Chapter 988: Third Grade

After entering the Monster Refining Mountain and passing through the mountain gate, he walked straight up the mountain. After only a few steps, Mo Hua suddenly stopped and called out toward the forest beside him:

"Elder Xun."

After a while, Elder Xun slowly walked out from among the verdant Lin Mu.

Mo Hua thought it was just as he expected, so he bowed and said with a smile:

"Elder Xun, I'm going up the mountain to cultivate a small technique. It's nothing major, so I won't trouble you to follow me."

Severing God Sword out of the body was considered a higher-end application of the Divine Sense Sword Transformation True Art.

And the Grand Void Divine Sense Sword Transformation True Art was a forbidden sword art of the Grand Void Gate.

When the Ancestor Dugu transmitted it to Mo Hua, he strictly forbade him from telling anyone.

Mo Hua also found it rather inconvenient to let Elder Xun Ziyou see it.

Elder Xun Ziyou thought for a moment and immediately understood.

What Mo Hua wanted to cultivate should be some rather secretive inheritances.

Either formations, or Daoist arts, or body techniques of some sort…

These inheritances were presumably taught to him by the Laozu Sect.

And given the Laozu's favoritism toward Mo Hua, and Mo Hua's own extraordinary aptitude, the techniques transmitted must be no trivial matter; it truly wasn't convenient for him to peek.

Elder Xun Ziyou guessed correctly.

Only what he hadn't anticipated was that the "Laozu" was indeed a Laozu, but not the "Laozu" he had in mind.

Elder Xun Ziyou confirmed once more, "Are you really alright?"

Mo Hua nodded, "Mm, leave it to me, don't worry."

Elder Xun Ziyou thought about it and figured it made sense. In the sealed solitary mountain tomb, mingling with so many late-stage Jin Dan demonic cultivators, Mo Hua had handled it with ease; let alone here, under the broad daylight of Monster Refining Mountain.

"Alright." Elder Xun Ziyou nodded, "I'll be drinking tea at the mountain gate. If anything comes up, use the Grand Void Token to tell me."

"Mm, thank you, Elder Xun." Mo Hua cupped his hands in salute.

Elder Xun Ziyou waved his hand, "Go cultivate on your own, I won't disturb you."

Since Mo Hua didn't want him following, he was happy to have some leisure.

Anyway, he was just drinking tea at the mountain gate; if Mo Hua ran into anything, he could rush over immediately.

After speaking, Elder Xun Ziyou turned around and walked down the mountain.

But as he walked, his steps suddenly paused slightly, and a doubt arose in his heart:

"How did this child Mo Hua know that I was hiding in that patch of forest?"

Guessed?

If guessed, that would be normal. After all, this child had seven orifices in one heart, was excessively clever, and he himself often followed Mo Hua, so Mo Hua should be able to guess.

But if guessed, it was unlikely he could guess so accurately, directly pinpointing the exact spot where he was hiding…

Could it be… he sensed it?

Elder Xun Ziyou's heart skipped a beat.

He himself was late-stage Jin Dan, and having learned from past mistakes, his experience "tailing" Mo Hua was already rich enough, and he was careful enough; his aura was all concealed away…

Even so, he could be sensed?

That's not that uncanny, is it…

Elder Xun Ziyou's brows furrowed tightly.

……

On the other side, Mo Hua had already arrived inside Monster Refining Mountain.

He needed to pick a demonic beast to "test his sword" on.

Demonic beasts had tough flesh, deep demonic power, were greedy and bloodthirsty, and were generally a small realm stronger than cultivators.

Therefore, the realm of this demonic beast was best at mid second grade.

Late second grade would be a bit tough, but barely acceptable.

As for third grade…

Mo Hua temporarily didn't consider it.

Third grade was a Jin Dan realm demonic beast, with terrifyingly thick blood qi and demonic power as solid as substance; he was simply no match.

Moreover, Mo Hua didn't even have the interest to Call Ziyou with a third grade demonic beast.

Because there was no point at all.

With even the slightest carelessness, if a Jin Dan demonic beast swatted him—even just a light touch—he estimated his life would be over.

Besides, Mo Hua wasn't sure whether his Severing God Sword leaving the body could injure a third grade demonic beast.

If he could, at full strength, release the complete might of the Severing God Sword—fused with the Five Elements Sword Formation, the Grand Void Sword Intent, and the Supreme Severing of Emotion—at a hundred percent without any loss, Mo Hua would be confident he could slash the demonic consciousness of a third grade demonic beast to death.

But right now, using his eyes as orifices and spiritual power as a guide, he broke through the wall of void and solid, and the Divine Sense Sword released outward had only one-tenth of its power.

Then he had no confidence.

With one-tenth of the power, what more could one ask for?

Therefore, finding a mid second grade one to test the sword on was best; even if he couldn't kill it, he could still escape, and there'd be no pressure at all.

Mo Hua made up his mind, then wandered around the mountain.

Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he'd come to Monster Refining Mountain to hunt demons; the surroundings felt both familiar and slightly strange.

But as he wandered, Mo Hua sensed something was off.

The demonic beasts in Monster Refining Mountain seemed to have decreased a lot.

The entire mountain had become much quieter.

He had walked several li and hadn't even seen the shadow of a single demonic beast.

Mo Hua frowned, "Where are the demonic beasts?"

"Killed clean?"

"Who did it?"

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then slowly realized—it was…

his Grand Void Gate's junior brothers who killed them…

They were still using their own "Demon Beast Hunting Guide," employing their own prescribed hunting formation, wearing their own designed demon-hunting armor, and wielding the demonic hunting artifacts custom-made for them by Master Gu, to kill these demonic beasts…

Their coordination was seamless; "Dao-Bing" hunting was naturally efficient, and they killed quickly.

But it shouldn't have been this fast.

The reason they killed so fast was most likely because the three sects had merged.

The Grand Void Gate, the Tai'e Gate, and the Chongxu Gate had merged into one, expanding their disciples by more than threefold.

The number of Mo Hua's junior brothers naturally expanded too.

The three sects became one, sharing the same breath and roots.

The disciples of the Tai'e Gate and Chongxu Gate also called Mo Hua "Junior Brother," and followed his set of "Demon Beast Hunting Process."

It was as if, originally, there had been one "Dao-Bing" squad—now there were three.

The hunting speed naturally increased.

And it wasn't just that…

Mo Hua was now in his eighth year at the Grand Void Gate, already a Foundation Establishment late-stage disciple.

Ahead of him were two newer cohorts of disciples.

These disciples were all imitating him, following the "Demon Beast Hunting Process" established by "Senior Brother Mo," and entering the mountains to hunt demonic beasts.

Thus, the number of hunters grew even larger…

Mo Hua shuddered just thinking about it.

Lianyao Mountain was vast, and the demonic beasts numerous—it wouldn't truly be wiped out, but at least this stretch of mountain under the Grand Void Gate could no longer sustain his group of junior brothers.

And demonic beasts weren't fools.

Once "Dao-Bing" hunting became established, the demonic beasts themselves fled to other mountains.

As a result, the Grand Void Gate's "territory" had even fewer demonic beasts left.

"Not even leaving me a little…"

Mo Hua gazed at the empty mountain peak and sighed.

He also realized this couldn't continue.

Killing this brutally would one day wipe out Lianyao Mountain entirely.

"I must find a way to return and establish rules to ensure the sustainable reproduction of Lianyao Mountain's demonic beasts…"

Mo Hua silently thought to himself.

Otherwise, before he arrived, Lianyao Mountain was fine.

After he arrived, the entire mountain's demonic beasts were wiped out.

Wouldn't that make him seem like a "cursed star"?

No, no…

Mo Hua shook his head repeatedly.

Afterwards, he continued searching for demonic beasts.

But after wandering nearby for a while, he found no suitable targets. Occasionally he spotted a few, but they were too weak—barely worth drawing his sword.

Mo Hua had no choice but to walk slightly deeper into Lianyao Mountain.

The demonic beasts deeper inside should be more numerous.

Leaving the Grand Void Gate's mountain peak and walking further inward, the terrain grew steep, the forest dark and gloomy, the miasma thick—and indeed, demonic beasts became more numerous.

Not long after, Mo Hua encountered a Yellow Weasel Demon.

Second-rank mid-stage, its fur deep yellow, it surged forward with gale-force speed; though a weasel demon, its body stood as tall as a man.

The demon, spotting Mo Hua alone, twitched its nose, sniffing fresh human scent, and without hesitation, lunged to kill.

Demonic beasts never hesitated to devour humans.

Mo Hua summoned a fireball spell and clashed with the Yellow Weasel Demon.

Their figures interwove, yellow winds and fireballs howling, they battled for dozens of rounds, and Mo Hua slowly furrowed his brow.

Fighting this Yellow Weasel Demon, he realized a problem.

The real world is not like the mental sea.

In the mental sea, combat is a naked clash of spiritual awareness—each killing technique directly harms the spiritual awareness, even the soul.

But in reality, a person's spiritual awareness resides within the mental sea.

A demon's demonic awareness likewise resides within its cranial sea.

This is a limitation—and also a protection.

Mo Hua's spiritual awareness has not yet grown strong enough to pierce through flesh and bone to harm the inner spiritual awareness or demonic awareness of cultivators or demons.

At least, not yet.

The only way remains the eyes.

The spiritual awareness transformed into a sword must exit through Mo Hua's eyes and enter through the eyes of another cultivator or demon to harm its inner awareness.

He must look into the demon's eyes.

The demon must look into his eyes.

Only then would the Soul-Cleaving Sword's exit be effective.

This was the problem Mo Hua only realized during actual combat with the yellow weasel rat demon.

But the issue was, this yellow weasel rat demon, though large in size, had tiny eyes.

Blood-red, elongated eyes, like cat's-eye stones, lined both sides of the rat demon's skull.

Mo Hua found it hard to lock eyes with it.

Added to that, the yellow weasel rat demon moved swiftly, dashing left and right, stirring up vast yellow winds and rolling dust that obscured vision—Mo Hua could barely catch sight of its eyes.

Without seeing its eyes, the Soul-Severing Sword could not pierce through flesh and blood to sever its soul.

He thus could not use this yellow weasel rat demon to "test his sword."

After another dozens of rounds, the yellow weasel rat demon's tiny eyes still gave Mo Hua not the slightest opening.

Mo Hua, helplessly, had to give up.

Although this mid-stage second-rank rat demon, if he truly wished to kill it, could be slain with some effort.

But that would take too much time.

He entered the mountains to test his sword, not to hunt demons.

Moreover, this was the Demon Refining Mountain—prolonged combat would create too much commotion and easily attract other beast demons, plunging him into trouble.

Mo Hua cast one last glance at the yellow weasel rat demon, then his form flashed and dissolved into mist, vanishing outright.

At this moment, the yellow weasel rat demon did not know that its tiny eyes had saved it.

Seeing Mo Hua dissolve into mist and vanish without a trace,

the yellow weasel rat demon froze in shock, then roared in fury.

It pressed its nose to the ground, sniffing for a long while, until at last it caught a trace of delicious scent.

The yellow weasel rat demon's greed stirred, yet its movements hesitated.

Though its intellect was weak, its instincts were sharp—it had sensed, after nearly a hundred rounds of combat, that this human boy was unlike ordinary cultivators.

He seemed to have no real skill, fighting only with fireball spells, yet he carried a chilling aura.

The yellow weasel rat demon bared its fangs, but ultimately dared not chase; it shifted its body, burrowed into the earth, and fled in another direction.

In the forest on the other side, Mo Hua continued searching for beast demons.

Later, he encountered several more: wolf demons, dog demons, snake demons, bear demons, all ranging from mid- to late-stage second-rank.

But none of them allowed him to properly test his sword.

Beast demons, unlike humans, varied in species and had grotesque, irregular forms.

These beast demons either had crooked eyes, slanted eyes, squinting eyes, tiny eyes, or single eyes… none offered a clear gaze to lock onto.

One even had no eyes at all, which infuriated Mo Hua greatly.

Added to that, all these beast demons were agile and moved deceptively.

After much exertion, Mo Hua had not swung a single blade.

Worse still, because he had provoked too many beast demons, he stirred up chaos.

Many beast demons, eager to devour him, began fighting each other.

But Mo Hua's movement was too nimble—they could not catch him, so they turned on each other and began fighting among themselves.

Beast demons had low intellect and fierce aggression; once blood was drawn in mutual combat, their savagery could no longer be restrained, and they tore at each other.

The small forest erupted into utter chaos.

Demon aura raged, roars shook the mountains, and the disturbances spread outward.

Even Elder Xun Ziyou, seated at the mountain gate, heard the rising and falling howls of beast demons.

Elder Xun Ziyou sipped his tea leisurely, not paying much attention.

This was the Demon Refining Mountain—where clustered beast demons and demon-hunting disciples coexisted; occasional beast roars echoed from the forests, nothing unusual.

Elder Xun Ziyou was accustomed to it, dismissing it—until suddenly, his heart skipped.

Because he realized today was different from usual.

Today, Mo Hua had climbed the mountain!

Anything out of the ordinary must be a sign of trouble.

Mo Hua was that "trouble."

Wherever he went, something was bound to go wrong.

Elder Xun Ziyou was Mo Hua's "bodyguard"—he knew this well.

The forest was quiet, yet the beast roars continued.

Elder Xun Ziyou's heart tightened; his fine tea lost its flavor.

Though this commotion seemed minor, anything tied to Mo Hua was rarely simple.

After much hesitation, Elder Xun Ziyou set down his teacup: "No, I must go see."

He could not drink this tea anymore.

Going to check—even if nothing was wrong—would at least ease his mind.

Elder Xun Ziyou gathered his sleeves and rose; his form flickered, transforming into a blade of light, riding atop the treetops as he swiftly vanished toward the Demon Refining Mountain.

Halfway there, he suppressed his aura and activated a concealment spirit artifact, silently weaving through the forest, drawing closer to the hill where the beast demons raged.

Arriving at the hill's edge, he saw clearly: a dense mass of wolves, jackals, tigers, and leopards, locked in fierce combat, blood pooling across the ground.

Elder Xun Ziyou's gaze sharpened; he scanned the surroundings, and finally spotted Mo Hua atop a large tree.

At that moment, Mo Hua sat astride a thick tree branch, watching the spectacle.

Below, the beast demons fought brutally; above, he appeared calm and relaxed.

Elder Xun Ziyou exhaled in relief, yet also felt speechless.

He knew—this chaos was definitely Mo Hua's doing.

Now the beast beasts are bleeding from head to wound, yet he sits back and watches the tiger fight.

Elder Xun Ziyou shook his head.

But since he had come, he couldn't just leave like this.

Elder Xun Ziyou said nothing and revealed no trace, remaining hidden nearby.

But then he reconsidered, feeling this distance was a bit unsafe—might be detected by Mo Hua—so he silently moved farther away.

On the tree, Mo Hua stared down at the chaotic beasts, feeling equally helpless.

He didn't want to make such a commotion, but he had no choice—these beasts refused to cooperate.

If only one beast had big eyes and calmly stared back at him for a while, he'd have already tested his sword and never caused such a ruckus.

"First, watch and wait. Then, when one beast is wounded, trap it with the array and force it to look into my eyes…"

Mo Hua pondered a moment, realizing this was the only option.

So he sat atop the tree, quietly watching the beasts slaughter each other, waiting for the chaos to subside before acting.

But before the commotion could calm, a far stronger aura of beastly energy surged from afar.

Mo Hua's expression changed.

Even Elder Xun Ziyou, far away, narrowed his eyes.

"Third grade… beast?"

Before either could think further, mere breaths passed—and a whirlwind of black sand surged forth, stones and dust flying, the stench of blood thick enough to chill the marrow.

All earth and wood nearby were ripped backward.

From the black smoke, a mountain-sized figure slowly emerged.

Sharp snout, fanged jaws, eyes like lanterns, pupils like bronze bells, skin black, hard as iron, bristling with spine-like hairs.

Its blood aura was like a river.

Stunning beastly power surged and pounded within its body.

It was unmistakably a third-grade Jin Dan beast—a black boar!

A third-grade black boar was near the top of the power hierarchy among the nearby peaks of Lianyao Mountain.

Especially a boar with thick bloodline—its hide was tough, its body mountainous, capable of devouring nearly any mid- to late-stage second-grade beast.

As black mist rolled, the moment the third-grade black boar appeared, the previously chaotic forest fell utterly still.

The second-grade beasts, once fighting each other, now trembled in terror, limbs shaking, fleeing in panic.

Those slowest in movement were crushed beneath the boar's feet in an instant, bitten clean in half.

A second-grade bear beast, relying on its massive frame, tried to resist—but one glance, and the boar's tusks pierced its chest, hurling it violently to the ground.

Then the tusks slid downward, instantly disemboweling the bear.

A few other beasts failed to escape, one by one seized and crushed by the black boar's jaws, bones shattered, flesh torn to pulp.

The once chaotic forest fell utterly silent within mere breaths.

Most of the chaotic beasts were now corpses.

Only the crunching of bone and meat, and the stench-laden breathing, echoed eerily through the woods.

Mo Hua sat atop the tree, not daring to breathe.

This was the first time he had ever seen a third-grade Jin Dan beast up close—and such a massive one. Merely looking filled him with overwhelming pressure, let alone the thick beastly power, the reeking blood aura, and the brutal killing intent…

Mo Hua's back grew slightly cold.

"What now?"

"Run?"

Mo Hua thought and thought—he saw only one option. He had no intention of risking a fight with this mountain-sized third-grade boar.

Too dangerous.

Mo Hua made up his mind and slowly rose.

But the moment he moved, the black boar below halted its chewing. Its red eyes flickered.

Mo Hua froze—alarm flared in his heart.

"No good!"

He immediately leapt away from the tree.

The next instant, the tree beneath him split cleanly in two.

The black boar had merely brushed against it—its unmatched beastly power cleaved the tree straight down the middle, wood chips flying as the trunk collapsed to the ground.

This third-grade boar was extraordinarily alert, with an uncanny sense of human scent.

Its craving for human flesh seemed especially intense.

Seeing Mo Hua leap away, the black boar roared—a mountainous form charged forward like a tidal wave.

All large trees along its path shattered like grass seedlings.

Mo Hua gritted his teeth and pushed his body to its limit, fleeing as fast as he could.

The black boar, eyes like bronze bells, fierce and cruel, whipped up beastly winds and rolling black mist, relentlessly chasing Mo Hua…

(End of Chapter)