Chapter 747: Follow Me

"This piece of spine bone is yours."

Mo Hua said generously.

Ouyang Mu was momentarily overwhelmed, shaking his head rapidly: "I can't accept this…"

"Don't you want it?"

Mo Hua waved the spine bone in his hand.

Ouyang Mu was completely captivated by the spine bone, his gaze following its swaying motion, unwilling to look away.

But he still clenched his teeth and declared firmly:

"I want it, but I didn't hunt this beast myself—I can't take it."

Mo Hua said: "Senior Brother Feng took care of me before; now I'm taking care of you. Just take it—it's fine."

Ouyang Mu still shook his head. "No merit, no reward."

Mo Hua was slightly surprised, his gaze filled with approval.

This little woodblock, though stubborn, had excellent character—principled, unwilling to take advantage of others.

"Hmm," Mo Hua nodded. "If you don't want it, then forget it."

Mo Hua made as if to put away the fire demon wolf's spine bone.

But seeing the spine bone so close yet about to vanish, Ouyang Mu froze, suddenly anxious.

After much hesitation, he hurriedly said:

"Senior Brother Mo, can I buy it with merit points?"

"Merit points?" Mo Hua pondered briefly, then nodded. "Fine. But this fire demon wolf spine bone is worth eight hundred merit points on the open market—do you have that much?"

"Eight hundred?!"

Ouyang Mu blinked, his face flushing. "I… don't have that much…"

"How much do you have?"

"Only… three hundred…"

Ouyang Mu mumbled.

Though he was a direct descendant of the Ouyang family, once he entered the sect, he had to follow its rules—everything depended on himself.

These merit points were all saved bit by bit from forging swords and hammering iron for others.

He had already spent some; now he had only three hundred left.

"How about I sell it to you for three hundred?" Mo Hua said.

Ouyang Mu shook his head vigorously. "No—I can't let Senior Brother Mo lose out. I…"

After a moment of hesitation, he whispered: "Could I owe you first, and pay you back later?"

Mo Hua rubbed his chin, lost in thought, saying nothing.

Ouyang Mu thought Mo Hua didn't believe him, and quickly assured:

"I will definitely pay you back!"

"How will you pay me back?" Mo Hua's gaze held subtle meaning, guiding gently.

Ouyang Mu said: "I'll work hard to earn merit points…"

Mo Hua sighed. "Merit points aren't easy to earn."

Ouyang Mu looked troubled.

Merit points truly weren't easy to earn.

Good missions were fought over.

If you couldn't get them, you had to take low-level tasks and slowly accumulate.

Meanwhile, the sect had many uses for merit points—various techniques, Dao arts, forging manuals, pills, spirit weapon lineages, and more.

Accumulating merit points was like gathering sand; spending them was like flowing water.

Most disciples were in a state of chronic deficit.

Generally, by the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, disciples could enter the Demon Refining Mountains.

Once inside, if you learned quickly, gained experience, and successfully hunted beasts to harvest materials, merit points weren't hard to earn.

But if you learned slowly, kept failing in beast hunts, it only made things worse—merit points became harder and harder to earn.

Ouyang Mu had zero confidence in beast hunting.

And these three hundred merit points? He'd saved them for a long time…

If he bought this fire demon wolf spine bone, he'd owe five hundred merit points.

To repay five hundred merit points through daily tasks, one by one—he didn't know how long it would take.

He had no confidence entering the mountains to hunt beasts; if he had an accident and couldn't earn merit points, he'd fail to repay the debt—wouldn't that make him untrustworthy and cause Senior Brother Mo to lose out?

Ouyang Mu lowered his head, his expression shifting, uncertain.

Seeing this, Mo Hua smiled slightly, speaking kindly: "If you can't repay the merit points, doing me a favor will do."

Ouyang Mu was startled. "I… what can I do?"

Ouyang Mu thought for a moment, then said slowly: "If Senior Brother Mo doesn't mind, I can forge weapons… I can cast swords too…"

Mo Hua raised an eyebrow—he'd been waiting for this. He nodded immediately:

"Fine!"

Ouyang Mu felt uneasy. "But my sword-casting skill is average…"

"No problem," Mo Hua encouraged. "No one starts out knowing everything. You can learn slowly, practice slowly."

As a disciple of Tai'e Sect, with its orthodox sword-casting lineage, he was better than me, better than Master Gu, and better than other Grand Void Gate disciples.

Moreover, Mo Hua felt that while the little woodblock was quiet, he was sincere and had excellent character.

A good character but insufficient ability can be gradually cultivated.

But if ability is strong and character is poor, there's little point in associating with them at all.

Ability can be improved, but once character is corrupted, it's nearly impossible to change.

Ouyang Mu was greatly encouraged and said solemnly, "Brother Mo, rest assured—I won't let you down!"

Mo Hua saw his serious expression and chuckled:

"Just do your best—don't put pressure on yourself."

"Mm!"

Ouyang Mu nodded earnestly.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then said:

"You owe me five hundred merit points. How about this: forge me a spirit sword, and it counts as one hundred merit points repaid—I'll provide the materials."

Mo Hua offered the standard market rate.

Within the sect, rewards for second-rank spirit weapons—due to their long crafting time—typically ranged from fifty to eighty merit points, with occasional fluctuations.

Spirit swords were slightly more expensive.

One hundred merit points was a normal price.

Of course, this applied only to ordinary spirit swords.

Those engraved with sword arrays—the true, inherited "sword artifacts"—cost far more, but such items were beyond the capability of ordinary disciples.

Ouyang Mu was only at Foundation Establishment mid-stage and still studying in the sect; he certainly couldn't perform such sword-casting art.

Tai'o Gate wouldn't teach them "sword arrays" yet either.

Mo Hua didn't need him to know it—he didn't want an "inherited" spirit sword.

Ouyang Mu only needed to forge an ordinary spirit sword.

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Mu shook his head.

"Is the price too low?" Mo Hua asked.

"No no," Ouyang Mu hurriedly said, "I usually charge forty merit points for crafting weapons, and sixty for swords. One hundred is too much—I'm inexperienced and my skills are crude; I don't deserve that much."

Ouyang Mu glanced at Mo Hua, somewhat embarrassed, and said:

"Brother Mo, I'll charge you sixty—let me forge you eight… nine spirit weapons to settle the debt."

Mo Hua paused in surprise.

He had bargained with many people before, but this was his first encounter with reverse haggling—he was momentarily unprepared.

"Then eight spirit swords it is!"

Mo Hua smiled warmly.

He shoved the fire wolf's spine into Ouyang Mu's arms, refusing any objection:

"It's settled. Take this spine. Next rest period, come find me in the mountains—I'll tell you what sword to forge."

With that, Mo Hua waved and left.

Ouyang Mu stood alone, clutching the fresh wolf spine still warm with residual flame, his heart warmed as if by fire.

This Brother Mo was truly a kind soul!

Ouyang Mu watched Mo Hua's retreating figure, silently grateful.

……

Soon, a period passed.

Before long, the rest period arrived, and Mo Hua returned to the Spirit Beast Mountain.

Ouyang Mu, as promised, was waiting for him.

He now carried a five-hundred-merit-point "debt," felt the heavy pressure on his shoulders, and was determined not to betray Mo Hua's gift of the fire wolf spine—he longed to do something for Mo Hua.

"Brother Mo, what sword do you want forged?"

Mo Hua handed Ouyang Mu the sword-casting diagram he had prepared in advance.

Ouyang Mu took it, glanced once, and said:

"Brother Mo, this sword is strange… it's not a standard spirit sword design…"

Mo Hua thought: No wonder he's from Tai'o Gate—he spotted it at a glance.

"This sword is indeed unusual," Mo Hua nodded.

Ouyang Mu studied it, muttering:

"The shape is the same, but the structure differs…"

"The materials are cheap—not very sturdy."

"There's space reserved for an array inside, but this doesn't seem to be a typical reinforcement or edge-sharpening array for spirit swords?"

Ouyang Mu gestured with his hand over the diagram, astonished:

"…It's a sword array!"

"Sword arrays aren't sealed inside—the blade's design is open-source…"

……

Ouyang Mu muttered, his face falling, and sighed dejectedly: "Brother Mo, I can't forge this kind of spirit sword…"

"What's wrong?"

Ouyang Mu said: "This isn't a standard spirit sword—it doesn't use ordinary arrays, it uses a sword array."

"I haven't learned sword arrays yet. Only after entering the Inner Sect and signing the death contract will the sect teach them."

"Right now, the elders and instructors teach only the pure crafting aspects of 'Tai'o Sword-Casting Art'—excluding sword arrays."

"It's fine," Mo Hua said, "You don't need to handle the sword array—just forge the blade."

"Oh."

Ouyang Mu nodded.

He had no idea how Mo Xiong would resolve the sword array issue.

In his memory, Grand Void Gate didn't seem to have any special sword array lineage.

Even if it did, it couldn't be taught now.

Still, Ouyang Mu politely refrained from asking further.

Simply forging a sword, without involving a sword array, was not difficult—even if the design was somewhat unusual.

Ouyang Mu studied Mo Hua's sword-forging diagram several more times.

Mo Hua watched him closely and suddenly asked, "Little Mu, what do you think of this sword-forging diagram?"

Ouyang Mu froze. "What do you mean, 'what do you think'?"

"I mean," Mo Hua thought for a moment, "how good is it? Are there any parts that need improvement...?"

Ouyang Mu was about to speak, but held back and asked carefully:

"Mo Xiong, who designed this sword-forging diagram?"

Mo Hua blinked, evasively saying:

"I asked a junior in the sect... a Foundation Establishment mid-stage brother who has some knowledge of forging..."

Ouyang Mu relaxed and began his critique:

"A mess."

Mo Hua felt a tiny pang.

This diagram was his own "carefully" crafted design, drawing from many spirit-sword blueprints and integrating a sword array.

And yet Little Mu called it "a mess"...

Ouyang Mu didn't notice Mo Hua's expression and continued: "It must've been designed by an amateur... not quite an amateur, more like a half-amateur—the kind with half a bucket of water..."

Mo Hua's eyelid twitched. He took a deep breath. "Then tell me—how should it be improved?"

As soon as Ouyang Mu began discussing sword-forging, his entire focus shifted. He immediately pulled out paper and ink and began drawing for Mo Hua on the spot.

"First, the spirit-sword's materials are poor."

"Spirit-swords belong to Metal, so they're usually made from Metal-element beast materials—that's generally correct. But these specific materials have terrible compatibility and poor spiritual energy conduction."

"Also, the Five Phases generate and overcome. There's both 'overcoming' and 'generating.'"

"A Metal-element spirit-sword doesn't have to use only Metal materials. Among the Five Phases, Earth generates Metal—so incorporating some Earth-element beast materials would be the finishing touch..."

"That's the material issue. Next, the form."

"The form of this spirit-sword is contradictory."

"Generally, if a spirit-sword is meant for close combat, the material must be hard, the blade razor-sharp, capable of slicing hair and cutting through iron..."

"If it's meant to emphasize sword qi, the blade must be lighter and thinner, with excellent spiritual energy conduction..."

"This sword has a heavy blade, but the material is inadequate—too soft, and spiritual energy doesn't penetrate well..."

"And the sword array portion—even though it's open-source—based on the residual array medium layer, this sword array has zero compatibility with this spirit-sword."

"The sword is the sword. The array is the array. They're completely unrelated."

"That won't work. Only when the weapon matches the array can the sword technique's power be maximized..."

Usually taciturn, Ouyang Mu suddenly became eloquent when discussing sword-forging.

Moreover, everything he said were things Mo Hua had never noticed before.

Indeed, different trades are as distant as mountains apart.

Even within forging, sword-forging differed drastically from other forging disciplines—there were profound depths within.

Mo Hua looked at Ouyang Mu with admiration.

This was "expertise!"

No wonder he was a direct disciple of the Ouyang family of Tai'e Sect.

As Ouyang Mu spoke, he noticed Mo Hua's intense gaze and suddenly grew shy. "I... I was just speaking offhand. If I said anything wrong, Mo Xiong, don't mind."

"No problem, no problem. You spoke very well."

Mo Hua nodded with a smile, but internally thought: Even if you're wrong, I wouldn't know it...

Mo Hua studied Ouyang Mu again and asked:

"Do you plan to become a sword-forging master?"

Ouyang Mu's expression turned complex. He finally sighed. "My father won't allow it..."

Mo Hua was surprised. "Why won't your father allow it?"

Ouyang Mu said: "My father believes Tai'e Sect's former obscurity was due to its excessive focus on 'sword-forging.'"

"Those who gained fame were sword-users, not sword-forgers."

"Tai'e Sect's current revival is because the elders decided to use sword-forging as a foundation, vigorously promote the Tai'e Sword Art, and gradually expand its influence."

"Within the sect, any disciple with talent must study sword techniques."

"Only those unfit for sword techniques are assigned to sword-forging."

"I'm a direct heir of the Ouyang family—many are watching me. I must follow my elder brother's path: study sword techniques and set an example for other disciples."

"If I study sword-forging, my father will be displeased..."

As he spoke, Ouyang Mu's expression grew melancholy. "But... compared to my elder brother, I'm far inferior—in elemental affinity, cultivation level, comprehension, bearing, sect prestige, and interpersonal conduct—I'm nowhere near him..."

Saying this, Ouyang Mu's expression grew somewhat forlorn. "It's just… compared to my brother, I'm far too lacking. Whether it's spiritual root, cultivation, comprehension, bearing, the sect's regard for me, or how I handle people and affairs—I'm all far inferior to Big Brother…"

Ouyang Mu spoke softer and softer.

Mo Hua sighed.

With an overly outstanding older brother, Xiao Mutou's pressure was unimaginable.

The two brothers lived up to their names: Brother Feng was like a tall, steady, prominent, and warm maple tree.

While Ouyang Mu, thin and quiet, was like an ungrown "little log."

The gap between the two brothers was simply too vast.

"So, do you want to become a Sword Forger?" Mo Hua asked.

Ouyang Mu nodded. "I can't do anything else. I'm not good at speaking, my sword cultivation is mediocre, I'm clumsy at hunting demons—only when forging swords do I feel happy."

Mo Hua encouraged him: "Then don't care about the rest—study what you want to study."

Ouyang Mu clearly found this difficult. "But my father..."

Mo Hua asked: "When you study sword techniques now, does your father feel happy?"

Ouyang Mu shook his head. "My father despises my poor sword skills—he's not happy."

"Exactly," Mo Hua said. "If you study forging, your father isn't happy. If you study sword techniques, your father still isn't happy. Either way, he's unhappy—so what does it matter?"

"If that's the case, why not study something that makes you happy?"

Ouyang Mu froze.

His small mind struggled to turn over the idea several times, then suddenly realized—Mo Xiong's words seemed...

... extremely reasonable.

Whether he studied sword techniques or forging, his father was unhappy.

No matter how he chose, the outcome was the same.

So why was he agonizing over it?

Yet even so, he still felt some unease and hesitation inside.

Mo Hua didn't expect him to understand all at once; instead, he comforted him:

"Don't overthink it—first, forge the spirit sword you owe me."

Although Xiao Mutou was meant to cultivate sword techniques, before he could cultivate them, he had to earn merit.

His sword skills weren't good enough to earn merit.

So he could only earn merit through forging.

All Mo Hua needed to do was guide him step by step onto the "right path" of forging.

Mo Hua silently thought to himself:

"What's so great about sword cultivation..."

"In this Qianxue Province, there are countless disciples cultivating swords—there's no shortage of one more like Xiao Mutou."

"Besides, Xiao Mutou has no innate talent for the sword path, and his nature isn't suited for killing—forcing him to cultivate sword techniques would only mislead him..."

"Such a promising forging talent—and Ta'amen doesn't even value him..."

Mo Hua shook his head.

Ouyang Mu snapped out of it and nodded. "Alright."

No matter what, he had to forge Mo Xiong's eight spirit swords first.

"By the way," Mo Hua pointed to the forging diagram in Ouyang Mu's hand, "you'll revise this diagram for me—for that junior brother of mine in Grand Void Gate, the one with mediocre forging skills—revise it just as you just described..."

Ouyang Mu still lacked confidence and hesitated:

"Is this okay? Isn't it inappropriate for me to alter someone else's sword diagram...?"

Mo Hua nodded. "Perfectly appropriate—revise it without hesitation!"

Under Mo Hua's strong insistence, Ouyang Mu indeed carefully, meticulously revised the spirit sword's array diagram.

Mo Hua looked at it and was deeply shocked.

He hadn't realized it before, but now, comparing them, he felt his own previous drawings were nothing but dog shit.

Mo Hua quietly crumpled up his old sword diagram and tossed it into his storage pouch.

"Forge it exactly like this!"

Mo Hua told Ouyang Mu.

"Yes, Mo Xiong!"

Seeing Mo Xiong—who, though he didn't know why, clearly seemed incredibly skilled—so fully endorse him, Ouyang Mu's confidence surged.

After returning to Ta'amen, he set aside all other matters and devoted himself entirely to forging swords for Mo Hua.

Another eight days passed, and it was the ten-day rest period.

In the forest of Lianyao Mountain.

Ouyang Mu held out with both hands a Jin Se spirit sword he had forged.

Since this was his first time forging such a spirit sword, and he wasn't sure of its exact effect, he had made only one, to show to Mo Hua.

Mo Hua took the spirit sword, his heart trembling slightly.

The blade was light, its luster subdued, its internal structure precise, its form sharp, and its forging craftsmanship vastly improved.

Even before the sword array was drawn, he could sense faint sword qi.

Compared to his previous flying swords, this one was clearly not of the same caliber.

Mo Hua was overjoyed and decided to test the sword.

In a flash, he drew the Duanjin Sword Array onto the blade—so fast, and with such unique markings, Ouyang Mu couldn't even make out what Mo Hua had drawn.

After completing the array, Mo Hua went to an open area, looked up at the sky, and released his spiritual sense to search for prey.

Soon, a fierce hawk soared across the clear sky.

Mo Hua sat cross-legged on the spot and placed the Jin Se spirit sword before him.

Then he held his breath, focused his mind, activated the Broken Jin Yu Sword Art, using his spiritual sense to command the sword and seek out enemies.

Suddenly, the golden spiritual sword blazed with radiant light.

A flash of golden light appeared, then vanished in an instant.

Then a golden thread shot upward, striking straight at the ferocious hawk beast in the sky.

In but an instant, blinding golden light exploded.

Sword qi sharper than ever before burst forth in an instant, blooming like golden lotuses, completely enveloping the hawk demon, then shredding its feathers and flesh to pieces.

The hawk demon was utterly slaughtered by the Broken Jin Sword qi.

It died on the spot, even before it could fall to the ground!

Such powerful sword control!

Mo Hua stared in shock, turned to look at Ouyang Mu, who was even more stunned, and slapped his shoulder with a commanding tone:

"From now on, follow me!"

(End of Chapter)

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