The Quest for Immortality

In the days that followed, Mo Hua was somewhat absent-minded.

The experiences in the Sword Tomb were still vividly etched in his memory.

The pitch-black night, the desolate grave, the scattered broken swords, the terrifying ancestor—all these bits and pieces often resurfaced in his mind.

Of course, most importantly, the enigmatic Ancestor of the Forbidden Land had promised to teach him the True Sword Art of Divine Thought!

Yet, within Mo Hua’s heart, there was some unease.

He wasn’t sure whether the ancestor would truly fulfill the promise to teach him the Divine Thought Sword Skill.

”Could this ancestor be deceiving me?”

”Probably not...”

Mo Hua shook his head, ”He’s an ancestor, at the Heaven Void Realm, why would he have the leisure to trick a mere Foundation Establishment disciple for amusement...”

”But what if this ancestor reneges on his word...”

Mo Hua furrowed his brows.

Divine Thought Sword Transformation was close at hand.

Yet it seemed as distant as the horizon, elusive and uncertain.

In the following days, Mo Hua lived with a mindset of wavering gain and loss.

Until seven days later.

Mo Hua, dressed neatly, sat upright in the Disciple’s Residence, waiting for the ancestor to ”fetch” him.

But he waited and waited, yet the anticipated void rift still didn’t appear.

Mo Hua felt a little restless.

Nonetheless, it was still early, so he held his temper and continued to wait.

Finally, approaching midnight, a terrifying wave suddenly came.

The void was torn apart from thin air.

A space fissure appeared, from which a dry, emaciated large hand reached out.

Mo Hua, more experienced this time, was not nervous but obediently let the large hand grasp him and pull him into the void rift.

The surroundings were dark yet brilliant, the void continually creating and annihilating, laws colorful and magnificent.

Upon opening his eyes, the night was as dark as ink, with the bright moon hanging high, the surroundings filled with desolate graves and scattered broken swords, the woods black and tranquil. ŗÁƝ𝐎BÈꞩ

This was precisely the Back Hill Forbidden Area.

And the Tai Xu Ancestor, sealed by numerous formations and chains, sat alone in the mountains.

Mo Hua breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed this powerful ancestor had kept his word; he really was going to teach him Divine Thought Sword Transformation.

The long-bearded elder silently watched Mo Hua, once again recalling the scene seven days before, the bamboo sword engraved with ”Mo Hua” returning to the tomb, the Sword Qi surging, the broken swords humming, ancient Sword Intent awakening, white smoke rising within the tomb, and the remarkable phenomenon of a sword cloud forming.

”Was the cause of the sword tomb’s smoke...this little kid?”

The long-bearded elder’s gaze was stern.

Why?

This indicated...the inheritance of the True Sword Art of Divine Thought should indeed rest upon this child.

Is this a sign of the revival of Divine Thought Sword Dao in our Taixu Gate?

Mo Hua greeted the elder, saying, ”Greetings to the ancestor.”

The long-bearded elder slowly spoke, ”My surname is Dugu.”

Mo Hua, taken aback, hurriedly cupped his hands, ”Greetings to Patriarch Dugu.”

The elder nodded slightly, ”From today onwards, I will pass to you this technique, which has been classified as a ’Forbidden Technique’, the Tai Xu Gate’s secret transmission...the True Sword Technique of Divine Thought Transformation!”

Mo Hua’s spirit was invigorated, he cupped his hands in deep respect, saying:

”Disciple thanks the ancestor for the grace of imparting the Dao.”

Patriarch Dugu nodded solemnly, directly speaking:

”Taixu Divine Thought Sword Transformation, begins with the sword and ends with the divine.”

”Refine Qi with the sword, nurture the heart with Qi, enter the soul with the heart, refine the divine with the soul, emerge the divine, and transform Divine Thought into Sword Intent, only then can you execute the killing.”

”When accomplished, sword, Qi, and divine become one entity, flesh, Spiritual Power, Divine Thought—none is uncuttable, Evil Demon, monster kind, ghosts—none is unkillable...”

...

None is uncuttable, none is unkillable...

Mo Hua’s heart trembled.

This Sword Technique seemed much stronger than he had previously imagined.

”Did you understand?” questioned Patriarch Dugu.

Mo Hua nodded.

He memorized Patriarch Dugu’s words deep in his heart, then reflected upon his own understanding of Divine Thought Sword Transformation, pondered for a moment, and slowly spoke:

”Ancestor, what you just mentioned about the method in Divine Thought Sword Transformation between ’refining Qi with the sword,’ refers to learning swordsmanship and condensing Sword Qi, right?”

”’Nurturing the heart with Qi’ means that after practicing the sword for a long time, and the Sword Qi is well-honed, through ceaseless tempering, naturally, the heart will also contain the sword, and this is nurturing the Sword Heart;”

”And ’enter the soul with the heart’ implies turning your Sword Dao into Heart Image and merging it with your Divine Soul...”

Just like the Gui Water Sect’s method of cultivating the Seven Souls Blood Prison Pupil, where a ’Penalty Prison Map’ is used as the Heart Image, incorporating it into the Divine Soul, thus enabling the cultivation of Pupil Skills that can intimidate the minds of others.

”Merging Heart Image into Divine Soul is ’refine the divine with the soul’. ”

”If you want to unleash the power of Divine Thought Sword Transformation, you naturally need to ’emerge the divine’, transforming Divine Thought into Sword Intent...”

Mo Hua spoke with clarity and coherence.

Patriarch Dugu was amazed.

This child’s understanding of the Path of the Divine Soul, especially his grasp of converting Sword Qi into Sword Intent, was so transparent, it was almost self-evident...

Yet he couldn’t help but feel a little suspicious, asking Mo Hua: ”Have you learned this before...?”

Mo Hua’s heart slightly flinched, and he immediately shook his head, saying: ”No!”

Mo Hua’s mind slightly stirred, he continued, ”Disciple has merely studied the Path of Divine Sense extensively, asked around about it before, pondered on his own, hence he has a rough understanding of the basic principles of Divine Thought Sword Transformation...”

Patriarch Dugu neither affirmed nor questioned further.

”Since you could understand, it puts my mind at ease. You are walking the road of Divine Sense Proving the Dao, thus learning to convert Sword Qi into Sword Intent, and even eventually emerge the divine should be relatively easier.”

”Emerging the divine is a bit challenging, yet Divine Soul emergence is not something you can learn now, it awaits the Golden Core stage...”

Mo Hua actually wanted to say, he could already perform the Soul Emergence, but upon reflection, realizing that his method of Divine Soul emergence is still rather superficial, it might not be deemed worthy by someone of the ancestor’s level, he chose not to disclose it, lest he appear ridiculous.