The Quest for Immortality

Mo Hua asked again: ”Have you ever seen a Sword Array?”

”No.” Situ Jian shook his head. ”The inheritance of Sword Arrays is the core secret of the clan. Even the Direct Lineage Formation Masters within the clan can’t learn it easily.”

”The requirements are that strict?”

”Extremely strict,” Situ Jian said solemnly. ”I can’t speak for other families, but take the Situ Family as an example: the inheritance of the Li Fire Sword Array is extraordinarily stringent...”

”It’s not taught to those outside the clan, not taught to those married into the clan, not taught to those married away, not taught to non-direct lineage members, and even among the Direct Lineage, anyone wishing to learn the Sword Array must sign a ’Death Oath’ and swear that while a person may die, the method cannot be passed on. Only then would they qualify to learn the Sword Array.”

Mo Hua was taken aback at these words.

Previously, he’d only heard Master Gu mention that Sword Arrays were the core inheritance of Sword Dao families, extremely precious.

But he hadn’t imagined that they’d be precious to this extent...

Yet the more this was the case, the more curious he felt.

What do Sword Arrays actually look like...

He had to find a way to obtain one and study it.

Mo Hua’s thoughts shifted, and he couldn’t help but cast a glance at Situ Jian’s Li Fire Sword hidden within its sheath.

Situ Jian’s heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively guarded the Li Fire Sword in his hand.

The two locked gazes for a moment, before Mo Hua quietly asked:

”Can I take a look?”

Situ Jian looked conflicted. ”Junior Brother... you won’t dismantle it, right...”

Mo Hua immediately nodded. ”I won’t, I won’t! I’ll just look at it...”

Seeing that Situ Jian was still reluctant, Mo Hua added:

”Just here, just a quick look.”

Only then did Situ Jian reluctantly hand over the Li Fire Sword he carried everywhere, treating it like his lifeblood, to Mo Hua.

Mo Hua carefully accepted it, feeling its weight and a slight warmth upon touch.

The sword blade was forged from a material unknown to him; crystalline like jade, sharp like iron, with faint flows of fiery red.

Squinting his eyes, Mo Hua examined the hilt of the Li Fire Sword, looking for any gaps to determine if it could be dismantled.

Situ Jian tensed up immediately.

Thankfully, Mo Hua had no intention of actually dismantling it.

After thoroughly examining it, he found no point of entry for dismantling, and respectfully returned the Li Fire Sword to Situ Jian, saying, ”Thanks.”

Situ Jian breathed a sigh of relief, taking back the Li Fire Sword and immediately securing it.

Whenever the Li Fire Sword was in Mo Hua’s hands, he couldn’t help but feel on edge.

Meanwhile, Mo Hua was lost in thought.

The Li Fire Sword was a treasure of the Situ family—it wouldn’t be easy to make a move on it, and if he actually damaged it, he’d feel far too guilty.

After pondering for a moment, Mo Hua said to Situ Jian:

”Next rest day, we’ll head to Refining Demon Mountain and snatch a few Spirit Swords from the Sever Gold Sect...”

The power of Sword Qi partly comes from the Sword Array.

Dismantling a Sever Gold Sword would allow research into the Sword Array and how to improve Gold-breaking Armor for defense against genuine Broken Gold Sword Qi.

Situ Jian shook his head. ”Even if you snatch them, it likely won’t work. Spirit Swords typically have an internal self-destruct Formation; if forcibly dismantled, the Sword Array will self-destruct...”

Mo Hua paused, contemplating the matter, and eventually agreed.

Considering how precious the Sword Array was, having some form of sealed self-destruct mechanism made sense.

But that said, they’d still have to snatch them.

Only by obtaining the swords could they find out whether or not dismantling them was truly possible.

”No problem, we’ll grab them first and see.” Mo Hua said.

Situ Jian wanted to persuade him further but suddenly caught himself, immediately realizing that if Junior Brother Mo didn’t go snatch Sever Gold Swords, with his curiosity for formations and relentless pursuit of answers, sooner or later he’d probably set his sights on the Li Fire Sword...

Situ Jian clenched his heart and quickly nodded:

”Yes, exactly! We must grab some swords! Without dismantling a few, how can we know if they’ll self-destruct.”

”Junior Brother, I’ll help you snatch them!”

If the Sever Gold Sect’s Sever Gold Swords were dismantled, it didn’t matter—as long as his own Li Fire Sword stayed intact.

Mo Hua felt deeply moved.

Situ Jian in his heart was now elevated to a ”Great Good Person.”

...

A few days later, the rest day arrived.

Mo Hua gathered Cheng Mo, Situ Jian, and a few others—a total of five—and set off once again for Refining Demon Mountain.

He didn’t bring the other disciples.

Mo Hua had considered it; without optimizing the Gold-breaking Armor to address Broken Gold Sword Qi, the odds of his Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters getting injured would increase greatly, which wasn’t worth it.

Also, given they were ”snatching” things this time, they needed to keep things light, move quickly, and avoid excessive numbers.

Upon entering Refining Demon Mountain, Mo Hua, familiar with the route, quickly spotted a small group of Sever Gold Sect disciples.

There were eight of them, led by a ”pretty-faced” young lord-like figure.

Mo Hua swept his gaze across them, briefly sensing with his Divine Sense, and had a general assessment of their strength.

Their cultivations were all uniformly at the Foundation Building Middle Stage.

Three Body Cultivators, two Spiritual Cultivators, and the remaining three were Sword Cultivators.

The Body and Spiritual Cultivators didn’t have swords—not worth snatching.

The focus would be on those three Sword Cultivators.

Each of them had golden Spirit Swords equipped, with the prettiest ”pretty face” leading the group boasting the highest-quality Spirit Sword, glittering with golden light.

The more Mo Hua looked, the more he liked it.

He decided then and there: from now on, this sword already ”belongs” to Mo.

The Sever Gold Sect disciples, completely unaware of the impending danger, continued chatting idly while scouring the mountain:

”The Taixu Gate cowards haven’t shown up...”

”Scared off, probably.”

”Guess they’ve recognized the power of our Sever Gold Sect. Serves them right.”

One of them sneered, ”Daring to oppose Sever Gold Sect—they must have a death wish.”

Another expressed caution: ”But the Taixu Gate lot is sly. If they’re not showing up, they’re likely scheming something. Best to stay alert...”

The ”pretty-faced” leader dismissed the concern, saying, ”It doesn’t matter. This entire mountain is now filled with our Sever Gold Sect disciples. What could they even dare to do...”