? It was a top-grade spiritual sword…

He suddenly felt a flicker of sympathy for that pale-faced young man from Duanjin Gate.

A fine Duanjin Sword would surely have been carried on his person, carefully nurtured for years—only to be ruined overnight by Little Brother Mo.

Without thinking, Sister Situ gripped his Lifire Sword even tighter.

The Duanjin Sword? Ruined, it's ruined.

But his own Lifire Sword—by no means could it ever fall into Little Brother Mo's hands again!

As he hesitated, wondering whether he should henceforth keep a low profile, stop flaunting his identity as a sword cultivator, and safely stash his Lifire Sword in his storage pouch, Mo Hua continued:

"Lend me your Lifire Sword for a bit, will you?"

Sister Situ shuddered all over.

Mo Hua immediately soothed: "Don't be nervous—I won't dismantle your Lifire Sword. I just need you to generate Lifire Sword Qi and let me observe it."

Sister Situ exhaled in relief, but still couldn't help confirming: "Really?"

"Mm!" Mo Hua affirmed firmly.

Sister Situ finally relaxed.

After class, Mo Hua took Sister Situ to the Dao Chamber.

There were too many disciples in Tai Xu Mountain; practicing sword techniques was inconvenient.

Only the Dao Chamber was sealed and quiet, free from disturbance.

"Just keep generating Lifire Sword Qi and strike that Dao puppet repeatedly," Mo Hua told Sister Situ.

"That's it?" Sister Situ said.

"Mm," Mo Hua nodded. "That's all."

Sister Situ didn't ask what Mo Hua intended to do—past experience had proven that Little Brother Mo always had a deeper purpose.

If it involved arrays, even if Little Brother Mo explained, he likely wouldn't understand.

"Alright!" Sister Situ said decisively.

Then, before Mo Hua's eyes, he summoned his Lifire Sword, unleashed Lifire Sword Qi, and struck the Dao puppet again and again.

Mo Hua sat in meditation beside him, his pupils pitch-black, celestial patterns emerging as he amplified his Celestial Calculations with Celestial Deception, beginning to deduce the nature of Sister Situ's Lifire Sword Qi.

Lifire Sword Qi was a fire-type sword qi, wrapped in blazing flames, glowing crimson.

At first glance, it was merely the shape of scorching sword qi.

Mo Hua activated his divine sense; his vision layered with overlapping images as he repeatedly attempted to use Celestial Calculations to deduce the deeper layers of qi.

Sister Situ, still generating sword qi, felt a chill run down his spine as Mo Hua watched him.

Though he didn't know what Little Brother Mo was doing, he felt as if his sword qi was being slowly penetrated…

Sister Situ was alarmed.

This… how was it possible?

Little Brother Mo wasn't even a sword cultivator—he was just watching from the side. How could he possibly penetrate the sword qi?

"Just an illusion…"

Sister Situ felt uneasy, but since he had agreed to Mo Hua's request, he couldn't back out now—he could only grit his teeth and keep striking the Dao puppet, one blow after another.

He didn't know how long he struck—just as his unease grew stronger, Mo Hua spoke:

"Enough."

Sister Situ stopped, turned—and saw Mo Hua's expression was clearly disappointed.

Couldn't deduce it…

Mo Hua sighed.

Sister Situ fell silent for a moment, then couldn't help asking:

"Little Brother Mo, what are you trying to do…?"

Mo Hua said: "I'm studying sword qi—to prepare for Duanjin Gate."

Sister Situ relaxed slightly, yet still didn't understand: why study his Lifire Sword Qi to deal with Duanjin Gate?

And just watching like this—what could he possibly learn?

Sister Situ looked puzzled.

Mo Hua, however, sat quietly in thought.

The idea of reverse-engineering the sword array within the sword from its sword qi was viable.

He had indeed deduced a little—but it was strained, revealing only faint, blurred traces of the sword array.

His method of calculation still lacked refinement.

Even with Celestial Deception's enhancement, he still couldn't penetrate the secret sword array.

But Mo Hua wasn't discouraged.

This was just like drawing arrays—practice makes perfect.

If he couldn't deduce it once, try twice, three times… until he succeeded.

From then on, whenever he had free time, Mo Hua had Sister Situ practice sword techniques before him, using it as training to refine his ability to calculate sword arrays.

But constantly troubling Sister Situ, Mo Hua felt somewhat guilty, so he decided to transfer some merit to him.

This time, it was Sister Situ who felt embarrassed.

"Young Master Mo, I can't possibly accept this."

Mo Hua said, "Even brothers must settle accounts clearly—you helping me is a favor, but I won't let you suffer a loss!"

Sister Situ still tried to refuse.

Mo Hua frowned and said, "Take what I give you—I don't lack this much merit!"

He had hoarded merit for a long time; now he was a major merit holder.

As for his background, he was a lone cultivator, while his fellow disciples were from aristocratic families.

But when it came to merit, he was the true "aristocratic" disciple—far richer than ordinary fellow disciples.

Only then did Sister Situ accept it with heartfelt gratitude.

He truly could not refuse the sect's merit.

After receiving the merit, whenever Sister Situ demonstrated the Flame Fire Sword Qi to Mo Hua afterward, he became even more serious and focused.

He couldn't let Young Master Mo's merit go to waste.

As for that feeling of being penetrated by the sword qi…

After much thought, Sister Situ still believed it was probably just an illusion.

He was using the Flame Fire Sword Art normally, channeling the Flame Fire Spirit Sword to generate Flame Fire Sword Qi—how could it possibly be "seen through"?

If merely summoning a spirit sword and activating sword qi could be penetrated, wouldn't all sword cultivators in the world be unable to draw their blades?

That was clearly impossible.

What kind of sword cultivator doesn't draw his blade?

Sister Situ thus felt at ease.

Moreover, the kind-hearted Young Master Mo had already paid him a substantial amount of merit.

Sister Situ felt even more convinced that he shouldn't judge the noble Young Master Mo by his own petty standards.

With Sister Situ's cooperation, Mo Hua's proficiency in calculating sword qi gradually increased…

But Sister Situ was not always available.

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