Chapter 610: Broken Gold Jade Slip
The burly man roared, "I won't!"
The iron plate beneath him was etched with densely packed array runes—just one look made it obvious it wasn't anything good. It looked like knives, needles, and a fiery prison all rolled into one.
"Are you going to kneel or not?" Mo Hua said with a stern face.
The man sneered, "Do I look like an idio—AH—!"
Before he could finish, Ouyang Feng had already pressed him down and kicked him behind the knees.
CRACK!
The man dropped to his knees onto the iron plate and let out a wail of pain. Cold sweat poured from his forehead, and his face twisted in agony.
Mo Hua wasn't sure if the guy was actually in pain or just pretending, so he asked curiously:
"Does it hurt?"
He genuinely wanted to know.
Although he was the one who designed this iron plate, and had personally drawn every array on it—he didn't really know how effective it was.
He had only estimated it would probably hurt quite a bit.
After all, the iron plate contained not one but three painful formations:
The Gen Mountain Microneedle Array, which pierced the knees with needle-thin spiritual power, causing intense stabbing pain.
The Bagua Kan Water Array, which soaked the knees in icy spiritual energy, numbing and chilling to the bone.
The Li Fire Array, which slowly burned the target with fire-type spiritual energy, causing scorching agony.
These three arrays rotated in sequence, letting the victim experience the sharp stab of needles into the bone, freezing water into the marrow, and searing flames.
In short—it wasn't pleasant.
But how unpleasant? Mo Hua had no clue.
He wasn't dumb enough to test it himself.
This traitor from the Broken Gold Sect was the first test subject for Mo Hua's "Mountain-Water-Fire Punishment Iron Plate."
Mo Hua really wanted to hear his thoughts. It would help him assess whether his design was effective—and if it needed improvement.
So, his question was genuinely earnest.
But the big man thought Mo Hua was mocking him—ridiculing him. His anger boiled over, eyes bloodshot, and he gritted his teeth, enduring the stabbing, burning, freezing pain in silence.
"Say something. Does it hurt?"
Mo Hua asked again, still curious.
The big man finally cracked and roared through gritted teeth, "Your mother—!"
Mo Hua immediately pulled out a Thousand-Jin Rod and stuffed it in the man's mouth.
"Cursing? Such poor manners…" he said with a solemn face.
The man, mouth now gagged, couldn't say a word. His eyes bulged in silent fury.
"Hmm, still doesn't seem painful enough. Maybe these arrays aren't strong enough after all…"
Mo Hua stroked his chin, thinking.
"I guess I'll have to add a few more arrays…"
"What would be good? Golden needles? Poison wood? Or maybe…"
Murong Caiyun and Ouyang Feng both opened their mouths—then said nothing.
The big man's scalp went numb just hearing this. His eyes widened in horror. What kind of twisted, sadistic little cultivator is this?! he thought.
Who the hell trained this guy?!
Desperate, the man groaned twice through his gag.
Mo Hua removed the Thousand-Jin Rod.
The man gritted his teeth and said, "I'll talk!"
Mo Hua's eyes lit up. "Good."
And the very first question he asked:
"Does it hurt to kneel on the iron plate?"
The big man looked like he wanted to die out of shame and rage. He refused to speak.
Murong Caiyun couldn't take it anymore. She nudged Mo Hua's shoulder and whispered:
"Ask something else. Don't bully him like that…"
A cultivator of that size, forced to kneel and then asked if it hurt? If he lost his mind, how would they explain it to the Dao Court or Xie Clan?
"Oh. Right."
Mo Hua thought about it—she had a point. Business first. As for feedback on the iron plate's torture function—he could find someone else later.
With a tinge of regret, Mo Hua used his spiritual sense to shut off the arrays on the iron plate temporarily.
As the pain disappeared, the big man gasped for breath and slowly recovered.
Mo Hua got down to business.
"Do you know Jiang Laoda?"
While asking, Mo Hua opened his spiritual sense and locked eyes with the man—checking for any lies.
The big man frowned, looking confused. "Who's Jiang Laoda?"
"Then do you know the Vulture?"
The man's face turned pale. "Vulture… I've only heard of him. Ruthless and cruel—not someone to mess with…"
"You've never seen him?"
He shook his head.
"Have you seen any other bald guys?"
"…Bald guys?"
Mo Hua elaborated:
"You know, like Vulture. Might be bald, might wear a wig. Criminal cultivators whose nicknames have words like 'bald,' 'shiny,' 'Arhat,' or 'monk'…"
The big man frowned in pain. "Why… are you asking this?"
Mo Hua's face darkened. "Are you asking me, or am I asking you?"
Under pressure—especially after experiencing the pain of those runes—the man gave in.
"I've been hiding my identity for a while and lurking around. I've heard of some infamous cultivators…"
"Like 'Bald Wolf,' 'Bald Flood Dragon,' 'Bitter Monk,' 'Evil Arhat'…"
"But I don't have the cultivation to mix with them. I just do petty trades—stealing and such…"
Mo Hua mentally noted those names and continued:
"Have you ever trafficked cultivators?"
The man's pupils shrank—but he shook his head.
"I wouldn't dare. In Qianxue's territory, the place is full of major families. I wouldn't risk that kind of bad luck. I wouldn't dare traffic cultivators."
Mo Hua's gaze sharpened as he studied him thoughtfully.
The man tried to stay calm, but it was obvious he was guilty—he looked away slightly.
Mo Hua smiled faintly but didn't press the issue. Instead, he said:
"Last thing—hand over your disguise technique!"
The man's expression changed, and he stubbornly denied:
"What disguise technique?"
Mo Hua frowned. "Playing dumb now?"
Seeing the man's uncooperative look, Mo Hua's spiritual sense flared—and he reactivated the torture arrays at full force.
The man's eyes flew wide open. His whole body trembled under the intense pain. His knees felt like they were being torn apart.
But still—he clenched his jaw and didn't say a word.
Mo Hua looked surprised.
"Wow, he's really good at enduring…"
Just as he said it, the man passed out from the pain.
Mo Hua let out a sigh.
"So he'd rather be tortured than hand over his 'disguise technique'…"
"Does that mean it's just that important… or…"
"My iron plate arrays still aren't powerful enough to break him…"
Too bad I can't test it on myself. I'll just have to keep refining it later…
Mo Hua silently made a note.
So far, the intel from this guy was far from enough.
At present, the information this burly man had coughed up was far from enough.
Mo Hua planned to wake him up, make him suffer a little more, and squeeze out a few more truths.
He was almost certain—this Broken Gold Sect traitor was definitely hiding something.
And he had most likely participated in trafficking cultivators—he was just too guilty to admit it.
Since that was the case, Mo Hua saw no reason to be polite.
He raised his Thousand-Jin Rod, intending to smack the guy awake—but was stopped by Murong Caiyun.
Murong Caiyun said helplessly:
"Junior Brother… that's enough. Don't break him—we still have to hand him over to the Dao Court Division…"
Mo Hua blinked.
"Then… I hit him lightly?"
Murong Caiyun rubbed her forehead.
"That's not acceptable either."
Mo Hua looked a little regretful.
"Alright then."
The mission took priority. Merits took priority. He could always dig for more info later.
Murong Caiyun, however, asked in confusion:
"That Jiang Laoda, and those people like Vulture and the traffickers—why are you asking him about them?"
Obviously—for the Four Symbols Formation.
And the dark conspiracy behind the trafficking of cultivators.
But those weren't things he could reveal just yet.
So Mo Hua replied, righteous and indignant:
"I suspect he's working with those traffickers! I had a little brother who almost got kidnapped by them. So I'm just asking, to see if I can dig up any clues—maybe wipe out their whole nest in one go!"
Mo Hua even put on a face full of righteous fury.
Murong Caiyun and Ouyang Feng exchanged glances—neither could tell if Mo Hua was telling the truth or just making it up.
Mo Hua quickly changed the subject:
"Then… can I search him?"
After all, the Xie Clan's goal was to catch the guy—they hadn't forbidden body searches.
Ouyang Feng thought for a moment and sighed:
"Go ahead."
He even took out the storage pouch they'd already retrieved from the burly man and handed it to Mo Hua.
"Here, take this too. See if you can find any clues."
Mo Hua's eyes lit up and he eagerly accepted it, though he said with some embarrassment:
"Senior Brother… is this really okay?"
Ouyang Feng smiled,
"It's fine."
He was curious too—to see if Mo Hua could dig up anything useful.
As for the Dao Court of Bìshān City and the Xie Clan? Frankly, he didn't care about either.
His actions followed protocol only out of respect for the rules of the Tai'e Sect and the family code of the Ouyang Clan. He didn't want to bring shame to either.
Mo Hua got to work immediately, thoroughly searching the burly man—and quickly frowned.
He discovered that the man's flesh felt soft and unnatural—completely fake. It was as if some material had been attached to his body, creating a fabricated outer form.
That explained how he could appear as a woman, a youth, an old hag, or even a brawny man.
His face too was clearly some kind of mask—it looked off and unnatural.
As for his real appearance—it was completely unrecognizable.
Even spiritual sense was no help.
What spiritual sense "saw" was not physical appearance, but the essence of spiritual energy in the void—the qi patterns and flows, not a person's outer form.
Flesh and faces were only superficial illusions.
However, Mo Hua did get a clear read of this man's spiritual essence—he quietly memorized it.
That way, if they met again in the future—this guy wouldn't escape a second time.
The man did indeed have things hidden on him. Mo Hua pulled out every last one, then laid them out along with the contents of the storage pouch.
He examined them one by one.
Spirit stones, elixirs, spiritual tools…
Mostly items any regular cultivator would carry.
There were also a few techniques and Dao arts, but none particularly rare—and nothing that pointed to any obvious connection with the Broken Gold Sect.
No disguise technique either…
The only thing that stood out was a jade slip.
It was made of white jade, rimmed with faint threads of gold.
Mo Hua felt it looked very familiar. After a moment of thought, his heart jumped—he'd seen this exact style of jade slip before!
Jiang Laoda!
That trafficker Jiang Laoda had two jade slips just like this—but they had been sealed, and Mo Hua couldn't probe them with his spiritual sense. So he had stored them away in his storage ring.
Mo Hua now focused his spiritual sense—and sure enough, this jade slip was also sealed, and seemed to use the same sealing method as Jiang Laoda's!
Mo Hua's heart thudded. He quickly asked:
"Senior Brother Feng, do you know what this jade slip is?"
Ouyang Feng took it, gave it a look, then paused—his gaze settling on the golden edge. His voice carried a hint of surprise:
"This looks like… a Broken Gold Sect inheritance jade slip?"
"Broken Gold Sect?!"
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Mo Hua's heart skipped a beat.
So that meant—Jiang Laoda was once a disciple of the Broken Gold Sect as well?
A thought struck Mo Hua. He suddenly asked:
"Senior Brother Feng, isn't the Broken Gold Sect—part of the twelve lesser branches—mainly focused on sword cultivation?"
Ouyang Feng nodded,
"Correct."
"Then… does their sect have any powerful sword arts?" Mo Hua's eyes sparkled.
"Yes," Ouyang Feng nodded again. "The Broken Gold Sect has a very powerful sword technique—it's their signature gold-element technique. Its name is—"
Ouyang Feng said solemnly:
"Broken Gold Sword Command!"
Broken Gold Sword Command!!
Mo Hua's eyes lit up like twin suns.
A sect-defining sword technique!
So that glorious, radiant sword move Jiang Laoda had used—that must've been the Broken Gold Sect's ultimate sword technique, Broken Gold Sword Command!
Which meant… the jade slips he had…
Mo Hua's little heart was pounding hard.
Murong Caiyun quietly looked at Mo Hua, a bit puzzled.
"Junior Brother… why do you suddenly look so happy? Your face is turning red…"
Mo Hua waved his hand, smiling sweetly:
"It's nothing…"
Then he thought of something else and asked:
"Senior Brother Feng, how do you read this jade slip? It looks like it's sealed…"
Ouyang Feng replied:
"That's an inheritance jade slip. To prevent the loss of its knowledge, these are deliberately sealed. You need to know the seal pattern to unlock it and access its contents."
"Sealed? With a pattern?" Mo Hua blinked. "Is this 'pattern' a kind of array pattern?"
"This…"
Ouyang Feng hesitated for a moment.
He hadn't studied formations very well and couldn't really explain the intricacies behind it.
Murong Caiyun stepped in, saying, "You could put it that way…"
"The so-called 'sealing' naturally refers to array sealing. And the 'sealing pattern' required to unseal it is a confidential array pattern."
"It's a specialized application of array formations. The form is different, and the terminology changes, but it's still part of formation theory."
Mo Hua understood.
In other words—if he could grasp the formation inside and crack the sealing pattern, he could obtain the inheritance within the jade slip!
Ouyang Feng saw Mo Hua's eyes spinning rapidly with ideas, unsure what the younger disciple was plotting—but still reminded him helplessly:
"That jade slip—you're not supposed to study it."
"If I'm not mistaken, it likely contains the Broken Gold Sect's body technique, the Golden Escape Art…"
"That's their sect's inheritance. If you study it without permission, the Broken Gold Sect will pursue you for it…"
"And besides, this jade slip was stolen—it's surely recorded in their archives. Even learning it secretly won't work…"
Mo Hua nodded, "Don't worry, Senior Brother Feng."
He wasn't in a rush to study this jade slip—after all, he still had two more in his own storage…
What remained to be seen was—what exactly was sealed in those two jade slips?
Mo Hua planned to quietly study them once he was back at the sect. If he could use his array knowledge to crack the encrypted sealing patterns inside the inheritance slips, he might just obtain the Broken Gold Sect's secret techniques…
Even if he didn't learn them directly, just analyzing and dissecting them could deepen his understanding of sword arts.
Who knows—he might even lay the foundation for comprehending the Great Void Divine Sword Will Manifestation Technique…
Ouyang Feng looked up at the sky and asked:
"Junior Brother Mo, do you have anything else to ask?"
Mo Hua quickly shook his head.
He'd already learned quite a bit.
And the things he didn't know… probably couldn't be forced out anymore.
Besides, Senior Sister Murong wouldn't let him keep torturing that "big guy"—he might really end up killing the man…
Murong Caiyun nodded and said:
"I'll send a signal to summon the Xie Clan's cultivators."
"Alright," Ouyang Feng replied.
Murong Caiyun pulled out a folded talisman and fired off a flare.
Mo Hua began tidying up the scene—covering up all traces of his… enhanced interrogation and the part where he looted the storage pouch.
Ouyang Feng kindly stood by to help double-check, pointing out any possible oversights from a bystander's perspective.
Before long, the Xie Clan's cultivators arrived.
They were shocked to see the burly man lying unconscious on the ground. When they looked at the three disciples from the Great Void Sect, their expressions were… complicated.
Not grateful, but more like—
Mo Hua thought about it.
More like… regret?
Regretting that they'd asked these three for help?
Or regretting that they'd been beaten to the prize by Mo Hua's group?
Mo Hua's eyes narrowed slightly.
This Xie Clan—there was definitely something suspicious going on…
But it wasn't his concern anymore.
Their mission was now complete.
Soon, Murong Caiyun began negotiating with the Xie Clan—discussing the mission details and the contribution point rewards.
Many questions were deflected or brushed off by her:
—How did they catch the man?
—How did he lose consciousness?
—What happened to his knees?
—Who made him kneel…? And so on.
Murong Caiyun kept her tone gentle as she explained:
"We were patrolling and just happened to run into him. Knocked him out on the spot. The wounds on his knees? Probably from a spell that hit during the scuffle…"
The Xie Clan wanted to press further—but this time, Ouyang Feng stepped forward, his expression cold and his gaze sharp as a sword.
Faced with that look, the Xie cultivators dared not question further.
Mo Hua silently noted—the Ouyang Clan must hold significant prestige.
Once the matter was settled, the three of them didn't linger and promptly left Bìshān City.
But just as they departed, Mo Hua turned back for one last glance at the misty peaks and strange mountains of Bìshān.
He had a vague feeling…
This matter might not be over yet.
The carriage rolled away from Bìshān City, heading toward the border of Qianxue Prefecture.
Halfway there, Mo Hua turned to Murong Caiyun and Ouyang Feng and said goodbye.
"Senior Sister, Senior Brother—I just remembered something I need to do. I'll get off here. I'll return to the sect on my own tomorrow."
Murong Caiyun and Ouyang Feng were both stunned. They glanced around at the desolate mountains and couldn't help but ask:
"What business do you have here?"
Mo Hua smiled:
"I have a Daoist friend who lives up in these hills—very secluded and lonely. I'm just dropping by to visit."
"A Daoist friend?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Living in these mountains?"
Murong Caiyun looked around—the hills were barren, overgrown, and lifeless. Didn't look like any humans lived there.
Mo Hua smiled again:
"He's a bit shy."
"…Alright." Murong Caiyun sighed and looked at Mo Hua with concern.
"Be careful, okay?"
"Don't worry, Senior Sister!" Mo Hua replied with a bright grin.
He waved goodbye and turned to walk into the deep mountains…
Deep in the mountains stood a ruined temple.
Within the ruined temple lived a Mountain Spirit.
At this moment, the Mountain Spirit was looking especially miserable, eyes full of dread—because very soon, it would be forced to meet a certain someone…
A "person" it desperately did not want to see.
(End of this Chapter)