Chapter 746: Little Wood (Bonus Chapter for Alliance Lord Kuangluan Yeweiyang)

After exchanging a few pleasantries, both sides parted ways.

After bidding farewell to Ouyang Feng, Mo Hua wandered the mountains for a while, selected a Gray-headed Hawk, sacrificed a flying sword to slay it, then stripped its materials.

As dusk fell, Mo Hua descended the mountain and exchanged the materials for merit points at the mountain gate.

Riding a single flying sword, he killed two flying demonic beasts and earned nearly eighteen hundred merit points.

Mo Hua was thoroughly satisfied.

Yet as he descended, he turned back to glance at Lianyao Mountain and noticed not only was the mountain gate bustling with people, but also that the number of disciples hunting demonic beasts within the mountain had increased significantly.

"It's getting busier and busier…"

Mo Hua smiled faintly, thinking to himself.

After Mo Hua left, a moment later, another figure appeared at the mountain gate.

The disciples guarding the gate immediately bowed their hands and said:

"Elder Xun Ziyou."

"Mm."

Elder Xun Ziyou nodded in acknowledgment.

Another Ta'o Sect elder stationed at the gate, familiar with Xun Ziyou and on good terms with him, frowned in confusion:

"Ziyou, why have you been constantly wandering into the mountains lately? That's not like you…"

He knew Xun Ziyou was a lazy man.

Daily, he would guard the gate, sip tea, feel the wind, chat idly, and if nothing urgent arose, he never stirred a finger.

Yet unexpectedly, he had recently changed his ways, living as if he had taken up residence in the mountains.

Xun Ziyou sighed deeply, feeling helpless.

There was no choice—"Xiaozu Sect" had entered the mountains, so he had no option but to follow.

Even if his legs broke from running, it wouldn't matter.

But if that Xiaozu Sect lost a single hair, his troubles would be immense.

Xun Ziyou sat down reluctantly, poured himself a cup of hot tea, and silently calmed his nerves.

For some reason, every time Mo Hua entered the mountains, he felt uneasy.

Especially that flying sword technique—it made his heart tremble.

He couldn't fathom how this "Xiaozu Sect," who didn't cultivate sword Dao and wasn't even a swordsman, had managed to concoct such a technique: it looked like a "half-baked" method, technically a "fake sword art," yet inexplicably produced astonishing results.

Was this child simply too bold in his thinking?

Or had he himself grown old, his mind too conservative?

Especially this flying sword technique—it was incredibly fast, covered great distances, consumed little spiritual energy, and required no mastery of sword qi.

It was truly absurd.

At mid-Foundation Establishment, launching a flying sword over one hundred and seventy to eighty zhang without any loss of power—fast and precise—what did that even mean?!

Xun Ziyou's eyelids twitched.

Fortunately, this Xiaozu Sect's spiritual sword was weak, and he hadn't yet mastered sword arrays.

Otherwise, in the Foundation Establishment realm, he'd be slaughtering indiscriminately.

If this flying sword technique reached perfection, a single blade would fly in the blink of an eye—before the opponent even saw his shadow, his life would be over.

Xun Ziyou was both astonished and awed.

The Ancestor was truly the Ancestor—his insight was sharp, his vision far-sighted.

He had seen Mo Hua's extraordinary potential even within the waste of a mid-low grade spiritual root—indeed, the old ginger is the spiciest…

Xun Ziyou shook his head and sat down to sip his tea.

"There are too many Grand Void Gate disciples in the mountains—I need to keep an eye on them."

He made up a casual excuse.

The Ta'o Sect elder had no suspicion and nodded:

"That's true…"

On several outer peaks of Lianyao Mountain, every inch was filled with Grand Void Gate disciples.

He needed to watch them closely.

"By the way," the Ta'o Sect elder said, puzzled, "your cohort of disciples feels strange—they're completely unlike previous generations…"

Xun Ziyou held his teacup, half-sipped, then sighed inwardly:

It was all because of Mo Hua!

He had completely skewed the entire cohort's tone.

In the past, Grand Void Gate disciples never looked like this…

Though overall, the sect's atmosphere remained relatively peaceful.

But each one was a family prodigy, haughty and proud, none willing to yield to another.

In Lianyao Mountain, they competed fiercely, vied for superiority, all desperate not to fall behind.

Now? Each one was obedient beyond measure—wearing identical armor, carrying identical spiritual tools, holding identical "guides," marching into the mountains in perfect unison to hunt demonic beasts.

Even daily cultivation and conduct had become unified and harmonious, thanks to this "Senior Brother" setting the tone and making decisions.

Other sects, by contrast, had changed little.

Their disciples still sought to rise above others, to outshine the prodigies and carve out their own futures through struggle.

Xun Ziyou froze, recalling Mo Hua's calm, approachable demeanor—and suddenly a phrase surfaced in his mind:

"Water benefits all things without contention; because it does not contend, nothing can contend with it…"

Killing like a sword, gentleness like water.

Elder Xun Ziyou silently pondered, secretly astonished within.

The elder of Tai'e Sect, seeing Xun Ziyou remain silent for a long while, looked at him with some confusion.

Xun Ziyou sensed that gaze and replied vaguely, "I don't know about that…"

"But speaking of it, this is actually a good thing—array formations and spirit artifacts are meant to be used; to fully exploit their potential, to make the arrays serve their purpose, is itself a skill."

The elder of Tai'e Sect pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly.

"What you say does have some merit."

Xun Ziyou suddenly remembered something and said to the elder of Tai'e Sect:

"Some of your Tai'e Sect disciples have lately been getting rather close to Duanjin Sect?"

The elder of Tai'e Sect gave Xun Ziyou a silent look, his gaze inscrutable.

Xun Ziyou froze, frowning: "What are your plans?"

The elder of Tai'e Sect glanced aside slightly.

Xun Ziyou understood at once.

Both rose and entered the inner secret chamber, activating a soundproof array.

The elder of Tai'e Sect glanced around, then lowered his voice:

"Ziyou, we've known each other for years—I won't hide anything from you, but you must only hear this here, and never repeat it."

Xun Ziyou's gaze darkened slightly, and he nodded.

The elder of Tai'e Sect spoke solemnly: "Our Tai'e Sect seeks to advance further!"

Xun Ziyou's gaze grew serious, and he nodded slightly. "You want to enter the Sida Sect?"

The elder of Tai'e Sect looked as if it were obvious.

Xun Ziyou frowned. "Impossible. The Sida Sect and the Eight Great Gates are fixed arrangements; they cannot be altered lightly based on the outcome of a single Dao discussion."

The elder of Tai'e Sect smiled faintly. "The system is about to be reformed."

Xun Ziyou's gaze sharpened.

He had heard this rumor before, but had paid it no mind.

Reforming the sect system is a major matter; if truly implemented, resistance would be immense.

In the past few centuries, others had proposed it before—but it was always thunder without rain, ending in nothing.

"Really?"

"Until the dust settles, nothing is certain—but the likelihood is said to be very high."

The elder of Tai'e Sect added: "If the sect system truly is reformed, breaking the old structure of the Sida Sect and Eight Great Gates, then our Tai'e Sect's opportunity will arrive!"

"This opportunity is once in a thousand years!"

"As you said, the Sida Sect and Eight Great Gates are fixed arrangements; they won't change merely because a sect's strength fluctuates temporarily."

"Even if our Tai'e Sect truly surpasses the Sida Sect in strength, we still cannot ascend."

"But if the sect system is reformed, all becomes possible!"

Xun Ziyou thought briefly, then spoke gravely: "So you plan to collude with Duanjin Sect?"

"Not 'collude,'" the elder of Tai'e Sect said, exasperated. "Why phrase it so harshly? It's mutual support, watching over each other."

"Our Tai'e Sect seeks to advance—from the Eight Great Gates into the Sida Sect."

"Duanjin Sect, naturally, also wishes to advance—from the Twelve Streams into the Eight Great Gates."

"Though officially, the Eight Great Gates and Twelve Streams have no hierarchy, the sect system and public perception still differ greatly."

Xun Ziyou's expression turned grim, and he sighed helplessly:

"Then if one advances, another must fall back…"

"If Duanjin Sect advances into the Eight Great Gates, will our Tai Xu Sect fall back into the Twelve Streams?"

The elder of Tai'e Sect sighed. "That depends on your Tai Xu Sect itself."

"When sect interests are involved, nothing else can be relied upon—only your own strength matters."

"I'll say something blunt: if your Tai Xu Sect truly grows strong, you might even seize this chance to enter the Sida Sect directly."

"But if you yourselves are weak and fall from the Eight Great Gates, who can you blame?"

Xun Ziyou sighed softly.

In the Gan Zhou Dao Discussion, among the heavenly prodigies' competition—how easily could one prove oneself?

The elder of Tai'e Sect glanced at Xun Ziyou, took a sip of tea, and said slowly:

"Our Tai'e Sect's sect master has already spoken with Duanjin Sect's Grand Elder. I don't know exactly what they discussed, but surely it was about sect reform and mutual support."

"Duanjin Sect's connections are extensive."

"There are certain things our Tai'e, Chong Xu, and Tai Xu sects—descended from the same lineage—lack."

"When the sects intend to cultivate goodwill, their disciples naturally increase their interactions."

He sighed again. "Our long-standing friendship means I won't hide this from you—I'm warning you: your Tai Xu Sect should pay attention."

"What truly matters is the Dao Discussion Assembly."

"Our three sects share the same lineage, descended from the same ancestors. I don't wish for the day when our Tai'e Sect rises to the Sida Sect, Chong Xu Sect advances further, yet your Tai Xu Sect falls from the Eight Great Gates…"

The elder of Tai'e Sect looked at Xun Ziyou with complex expression.

Xun Ziyou's face grew grim, and finally he sighed deeply:

"I understand…"

…

The matter of reform stirred hidden currents among the high ranks of all sects.

But Mo Hua remained unaware, and no one had mentioned it to him, a lowly disciple.

He continued to cultivate in silence, attending classes every day.

At the same time, he painted arrays day and night, hoping to break through the realm soon and raise his spiritual sense to eighteen patterns, so he could learn the eighteen-pattern arrays.

But the restrictions of the Heavenly Dao's laws were still in place.

His spiritual sense could not grow.

When Mo Hua had free time, he would study the "Heavenly Dao's laws" in his spiritual sea, trying to uncover its secrets.

Unfortunately, after much deep thought, he gained nothing.

After all, "laws" were a level far beyond that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator like him.

Mo Hua finally realized he had been overconfident before.

He could only settle for less.

He no longer sought to understand the laws' secrets—only that it would be full enough to leave him alone and stop blocking his spiritual sense breakthrough.

As Mo Hua honed his spiritual sense, the laws gradually loosened.

But he did not know when it would truly be "fed" enough to lift its restriction…

……

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During his day off, Mo Hua went as usual to practice swordplay, hunt eagles, and earn merit.

With one slash, Jin Guang flashed—the eagle fell.

Mo Hua rushed over with his knife, drained the blood, plucked the feathers, skinned it, stripped the bones, and collected various materials.

By noon, he grew weary, drank some fruit wine, ate some spirit meat, then climbed a large tree, closed his eyes, and rested.

But he did not rest long before sensing movement.

Mo Hua opened his eyes and looked down through the dense canopy—he saw five people fighting a beast.

The five wore robes of the Tai'e Sect.

Mo Hua had never seen the other four.

But one was an "acquaintance"—the younger brother of Senior Feng, named "Ouyang Mu," whom Senior Feng had entrusted him to watch over.

Unlike Senior Feng, with his arched brows, starry eyes, tall and heroic bearing,

this younger brother was thin, his skin a bronze hue, truly resembling a "little piece of wood."

And before them stood a second-rank low-tier beast.

Its skin glowed crimson, wreathed in flame, with long fangs, black claws, eyes of brown-yellow streaked with red, and movement leaving trails of fire—it was a fire beast known as the "Fire Wolf."

The Fire Wolf's strength was neither weak nor strong; among second-rank low-tier beasts, it was average.

To Mo Hua's eyes, it was nothing.

But these Tai'e Sect newcomers struggled terribly against it.

The five of them, including "Little Wood" Ouyang Mu, each wielded a crimson-yellow spirit sword, closing in to wrestle with the Fire Wolf.

The Tai'e Sect excelled in sword forging—their spirit swords were of exceptional quality.

Combined with this forging art, their cultivation style was nearly akin to body cultivation.

With robust bodies, razor-sharp spirit swords, body-cultivation force, and sword qi, their actual combat power was formidable.

Unlike spirit cultivators or sword-wielding sword cultivators who could channel powerful high-level Dao arts or sword techniques through charging,

this style of swordplay, resembling martial arts, was swift, agile, and allowed free advance and retreat.

In close combat, its advantage was immense—thus not to be underestimated.

Senior Feng cultivated precisely this style of swordplay.

Previously, during bounty missions, Mo Hua relied entirely on Senior Feng's balanced offense and defense, holding the front line against criminal cultivators.

Only with Elder Murong and himself, the two spirit cultivators, could they safely cast spells.

But these Tai'e Sect "junior brothers" could not be compared to Senior Feng at all.

Their cultivation level, sword style, combat experience, and even the quality of their spirit swords were all far inferior.

Especially "Little Wood"—clumsy, he had no idea what he was doing in battle.

When he shouldn't strike, he rushed forward and thrust his sword, exposing his own opening and giving the beast an opportunity.

When he should have struck, he hesitated, afraid to swing, wasting precious chances.

The other Tai'e Sect disciples were passable.

But only at a "barely adequate" level.

They relied solely on their foundational cultivation and youthful recklessness to fight fiercely.

In their advances and retreats, attacks and defenses, they showed no strategy, and their timing was crude.

Far behind Sister Situ and her group.

Even less clever than Hao Xuan.

At this level, they would never kill the Fire Wolf.

Indeed, after a while of fighting, the Fire Wolf feigned an opening, luring two Tai'e disciples to attack.

It then unleashed its beast power, engulfing itself in flames, and, exploiting the moment when the two disciples, eager for merit, had expended all their strength and could not change tactics, surged forward—vanishing in a streak of fire into the distance.

These Tai'e disciples finally understood the principle: never pursue a desperate foe.

Moreover, they were in the Demon Beast Mountains.

And their spiritual energy was nearly depleted.

The five sat in place, meditating to restore their spiritual energy, while complaining:

"That beast got away again!"

"This has happened several times—how can we never corner it?"

Someone complained about Ouyang Mu: "Woodhead, you're always messing up—too many mistakes. If not for you, we'd have killed that Fire Wolf long ago."

Another said: "We told you all this—did you even remember any of it?"

"If you keep making no progress, how are we ever going to take you into the mountains?"

Ouyang Mu lowered his head, ashamed, and said nothing.

One disciple, frustrated, snapped: "Say something, will you!"

"If it weren't for your brother—"

"Enough!" A slightly taller disciple cut in. "Talking about this now is pointless."

The disciple swallowed his words, but his anger clearly hadn't faded.

"If we keep going like this, we won't catch a single beast, won't earn any merit—it's just wasting time…"

He didn't say it outright, but everyone knew who he meant.

The group fell silent.

Mo Hua shook his head slightly.

True, Little Woodhead lacked experience and his swordplay was clumsy; he'd made repeated mistakes and held them back.

But their squad's strength was already weak, and they had no strategy for hunting beasts—without Little Woodhead, even replacing him with someone of equal ability wouldn't let them kill the Fire Wolf.

Failing to hunt a beast? It's only fair Little Woodhead takes the blame.

But blaming him entirely? That's unjust.

People always shift their own faults onto others, never recognizing their own shortcomings.

But this was the Tai'e Sect's own matter—Mo Hua had no reason to intervene.

Later, the five Tai'e disciples searched the mountains for a while longer, but found no trace of the Fire Wolf; as night approached, they turned back.

On the way down, the other four looked at Little Woodhead with varying degrees of resentment.

Ouyang Mu merely hung his head, mute.

Mo Hua watched them descend the mountain and didn't interfere.

The next day, Mo Hua entered the mountains again to practice sword flight.

Around noon, Mo Hua rested atop a large tree, and after a while, as expected, he saw Ouyang Mu again.

Ouyang Mu's group was still five, but this time, the people beside him had changed.

The four he teamed up with were no longer yesterday's crew.

Perhaps Ouyang Mu felt too ashamed to drag them down, so he switched teams himself.

Or perhaps the other four had grown tired of him holding them back and refused to include him.

Mo Hua sighed softly.

Their target this time seemed to be the Fire Wolf again.

But for a team of novices to hunt a Rank-Two early-stage beast was already extremely difficult.

As expected, they failed again.

Though all five were weak, all blame would fall squarely on the "weakest" one.

Ouyang Mu was scolded once more.

But he was quiet by nature, poor with words.

The others bickered among themselves, then broke up before even leaving the mountain.

Mo Hua realized: among these five, Ouyang Mu was the weakest—but also the one most determined to kill a beast.

The other four weren't hunting beasts so much as competing to show off, craving attention; they barely cooperated at all.

Now that the other four had left, only Ouyang Mu remained where he stood.

He gripped his sword tightly, his expression resolute, yet as he looked around, pain flickered in his eyes.

He wanted to keep hunting beasts, but knew his strength was too low—he stood no chance against a beast.

Yet to go down the mountain now felt unbearable.

Ouyang Mu stood frozen, hesitating, his face blank with confusion, unsure what to do…

Mo Hua watched and sighed, then called from high among the tree's branches:

"Little Woodhead!"

Ouyang Mu, lost in thought, startled at the voice, looked up—and saw, atop the nearby tree, a young cultivator no older than himself, lips red and teeth white, standing vertically on the branch, walking down step by step.

Ouyang Mu stared for a moment, then recognized him.

This was the Tai Xu Sect disciple he'd seen in the Demon Taming Mountains—same age as himself, yet able to chat easily with his brother—his name was…

"Mo Hua."

"M-Mo Senior, hello!"

Ouyang Mu spoke, stiff but polite.

Mo Hua, surprised, asked: "What are you doing here?"

"I…" Ouyang Mu mumbled, "I'm hunting beasts…"

He felt ashamed saying it.

His ability to hunt beasts was utterly abysmal.

Two days now, and he hadn't killed a single beast.

Mo Hua asked again: "Your sectmates left—why aren't you going back?"

Ouyang Mu froze—he realized, then, that Mo Hua had seen everything from their hunting attempt.

Ouyang Mu's expression sank, but he shook his head firmly:

"I'm not leaving. I'm going to kill the Fire Wolf."

"Why?" Mo Hua didn't understand.

Ouyang Mu whispered, "I want the spine bone of the Fire Demon Wolf..."

"What do you need the spine bone for?"

"To forge a sword..."

Mo Hua froze, then his eyes suddenly sparkled with astonishment.

"You can forge swords?!"

He had long heard that the Tai'e, Chongxu, and Taixu sects shared a common origin, and that Tai'e Gate was most famous for its Tai'e Sword Forging Art!

Ouyang Mu, unnerved by Mo Hua's gaze, nodded mechanically.

Mo Hua smiled brightly. "You just said you wanted what again?"

Ouyang Mu paused, then repeated softly:

"The... spine bone of the Fire Demon Wolf."

Mo Hua nodded and whistled.

After a moment, a Taixu Sect disciple came running over from afar, arriving before Mo Hua:

"Senior Brother!"

Mo Hua said, "Kill a Fire Demon Wolf and bring me its spine bone."

"Got it!"

The disciple ran off again, just as swiftly.

Moments later, a commotion erupted in the distant mountains and forests — first the sound of array explosions, then shouts from cultivators, and finally the roars of demonic beasts.

When all was quiet again, the disciple returned, handing Mo Hua a spine bone stained with fresh blood, glowing crimson, and wreathed in flickering flames.

Ouyang Mu stared at the spine bone, slowly opening his mouth in shock.

The Fire Demon Wolf's spine bone!

For days, he had tried every means possible, begged countless people, endured immense hardship, finally assembled a team, and fought demons through countless trials — yet even after his team disbanded, he still hadn't obtained this spine bone.

And now, in the span of moments, he still didn't understand what had happened.

A fresh spine bone, still dripping blood and wreathed in flame, had simply been placed before him?

Ouyang Mu looked utterly incredulous.

He slowly raised his head, staring blankly at Mo Hua, his heart trembling with awe:

Just who exactly is this Senior Brother Mo...

(End of Chapter)

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