NOVEL WEB Chapter 109: Chapter 660: Sword Cultivation
Chapter 660 – Sword Cultivation
After the "Merit" permissions were unlocked, the disciples clearly became much busier.
Though many of them came from prestigious families and didn't lack spiritual stones or basic cultivation resources, rare inheritances, sect prestige, and inner sect quotas were all things they had to actively compete for.
This, in itself, was a form of invisible competition.
The more merit one had, the greater their contribution to the sect. The more they were acknowledged by the elders, the more influence they held among the disciples.
Everyone here was a so-called "pride of heaven." Even if they acted friendly and respectful on the surface, deep down, no one was truly willing to submit to another.
Earning merit wasn't just about personal gain—it was also about face in front of their peers.
And at their age, sometimes "face" mattered even more than actual profit.
So the disciples threw themselves into a frenzy—grabbing every available "bounty," completing tasks, and earning merit whenever they had free time.
This left Mo Hua feeling a little lost.
He used to enjoy his lunch, then lie on the grassy hill with his peers—basking in the sun, chatting and relaxing.
Now that the merit system was open, everyone had vanished.
Cheng Mo went off to guard the main gate.
Situ Jian was out sweeping the streets.
Zheng Fang buried himself in array formation assignments…
Everyone else was also off chasing merit.
Only Mo Hua was left, all alone, as if none of it had anything to do with him.
Thankfully, little Yu'er was still with him—bouncing around joyfully on the grass.
Back at the Shangguan family estate, Yu'er had been strictly trained—posture, manners, etiquette—forced to behave like a noble heir, always stiff and proper.
But in the sect, no one restrained him.
Even rolling around in the grass wouldn't get him scolded. On the contrary, Mo Hua would just laugh and cheer him on.
Seeing Yu'er so happy, Mo Hua felt reassured.
As for merit, it's not like he wasn't concerned.
But those entry-level tasks? He had no interest in them.
(Of course, some of those entry-level tasks had no interest in him either.)
Like gatekeeping or street-sweeping…
Even if he wanted to try those jobs, others thought he looked too delicate and wouldn't let him.
Right now, he still had over a thousand merit points saved up.
He'd earned them by catching rogue cultivators and drawing formation diagrams, and even after buying a ton of formation scrolls, he still had a sizable surplus.
Plus, there was still a pending reward for the Fire Buddha incident.
But the Dao Court Department was always slow and bureaucratic, bogged down in red tape, so who knew when the reward would finally arrive?
Still, a thousand merit points was already a "small fortune."
And for most disciples, relying on entry-level tasks to save that much would take ages.
Mo Hua suddenly felt like someone who had already graduated, watching his classmates still struggling with remedial exams…
That said, he knew a thousand wouldn't be enough in the long run.
Especially with formation studies.
Rare formations, once they get expensive, are bottomless pits.
He was only early Foundation Establishment right now, and because he'd been teaming up with senior disciples and doing missions with the Dao Court, his current spending on mid-tier Tier-2 formations was still manageable.
But once he moved on to high-tier Tier-2 formations, the cost might start outweighing his earnings.
And what if… the Great Void Sect had Ultimate Formations?
How much merit would those cost?
Mo Hua didn't even dare imagine.
So, better to prepare early. Plan ahead. Stock up on merit.
Merit, after all, was one of those things—the more, the better.
During the ten-day break, Mo Hua went looking for Senior Sister Murong, hoping to tag along for missions again. But Murong Caiyun just gave him a regretful look.
"Junior Brother… we probably won't be going on any missions this year."
Mo Hua blinked. "Huh?"
Murong Caiyun explained, "Those of us at mid Foundation Establishment are about to enter the Demon-Refining Mountain."
"Demon-Refining Mountain!"
Mo Hua's eyes lit up.
He remembered Situ Jian had mentioned that before—
Somewhere within the Qianxue Prefecture lay a Demon-Refining Mountain.
It was filled with demonic beasts—some even rare species captured by powerful cultivators and released into the mountain—a training ground for disciples to hone spells, experience real combat, and practice group coordination while slaying demons.
"There's a lot of demonic beasts inside?"
"Mm," Murong Caiyun nodded. "The mountain is huge, with complex terrain. There are all sorts of beasts, and many of them carry rare materials used for forging spiritual tools."
"Is the Demon-Refining Mountain run by our sect?" Mo Hua asked.
Murong Caiyun chuckled. "No, our Great Void Sect's influence isn't that great."
"It's officially managed by the Qianxue Prefecture Council, under the joint supervision of four great sects, eight major schools, and twelve minor lineages."
"All sect disciples can enter to hunt."
"You can skin, dissect, and harvest materials for crafting—or sell them to the sect in exchange for merit."
"Of course, it's best if you can use the materials yourself."
"Some specialized sword cultivator branches require very specific beast materials to forge their personal spirit swords—bones, claws, essence blood, cores…"
"And if you find super rare materials, you can sell them to the sect for a hefty merit reward."
"That's why, for mid Foundation disciples, the main source of merit is the Demon-Refining Mountain."
Mo Hua's eyes sparkled.
Demon hunting!
Merit!
He could feel the hunter's blood in his veins itching to move.
Murong Caiyun sighed, clearly seeing right through him.
After spending so much time with Mo Hua, how could she not know what her junior was thinking?
[This chapter isn't over—click next page to continue!]
Though Mo Hua's spiritual perception could be shockingly profound at times…
His thoughts could also be hilariously simple—written all over his face.
"You can't go," Murong Caiyun said firmly.
Mo Hua blinked. "Why not?"
She counted it out for him:
"First, you're only early Foundation Establishment—not strong enough.
Second, you've only been in the sect for two years—too junior.
Third, entering Demon-Refining Mountain requires a gate token—you're not eligible to buy one."
Mo Hua mumbled, "What if I snuck in…"
Murong Caiyun gave him a look. "There's a formation seal. How would you sneak in?"
Mo Hua's eyes brightened. "What tier is the formation?"
Murong Caiyun shook her head. "I'm not sure, but it's probably at least Tier-5."
"Tier-5, huh…"
Mo Hua was a little disappointed.
That was too high. He couldn't tinker with it. Otherwise, maybe—just maybe—he could've "accidentally" opened a little door and slipped in…
Still, he was curious about what a Tier-5 formation would look like.
"In any case," Murong Caiyun said seriously, "Don't even think about Demon-Refining Mountain for now."
"As for missions—if you ever get stuck, let me know. If I have time, I'll help."
Mo Hua felt touched and nodded.
"Don't worry, Senior Sister. You go do your thing—I'll be fine!"
After parting with her, Mo Hua walked alone toward the disciples' quarters.
As he walked, he mulled things over:
"Senior Sister Murong is heading to Demon-Refining Mountain…"
"Then probably Senior Brother Shangguan, Senior Brother Feng, and even Sister Qianqian are too…"
"After all, for mid Foundation disciples, that's the main source of merit."
Which meant… no one left to drag him into things anymore.
Granted, he'd gotten a bit more familiar with the Dao Court, but that wasn't part of the sect.
The Dao Court was complex, muddy, and political. Even if he earned merit there, it wouldn't easily convert to sect points.
Even if it could convert, the process was long, slow, and annoying.
"So maybe… I need to pull in some new teammates?"
But who?
Cheng Mo? Situ Jian?
Mo Hua shook his head slightly.
They were all early Foundation Establishment. Meanwhile, he'd been working with mid-Foundation seniors, late-Foundation Dao Court officers, even a Golden Core Elder like Uncle Gu…
He couldn't just downgrade now, could he?
But try as he might, he couldn't think of anyone else.
Mo Hua pondered for a long time, then sighed.
"Guess I'll just deal with it later…"
For now—focus on improving myself.
Back at his quarters, Mo Hua sat cross-legged and meditated.
When his spiritual sea felt full and his meridians ached slightly, he opened his eyes.
"Time to cultivate!"
From now on, he would dedicate more time each day to cultivation.
Sure, cultivation was a slow and steady path—progress through persistence—but the harder he worked, the faster he'd advance.
Mo Hua had already thought it through.
The second year at the sect… was bound to be a bit dull.
His spiritual sense had hit a wall due to his cultivation bottleneck.
The leap from sixteen runes to seventeen was the gap from mid to late Foundation—a spiritual bottleneck.
It was like a chasm.
Even though Mo Hua painted formation diagrams daily, honing his spiritual sense… even protecting little Yu'er from nightmare attacks now and then (and pocketing a few extra perks)…
His spiritual power had outstripped his realm too much.
Breaking through would take time.
And if his spiritual sense was stuck, then his formation mastery couldn't progress further.
All he could do was expand his foundation—study more Tier-2 formations under sixteen runes…
But these weren't challenging anymore. After enough repetition, he was getting bored.
Mo Hua sighed.
He wanted to study higher-level formations.
Especially magnetic formations—those deeper magnetic rune structures and secondary thunder runes… He'd been eyeing them for a while.
But without a spiritual breakthrough, he simply couldn't touch them.
Mo Hua was a little frustrated.
...
Over the next month, since Senior Sister Murong and the others had all gone into the Demon-Refining Mountain, Mo Hua rarely went out on missions anymore.
By himself, he couldn't take on any bounties meant for mid-Foundation or higher.
And the bounties available for early Foundation cultivators… offered way too little merit.
Doing them alone just felt like a waste of time.
He might as well stay home and draw more Tier-2 formations—less running around, and actually earned him more merit.
So life… grew even more monotonous.
He couldn't go out for bounties.
His cultivation crept forward bit by bit, but he still couldn't break through the current realm.
His spiritual sense also gradually grew stronger, yet likewise hit a bottleneck.
Yu'er occasionally still had nightmares at night, harassed by demonic beings, but fortunately the Bone Worshipper hadn't returned.
As for spell techniques, he had learned just about everything he needed to.
His Lesser Meteor Technique had reached a very stable form.
He'd also studied plenty of Tier-2 utility arrays…
So at the moment, he didn't really have any new goals…
Life was as bland as water—no surprises, no delights.
Mo Hua suddenly felt he ought to actively seek out something new to study.
After thinking for a while, he picked up the "Broken Gold Sword Control Technique" again and decided to train his sword qi.
But truth be told, Mo Hua had a poor foundation in sword cultivation.
Other sword-cultivating disciples came from aristocratic families, immersed in swordplay from childhood, nurtured by their heritage. They had been practicing sword forms and cultivating sword qi from a young age.
With each realm breakthrough, their sword qi became sharper and stronger.
Eventually, they'd reach the realm where man and sword were one, with sword qi sweeping the heavens.
Mo Hua, on the other hand, had been a rogue cultivator. Before Foundation Establishment, he had barely even touched a sword.
The only time he'd ever held one was when Uncle Zhang Lan was teaching "Flowing Water Steps"—just to demonstrate an array. He asked Mo Hua to stab him with a sword…
That luxurious and heavy spiritual sword—Mo Hua couldn't even lift it.
In the end, he had to settle for a tree branch instead.
So now, seriously trying to practice sword techniques? Mo Hua had zero foundation.
Competing with other sword cultivators? Not even worth fantasizing about.
But since he had nothing else to do, why not set himself a new pursuit?
He decided to treat sword cultivation as a kind of "mind-sharpening pastime."
Even if he couldn't master it, understanding it might help him counter sword cultivators someday.
The technique he was practicing came from the Broken Gold Sect.
It wouldn't be good to train it openly, so he found a quiet grove and bought a second-hand, beat-up spiritual sword to train with privately.
The Broken Gold Sword Control Technique was a metal-type sword method.
Mo Hua had a small five-element spiritual root, with some metal affinity, so technically he could practice it.
But after only a short session, he immediately ran into a problem—
Sword qi… was hard as hell to condense.
He'd seen sword cultivators in action: Uncle Zhang Lan, Senior Brother Ouyang Feng, Senior Brother Shangguan Xu, even Situ Jian from his own cohort.
When they drew their swords, the sword qi surged—solid and sharp, powerful and dazzling.
But his own sword qi…
Mo Hua struggled to describe it.
The sword-shaped qi he managed to produce… wasn't very "sword-like."
At times, it looked more like a stick. Sometimes even a twig…
And the sharpness? Nonexistent. It could barely scratch tree bark half the time.
As for destructive power?
Let's not even go there. His casually tossed Fireball had ten times the punch of this so-called "sword qi."
Mo Hua fell into deep confusion.
"Is my talent in sword cultivation… really this bad?"
"Surely not…"
"Maybe it's just that all beginnings are hard? I haven't crossed the entry threshold yet?"
Unable to figure it out, Mo Hua simply gave up thinking.
Nothing else to train anyway, so might as well swing a few swords for fun…
Whatever he ends up with is fine. No need to pressure himself.
If worst comes to worst, at least he'd be laying the groundwork for sword training, in preparation for the future "Great Void Spiritual Sword Manifestation Technique."
That sword art—judging by its name—probably didn't follow the conventional sword path anyway.
If he couldn't master normal sword arts, maybe he'd still be able to learn Spiritual Sword Manifestation.
Mo Hua sighed.
Well—self-comforting logic was still comforting.
From then on, during his spare time after meals, Mo Hua would find a quiet grove, swing his sword a few times, and mess around with his sword qi.
The sword qi scattered like wind, the trees stood untouched—only a few leaves drifted down gently.
Fortunately, Mo Hua wasn't discouraged.
He told himself: "I'm just pruning the sect's trees."
...
Just like that, some more time passed.
One day, as Mo Hua was returning to the disciples' quarters, he ran into a few fellow disciples whispering together on the road.
Looking closely, he saw it was Cheng Mo, Situ Jian, and three other same-sect disciples he wasn't too familiar with.
Mo Hua quietly walked up without a sound, just in time to hear bits and pieces:
"The day after tomorrow… during rest day…"
"Outside Qingzhou City…"
"Pretending to be a senior brother… finally got this mission…"
"Not dangerous…"
"No big deal… five of us is plenty…"
"Just catching a guy…"
"Piece of cake…"
"...Ah!!"
Cheng Mo suddenly froze mid-sentence, realizing someone was behind him. He jumped, his face pale—until he saw it was Mo Hua and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mo Hua, you scared me half to death!"
Then he grumbled,
"Why are you eavesdropping on us?"
Mo Hua gave him an exasperated look.
"This is a public road. I walked up like a normal person, stopped like a normal person, and heard you talking like a normal person…"
"You guys have zero awareness. How is that my fault?"
Cheng Mo was speechless. After a pause, he muttered:
"How was I supposed to know you walk like a cat—no sound, no spiritual presence…"
Mo Hua narrowed his eyes at them.
"So… what shady plan are you up to?"
Cheng Mo instantly tensed up like a schoolkid caught by a teacher.
"We were just… talking about cultivation…"
Mo Hua stared at him with blatant disbelief.
"Really!" Cheng Mo insisted.
Then realized… wait, Mo Hua isn't a teacher or elder, just a junior brother who teaches them formations—one they don't want to offend. Why was he acting so guilty?
Cheng Mo immediately stood up straighter.
Mo Hua leaned in and asked quietly:
"You guys trying to take a bounty from the Dao Tribunal on the sly?"
Cheng Mo flinched.
"How'd you know?!"
Mo Hua rolled his eyes.
"Come on, I've done this stuff already—you're not exactly subtle."
Situ Jian whispered,
"Mo Hua, don't tell anyone, okay?"
Cheng Mo nodded furiously, then realized… bribery might be necessary. After thinking for a moment, he said:
"Mo Hua, if you promise not to tell, after we finish the job, we'll…"
He hesitated, then gritted his teeth:
"…we'll give you some of the merit points!"
Mo Hua raised a brow.
"How many?"
Cheng Mo looked conflicted.
They were just starting these kinds of missions and barely earning any merit points. Whatever they earned went fast.
"We'll give you…" Cheng Mo clenched his jaw.
"Ten points!"
Mo Hua: "..."
Cheng Mo saw his silence and gasped,
"Wait—you're not saying that's not enough, are you?!"
Mo Hua said blandly:
"Ten points… that's not a lot."
Cheng Mo wailed in outrage:
"You clearly don't manage your own household yet! Do you know how many days I have to guard the gates and how many times I have to sweep the streets to earn ten points?!"
"You think merit points grow on trees?!"
Mo Hua sighed.
"Alright, alright. I won't tell anyone, and I don't need your merit points. But going outside is dangerous—just be careful, alright?"
Cheng Mo froze for a moment, then beamed, slinging his arm around Mo Hua's shoulders:
"You're a true brother! From now on, if anything happens, I've got your back!"
Situ Jian also looked gratefully at Mo Hua.
But seeing Cheng Mo get all smug, another disciple couldn't help but chime in:
"Quit flattering yourself. Like Mo Hua needs you to cover him."
Cheng Mo shot back:
"What do you know?"
"I know plenty!"
"Three stakes for a fence, three bros for a hero—"
"You, a hero? You're barely a splinter!"
...
Mo Hua left them to squabble and just gave them a few last reminders:
"Be cautious when you go out."
"Some rogue cultivators can be extremely cunning."
Then he turned and walked away.
But he wasn't too worried.
Cheng Mo and the others, though just early Foundation disciples, came from noble families. Their cultivation foundations were solid, and their spell techniques weren't weak.
With five of them working together, even against a mid-Foundation opponent, they should be able to escape if not win outright.
And this time, the target was supposedly just an early Foundation rogue cultivator—it didn't sound too risky.
A few days later, Mo Hua saw it with his own eyes—Cheng Mo and the others really did sneak out during the rest day.
And in under two days, they swaggered back into the sect, all smiles.
Mo Hua didn't even need to ask—clearly, the mission was a success.
Especially Cheng Mo, who seemed to have played a big role—he was practically walking on air.
Right now, the Great Void Sect still didn't officially allow disciples to take these rogue-cultivator bounty missions.
First, because these criminals were dangerous.
Second, the sect's disciples were pampered from youth, proud and untested. Facing hardened rogues without preparation could easily lead to disaster.
Cheng Mo's group had strong foundations and luck on their side.
Since they'd taken the job secretly, they were technically the first batch—besides Mo Hua himself—to successfully complete one of these bounty missions.
Naturally, this made them the center of attention.
The elders either didn't know, or more likely… were choosing to look the other way.
But among the disciples, word spread fast.
Plenty of others started thinking about going out, too.
After all, the standard entry-level missions were slow and boring for earning merit. Nothing like the fresh excitement and bigger payoff of bounty hunting.
Some disciples even started secretly asking Cheng Mo for advice—how to take missions, what to pack, which pills to bring, and so on…
Cheng Mo was riding high.
But he didn't forget about Mo Hua.
One day during a meal, he sneaked over to Mo Hua and whispered,
"Next time we take a mission, I'll bring you along!"
Mo Hua blinked.
"You bring me?"
"Yeah!" Cheng Mo said proudly.
"We've got four people already. With you, that's five. You won't have to do anything—just help us carry stuff, do a few errands. We'll give you a cut of the merit!"
Mo Hua's emotions were… complicated. Kind of touched, actually.
But he still shook his head.
He didn't need Cheng Mo to "bring" him anywhere.
And he really didn't care for such a tiny merit reward…
But Cheng Mo thought Mo Hua didn't trust him. He swore solemnly:
"In formations, I admit you're the boss! But when it comes to bounty hunting and catching criminals, your little arms and legs just won't cut it. You gotta recognize me as the boss!"
Mo Hua, stone-faced:
"…Oh."
(End of Chapter)