Immortality Through Array Formations Chapter 2160 Chapter 1015: Water Passing Step?

"Could it be..." Elder Feng voiced his concern anxiously, "that the Zhang Family's Ultimate Technique has been leaked?"

"That's utterly impossible!"

Great Elder Zhang declared firmly, "This technique is a legacy passed down from our forefathers. No disciple in the Zhang Family would dare to betray us by stealing and disseminating such an ancestral secret!"

"Should any such traitor exist, even if I spare him from being flayed alive and having his tendons ripped out, I'll force him to subsist on husks and weeds, kneeling before the ancestors' altar for centuries..."

It struck like thunder booming out of a blue sky.

Zhang Lan sensed a chill crawling over his scalp, his mind reeling in a haze, as icy dread gripped his heart completely.

All the fears he harbored from the start regarding the Water Passing Step had suddenly, in this precise moment, turned into harsh reality.

Someone had spotted Mo Hua employing the Water Passing Step.

Getting spotted was bad enough, yet it occurred during the Sword Discussion Conference, displayed boldly on the vast Fang Tian Pu Ying screen, observed by nearly every cultivator across the Qian Learning State Boundary...

Even worse, the Great Elder of his own Zhang Family had witnessed it firsthand.

And that wasn't the end of the trouble. Far graver still...

An outsider had mastered the Zhang Family's movement technique.

This outsider had grasped it more proficiently than anyone in the Zhang Family.

To the extent that the Great Elder himself failed to recognize it as their family's secret art...

If the truth stayed hidden, things might still be salvageable, but should the Great Elder uncover it... Zhang Lan couldn't bear to imagine the consequences.

He clenched his jaw tightly, straightened his posture with a grave look, and controlled his breaths meticulously.

He transformed into a motionless "stone man," holding back even the tiniest exhale.

He dreaded that any hint of uneven breathing might reveal his inner turmoil to the Great Elder.

For now, though, the Great Elder harbored no suspicions toward him.

In his mind, after all, Mo Hua could never have executed the Zhang Family's Water Passing Step.

At the same time, the sword discussion raged on via the Fang Tian Pu Ying.

Yet the battle's outcome had become plainly evident.

Feng Zichen, the top talent from the Carefree Sect, found his movement technique outmaneuvered by Mo Hua, while his Sword Dao lagged just a bit behind.

With the Wind Sword losing its speed, its might inevitably waned sharply.

There was no way he could strike down Mo Hua swiftly with his blade.

In theory, endless failures were tolerable for him, so long as a single successful blow landed, ending Mo Hua's life instantly.

For Mo Hua, endless successes might not save him; one slip in evasion, and the sword would claim him too.

However, this deceptively straightforward but profoundly slippery sword strike plunged Feng Zichen into utter hopelessness.

Besides, Mo Hua wasn't even Taixu Gate's premier fighter; that title belonged to the Sword Dao genius Linghu Xiao.

Mo Hua started by concealing himself, then shifted to Flowing Water Step, before seamlessly adopting Water Passing Step, draining away Feng Zichen's precious moments over and over.

This delay was all bought for Linghu Xiao's benefit.

The Carefree Sect's other disciples, bolstered by their rapid sword assaults, managed to hold Linghu Xiao at bay for a while, yet they couldn't secure a real victory over him.

As moments ticked by, their blades would inevitably decelerate as well.

Linghu Xiao, seizing the opening created by Mo Hua's stalling, spotted a weakness and unleashed Chongxu Sword Qi, shattering the Carefree

Sect's Wind Sword.

With the Wind Sword barrier broken, Linghu Xiao erupted like a tiger unleashed from chains, rampaging wildly under the protection of Cheng Mo and his allies.

Carefree Sect disciples fell back steadily under the onslaught.

Meanwhile, Feng Zichen, the Carefree Sect's prodigy, cast aside all thoughts of winning or losing, fixating only on slaying Mo Hua—or at least landing one hit.

Just one hit.

If he could pierce him at all, even without killing Mo Hua, that would do. Even grazing a edge of his robe would be victory enough.

As long as he could make solid contact with that spectral, water-like, misty, ghostly silhouette, it would satisfy him.

Nothing else mattered to him now.

But he couldn't land it.

No matter how swift his steps, how keen his blade's edge, how drained his meridians grew, how furiously he swung like a gale, he failed to nick Mo Hua even once.

Linghu Xiao teamed up with Ouyang Xuan and three more, cutting down four Carefree Sect disciples before encircling Feng Zichen for a focused barrage.

Mo Hua, pursued relentlessly through the fight, finally gained breathing room to pivot and unleash spells to "chastise" Feng Zichen.

The conclusion was unavoidable.

This Carefree Sect prodigy, the Feng family's shining star, met defeat in that manner.

It wasn't merely a loss.

Prior to Feng Zichen's fall, his complexion drained of color, his spirit shattered and chaotic, with subtle cracks appearing in his Taoist Heart.

The spectacle stirred deep pity among the spectators, drawing forth sighs and looks of sorrow.

"This Mo Hua kid carries a burden of grave sins!"

"Another genius, brought low and destroyed by his hand..."

"Watching this troubles my heart..."

"Don't fault Feng Zichen; who could foresee that wretched Mo Hua possessed such superior movement technique?"

"From where did he acquire this fearsome movement technique?"

"Who's the vile wretch that helped him, teaching such a despicable movement technique?"

A few started grasping the deeper issue:

"With Mo Hua boasting such excellent movement technique, was he faking all that frantic fleeing and slashing earlier?"

"Hiss--"

The audience drew in a sharp, collective gasp.

"Not a cat chasing a mouse, but the mouse toying with the cat?"

"Was he messing with Feng Zichen?"

"No," one person denied with a shake of the head, "he wasn't merely toying with Feng Zichen—he was fooling every one of us..."

Back then, the crowd had smirked in anticipation of Mo Hua's humiliation.

Instead, they ended up the fools.

Mo Hua had tricked them all.

Realizing this, the onlookers quieted down.

Shame burned their cheeks, fury boiling within their hearts.

They seethed mutely, swallowed their rage without a sound, words failing them entirely.

Nevertheless, Mo Hua's "notoriety" swelled even further.

Admittedly, this fame brimmed with contention.