Chapter 746 – Swordflow
"This… might not be a good idea..."
Ouyang Mu looked dazed.
"What's not good about it?" Mo Hua replied casually. "From now on, in Demon Refining Mountain, I've got your back."
"But… I'm a disciple of Tai'a Sect…" Ouyang Mu said quietly, glancing at Mo Hua's robe. "Senior Brother, you're from the Great Void Sect."
Mo Hua looked entirely justified.
"You're already calling me 'Senior Brother.' Whether it's Tai'a Sect or Great Void Sect—does it even matter?"
"You've got to broaden your perspective. Don't get stuck on sect labels."
"Besides, Tai'a, Great Void, and even Chongxu Sect—we all share the same ancestral roots. Go back a thousand years, and we were basically one big family. No need to be so polite."
Ouyang Mu slowly nodded. That actually… made sense.
"But, I only know how to forge and smith swords. I probably can't be of much help to you."
"Just swordsmithing is enough!" Mo Hua replied.
What he lacked most was someone to forge swords for him.
When it came to hunting demons or fighting—Mo Hua wasn't short on allies.
Within the sect, he had Cheng Mo, Situ Jian, Yang Qianjun, Hao Xuan—ready to fight at a moment's notice.
And in Demon Refining Mountain, nearly every hill was crawling with his "little junior brothers." A single whistle could summon a squad.
Not to mention—Mo Hua could fight himself.
His toolkit was stacked:
For stealth, he had concealment arts.
For defense and escape, there was the Flowing Water Step.
And for offense—he had formations, forbidden arts, and sword control.
If things got beyond Dry Heaven Province, he could even "summon" the Golden Core cultivator Uncle Gu, or use the Gu Clan's secret tokens to rally their forces.
He had plenty of fighters.
What he lacked were specialists.
Specifically: orthodox-trained, properly-inherited, innately-talented swordsmiths.
Seeing Ouyang Mu still hesitate, Mo Hua's eyes flickered slightly as he added:
"But if you're unwilling, that's fine. I wouldn't want to force you."
After all, Ouyang Mu was a Tai'a Sect disciple—and a direct descendant of the Ouyang family.
Having him hang around a Great Void Sect disciple might rub him the wrong way.
And that would be totally understandable.
"S-Senior Brother Mo… I'm sorry…"
Ouyang Mu looked ashamed.
Senior Brother Mo had been nothing but kind, and he was turning him down…
"No worries," Mo Hua smiled. "If you don't want to tag along, that's fine. We'll keep it professional. You forge swords for me, and I'll pay you in merit points."
Ouyang Mu froze, clearly conflicted.
Mo Hua had a hunch and asked, "You're worried your father won't let you forge swords?"
Ouyang Mu nodded.
"But you still need merit points, right?"
"Yes…"
"Does your father give you merit points?"
Ouyang Mu shook his head. "No. Tai'a Sect has rules. And our Ouyang clan has strict ones too—within the sect, we must rely on ourselves. No using family influence or connections. Even merit points must be earned bit by bit."
"So aside from forging swords, do you have any other way to earn merit points?"
Ouyang Mu racked his brain, then had to admit—nope, nothing else.
"There we go." Mo Hua shrugged. "If your father won't give you merit, and you have to earn it yourself, then swordsmithing is your only option."
"Besides, whether you study swordsmithing or sword arts—that's all future stuff. What matters now is stacking merit and cultivating properly."
"No present, no future. Simple as that."
"So for now, just focus on forging swords. Don't think about anything else."
Ouyang Mu couldn't help but nod again.
Mo Hua saw the opening and gave him a little more "gentle pressure," solemnly adding:
"Also, think carefully—across all of Dry Heaven Province, there are tons of swordsmiths. You're not the only one."
"To practice your craft, you'll need lots of beast materials."
"But someone like me—who can provide a steady supply of materials, commission you to forge swords, and pay you in merit? That's a rare opportunity."
"Miss this, and you might never get another shot."
The moment Mo Hua said that, Ouyang Mu tensed.
Sect missions were competitive.
He already struggled to grab any.
Outside of sect training, chances to forge swords were extremely rare.
And doing it solo? The cost in materials alone was enormous.
Ouyang Mu still remembered how much effort it took just to get that single Fire Demon Wolf Spine for his forging.
And even then, he hadn't gotten it on his own—it was Senior Brother Mo who had someone kill the wolf, strip the spine, and gift it to him.
If he turned this down now, he might never get another such opportunity again.
Ouyang Mu quickly nodded, over and over:
"Senior Brother Mo, if you're willing to overlook my lack of skill—any sword you want forged, you can come to me. I'll give it my all!"
"Great!" Mo Hua nodded in satisfaction.
After thinking it over, he said, "I'll give you the materials. Forge another six or seven of that golden spiritual sword we just made. Then I'll consider designing some other swords."
"Got it, Senior Brother Mo!"
Then Mo Hua retrieved the hawk demon he had just shredded in the sky and gave its materials to Ouyang Mu.
He told him to head to the sect gates and exchange some of it for merit—keep it for now.
The poor kid barely had 300 merit points.
Without a little support, he probably couldn't even afford the entry fee into Demon Refining Mountain…
Ouyang Mu was flustered by the kindness, but too broke to refuse.
In his heart, he solemnly swore to repay Senior Brother Mo with all his forging efforts.
After leaving Demon Refining Mountain, the two walked side by side back to the sect.
Since Tai'a Mountain and Great Void Mountain were adjacent, they shared the same road.
As they walked, Mo Hua suddenly asked:
"Little Blockhead, how old are you?"
Ouyang Mu thought for a moment and replied, "I was born in the Dao Calendar, year 20,012, in the third month."
Mo Hua was surprised.
They were the same age.
In fact, Ouyang Mu was slightly older.
Technically speaking, Mo Hua should be calling him "Senior Brother."
But Ouyang Mu seemed used to calling him "Senior Brother Mo."
This kind of detail wasn't worth fussing over.
Plenty of older disciples in Great Void Sect still called Mo Hua "Little Senior Brother."
The two chatted idly as they walked.
When they reached the sect gates, they went their separate ways.
Mo Hua returned to Great Void Sect, while Ouyang Mu went back to Tai'a Sect.
Tai'a Mountain had a grand, heavy, and solemn aura—not like the light and serene style of Great Void Sect.
Every path, every tile and brick gave off the air of craftsmanship.
Ouyang Mu kept his head down, quietly walking back to his disciple residence.
Along the way, he didn't greet anyone.
Naturally, no one greeted him either.
In Tai'a Sect, he was usually a loner.
He had gotten used to it.
Back in his residence, Ouyang Mu shut the door, sat alone in the room, and pulled out the sword blueprint Mo Hua had given him.
As he studied it repeatedly, he made notes and thought about how to improve the sword according to Senior Brother Mo's preferences.
As he thought, an image flashed in his mind:
Mo Hua, in broad daylight, wielding the sword with a flash of golden light, tearing the sky apart and slicing the demon hawk to shreds.
Senior Brother Mo's sword control technique—so strong!
So strong.
He was at a loss for better words. All he could say, over and over, was—so strong.
Even though Senior Brother Mo didn't look particularly gifted, this sword technique was far beyond any same-generation disciple he'd seen.
Ouyang Mu felt a surge of hot-blooded excitement.
That powerful sword technique… had used a sword he had forged!
And Senior Brother Mo had praised him!
Ouyang Mu couldn't help but think—
If I can forge even better swords, with higher quality… would that sword technique become even more powerful?
Just how powerful could it get?
He couldn't stop thinking about it—his heart full of anticipation.
...
Afterward, Ouyang Mu became even more enthusiastic about forging swords.
By nature, he was diligent and responsible—and since swordsmithing was his genuine passion, he now focused on crafting spiritual swords with single-minded devotion.
By the next rest period (ten-day break), he had forged another three swords.
"Because I still need to cultivate and attend classes, I could only forge during my free time… So I only managed to make three," Ouyang Mu explained to Mo Hua.
"That's totally fine! You're doing great already."
Mo Hua encouraged him warmly.
Over this period of time, Mo Hua had come to realize that Little Blockhead's talent for swordsmithing was actually exceptional—he just lacked confidence.
And because of the shortage of forging materials—and his father pressuring him to abandon forging for sword arts—his mind was constantly tied in knots, making it hard for him to fully commit.
"Don't worry about it. Just focus on learning swordsmithing," Mo Hua said. "If you need materials, just tell me. And if you ever come up with new ideas or approaches, feel free to discuss them with me."
Mo Hua had decided to cultivate Little Blockhead's unique and unorthodox forging style.
After all, his own situation was anything but ordinary.
Whether it was custom-made artifacts or forged swords, his requirements didn't follow the standard rules of crafting.
If Little Blockhead could be relied upon, then Mo Hua wouldn't have to worry about forging ever again—he could focus entirely on formations.
He would research formation theories and design formation diagrams.
Little Blockhead would work on crafting blueprints and schematics.
And then the products of their joint research could be passed to Master Gu at the Forging Pavilion in Lone Mountain for mass production.
A perfect division of labor, where each could focus on their strengths.
Mo Hua looked at Ouyang Mu, full of hope.
Ouyang Mu didn't fully understand, but somehow… he suddenly felt the weight of a great responsibility settle on his shoulders.
"Alright, Senior Brother Mo."
After that, Little Blockhead improved rapidly.
Mo Hua began letting go, little by little.
Not only did he have him forge spiritual swords—he even began giving him custom artifacts to handle. Mo Hua would explain the concept and the matching formation, then hand it over for Little Blockhead to design the crafting schematic.
Ouyang Mu would then carefully design it, review it with Mo Hua to resolve any formation issues, and finalize the crafting diagram.
Mo Hua took this finished schematic to Master Gu, who was thoroughly impressed.
"This crafting diagram—elegant in design, practical in execution. With my level of skill, there's almost nothing to criticize…"
After a moment of thought, Master Gu asked, "This… wasn't created by Young Master yourself, was it?"
He was well aware of Mo Hua's abilities.
When it came to formations—Mo Hua was an unfathomable genius.
But in crafting, while he had clever ideas and surprising innovations, his foundations were shaky. He'd often make elementary mistakes.
Mo Hua nodded, "I asked a junior brother from a swordsmithing clan to design it for me."
Master Gu blinked, then praised, "No wonder. This junior brother of yours clearly has deep roots and strong family heritage."
Mo Hua nodded in agreement.
"Yes."
Later, the artifacts designed by Ouyang Mu were handed to Master Gu for mass production.
Once they were crafted, Mo Hua tested them himself—and they passed with flying colors.
The next time they entered Demon Refining Mountain, Mo Hua brought Ouyang Mu along to the Great Void Sect's mountain stronghold and introduced him to his group of "junior brothers."
Mo Hua made the introductions:
"This junior brother's surname is Ouyang—given name, just the character Mu. He's from Tai'a Sect, and he's an excellent swordsmith. From now on, in Demon Refining Mountain, please take care of him."
Tai'a Sect?
The Great Void Sect disciples looked puzzled.
How did a Tai'a Sect disciple end up tagging along with their Little Senior Brother?
But then again—Little Senior Brother always had his reasons.
If he said to look after someone, then they would.
Besides, Tai'a and Great Void had ancestral ties. There was no harm in a little inter-sect friendship. No one felt any hostility.
The Great Void disciples all cupped their fists.
"Greetings, Junior Brother Ouyang!"
Within the sects, seniority was first based on generation.
An upper generation was automatically senior brother or sister; lower generation, junior.
Among the same generation, age usually determined the titles.
Ouyang Mu was skinny and looked quite young, so they all called him Junior Brother.
Ouyang Mu's tanned and quiet face turned bright red, and he stammered:
"G-Greetings, everyone…"
He had never been stared at by so many people at once.
And he had definitely never been called "Junior Brother" by this many folks all at once.
He was a bit flustered.
Mo Hua added, "If any of your spiritual artifacts break and need repairs in the future, you can go to Junior Brother Ouyang."
"Got it!"
The Great Void disciples all replied in unison.
Most of them had inherited or custom-made spiritual artifacts—typically bought from the Gu family's commercial pavilion in Great Void City, which had been "Little Senior Brother Approved™."
But when those artifacts broke, repairing them was a hassle.
Especially spiritual swords—repairs were costly and time-consuming.
If they had a professional swordsmith handling it? That would be a dream.
This meet-and-greet with Little Blockhead was basically Mo Hua's way of "bringing him into the fold."
With that, his first goal was accomplished.
Mo Hua waved his hand and said, "It's getting late—time to go hunt some demons."
"Yes, Little Senior Brother!"
Some disciples dispersed.
Others had questions and gathered around Mo Hua:
"Little Senior Brother, I'm still not sure how to use that demon-hunting formation you taught yesterday. Don't I trigger it with divine sense?"
"Is my divine sense too weak? I can't seem to control it…"
"Little Senior Brother, could you teach me how to kill black bear fiends?"
"I want to forge a pair of meteor hammers—using bear paws as the heads."
"Little Senior Brother, is there a robe that can counter earth-element demon power? Or maybe a custom weapon that pierces armor? I asked at the Gu Pavilion—they didn't know either…"
"Little Senior Brother, we're going to slay a Gold-Coin Python later. Its blood is pretty rare—should we save it for you?"
…
Mo Hua answered them all with genuine patience and care.
Mo Hua answered each question with full attention and care.
The disciples, satisfied with his replies, gradually dispersed.
Standing to the side, Ouyang Mu watched with a growing sense of awe.
Only now did he realize—Senior Brother Mo's status within the Great Void Sect was far higher than he had ever imagined.
Even his own older brother—who was exceptionally gifted, graceful, and highly respected among his peers in the Tai'a Sect—didn't have this kind of influence...
He glanced at Mo Hua, who stood there with clear eyes, a calm and approachable demeanor, no airs whatsoever—just like a simple, pure-hearted youth—and felt a little dazed.
"What's wrong?" Mo Hua asked.
Ouyang Mu smiled. "Oh… nothing."
In the days that followed, Ouyang Mu became even more dedicated.
Under his guidance, Mo Hua's spiritual sword underwent several rounds of optimization.
Each refinement made the sword slightly more powerful.
But eventually, the quality of the sword reached a certain upper limit.
And so did the power of Mo Hua's sword control.
"Senior Brother Mo," Ouyang Mu said, "using first-grade low-tier beast materials, paired with a fixed sword formation and a specific blade design, the sword's power has basically hit its cap…"
"To push further, we'd need materials from at least second-grade mid-tier demon beasts."
"But those materials are difficult to smelt. With my current cultivation, I can't handle them yet…"
"Then there's the sword formation itself…"
After spending so much time with Mo Hua, Ouyang Mu had figured out the core principle behind Mo Hua's sword control—it was a little clever... and frankly, a little cheeky.
Still, he had to admit: in Mo Hua's unfathomable hands, it was terrifyingly effective.
"This style of sword control," Ouyang Mu said, "ultimately depends on the sword formation. The stronger the formation, the stronger the sword."
"Oh right, Senior Brother Mo—" he looked up and asked, "is your family's sword formation only metal-element based?"
"Family's sword formation?" Mo Hua blinked in confusion.
Ouyang Mu tilted his head. "Didn't you tell me that?"
"Oh… right!"
Mo Hua nearly forgot.
He'd told Little Blockhead that the Severing Gold Sword Formation on his sword was a "family-inherited metal-element sword formation."
Ouyang Mu was pure-hearted. Mo Hua had said it—so he believed it.
"Yes, yes, absolutely. It's from my family," Mo Hua repeated with a straight face. "And, uh, that's the only one we've passed down so far."
Whether more sword formations would be "passed down" in the future… depended on whether other sects or families were generous enough to deliver them to him.
Ouyang Mu looked a bit disappointed. "If we had other sword formations, we could try multi-element and multi-style spiritual swords."
Mo Hua sighed.
True…
Then his eyes lit up. "Is it possible to not use sword formations at all?"
"Not use sword formations?" Ouyang Mu asked, surprised.
"Yeah, like, use other formations—like killing arrays or something," Mo Hua suggested.
Ouyang Mu shook his head. "That won't work. Not every formation can just be thrown into a sword."
"Sword formations are special. I'm no formation expert, but from a crafting perspective, sword formations are the most compatible with sword-type artifacts."
"And sword artifacts can also unleash the full potential of sword formations."
"Other formations just don't work as well inside a spiritual sword. Even if you use sword control, the power you get is barely anything."
"If you really want to use another kind of formation… you'd have to convert it into a sword formation first."
Mo Hua froze—then blurted out in shock:
"Convert it into a sword formation?! Formations can be converted into sword formations?!"
Ouyang Mu flinched a little at Mo Hua's outburst and suddenly felt unsure. He knew Mo Hua was a top-notch formation master, so when it came to anything formation-related, he chose his words very carefully:
"Well… I'm not sure," he said quietly. "I just overheard it once… from my dad, and an elder in the sect during a casual chat. I don't know if it's true or not…"
"It's also possible… that I heard wrong…"
Mo Hua narrowed his eyes and fell into deep thought.
Little Blockhead didn't lie.
And what he said… actually made sense.
When he thought back to the Severing Gold Sword Formation, Mo Hua realized—its "sword patterns" looked exactly like a transformed version of certain metal-element formation patterns.
Sword patterns… were transformed formation patterns.
Sword formations… were transformed formations!
Now it all clicked.
Mo Hua had always been puzzled—when Elder Xun explained the categories of formations, they covered everything from Yin-Yang, the Three Talents, Four Symbols, up to Seven Stars and Eight Trigrams.
But none of those included sword formations.
And yet, sword formations were clearly a specialized branch of formation theory. They couldn't be cleanly slotted into any of those main categories.
But if sword formations were "transformed" or "variant" formations—that would explain everything.
Variant formations wouldn't conflict with the major types—they'd interlace with them.
So theoretically, any formation from Yin-Yang to Eight Trigrams could be altered via pattern transformation… and turned into a sword formation.
A Groundfire Formation could become a Groundfire Sword Formation.
A Groundslaughter Formation could become a Groundslaughter Sword Formation.
…
Of course, saying it was easy—actually doing it would be insanely difficult.
Otherwise, sword formations wouldn't be the tightly guarded, core inheritance of sword-cultivator clans.
From Mo Hua's formation experience, to perform that kind of standardized pattern transformation—to convert a regular pattern into a sword pattern—would involve the most arcane and obscure theories in all of formation study.
"What kind of formation theory would that involve…?"
Mo Hua racked his brain, digging through everything he'd learned—until suddenly, a term surfaced:
Formation Flow!
Sword Dao Formation Flow?!
Formation flow was tied to the origin of formation theory—it touched the essence of all formations.
If someone could comprehend the origin of the Dao, and master a specific sword dao formation flow… then through pattern transformations, they could turn any worldly formation into a sword formation?
Mo Hua's heart trembled.
If this assumption was correct, then…
His thoughts spun faster and faster.
What if he took the principles of the Reverse Spirit Array or spiritual power fission, and applied them to formation design—then used the Sword Dao Formation Flow to perform the transformation into a sword formation?
Wouldn't that give him…
Spirit Disintegration Sword Formation
and
Spirit Fusion Sword Formation?!
(End of Chapter)