Chapter Summaries

Wenren Wan and Shangguan Yi planned to thank Mo Hua with array techniques, while Shangguan Ce’s attempt to calculate Mo Hua’s fate cracked his Compass and warned him against probing further. Back at Void Gate, Mo Hua settled into the new year and began considering a way to help Cheng Mo catch a swift flying thief, ending with a keen interest in Cheng Mo’s Spirit Stones.

• Wenren Wan and Shangguan Yi decided to gather suitable array techniques from the Shangguan and Wenren families as gifts of thanks for Mo Hua.
• Shangguan Ce tried to calculate Mo Hua’s origins, suffered a terrifying backlash that cracked his Compass, and resolved not to investigate Mo Hua’s fate again.
• Mo Hua returned to Void Gate, spent the holiday practicing arrays, and set goals for the coming year, including helping the Gu family prosper.
• Cheng Mo asked Mo Hua for advice about a bounty to catch a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage flying thief whose Movement Technique kept letting him escape.
• Mo Hua asked whether Cheng Mo had Spirit Stones, and Cheng Mo’s claim that he had plenty prompted Mo Hua to eye him like a fat sheep.

Mo Hua designed specialized fire-resistant robes that helped Xie Ling and his companions capture a Sinful Cultivator, then began advising more Void Gate disciples and arranging custom Spirit Artifacts for sale. Xie Ling revealed his family’s secret geomancy inheritance, and Mo Hua committed the location of the Xie Family in Gen Province to memory.

• Xie Ling asked Mo Hua for help defeating a fire-technique-wielding Sinful Cultivator, and Mo Hua worked with Master Gu to create highly fire-resistant Daoist Robes.
• Xie Ling and four companions used the robes to capture the Sinful Cultivator and thanked Mo Hua for his help.
• Xie Ling told Mo Hua that his Xie Family inherited geomancy methods and the Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Array, including secret teachings related to reversing Celestial Pivot; Mo Hua remembered the family’s location in Gen Province.
• Xie Ling repeatedly sought Mo Hua’s advice on bounties, and other disciples began coming to Mo Hua for guidance and custom Spirit Artifacts.
• Mo Hua asked Master Gu to sell the custom Spirit Artifacts through the Gu Family’s Merchant Pavilion, and Wenren Wan helped arrange the sale.
• Mo Hua’s network and reputation at Void Gate grew as disciples increasingly sought his advice in the Dining Hall.

Mo Hua learned that an unknown figure called Water Yama had taken over the slaughter of the Yu Family Water Stronghold, while the Dao Court Office’s investigation stalled. He returned to studying arrays and refining the Five Elements Source Armor, then received rare array inheritances from Wenren Wan, including the Secondary Thunder Current Array, a second-grade Absolute Array.

• Mo Hua asked Gu Changhuai about Water Yama and described the bloody evidence at the Yu Family Water Stronghold; Gu Changhuai agreed to investigate both the massacre and the name.
• The investigation produced no progress, and Mo Hua watched the tragedy fade from public attention while the Evil God’s influence continued to grow.
• Mo Hua discussed making the Five Elements Source Armor controllable through Divine Consciousness with Master Gu, who warned that enemies might seize control but agreed to research its refinement.
• Mo Hua ate spirit fish with Master Gu, then considered whether he could help the Fisher Cultivators earn more Spirit Stones.
• Wenren Wan gave Mo Hua array manuals and diagrams from the Shangguan and Wenren Families, including rare Primal Magnetism arrays.
• Mo Hua recognized the Secondary Thunder Current Array among the diagrams as a second-grade Absolute Array and resolved to protect Yu’er.

After receiving inherited Array Diagrams from Aunt Wan, Mo Hua focused on breaking through to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage so he could eventually learn a powerful Absolute Array. Cheng Mo and Situ Jian then invited him to the Dao Discussion Assembly, where Mo Hua learned how its rankings determined sects’ shares of the Ganlong Spirit Mine and watched the opening alchemy contest.

• Mo Hua secretly stored Aunt Wan’s inherited Array Diagrams, realized he could not yet comprehend the Second-Grade Twenty-Pattern Secondary Thunder Current Absolute Array, and devoted himself to solving the Heavenly Derivation Art’s Riddle Arrays.
• After more than a month, Cheng Mo asked Mo Hua about the Dao Discussion Assembly, and Situ Jian explained its contests, the Sword Discussion’s team format, and the strict qualifications for participants.
• Situ Jian explained that Dao Discussion rankings determined sects’ shares of the Ganlong Spirit Mine, prompting Mo Hua to join him and Cheng Mo in visiting Dao Discussion Mountain.
• Mo Hua sensed the immense Grand Array surrounding Dao Discussion Mountain as the three entered and explored the gathering of disciples from across Ganxue Prefecture.
• Mo Hua, Cheng Mo, and Situ Jian watched the alchemy contest, found it dull, and left the crowd while anticipating the more exciting Sword Discussion Assembly.

Mo Hua watched the Dao Discussion Assembly, studying the competing disciplines and analyzing the Sword Discussion battles while remembering Qiandao Sect’s past rejection of him. As the assembly neared its end, he finally broke through to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

• Mo Hua watched the Artifact, Talisman, and Array Discussion assemblies, noting that a Qiandao Sect disciple surnamed Shen won the Array Discussion championship.
• Mo Hua saw the Sword Discussion arenas protected by Fifth-Grade Void Arrays and learned how Life Talismans helped safeguard the contestants.
• Mo Hua watched the five-on-five battles, studied the sects’ tactics, and considered how he might fight if he competed in the future.
• Mo Hua continued cultivating while attending the Sword Discussion Assembly, finally unraveling the Riddle Array in his Sea of Consciousness and breaking through to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

Mo Hua watched the Sword Discussion Assembly conclude, then learned that the Four Great Sects were proposing reforms that could threaten Void Gate. He returned to cultivation and array study, and after a year advanced a grade and welcomed a new cohort of junior disciples.

• Mo Hua watched the Four Great Sects dominate the Sword Discussion Assembly, which Heavenly Sword Sect won ahead of Qiandao Sect, Longding Sect, and Wanxiao Sect.
• Mo Hua reunited with Ouyang Feng, who seemed troubled before Ta'a Gate disciples summoned him away.
• The Void Gate Sect Master told Elder Xun that the Four Great Sects and the Shen Family were proposing sect reforms that might push Void Gate out of the Eight Great Sects, while Elder Xun said he had his own plans.
• Mo Hua returned to Void Gate, pursued Foundation Establishment Late Stage, studied array techniques, and continued improving the Five Elements Source Armor while caring for Yu'er.
• A year passed, Mo Hua advanced a grade, and a new cohort entered Void Gate as his junior martial brothers and sisters.

After months of studying advanced array techniques, Mo Hua persuaded Elder Xun to let him enter Monster Refining Mountain and help his struggling friends hunt demonic beasts. Elder Xun arranged for Ziyou to watch over him and dispatched an Inner Sect disciple to investigate Mo Hua’s origins in Li Prefecture.

• The cultivation Elder warned the disciples about Monster Refining Mountain’s dangers, and Mo Hua became eager to hunt there, but Elder Xun refused and gave him difficult Array Diagrams to study instead.
• Mo Hua repeatedly asked to enter the mountain, while Cheng Mo and his companions began hunting in teams and struggled against stronger, more experienced hunters and demonic beasts.
• After a Bear Demon broke several of Cheng Mo’s bones, Mo Hua decided to help his friends and convinced Elder Xun that he would use his array techniques on Spirit Artifacts and avoid fighting.
• Elder Xun agreed to let Mo Hua go, ordered Ziyou to protect him, and warned Ziyou that he would be punished if Mo Hua was harmed.
• Elder Xun grew curious about Mo Hua’s Monster Hunter background and array knowledge, then sent an Inner Sect disciple to Great Black Mountain Province to investigate.

Mo Hua entered Monster Refining Mountain alone to survey its terrain and draw a detailed map, while Elder Xun secretly followed to protect him. After completing the map on a later visit, Mo Hua prepared to develop monster-hunting tactics so he could bring Cheng Mo and the other junior disciples into the mountain.

• Mo Hua spent one hundred merit points on a Monster Refining Token and entered Monster Refining Mountain alone, where Elder Xun secretly began following him on the old ancestor’s orders.
• Mo Hua mapped the Outer Mountain’s terrain, recording hazards and avoiding or outmaneuvering monster beasts as Elder Xun watched in astonishment.
• Mo Hua spent the night in an apparently empty late Second-Grade monster beast’s lair, setting protective arrays before sleeping while Elder Xun kept watch outside.
• Mo Hua returned to Void Gate after the ten-day break, then went back to Monster Refining Mountain during his next break and finished his topographical map.
• Mo Hua planned to combine arrays and Spirit Artifacts into monster-hunting tactics so he could bring Cheng Mo and the other junior disciples into the mountain.

Mo Hua led Cheng Mo and the others into Monster Refining Mountain, where his detailed preparations helped them hunt Azure Wood Wolves safely and profitably. After establishing a reliable hunting procedure, he shared it with more Void Gate disciples, while Elder Xun watched the growing wave of identical hunting parties enter the mountain.

• Mo Hua prepared specialized armor and a plan, then took Cheng Mo, Situ Jian, Yang Qianjun, and Hao Xuan into Monster Refining Mountain to hunt Azure Wood Wolves as Elder Xun secretly followed.
• Mo Hua tracked an Azure Wood Wolf, trapped it with an Earth Kill Array, and guided the group as they attacked and made sure it was truly dead.
• Mo Hua collected the wolf’s blood for Spirit Ink, while Cheng Mo and the others dissected the carcass; they sold its materials for contribution points and made a profit.
• Mo Hua and the group hunted another Azure Wood Wolf the next day, and Mo Hua refined their tactics into a repeatable procedure.
• Mo Hua gave new disciples a Jade Slip detailing how to hunt Azure Wood Wolves, and Elder Xun noticed more Void Gate disciples entering the mountain in matching gear and formations.

Mo Hua expanded his monster-hunting strategies, gained the respect of Void Gate disciples, and collected monster blood while testing newly made Five Elements Source Armor. When a Pig-Headed Demon chased after his group, Mo Hua and the others had to face danger despite retreating from the stronger beast.

• Xun Ziyou and another Elder noticed Azure Wood Wolves dwindling as Mo Hua’s strategies and custom spirit artifacts helped Void Gate disciples hunt monsters; Mo Hua also created methods for hunting Azure Sky Snakes and other beasts.
• Void Gate disciples increasingly called Mo Hua Senior Martial Brother, followed his guidance, and began giving him monster blood after their hunts.
• Master Gu delivered two suits of Five Elements Source Armor, and Mo Hua inscribed a Five Elements Absolute Array onto one before taking Cheng Mo, Yang Qianjun, and others to test them.
• As Mo Hua activated the armor against an injured Azure Wood Wolf, he sensed danger and ordered the group to retreat when a Second-Grade Mid-Tier Pig-Headed Demon appeared.
• The Pig-Headed Demon ate the Azure Wood Wolf, detected the scent of Mo Hua’s group, and charged after them.

Mo Hua led Cheng Mo, Yang Qianjun, Situ Jian, and Hao Xuan in a battle against a Second-Grade Mid-Tier Pig-Headed Demon, using layered arrays and the Five Elements Source Armor to help them kill it. The group survived, while Elder Xun wondered where Mo Hua had learned the armor’s array and nervously speculated that Mo Hua might be his senior by blood.

• The Pig-Headed Demon pursued Mo Hua and the others, so Mo Hua concealed himself and set layered Binding and Kill Arrays while the group lured the demon toward them.
• Mo Hua activated his arrays, trapping and badly wounding the Pig-Headed Demon before ordering Cheng Mo and the others to attack.
• The Pig-Headed Demon slowed when the Azure Wood Wolf’s poison affected it, and Mo Hua activated the Five Elements Source Armor to amplify Cheng Mo and Yang Qianjun’s Lingli.
• Cheng Mo, Yang Qianjun, Situ Jian, and Hao Xuan struck together and killed the Pig-Headed Demon, then made sure it was truly dead.
• Elder Xun suspected Mo Hua had learned the armor’s array from the old ancestor and worried that Mo Hua might outrank him in their family, while Mo Hua explained the armor to Yang Qianjun and Cheng Mo.

Mo Hua and his companions retreated from Duanjin Gate cultivators who stole their pig demon, then recovered and prepared a nighttime ambush. Their array and coordinated attacks defeated the rival group and brought its Foundation Establishment Late Stage leader to his knees.

• Mo Hua and his companions killed a Second-Grade Mid-Tier pig demon, but eight Duanjin Gate cultivators arrived and claimed the beast as theirs.
• Mo Hua ordered his companions to withdraw, then equipped them with Metal-Suppressing gear and poisoned weapons while they recovered their Lingli.
• Mo Hua tracked the Duanjin Gate group to its nighttime campsite and secretly drew an array beneath the cover of darkness.
• Mo Hua detonated the array, incapacitating five of the eight cultivators and severely injuring their Foundation Establishment Late Stage leader.
• Mo Hua called out the leader's planned moves as his companions attacked, and Cheng Mo's armor amplified his axe strike, breaking the leader's Golden Body Talisman and forcing him to kneel.

Mo Hua and his companions defeated Duanjin Gate disciples in Monster Refining Mountain, humiliated their leader without killing him, and returned to the sect. After Xun Ziyou reported Mo Hua’s methods to Elder Xun, Elder Xun concluded that Mo Hua was likely Zhuang Daoling’s personally taught disciple and wondered what immense opportunity had brought him to Void Gate.

• Mo Hua’s group stripped and hung Senior Brother Jin from Duanjin Gate, drew a turtle on him, and left him alive with a healing pill.
• Mo Hua and his companions collected the Pig-Headed Demon’s materials but returned the Duanjin Gate disciples’ Storage Bags before leaving the mountain.
• Senior Brother Jin woke, vowed revenge, and led his disciples down the mountain while Xun Ziyou watched from hiding.
• Xun Ziyou saw Elder Xun studying reports about Mo Hua’s past, including rumors that Mo Hua had helped build a great array and defeated the great demon Feng Xi.
• After Xun Ziyou described Mo Hua’s battle with Duanjin Gate and his unusual array methods, Elder Xun privately concluded that Mo Hua was Zhuang Daoling’s disciple and told Xun Ziyou to keep the matter secret.

Elder Xun gave Mo Hua a manuscript on array flow left by his old friend Zhuang, and realized Mo Hua’s connection to the man could have great significance for the Void Gate. As Duanjin Gate disciples continued harassing Void Gate students in Monster Refining Mountain, Mo Hua decided they needed a harsher response.

• Elder Xun gave Mo Hua an ancient manuscript on array flow and revealed that its author was his old friend surnamed Zhuang.
• Elder Xun told Xun Ziyou that Mo Hua was vital to the Void Gate and ordered him to protect Mo Hua without interfering in ordinary disputes between disciples.
• Mo Hua recognized the manuscript as his master’s work, treasured it, and continued studying array techniques to strengthen his Divine Consciousness.
• Cheng Mo told Mo Hua that Duanjin Gate disciples were harassing Void Gate students and stealing the demon beasts they hunted in Monster Refining Mountain.
• After a month of futile clashes, Cheng Mo reported that the Duanjin Gate disciples kept disrupting their hunts, and Mo Hua resolved to make them suffer enough to stop.

Mo Hua led Void Gate disciples in a sweep of Monster Refining Mountain, humiliating Duanjin Gate’s hidden disciples, but the next clash revealed that Duanjin Gate’s skilled sword cultivators could bypass their Metal-Suppressing Armor. As Mo Hua investigated how to defend against Sword Qi, he began focusing on the golden Spirit Swords wielded by Duanjin Gate.

• Mo Hua used his Divine Consciousness to locate Duanjin Gate disciples hidden throughout Monster Refining Mountain, and Cheng Mo and the others beat them, stripped their robes, drew turtles on them, and hung them from trees.
• Jin Gui reported the defeat to Jin Yicai, who ordered Jin Family disciples skilled in the Gold-Breaking Sword Art to challenge Void Gate and urged Jin Gui to finish capturing the demon beasts he had been assigned to find.
• Mo Hua and the Void Gate disciples fought Duanjin Gate’s stronger sword cultivators the next day and won, but more of their people were injured because Metal-Suppressing Armor offered little defense against Sword Qi.
• Mo Hua asked Elder Yi, Situ Jian, and other sword cultivators about Sword Qi, then turned his attention to Duanjin Gate’s Spirit Swords as a possible source of its power.

Mo Hua learned that Duanjin Gate's Gold-Breaking Sword Qi was amplified by secret sword arrays sealed inside Spirit Swords, then led a small group into Monster Refining Mountain to steal one. He returned to Void Gate with Song Jian's Gold-Breaking Sword and began considering whether he could dismantle it to study its array and forge a Spirit Sword of his own.

• Situ Jian explained that Spirit Swords amplified sword qi through sword arrays, and Mo Hua persuaded him to let him inspect the Separating Fire Sword.
• Mo Hua and four companions ambushed eight Duanjin Gate disciples in Monster Refining Mountain and took Song Jian's Gold-Breaking Sword before escaping.
• Song Jian gathered Duanjin Gate disciples to search for the thieves, but they failed to find Mo Hua and returned to their sect after nightfall.
• Song Jian and Jin Gui traded insults over their losses and renewed their private grievances against Mo Hua.
• Mo Hua studied the stolen Gold-Breaking Sword and wondered whether dismantling it would reveal its sword array and let him forge a Spirit Sword.

Mo Hua discovered that he could derive a spirit sword’s secret sword array from the sword qi it produced, then erased the Separating Fire Sword Array he reconstructed to protect Situ Jian and his clan. He arranged for Cheng Mo to endure a duel with Duanjin Gate, lured Song Jian into a match by holding his ruined Gold-Breaking Sword over him, and led him into a small forest.

• After the Gold-Breaking Sword self-destructed, Mo Hua concluded that dismantling spirit swords could not reveal their arrays and decided to study sword qi instead.
• Mo Hua asked Situ Jian to demonstrate Li Fire Sword Qi, practiced deriving its traces, and finally reconstructed the Situ Clan’s Separating Fire Sword Array before erasing his notes and forcing himself to forget it.
• Mo Hua thanked Situ Jian with a feast and recruited Cheng Mo to stall Duanjin Gate disciples in a duel, promising him Merit Points for enduring their attacks.
• Mo Hua found Song Jian searching Monster Refining Mountain and challenged him to a match, claiming he would return the Gold-Breaking Sword if Song Jian won.
• Song Jian accepted to recover his sword, left his disciples waiting, and followed Mo Hua into a small forest.

Mo Hua arranged a staged duel between Cheng Mo and Song Jian so he could study the Gold-Breaking Sword Qi and secretly derive Duanjin Gate’s Gold-Breaking Sword Array. After returning to the sect, he discovered that combining the array with his Gold-Breaking Imperial Sword Art let him activate it; Xun Ziyou then reported Mo Hua’s feat to Elder Xun, who could hardly believe it.

• Mo Hua persuaded Cheng Mo and Song Jian to duel under an agreement, while Cheng Mo pretended to struggle and Mo Hua observed Song Jian’s Gold-Breaking Sword Qi to derive the sword array.
• Xun Ziyou secretly watched Mo Hua draw the Gold-Breaking Sword Array and was shocked that he reconstructed a closely guarded Duanjin Gate inheritance from sword qi.
• Mo Hua ended the duel by drawing a Hyena Beast to interrupt the fight, then helped the group kill it and compensated the battered Cheng Mo with Merit Points.
• Back at the Disciple Quarters, Mo Hua realized the Gold-Breaking Sword Array required the corresponding sword art, used his Gold-Breaking Imperial Sword Art to activate it, and began studying its sword principles.
• Xun Ziyou told Elder Xun that Mo Hua had secretly reconstructed the Gold-Breaking Sword Array by watching Song Jian fight, leaving Elder Xun stunned.

Elder Xun and Xun Ziyou concealed Mo Hua’s ability to deduce sword qi, while Mo Hua secretly completed Duanjin Gate’s Gold-Breaking Sword Array and uncovered how sword arrays transformed spiritual power. He resolved to develop long-range sword control using array-bearing Spirit Swords, and planned to equip his junior martial brothers with Gold-Breaking Armor to take territory from Duanjin Gate and gather materials for forging swords.

• Elder Xun warned Xun Ziyou never to mention Void Gate’s Divine Sense Sword Transformation Art to Mo Hua and ordered him to conceal Mo Hua’s sword-array discovery from Duanjin Gate.
• Mo Hua studied Song Jian’s sword qi during repeated duels with Cheng Mo, using the observations to improve Gold-Breaking Armor and complete the Gold-Breaking Sword Array.
• Mo Hua realized sword arrays could transform spiritual power into sword qi, suggesting he could wield sword-array techniques without conventional swordsmanship or strong spiritual power.
• Mo Hua conceived a plan to control array-bearing Spirit Swords with divine consciousness for long-range attacks, accepting that the swords might be single-use.
• Mo Hua decided to outfit his junior martial brothers in Gold-Breaking Armor, take territory from Duanjin Gate, and harvest materials to forge specialized Spirit Swords.

Mo Hua perfected the Gold-Breaking Armor, which let Void Gate counter Duanjin Gate’s sword art, while Duanjin Gate’s leaders suspected a Song Family plot and chose to lie low. After Mo Hua returned Song Jian’s ruined sword, he headed to Monster Refining Mountain to test Divine Consciousness Sword Control.

• Mo Hua refined the Gold-Breaking Armor with Master Gu and equipped Void Gate disciples to defeat Duanjin Gate’s attacks, while adding safeguards to keep the armor’s formations secret.
• Jin Gui brought captured armor to Jin Yicai and his cousin, whose examination led them to suspect that a Song Family Elder or another Duanjin Gate figure had helped Void Gate; they decided to avoid attention and deal with Void Gate later.
• Mo Hua learned that Duanjin Gate had stopped provoking Void Gate, then faced Song Jian, who demanded his Gold-Breaking Sword.
• Mo Hua returned Song Jian’s sword as a shattered piece of scrap metal, and Song Jian vowed revenge after recognizing it.
• Mo Hua set out for Monster Refining Mountain with broken swords to test Divine Consciousness Sword Control.