Chapter 1000: All Eyes on Them
“So, the Great Void Sect is actually in first place?”
“They’ve got more people — they’re just taking advantage of that.”
“Well, the three sects merged, so their numbers grew. Pulling that kind of ‘human wave tactic’ means it’s normal for them to win more in the Yellow-Rank bracket…”
Someone sneered. “What good is just having numbers? You still have to win. Without this ‘Dao-Soldier Formation System’ to maximize the combat power of their ordinary disciples, no matter how many they have, it wouldn’t work.”
“If you send average disciples up and they can’t win, you’re just handing points away.”
“The more people you have, the more points you hand away.”
“And those formations and spirit tools — clearly custom-made. Non-standard spirit tools require designing new formation diagrams, improving refining blueprints, and coordinating with specialized refiners to produce…”
“If it were just one or two pieces, that’s fine. But in the Great Void Sect’s Sword Debate, so many disciples, each with a full set, and most of them not even the same. This time, the Great Void Sect really bled resources…”
“So what now? The Four Great Sects wanted us to ‘target’ the Great Void Sect, but in this situation, it’s us who are getting ‘targeted’ by them instead…”
“The Four Great Sects’ orders — just listen, you don’t have to actually follow them. You really want to be their dogs?”
“The situation is stronger than we are — what choice do we have?”
“No need to worry. The Sword Debate has just begun — this is only the Yellow-Rank bracket. It’s far too early; the Great Void Sect can’t possibly keep winning until the end…”
“If anyone’s anxious, it’s the Four Great Sects. If the Great Void Sect actually takes first, it’s their positions that get squeezed.”
“That’s true…”
Across the Eight Great Sects, the Twelve Streams, and even the hundred sects of Qianxue, elders everywhere were discussing the Great Void Sect’s first-place standing in the Sword Debate.
Inside the Four Great Sects, the disciples felt humiliated.
But the high-ranking elders were far calmer.
—In the Heavenly Dao Sect’s grand hall.
The elders in charge of the Sword Debate from the four sects briefly gathered, chatting about the Great Void Sect.
“This formation system of theirs — who came up with it?”
“Venerable Elder Xun?”
“He’s an ancestor, busy with countless affairs, no time to oversee this sort of thing.”
“Then it must be one of the Great Void Sect’s elders. I recall… there’s an Elder Xun Zixian, whose mental acuity is extraordinary, deeply inheriting Venerable Elder Xun’s teachings, with exceptional mastery of formations…”
The others neither agreed nor disagreed.
After a moment, Elder Shen of the Heavenly Dao Sect frowned and slowly said:
“Could it be… that disciple?”
The hall fell silent for a moment.
That disciple — none of them wanted to mention him.
Mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation, yet he had crushed the Four Great Sects and taken first place in the Dao of Formations, right in front of them.
It was nothing short of a “humiliation” to the Four Great Sects.
To them, it was like an ugly scar.
But now, the situation forced them to reopen that scar.
An elder of the Dragon Cauldron Sect pondered for a while, then shook his head. “Doesn’t seem like it…”
“Anyone with extraordinary divine sense and an intellect bordering on the monstrous will inevitably be aloof in temperament, think differently from ordinary people, and act in ways that don’t fit the norm…”
“Such a person wouldn’t bother currying favor with fellow sect members, nor spend so much effort on their behalf.”
The scene from that day’s Formation Debate was still vivid in his mind.
Mo Hua, with weak blood qi and low spiritual power, sat in the corner of the vast arena, exuding a powerful aura, like a solitary ‘monster’, suffocating the gathered genius formation masters.
“A monster like that — what would he gain from doing such a thankless job?”
The four sects’ elders all nodded.
Though they disliked Mo Hua, they still acknowledged his “strength” in their hearts.
Such a peerless formation genius would only pursue the Grand Dao of Formations, always aiming to stand above all others, step by step — never bound by those beneath him.
True experts are always lonely and selfish.
An elder of the Ten Thousand Skies Sect thought for a moment, then suddenly said, “This time in the Sword Debate, that formation ‘freak’ seems to be participating as well?”
“Yes — he’s teamed up with Linghu Xiao of the Chongxu Mountain branch, and Ouyang Xuan of the Tai’a Mountain branch.”
The Dragon Cauldron Sect elder frowned. “What’s the Great Void Sect thinking? Letting a formation master enter the Sword Debate?”
The Grand Debate was divided into five categories — sword, formation, talisman, pill, and artifact.
If he’s a formation master, shouldn’t he just compete in formations? Why swords?
The strangest part — they even paired him with the Great Void Sect’s only two remaining prodigies.
Isn’t that just dead weight?
“Does the Great Void Sect not want to win?”
“Or… is this ‘Mo Hua’ not only a formation monster, but also a hidden, heaven-shaking, ghost-weeping sword genius?”
The Heavenly Sword Sect elder sneered.
The others were equally baffled.
After a moment, the Heavenly Sword Sect elder shook his head with a sigh.
“This is probably Venerable Elder Xun’s arrangement. That elder’s… schemes are unfathomable, impossible to guess.”
At the mention of a Hollow Void Realm ancestor, the elders all fell into thought, but dared not speak further, lest they offend such a senior.
Any sect’s ancestor who had reached the Hollow Void Realm was a person of great consequence — not to be slighted.
The Ten Thousand Skies Sect elder said, “Let’s just watch and see. Whatever the Great Void Sect’s plan, the Sword Debate will reveal it.”
“The day after tomorrow, that freak takes the stage, doesn’t he?”
“Once he makes a move, he can’t hide anymore — whether dragon or worm, it will be clear.”
“And as for the Great Void Sect’s current first place…”
“Nothing much to say. A bit more numbers among the low-ranked disciples makes them slightly stronger, but it doesn’t change the bigger picture.”
“A few ripples aren’t bad. If it went as smoothly as always, it’d be boring.”
“Otherwise, outsiders might think our ‘sect reform’ and ‘self-renewal’ are just a play we’re putting on ourselves…”
“True. A little change is fine.”
“In the Yellow-Rank preliminaries, they might keep sailing smoothly. But later on, their true form will be exposed.”
“The Sword Debate is a long, grueling war. Later rounds are worth a hundred early ones. If you exhaust yourself at the start, how will you fight later?”
“In the end, the Sword Debate isn’t about the lower ranks, but about the true ‘top disciples’…”
…
The Four Great Sects had reached a temporary conclusion — The Great Void Sect’s first place was nothing more than “a fleeting blossom.”
This was something not only the Four Great Sects, but also the other Eight Great Schools, the Hundred Schools of Qianxue, the noble families, and even the Great Void Sect themselves, all understood very well.
Mo Hua was also clear on this point.
But regardless, it was still a good start.
The Great Void Sect’s pool of prodigies was no match for that of the Four Great Sects to begin with.
If the opening went well, they could still compete in the rounds to come.
If they stumbled right at the start, there would be no chance at all later.
Moreover, with such a good beginning, they should try to widen the advantage as much as possible, so that even if the tide turned against them, they could “cling on” a bit longer.
So Mo Hua encouraged the younger disciples:
“Right now, we have a large advantage. Since that’s the case, we must seize the opportunity to win as many rounds as possible and expand it. That way, even if we’re at a disadvantage later, we can still stabilize the situation.”
“Yes, Little Senior Brother!”
The disciples answered in unison.
Mo Hua then resumed his plan, methodically coordinating the upcoming rounds of the Sword Debate.
Victory wasn’t achieved in one leap—it was built up little by little.
Seize the moment; every win counted.
The future was uncertain, but each point gained now had to be firmly secured.
As night slowly fell, cloaking the mountains and gates, the Great Void Sect remained brightly lit, its disciples all busily at work.
In the Transmission Hall, Sword Debate disciples gathered in groups of five, studying the next day’s matches—planning tactics, positioning, discussing what spirit tools and formations to equip, anticipating sudden changes, and deciding how to respond…
Following Mo Hua’s prescribed format, they compiled all this into a set of procedures, committing them firmly to memory.
“Never fight an unprepared battle.”
“If we’re going to fight, we must be fully prepared.”
This was what Little Senior Brother had told them.
They kept it in mind and began to put it into practice through the Sword Debate.
Elder Yi, who taught the sect’s Daoist arts, and several other inner sect elders skilled in sword arts and combat, also stayed in the Transmission Hall to give the disciples advice and help refine their tactics.
In the Formation Hall, Zheng Fang followed the formation list given by Mo Hua, leading disciples from the Great Void, Tai’a, and Chongxu peaks—those with strong formation skills—to inscribe formations onto array media.
These were formations to be used in the next day’s matches.
Since the Sword Debate only allowed up to mid-grade Tier Two formations, disciples from formation clans with good talent could all produce them.
As formation masters, their offensive skills were lacking, so they usually didn’t take part in the Sword Debate.
Normally, at this time, they would be preparing for the later “Formation Debate Conference.”
But now, Mo Hua had given them a chance to “apply what they had learned”—creating formations for their fellow sect members in the Sword Debate while also preparing for their own Formation Debate.
It was a win-win.
In the Forging Hall, Ouyang Mu led disciples aspiring to become artifact forgers, repairing spirit tools damaged in battle, improving armor, reforging spirit swords, and so on…
They too were applying what they had learned—while also learning through use, honing their forging, refining, and repair skills.
On Mount Great Void, the lights blazed bright.
Nearly every disciple had gathered to contribute to the Sword Debate Conference.
At the same time, they were also laying the groundwork for the upcoming Formation and Forging Debates.
The whole sect united in the Dao, elders and juniors alike.
This unity moved not only the elders and gratified the sect master, but even some of the reclusive ancestors on the back mountain were stirred.
The Three Peaks had reconciled, and disciples worked together as one—something the elders never thought they would witness again in their lifetime.
It was far more moving to them than the fleeting “first place” in the Sword Debate.
And so, Mount Great Void stayed alight, busy deep into the night.
After a short rest, the next day arrived—the Sword Debate continued.
The situation was still excellent.
Because of their thorough preparations, the Great Void Sect kept racking up victories, steadily expanding their advantage.
By the end of the second day, the Great Void Sect still held first place.
The sect master even thought to himself: If only the Sword Debate stayed at the ‘Yellow’ tier forever, we could keep winning like this…
Of course, that was just wishful thinking.
On the third day, things began to change.
The “Dao Debate Heaven’s Instrument” followed a “weak to strong” order for match draws.
So by the third day, many sects’ top prodigies began appearing one by one—Mo Hua included.
He too would formally enter the competition.
Before the match, Wenren Wan brought Yu’er to the Great Void Sect specifically to give Mo Hua some highly nourishing spiritual food.
In Qianxue, when the children of noble families participated in the Sword Debate Conference, their parents, grandparents, and clan elders would be there to watch, witnessing their performance.
Mo Hua was different—he had no family here.
His parents were far away in Lizhou, with no clan elders to look after him.
Thus, when he joined the Sword Debate, he was truly alone.
Although he was now the Little Senior Brother of the Great Void Sect, the foremost figure in Qianxue’s formation world, and highly regarded within the sect, Wenren Wan still felt for him.
In her heart, Mo Hua was still just a child—now participating in such an important event with no family by his side.
She handed him a flag-shaped jade pendant, signifying “victory upon raising the flag,” and said warmly:
“Tomorrow, I’ll bring Yu’er to watch your match.”
She was looking forward to seeing his first Sword Debate performance.
Yu’er beamed excitedly: “Go, Mo-gege! You can do it!”
Mo Hua’s expression turned a bit subtle—he wanted to say they shouldn’t expect too much from him.
But seeing the eager looks from Aunt Wan and Yu’er, he couldn’t bring himself to say it, and simply smiled:
“Thank you, Aunt Wan. I’ll do my best.”
Wenren Wan smiled and nodded, then added, “Chang Huai will be watching too.”
Mo Hua was a little surprised. “Isn’t the Dao Court busy?”
“The Sword Debate Conference is a major event, bringing together cultivators from all over the Nine Provinces. The Dao Court’s top priority is to maintain order at Dao Debate Mountain and ensure nothing happens during the Conference…
“It’s official duty, so Chang Huai will be there,” Wenren Wan explained.
“I see…” Mo Hua nodded.
After a few more words of encouragement, Wenren Wan told him not to be nervous, then left.
Mo Hua, however, didn’t feel nervous at all.
He carried on as usual—cultivating, reading, and at midnight sinking his divine sense into his sea of consciousness to spend the entire night practicing array formations.
The next day, he rose with the morning sun, full of energy.
After tidying himself up, he set out with his fellow sect disciples toward Dao Discussion Mountain to attend his very first sword debate.
Along the way, Linghu Xiao kept his aloof demeanor, Ouyang Xuan wore a perpetually sour face, Situ Jian was as calm as ever, and Cheng Mo looked excited and full of anticipation.
The five arrived together at Dao Discussion Mountain.
From there, it was the usual procedure for participating in the sword debate.
They entered the preparation room, selected their spirit tools, pills, talismans, and arrays, and then the elders of Dao Discussion Mountain handed out the “Dao Discussion Jades.”
These jades were part of the Fifth-Grade Grand Dao Discussion Mountain Formation, serving as the “primer” to activate the power of the void.
To disciples, they were both “protective charms” and “life-preserving talismans.”
As long as the jade remained intact, so did the person; if the jade shattered, the person was defeated.
Before issuing the jades, elders had to evaluate each disciple’s physical body and vitality to set the jade’s “injury tolerance.”
Everyone else passed without issue—until they got to Mo Hua. Then the elders found themselves at a loss.
“In all my years as an elder, presiding over so many sword debate assemblies, I’ve never seen a disciple like this…”
“Truly… beyond comprehension.”
“How can his vitality be this feeble?”
“This really is an eye-opener…”
Mo Hua’s face darkened.
The elders, oblivious to his expression, kept muttering:
“With such aptitude, the Great Void Sect still accepted him—talk about an unconventional path…”
“How’s he even going to fight in a sword debate? I can’t figure it out…”
“Exactly—delicate and frail, skin thinner than paper. One sword strike and he’d probably be gone…”
“And the Dao Discussion Jade would shatter with just a touch.”
“How is he supposed to debate swords like this?”
A group of elders frowned, genuinely worrying over him.
One elder, unable to bear it, kindly suggested, “Why don’t we give his jade a bit more ‘health’?”
“Add it…”
“But… isn’t that against the rules?”
“Even if you add some, it’s like a drop in the ocean—this kid will still break at a touch…”
“Still, add a bit. He’s so weak, I just can’t watch this…”
Mo Hua: “…”
After some discussion, the jade he finally received had indeed been given a little extra “health.”
Since it was “certified” by all the elders, it didn’t count as cheating.
Mo Hua felt conflicted.
These elders had just spent forever badmouthing him, yet their hearts were oddly kind…
Of course, the enhancement wasn’t much—his jade was still very weak.
Others’ jades gleamed bright and lustrous.
His had only the faintest trace of blue light.
One glance was enough to tell the difference.
Mo Hua didn’t care. He affixed the jade to his forehead, and at once its light trembled, wrapping him in the power of the void.
With his sharp and sensitive divine sense, he could feel the array power flowing in the void—illusory yet real, ethereal yet infinitely profound.
“So this is… Fifth-Grade Void Power…”
Mo Hua was shaken.
It was a pity his cultivation realm was far too low.
Otherwise, he could have used the Heavenly Secret Derivative Algorithm to reverse-deduce part of the grand void array’s runes.
He sighed inwardly at the missed opportunity.
After that, he patiently waited with Linghu Xiao and the others until the time came to enter the sword debate.
Meanwhile, outside the arena—
Unbeknownst to him, many cultivators were waiting for him.
In the endless sea of people, countless eyes, overt or hidden, were fixed on the projection above the Square of Heaven and Shadow, waiting for Mo Hua’s appearance.
Among them were many friends and acquaintances—
Wenren Wan, Yu’er, Hua Qianqian of Hundred Flowers Valley, Murong Caiyun, a graduate of the Great Void Sect, Shangguan Xu, and more…
There were also many high-ranking members of noble families and sects—
Including those Mo Hua had met before, like the Gu Family Head and elders, as well as the elders of the Shangguan and Wenren families. Others, from families and sects he had never met, were also present.
In dark corners, pairs of cold, sinister eyes sought to see him clearly.
Many cultivators from across the Nine Provinces—some from sects that had never encountered Mo Hua—were also eager to see him in person.
During their travels in Qianxue Prefecture, in lodgings, meals, and visits to Daoist friends, they had more or less heard his name.
Thus, many wanted to see with their own eyes what this legendary “Array Dao Leader” looked like.
Of course, not everyone had heard of him.
Outside Dao Discussion Mountain, some occasionally asked:
“Who is Mo Hua?”
Then the well-informed would rattle off a long list of titles:
The Great Void Sect’s array prodigy, with monstrous divine sense—at mid Foundation Establishment, he crushed the array geniuses of the Four Great Sects, Eight Great Gates, and Twelve Streams; his divine sense surpassed three realms, capable of drawing peak nineteen-pattern arrays; he tore through the entire array question bank to take first place in the Array Debate, becoming the leader of Qianxue’s Array Dao; a legendary array monster—almost impossibly so—a monster among monsters…
The list was so long and exaggerated that many visiting cultivators frowned.
Their first reaction was:
“Is this how you Qianxue people brag these days?”
“Can’t you be a bit more realistic?”
“Let’s be honest here.”
“We outsiders might not have ‘seen it all,’ but we’re not without common sense…”
Some were half-believing, half-doubting, and asked curiously:
“So what does this ‘Mo Hua’—the array leader—actually look like?”
That drew even more versions:
“I heard he’s short, with an extremely extreme temperament.”
“Very gloomy, like a ghost.”
“To master arrays to this level, he’s either a madman or a total pervert…”
“I’ve heard he’s a pervert…”
“My cousin’s cousin’s uncle’s third son’s cousin is a disciple of the Broken Gold Sect, and he said Mo Hua of the Great Void Sect is utterly shameless, with no bottom line. Once, he stripped a Broken Gold Sect senior brother naked, hung him from a tree, and drew a turtle on him…”
“Drew a turtle?! How vicious…”
“Truly vicious.”
“And I heard he’s the sect master’s illegitimate son, which is why he’s so arrogant and spoiled—a total wastrel…”
“That’s wrong. I can confirm he’s not the sect master’s illegitimate son—he’s the Great Void Sect’s ancestor’s own grandson! In the sect, he’s lawless, does whatever he wants, and no one dares control him.”
“Even the personal elders have to pour him tea…”
“Outrageous! Truly treasonous…”
“And I’ve heard his private life is chaotic—he’s had affairs with daughters of top-ranked noble families from the Dao Court’s Sixth Grade…”
…
In the stands, people spoke with absolute conviction, each telling a different version, the chatter rising into a noisy uproar.
And under the weight of all this attention, the image above the Square of Heaven and Shadow grew hazy, and finally—Mo Hua’s figure appeared.
(End of this Chapter)