Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 893: Arrays and Sword

Mo Hua felt a little embarrassed by Ancestor Dugu's praise.

He was well aware of his own talents—or lack thereof—when it came to swordsmanship.

But Ancestor Dugu remained calm and said,

"If I'm not mistaken… you've already learned the Sword Manifestation Technique, haven't you?"

Mo Hua's heart tightened. He glanced up at the ancestor and saw that his face was still as a withered grave—deep and unfathomable, unreadable in expression—which made Mo Hua feel uneasy.

But he didn't dare lie. He replied softly:

"Just a little bit…"

"How did you learn it?" Ancestor Dugu asked.

"Senior Xuan's broken sword… had traces of karmic cause and effect. I sensed it by accident… and gained a small insight…" Mo Hua admitted.

Ancestor Dugu's eyelid twitched.

Cause and effect?

He could perceive karma at the Foundation Establishment stage?

"Only the Sword Manifestation Technique?" Ancestor Dugu pressed further.

Mo Hua answered honestly,

"I've also learned a little of the Divine Dread Sword…"

Ancestor Dugu's expression didn't change, but a storm surged within him.

He had sensed faint traces that Mo Hua might've dabbled in Divine Sense Sword Manifestation, but he hadn't imagined the boy learned it this way…

Perceiving karma, tracing back sword arts, and learning Divine Sense Sword Manifestation?

That's something Foundation cultivators shouldn't be able to do!

Ancestor Dugu frowned.

"You've studied the arts of fate and karma?"

Mo Hua shook his head.

"No… just sometimes, I can sense a little of it."

And that wasn't a lie.

He had never formally learned orthodox karmic arts.

What he had studied were Heavenly Deduction and Heavenly Trickery—both techniques of divine sense deduction, more aligned with formation arts or divine sense cultivation.

Ancestor Dugu nodded slightly, secretly amazed.

He hadn't learned the karmic arts, yet could occasionally sense karma—most likely due to his strong divine sense and profound formation knowledge.

"You won first place in the Formation Symposium?" Dugu asked again.

"Mm." Mo Hua nodded.

That part wasn't worth hiding—all of Great Void Sect already knew.

Ancestor Dugu was silent for a long while. Then he sighed inwardly:

"Once again… I've underestimated him."

Never judge a person by their appearance.

This boy, so young, yet possessed a shocking mastery of formations… and an unusually twisted, genius talent.

But this also happened to be…

A flicker of hope flashed in Ancestor Dugu's eyes.

"Perhaps… there's really a chance…"

Mo Hua stole a glance at the ancestor, feeling uneasy, unsure if the elder was angry with him.

It wasn't that he'd meant to keep secrets.

It was just… he had too many secrets, and pulling on one thread might unravel everything—so unless necessary, he preferred not to speak at all.

Ancestor Dugu stared at Mo Hua for a while, but didn't press further. After a pause, he spoke slowly:

"I will teach you a sword technique."

Mo Hua let out a quiet sigh of relief—but then blinked in confusion:

"Ancestor, haven't you always been teaching me sword techniques?"

"This time is different," Dugu said seriously.

"Ordinary sword cultivators learn from shallow to deep—sword stances, sword qi, sword intent, then Divine Sense Sword Manifestation."

"But you don't need to learn like that. Learning basic forms you're not good at will just waste your time and slow you down."

"You need a different approach."

Mo Hua was stunned.

"A different approach?"

Ancestor Dugu nodded.

"Enter the Sword Dao—through the Dao of Arrays!"

"Enter the Sword Dao… through Arrays…" Mo Hua's heart trembled. He then asked cautiously:

"Ancestor… are you a Grade-5 Array Master?"

Ancestor Dugu shook his head.

"I haven't studied formations much. But when one's cultivation reaches a certain level, one's understanding of the Dao naturally becomes unconfined. One seeks the truth of unity—the return to simplicity."

"Of course, I've devoted my life to the Sword Dao. Formations are just tools for reflection and cross-reference—I'm not skilled in them."

"So all I can offer you is inspiration."

"I can only explain what the Sword Dao is, and what the Formation Dao is. But how to do it, how to integrate them… that, you must comprehend on your own."

Mo Hua grew solemn and bowed deeply.

"Thank you, Ancestor, for your guidance."

To hear a Void Severing expert explain the Dao—was a great fortune.

This was a true insight into the Dao, standing from the mountaintop and peering down upon the world's myriad paths. If he could grasp even a fragment, it would benefit his cultivation immensely.

Mo Hua knew the weight of this opportunity.

Seeing his earnest attitude, Ancestor Dugu nodded slightly and solemnly began:

"The Dao has ten thousand paths, but they all return to the same source."

"Formations, sword techniques, alchemy, talismans, forging arts, spells, martial arts… all of these are merely expressions of the Dao."

"Among them, formation arts are especially important—because they mirror the heavens and earth, depict the sigils of all things, and reflect the very rules of the Dao."

"But that doesn't mean the other paths can't reach the Dao."

"When you reach a certain level, you'll realize—beneath all things lie the same fundamental laws. A thousand forms, but one essence."

"It's just that cultivators have limited lifespans, so they must choose one or two branches of the Dao to pursue in depth. Using method as a raft—to seek the shore of truth."

"Once you've attained the Dao, you no longer need the raft or method. All things follow your will. Nothing restrains you. The Dao is in your heart. You can shake the heavens and change the earth… That is what we call—an Immortal!"

Mo Hua's heart quaked.

The Dao in the heart. The power to alter the heavens and earth. That is… Immortal.

He carved those words deep into his heart.

After speaking for a while on the Dao, Ancestor Dugu returned to the topic of formations and swordsmanship. He asked Mo Hua:

"What is sword qi?"

Mo Hua thought for a moment.

"The killing intent of the sword?"

Dugu didn't look satisfied.

"Think deeper."

Mo Hua furrowed his brows, recalling the ancestor's earlier teachings, and slowly said:

"All things have spirit. Heaven and earth are one breath. Spiritual energy is the root of all things…"

"Since all paths lead to the Dao, sword qi itself… isn't really a sword, but rather a form in which spiritual energy manifests?"

Dugu raised an eyebrow, signaling him to continue.

Mo Hua continued:

"The Sword Dao, formations, spells, martial arts… they're all forms of the Dao."

"When spiritual energy takes the shape of a formula, that's a spell; when it forms sigils, that's a formation; when driven by blood and will, it becomes physical strength; and when driven by sword techniques and spirit swords… it becomes sword qi."

"The form of the force changes—but the force itself… remains the same."

His train of thought was clear and precise.

Dugu looked visibly surprised.

He finally understood why his usually rigid junior martial brother would break tradition and praise this kid to the heavens.

That kind of comprehension… was monstrous.

Maybe his swordplay was lacking due to a shaky foundation—but when it came to divine sense, formations, and insight into the Dao, this kid's perception was freakishly inhuman.

Dugu asked again:

"How does spiritual energy become a spell?"

"Through the meridians—it forms formulas and condenses into spells…" Mo Hua replied.

But after speaking, he paused.

There's no way the ancestor would ask such a basic question.

He reflected for a moment, then continued slowly:

"Spiritual energy flows through the formula patterns in the meridians to form spells; flows through formation lines to create formations… In other words, it's transformed through certain laws of the Dao…"

"Formulas, sword styles, array patterns—they're all manifestations of Daoist rules, used to transform spiritual energy into different forms of power."

Mo Hua had a faint feeling that he was on the verge of a breakthrough.

Dugu then prompted:

"Your biggest weakness in swordsmanship is your inability to produce strong sword qi."

"In other words, your comprehension of the law that converts spiritual energy into sword qi… is far too shallow."

"So…"

"So," Mo Hua suddenly understood, "I need to use the Dao of Formations to replace the Dao of Swordsmanship—use formations to simulate sword qi! Just like when I used sword control…"

Ancestor Dugu froze for a second.

"You can control swords too?"

"Not exactly…" Mo Hua muttered. "I was just messing around, training on my own…"

In a sense, it was pure unorthodox nonsense.

Ancestor Dugu thought for a moment, then grasped what Mo Hua meant. He nodded in approval:

"While it's not very orthodox, your thinking isn't bad. It just doesn't quite fall under the true Sword Dao."

Mo Hua took that as praise and smiled a little shyly.

Dugu nodded and continued,

"The logic is sound—transforming formations into swords. It should work within divine sense as well. But I'm no array master, so I can't guide you through the specifics of the transformation."

"You'll have to figure it out yourself. If you run into a dead end, come ask me."

"Also…"

He took out a jade slip—old and unmarked, clearly handwritten by himself.

Dugu said,

"The original manuals of the Great Void Divine Sense Sword Manifestation Technique were mostly destroyed. This is a copy I transcribed. It contains the Sword Manifestation Style, in its most complete form."

"You cannot take this outside. You can only read it here. Absorb as much as you can."

"Do not underestimate the Sword Manifestation Style."

Dugu's tone turned serious:

"In the Divine Sword Manifestation Technique, the Sword Manifestation Style is the foundation. The power of every sword move depends on your mastery of this style."

"The stronger the Manifestation, the stronger the sword techniques."

Mo Hua couldn't hide his excitement.

"Yes, Ancestor! I'll study it diligently!"

He respectfully accepted the jade slip.

This was the canonical technique of the Great Void Divine Sense Sword Manifestation.

His heart racing, Mo Hua held the jade slip for a moment, then immersed his divine sense within. Line after line of powerful, ironclad script appeared in his mind:

"Great Void Divine Sense Sword Manifestation Technique – Sword Manifestation Style"

Condense sword qi. Use the sword to manifest intent. Transform into the shape of a sword…

Let the sword in your hand become the sword in your heart.

The greater your sword technique, the sharper the sword qi. Manifest it into form, and it becomes even more brilliant.

Different sword arts yield different divine sense sword forms.

Different cultivators perceive the Sword Dao differently. Thus, their Sword Manifestations vary…

…

Mo Hua quickly skimmed the whole thing once, then slowly entered a state of enlightenment:

"Sword Dao is a Dao. Formation Dao is also a Dao…"

"First, study appearances. Then, through appearances, understand the essence of sword qi—that is, the law of spiritual energy transformation."

"My understanding of the sword's 'laws' is shallow. So I must use the laws of formations to replace them—to derive sword qi."

"In other words…"

Mo Hua felt as if he was on the verge of grasping something. He lowered his head, quietly trying to capture the inspiration flashing through his heart. After a moment, his thoughts clicked into place:

Sword Arrays!

Use sword arrays as the law framework!

"A sword array itself is a formation that derives or amplifies sword qi. It's a structured, formation-based representation of sword laws."

"By studying sword arrays and analyzing how they produce sword qi, I can—at least in part—grasp sword intent. This could help make up for my weak sword foundations."

"Through the lens of formations, dissect the Sword Dao… and merge the two. The sword array becomes the best medium for fusion."

Mo Hua's eyes sparkled brighter and brighter.

Ancestor Dugu nodded slightly.

This child is indeed bright—just a nudge, and he sees the whole picture.

After a moment's thought, Dugu added:

"Sword cultivators don't usually study formations, and even if they do, they rarely master them. Formation masters, on the other hand, are seldom sword cultivators."

"So in most cases, a cultivator either studies swordsmanship or formations. The two are strictly separated, each with its own domain."

"Very few have both mastered swordsmanship and reached the pinnacle of formations—especially to the point of touching the deeper layers of the 'Dao.'"

"But you're different…" He looked at Mo Hua.

"Your talent in formations is exceedingly rare. And now you wish to skip the usual sword cultivator foundations and directly study Divine Sense Sword Manifestation."

"In this case, using formations to enter the Sword Dao… is actually perfect for you."

"This path… almost no one has ever walked. Even if others wanted to, they couldn't. You'll have to explore it entirely on your own."

"How far you can go… will depend entirely on yourself." Ancestor Dugu gave Mo Hua a deep look.

Mo Hua nodded seriously.

"Rest assured, Ancestor—I'll give it my all!"

He then returned to the jade slip and carefully re-read the Sword Manifestation Style, memorizing all the core concepts.

When time was up, Ancestor Dugu tore open space and sent Mo Hua back to the disciples' quarters.

There was still some time before dawn. Mo Hua couldn't wait any longer—he immediately plunged his divine sense into his sea of consciousness.

He began to contemplate Dugu's teachings and the concepts of the Sword Manifestation Style.

Derive sword qi through sword arrays.

He had actually tried this before—while experimenting with sword control.

But back then, it had been more of an accidental cheat—an opportunistic tampering of sword forms without understanding the underlying principles.

Now, with Dugu's guidance, he finally understood: once you comprehend the principles of the Dao and grasp the transformations of its laws, you don't need to cling to external forms.

Divine Sense Sword Manifestation could also follow this line of thinking.

The power of manifestation depended on a cultivator's foundation and comprehension of the Sword Dao.

His sword Dao was weak—but his Formation Dao was incredibly strong.

So, he'd "use strength to compensate for weakness"—replace sword comprehension with formation comprehension.

Simulate sword qi using formations, and derive sword intent from it.

His foundation in formations—tempered under Venerable Elder Xun's guidance—was solid as a rock.

And now, with Dugu's enlightenment, his sword manifestation would evolve to a new level.

A fusion of formations and sword arts—on the level of divine sense.

Mo Hua nodded to himself—and decided to give it a try.

In his sea of consciousness, Mo Hua sat in quiet meditation and began reconstructing his "Sword Manifestation Style" based on Dugu's insights and his own comprehension.

He first manifested the Broken Gold Sword Array.

This was the core sword array of the Broken Gold Sect's swordsmanship legacy—and the only sword array Mo Hua had truly mastered so far.

Once the sword array appeared, Mo Hua began to manifest his Divine Sense Sword, attempting to fuse the two together.

But after several tries, all ended in failure.

It was easy to say, but doing it was another story entirely.

A formation was a formation. Divine Sense Sword Manifestation was a completely different art. They were two separate systems—it wasn't something that could be fused just like that.

Mo Hua tried again and again—but still, it didn't work.

Formations and sword arts remained as distinct as fire and water.

Still, Mo Hua didn't give up. He kept trying persistently, but by the time dawn broke, he hadn't made any progress at all.

The next day, after attending his cultivation classes, he didn't even bother practicing other formations. All his attention was focused on the fusion of divine sense formations and divine sense sword techniques.

But after several more days of effort—still nothing.

"Could it be… this path really doesn't work?"

Mo Hua frowned deeply. Then shook his head.

"No, impossible. Ancestor already pointed me toward this path. With his洞虛-stage insight, if he said it was possible, then the laws must be compatible. The logic is sound."

"If I can't figure it out, it's not because Ancestor was wrong… It must be my method that's flawed."

Mo Hua steadied himself again and continued testing various methods. But without exception—they all failed.

After failing too many times, he finally paused to reflect.

Fortunately, Mo Hua had a wealth of experience with divine sense and array applications. After several days of deep thinking, a realization slowly took shape.

He realized—he had been going about it the wrong way.

It wasn't about manifesting the array first, then the sword, and trying to combine the two afterward.

He needed to fuse them from the very beginning.

As Ancestor Dugu had said—the Grand Dao is the origin of all things. All things, all methods, all paths eventually lead to the same truth.

To merge sword arts and formation arts, he had to start at the root.

He had to fuse them at the source.

But doing so would inevitably involve his spirit soul.

And Mo Hua's spirit soul still had… complications.

He hesitated a moment, then decided—it was worth the risk.

He took out the bamboo slip. Using the sword intent inscribed within, he slashed his own spirit soul, delivering a warning blow to the evil fetus inside, telling it to behave.

Then, he summoned the Dao Stele, borrowing its divine pressure—and the terrifying aura of tribulation lightning—to further suppress the evil presence.

Only then did Mo Hua dare draw upon his spirit soul.

Even so, he only used one soul aspect, carefully avoiding the "Arrow Soul" where the evil fetus resided.

With preparations complete, Mo Hua held his breath and focused, beginning to fuse the sword array into the heart-image of his spirit soul—reconstructing his Divine Sense Sword Manifestation from the very core.

This process, however, was subtle and profound—difficult to grasp.

The profundity of arrays, and the edge of sword arts, were not easily reconciled.

Mo Hua calmed his thoughts and followed Ancestor Dugu's guidance on the Dao:

Return from form to formless. Revert to simplicity.

He discarded all techniques and sought the true nature of the Dao, using sword and array as ferries—to cross the river, obtain the Dao, and then merge the methods.

With that shift in perspective, his mind suddenly cleared.

In his mind's eye, countless array patterns and sword auras raged in chaos—each following its own logic—but at their source, he sensed a faint intertwining resonance.

Mo Hua's spirit stirred.

He activated both Heavenly Pattern Deduction and Trick Calculation, simulating the paths where arrays and sword arts might weave together—searching for that one elusive thread of fusion.

He didn't know how long had passed. He thought, deduced, tried—over and over.

Until finally, he grasped it.

That fleeting moment—that flash of inspiration—it was like a key that opened a doorway to the Dao.

Using the sword array as a medium, Mo Hua began his first successful attempt at fusing formation Dao and sword Dao.

His Divine Sense Sword Manifestation began to reconstruct from the ground up…

A long time later, Mo Hua opened his eyes.

Within them flowed sword light—and within that sword light, patterns of arrays shimmered faintly, intertwining with it, seamlessly fused.

Mo Hua slowly extended his hand.

Threads of divine sense gathered in his palm, forming the Broken Gold Sword Array. Then, using sword patterns as blades and sword cores as bones, they gradually manifested into a Divine Sense Sword.

This was no crude imitation—it was a complete, fully-formed longsword. Golden light shimmered along its edge, and the sword qi it emitted was razor-sharp.

A perfect Divine Sense Sword Manifestation!

Not only that—it contained the Broken Gold Sword Array.

A Divine Sense Sword… built atop the foundation of an array.

Just looking at it—it radiated dazzling brilliance.

The Great Void Divine Sense Sword Manifestation had only one set of techniques…

But each sword cultivator, though learning the same art, manifested their sword through their own understanding of the sword. Each result was unique.

And Mo Hua's Divine Sense Sword was utterly one-of-a-kind.

Because within it, he had fused his formation Dao.

This was a Sword of Formation, manifested by divine sense!

Mo Hua was overjoyed.

Days later, at the Sword Tomb.

Ancestor Dugu looked into Mo Hua's golden eyes and couldn't help but feel dazed.

"He… really managed to figure it out?"

"And it only took… seven days?"

Seven days.

Dugu's gaze trembled slightly.

Once formations got involved—this child's comprehension was frightening beyond belief…

Dugu felt a bit disbelieving. And yet, within him, the last flickering hope—like a candle in the wind—suddenly burst into flame.

He gave Mo Hua a few more pointers, noted some flaws, and encouraged him to continue refining.

Then he sent the beaming Mo Hua away.

After Mo Hua left, the Sword Tomb returned to silence.

Only Ancestor Dugu remained—sitting alone like a proud but broken sword.

He sat quietly for a long time. Then, his expression hardened, and he murmured:

"Junior Brother… I'm sorry."

"All my skills… I can only pass them on to this child. Even if it means he walks the same road of no return… afflicted by evil, plagued by demons, never knowing peace for the rest of his life…"

"But… he is the only one I can pass it to."

"If I don't now… I never will…"

Ancestor Dugu raised his head and let out a long sigh.

Under the cold moonlight, shadows danced across his face.

His eyes, ears, nose, and mouth began to blur—until he resembled a featureless, emotionless, Faceless Heavenly Demon…

(End of this Chapter)