The Quest for Immortality

Just by looking, he learned it...

Elder Master Xun fell silent, the brush in his hand came to a halt.

Xun Ziyou, his gaze lowered, secretly lifted his eyes and glanced at Elder Master Xun before summoning the courage to ask:

”Patriarch, this couldn’t have been... taught by you as well, right?”

Elder Master Xun’s pale eyebrows arched slightly as he glanced at Xun Ziyou and said indifferently:

”What’s the matter? Not acceptable? Are you questioning me, this old Patriarch?”

Xun Ziyou’s sudden burst of courage instantly vanished, and he awkwardly replied, ”Wouldn’t dare.”

Then, he muttered under his breath:

”Still, Patriarch, you might be showing a bit too much favoritism... Sect disciples aren’t taught, Xun family descendants aren’t taught, yet all of it is given to Mo Hua, that kid...”

”And it’s all the good stuff...”

”Formation Drawing on the Ground, Sword Qi deduction...”

”Why don’t you just teach him the Divine Thought into Sword True Jue as well?”

Elder Master Xun immediately rebuked:

”Spouting nonsense?!”

”That technique isn’t something that can be taught! Are you trying to ruin him?”

”With every strike of the sword, Divine Thought diminishes a fraction — this is the path to self-destructing one’s Divine Sense!”

”I’ve already sealed my own Divine Thought and haven’t used that sword technique for centuries. And you want that kid to learn it? You want his Divine Sense to be eroded, to sever his own foundation?”

Xun Ziyou shrank back when faced with Elder Master Xun’s anger, not daring to utter another word.

Elder Master Xun furrowed his brows, pondered briefly, and then instructed:

”You, along with the elders in the sect... privately emphasize to them again: no one, under any circumstances, is to mention even a single word about the Divine Thought into Sword True Jue in front of Mo Hua.”

”Not a single word!”

Elder Master Xun’s gaze hardened slightly as he sighed softly.

That child was too clever, his Divine Sense strong, his curiosity deep. If he ever truly heard of such a sword technique existing within the Taixu Gate, he would surely rack his brain trying to learn it...

Xun Ziyou helplessly cupped his hands and said, ”Understood.”

Elder Master Xun silently looked at him, ”The consequences of Divine Thought into Sword—you should be well aware, shouldn’t you?”

Xun Ziyou paused, then his expression turned desolate.

He had spoken impulsively, but deep down he knew the truth.

Memories flooded his mind:

The late Patriarch Dugu in the back mountain.

The Sword Tomb filled with countless broken blades across the hills.

Brother Dugu Xuan, once the hope of many and unparalleled in Sword Dao, whose Lifebound Spirit Sword had shattered, leaving him to vanish without a trace...

And now, the declining Taixu Gate.

Xun Ziyou restrained his expression and solemnly cupped his hands again, ”Understood.”

Elder Master Xun nodded slightly.

”As for the Sever Gold Sect over there...” Xun Ziyou asked again, ”Will there be any trouble?”

Elder Master Xun thought briefly and replied, ”Cover it up. Don’t let anyone else find out about this. Mo Hua, that kid, is clever—he definitely won’t say anything. As long as you don’t say anything either, the Sever Gold Sect won’t know a thing.”

”Deducting Sword Qi...”

Elder Master Xun paused briefly before murmuring, ”Goes against the basics of Tao cultivation... something ordinary Cultivators simply cannot learn.”

”As long as no one spreads this news, even if the Sever Gold Sect over there rack their brains, they’ll never be able to figure out what’s going on.”

Xun Ziyou’s heart trembled slightly.

Simply not something regular Cultivators can learn...

This meant that Mo Hua’s innate talent might indeed be extraordinary.

No wonder... why the Patriarch values Mo Hua that much.

Xun Ziyou then asked, ”But what if the Sever Gold Sect sees the sword formation and suspects our Taixu Gate?”

Elder Master Xun firmly replied, ”Then we categorically assert that this isn’t the Sever Gold Sect’s sword formation!”

Xun Ziyou froze.

Elder Master Xun’s face remained calm as he continued, ”How could the Sever Gold Sect prove that this sword formation originated from them? Would they dare to take out their own sword formations for a comparison?”

Xun Ziyou hesitated, ”But, it is of the Golden Series...”

Elder Master Xun raised an eyebrow, ”A Gold-Series Sword Formation automatically belongs to the Sever Gold Sect? Does the Sever Gold Sect have such arrogance?”

”What of the Melting Gold Sword Formation, Gold-Breaking Sword Formation, and Gengjin Sword Formation, which are passed down across various major Golden Sword sects throughout the Nine State? Are those all theirs too?”

Xun Ziyou pondered for a moment, ”That does seem reasonable...”

Catch a thief with stolen goods.

Without catching them red-handed and possessing the stolen items, where would Sever Gold Sect find justification to slander the disciples of Taixu Gate?

Besides, there’s always the Patriarch to rely on.

Even taking a step back: strictly speaking, this sword formation wasn’t something Mo Hua ”stole.” It was something he managed to ”see” with his own capabilities.

They could wield swords in front of him, but how could they prohibit him from ”looking”?

Just by looking, he could learn a sect’s entire heritage. How could this possibly be blamed on Mo Hua?

Xun Ziyou slowly nodded, an unbidden sense of admiration in his heart: the Patriarch was truly the Patriarch.

Whether in cultivation or in... audacity.

”Patriarch, I understand.” Xun Ziyou said.

Elder Master Xun waved his hand.

Xun Ziyou rose and respectfully took his leave.

After Xun Ziyou left, Elder Master Xun sat alone, his frown deepening.

”Deducting Sword Qi...”

”How exactly is it being deduced?”

”Could it be...”

A tremor ran through Elder Master Xun’s heart as an utterly profound technique resurged in his thoughts—a pinnacle method that unveiled heavenly secrets and calculated boundless principles:

Heavenly Secret Calculation!

”That brat named Zhuang... Exactly what has he been teaching his little disciple?”

”But this doesn’t make sense...” Elder Master Xun frowned, ”Given he hasn’t taught the Immortal Sky Formation Flow, why would he teach Heavenly Secret Calculation?”

”This isn’t something anyone at the Foundation Establishment Realm could possibly learn!”

Elder Master Xun’s gaze turned slightly grave.

The Taixu Mountain remained silent, and the Elder’s Residence stayed tranquil.

Elder Master Xun continued writing something on paper. Once finished, he stowed the paper away, then took out his own compass. His gaze darkened, and he muttered lowly:

”The secrets hidden within this child might be deeper than I’ve imagined...”

”It’d be best to add another ’lock’ to the karma surrounding this child...”

...

Mo Hua was still diligently studying the Gold-Cutting Sword Formation.

A sword formation was a critical component of swordsmanship transmission, the core of sword weaponry, and the key to Sword Dao.

Mo Hua wanted to learn Taixu Gate’s Divine Thought into Sword.

Back in the small fishing village, he had used karmic tracing to learn the basics of the ”Transforming Sword Skill.”