This was a young master dressed in splendid clothes, with eyebrows and eyes like jade. A fair and handsome face revealed an innate nobility. His appearance was very peculiar, Mo Hua had never seen anyone like him before, but he also had an inexplicable feeling of familiarity, as if the two of them had not met for the first time and had a long-standing causal entanglement.

Mo Hua looked at this young master, his thoughts fluctuating. And this young master also looked at Mo Hua, his expression showing a moment of surprise, then after a moment, his eyebrows raised, and he said indifferently: “You are… Mo Hua?”

Mo Hua’s heart skipped a beat, but his face remained expressionless. “You know me?”

“Qian Xue State boundary, array path leader…” This young master’s tone was mixed with several points of approval and several points of casualness. “Jun Cai, my older cousin, was defeated by you. He told me your array is very remarkable.”

Mo Hua said faintly: “Overpraised.” He looked at this young master again and asked: “May I ask the young master’s name?”

The young master revealed a hint of a cold smile, mixed with a touch of displeasure. It seemed that others always paid their respects to him and humbly reported their names, and he had never encountered anyone who didn’t know his name, much less dared to ask him who he was face to face. He looked at Mo Hua arrogantly, originally unwilling to pay attention, but for some unknown reason, he always felt that Mo Hua exuded an aura different from ordinary people, so much so that he was willing to make an exception and give him face.

The young master said coldly: “Qian Dao Sect, Shen Lin Shu.”

Qian Dao Sect, Shen Lin Shu, Shen… Mo Hua’s pupils shrank slightly. This handsome young master like jade in front of him was actually a disciple of the Shen family of Qian Dao Sect?

Mo Hua looked at the young master’s back again. Behind him followed six cultivators. Among them, three were at the late stage of Foundation Establishment cultivation, handsome and elegant, and they also looked like disciples of upper-class families in the Qian Xue State boundary. Another two had middle-aged appearances, with deep cultivation, and were Gold Core cultivators. And one was an old man, whose aura was deep and unfathomable. Although Mo Hua couldn’t see through the details of this old man, he had interacted with quite a few high-level cultivators, and his vision was not low. Based on feeling, he guessed that this old man should be a Feathered Immortal Realm true person.

When this Shen Lin Shu went out, he had three upper-class family disciples as attendants, two Gold Core as guards, and one Feathered Immortal true person accompanying him. Placed in the Shen family, even in Qian Dao Sect, he was probably a son of heaven, like phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Shen “Lin” Shu… a person living up to his name. Mo Hua’s heart was full of thoughts, but his expression remained indifferent.

Shen Lin Shu looked at Mo Hua again, as if possessed, and said: “After the seventh day of the New Year, I will hold a discussion dao tea meeting. Will you come?”

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of the three disciples behind Shen Lin Shu all changed. The two Gold Core guards looked surprised. That Feathered Immortal true person also cast a deep gaze at Mo Hua.

Tea meeting? It was probably a banquet without a good feast. Mo Hua shook his head, “I’m not familiar with you.”

Shen Lin Shu’s eyelids twitched slightly, “I seldom personally invite people.”

“Oh…” Mo Hua said indifferently.

Shen Lin Shu’s face showed a slightly stern expression, his gaze cold and sharp. He sneered, “I gave you an opportunity, but you didn’t take it.” Then he flicked his sleeve, turned, and left. The three family disciples behind him hurriedly followed. As they passed Mo Hua, they looked at him from the side, their eyes revealing several points of jealousy and several points of sarcasm for his ignorance. The other two Gold Core and one Feathered Immortal also silently followed behind Shen Lin Shu. The group of people thus disappeared into the crowd.

Seeing them leave, Mo Hua breathed a long sigh of relief, his palms covered in sweat. He didn’t linger any longer, his steps relatively fast, and he arrived at the city gate of Qing State city. He boarded the Gu family’s carriage and hurried back to the sect without stopping. The brightly lit Qing State city became increasingly distant. The carriage left the noise and entered the deep night.

Mo Hua sat in the carriage, unable to help but ponder: “The omen just now shouldn’t be an illusion. That ‘poppy-like’ causal chain is indeed the same as the one at Yan Zhi Boat.”

“This Shen Lin Shu is probably related to Yan Zhi Boat.”

“Could it be that this Shen Lin Shu is the ‘young master’ in the Yan Zhi Boat, surrounded by stars?”

“During the Ten Thousand Demons Valley event, was it him who I hunted in the Ten Thousand Demons Nightmare?”

“Is he the mastermind behind the scenes? Or at least, is he the ‘young master’ who holds the highest position and has the greatest power in the Yan Zhi Boat and Ten Thousand Demons Valley events?”

Mo Hua’s expression was grave. Encounters between people were truly strange and unpredictable. He hadn’t expected at all that he would unexpectedly encounter this Shen family’s “young master” at such an inadvertent time. Shen family… Was the Shen family behind that Mister Tu? Was it Qian Dao Sect? This also seemed reasonable, and Mo Hua could only connect the dots like this. But he had no evidence, and for the time being, he couldn’t prove whether his speculation was true or not.

Shen Lin Shu’s identity was indeed noble, but was he really the young master of that young master’s pavilion? Was he really the “behind-the-scenes person” designated by Yan Zhi Boat, Ten Thousand Demons Valley, and even Mister Tu? There was no evidence for this.

And… “Does he really know who I am?”

Mo Hua frowned, “He knows I’m called Mo Hua, that I’m a disciple of Tai Xu Sect, and that I’m the array path leader of the Qian Xue State boundary, but he shouldn’t know what my true identity is…”

“Otherwise, just now, he would have directly made a move to kill me, not to mention inviting me to some discussion dao tea meeting and drinking tea with him.”

“This tea meeting is probably not a proper thing. Who knows what he wants to drink…”

“Can I kill him? I probably can’t…”

“Moreover, he has Gold Core attendants and a Feathered Immortal true person protecting him. I can’t afford to provoke him, I can only hide far away and return to the sect early first…”

The carriage sped along, and the scenery outside the window became immersed in the night. Mo Hua stared blankly outside the carriage, his thoughts somewhat chaotic, but he also vaguely felt that some key figures were gradually surfacing…

At the same time that Mo Hua passed through the south gate of Qing State city and left Qing State city, the young master named “Shen Lin Shu” and his group went to the north gate of Qing State city and boarded a carriage that was low-key on the outside but splendidly luxurious on the inside, going in the opposite direction from Mo Hua.

Inside the carriage, Shen Lin Shu, with a face like jade, lay on a soft exotic beast skin, his fingers lightly tapping the table, not speaking, his face very ugly. The atmosphere inside the car was somewhat oppressive. The crowd could probably guess why the young master was angry.

One family disciple then advised: “Young Master Shu, this person has eyes but fails to see, a flying chance is placed in front of him, but he cannot see it.”

“Array masters bury their heads in study and don’t understand worldly affairs.”

“The more they learn about array law, the more stupid their brains become. They don’t understand scheming, and they can only work for others their whole lives.”

“That’s right, such an ungrateful person is not worth Young Master putting in your heart.”

“I know.” Shen Lin Shu said faintly, but his face became even uglier. From a young age, he had never been so polite to someone of the same generation before. Today, he encountered this person called “Mo Hua” and actually, as if possessed, extended an invitation, wanting him to participate in the young master’s pavilion’s tea meeting. Even he himself didn’t know why he wanted to do this.

Since the “young master’s pavilion” had the two characters “young master,” it looked not only at cultivation talent, family background, connections, but even bloodline, none of which could be lacking. This person called Mo Hua, even if he was the “array path leader,” his family background, spiritual root, and bloodline were all too lowly. To enter the young master’s pavilion and play with them, he was still far from qualified. Especially family background and bloodline, you either had it or you didn’t. This was like a natural moat that isolated those who were born lowly, without power or influence, from the core circle.

This Mo Hua fundamentally didn’t know what kind of noble invitation he had given him. This was the true ladder to the sky in the cultivation world. It was the true path of the powerful. The people inside the young master’s pavilion were characters he couldn’t contact in his lifetime. Even if he just sat together and drank a cup of tea, he should feel extremely honored. But Mo Hua refused. Whether it was “having eyes but failing to see” or “not knowing good from bad,” it all felt like a thorn, piercing his heart and making him very unhappy. Moreover, he always felt that there was a familiar feeling about Mo Hua.

Shen Lin Shu frowned. Seeing that Shen Lin Shu was still worried, another family disciple smiled and said in a low voice: “Young Master Shu, there’s no need to worry. Those who are born lowly mostly have eyes but fail to see. Even if opportunity is placed in front of them, they cannot grasp it. It is precisely because of this that they will always be lowly.”

“Whether he is really ‘having eyes but failing to see’ or not, he should not fail to give Young Master face. Not giving Young Master face is not giving Young Master Pavilion face. If everyone follows suit, how can we establish our authority?”

“How about…” This family disciple’s gaze flashed, “We find people to catch him, dig out his eyes, break his limbs, and throw him into the Smoke Water River to feed those clam demons.”

Several other people smiled and agreed, “That’s right, this method is good.”

“Since he has eyes but fails to see, keeping these eyes is useless.”

The two Gold Core guards were silent and did not speak, pretending not to hear anything. Only one Feathered Immortal old man frowned. He knew that these young masters could do anything. They were born too well. From a young age, they got whatever they wanted, and too many people flattered them and pleased them in various ways. Among these people, there was even no lack of officials and heads from some Dao Court Offices. This also led to these young masters fundamentally having no “law” in their eyes. Whatever trouble they caused, their families would help them clean it up. They even took causing trouble as fun and fundamentally didn’t understand what fear was.

But this “Mo Hua” really couldn’t be touched… He was the array path leader of Tai Xu Sect, and behind him also stood Old Ancestor Xun. Even if he was of humble birth, he wasn’t the kind of person who could be manipulated at will. Touching him would cause a lot of trouble. But this kind of matter couldn’t be said clearly. Once these young masters’ rebellious psychology was stirred up, they would instantly become hot-headed and probably wouldn’t care about anything, insisting on killing this Mo Hua. That might just form a deadly enmity.

The Feathered Immortal old man pondered for a moment, then said: “The path of array law is after all just a ‘clever technique’. No matter how well you learn it, you can only serve families. Study literature and martial arts to sell to the emperor’s house. Born low, no matter how much you learn, you cannot escape this fate.”

“This person called ‘Mo Hua’ is also like this. No matter how good his array law is, at most he is just an upper-class horse or ox. Young Master doesn’t need to take it to heart, so as not to lose your own status.”

Shen Lin Shu was startled and nodded slightly. Although the other people felt somewhat unsatisfied, they did not deny it in front of the Feathered Immortal true person.

The Feathered Immortal old man saw the situation and said again: “Moreover, not long after, it is the next Sword Discussion Assembly. The Sword Discussion Assembly is the true big matter. Before this, it is not suitable to be distracted by other matters and cause extra trouble.”

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of several family disciples all became quite serious. One of them agreed: “That’s right, the Sword Discussion Assembly is important. Nine years of sect learning dao can only be compared this once. It can even be said that a sect disciple can only compare this once in their lifetime.”

Another family disciple also flattered: “Young Master Shu, with your family background and qualifications, if you add the momentum of being first in the Sword Discussion, then you can ascend to the sky in one step, reach Tian Shu directly, and cultivate dao to become immortal in the future, a smooth road.”

“That’s right, ranking is everything. As long as you get first, the old ancestors will give us what we want, and in the future, we can do whatever we want, and no one will dare to manage us.”

“The cultivation world originally respects strength.”

“Genius, genius, as long as you are genius enough, everything is fine.”

“If I can get first, even rushing into the Dao Court Office and killing an official, the old ancestor will probably protect me.”

“Nonsense, I don’t believe it.”

“Then I’ll kill one for you to see. Just bet whether the old ancestor will protect me or not. If I’m protected, send your engaged but not yet married dao companion to me to play for one night.”

“Go to your mom’s.”

“You don’t believe it?”

“I don’t not believe your old ancestor will protect you, I don’t believe you can get first. You, this fellow, are you even worthy of being first in the Sword Discussion?”

“You, this coward, also dare to say me. Even if I can’t compare to Young Master Shu, I can still compare to you, right? So, do you agree or not… Your not yet married dao companion is from the Ming family, right? I’ve long been envious…”

“Get lost, I don’t even dare to touch her.”

“Just playing, what are you afraid of…”

These family disciples talked more and more absurdly. But the two Gold Core beside them still remained silent, and even that Feathered Immortal old man pretended not to see and not to hear. The most important point of their duty was to not listen to anything and not say anything, only in this way would they not make mistakes. These family playboys in front of them were true “little ancestors,” and they couldn’t offend them in the slightest. If they really offended them and made them resentful, they would complain to their parents, elders, and even old ancestors. Even if these people were Gold Core, even if they were Feathered Immortal, they couldn’t get away with it. This was power. And this power was backed by the powerful strength of these colossal family entities.

Several family disciples quarreled noisily for a while, and suddenly someone asked: “Young Master Shu, why are we going to Lonely Mountain City? Isn’t this taking a big detour? I’m afraid we won’t make it back in time for the family ancestor worship.”

Shen Lin Shu did not answer. Someone then said: “Young Master instructed, we just follow and do. Where do you get so much nonsense?”

“You…” Shen Lin Shu didn’t pay attention to the dispute between the two. He looked towards the deep night outside the window, not knowing what he was calculating. After a moment, that familiar feeling came again, and Shen Lin Shu involuntarily thought of Mo Hua again. He thought of Mo Hua’s bright eyes and his pure and indifferent face.

“Did I really see him for the first time? Why do I feel so familiar? Even…”

Will I feel wary? Will I feel wary?

Shen Lin Shu’s gaze was slightly cold and sharp, and he murmured in his heart: “This Mo Hua… exactly who is he?”

Tai Xu Sect. Mo Hua, who had returned to the sect, finally settled down. After several days, he took the time to investigate this “Shen Lin Shu,” but he didn’t get much information. He only vaguely knew that these people were true “high-door disciples” even in their families, completely different from ordinary disciples, especially someone like Mo Hua, who were people of two different worlds. Mo Hua sighed. The barriers of cultivating dao, the monopoly of inheritance, the isolation of bloodline… These layers of ravines and barriers were truly deeper the more you looked, and higher the more you climbed. Of course, Mo Hua only sighed. He was also powerless in this kind of matter.

After that, he still cultivated and attended classes diligently. The sect life of the New Year began, and everything quickly got back on track. And this was Mo Hua’s eighth year in Tai Xu Sect, and also the penultimate year of the sect’s nine years of teaching dao. Next year was the Discussion Dao Assembly. In the Qian Xue State boundary, a disciple could only participate in the Discussion Dao Assembly once in their lifetime. Therefore, this opportunity to discuss dao was extremely precious. Mo Hua’s participation in the previous Discussion Dao Assembly was a breach of rules and a back door. According to reason, the next year’s Discussion Dao Assembly was truly his turn. And his own Discussion Dao Assembly was in the blink of an eye, with only more than a year left.

Mo Hua felt that time passed very quickly. He had clearly experienced so many things, but the day he entered the sect seemed like yesterday. In the blink of an eye, nine years had passed, and he was about to graduate. Mo Hua involuntarily felt a trace of urgency, but he couldn’t say exactly why he was urgent.

Tai Xu Sect, Sect Master Residence. The high pavilion stood tall, surrounded by clouds. Old Mister Xun and the Tai Xu Sect Master were drinking tea and discussing matters. “The next Discussion Dao Assembly is fast approaching, with less than two years left…” The Tai Xu Sect Master sighed.

Old Mister Xun drank tea silently and did not speak. The Tai Xu Sect Master hesitated for a moment, feeling somewhat uneasy in his heart, and then asked: “Old Mister, what do you say, what rank will our Tai Xu Sect get this time?”

Old Mister Xun said faintly: “Asking me is useless, I can’t fortune-tell.”

“Don’t you deduce cause and effect?”

“That’s called deduction, not fortune-telling. There are very few people in this cultivation world who can truly fortune-tell. Furthermore, this deduction of cause and effect, you can deduce, others can also deduce. Seeking advantage in this aspect is useless.”

The Tai Xu Sect Master felt a little regretful, then frowned: “According to reason, after the three sects merged, the strength of our Tai Xu Sect is now different from before. We also have Mo Hua as the foundation in array law. This Discussion Dao Assembly, even if we don’t advance, it should be no problem to maintain our ranking, but…”

The Tai Xu Sect Master sighed, “I always feel worried, as if some major event will happen in this Discussion Dao Assembly.”

Old Mister Xun heard this, his gaze also narrowed. After a moment, he poured himself a cup of tea, “Do human affairs and listen to heaven’s will. The coming calamity, you can’t hide even if you want to.”

The Tai Xu Sect Master was silent. Old Mister Xun took a sip of tea and looked up at the Tai Xu Sect Master, “Instead of worrying about this, it’s better to spend more effort cultivating some good seedlings and let them get a good ranking in the Sword Discussion Assembly.”

“To forge iron, you need to be strong yourself. If the disciples of our Tai Xu Sect are strong enough, why can’t we maintain our ranking?”

The Tai Xu Sect Master pondered for a moment and nodded: “Old Mister is right. Then I will select more disciples, seize the time, and focus on cultivating them.”

But he felt somewhat helpless in his heart. It was easy to say, but there were countless geniuses in the Qian Xue State boundary. Tai Xu Sect’s source of disciples was originally a grade weaker. No matter how they selected, their strength was limited. Moreover, now that the three sects had merged, there were more people, and the requirements were higher. If it was the previous Tai Xu Sect, it would be lucky to maintain eighth place. But now, his Tai Xu Sect must at least maintain the “top three” to be okay, otherwise, they would not get enough share of the Qian Long Spirit Mine and fundamentally could not support this large family. The sect needed to spend a large amount of spirit stones.

Now that the three sects had merged, to a certain extent, they were all living on their old capital. If they did not get a good ranking, occupy more share of the Qian Long Spirit Mine, and divide more spirit stones, sooner or later they would “sit and eat the mountain empty.” At that time, once the supply of spirit stones was insufficient and they couldn’t turn over, their days would become tight, and Tai Xu Sect would truly become a big stomach, an “empty shell” that couldn’t be fed. Going downhill was just a matter of time.

“Opening a sect is burning spirit stones ah…” The Tai Xu Sect Master sighed in his heart.

Therefore, the ranking of the Sword Discussion Assembly was very important. He began to seriously select candidates for the Sword Discussion Assembly in his heart: “Ling Hu Xiao of Chong Xu Sect, a rare sword dao genius in five hundred years, originally the treasure of Chong Xu Sect, now cheap to our Tai Xu Sect… No, we are all Tai Xu Sect now, there is no such thing as who is cheap to whom…”

“Tai A Sect, the Ouyang family also has several members, their sword arts are not bad…”

“Our Tai Xu Sect, although not particularly outstanding, because we have this ‘little senior brother’ Mo Hua leading us, the cohesion among the same sect is strong, and the cooperation is also more tacit…”

The Tai Xu Sect Master muttered, and suddenly his heart moved, and he asked curiously: “Old Mister, what do you say about Mo Hua… Is he suitable to go to the Sword Discussion?”

When it came to Mo Hua, Old Mister Xun also became serious. He frowned and thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head: “Not very good… This child’s abilities, advantages and disadvantages are too obvious. Truly going to the Sword Discussion would be too strenuous and too easy to be targeted…”

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