Chapter 1019: Earth Division Sword Tournament

The day before the Earth Character Sword Debate.

In a small forest on Mount Great Void.

Beneath towering ancient trees, Mo Hua sat in a circle with the disciples who would represent Mount Great Void in the Earth Character Sword Debate, preparing for the battles ahead.

The elimination rate in the Profound Character Division usually hovered around ninety percent.

For the Four Great Sects, the rate was slightly lower.

But because the Great Void Sect had too many people, their elimination rate was actually a little higher than that of the Eight Major Sects.

In truth, not many teams could advance, and their results were only about equal to those of the Eight Major Sects.

Up until now, the sect’s advantage had mainly been in numbers.

At the lower levels, disciples benefited from Mo Hua’s formations, spiritual tools, and tactical coordination—the rudimentary framework of his “Prodigy Dao Soldiers”—allowing them to unleash far greater battle strength.

But as the battles rose in rank, especially in the Profound Character Division, and even more so in the Earth Character Division, this advantage was gradually being whittled away.

The number of top-tier prodigies in the Great Void Sect simply could not compare with sects like the Vajra Sect, the Carefree Sect, or the Soaring Sky Sect, let alone with the Four Great Sects.

Thus, looking at the current elimination rate, Mo Hua was already very satisfied.

In his original estimation, the outcome should have been even worse.

As for overall ranking, the Great Void Sect was still holding third place.

This ranking was already quite high, and even exceeded Mo Hua’s own expectations.

The reasons behind this were complicated.

On one hand, his team with Linghu Xiao had been winning consistently, accumulating a great deal of victory points and establishing momentum.

On another, they had the Broken Gold Sect to thank.

When the Broken Gold Sect’s core inheritance leaked and fell into Mo Hua’s hands, they had no choice but to face this monstrous formation master in the Sword Debate. The result was utter defeat, and they essentially handed over a pile of points to the Great Void Sect.

The final reason lay in the hard work of the sect’s “little junior brothers.”

In fact, some disciples who had been entirely unremarkable within the sect, after experiencing the Sword Debate again and again, were tempered like iron under a hammer—gradually revealing their sharp edge.

Led by Mo Hua, their Little Senior Brother, these disciples banded together, united in heart, gritting their teeth to fight with all their might, battle after battle.

Most of them were still eliminated in the Profound Character Division.

But they had still won a considerable number of points for the Great Void Sect.

Otherwise, the sect would never have been able to maintain third place.

And these seemingly ordinary disciples, through the tempering of the Sword Debate, already faintly carried a sense of “transformation.”

Among them, the most striking transformation—and the best results—came from a team of the Tai’a Sect.

This team was composed of five brothers, all surnamed Ouyang, with celebratory names: Fortune, Prosperity, Longevity, Joy, and Wealth.

Their names were auspicious, but their backgrounds were impoverished.

They were children of a distant branch family tied by marriage to the Ouyang Clan. Originally, they didn’t even bear the Ouyang name, but with their parents dead early, suffering from a young age, and their clan unable to provide for them, they had been left with little hope.

“Half-grown boys will eat a family poor”—all the more so when they were cultivators.

Cultivation required not only food, but also manuals, resources, and spirit stones—expenses their little branch family could never afford.

Yet their aptitudes weren’t bad. To leave them untaught would have been a waste.

So the clan elders pulled some strings and had them adopted into the main Ouyang Clan under the name of a deceased elder who had no heirs, continuing his incense line.

For the great Ouyang Clan, feeding five more boys was no issue.

Of course, since they were adopted, they were not allocated much in cultivation resources.

Still, having suffered hardship, the five brothers treasured every chance they got and cultivated with diligence and determination.

With their natural talent, and supporting each other as brothers, their progress was rapid. Without the guidance of any elders, they had even managed to test into the Tai’a Sect by their own strength—something quite astonishing.

Yet their poor background and shallow roots showed. Surrounded by direct-line geniuses of the clan, they quickly blended into the masses, unremarkable.

That was until the Sword Debate Grand Assembly, when Mo Hua “elevated” them—arming each with heavy armor and a massive sword, and telling them one simple instruction:

“Don’t worry about anything. Just cut down whoever you see.”

From that moment, their fates completely changed.

…

The tale of the “Tai’a Five Brothers” spread throughout the Sword Debate.

Every match they entered, five towering figures in heavy armor stood in a row, greatswords in hand, looking like five war gods carved from the same mold.

When they charged forward together, chanting Mo Hua’s words—“cut whoever you see”—they exuded a demonic fierceness that made opponents crumble.

Subtle tactics? None.

Raw, overwhelming, synchronized brutality? Absolutely.

With Mo Hua’s specially chosen armor that resisted most spells and blades, and the crushing weight of their giant swords, they rampaged through the Profound Character Division, all the way to the Earth Character Division.

Even Mo Hua couldn’t help but marvel.

…

Of course, not only the Tai’a Five Brothers advanced.

Yang Qianjun’s “Dao Soldier Team” also entered the Earth Character Division.

A scion of the Yang family—a Dao Soldier lineage—Yang Qianjun had recruited disciples from both Tai’a Mountain and Chongxu Mountain, also born of Dao Soldier families, and formed a true Dao Soldier unit.

With Mo Hua’s complete array support and spiritual equipment, their advancement was expected.

Other teams advancing were likewise elite disciples of the Three Mountains.

Even Hao Xuan’s team somehow made it through—mainly by running around with quick footwork and scavenging opportunities. To win even one match was sheer luck.

Mo Hua found it unbelievable, almost as though the ancestors of the Great Void Sect were secretly watching over them.

…

The disciples gathered under the trees.

Tomorrow would be the Earth Character Sword Debate.

Mo Hua arranged a few formations and distributed spiritual tools suited to each team, then said:

“That’s the situation. In the Earth Division, just do your best.”

“If we win, great. If we lose, don’t be disheartened.”

“Yes, Little Senior Brother,” they all nodded.

Everyone understood clearly: from here on, tactics alone would not decide victory.

But they were grateful—without Mo Hua, none of them would have made it this far.

Especially the Tai’a Five Brothers, whose respect and gratitude for Mo Hua ran bone-deep. Without his guidance, formations, and spiritual gear, they would never have risen from obscurity.

Now, just making it to the Earth Division was enough to change their lives—enough to make elders look at them with new eyes, and even their clan’s strictest seniors smile in approval.

Weaklings were ignored. Strength, or potential, earned respect.

And so, while they seemed fierce and brutal to outsiders, the Tai’a Five Brothers were utterly loyal to Mo Hua, nodding earnestly at his every word, remembering each one in their hearts.

…

When the preparations ended, the disciples dispersed.

Mo Hua returned to his quarters, beginning his own planning for the Earth Character Sword Debate.

He had already revealed many of his trump cards. The ones remaining were few.

Facing the true prodigies of the Four Great Sects, tomorrow’s battles would be far more difficult.

It would not just be tough—it would be a brutal trial.

Fingers pinching in calculation, Mo Hua sighed, his gaze turning deep.

“This won’t be easy…”

…

Elsewhere, in the grand hall of a sect, Daoist elders gathered.

Each wore an ugly expression.

After so many sleepless nights, watching endless projection charts, they had finally unraveled that brat’s concealment technique, thinking all was well and that his death was certain…

Only for him to suddenly reveal another bizarre movement technique.

At the time, a whole row of elders had nearly choked on their own blood.

“This brat really knows how to hide!”

“He had such an incredible movement technique all along, and actually held back for so many matches—just to toy with people like a cat with a mouse…”

“Such sinister cunning, such twisted scheming—this old man has rarely seen its equal.”

“That kind of restraint and hidden patience rivals even some old monsters…”

“Restraint, my ass! He’s just rotten to the core—playing tricks, toying with people, with no conscience at all…”

“Youngsters these days have no martial virtue…”

The elders, haggard from sleepless nights, vented their fury, loudly denouncing Mo Hua.

“Enough,” one finally snapped impatiently. “Let’s talk business.”

“We’re elders of great sects, respected figures—what do we look like, sitting here gossiping about a junior behind his back?”

The hall fell silent.

But their expressions remained dark.

“Have you determined the origin of that brat’s movement technique?” someone asked.

“We have… but it’s complicated. It carries traces of many advanced techniques…”

“Which ones, exactly?”

“I told you, a little of everything…”

“That brat’s mind—who knows how it works? So many movement techniques, all blended together… but if you want to pinpoint it exactly, that’s almost impossible…”

“Isn’t that nonsense?”

“Enough! What’s the use of saying this now? His movement art is this high—knowing its origin changes nothing. How will you break it? Who will you send to break it?”

“Use the Spirit-Binding Locks—”

“You think you can catch him?”

“Then use immobilization spells—”

“Your spells could be faster than his?”

“Formations then—”

“Ha! Waving an axe before the master carpenter? Have you forgotten his identity?”

Everyone felt a heaviness in their chest.

The hall fell silent for a moment.

In the end, movement techniques were part of one’s hard strength in cultivation—if someone was overwhelmingly strong in that area, it wasn’t easy to counter.

And every method that could restrain movement techniques just so happened to be what Mo Hua was most skilled at.

As for other petty tricks, even less possible.

If nothing else, Mo Hua’s sharp and powerful divine sense alone was a gulf impossible to cross.

After a short silence, an elderly elder finally spoke slowly:

“His movement technique… cannot be countered.”

These words were like the final verdict.

“At this point, denial is useless. Even with only his Five Elements spells and that elusive movement technique, this Mo Hua is enough to rank among the true geniuses of the Sword Debate.”

“With Linghu Xiao of the Great Void Sect, and now Mo Hua—this is truly a team of two prodigies.”

The hall instantly erupted in noise.

Everyone voiced objections, clearly dissatisfied—yet, for the moment, unable to refute it.

The elderly elder coughed lightly, restoring silence, and continued:

“That said, there’s no need for worry. This Mo Hua’s strengths and weaknesses are equally obvious.”

“His greatest advantage is that his skills cover offense, control, restraint, survival, and escape—he’s an all-around ‘support’ cultivator.”

“His greatest disadvantage is… in the end, he’s still just support.”

“To a great extent, he relies on teammates—especially Linghu Xiao.”

“If his teammates are strong, he shines. Otherwise, without teammates, his abilities don’t amount to much.”

“Most importantly, he lacks independent killing power.”

“Without teammates, he cannot kill anyone.”

“His low-level Five Elements spells, though exquisite and fairly powerful, are effective only in the Profound-Character division, where opponents are ordinary sect geniuses. There, he can scrape by.”

“But his feeble spiritual power cannot sustain high-intensity, prolonged combat.”

The elder shook his head. “This is the Sword Debate for geniuses. If you cannot kill on your own strength, and only rely on spells to pick off stragglers, you’ll eventually become a burden.”

“The further it goes, the more useless he’ll be…”

“If this boy is only at this level, no matter how good his movement techniques, he won’t get far.”

“In the Earth-Character Sword Debate, movement techniques alone cannot bring victory.”

“In fact, no need to wait until later. Tomorrow’s very first Earth-Character match should make it clear…”

Finishing in a deep voice, the old elder closed his eyes and began to rest.

His words dissected Mo Hua thoroughly.

They cut straight to the weakness in Mo Hua’s cultivation path.

Support was still just support.

Support alone couldn’t kill.

Only if his teammates were strong could he be strong. Without them—he was nothing.

Everyone nodded repeatedly. Especially when they recalled that yesterday’s Daoist Astronomical Simulation had already deduced the match list—seeing Mo Hua’s opponent in the very first Earth-Character match, their eyes narrowed.

“This first Earth-Character match will be a brutal wake-up call!”

——

The next day, after a long, solemn, and elaborate Sword Debate ceremony…

The Earth-Character Sword Debate officially began.

And in the very first round, Mo Hua was to take the stage.

His opponent: a disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect, inheritors of the supreme Dao of the Sword.

And not just any ordinary genius.

This was the Heavenly Sword Sect’s top disciple of this generation—the foremost among countless sword prodigies, the number one sword cultivator of this session.

Xiao Wuchen.

In everyone’s eyes, this was to be the most thrilling and intense match of the Sword Debate so far.

The Earth-Character division opened with such a grand spectacle.

So much so that the already crowded Dao Debate Mountain became utterly packed, not even a needle could slip through.

Everyone wanted to witness the bearing of the Heavenly Sword Sect’s number one.

And just as much—they wanted to see the clash between the Great Void Sect and the Heavenly Sword Sect.

This was true focus of all eyes.

Outside the arena, Elder Zhang, Zhang Lan, Wenren Wan, Yu’er, Gu Changhai, and many other family cultivators, sect disciples, and Daoist friends who knew Mo Hua all watched silently, quietly offering their blessings.

For Mo Hua, this was truly a top-tier enemy.

In their hearts they hoped for his performance, but anxiety and worry outweighed expectation.

And so, in this tense and burning atmosphere, the very first Earth-Character Sword Debate began.

The Dao Debate bell tolled. Both sides clashed.

Figures crossed—sword qi and spells collided.

And then, in just an instant, the Great Void Sect was utterly routed.

Xiao Wuchen of the Heavenly Sword Sect—at the pinnacle of Foundation Establishment, unrivaled in swordsmanship—led four fellow Heavenly Sword Sect geniuses.

With just one exchange, one round trip, they crushed Mo Hua and the five from the Great Void Sect in overwhelming fashion.

(End of this Chapter)