The Quest for Immortality

Small-scale cultivator clashes emphasize scheming, strategy, and varied tactics, resulting in numerous changes.

Large-scale cultivator battles, where forces swarm together in chaotic charges, instead demand straightforward transitions between offense and defense.

In such battles, having an advantage in either offense or defense can greatly improve the odds of victory.

Such is the case with the conflict against the Sever Gold Sect.

If one can rely on Gold-breaking Armor to defend against gold-series skills, then in situations of equal cultivation level, once the charge begins, they would gain the upper hand.

But this only applies when facing ordinary disciples of the Sever Gold Sect.

Ordinary Sever Gold disciples cultivate gold-series techniques, gold spiritual power spells, and martial arts.

Even if they practice sword techniques, they usually cultivate ordinary gold-series sword arts or the entry-level Sever Gold Sword Control Jue.

Gold-breaking Armor can suppress these.

But core disciples are different.

The core disciples of the Sever Gold Sect are often gifted sword cultivators who practice the most orthodox Sever Gold Sword Control Jue and wield top-grade gold-series spirit swords.

The power of their sword techniques partly stems from gold spiritual power, but their true core force comes from pure Broken Gold Sword Qi.

This sword qi, amplified by the top-grade golden swords, is even more formidable.

It far surpasses the crude Broken Gold Sword Qi Mo Hua himself cultivated.

And it is much stronger than the sword technique of Boss Jiang, who Mo Hua encountered at first—a man who stole Sever Gold Sect secrets, defected, and turned to trafficking cultivators.

Boss Jiang’s sword technique was stolen.

His original inheritance was not orthodox, so its power naturally could not compare to these core direct-lineage disciples.

”The Sever Gold Sword Control Jue...”

Mo Hua silently muttered to himself.

He now realized he might have underestimated this sword technique.

As one of the Twelve Streams, the Sever Gold Sect’s sect-protecting sword technique has a long lineage, far more significant than he had thought.

Using Gold-breaking Armor to counter ordinary gold-series skills might work.

But using it to counter the Sever Gold Sword Control Jue was perhaps naïve.

Just consider—the disciples of the Sever Gold Sect, with their arrogance, would have long been beaten down if their techniques were so easily countered.

There was no way the Sever Gold Sect could have held its position within the Twelve Streams of Qianxue for so long.

However, being difficult to counter does not necessarily mean there is no countermeasure.

Everything should be attempted; success is uncertain.

But if one does not attempt, failure is guaranteed.

Mo Hua decided to study this thoroughly...

In the dining hall of the Disciple’s Residence, Mo Hua propped his chin in thought before asking Situ Jian beside him:

”Situ, is a sword vital to sword cultivators?”

Situ Jian paused, nodded, and said, ”Of course.”

A sword cultivator without a sword—is that still a sword cultivator...

”How important is it specifically?” Mo Hua asked again.

Situ Jian pondered for a moment before saying, ”Swordsmanship is considered a special Taoist skill; it emphasizes the unity of man and sword.”

”The primary level of man-sword unity refers to the integration of a cultivator’s spiritual power with their spirit sword, thereby unleashing more potent sword qi.”

”Without a spirit sword, the sword qi a cultivator releases is essentially no different in power from ordinary spells, but with the augmentation of a spirit sword, the power of swordsmanship leaps to a higher tier.”

”A sword cultivator with a sword and one without a sword are essentially two completely different types of cultivators—the difference is night and day.”

”In the cultivation world, there’s a common saying: ’A sword cultivator with a sword is a dragon; without a sword, they are no better than a dog.’ Although it may sound exaggerated, it shows how crucial a sword weapon is to a sword cultivator.”

”Body cultivators rely on their physical bodies, spiritual cultivators depend on their Qi Sea, while the entirety of a sword cultivator’s cultivation is heavily reliant on their sword weapons.”

”A quality sword weapon can empower a sword cultivator immensely, even allowing them to ’defy fate and rewrite destiny.’”

”Thus, all sword cultivators regard their spirit swords as treasures and dream endlessly of possessing a supreme divine sword.”

As Situ Jian spoke, a sense of longing welled up in his heart.

”Oh...”

Mo Hua nodded faintly.

Though Situ Jian explained things well, Mo Hua couldn’t deeply relate.

This was the principle of orthodox sword cultivation, something that didn’t seem to concern him.

Mo Hua was self-aware; his foundation was far too weak, and without familial support, he not only lagged hundreds of steps behind others on the path of orthodox sword cultivation, but his journey was also destined to be short-lived...

”What is the higher form of ’man-sword unity’ like?” Mo Hua asked.

Situ Jian shook his head, ”That involves profound sword intent, which I haven’t reached yet, so I don’t really understand.”

”Alright then,” Mo Hua nodded.

His situation was entirely the opposite.

In terms of uniting sword qi and sword weapon, compared to other sword cultivators, Mo Hua was essentially clueless.

However, he did have significant familiarity with sword intent.

After all, he had already learned the ’Transforming Sword Skill’ of Divine Thought into Sword.

That said, his rudimentary ’Transforming Sword Skill’ likely did not create anything that could be considered authentic sword intent.

”Then why does a sword weapon amplify the power of sword qi?” Mo Hua asked once more.

So far, the only methods he’d seen that could enhance spiritual power were the Five Elements Source Formation and the Five Elements Origin Armor engraved with it.

Apart from that, no spiritual artifact he encountered had the effect of ’boosting spiritual power.’

The Five Elements Source Formation, being both the sect-protecting ultimate technique of the Five Elements Sect and an extremely difficult formation to learn and pass down, stood in a class of its own.

Currently, the Five Elements Origin Armor remained unique to him.

But swords were different—though the art of sword forging was rare and closely guarded by major sects, families, and sects, its accessibility far outpaced that of the Five Elements Source Formation.

After some consideration, Mo Hua added:

”Is it because of the sword array?”

”Yes,” Situ Jian replied. ”A spirit sword can amplify sword qi precisely because, during its forging, a sword array is sealed within, merging sword and formation into one.”

”Thus, when spiritual power is injected into the spirit sword, circulating through the sword array, the sword qi unleashed becomes much sharper.”