Two hours later, Mo Hua stared at the battered and charred Sever Gold Sword before him, its blade curled inward, and fell into deep thought.
This exquisite top-grade Sever Gold Sword had been thoroughly destroyed in his hands in less than two hours.
Mo Hua arrived at a conclusion:
The sword array within the Spirit Sword indeed has a self-destruction mechanism.
At least the Spirit Sword before him had self-destructed.
Even though he had been exceedingly cautious, employing all the artifact refining knowledge at his disposal, it had been futile.
The Sever Gold Sword chose death over submission and utterly destroyed itself.
The sword array within also burned itself to ashes.
Mo Hua didn’t even get a chance to glimpse what type of array system the sword array used or how many formation patterns it had...
Mo Hua let out a deep sigh, his heart aching.
Such a fine Spirit Sword, gone just like that.
What a waste...
Mo Hua mourned for the top-grade Spirit Sword for a moment, then began pondering when he could toss this "broken sword" to Master Gu to see if it could be melted down and repurposed in the forge.
For now, however, he needed to focus on the matter of the "sword array."
"The sword array self-destructs, and even after seizing the Spirit Sword, one cannot obtain the sword array by dismantling it."
"So if I wish to acquire the sword array, where should I start?"
Mo Hua found himself in a bind.
He began brainstorming solutions to the problem.
Capture some Sever Gold Sect disciples and subject them to harsh interrogation?
His improved Formation Punishment Board hadn’t been used in ages since he couldn’t go out to apprehend Sin Cultivators anymore. Perhaps it was time to let Sever Gold Sect disciples kneel on it for a change?
Mo Hua mulled this over for a moment but then shook his head.
That wouldn’t work...
Too brutal.
The iron board was meant for Sin Cultivators, Evil Cultivators, and Demon Cultivators.
Ordinary disciples of the Sever Gold Sect, despite their petty rivalry with Taixu Gate and their detestable ways, were not deserving of such punishment.
There must be limits between good and evil.
Punishment tools should also be used judiciously; otherwise, he might develop a cruel and violent disposition and eventually turn into a bloodthirsty Demon Head.
Such behavior would go against the teachings of his parents, master, Elder Master Xun, and the various elders of Taixu Gate.
Moreover, even with torture, it would likely be futile.
Secrets of this caliber weren’t something common disciples would have knowledge of.
This sword array, capable of amplifying Sword Qi, was so secretive that, while not comparable to the Five Elements Source Formation, it was certainly no ordinary trick.
The difficulty must be incredibly high.
The Sever Gold Sect disciples didn’t seem particularly clever, nor did many of them possess strong Divine Sense abilities. It was highly unlikely they could master such a complex sword array.
If they didn’t know it in the first place, interrogation would be pointless.
In that case...
Find out where the Sever Gold Sect’s sword-refining shop is located, sneak in, and steal the sword array’s secrets?
Or perhaps try to acquire a Sect Token from the Sever Gold Sect and see if he could tamper with it?
Mo Hua considered these options, only to dismiss them himself.
The Sever Gold Sect’s sword-refining shop was bound to be extremely well-guarded. How could he, a mere little cultivator at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, possibly sneak in...
At least for now, it was utterly impossible.
The Sever Gold Sect’s Sect Token, even if obtained, would be useless.
He had no understanding of highly advanced formations like the Yuan Magnetic Formation, let alone how to tamper with them.
These two methods were unusable for now.
"Neither will work..."
Lying on his bed, Mo Hua racked his brain, turning over every trick he could think of until suddenly, a spark of inspiration lit up in his mind:
"Calculation!"
Divine Sense Calculation could deduce formation patterns from the spirit traces left by arrays.
If a Sword Cultivator activated Sword Qi through the sword array within a Spirit Sword,
Wouldn’t that mean...
He could reverse-calculate the secret sword array stored within the Sword Weapon by tracing the marks left by Sword Qi?