Chapter 740: What Are You Talking About?

In the small grove.

Cheng Mo wore triple armor, shouldered twin axes, and stood ready with a fearsome aura.

Mo Hua walked into the grove and bowed respectfully: "Big brother, I've brought the man you wanted."

Cheng Mo froze, then saw Mo Hua give him a glance—he immediately understood, and nodded with a commanding air:

"Good!"

Song Jian, seeing Cheng Mo's imposing presence, thought to himself: Just as expected.

This guide boy was merely a "little lackey."

This imposing giant was the leading "big brother" of this year's disciples of Grand Void Gate.

Song Jian ignored Mo Hua entirely, focused with utmost intensity, and fixed his gaze firmly on Cheng Mo.

Cheng Mo let out a cold laugh, utterly unafraid.

This was Mo Hua's prior instruction: to display an arrogant, fearless demeanor.

The two sides faced off.

"Fight right here in the grove—no restrictions on techniques, only to decide victory or defeat, not life or death. Whoever yields verbally, or fails to rise within ten breaths after falling, loses."

He knew about Mo Hua stealing Song Jian's Break Gold Sword—he had seen it with his own eyes that day.

Cheng Mo, clad in armor, his blood qi surging, wielded two massive axes, swinging them with thunderous force as spiritual energy rippled.

On the other side, the duel was about to begin.

Only Elder Xun Ziyou, watching from afar, was utterly baffled, puzzled in his heart:

But since his cultivation wasn't weak, and he practiced the most orthodox Break Gold Sword Art, paired with a high-grade Break Gold Sword, he wouldn't be at a disadvantage if he fought Cheng Mo one-on-one without Mo Hua's trickery.

He pushed the Break Gold Sword Art to its peak, using the advantage of his spiritual sword to manifest blinding golden sword light, each beam slashing against Cheng Mo's body.

Song Jian meanwhile used the Golden Body evasion technique to maneuver, seizing openings to command the Break Gold Sword and unleash shimmering golden sword qi, clashing with Cheng Mo.

The spare spiritual sword he now held, though also high-grade and similar in design, was not as good as his previous one.

But as long as Mo Hua wasn't hurt, he didn't care about anything else.

His original high-grade Break Gold Sword had been stolen by Mo Hua.

But after stealing the sword, what happened next, he didn't know.

Otherwise, if something went wrong, the Ancestor would never forgive him.

Mo Hua pointed at the grove, speaking with solemn gravity:

He intended to strike decisively and defeat Cheng Mo to reclaim his Break Gold Sword.

The two fought dozens of rounds; Cheng Mo remembered Mo Hua's instructions, feigned weakness, and defended only, never attacking.

What's the point of this thing?

Song Jian sensed Cheng Mo's spiritual energy waning, his strength weakening—he believed it was real, thinking his sword art was simply too powerful and Cheng Mo couldn't hold out; his expression grew even more arrogant as he sneered:

"Your Grand Void Gate's disciples this year are nothing special!"

Besides, this duel wasn't for the frail Mo Hua to fight—it was between Cheng Mo and Song Jian, two insignificant disciples, while he watched from the side, as long as no one died.

In Grand Void Gate, he didn't care—but once Mo Hua entered the Demon Refining Mountains, he had to keep watch.

Then, before these Grand Void disciples, he would humiliate them bitterly and erase his past shame.

But Mo Hua's goal wasn't for them to truly duel and determine superiority.

Mo Hua glanced at Song Jian: "If Grand Void Gate loses, you get your Break Gold Sword back. If you lose, you will not harass my Grand Void Gate disciples within the Demon Refining Mountains."

Since Mr. Xun had spoken with him and seriously confirmed that one hair of Mo Hua was worth as much as one of his arms.

"These kids—what the hell are they playing at?"

Song Jian said: "I keep my word."

Both sides nodded, reaching agreement.

A duel?

"Whoever loses must abide by the promise…"

The armor on Cheng Mo's body began to bear sword marks.

Are they this idle…?

Saying this, he pressed his assault harder.

He also didn't understand why this kid, Mo Hua, had gone and stolen someone else's spiritual sword, and then staged this bizarre duel…

He had already become Mo Hua's personal "bodyguard" within the Demon Refining Mountains.

Elder Xun Ziyou was deeply confused.

Cheng Mo also said: "Agreed."

Elder Xun Ziyou frowned slightly.

In moments, Cheng Mo and Song Jian were already locked in fierce combat.

Mo Hua confirmed again: "No problem?"

What is this kid trying to do?

He couldn't make sense of it.

As Mo Hua had predicted, even with triple armor—gold-thread, soft silk, and refined iron—the defense against the sharp Break Gold Sword qi was not particularly effective.

After taking several more sword qi strikes, the armor was gradually cracking.

Cheng Mo could only dodge while relying on his robust physique and thick blood qi to endure the sword qi directly, making him appear quite disheveled.

At the same time, he still wore a look of contempt, shouting in a coarse voice the words Mo Hua had taught him:

"This is all your Break Gold Sword qi can do?"

"Your Break Gold Sect's signature sword art is nothing special!"

"It doesn't hurt at all—barely even a scratch…"

"... Put some force into it, pretty boy, didn't you eat?"

Song Jian, furious, swung his spiritual sword in a blur, each sword qi forming a net that sliced across Cheng Mo's body, wishing to carve him into a thousand pieces.

He hated most of all being called "pretty boy."

Cheng Mo grew even more disheveled.

Xun Ziyou watched from the side, shaking his head.

What is this? Stubbornly enduring blows?

How could a disciple of Grand Void Gate do something so thoughtless…

Xun Ziyou sighed, a bitter taste rising in his heart.

Since the three sects split and drifted apart over the years, Grand Void Gate's heritage has faded one by one—even the "Grand Void Divine Mind Sword Formation Scripture," once feared by all evil spirits, has become a forbidden art, no longer passed down…

The sect's current state is a far cry from its former glory.

In contrast, Tai'o Gate seized the top rank among the Eight Great Sects in the last Dao Discourse Assembly.

Chongxu Gate has also steadily advanced.

Only Grand Void Gate has fallen further behind with each step.

Now, disciples can't even master decent sword arts, yet are crushed by sword qi from second-rate sects like Duanjin Gate.

Truly, a dragon stranded in shallow waters, a tiger fallen to the plains.

In the past, even if they had ten times the courage, they would never dare provoke Grand Void Gate.

Xun Ziyou grew slightly angry.

With Grand Void Sword Intent upon him, his spiritual sense sharp as a blade, if he truly harbored murderous intent, mere glances could slay these petty demons and evil spirits!

But alas…

No one cultivates the Divine Mind Sword Formation, no one dares to, and no one can…

The sect no longer teaches it.

This supreme art will be buried forever in the Sword Grave, like the broken iron and shattered blades of Manshan, eternally sealed within the endless river of the Dao.

Thinking of this, Xun Ziyou's expression grew melancholy, a faint sorrow already in his heart.

After lingering in such melancholy for a long while, Xun Ziyou suddenly realized he had forgotten something.

He snapped back to awareness, looked around, and then noticed Mo Hua was gone.

Xun Ziyou sighed helplessly.

Watching over this "wild child" is truly exhausting—you can't let your guard down for a moment.

One moment of inattention, and the boy vanishes somewhere…

Xun Ziyou extended his spiritual sense, scanning the surroundings, and finally discovered Mo Hua had slipped behind a large tree while everyone was distracted.

Meanwhile, Cheng Mo and Song Jian were locked in fierce combat.

He had sneaked off alone behind the tree, furtively doing something.

Xun Ziyou frowned slightly.

"What mischief is this brat up to now…"

Using a third-grade spiritual artifact, he concealed his form, suppressed his aura, and crept silently behind Mo Hua.

He didn't get too close—staying several zhang away, he leaned forward, peering stealthily at what Mo Hua was doing.

Mo Hua sat intently on the ground, radiating a profoundly mysterious, obscure, and slightly eerie aura.

Occasionally, he would lift his head to glance.

His gaze was fixed on the spot where Cheng Mo and Song Jian were fighting.

After looking, he lowered his head and carefully drew something on the paper before him.

Xun Ziyou looked utterly baffled.

"What could he possibly be drawing?"

A comic strip?

Drawing out the entire process of Cheng Mo and Sister Situ's sword fight?

This child Mo Hua, though sometimes childish, wouldn't be this dull…

Xun Ziyou stepped closer for another look.

The paper bore lines of patterns—these looked like array markings.

"Array markings…?"

"I knew it couldn't be this boring."

Xun Ziyou looked again and realized these array markings were unusual—no curved strokes, only straight, chiseled lines, radiating sharp, piercing edges.

Xun Ziyou froze.

This… is a sword array?

He looked again.

He then noticed golden light shimmering along the sword lines, interwoven and intersecting like fractured surfaces of Jin Shi—familiar beyond words.

Duanjin… sword array?

Xun Ziyou's pupils shrank, his scalp prickled, and he was left speechless with shock.

This… this damn thing is…

The Duanjin Gate's most treasured, never-leaked secret of sword forging—the Duanjin Sword Array?!

Xun Ziyou sucked in a sharp breath.

This is beyond all reason!

He's defied the heavens themselves!

Even the most direct disciple of the Duanjin Gate's inner sect might not be granted this, and if it were ever passed on, it would require a death contract.

But Mo Hua secretly sneaked off to a corner and drew it out?

Elder Xun Ziyou was utterly shaken; he was just about to look again to confirm whether it was real when he saw Mo Hua suddenly startle and turn around.

A clear, profound gaze was fixed directly upon him.

Even Elder Xun Ziyou, a late-stage Jin Dan cultivator and senior elder of the Grand Void Gate, was startled to his core by Mo Hua's sudden movement.

It was like a peeping tom caught red-handed.

Fortunately, his cultivation foundation held firm, the third-grade spiritual artifact's rank held firm, and the foundation of his twenty-eight-pattern spiritual awareness held firm—he was not discovered by Mo Hua.

Mo Hua's clear, bright eyes swept past him, scanning all around, then furrowed his brow as he muttered under his breath:

"Strange…"

"Was someone just watching me?"

He could clearly sense a strong emotional fluctuation.

It seemed someone was "astonished" by something.

Mo Hua extended his spiritual awareness to scan the surroundings, but the forest of Lin Mu remained unchanged, empty and still—no anomalies.

Was it a cultivator of higher realm spying on him?

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