Chapter 871: Sword Tomb

Because the Fu Shi soul fragment in his seven魄 had been parasitized by the Evil Embryo, Mo Hua dared not be overly showy, so he only manifested various Five Elements spells and numerous Eight Trigrams arrays to systematically exterminate these demons.

Wave after wave of demons died at his hands, instantly refined into pure mental energy and drawn into his mouth.

Outside his consciousness, the Great White Dog was also "eating" with great delight.

Demons that escaped through the fissure guarded by Mo Hua naturally flowed along the seals formed by the Divine Authority Array and the Divine Lock Array, arriving right before the Great White Dog.

The Great White Dog glared, and within its eyes appeared a majestic phantom image that stunned a cluster of demons.

Then, seizing the opening, it lunged forward, biting one after another, crushing them all before swallowing them whole.

To the eye, it merely bit wildly at empty air, seemingly not consuming any actual flesh.

Yet the Great White Dog ate with immense joy.

This demonic mental energy was a rare and potent nourishment for it.

The "two-legged beast" Mo Hua had not lied—this truly was a "feast."

The Great White Dog, being an exotic beast rather than a cultivator, lacked complex human thoughts, and with divine beast bloodline protecting it, it feared no demonic corruption of its Dao heart; thus, the demons it swallowed whole were swiftly absorbed within moments, not even a trace of impure demonic thoughts left behind.

Night deepened; the room filled with yin energy, demons dancing wildly.

Wen Renwei stood guard outside, sensing the chilling yin aura within, his heart trembling with dread.

But he remembered Mo Hua's instructions, enduring patiently and holding firm at the door.

The fierce battle inside continued.

Mo Hua held the front line, using spells and arrays to slaughter demon after demon, while simultaneously replenishing his depleted divine consciousness through combat.

The Great White Dog was wildly excited, darting about the floor, hunting down demons Mo Hua had missed.

After fighting for an unknown duration, the flood of demons gradually receded.

Finally, the Divine Authority Tree began to wither, the black water embryo shriveled, and the hatched demons grew fewer and fewer.

These demons were numerous, but individually not particularly strong.

The truly powerful ones, Mo Hua had not triggered.

And those previously formidable elites—the Horned Enforcers, the Ram-Headed Warlords—were now mere "minnows" before Mo Hua, who had reached the Nineteen-Stripe realm and whose divine consciousness had fully merged with the Dao.

After all, in a certain sense, he had become a being comparable to the Evil Embryo of the Great Wasteland Lord.

If one strike couldn't eliminate a demon, then two would do.

When the last Warlord demon was crushed barehanded by Mo Hua, refined by array, and drawn into his belly, the battle finally ended.

Meanwhile, in the mountain's forbidden zone.

The bearded elder still extended his divine sense, silently searching.

But this time, he was deeply cautious, moving extremely slowly.

And because he dared not fully release his divine sense, fearing to provoke unrest and draw the attention of his younger brother, his perception was hazy.

Added to this, the Divine Mist Array laid by Mo Hua blocked his senses; after searching for a long time, the bearded elder found nothing.

Just now, he noticed that the karmic traces of the surging, rampaging demons were gradually fading.

Either the source of this demon flood had been cut off.

Or all the demons had been eradicated.

But regardless, once karma scattered, traces would inevitably vanish…

Du Guo Lao Zu frowned, a flicker of anger rising within him.

He still refused to give up, continuing to sweep his divine sense across Tai Xu Mountain.

Yet no matter how he searched, the traces remained vanishingly faint…

…

In the inner chamber of the disciples' quarters.

With the final Warlord demon slain, the chilling yin and malevolent aura within the room vanished entirely.

Amidst curling smoke, Yu'er slept peacefully, unaware of her dream, now sucking her tiny fingers.

The atmosphere was quiet and serene.

Mo Hua nodded, then exited the inner chamber with the Great White Dog.

Outside, Wen Renwei saw Mo Hua, his eyes brightening: "Young Master Mo…"

Mo Hua nodded: "All resolved. Yu'er sleeps soundly."

Wen Renwei bowed deeply: "Thank you, Young Master."

"No need for formalities, Uncle Wei."

Mo Hua exchanged a few more pleasantries, then prepared to return to his room.

But after a moment's thought, he left the Great White Dog behind: "Keep this Great White Dog here to guard the door—in case any unexpected events arise tonight."

Wen Renwei thanked Mo Hua again, inwardly marveling: the Young Master's actions were indeed meticulous and considerate.

The Great White Dog did not refuse.

It was overfull, its belly swollen, and needed to digest.

At this moment, it was too lazy to move; hearing Mo Hua's words, it simply lay down on the spot, eyes half-closed, beginning to refine the demons it had swallowed.

Mo Hua returned to his own room.

This battle, overall, unfolded exactly as planned—no turbulence, no surprises.

All demons were slain, the Evil Embryo remained inert, and Yu'er was unharmed.

He had consumed many, many demonic essences; now he must fully refine them, purge all corruption, absorb their pure mental energy, and advance his divine consciousness further.

In the simple, silent chamber.

Mo Hua held his breath, focused his mind, sat in meditation.

One strand after another of mental energy was refined.

His spiritual sense gradually strengthened, and the realm of his spiritual perception rose steadily from Nineteen Marks.

His mind sea expanded, his spiritual perception grew thick and profound, and his perception of all things under heaven and earth became increasingly clear.

A vast amount of mental force was refined, and Mo Hua's spiritual sense initially surged rapidly.

But soon, he hit a bottleneck.

It seemed his spiritual sense had reached the limit of a Foundation Establishment cultivator—a nearly insurmountable abyss stretched before him.

This abyss was the limit set by the Dao for Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Beyond the abyss lay the Jin Dan.

The spiritual sense Mo Hua gained by devouring countless demons and monsters was like a cup of water thrown onto a burning cart of fire before this "abyss."

The rate of his spiritual sense growth slowed drastically, until finally, it stalled at the peak of Nineteen Marks.

Mo Hua opened his eyes and sighed.

As expected…

Just like breaking through from Qi Condensation to Foundation Establishment, breakthroughs between major realms are exceedingly difficult, requiring years of patient, painstaking effort.

The amount of spiritual sense needed for growth nearly doubled.

It was not merely the difference between Nineteen Marks and Twenty Marks.

It was roughly equivalent to starting again from One Mark and rebuilding all the way up to Nineteen Marks—the full nineteen-mark gap.

Eating one big meal could not make up for this deficit.

Although this situation was within Mo Hua's expectations, he still felt a tinge of regret.

Mo Hua clicked his tongue.

"If only I could swallow a Jin Dan in one go…"

Mo Hua thought, somewhat delusional.

Yet the gap between Foundation Establishment and Jin Dan was far greater; he racked his brain but could not figure out what he could possibly devour to ascend.

Eat a true evil god?

Mo Hua shook his head.

Not even an evil embryo—he couldn't afford one.

Right now, one evil embryo was parasitic within his soul, and he had no way to deal with it.

"Forget it. Nineteen Marks at its peak is still passable. You can't eat your way to being fat in one bite…"

Moreover, Nineteen Marks at its peak…

Mo Hua pondered, then suddenly realized this was already the absolute limit of Foundation Establishment spiritual sense.

After this, virtually no Foundation Establishment cultivator could surpass him in spiritual sense—even those who had cultivated their spiritual sense as their path.

And he was only at mid-Foundation Establishment.

When calculated this way, it was still extraordinary.

Mo Hua couldn't help but feel a touch of pride.

Moreover, from now on, all second-rank arrays—except the true second-rank supreme arrays ranked above Twenty Marks—would be easy for him to learn, with no spiritual perception pressure whatsoever.

Mo Hua was thoroughly satisfied, even a little excited.

Excitement made it hard to sleep—even though he rarely needed sleep anyway.

Mo Hua really wanted to practice a few arrays, to see if his Nineteen Marks peak spiritual sense would let him learn arrays faster and deploy them more powerfully…

Mo Hua paused in thought, then took out paper and ink.

He spread the paper on the ground, placed the ink on the table, and began drawing arrays with his spiritual perception as the brush, using his spiritual sense to guide the ink across the floor.

This time, he wanted to test how fast he could draw an array with his peak spiritual sense at full power.

Thus, he unleashed his spiritual perception without reservation.

But he did not know that this outpouring of spiritual perception had just triggered a hidden, unknown, unfathomably powerful Void-Perceiving spiritual sense that wandered unseen among Tai Xu Mountain…

And Mo Hua's room had no Spiritual Mist Array to mask his perception.

He had just "devoured" a malevolent spirit, and traces of impurities still clung to his outward-sent spiritual perception.

Thus, he had given himself away.

In the forbidden zone of the back mountain.

The long-bearded elder suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing in his gaze.

"Finally… I've caught you…"

His spiritual perception carried a taint of malevolence.

Clearly, he had used some method to strip away the outer shell of a malevolent spirit, pretending to be a proper cultivator to deceive others.

But his disguise was not yet fully shed, so he had revealed his true nature.

"You… won't escape!"

The long-bearded elder's withered hand slashed through the air, grasping into the void.

Meanwhile, in the disciples' quarters.

Unaware, Mo Hua still focused intently on drawing his array.

But as he drew, a sudden change erupted.

A terrifying ripple surged forth.

A black, mottled tear in space split open out of nowhere before him.

Mo Hua froze, his mind momentarily blank.

Before he could react, a withered, massive hand reached out from the void tear, seized Mo Hua, and yanked him inside.

Then, the void tear slowly closed.

The disciples were inside, and Mo Hua's figure was gone, leaving only his half-finished, unfinished array drawing…

…

The forbidden zone of the back mountain.

A tear in the void flickered, and a figure emerged.

The bearded elder tore through the void, reached down, and yanked—though he didn't know what he'd grabbed, he was intent on dragging it to his face.

"Let me see what kind of demonic force…"

The bearded elder let out a cold snort, then his voice cut off abruptly.

He clearly froze.

Only now did he realize he'd assumed it was some evil cultist, an outsider, a petty villain—hence he'd shattered the void and snatched it.

But the "thing" he'd pulled over was a young disciple—small in age, with a clear, handsome face and innocent eyes…

And judging by his attire, he was a disciple of Grand Void Gate?

Mo Hua, unaware of the situation, was dragged by the elder, and blinked in bewilderment.

An old man and a boy stared at each other; the air grew silent.

After a moment, the elder spoke slowly, his voice hoarse and low:

"You… are you a disciple of Grand Void Gate?"

Mo Hua slowly came to his senses, glanced sidelong—and saw he had no idea where he was. Around him, darkness, graves strewn everywhere, the moon cold and bleak, heavy with desolation.

The elder before him seemed bound by arrays and chains; though his identity and realm were unknown, he radiated sheer terror.

By instinctive perception, he was a being who could crush Mo Hua with a single finger.

Even in raw sensation, he was far stronger than his Senior Uncle.

Far stronger than any cultivator Mo Hua had ever seen—including the several demonic Cultivators of the Void slain by his Senior Uncle, and even the Void Realm Xia Jiancha from the Dao Court.

A Void-Exploration Laozu?!

Mo Hua instantly became obedient, nodding:

"Yes."

The bearded elder frowned slightly. "What were you just… doing?"

Mo Hua's heart tightened.

Damn, caught red-handed?

Had this elder discovered what he'd done?

Then… could this elder be our Grand Void Gate's Laozu?

Had he sensed something strange and pulled me here?

Mo Hua was deeply nervous, yet secretly exhaled in relief.

Nervous, because his "stealing" might have been discovered.

Relieved, because if this elder was Grand Void Gate's Laozu, he wouldn't kill him on a whim.

Moreover, if his guess was right, Master Xun was also of the Laozu generation.

This bearded elder might even know Master Xun—and wouldn't make things hard for him.

If all else failed, he could invoke Master Xun's name; perhaps this elder would let him go.

Seeing the bearded elder's displeased expression, Mo Hua bowed respectfully:

"Respected elder, I have a young younger brother who often suffers nightmares, haunted by demons and monsters, unable to sleep. So I borrowed a large white dog from the Sect Master to guard his door."

"Just finished guarding tonight, returned to my room, thought the hour was still early, so I practiced the array again—yet somehow, you suddenly… pulled me here…"

Mo Hua carefully selected and spoke some "truths."

The elder frowned, thought for a moment, then asked: "What's your brother's name?"

"Shangguan Yu," said Mo Hua.

"Shangguan?" The elder was surprised. "You're from the Shangguan family?"

Mo Hua shook his head. "No, my surname is Mo."

The elder's gaze grew cold. "Your surname is Mo, but your brother's is Shangguan?"

Mo Hua explained: "Not a blood brother. We met by chance. I saved him—he calls me brother."

A life-saving grace?

The elder nodded slightly, then said gravely: "You're a Mo… which Mo clan? Near Qianxue State, there are no Mo lineages. Are you from Kunzhou or Kanzhou…?"

Mo Hua shook his head. "I'm from Li State. I'm a lone cultivator—no clan."

"A lone cultivator…" The bearded elder was stunned.

He hadn't expected that after all these years, Grand Void Gate would still take in a lone cultivator—this was odd.

Lone cultivators have no clan, no power—and thus no traceable origins.

"You said… you borrowed a dog from the Sect Master?" the elder asked again.

Mo Hua nodded.

"What did it look like?"

"White, huge, long fur, with a touch of golden hair, haughty, looking down on everyone…"

Mo Hua described the white dog.

The bearded elder's expression shifted—something clicked.

"That thing…"

He was beginning to understand.

The Shangguan child had a body prone to attracting evil spirits; this Mo boy, unwilling to let his brother suffer, had sought out a strange beast to suppress them.

Using a strange beast to suppress evil, but this child's body thus carried some of the evil's aura.

I sensed this aura, mistook it for "evil fiend Feng Xiaoxiao," and seized him on the spot.

The bearded elder's gaze sharpened slightly.

There are still some oddities here, but overall, it makes sense.

This child gave detailed information—name and surname, even mentioned the sect master. A simple check will verify truth or falsehood.

Moreover, with my nearly thousand-year experience in judging people, this child, though somewhat nervous, likely did not lie.

The bearded elder sighed softly.

He didn't lie… but it seems I… grabbed the wrong person…

He is merely an ordinary junior disciple, with no karmic ties to evil demons.

Then again, it's only natural—a junior disciple with only twenty years of cultivation, unless he is a Daoist reborn or an ancient devil possessing a body, how could he possibly stir karmic ties and summon so many demonic beasts and evil spirits?

Since he is an ordinary disciple, the elder naturally would not trouble Mo Hua.

He lost interest, merely waved his hand and said:

"You may return now…"

Mo Hua exhaled in relief.

Speaking with such a mysterious, powerful, and unknown elder, every word and phrase made him tremble with caution.

But at least he had managed to bluff his way through.

Mo Hua bowed with perfect solemnity and said respectfully: "Elder, then I take my leave."

The bearded elder said nothing.

Mo Hua turned to leave, but after a few steps, he turned back, scratched his head, and asked softly:

"Elder… how do I get out?"

This place is littered with desolate graves, desolate and eerie, and the nearby arrays are far too advanced for me to understand now.

I've never been here before—I don't know the way at all.

If I get lost, or accidentally trigger some trap or array, and get hurt… a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator like me might lose his life…

The bearded elder sighed softly, realizing his oversight, and said: "I'll take you back."

He extended his hand and reached for Mo Hua.

Mo Hua did not dodge—of course, with this Void-Realization Ancestor's grasp, he couldn't have dodged even if he tried.

But just before he was seized and transported away, Mo Hua's peripheral vision caught something: between the dark, withered graves, countless broken swords were planted into the ground—and suddenly he remembered something, and cried out:

"Elder, wait!"

The bearded elder's hand halted, and he frowned: "What is it?"

Mo Hua asked: "Elder, is this the Sword Graveyard?"

The bearded elder's gaze sharpened slightly. "Yes."

Of course!

The night had been too dark, and I was suddenly brought here—I was too nervous to look closely, and assumed I was merely among withered graves.

Only now, under the moonlight, seeing the broken swords atop the graves, did I recall: Elder Xun Ziyou once said that behind the Grand Void Gate's forbidden grounds lies a Sword Graveyard.

And I have long wished to do one thing.

Mo Hua felt a quiet relief, and requested:

"Elder, I know of an elder who also cultivates sword arts—likely buried here in this Sword Graveyard. I wish to return this elder's relics to their rightful owner. May I?"

Buried in the Sword Graveyard…

The bearded elder froze.

Those buried here are all Grand Void Gate sword cultivators who, in practicing Soul-Transforming Sword, sacrificed their lives to slay demonic beasts and fight evil, their soul-essence damaged beyond repair, and thus passed away.

This child… has such a connection? Could he also be… a descendant of a Soul-Sword cultivator?

The elder's gaze toward Mo Hua softened considerably.

He nodded, sighing: "Very well. Go."

Mo Hua's expression brightened, and he bowed quickly: "Thank you, Elder!"

Then he walked toward the surrounding Sword Graves.

He wished to return the broken sword of Elder Du Gu Xuan.

According to Elder Xun Ziyou, Soul-Transforming Sword harms both others and oneself, especially damaging the soul-essence; once wounded, it is nearly impossible to heal.

Within the Grand Void Gate, nearly all sword cultivators who practiced Soul-Transforming Sword met grim ends—either dying young, or wasting away in hardship.

Elder Du Gu Xuan once fought a mortal battle against the corrupted River God—the physical manifestation of the Great Waste Evil God—and though he ultimately suppressed the demon's power, his own life-sword was shattered in that battle.

This meant he suffered grave injuries, damaging his foundation.

Afterward, Mo Hua found no further clues regarding Elder Du Gu Xuan.

Thus he deduced that this exceptionally gifted Grand Void Gate sword elder, who practiced Soul-Transforming Sword, likely died young.

Most Soul-Sword cultivators who died are buried in the Sword Graveyard forbidden zone.

Mo Hua received his broken sword, deduced its karmic traces from it, and learned the two Soul-Sword techniques—Soul-Sword Transformation and Shocking-Soul Sword—thus inheriting this elder's legacy. He wished to repay even a drop of kindness with a spring of gratitude: one day, he would come here to the Sword Graveyard and return the broken sword to its rightful owner.

After all, sword cultivators regard their swords as a second life.

Returning the broken sword, allowing it to rest beside its master in the grave, would resolve this karmic thread.

If Elder Xuan knew, he would surely feel comforted.

Mo Hua searched among the nearby Sword Graves.

But the Sword Graveyard held only swords and graves—no steles, no names—Mo Hua had no way of knowing which grave belonged to Elder Xuan.

He wanted to ask the bearded elder who guarded the Sword Graveyard.

But this old senior's cultivation was too strong, his aura terrifying, looking like he wanted no living person near him. Mo Hua wasn't familiar with him, and didn't dare ask too much, so he could only bury his head and search on his own.

But no matter how he searched, he still came up empty.

Perhaps because the delay had dragged on too long, that long-bearded senior was clearly growing somewhat impatient.

Mo Hua had no choice. After thinking for a moment, he could only do it himself, scraping up some dirt and piling it into a simple little mound, treating it as a "new grave."

Then he secretly took out from his storage ring the broken sword that had been suppressed at the bottom of the blood pool in the blood-colored fishing village, and planted it atop the new grave he had just scraped out, forming a new "sword grave."

And the very instant Mo Hua took out the broken sword, the long-bearded old man, who had originally been somewhat impatient, suddenly sensed a vaguely familiar aura.

The moment he raised his eyes, he saw the broken sword Mo Hua had planted on the mound. His expression changed drastically, and his whole body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"This is…"

Xuan'er's sword?!