Chapter 1012: Invisible
The sword debate between the Great Void Sect and the Vajra Sect had concluded.
Every move Mo Hua made in that match—every technique, every spell, every step forward or back, every detail of his positioning—had been imprinted onto a “Shadow-Imitation Diagram” and sent to the Daoist elders in charge of the tournament across various sects.
Within Qianxue Prefecture, from the Four Great Sects and the Eight Great Gates to the Twelve Flow Sect factions, many elders were studying Mo Hua’s shadow diagram, analyzing his every movement.
Some sect elders even held joint meetings to discuss the matter.
In a great hall, the Shadow-Imitation Diagram hung high.
On it, Mo Hua’s figure flickered in and out of sight.
Inside, the elders of various sects exchanged opinions:
“So that’s how it is…”
“I knew it—how could this spirit cultivator get by without some kind of life-preserving method? With this brat’s cunning and craftiness, there’s no way he’d have no trump card… turns out it’s a concealment technique.”
“His movement technique is nothing special, but this concealment art—this is truly exquisite. He’s clearly put in a lot of hard work.”
“No one ever gathered this information before?”
“The Great Void Sect treats him like some ‘little ancestor.’ They guard their information too tightly.”
“And I’ve heard the Dao Court got involved, sealing all of Mo Hua’s records.”
“Some people had mentioned before that he might know a concealment art, but it was just idle talk, so no one paid it much mind.”
“The real issue is… no one expected his concealment to be this strong.”
“Why?”
“Because… his divine sense is strong?”
“Indeed. The core of concealment techniques doesn’t lie in the technique itself, but in divine sense.”
“Don’t forget—back when he was mid Foundation Establishment, he already had nineteen divine sense marks…”
“Nineteen marks at peak,” someone added. “Nineteen marks and peak nineteen marks are not the same concept.”
A body-refinement elder, not versed in divine sense matters, asked: “Isn’t it still nineteen marks? What’s the difference?”
“This…”
A scholarly elder explained:
“The difference is enormous. Divine sense is unlike spiritual power—ethereal and formless, with a completely different cultivation measurement system.”
“From late Foundation Establishment to peak Foundation Establishment, you’re still in the same realm. The gap is no more than a small stage.”
“But from nineteen marks to twenty marks of divine sense, there’s a chasm.”
“That chasm is what we call the peak of nineteen marks.”
“The divine sense gap within peak nineteen marks—from the lowest to the highest—is like night and day, no less than the gap from ten marks to nineteen marks.”
“This chasm is both a limitation and a gift of the Heavenly Dao.”
“With it, Foundation Establishment cultivators can’t cross the ‘sky trench’ of nineteen marks peak to greedily covet the twenty-mark divine sense of the Golden Core realm. This is the Heavenly Dao’s limitation.”
“And once a Foundation cultivator breaks through to Golden Core, their divine sense will naturally step into twenty marks.”
“The peak nineteen-mark divine sense will be gifted to you freely by the Heavenly Dao—breaking into Golden Core instantly doubles your divine sense. That is the Heavenly Dao’s reward.”
Some elders understood the scholarly explanation; others still looked confused.
Someone asked: “So where exactly is Mo Hua now within peak nineteen marks?”
The old elder shook his head. “Who can say? The peak of nineteen marks is the Heavenly Dao’s ‘chasm zone’—there’s no quantifiable standard.”
“Moreover, divine sense can’t be cultivated directly. Few have ever reached the boundary of peak nineteen marks, so there aren’t enough examples to set a clear measure.”
“But no matter what, Mo Hua’s divine sense is stronger than before, even if still at peak nineteen marks.”
“As for how much stronger… hard to say.”
The scholarly elder shook his head.
Everyone frowned, expressions growing serious.
Someone asked again: “Could his divine sense already be at twenty marks?”
Silence fell.
All the elders felt a tightness in their chests.
The scholarly elder scowled, annoyed:
“So you didn’t understand a single word I just said?”
“What do ‘sky trench,’ ‘chasm,’ and ‘Heavenly Dao’s limitation’ mean to you?”
“If he’d crossed that trench, leapt that chasm, and broken that limit, wouldn’t the heavens and earth have changed, with visions filling the sky?”
“That’d be a huge uproar!”
“You’re an elder—think before you speak…”
The rebuked elder looked embarrassed.
“Then… if his divine sense is that strong, doesn’t it mean no one can see through his concealment technique? Wouldn’t that make him invincible in the sword debate?”
“Shi Tiangang is a body cultivator—his divine sense is lacking, that’s why he couldn’t tell.”
“What does body cultivation matter? Even if you sent in an array master, could their divine sense beat his?”
“Don’t forget, in the last Array Debate, he was the champion. Across all of Qianxue Prefecture’s array prodigies, none surpassed him—and that was three years ago…”
The hall fell silent.
Then a sharp-eyed elder suggested:
“Then… use a spirit tool?”
“A cultivator’s divine sense can overpower or suppress another’s, making it easy for the weaker one to be fooled. But a spirit tool is lifeless—it’s not as affected.”
“That could work.”
“Not just spirit tools—there’s also Revealing Dust.”
“A cultivator’s nature is not unlike others—one can use objects to aid one’s work…”
“In that case… this could work.”
…
After discussion, the elders had a plan.
The next match: Great Void Sect versus Dragon Cauldron Sect (Longding).
Dragon Cauldron Sect (Longding), one of the Four Great Sects, inherited the Longding body-refinement method.
It was said their founder had the “Merit of Following Dragons,” with ties to the Dao Court, and was passed the “Dragon Cauldron Art”—using karmic dragon blood to cleanse the marrow and transform the body, and refining the dharmic body in the image of a green cauldron.
The Dragon Cauldron method was an ancient and supreme inheritance.
Of course, after so many generations, anything truly related to “dragons” would be scarce.
The form might remain, but the substance was gone.
Mo Hua didn’t even have to think about it—if Dragon Cauldron Sect (Longding) had used karmic dragon blood on all their disciples for generations, they’d have gone bankrupt long ago.
What kind of being was a dragon?
Even karmic dragons were incredibly precious.
Where would they get enough blood to refine all their disciples’ bodies?
If they truly had that much dragon blood, the Dao Court would be the first to shut their sect down and confiscate it.
If they resisted, the Dao Court would find an excuse to annihilate them.
From what Mo Hua knew, “karmic dragon blood cleansing” probably meant using spirit materials imbued with karmic dragon aura—things like Dragon Blood Fruit or Dragon Blood Grass.
Even so, such “dragon” treasures were still precious and far from affordable for the average cultivator.
With them, the body-refinement method’s power would naturally be formidable—hence Dragon Cauldron Sect (Longding)’s status among the Four Great Sects.
Its disciples mostly came from wealthy or powerful families.
This time, Mo Hua faced some of their top disciples—strong in cultivation, tough in body, and skilled in Daoist arts.
The strongest among them couldn’t match the Vajra Sect’s Senior Brother Shi Tiangang,
but on average, they were slightly stronger than Vajra Sect’s team.
All five were equipped with a “Mirror of Piercing Concealment” and carried Revealing Dust.
The mirrors could see through concealment.
The dust could reveal one’s trail.
Their tactic was simple and extreme: all five would focus on killing Mo Hua.
If even one of them succeeded, they would win—because this match was a decapitation round.
Mo Hua was again the “leader” of the Great Void Sect’s team.
Five Longding elites against one Foundation Establishment spirit cultivator.
This spirit cultivator was “frail,” able to be killed in a single punch; his movement technique was negligible, and his only threat—his concealment technique—was now countered.
Not only the Longding five, but elders, clan heads, and countless spectators outside couldn’t imagine how Mo Hua could survive.
It was practically a death match.
And in a decapitation round, all they needed was to kill Mo Hua to win—no need to bother with the troublesome sword genius Linghu Xiao.
“Heaven does not favor the Great Void Sect—Mo Hua will die this match!”
This thought was in everyone’s heart.
Thus, as soon as the match began—
The five from Dragon Cauldron Sect (Longding) shouted in unison: “Kill!”
With roars like dragons and tigers, blood and qi surging, they struck together at Mo Hua.
Mo Hua didn’t say a word—he turned and ran toward a small grove.
Linghu Xiao and the others tried to intercept the five Longding disciples.
But these were five Longding body cultivators—strength like dragons and tigers, bones like bronze cauldrons, high offense, high defense, fast movement.
Under the tactic of “ignore all else, just kill Mo Hua,” it took only a few exchanges before they broke through from all angles and rushed into the grove.
The woods were quiet, shadows thick, sunlight scattered into fragments—peaceful and calm, with no trace of Mo Hua.
The Longding five only sneered.
The concealment trick was worth playing once, not twice.
This was the sword debate—if you relied only on petty tricks instead of raw strength, you were just a joke.
Each of them held a golden-inlaid, jade-set mirror shining like still lake water—the Mirrors of Piercing Concealment—and from five angles they swept the grove.
Then all five froze, cold smiles stiffening.
“Again!?”
They swept the grove again.
The white light of the mirrors revealed every blade of grass, every bug, every stone—
But not Mo Hua.
Not only were the Longding five dumbfounded, but the Daoist elders outside also looked at each other in confusion.
The spectators murmured, having seen clearly:
“Isn’t Mo Hua standing right in front of them? Why are they just staring with those mirrors?”
“The Piercing Concealment Mirrors can’t break the concealment? Are they broken?”
“Isn’t Longding one of the Four Great Sects? Don’t they have money? Why are they using outdated spirit tools?”
“This is the sword debate—giving your disciples mirrors that can’t pierce concealment is just sabotaging yourselves.”
“They’re the Four Great Sects—they wouldn’t be that incompetent, would they?”
“Then… what’s going on right now?”
…
Inside the arena, the five disciples of the Dragon Cauldron Sect were just as baffled.
They had never imagined that there could be a situation where even the Stealth-Peering Mirror could not penetrate concealment.
With this, the situation completely changed.
“Scatter the Revealing Dust…”
The leading disciple of the Dragon Cauldron Sect spoke at once.
The five of them split up, chanting incantations and channeling their divine sense, using telekinesis to take dust from a box and scatter it into the small grove.
These dust motes floated in the air and, once clinging to a body, could not be shaken off for a short time.
Once Mo Hua fell into the dust cloud, his silhouette would be revealed, making it impossible for him to hide.
But just as the Revealing Dust spread through the grove, a sudden gale roared up, sweeping through and carrying the dust away in all directions, out beyond the grove.
“Windstorm Formation!”
The Dragon Cauldron Sect disciple ground his teeth.
Around the grove, a Windstorm Formation had been set up—once activated, it would raise fierce winds to blow away the Revealing Dust entirely.
“This damned brat is truly cunning!”
With the Stealth-Peering Mirror rendered useless and the Revealing Dust blown away, all their methods for dealing with Mo Hua were nullified.
The Dragon Cauldron Sect originally thought they had already shown Mo Hua enough “respect.”
They had brought spirit tools, they had used Revealing Dust.
But now it seemed that such “respect” was still too superficial, lacking any true sincerity.
Meanwhile, during this time, Linghu Xiao and his three companions had already charged over.
Unable to find Mo Hua, the five Dragon Cauldron Sect disciples could only fight against Linghu Xiao’s group.
Fortunately, they were strong—facing the Great Void Sect head-on, they were not inferior, and it was five against four.
But as they fought, fireballs began flying out of the grove.
Mo Hua had revealed himself, using spells to support his teammates.
“Kill him!”
The leading Dragon Cauldron Sect disciple immediately pointed at Mo Hua and shouted coldly.
Two of their disciples instantly flickered forward, body movements like tigers roaring and dragons singing, surging into the grove. But scanning their surroundings, among the dense trees, there was no sign of Mo Hua.
They could only retreat again.
Yet just as they retreated, Mo Hua popped out again, fingers tapping rapidly, flinging Fireball Technique after Fireball Technique, along with Water Prison Technique…
The two Dragon Cauldron Sect disciples, fuming with rage, pushed through the barrage of spells and charged back into the grove.
The moment they rushed in, Mo Hua vanished again.
They retreated again, and Mo Hua appeared again—only to hurl more spells at them.
The five Dragon Cauldron Sect disciples were furious enough to cough blood.
The spectators outside the arena also felt their blood pressure spike, their heads buzzing.
Too shameless!
Truly too shameless!
In all these years, in all the Sword Debate Conferences, they had never seen a disciple so despicable and so brazen.
This was still the Sword Debate Conference, with so many people watching.
If you don’t want to save face, does your sect still want any?
Always using low-level spells to disgust people—is that really fun?
But Mo Hua genuinely thought… it was great fun.
When the enemy came, he ran; when they chased up to him, he hid; when the enemy retreated, he lobbed spells at them from afar.
And this back-and-forth tied up two Dragon Cauldron Sect disciples completely.
The remaining three were being suppressed by Linghu Xiao’s group and had already taken several strikes of Hollow Void Sword Qi.
Mo Hua had also thrown their formation into chaos.
The Dragon Cauldron Sect disciples realized this couldn’t go on:
“Forget Mo Hua—kill Linghu Xiao first.”
It was the only option left.
The other two Dragon Cauldron Sect disciples obeyed, abandoning Mo Hua and rushing back to assist, the five of them focusing their attack on Linghu Xiao’s four.
For a time, dragon aura surged, cauldron roars thundered, sword qi swept out, shattering gold and jade alike.
With no one targeting him, Mo Hua was even happier.
He stood at the grove’s edge, spreading out his divine sense to oversee the battlefield, hurling spells without restraint.
Mainly Fireball Technique, mixed with Golden Ring Technique, Golden Flash Technique, Water Prison Technique, Wood Binding Technique, Flowing Sand Technique… all sorts of low-level Five Element spells—not very powerful, but utterly irritating.
The Dragon Cauldron Sect disciples were miserable.
In the past, as proud scions of heaven, they would never have even glanced at such low-grade spells.
In their eyes, only powerful high-grade dao arts were worth using.
To use such lowly spells was something only fit to be laughed at.
But now, they were being tormented and humiliated over and over by these very low-level spells, made to look ridiculous.
In the grand Sword Debate Conference, before all the sects, clans, and the cultivators of the Nine Provinces, to be “insulted” by such unrefined spells…
At this moment, the Dragon Cauldron Sect disciples finally understood, deep in their bones, why so many sects and disciples ground their teeth and hated Mo Hua to the core.
The sword debate continued.
The two sides’ cultivators were still in a melee.
Sword qi and spells flew, fists and kicks crashed, the fight fierce.
But letting Mo Hua run free in battle would never end well; gradually, the Dragon Cauldron Sect began to falter.
Their average strength was high, but the problem was—they had no one like Linghu Xiao, a true “prodigy.”
Many times, when the battle reached a stalemate, it took a prodigy to break it, to reverse the tide.
That was why prodigies were lauded and awaited by all.
Without one to break the deadlock, the situation could only worsen.
Moreover, after the battle with the Vajra Sect’s Shi Tiangang—
Linghu Xiao had grown sharper, his sword qi stronger.
Ouyang Xuan and the others had also gained experience in dealing with powerful body cultivators.
Mo Hua’s spellcasting had become more refined, trickier, and more insidious.
Thus the Dragon Cauldron Sect could only retreat step by step.
But that wasn’t even the most infuriating part—the most infuriating part was that they were gradually realizing that from the very start, they had no chance of “winning” this match.
Because this was a “decapitation” match.
Mo Hua was the “leader.”
And this leader could turn invisible—and no one could see through his invisibility.
Which meant he naturally stood in an unshakable position.
Even if they killed all four of Linghu Xiao’s group, it would mean nothing.
As long as Mo Hua found a place to squat and went invisible, no one could find him.
If they couldn’t find him, they couldn’t kill him—and they couldn’t take the leader’s head.
From the very start, this match was a “dead game” with no way to win!
Thinking of this, the Dragon Cauldron Sect disciples felt their hearts go cold.
How were they supposed to play a game they could never win?
Even if they gave their all, at most they could force a “draw”—but the Great Void Sect would never agree.
And Mo Hua, seeing the situation turn bad, could simply go invisible and avoid all harm.
But their own leader could not.
Not only could he not hide, he would be constantly exposed to the Great Void Sect’s attacks, endlessly suffering Linghu Xiao’s sword qi.
A thread of despair wound into their hearts, sinking deeper and deeper.
Still, this was the Sword Debate Conference, and they were disciples of one of the Four Great Sects—though the situation was dire, they were unwilling to give up.
In the battles that followed, the Dragon Cauldron Sect disciples tried other methods to break the deadlock.
Chief among them—find a way to lure Mo Hua out and kill him.
Mo Hua was too fragile, too low in margin for error.
If he slipped up even slightly, exposing the tiniest opening, any one of the five could kill him with a single punch.
But Mo Hua’s divine sense was too sharp, and he was too quick-witted—at the slightest hint of danger, he would vanish, darting into the grove.
No one knew where he was “hiding.”
The spectators outside, however, did know.
They wished they could break the Fifth-Grade Grand Formation, fly into the arena, and personally tell the Dragon Cauldron Sect disciples exactly where Mo Hua was.
To tell them—Mo Hua hadn’t gone far at all!
He was just invisible, perched on a tall tree, watching their struggles with a leisurely smile.
But unfortunately, they couldn’t do that.
And so, the situation worsened step by step.
In the end, one of the Four Great Sects, the Dragon Cauldron Sect’s proud prodigies, was thoroughly disgusted and frustrated by Mo Hua’s concealment technique—
And thus suffered defeat.
In everyone’s hearts, there was a strange feeling.
They all realized that Mo Hua’s concealment technique… was a bit abnormal.
This was an invisibility that “could not be seen through.”
Which meant that Mo Hua would be… a “completely unseen” spirit cultivator.
And just how do you kill… a cultivator you can’t see?
(End of this Chapter)