Latest website: bixiashenghua

Elder Xun’s heart was brewing something significant.

As for Mo Painting, his mind remained undisturbed, focusing on attending classes and cultivating.

Soon, another ten-day break arrived.

Inside Refine Demon Mountain, Mo Painting sat on a large tree, a spirit sword placed in front of him, effortlessly killing the hawk-falcons in the sky.

He now had no trouble killing second-grade initial level hawk-falcons.

It was basically one sword, one kill.

Killing them for so long inevitably became boring.

At the same time, he was also patiently waiting.

Waiting for Linghu Xiao to come knocking.

This way, he would have a “sword dao genius” as his “fighter”.

And this sword dao genius could still grow, perhaps becoming more and more powerful in the future.

Mo Painting waited and waited on the tree until noon had passed and it was approaching evening, the setting sun already leaning and beginning to sink towards the west.

Still no sign of Linghu Xiao.

“Not coming?”

Mo Painting sighed.

He didn’t catch a fish…

Then maybe next time.

Mo Painting prepared to pack up and go back, but then thought, perhaps he should wait a little longer.

What if this youth was going through an internal struggle?

This kind of youth with a solitary temperament, who looked cold on the outside, generally had a lot of inner drama.

Mo Painting sat on the big tree, took out a pot of fruit wine, and waited slowly while watching the sunset.

Sure enough, after another incense’s time, a youth’s figure appeared on the mountain path covered by the distant dense forest.

It was precisely Linghu Xiao in his light green robe.

“He came!”

Mo Painting’s spirit lifted, and he stood on the tree, waving his hand from afar to greet him, saying:

“Linghu Xiao!”

Linghu Xiao was startled, and looked up to find a small youth on a big tree in the distant dense mountain forest waving at him.

Looking at his figure and temperament, it was exactly Mo Painting.

Linghu Xiao frowned slightly.

At such a distance, how did this small cultivator called “Mo Painting” discover him?

Everyone was a Foundation Building cultivator, was his divine sense that strong?

Linghu Xiao was puzzled, but still stepped towards Mo Painting.

After the two met, Mo Painting didn’t talk much, didn’t ask him why he came so late, and didn’t say any polite pleasantries. Instead, he went straight to the point and said:

“It’s getting late, I’ll take you to kill demon beasts.”

Linghu Xiao’s expression remained cold, and he asked:

“What demon beast are we killing?”

“You’ll know then,” Mo Painting said.

Having finished speaking, he then led the way.

Linghu Xiao hesitated for a moment. Although somewhat unwilling, he still slowly followed behind Mo Painting.

“Let me tell you, this is how our Taixu Gate kills demon beasts,” Mo Painting said as he walked.

Originally, he thought of finding someone to bring Linghu Xiao through the process.

But Linghu Xiao was after all the sword dao genius of Chongxu Gate. Mo Painting considered it and decided it was better to do it himself. This way, it would seem more valuable.

Anyway, his days, although substantial, were quite boring now.

He might as well take this time to make a friend and show Linghu Xiao around.

After Mo Painting’s research, and his fellow disciples’ practice, and then continuous optimization according to the actual situation, Taixu Gate’s demon hunting process was already very stable and mature.

This time, they were going to kill a Kui Wood Wolf.

Mo Painting found the traces, buried traps, set up an array, and then pulled Linghu Xiao to squat behind a large stone.

The Kui Wood Wolf triggered the array, the array exploded, and killing intent surged.

Firelight spilled out, and smoke and dust rose everywhere.

The Kui Wood Wolf was also blown to a heavy injury.

“Chop it!” Mo Painting said.

Linghu Xiao then drew his sword. A brilliant and sharp sword light, lustrous like moonlight, shot out, chopping directly onto the injured Kui Wood Wolf’s body.

The Kui Wood Wolf died on the spot.

The demon hunt was over.

Linghu Xiao was stunned.

The entire process, from beginning to end, did not exceed one hour.

Most of the time was spent finding the demon beast, tracking the demon beast, burying traps, and setting up the array.

The actual fight, from the activation of the array to his own sword draw and the death of the demon beast, was just the time it takes for one incense stick to burn.

Just like this, simply, a second-grade initial level demon beast was hunted.

So simple that he felt that even a “fool,” if they followed the steps, could kill a demon beast like this…

Taixu Gate… always kills demon beasts like this?

Which demon beast could withstand such a killing method?

Linghu Xiao felt that his understanding had been completely subverted.

Mo Painting looked up at the sky, “There’s still a little time, we can kill another one, then we can go back after we’re done.”

Then he repeated the same trick.

Under the mature and meticulous demon hunting arrangements, and with Linghu Xiao’s powerful sword qi killing, another demon beast fell without resistance.

The two skinned the beasts and sold the materials at the mountain gate.

“Two demon beasts, deducting the cost of the array, the rest is split equally, eight hundred merit points per person.”

Mo Painting said, and then transferred eight hundred merit points to Linghu Xiao.

Linghu Xiao was somewhat dazed.

Just like this…

Half a day’s time, strolling in the mountain forest, chopping two or three swords, and he got eight hundred merit points?

This made him feel that before, when he was alone, hiding in the deep mountains and old forests, fully alert, pushing his sword heart to the extreme, fighting with demon beasts, and dealing with the schemes of Duangjin Gate, spending several days, sometimes even two or three ten days, to kill a demon beast and earn a little over a thousand merit points, he was like a “fool”…

On the way back, Linghu Xiao pondered for a long time, and finally said indifferently:

“This demon hunt is not good, I will not participate next time.”

Mo Painting asked doubtfully: “What’s not good about it? Isn’t it very fast?”

Linghu Xiao shook his head, “It’s too opportunistic, not good for tempering the sword dao, and it will make the sword heart numb and careless, giving rise to laziness.”

“Moreover, ambushing beforehand and relying on arrays is somewhat an unmartial way of winning.”

“This contradicts my sword dao and will make me lose the courage to face strong enemies…”

Mo Painting was slightly startled, then sighed, and said speechlessly:

“One day, sooner or later, you will die stupidly.”

Linghu Xiao was startled, immediately somewhat angry, and said coldly: “You are the one who is stupid! What do you understand? You don’t cultivate the sword method, you don’t have the talent of a bright sword heart, how can you know the pursuit of the sword dao!”

“What’s a bright sword heart?” Mo Painting asked curiously.

Linghu Xiao’s face was cold, and he looked up and said: “You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.”

“Oh.” Mo Painting looked at Linghu Xiao, pondered for a moment, and asked: “Do you plan to stay in the sect for a lifetime?”

Linghu Xiao didn’t understand why Mo Painting was asking this, but he still shook his head and said:

“How is that possible…”

Mo Painting said in a deep voice: “Then do you know how cultivators outside the sect kill people? Those evil cultivators, demonic cultivators, for the sake of gathering supplements, absorbing spirits, absorbing blood, and cultivating evil techniques, what means will they use?”

Linghu Xiao was asked by Mo Painting and was somewhat silent.

Although he had done several bounties, he hadn’t been out many times, and he had encountered few true great evil and demonic cultivators.

Mo Painting curled his lip, “If those evil and demonic cultivators want to kill you, they will naturally use whatever means they can, whether it’s despicable or shameless, do they care?”

“You are killed by them, dismembered by them, your blood is used to draw arrays, your flesh is used to feed demons, and that ‘sword heart’ of yours will also be dug out and used as a medicinal guide to refine evil pills…”

“Even your divine soul will be eaten…”

“At this time, do you want to reason with them? Do you want to accuse them of ‘unmartial winning’?”

“Who will care about you?”

Mo Painting’s words were ice-cold and realistic.

Linghu Xiao’s face was somewhat pale.

After a moment, he looked at Mo Painting, who was slightly younger than himself, with a pure youthful appearance, but with somewhat profound eyes, frowned and asked:

“These things… how do you know?”

Demonic cultivators dismembering people, drawing arrays with blood, feeding demons with flesh, refining pills from heart veins, eating divine souls raw…

How could Mo Painting, a proper small cultivator from a sect, know these bloody things so clearly?

“Of course I saw it myself…” Mo Painting said silently in his heart.

But these things were not good to say clearly.

Once spread, it would destroy his image of being naive, pure, and friendly among his fellow disciples.

“This was told to me by an Uncle Gu who serves in the Dao Court department, who captures evil cultivators all year round and fights with evil demons.”

Mo Painting once again brought out the name of “Uncle Gu” to bluff.

Linghu Xiao saw that he was speaking so genuinely, with a clear narrative, and naturally believed him.

“So,” Mo Painting said seriously, “The world often says that cultivating the dao is dangerous, but we disciples of these sects don’t actually realize what true ‘danger’ is.”

“These true dangers are possibly more shameless, despicable, ruthless, insidious… making people unable to guard against them.”

“If you hold onto this childish idea of ‘unmartial winning’, you will definitely suffer a great loss when you truly step into the cultivation world in the future.”

“It’s even possible that your spirit sword will be broken, your sword heart will be polluted, your sword dao foundation will be destroyed, and your own little life will be gone…”

The sword dao foundation, destroyed…

When it came to matters of the sword dao, Linghu Xiao’s expression was indeed extremely solemn.

Mo Painting continued: “Therefore, if you want to live long, seek immortality in the dao, and climb to the true peak of the sword dao, you just need to abandon those ignorant persistence of yours.”

“To achieve your goal, you should not choose means, enhance your sword method cultivation, even borrowing external things, at all costs.”

“As long as you live and continue to become strong, you can eventually walk to the end of the sword dao!”

Mo Painting was completely ignorant of the sword dao, so he just randomly made up something based on his understanding of arrays.

But the great dao of the world, although different paths lead to the same destination, shouldn’t be too different.

Linghu Xiao’s expression indeed changed, as if he was thinking.

Mo Painting saw Linghu Xiao waver, and finally advised warmly:

“You should first simply kill these low-level demon beasts and earn some merit points to enhance your strength.”

“Later, when we have time, we’ll find people to team up and go kill second-grade middle level, or even high level demon beasts.”

“Fighting with these powerful demon beasts, on the edge of life and death, bearing immense pressure, can truly temper your sword heart and hone your sword method.”

Linghu Xiao’s spirits indeed lifted.

Hunting second-grade middle level, or even high level demon beasts?!

Linghu Xiao’s eyes immediately lit up, and a strong fighting intent burst out from his body. He immediately nodded and promised:

“Good! I’ll follow you on all demon hunts!”

Mo Painting sighed in his heart.

A single-minded sword cultivator is easy to deceive.

As soon as he heard about hunting middle and high level demon beasts, he immediately became excited.

A second-grade middle level demon beast is only one level stronger than an initial level one. Its blood energy and demonic power are also thicker, and it’s a bit more troublesome to kill.

Let alone a high level one, not only is it troublesome, but the danger is also great.

But you have to “draw a big picture,” and it’s always better to draw it a bit bigger.

Moreover, when Cheng Mo and the others’ cultivation becomes a bit more profound, they will also want to try killing stronger demon beasts.

So, it’s not really drawing a picture out of thin air.

As for when they will go kill them, that depends on the situation.

Anyway, he told Linghu Xiao it was “later when we have time”.

It’s possible that he’ll have time in one or two months, or it might take one or two years, two or three years, it’s not certain…

Linghu Xiao obviously didn’t have as many twists and turns as Mo Painting.

He felt that Mo Painting’s words also had reason.

Simply and efficiently hunt low-level demon beasts, quickly earn merit points, and enhance the strength of the sword dao.

Then, go challenge more fierce and powerful demon beasts to temper your own sword heart and sword method!

He had misunderstood him before.

Mo Painting was not without the heart to seek victory, but rather he was taking it step by step, steadily, seeking a more long-term great dao.

Linghu Xiao nodded slightly.

Just like this, Linghu Xiao also considered himself to have “joined”.

The next day, Mo Painting simply let Hao Xuan take Linghu Xiao to hunt demon beasts.

Hao Xuan was responsible for scouting and setting up arrays, while Linghu Xiao was responsible for killing.

By evening, the two returned, and Hao Xuan said in shock: “What strong sword qi! With a whoosh, that demon beast died.”

“Today, we killed five demon beasts.”

“Senior Brother Linghu is indeed powerful!”

Linghu Xiao’s expression was indifferent, but being praised by Hao Xuan like this, he also slightly pursed his lips.

He was after all a youth less than twenty years old. Being praised a few times, even if he didn’t say it, he was still very happy in his heart.

Ordinarily in Chongxu Gate, no disciple would praise him.

Because everyone knew that he was a sword dao genius rarely seen in five hundred years.

Since that was the case, no matter how high his sword method was, others felt it was only natural.

Instead, he was alienated by others because of it.

But in Taixu Gate, it was different.

Everyone teamed up to hunt demon beasts and worked together. The stronger his sword qi was, the faster the demon beasts were killed, and the more merit points they earned.

Moreover, everyone had a share of these merit points.

So Linghu Xiao unknowingly became the “big leg” of the demon hunting team.

Taixu Gate’s praise for him was also sincere.

Linghu Xiao mingled with the disciples of Taixu Gate, without so many schemes, and instead felt much more relaxed.

Besides, there was still a specialized sword forging master – Ouyang Mu, who repaired and maintained his spirit sword.

Inherited spirit swords were very precious, not only difficult to forge, but also very particular about ordinary maintenance and repair after damage.

Among the three gates, Tai’a Gate was proficient in sword forging.

Ouyang Mu was the successor of Tai’a Gate, so the disciples of Taixu Gate, as long as they had problems with their sword weapons or spirit weapons, would pay merit points and ask Ouyang Mu to help repair them.

Linghu Xiao was no exception.

Coming and going, the two became much more familiar.

Ouyang Mu was single-minded in forging swords, Linghu Xiao was single-minded in cultivating swords, and one was dull in temperament, the other solitary, so they got along easily.

Just like this, more than a month passed, and Linghu Xiao also gradually integrated into the disciples of Taixu Gate.

Now, every time he entered the mountain, he would just hang out at the mountain peak of Taixu Gate.

Then, when he met the disciples of Taixu Gate, someone would immediately enthusiastically pull him into their team.

Others would find demon beasts, bury arrays, and he would be responsible for drawing his sword.

After killing the demon beasts and getting merit points according to the amount of work done, they would all go down the mountain satisfied.

This process was relaxed and natural.

Sometimes, Linghu Xiao would even be somewhat dazed.

He would have an illusion, feeling that he was not actually a cultivator from Chongxu Gate, but a disciple of Taixu Gate…

And the matter of Linghu Xiao mingling with Taixu Gate was also seen by the elders of Chongxu Gate who were secretly looking after him.

The elder of Chongxu Gate went back and reported to the Old Ancestor of Chongxu Gate.

The Old Ancestor of Chongxu Gate stroked his beard, pondered for a moment, and said:

“No harm, this is a good thing.”

The elder didn’t understand, “How is this a good thing…”

The Old Ancestor of Chongxu Gate said: “Our Chongxu Gate is stronger than Taixu Gate; Xiao’s strength is also stronger than the disciples of Taixu Gate.”

“He mingles with Taixu Gate like a lion mingling in a wolf pack, the lion as the leader, the wolf pack second.”

“With Xiao’s sword dao talent, his future is immeasurable.”

“But a cultivator is after all a person, getting more help on the dao, getting less help without the dao.”

“He can make friends with a crowd of disciples from Taixu Gate, which is also considered opening up connections and establishing prestige, and his actions will be more convenient in the future.”

“Even if Taixu Gate declines one day, they will still cling to Xiao’s favor.”

The elder of Chongxu Gate heard this and nodded slightly:

“The Old Ancestor’s considerations are still thorough.”

“However,” the elder of Chongxu Gate was again somewhat worried, “He is quite close to that disciple named Mo Painting from Taixu Gate.”

“This child Mo Painting is clever and cunning, and has a glib tongue.”

“He says things that Xiao, although cold on the surface, seems to truly believe in his heart, and acts accordingly…”

The elder of Chongxu Gate was somewhat helpless.

The Old Ancestor of Chongxu Gate frowned slightly, “What is the origin of this child?”

“I inquired a bit… he seems to be very favored by Old Ancestor Xun of Taixu Gate. His aptitude is not good, but he has learned arrays quite well…” the elder of Chongxu Gate said.

“Learned arrays quite well?”

The Old Ancestor of Chongxu Gate pondered slightly, then nodded and said: “This is also no harm…”

“If he’s good at arrays, he can assist Xiao.”

“Although Xiao’s temperament is solitary, his sword heart is bright and talented, he is not a stupid person, and it is impossible for him to be controlled by others.”

“Moreover, no matter how good arrays are, they eventually help others. Unlike sword methods, all the power belongs to oneself.”

“So, in the future, Xiao will still be in charge.”

“And the disciples of this generation of Taixu Gate can just be Xiao’s helpers!”

The elder of Chongxu Gate nodded in praise: “Old Ancestor is wise!”

But although the words were so, he still vaguely had some worries in his heart.

The Old Ancestor’s idea, although very good, seemed to have a subtle difference from the actual situation.

Especially, the Old Ancestor had not personally met that disciple named “Mo Painting”, and had no idea how “clever” that child was.

But if he were to say it, he couldn’t articulate it clearly.

How clever can he be?

Moreover, the Old Ancestor was busy with affairs.

Especially with the impending sect reform, major sects were in turmoil, and there were also many matters to worry about, so it was not worth it to delay the Old Ancestor’s time too much for a small disciple of Taixu Gate.

Therefore, the elder of Chongxu Gate said no more, bowed, and then took his leave.

The Old Ancestor of Chongxu Gate’s mind was on other matters, and for a while, he didn’t think about it anymore.

And within Taixu Gate, Mo Painting was still somewhat worried.

Linghu Xiao’s matter, he had already arranged properly.

But his own strength was still somewhat stuck.

He saw that the fourth year was about to end, but his cultivation, divine sense, imperial sword, and arrays were all stuck.

Cultivation required the persistence of dripping water penetrating stone. His cultivation in the middle stage of Foundation Building couldn’t be broken through in a short time.

His divine sense was stuck at seventeen lines.

Eighteen lines were right in front of him, but limited by the laws of heaven, there was a barrier in front, and he just couldn’t break through it.

The power of his imperial sword was extremely strong, but it also gradually reached a bottleneck.

He needed to wait until he learned a new sword array, or Xiao Mu learned a new sword forging technique, to continue enhancing it.

He practiced arrays more and more every day.

Especially the Five Elements Eight Trigrams Array, he was already tired of learning it, and temporarily had nothing new.

And besides the Five Elements Eight Trigrams Array, he hadn’t had any new arrays to learn for a long time.

There was no way to rush cultivation, it needed to be slowly honed.

Divine sense might also need some opportunity.

What he could do now was to find some new arrays to learn.

Mo Painting thought about it and decided to go find Elder Xun to ask.

“New arrays?” Elder Xun was slightly startled.

“Um,” Mo Painting nodded, “Old Mister, besides the Five Elements Eight Trigrams Array, are there any other arrays to learn?”

“Yuan Magnetic Array is also okay…” Mo Painting weakly added.

He only had a few seventeen-line Yuan Magnetic Arrays, which he had already practiced until he was sick of them.

Elder Xun sighed.

Learning too fast was not necessarily a good thing. Now all the pressure had come to him, this old man.

But some arrays were still too early for Mo Painting to learn.

And some other arrays, although they belonged to the category of regular arrays, were also a mix of righteous and evil, and easily learned incorrectly.

“Let me consider it…” Elder Xun said.

“Okay,” Mo Painting said obediently.

He was just about to stand up and leave when he was suddenly stopped by Elder Xun.

“Mo Painting.”

Elder Xun frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and then opened his mouth to ask: “Can your divine sense still be enhanced?”

Elder Xun asked very cautiously.

Just entering the middle stage of Foundation Building, and already having seventeen lines of divine sense, this already exceeded cultivators of the same realm by a large margin.

But Elder Xun always felt that Mo Painting shouldn’t be just like this.

As that person’s disciple, everything was absurd, and everything was possible…

Mo Painting scratched his head, “Hard to say, maybe I need some opportunity…”

For example, having someone “deliver food” to him.

Or finding an altar or something.

This indeed required “opportunity”.

But Mo Painting certainly couldn’t say this clearly.

Elder Xun’s gaze deepened slightly, not knowing what he was thinking. He nodded slightly, “I understand.”

After that, Elder Xun said no more.

Mo Painting also didn’t want to disturb him, because he discovered that Elder Xun seemed to be worried recently, as if considering some important matter.

But these sect-level important matters were not something he could intervene in, and he probably couldn’t help the old gentleman with anything.

It would be enough not to add trouble to the old gentleman.

Mo Painting bowed, and then stood up to leave.

But as soon as he reached the door and turned around, he ran face to face into someone wearing the inner door dao robe of Taixu Gate, with a handsome appearance, straight figure, and some leisure between his expressions.

He looked like some elder from the inner door.

This elder was suddenly startled by running into Mo Painting, and a slightly guilty expression flashed across his face.

Just like being discovered doing something sneaky.

But in just a moment, his expression returned to normal.

If Mo Painting’s divine sense wasn’t keen, he wouldn’t have detected it at all.

Moreover, the aura of this elder’s body was inexplicably somewhat familiar…

Mo Painting was somewhat doubtful, but still respectfully bowed as a disciple and said:

“Greetings, Elder.”

That elder’s gaze at Mo Painting was very calm, as if he had never seen Mo Painting before, treating him only as an ordinary disciple, and nodding faintly:

“Um.”

Then he crossed over Mo Painting and entered Elder Xun’s residence.

Mo Painting looked at his back, somewhat perplexed, then called over the small dao child beside him and asked:

“Who was that elder just now?”

The small dao child welcomed and sent people every day and was well-informed.

Moreover, he got along very well with Mo Painting, so he said one by one:

“That’s Elder Xun Zi You, a descendant of Old Mister Xun, who is now an elder in the inner door responsible for guarding Refine Demon Mountain. He occasionally comes to visit the old mister…”

Mo Painting was startled, and his expression seemed to be thinking about that strange but somewhat familiar figure.

After a moment, Mo Painting’s eyes brightened slightly, and he nodded meaningfully:

“Oh… Elder Xun…”

(End of this chapter)

Latest website: bixiashenghua