“This… this isn’t good…” Ouyang Mu was a bit dazed.

“What’s not good?” Mo Hua said, “Later in Lian Yao Mountain, I’ll cover you.”

“But I’m a Tai A Sect disciple…” Ouyang Mu whispered, looking at the Daoist robe on Mo Hua’s body, “Senior Brother, you’re from Tai Xu Sect.”

Mo Hua said with a face as if it were the most natural thing in the world:

“You already call me Senior Brother, whether it’s Tai A Sect or Tai Xu Sect, what does it matter?”

“Open your mind, don’t get stuck on this sect view.”

“Furthermore, Tai A, Tai Xu, and of course Chong Xu Sect, are all connected by the same origin, with deep roots from our ancestors.”

“Going back a thousand years, we are all one family, so why be so polite?”

Ouyang Mu slowly nodded, feeling that what Mo Hua said made sense.

“But, I only know how to refine artifacts and forge swords, perhaps I can’t help Senior Brother Mo much.”

Mo Hua said: “Forging swords is exactly what I need!”

He just needed someone to forge swords for him.

Whether it was hunting demons or fighting, Mo Hua fundamentally didn’t lack people.

In the sect, as long as there was a fight, Cheng Mo, Si Tu Jian, Yang Qian Jun, and Hao Xuan would essentially come when called.

In Lian Yao Mountain, those few mountain lords, and basically all of his “little junior brothers” scattered across the mountains and plains, could be gathered with a whistle to form a team.

What’s more, Mo Hua himself could also participate.

He was now very capable.

He had insidious hidden techniques, and for self-defense and escape, he had the Passing Water Steps.

For attack, he had arrays, forbidden techniques, and imperial swords.

If he were outside the Qian Xue State boundary, he could even “summon” Uncle Gu Chang Huai in the Golden Core realm, and also use the Gu family’s secret order to mobilize Gu family cultivators.

He had plenty of people for fighting.

However, “professional” cultivation talents were scarce.

Currently, he particularly lacked an orthodox, inherited, talented sword forging master.

Seeing Ouyang Mu still a bit hesitant, Mo Hua’s gaze flickered slightly, and he said again:

“If you’re unwilling, then forget it, I won’t force you.”

After all, Ouyang Mu was a Tai A Sect disciple, and also from the direct line of the Ouyang family. Asking him to follow a Tai Xu Sect disciple like himself might cause some internal resistance.

This was also a common human emotion.

“Senior Brother Mo, I’m sorry…”

Ouyang Mu felt a bit guilty.

Senior Brother Mo was so good to him, yet he refused Senior Brother Mo’s good intentions.

“It’s nothing,” Mo Hua smiled, “It’s okay not to follow me, then let’s handle it as official business. You can just help me forge swords later, and I’ll give you merit.”

Ouyang Mu was startled, his expression a bit worried.

Mo Hua probably understood, and then asked: “Are you worried your dad won’t let you forge swords?”

Ouyang Mu nodded.

“Then you still want to earn merit, right?”

“I do…”

“Does your dad give you merit?” Mo Hua asked again.

Ouyang Mu shook his head, “He doesn’t. Tai A Sect has sect rules, and our Ouyang family’s family rules are also strict. In the sect, everything relies on oneself, we cannot bully others with power, we cannot use our identity to seek private gain, and merit must also be earned bit by bit…”

“Then besides forging swords, do you have any other ways to earn merit?”

Ouyang Mu racked his brains thinking, and finally had to admit helplessly that besides forging swords, he indeed had no other way to earn merit.

“Isn’t this perfect…” Mo Hua said, “Your dad doesn’t give you merit, he wants you to earn it yourself, so you can only forge swords to earn merit.”

“Moreover, whether it’s learning to forge swords or learning sword techniques, those are matters for the future. The urgent matter now is to save up merit and cultivate properly.”

“If there is no now, where will the future come from?”

“So you just need to steadily forge swords now, you don’t need to consider anything else.”

Ouyang Mu couldn’t help but nod.

Mo Hua took advantage of the situation to give him a little more “pressure”, and solemnly said:

“Furthermore, think carefully, there may not be few sword forging masters in the entire Qian Xue State boundary, and you are not the only one.”

“Sword forging masters need a large amount of demon beast materials for practicing sword forging.”

“There are definitely not only opportunities to provide stable, long-term demon beast materials, employ you to forge swords, and give you merit.”

“If you miss this time, you might not meet it again later…”

As Mo Hua said this, Ouyang Mu immediately became nervous.

Sect tasks had to be snatched.

He originally couldn’t snatch them from others, and besides the sect’s teaching, extra “sword forging” opportunities were also very few.

If he wanted to refine things himself, just the materials alone would require a large amount of merit.

Ouyang Mu still remembered how much effort he had put in for the “fire demon wolf spine bone” used for that sword forging.

In the end, relying on himself, he still didn’t get it.

It was Senior Brother Mo who had someone kill the fire demon wolf, peel the spine bone, and give it to him.

If he didn’t agree, later on, there really might not be such good “sword forging” opportunities.

Ouyang Mu immediately nodded repeatedly and said:

“Senior Brother Mo, if you don’t dislike my shallow skill, you can come to me whenever you need a sword forged in the future, and I will certainly do my best!”

“Good!”

Mo Hua nodded with satisfaction.

After thinking for a moment, he said: “I’ll give you the materials. First, forge six or seven of those golden spirit swords, and then I’ll consider forging some other spirit swords.”

“Alright, Senior Brother Mo.”

Ouyang Mu promised.

Afterward, Mo Hua found the eagle demon that had been killed by the sword qi in the air and fell to the ground, peeled off the materials, gave them to Ouyang Mu, and told him to exchange them for some merit at the mountain gate and keep it for himself for now.

This poor child only had over three hundred merit points on him.

If he didn’t help him a bit, he might not even be able to buy a ticket to enter Lian Yao Mountain…

Ouyang Mu was both flattered and genuinely short of money. He couldn’t refuse, and in his heart, he solemnly vowed again:

I must forge swords well and repay Senior Brother Mo’s kindness.

Leaving Lian Yao Mountain, the two walked back to the sect shoulder to shoulder.

Because Tai A Mountain and Tai Xu Mountain were adjacent, the road back to the sect was in the same direction.

As they walked, Mo Hua suddenly thought of a question and asked:

“Xiao Mu, how old are you?”

Ouyang Mu thought for a moment and said: “I was born in March of the Dao Calendar twenty thousand and twelve.”

Mo Hua was a bit surprised.

Xiao Mu was actually the same age as himself, and even a few months older.

Calculating it, he was still younger than him.

But Xiao Mu seemed to be used to calling him “Senior Brother”. There was no need to mention such a small matter.

Anyway, inside Tai Xu Sect, a bunch of disciples who were older than him called him “Little Senior Brother”.

The two walked and chatted idly, and when they reached the mountain gate, they went back to their respective sects.

Mo Hua returned to Tai Xu Sect, and Ouyang Mu returned to Tai A Sect.

Tai A Mountain was ancient and solemn, unlike the clear and interesting feel of Tai Xu Sect. Between the peaks and paths, bricks and tiles, there was more of a craftsman’s spirit.

Ouyang Mu lowered his head and silently returned to his disciple residence alone.

He didn’t greet anyone on the way.

Naturally, no one greeted him either.

Inside Tai A Sect, most of the time, he was alone.

He was already used to it.

Directly back to his disciple residence, Ouyang Mu closed the door and stayed in the room alone, taking out the sword diagram Mo Hua had given him and examining it repeatedly.

At the same time, he thought and made annotations, thinking about how to forge the spirit sword better according to Senior Brother Mo’s intention.

Thinking and thinking, Ouyang Mu’s mind suddenly brought up the scene of Mo Hua’s “imperial sword” during the day, the golden light soaring into the sky, killing the demon beast.

Senior Brother Mo’s imperial sword technique is so strong!

So strong!

He was a bit tongue-tied, unable to think of other descriptive words, and could only sigh “so strong” repeatedly.

Although Senior Brother Mo’s aptitude seemed a bit poor, this “imperial sword technique” of his was stronger than all the disciples of the same generation he had seen.

Ouyang Mu felt a surge of inexplicable excitement.

The spirit sword used for such a powerful imperial sword technique was forged by himself!

Senior Brother Mo even praised him!

Ouyang Mu couldn’t help but think, if the spirit sword he forged was a bit better, with higher quality, wouldn’t this imperial sword technique be even stronger?

What would an even stronger imperial sword technique look like?

Ouyang Mu thought with anticipation.

After that, Ouyang Mu’s enthusiasm for forging swords became even higher.

His character was originally serious and responsible, and forging swords was his hobby, so he refined spirit swords with even greater focus.

By the next ten days of rest, he had forged three more spirit swords.

“Because I still need to cultivate and attend classes, I can only forge during class downtime, so I only forged three…” Ouyang Mu explained to Mo Hua.

“It’s nothing, nothing, it’s already very good.”

Mo Hua encouraged him.

After this period of time, Mo Hua discovered that Xiao Mu’s talent for forging swords was actually extremely good.

He was just a bit lacking in confidence.

Moreover, because of the lack of sword forging materials and the matter of his dad making him give up forging swords to learn sword techniques, he had a heavy heart and couldn’t let go completely.

“Just rest assured and learn to forge swords. Just tell me what materials you need. Also, regarding sword forging, if you have new ideas or thoughts, you can also discuss them with me…”

Mo Hua decided to cultivate Xiao Mu’s artifact refining ideas that “didn’t follow the common path”.

Because his own situation was special.

Whether it was customized spirit artifacts or forged swords, they were all different from the general norms of artifact refining.

If Xiao Mu was reliable, then he wouldn’t need to worry about artifact refining matters in the future and could focus on arrays.

He would research arrays and design array diagrams.

Xiao Mu would research artifact refining diagrams.

Then, the things they researched would be given to Master Gu at the artifact refining workshop in Gu Shan to help with mass production.

Each would have their strengths, and they could achieve perfect division of labor and cooperation.

Mo Hua looked at Ouyang Mu with anticipation.

Ouyang Mu was a bit confused, but suddenly, he still felt that the responsibility on his shoulders was heavy…

“Alright, Senior Brother Mo.”

After that, Xiao Mu made rapid progress.

Mo Hua gradually let go.

Not only did he let him refine spirit swords, but for some customized spirit artifacts, Mo Hua would provide the idea and the corresponding array, and then hand it over to Xiao Mu to design the artifact refining diagram.

Xiao Mu would design it carefully, discuss it with Mo Hua to solve array problems, and then finalize the artifact refining array diagram.

Mo Hua would take this artifact refining array diagram to show to Master Gu and receive Master Gu’s praise.

“This artifact refining array diagram is exquisitely conceived, practical, and in my opinion, almost flawless…”

Master Gu pondered for a moment and asked: “This… wasn’t made by the young master himself, was it?”

He was still clear about Mo Hua’s capabilities.

In terms of arrays, he was unfathomable.

But in terms of artifact refining, although he had strange ideas and was often unexpected, his foundation was too poor after all, and he often made common-sense errors.

Mo Hua nodded and said: “I asked a senior brother from a sword forging family to help with the design.”

Master Gu was slightly startled and praised: “No wonder, this senior brother of the young master has a solid foundation at first glance, with a quite deep family background.”

Mo Hua also nodded in agreement and said:

“Yes.”

After Ouyang Mu designed the spirit artifact, Master Gu was responsible for mass production.

After refining, Mo Hua tried using it for a bit and felt there were no problems.

Entering Lian Yao Mountain again, Mo Hua brought Ouyang Mu to the Tai Xu Sect mountain head to meet his group of “little junior brothers”.

Mo Hua introduced everyone:

“This is Senior Brother Ouyang Mu. He is a disciple of Tai A Sect and is very skilled in sword forging techniques. Please take care of him in Lian Yao Mountain later.”

A Tai A Sect disciple?

The group of Tai Xu Sect disciples was a bit surprised.

Why was a Tai A Sect disciple also following Little Senior Brother?

But Little Senior Brother’s actions always had a profound meaning.

Since Little Senior Brother asked everyone to take care of him, they would just take care of him.

What’s more, Tai A Sect originally had connections with Tai Xu Sect, and friendly exchanges between disciples were not a bad thing. They didn’t reject it either.

The Tai Xu Sect disciples all cupped their hands and said:

“Greetings, Senior Brother Ouyang.”

Between sects, seniority among senior brothers and sisters was first determined by “session”.

One session higher was a senior brother or sister, and one session lower was a junior brother or sister.

If they were from the same session, generally, it was calculated by age.

The older one was the senior brother or sister, otherwise, they were the junior brother or sister.

Ouyang Mu was thin and dark-skinned, looking a bit younger, so everyone called him junior brother.

Ouyang Mu’s dark, honest face turned red, and he stuttered a bit:

“Greetings… everyone.”

He had never been stared at by so many people at once.

Nor had he ever been called “junior brother” by so many people, and he was a bit at a loss for a moment.

Mo Hua said again: “Later, if your spirit artifact is damaged and needs repair, you can all find Junior Brother Ouyang.”

“Alright!”

The Tai Xu Sect disciples said in unison.

They generally all had inherited spirit artifacts, and customized spirit artifacts were bought from the Gu family business pavilion in Tai Xu City, which were “specified by Little Senior Brother”.

But these spirit artifacts, if damaged, were troublesome to repair.

Especially spirit swords, which were both expensive and tedious to repair.

If there was a professional sword forging master to repair them, it would naturally be the best.

Letting Xiao Mu meet everyone was roughly equivalent to bringing him into the “group”. Mo Hua’s objective was initially achieved, so he waved his hand and said:

“It’s getting late, let’s go hunt demons.”

“Yes, Little Senior Brother.”

Some people dispersed.

Some disciples still had matters to discuss with Mo Hua, so they came forward in groups of two or three and asked:

“Little Senior Brother, the demon hunting array you taught yesterday, I still don’t use it well. Isn’t it controlled with divine sense?”

“Is my divine sense too weak? Why can’t I control it?”

“Little Senior Brother, can you tell me how to kill a black bear sometime?”

“I want to forge a pair of meteor hammers and use bear paws instead of hammers.”

“Little Senior Brother, is there a Daoist robe that can restrain earth-attribute demonic power, and a customized spirit artifact that can break armor? I asked at the Gu family business pavilion, and they didn’t know either…”

“Little Senior Brother, if we kill a money python later, its blood is quite rare. Do you want to keep the blood?”

Mo Hua answered each question with great care.

The disciples received satisfactory replies and dispersed.

Ouyang Mu, on the side, was shocked.

At this time, he just realized that Senior Brother Mo’s status in Tai Xu Sect was far higher than he had imagined.

Even his older brother, who was outstandingly talented, gentle and elegant, could be called a standout of the same generation, and had extremely high prestige within Tai A Sect, absolutely did not have this kind of appeal…

Ouyang Mu looked at the clear-eyed, amiable, and completely unpretentious Mo Hua, like a pure young man, somewhat lost in thought.

“What’s wrong?” Mo Hua asked.

Ouyang Mu smiled, “Nothing…”

For a period of time after that, Ouyang Mu was even more diligent.

The spirit swords in Mo Hua’s hands were also optimized several versions under Ouyang Mu’s suggestions.

Every time it was optimized, the power would be a little stronger.

But gradually, the quality of the spirit swords also reached a certain limit.

Mo Hua’s imperial sword power also reached a bottleneck.

“Senior Brother Mo, using initial level Grade 1 demon beast materials and a fixed sword array, under this specific form, the current imperial sword power is only so.”

“If you want to elevate it further, you need to use mid-level Grade 2 or higher demon beast materials.”

“But these materials are difficult to smelt, and with my current cultivation, I can’t use them well yet…”

“Next, it’s the sword array…”

As Ouyang Mu interacted with Mo Hua, he also understood the principle of Mo Hua’s “imperial sword”. He felt it was somewhat opportunistic and also very “shameless”.

But at the same time, he also had to admit that this imperial sword, especially in the hands of the unfathomable Senior Brother Mo, was terrifyingly powerful.

Ouyang Mu said, “This kind of imperial sword power fundamentally relies on the sword array. The stronger the sword array, the stronger the imperial sword power.”

“Right, Senior Brother Mo,” Ouyang Mu asked Mo Hua again, “Does your family’s inherited sword array only have gold-attribute sword arrays?”

“Family’s inherited sword array?” Mo Hua was startled.

Ouyang Mu was puzzled, “Didn’t you tell me?”

“Oh, right…”

Mo Hua almost forgot.

He had told Xiao Mu that the “Duan Jin Sword Array” on his sword was his family’s inherited gold-attribute sword array.

Xiao Mu was kind-hearted, and he believed whatever Mo Hua said.

“Yes, that’s right, it’s from my family.”

Mo Hua emphasized it again, then shook his head, “Our family only has this one for now, no others.”

As for whether his family would “inherit” others later, it would depend on whether other sects or families gave them to him.

Ouyang Mu heard this and felt a bit regretful, “If there were other sword arrays, we could try multi-attribute, multi-form spirit swords.”

Mo Hua sighed slightly.

Indeed…

Subsequently, his gaze flickered, and he asked: “Can’t I not use a sword array?”

“Not use a sword array?”

“Use other arrays, for example, kill arrays or something…” Mo Hua said.

Ouyang Mu shook his head, “That won’t work. Not all arrays can be casually put into a sword.”

“Sword arrays are special. Although I don’t understand arrays too well, from the perspective of sword forging, sword arrays are the arrays that fit sword weapons the most.”

“Sword weapons can also maximize the power of the sword array.”

“Other arrays have low compatibility with spirit swords, and very little power can be exerted through imperial sword.”

“If you really want to use them, you can only transform the array into a sword array…”

Mo Hua was startled when he heard this, and then exclaimed:

“Transform into a sword array? Can an array also be transformed into a sword array?!”

Ouyang Mu was asked this by Mo Hua and suddenly felt a bit less confident again, not daring to be too certain.

He knew that Mo Hua was a powerful array master, so when it came to array problems, he was even more cautious:

“This, I actually don’t know either…”

Ouyang Mu whispered, “This is something I accidentally overheard when my dad and the sect’s grand elder were chatting. Whether it’s true or not, whether there’s a mistake, I’m just not sure.”

“It’s also possible that I heard it wrong…”

Mo Hua’s gaze slightly solidified, and he secretly pondered in his heart.

Xiao Mu wouldn’t lie.

This sentence… wasn’t impossible either.

Before drawing the sword array, Mo Hua hadn’t thought in this direction. At this time, remembering it, he suddenly realized:

The “sword patterns” within the Duan Jin Sect’s Duan Jin Sword Array were particularly similar to a certain class of gold-attribute array patterns’ “variations”.

Sword patterns are variation array patterns.

Sword arrays are variation arrays!

This way, it made sense…

Mo Hua had been very doubtful before. Old Mister Xun mentioned array categories, which included many things, from the two instruments of Yin and Yang, the three talents and four images, up to the seven stars and eight trigrams.

But among these, sword arrays were not included.

Sword arrays were a special category of arrays, but they obviously couldn’t be counted into any of the categories from the two instruments to the eight trigrams.

If it was said that sword arrays were “variation” arrays, that would make a lot more sense.

This kind of variation array category did not conflict with the large array types, but rather intertwined with them.

Theoretically speaking, arrays from the two instruments to the eight trigrams, through certain array pattern variations, could all be transformed into “sword arrays”.

A Di Huo array could be transformed into a Di Huo Sword Array.

A Di Sha array could be transformed into a Di Sha Sword Array.

But this kind of thing was simple to say, but in actual research, it was definitely extremely complex and fraught with difficulties.

Otherwise, sword arrays would not be the core absolute secret inheritance of sword Dao families.

Looking at Mo Hua’s array experience, the unified array pattern variations, transforming array patterns into “sword patterns”, involved array principles that were inevitably the most profound and obscure.

“What array principles would be involved?”

Mo Hua racked his brains, thinking hard, and suddenly thought of a term:

Array flow!

“Sword Dao array flow?”

Array flow involved the origin of arrays, close to the essence of arrays.

Comprehending the origin of the Great Dao, controlling a certain class of “sword Dao array flow”, then could one, through array pattern variations, transform the arrays of heaven and earth into “sword arrays”?

Mo Hua’s heart trembled.

Assuming this conjecture was correct, then…

Mo Hua’s mind raced, and he continued to push his thoughts further:

If he applied the principle of reverse spirit array, or spirit power gathering and transformation, to arrays, and then through the sword Dao array flow, carried out array pattern variations to transform them into sword arrays.

Wouldn’t that mean…

Spirit power collapse sword arrays and spirit power gathering and transformation sword arrays?!

(End of chapter)