Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 894: Transformation of the Sword Dao

Back at the disciples' quarters, Mo Hua was still pondering how to use sword arrays as a medium to fuse formations with sword techniques.

He had already glimpsed the threshold of fusing formations and sword arts.

Now, he needed to strike while the iron was hot—seek out more types of sword arrays, study them thoroughly, and evolve new kinds of sword qi. This would deepen his understanding of the sword path and enhance the styles and power of his Divine Sense Sword Manifestation.

"More sword arrays…"

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then pulled out the bone-white broken sword from his storage ring and tapped it on the table—waking up the spirit inside: Sword Bonehead.

"Sword Bonehead, what sword arrays do you know? Spill all of them!"

Sword Bonehead had once been an evil swordsmith in the Myriad Demon Valley. Who knew how many demonic swords it had forged in its life? Naturally, it had collected quite a few sword array diagrams along the way.

Mo Hua even remembered that it once used a sword array to lure Little Wood.

"Well…" Sword Bonehead hesitated.

It didn't want to give in too quickly—if it immediately said yes to everything Mo Hua asked, it would look like a pushover. At the very least, it needed to stall a little, maintain some dignity…

Mo Hua saw its hemming and hawing and immediately darkened his face:

"If you don't tell me, I'll feed you to the dogs."

Sword Bonehead shuddered and shouted:

"Yes! Yes! I have sword arrays!"

It cursed itself in secret: Damn this spineless body!

Mo Hua hadn't bothered with it for days, hadn't cranked up the pressure—just when things had started to feel a little comfortable, it had already forgotten how terrifying this little ancestor could be.

Truly, adversity makes you sharp; comfort makes you soft. That rule applied even to evil spirits.

Sword Bonehead quickly said: "Please wait, let me recall—I'll have them ready soon."

Mo Hua said coldly: "You have one incense stick's time."

Sword Bonehead nodded like mad, "Yes, yes! That's enough!"

Not daring to dawdle, it began pulling from memory everything it had learned in its life. The sword array diagrams it was most proficient in were immediately transmitted to Mo Hua's mind in the form of twisted evil thoughts.

Mo Hua carefully transcribed each diagram.

These arrays were the "wool" he'd been planning to shear from Sword Bonehead—forgotten until now, but the timing was perfect to cash them in.

Sword Bonehead transmitted, and Mo Hua recorded.

After a while, Mo Hua stopped writing. Before him lay three sword array diagrams, each exuding chilling sword patterns and surging sword qi.

There were three diagrams total:

First: Tai'a Sect's Mountain-Cleaving Sword Array.

Though the name included "Mountain-Cleaving," it had nothing to do with the Bagua Gen formation. In fact, it was a five-element Earth-type sword array.

Earth was heavy, vast, nurturing—it carried all things and represented unending vitality.

This sword array emphasized enduring, solid, and measured sword qi. It was not swift or fierce, but excellent for wearing down enemies in direct combat.

Forging a spirit sword with this array made it suitable for melee sword cultivators who favored close combat.

This was one of the core orthodox sword arrays of the Tai'a Sect.

Sword Bonehead had once been a Tai'a Sect disciple. This array had been passed down to him directly by an elder of his clan while he was still cultivating in the sect.

Sword arrays were considered top-level secrets of a sect.

For an elder to personally teach him a sword array meant they must have once placed great hopes on him.

But fate is cruel—Sword Bonehead ended up falling into the Myriad Demon Valley, becoming a demonic swordsmith, aiding the wicked. And now, he wasn't even human anymore—just a sword demon.

Second: Yin Water Sword Array.

The Yin Water Sect had long colluded with demonic cultivators. Most likely, this array had been leaked to the Myriad Demon Valley by a Yin Water disciple and eventually fell into the hands of this evil swordsmith.

The Yin Water Sword Array was one of the sect's core techniques—subtle, a little insidious, but undeniably powerful.

Back at the Dragon King Temple, when Xiao Zhenhai had used the Yin Water Sword, it had left a deep impression on Mo Hua.

Though the Yin Water Sect had a tarnished reputation for shady behavior, their lineage had ties to the Water Prison Sect and was clearly no small fry.

Technically, the Yin Water Sword Array wasn't as refined as the Mountain-Cleaving Sword Array of Tai'a Sect.

But to be honest, it was still a top-tier sword array.

In Qianxue Prefecture's hierarchy of four great sects, eight major schools, and twelve lesser factions, all these were considered elite forces. None of the techniques passed down among them were poor.

If this sword array were leaked into a small immortal city like Tongxian—filled with rogue cultivators—it would cause a bloodbath. Everyone would covet it.

After all, Qianxue Prefecture was a fifth-grade region dominated by noble families, while a second-grade small immortal city had nothing on its level of heritage.

If not for his master's guidance and some lucky twists of fate, Mo Hua would've never entered the Great Void Sect.

Even something like the Yin Water Sword Array would've been out of his reach.

Mo Hua sighed, then carefully stored the array.

The third: An unknown Blazing Fire Sword Array.

This one was worse than the Yin Water array but still usable.

According to Sword Bonehead, back in the Myriad Demon Valley, a clueless demon cultivator had provoked it. So it killed the guy and looted this fire sword array from his storage pouch.

Judging by its style, it was probably a family inheritance from outside Qianxue Prefecture.

Sword arrays were rare to begin with, and this one wasn't too shabby, so Sword Bonehead had kept it.

"Three total—Mountain-Cleaving Sword Array, Yin Water Sword Array, Blazing Fire Sword Array…"

Mo Hua paused, then asked: "That's it?"

"Just those…" Sword Bonehead's spiritual scalp tingled as it wailed, "My little ancestor, do you know how rare sword arrays really are? I slaved away in the Myriad Demon Valley for centuries, forging blades day and night—and I only managed to scrape together these three!"

"They're really that rare?" Mo Hua asked.

"Of course!" Sword Bonehead said with feeling. "Sword inheritance involves three things—sword techniques, sword qi, and spirit sword forging."

"Sword qi and sword forms both require a proper spirit sword to unleash their full power. No sword cultivator doesn't dream of a fine blade."

"And forging swords involves a massive cultivation industry. Sometimes, sword-forging methods are even more important than sword techniques or sword qi."

"The core secret of sword-forging lies in the sword arrays embedded within the weapon. How could those possibly leak out?"

"If a sword array ends up in the wrong hands, some sects will issue kill orders without hesitation."

Sword Bonehead's tone was deadly serious.

Mo Hua couldn't help but feel a little shocked inside.

He had underestimated how important sword arrays really were.

"If sword arrays are that precious… then the origin of the ones I have…"

He thought it over— The Broken Gold Sword Array was self-learned.

But after the Myriad Demon Valley incident, the Broken Gold Sect had paid reparations—including opening a small portion of their sword array inheritance to the Great Void Sect.

So, his Broken Gold Sword Array had a legitimate cover. No need to worry about getting caught.

As for the ones he got from Sword Bonehead…

The Mountain-Cleaving Sword Array was from Tai'a Sect.

But Tai'a had now merged into the Great Void Sect. So theirs was also "ours."

All one big family. No big deal if he learned it.

Even if someone found out, at worst he could pay a few contribution points to settle it.

According to the Sect Leader, Mo Hua's current contribution balance had already hit the maximum for Foundation Establishment disciple —more than enough to "buy" a sword array.

And frankly, with his title as the "Foremost in Array Dao," it was unlikely he'd even be charged.

As for the Yin Water Sword Array? Also not a concern.

After the Rouge Boat incident, the Yin Water Sect had been completely overhauled. Their elders and disciples were all being restructured by the Central Dao Court.

They had their hands full—how would they even notice him?

And if it came to it, he could ask Uncle Gu from the Dao Court to vouch for him.

According to Wang Chen, the reforms in the Yin Water Sect had been a joint effort between Magistrate Xia and Uncle Gu.

Uncle Gu still held some sway in the Yin Water Sect.

The only array that might be a problem was the Blazing Fire Sword Array…

This one was even less of a concern—it might not even originate from within Qianxue Prefecture, so learning it was no big deal...

Mo Hua sorted through the karma and provenance of each sword array, tracing them from beginning to end before finally feeling at ease.

When it came to inheritances, things could be either trivial or catastrophic.

If no one cared, you could learn whatever you wanted. But if someone did want to dig into it or cause trouble, then you'd be on the scale—and even a thousand pounds of merit wouldn't be enough to tip the balance.

Better to be cautious.

Mo Hua nodded. Now that all concerns were resolved, he planned to continue his research.

But after a short while, something occurred to him, and he turned to Sword Bonehead:

"You were once a disciple of the Tai'a Sect, right?"

Sword Bonehead nodded.

Mo Hua continued:

"Do you still have any unfinished wishes related to the Tai'a Sect? Now that the three sects have merged, and Tai'a has become part of the Great Void Sect, if there's something you want, I might be able to help fulfill it."

For a moment, Sword Bonehead was actually touched.

This little ancestor... actually has some humanity in him…

But after a pause, it glanced at its body—crafted entirely of white bone and forged blade, with hollow black eyes—and a complicated look flashed across its face.

"No need. The person I once was... is already dead."

"The dead are best left to rest in peace."

Mo Hua didn't push. "Alright."

He had just been being polite anyway.

He was way too busy to go around resolving old grudges or karma on behalf of this bonehead.

What mattered now was focusing wholeheartedly on cultivating Divine Sense Sword Manifestation. Not a second could be wasted.

Mo Hua re-sealed Sword Bonehead and tossed it into his storage pouch, then began studying the three sword arrays it had provided.

All of them were second-grade arrays.

Mo Hua, at the peak of Nineteen Divine Sense Runes, already had profound attainments in second-grade formations—learning these arrays wasn't particularly difficult.

After two days of focused study and hundreds of practice rounds on the Dao Tablet, he had basically mastered them.

With the sword arrays learned, he could now begin reconstructing his Divine Sense Sword Manifestation upon that foundation.

Within his sea of consciousness, Mo Hua closed his eyes, focused inward, and visualized his spiritual soul. Mysterious duplications of divination symbols appeared on his body. With his immense spiritual computing power, he captured the fusion points between formations and sword Dao, and began using the newly learned sword arrays to evolve new swords of divine sense.

No one knew how long had passed before Mo Hua finally opened his eyes and raised his hand.

Dark, earthen-colored runes spread and interwove, condensing into a heavy, enduring sword of divine sense.

This was the Mountain-Cleaving Sword.

With a flip of his hand, the earthy sword vanished.

A subtle yet venomous sword qi surfaced—its array runes formed a long, water-blue sword.

Yin Water Sword!

That sword then vanished as well. Mo Hua grabbed the air again, and a raging inferno burst forth from his palm. The flames coiled into explosive patterns, ultimately forming a fire-wreathed sword of destructive light—

Blazing Fire Sword.

When he swung it, it left a crimson trail of flame in the air.

In just a few breaths' time, Mo Hua had manifested divine swords of Earth, Water, and Fire elements.

Each sword was formed from a sword array, infused with powerful divine sense, and followed completely different laws—each with its own path of destruction.

Sword of divine sense in hand, Mo Hua's eyes sparkled with brilliance.

Each sword array could manifest a single sword.

Most people's Divine Sense Sword Manifestation could only form one sword.

But his? His could take on countless forms.

The more sword arrays he understood, the more wondrous and unpredictable his sword techniques became…

"Venerable Elder Dugu truly deserves the title of the Great Void Sect's Sword Ancestor. His swordsmanship stands at the summit. Just one small pointer from him, and my Divine Sense Sword Manifestation has already become this powerful…"

Mo Hua was both amazed and full of admiration.

In his heart, his reverence for Elder Dugu flowed like a mighty river, boundless and never-ending.

But what he didn't know… was that this result had already exceeded even Elder Dugu's expectations.

A few days later, when Mo Hua demonstrated his newly learned "Sword Manifestation" techniques to Elder Dugu inside the Sword Tomb— Elder Dugu's pupils contracted. He was completely stunned.

"Each sword array... manifests a unique sword form…"

Looking into Mo Hua's eyes—glimmering like stars—Elder Dugu could sense the constantly shifting five-element sword intent within his divine sense. His heart trembled faintly.

He had merely intended for Mo Hua to fuse formations and sword Dao as a unique approach, hoping he'd learn faster and form a respectable Divine Sense Sword.

He hadn't expected this.

This wasn't about whether the sword was powerful anymore.

This was something far more unnatural—this form-changing, reality-bending manifestation of the sword… was completely unprecedented.

Divine Sense Sword Manifestation was a sword cultivator's life's culmination of the sword path.

A true sword cultivator, in their lifetime, would only ever form one sword Dao.

Mo Hua, not being a sword cultivator, had no such "Dao." Instead, he constructed a pseudo-sword Dao through sword arrays, evolving his Divine Sense Sword that way.

And precisely because of that…

He could possess countless sword Daos.

Having something provides function; having nothing provides infinite use…

If, one day, Mo Hua could comprehend enough sword arrays…

If his understanding of the sword path was deep enough…

If his fusion of sword and formation reached true completion…

Then his Divine Sense Sword Manifestation would become unimaginably powerful.

Just like formation arrays—it could encompass myriad Daos, contain endless variations…

How is anyone supposed to compete with that?!

Elder Dugu, a pure-blood sword cultivator, furrowed his brow tightly.

And then he thought more deeply— This process might look simple on the surface, but its inner workings were as vast and profound as the sea.

It required top-tier comprehension of laws…

Profound mastery of formations…

An immensely strong divine sense…

And powerful control, processing, and perceptive abilities of that divine sense…

Along with complete ease at using divine sense to manifest arrays.

Only then could one manifest sword arrays with divine sense, and use them as the skeleton to form swords with differing laws.

Elder Dugu's brow twitched again.

He had never expected that the fusion of arrays and sword Dao could turn into such a monstrous creation in Mo Hua's hands…

It was like he'd just conducted a harmless experiment… added a tiny variation…

And within a few days, this previously sword-inept disciple had turned into a deranged sword-path monster.

And worse—it was a growth-type monster.

With sword arrays as the source, the bottleneck wasn't in the "sword"— It was in the array.

The stronger the formation array… the stronger the Divine Sense Sword.

And when it came to formations— This very disciple… was the Array Dao Prodigy, unrivaled across the entire Qianxue Prefecture…

If, one day, he truly became a grandmaster of arrays—versed in all methods…

Then what kind of Divine Sense Sword would he end up with?

All Arrays Into One?

Ten Thousand Swords… Return to the One?

Venerable Elder Dugu felt his entire body trembling uncontrollably.

Only now did he truly realize—his junior brother had been absolutely right.

This really was the ancestors' blessing shining down upon them. His Great Void Sect had not only picked up a treasure… but also picked up a monster.

Elder Dugu's emotions surged wildly.

So much so that his spiritual state began to destabilize, and his divine sense grew chaotic.

With a sudden shift in divine sense, Elder Dugu quickly covered his face with one hand.

No one saw that under that hand, his complexion had turned deathly pale—and worse, his facial features were starting to fade away…

Mo Hua was startled and quickly asked: "Elder, what's wrong?!"

Elder Dugu's voice came out hoarse, like being scraped by blades: "Old wounds acting up… We'll stop here for today. I'll send you back first…"

Mo Hua looked worried.

"Elder…"

"It's fine. I just need to meditate a bit." Elder Dugu replied.

"…Okay." Mo Hua nodded.

Without waiting for Mo Hua to speak again, Elder Dugu reached out, tore through space, and teleported him away.

The void shimmered darkly for a moment— And in the blink of an eye, Mo Hua was back in his residence.

But his heart remained uneasy and unsettled.

"Elder… what's really going on with him?"

Mo Hua frowned.

"Old wounds?"

He mulled over it for a moment, then sighed helplessly and shook his head.

Even if he wanted to help, he couldn't.

The gap between Hollow Void and Foundation Establishment was like heaven and earth.

Their cultivation levels were worlds apart.

And besides, he didn't even know what had happened to Elder Dugu in the first place—or what those "old wounds" really were…

The deeper one cultivated, the more aware they became of their own insignificance.

Mo Hua sighed.

"I should focus on what I can do… and keep training my sword techniques."

He tucked away the matter into the back of his mind, then entered his sea of consciousness and practiced his sword-array-based sword manifestation several more times.

Several days later, inside the sea of consciousness…

Watching the Broken Gold Sword, Mountain-Cleaving Sword, Yin Water Sword, and Blazing Fire Sword flicker through his hands, Mo Hua couldn't help but have a thought:

"I really need to find something to cut… Otherwise, what's the point of all this training?"

Cut what?

The first thing that came to mind—was the Evil Fetus.

No helping it—having a soul parasite like that was like a bone stuck in his throat. If he didn't cut it, he wouldn't be at ease.

And now, Mo Hua felt that his Divine Sense Sword Manifestation was significantly stronger than before. It might actually pose a threat to the Evil Fetus.

With a clench of his hand, sword runes spread like spider silk and condensed into a sword of fierce golden energy—

The Broken Gold Sword.

He gritted his teeth, braced himself, and slashed straight at his own Life Soul.

The sword flashed brilliantly, gold light splitting through his soul—

A shrill, piercing scream echoed.

The Evil Fetus's voice rang out in his sea of consciousness:

"You little brat! What the hell are you messing with now?!"

Mo Hua's eyes lit up.

The Evil Fetus… actually spoke again after all this time?

Ever since it had been slashed by the ancient sword intent from the bamboo sword, and tricked by Mo Hua several times afterward, it had gone completely silent—like a turtle hiding in its shell. No sound, no reaction.

But now, after being struck with this sword, it actually cried out.

Which meant… it was in pain.

Which meant… his sword was stronger now!

Mo Hua was overjoyed—and slashed it a few more times.

The Evil Fetus howled: "You damned brat! Stop right now!"

Like Mo Hua would listen—he thrust the sword again.

The Evil Fetus finally snapped in bitter resentment: "You ignorant fool… You'll regret this…"

Its voice was eerie and chilling, and after that final threat, it curled back into the depths of the soul—silent once more.

No more screams.

After a few more swings without response, Mo Hua grew bored.

Then, he paused to reflect—and something started to feel off.

His current "sword manifestation" technique, which combined formations and sword arts, was indeed stronger, and it did hurt the Evil Fetus more…

But it didn't seem to deal that much damage.

Otherwise, the thing would've already gone berserk by now.

Mo Hua took another moment to examine it carefully—and realized:

The sword hurt, yes. But compared to the ancient sword intent from the bamboo sword, the actual soul damage it inflicted was far less.

In other words— His current sword style was powerful, but only in a general sense.

It was powerful on the divine sense level, not on the soul essence level.

The damage it did to the source was still minimal. It couldn't harm the Evil Fetus's origin, and thus couldn't truly destroy it.

That won't do… Not even close—not for him.

Mo Hua furrowed his brows.

"I need to find a way… to get even stronger. Strong enough to completely annihilate this Evil Fetus…"

(End of this Chapter)