Chapter 987: God-Slaying Sword Exits the Orifice

Grand Void Gate, north of the disciples' quarters, in a secluded mountain forest.

The sunlight was bright, ancient trees towered into the sky, the leaves were a lush green, the scenery steeped in a faint mist, edged with the gold of sunlight, tranquil and gorgeously secluded.

In the mountain forest, Mo Hua was practicing Divine Sense Sword Manifestation all by himself.

And on the outer edge of the forest, the big white dog sat with its head held high and chest puffed out, its gaze sharp as it looked all around, keeping watch for Mo Hua.

In the big white dog's heart, Mo Hua was already "Big Brother."

It had also become self-aware, willingly serving as Big Brother's "little sidekick," staying outside the grove to stand guard for Mo Hua, not letting anyone disturb his sword practice.

Of course, this was only one of the reasons.

There was another reason:

When Mo Hua practiced his sword, the overflowing fluctuations of divine sense were too terrifying, and the big white dog couldn't quite bear it, so it ran outside the grove to hide.

In the mountain forest, before a towering ancient tree.

Mo Hua stood in focused concentration; within his eyes, powerful intent surged forth, manifesting into a brilliant, razor-sharp sword intent that pierced the air and struck the ancient tree before him.

As killing intent stirred, slash after slash,

In the mountain forest, heart-palpitating fluctuations of divine sense rose and fell one after another.

But divine sense was inherently obscure, beyond the reach of the naked eye.

Therefore, even though what Mo Hua was practicing was a forbidden sword art of Grand Void Gate, with divine sense killing intent surging violently, from the surface the forest remained bathed in gentle breeze and warm sun, peaceful and tranquil; occasionally a mountain wind would blow through, but apart from that, not a single blade of grass stirred.

Only the big white dog at the edge of the forest would occasionally feel its heart pound and its flesh creep.

After practicing for a long while, Mo Hua sat on the ground to rest, mentally reviewing for a moment, then shook his head.

"Not quite working…"

His earlier estimate had been correct: only after forming a divine sense Golden Core and further consolidating the foundation of his divine sense could he project the God-Slaying Sword outward through the orifice.

His God-Slaying Sword had indeed exited the orifice, possessing an initial power of divine-sense killing intent.

But the moves were crude, and correspondingly, the flaws were also very many.

First of all, the strikes were too slow, and the consumption of divine sense was too great.

The God-Slaying Sword was the ultimate form of the Grand Void Divine Sense Sword Manifestation True Art, stronger than the God-Shocking Sword by more than a notch.

Not to mention that Mo Hua's God-Slaying Sword was a fusion of all his Daos, a "great hodgepodge"-style God-Slaying Sword, within which he had fused the Metal-Severing, Mountain-Opening, Departing-Fire, and Water-Stem sword formations, fused in Grand Void sword intent, and also fused in the Supreme Emotion-Severing Dao…

Fusing in so many sword-Dao laws one by one not only made the sword strikes too slow, but the consumption of divine sense was likewise extremely enormous.

Basically, after Mo Hua slashed twice with the God-Slaying Sword, he had to rest for a while.

Also, his eyes would hurt—very badly.

The God-Slaying Sword's exit through the orifice used the eye orifice as the vessel to bear the sword of divine sense.

Mo Hua's physical body was already weak, and added to that, although he had now formed a divine sense Golden Core, his cultivation and physical body were both only at Foundation Establishment.

His divine sense had grown strong, while his physical body remained weak.

Therefore, when the sword of divine sense exited the orifice, the pressure on his eyes grew all the more intense.

Moreover, the sword-light of the divine-sense sword manifestation was inherently razor-sharp.

With sword-light contained within his eyes, after a long time it stung like needles piercing in.

The last problem was that the success rate of the God-Slaying Sword exiting the orifice was low.

From morning until now, Mo Hua had practiced it ten-odd times, but not every single time was he able to successfully project the God-Slaying Sword outward through the orifice.

First condense, then exit the orifice—divided attention; sometimes the God-Slaying Sword form would sputter out.

The sea of consciousness had its boundary between void and solid, the eye orifice had its inner and outer divisions, and the sword of divine sense would occasionally be blocked by these barriers, getting stuck and unable to exit the orifice.

Even when it did exit the orifice, if his divine consciousness was insufficient afterward and his divine sense unstable, the sword intent would dissipate before it could even be delivered…

Mo Hua let out a slight sigh.

The God-Slaying Sword exiting the orifice—using an illusory sword of divine sense to slay a real, flesh-and-blood enemy—seemed very powerful, but when actually practiced, problems were everywhere.

He hadn't even practiced it to proficiency, let alone using it in real combat against an opponent.

Still, Mo Hua was not discouraged.

Cultivation was just like this.

Any method was only a "method," an external "technique."

Even after learning it, mastering it, putting it truly to use was still very difficult.

Therefore, after learning a cultivation method, one had to keep practicing, keep applying it, keep correcting and improving through real combat…

Only thus could one's comprehension of the method deepen, so as to truly master it and truly integrate it into a unified whole.

Only when truly integrated into a unified whole could one, in future cultivator combat and even more severe life-and-death struggles, remain unflustered, without timidity, and handle matters with ease—putting to use with perfect mastery the sword techniques and methods one had painstakingly comprehended and personally practiced.

Mo Hua settled his mind and began to concentrate on thinking.

Relying on his own Daoist learning, cultivation experience, and comprehension of the Dao of divine sense, he thought about how to optimize and improve, bit by bit, the problems of cultivating the God-Slaying Sword's exit through the orifice.

The mountain forest was tranquil, the branches and leaves a verdant green.

The sunlight was cut into broken shadows, falling upon Mo Hua.

Mo Hua sat quietly, his divine consciousness focused, merged into one with the mountain forest.

And as he thought, his mind stirred slightly, and gradually an idea took shape.

"Since the divine-sense sword manifestation is too strong, and fuses in too many formations, sword formations and sword Daos—the burden is too heavy… then I can't be greedy, I should appropriately do some subtraction…"

"I'll only fuse in the Five Elements sword formation, to drive the God-Slaying Sword's exit through the orifice."

"Afterward, I'll appropriately add some Grand Void sword intent."

"As for the Supreme Emotion-Severing Dao, I'll leave it aside for now…"

This Dao had come from the mouth of the Dugu Old Ancestor.

But Mo Hua was also not certain whether the one who had transmitted the Dao to him was truly the Dugu Old Ancestor.

The matter behind the mountain was murky and confusing; he simply couldn't see through it.

Therefore, although the Supreme Severing-Emotion Dao held infinite profundity, its origins were suspicious and carried an aura of malevolence—best not to let it escape the dantian for now.

And by removing these, the difficulty of soul-escape was nearly halved.

Though its power would diminish, the strength one could fully control was truly one's own.

And with the subtlety of transforming soul into sword, if it could escape, even half its power would suffice.

Remove the Supreme Severing-Emotion, remove half the Grand Void Sword Intent—the fused Dao is halved, and correspondingly, the burden is lightened; the strike becomes faster, and the practical combat effect improves instead.

In all arts under heaven, speed alone breaks all defenses.

This was something Old Puppet taught him long ago.

Better to be a fraction faster than an inch stronger.

The problem of condensing the Soul-Cutting Sword was probably solved.

The next problem was the issue of release.

To release it, one must use the eyes as the gate, shattering the boundary between the illusory and real between the soul-sea and the mortal world, so that the soul-sword may be fully unleashed.

In a certain sense, this problem was even more lethal.

At a critical moment, if the soul's transmission was blocked, the boundary between illusory and real could not be broken, and the soul-sword failed to release—then it was over.

Like two cultivators slashing desperately with swords.

The other's blade has already slashed your neck, yet yours cannot be drawn—you can only die foolishly.

Mo Hua's expression was solemn.

He had no desire to die "foolishly."

"I must find a way to guarantee a hundred percent success in releasing the soul-sword…"

But the method of soul-escape was not something Mo Hua's realm could learn.

He had gone far beyond his level, leaving no precedent to follow—he could only slowly explore on his own, refining it according to his own circumstances.

Mo Hua fell into thought for a moment, recalling some of the teachings from the Lone Ancestor.

According to the Grand Void Gate's most orthodox soul-sword true scripture, one needed a "sword" to serve as the medium for soul-escape.

Mo Hua was not an orthodox sword cultivator; he had no such sword.

Therefore, he could only use his eyes as the medium.

But using the eyes as the gate for soul-sword transformation was clearly a far more complex and advanced technique.

With Mo Hua's current cultivation and martial arts attainments, he could never stably control it.

Instability meant failure; once it failed, it was over.

"I need another medium, to ensure stability…"

But what should he add?

He had no life-bound treasure, not even an embryo to nurture.

Aside from his eyes, his body had no other suitable medium…

Mo Hua frowned, racking his brain for a long time, until finally, drawing on his profound and esoteric array knowledge, he found a spark of inspiration from the First-Rank Thirteen-Stripe Wuxing Source Array's principles.

Spiritual energy!

The core of the Wuxing Source Array was to use soul-force, through array transformation, to amplify the Five Elements' power, thereby enhancing the potency of Five Elements Dao arts.

This meant that spiritual energy and soul-force, though seemingly two entirely different forms of cultivation power, shared a common origin.

Spiritual energy could merge with soul-force.

To some extent, this implied spiritual energy could serve as a "medium" for soul-force.

This process was extremely complex and inevitably involved certain Great Dao principles—otherwise, the Wuxing Source Array would not be the Wuxing Sect's supreme array.

But Mo Hua did not need to perform such complex transformations.

He only needed to use his own spiritual energy to guide his soul-essence.

Spiritual energy and soul-essence were both his own, inherently possessing a degree of affinity; mobilizing them would not cause mutual repulsion.

"Spiritual energy guiding soul-essence…"

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then suddenly startled—he recalled his own cultivation technique: the Great Expansion Scripture.

When cultivating the Great Expansion Scripture and breaking through the realm, each time spiritual energy reversed course, gathered at the Heavenly Gate, flowed into the soul-sea, then connected with soul-essence, weaving into a spiritual veil composed of a labyrinthine array to serve as the bottleneck for breakthrough.

Did this mean…

The operation of the Great Expansion Scripture involved the resonance—or perhaps fusion—of spiritual energy and soul-force?

Mo Hua's expression changed slightly, his heart deeply shaken.

This touched upon the fusion of the most fundamental forces of a cultivator.

The ancient technique his master had passed down to him truly concealed great profundity.

But unfortunately, his current cultivation was still shallow; he could only vaguely perceive the outline, unable yet to glimpse the deeper essence of the Great Expansion Scripture.

"I'll cultivate slowly—perhaps when my cultivation deepens and my knowledge grows richer, I'll gradually uncover the secrets of this ancient technique…"

Mo Hua set aside his doubts about the Great Expansion Scripture and resumed focusing on the soul-escape of the soul-sword.

After further contemplation, he had ideas for most of the problems, and had constructed a method based on his knowledge and experience.

Now, only trial remained.

Mo Hua calmed his mind and quieted his spirit, discarded all distractions, then his gaze sharpened, and he himself became like a precious sword sheathed, concealing lethal intent.

In his soul-sea, Mo Hua raised his hands high.

The four sword arrays—Severing Gold, Splitting Mountain, Gui Water, Li Fire—revolved endlessly, converging in his palms.

A thread of Grand Void Sword Intent was also fused into them.

Because only part of the sword Dao was fused, the Soul-Cutting Sword formed with extraordinary speed.

After the Sword of Divine Decapitation took shape, its sword intent was sharp and poised to strike.

Mo Hua's eyes glowed even more brilliantly, radiating unyielding sharpness.

He extended two fingers and pressed them to his brow.

A thread of Qi connected to his consciousness sea, slowly "pulling" out his mental force.

Mo Hua clearly perceived the boundary between illusion and reality.

Using his eyes as the aperture and Qi as the guide, Mo Hua's mental sword gradually shattered the barrier between illusion and reality.

Mo Hua sensed all of this.

He carefully felt the flow and transformation of Qi and mental force within.

He continuously anchored the path, direction, and target of his Sword of Divine Decapitation's emergence, comprehending the transformation between illusion and reality in sword Dao.

Finally, the moment arrived.

In Mo Hua's eyes, light surged violently, as if condensing into a blade of radiant energy, swirling with the Five Elements and vast as Grand Void.

This blade was pulled by the Qi at Mo Hua's fingertip.

Then Mo Hua pointed his finger forward; the Qi surged, dragging the "mental sword" through the barrier of illusion and reality, transforming into a divine light that shot forth.

In the void, sword intent bloomed like glass.

A far more intense mental disturbance, in the form of sword intent, rippled outward.

Amidst the flickering divine light, the Sword of Divine Decapitation pierced the towering ancient tree before him.

Then, it seemed as if nothing had happened.

But the ancient tree suddenly shuddered.

The entire forest fell utterly silent.

The large white dog guarding the perimeter, keeping watch for Mo Hua, now had its Bai Mao standing on end.

This was the first time Mo Hua had truly drawn his Grand Void Sword of Divine Decapitation from his consciousness sea and struck the real world.

The surging, piercing sword intent, even from afar, carried a prickling pressure that made one feel as if needles were at their back.

Stunned, the large white dog was left dumbfounded.

It never imagined that Mo Hua, already so powerful, could grow even stronger.

In such a short time, he had become so formidable that the dog could barely keep up.

The large white dog secretly stared at Mo Hua, squinting its eyes.

It was now beginning to question Mo Hua's "nature."

It strongly suspected that Mo Hua was, in fact, a divine beast, merely wearing a harmless human disguise…

When the mental storm subsided,

In the forest, Mo Hua smiled brightly.

"Success!"

The Sword of Divine Decapitation had finally been slashed from his consciousness sea into reality.

From now on, his powerful mental attack, once invincible within the mental realm, could finally break the barrier between illusion and reality and be used in the real world.

But then Mo Hua looked at the towering ancient tree before him, at the invisible mental sword scar, frowned, pondered for a moment, and still felt unsatisfied.

Although he had slashed it out, the sword's power fell far short of his expectations.

The fused sword Dao had been "cut corners" on, halved in potency.

Moreover, the emergence of mental force as a blade, with sword intent radiating outward, was an extremely complex and troublesome process.

One had to break through the barrier of illusion and reality, cross the gate of the consciousness sea, borrow Qi to pull it forth, and anchor the sword's path…

During this process, the mental force suffered heavy losses.

Added to this, the sword Dao itself had already been diluted by Mo Hua.

Thus, the final power of the Sword of Divine Decapitation's emergence…

Mo Hua estimated it might be only about one-tenth of his full power within his consciousness sea.

The Sword of Divine Decapitation, so powerful within the consciousness sea, could only manifest about one-tenth of its strength in reality…

Mo Hua's emotions were complicated.

But there was no help for it.

Transforming mental force into a sword was not something he, at his realm, could possibly wield.

His realm was too low; merely managing to activate this sword was already impressive—he couldn't ask for more.

He could only continue practicing, gradually improving his mastery of "Sword of Divine Decapitation's Emergence" to maximize the Grand Void Sword of Divine Decapitation's power.

Thinking of this, Mo Hua paused.

Another doubt surfaced in his mind:

Just how potent was the "killing power" of his Sword of Divine Decapitation?

Slashing at a tree was merely for sword practice.

But the tree itself was vegetation, possessing only the most basic life, almost no mental force—equivalent to a "dead thing."

Mo Hua could not measure the killing power of his Sword of Divine Decapitation using the tree.

Because it had no mental force to kill.

To truly test the sword, he needed a "living thing."

"Living thing…"

Mo Hua looked around, then unconsciously turned toward the forest's only "living thing"—the large white dog.

The large white dog froze, instantly understanding Mo Hua's intent, and immediately widened its eyes in apparent "outrage."

It barked twice at Mo Hua: "Woof! Woof!"

The implication was: don't fail to recognize what's good for you!

Don't bite the hand that feeds you!

A person should know their own limits!

Don't come harming me, this harmless big white dog, without knowing your own strength!

Was that terrifying sword strike something just anyone could take?

Mo Hua also realized it was inappropriate, smiled apologetically, and then said: "I'll treat you to something good."

The big white dog gave a reluctant "hmph."

Mo Hua prepared to take the big white dog to the dining hall, but before leaving, he looked back at the big tree that had been struck by no small number of his sword blows, silently enduring everything yet unable to voice its grievances, and felt somewhat apologetic in his heart.

With a flick of his finger, he channeled his spiritual ink and drew several Thick Earth Arrays and a Water-Earth Array on the ground for the big tree, as compensation.

Then Mo Hua patted the big tree and said, "When I have time later, I'll draw some more for you…"

The towering ancient tree was silent, but its wounded "heart" did receive some small measure of comfort.

After that, Mo Hua took the big white dog to the dining hall.

Because it was mealtime, he also needed to eat.

In the dining hall, aromas wafted through the air, disciples bustled about in lively crowds, and Mo Hua sat side by side with the big white dog—he gnawed on a chicken leg, while the big white dog gnawed on a pork knuckle.

The man and the dog ate in almost the same manner.

After the meal, Mo Hua saw the big white dog back to the book garden, and along the way secretly slipped it a bone with a demon sealed inside.

This delighted the big white dog immensely; its tail wagged nonstop, and its big head kept nuzzling against Mo Hua's cheek.

……

After seeing off the big white dog and returning to the disciples' residence, Mo Hua was still mulling over the matter of "testing his sword."

But finding an opponent to test his sword on was not going to be easy.

He couldn't ask a person.

Otherwise, if his hand slipped and he killed someone, the trouble would be enormous.

Some criminal cultivators and demonic cultivators would do, though.

But he was currently at the sect, still had to cultivate, and it wasn't convenient to go out, let alone had the time to go through a lot of Zhou Zhe just to find a demonic cultivator to test his sword on.

After thinking it over, the only option was to find a demonic beast to test his sword on.

Humans had divine sense, and demonic beasts actually had "demonic sense."

Demonic beasts had low spiritual intelligence, and their demonic sense was not as complex as a cultivator's divine sense, but their instinctive impulses were stronger, and they were not without a certain beastly cunning and slyness.

A demonic beast's flesh, blood, and demonic power were far stronger than a cultivator's physical body and spiritual power.

But compared to a cultivator's divine sense, a demonic beast's demonic sense, in terms of pure spiritual strength, wouldn't be too far apart.

And when the demonic sense was extinguished, the demonic beast would also die.

Mo Hua nodded, having made up his mind.

Two days later, when he happened to be free, he went to the Demon Refining Mountain, intending to find a demonic beast to "test his sword" on.

(End of chapter)