Chapter 245: Unable to Stay Low-Key
Grand Yan Sword Sect, outside the main hall.
"Later when you meet the Sect Master, do not forget your manners," the elder of the Grand Yan Sword Sect instructed the disciple beside him.
"Yes!"
The fair-skinned youth nodded. At the same time, his hand hidden within his robe formed a secret seal. Suddenly, Xuan Tianhen, who was in seclusion within the sect, snapped his eyes open. The next instant, his figure turned into a streak of sword light and shot out of the sect.
No one in the Grand Yan Sword Sect noticed Xuan Tianhen's sword light as he departed, but the fair-skinned youth—himself also at the Nascent Soul stage—saw it clearly. Immediately, a mocking smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
He had to eliminate that Lin Wu, and Xuan Tianhen was clearly an obstacle. So he had left behind a corpse puppet outside to lure Xuan Tianhen away.
He had thought it would take some effort to draw Xuan Tianhen off, but unexpectedly the man had taken the bait so easily. That made him even more confident about killing Lin Wu.
"Come with me."
At this time, the Grand Yan Sword Sect elder led the fair-skinned youth into the main hall, where they saw Gu Mo's avatar seated on the Sect Master's chair.
The moment he laid eyes on Gu Mo, the youth struck without hesitation. He knew his time was limited and had no intention of wasting it on pointless words. Taking down the target first was the only right course.
"What!"
The sect elder felt the terrifying aura suddenly erupting from the disciple he had just accepted and froze in shock. Then, watching that same "disciple" charging at the Sect Master, he let out an astonished cry.
"A Nascent Soul demon lord?"
Gu Mo's avatar frowned as he looked at the attacking youth. He was supposed to be a "cripple" now, yet the demonic sect still refused to leave him alone.
"Die!"
The fair-skinned youth's body instantly transformed into a pale zombie. He reached out a clawed hand toward Gu Mo's avatar, intending to capture him alive.
But in the next breath, the demon's outstretched hand recoiled violently. "You—you, how!" His eyes filled with horror as he stared at the deep sword gash carved into his palm and felt the terrifying killing intent radiating from Gu Mo's avatar.
Wasn't this Lin Wu supposed to have lost his Sword Core and become a useless cripple? Yet now, there was not the slightest trace of weakness about him. In fact, the aura he exuded was even stronger than during the Heavenly Chosen Battle.
"Sigh. I had hoped to keep a low profile for a while, but why must you demonic sect people hound me so relentlessly?" The elaborate setup he had crafted during the Heavenly Chosen Battle was now ruined. Naturally, Gu Mo was furious.
This had been the time he reserved for his avatar's growth. That precious time was gone, and from here on he would have to endure constant assassination attempts from the demonic sect.
After all, his avatar's brilliance in the Heavenly Chosen Battle had shone far too brightly. If that brilliance had been like a meteor, flashing once and vanishing, it wouldn't have mattered. But it wasn't a fleeting meteor—it was a rising sun. How could the demonic sect possibly sit still?
"I didn't think you'd hidden your strength so well. Perfect. I'll take this chance to eliminate you and end this threat forever!"
After his initial fright, the Nascent Soul demon regained his confidence. He was a Nascent Soul demon lord—though not a true heir when he broke through, he had been at the Nascent Soul stage for a hundred years, already reaching the second level. His methods were long since honed to perfection. His combat strength was no weaker than that of the true heir who had broken through during the Heavenly Chosen Battle—likely even stronger.
So yes, he still believed he could slay Gu Mo's avatar and rid the demonic sect of a major threat.
"Trying to run?"
When he saw Gu Mo's avatar suddenly flee the Grand Yan Sword Sect, the demon immediately gave chase.
"Run?"
Gu Mo's avatar let out a cold laugh. He only wished to avoid fighting within the sect and was merely shifting the battlefield. Had it been earlier, dealing with a Nascent Soul demon lord would have been difficult for him.
But now, after receiving his true body's Grand Gold Core, his combat power had risen by an entire tier. With the supreme spiritual weapon, the Goldfiend Sword, in hand, he had every confidence he could bring the enemy down.
Of course, he also unleashed every other means of boosting his strength—the Immortal Force, and the first and second levels of the Heaven-Demon Disintegration technique.
His true body's Grand Gold Core contained immense reserves of Immortal Force, more than enough for the avatar to expend freely. As long as Immortal Force remained, the avatar could maintain power at the Nascent Soul level. This was the foundation that let a Golden Core cultivator fight a Nascent Soul demon lord.
On top of that, the Heaven-Demon Disintegration gave further boosts, and with a supreme spiritual weapon like the Goldfiend Sword, he had the tools to finish the job.
"Impossible! How could your strength rise so much!"
The demon looked at the sword wounds crisscrossing his body, his face pale with fear. He had already unleashed the Yin Corpse Sect's inherited divine art—the Corpse Demon Transformation.
With his cultivation at the second level of Nascent Soul, this technique had hardened his body to the equivalent of the third level. If his mastery of the technique were higher, he could have reached mid-Nascent Soul levels.
But even a third-level body was useless before the Goldfiend Sword. A supreme spiritual weapon, when unleashed at full power, could strike at the level of peak Nascent Soul. The only reason Gu Mo couldn't fully wield it was his insufficient cultivation.
Even so, piercing defenses below mid-Nascent Soul was more than easy enough.
"Corpse-Ghost Soul-Seizing Array!"
Though terrified by Gu Mo's devastating power, the demon had been laying his own groundwork all along. After a round of battle, he finally lured Gu Mo to his chosen spot. With a low shout, he triggered his trap.
In an instant, corpses burst from the ground, forming an array that enveloped Gu Mo's avatar. The scenery shifted, a chilling yin wind howling around him, trying to freeze his very soul.
"Hmph!"
Gu Mo snorted coldly, drew back the Goldfiend Sword, and a blazing sun appeared behind him. At once the icy winds melted away, and the so-called Corpse-Ghost Soul-Seizing Array was shattered outright.
At present, Gu Mo had mastered two Sword Intents.
One was the Slaughter Sword Intent he commanded through the Goldfiend Sword. Though his comprehension was shallow, with the support of a supreme spiritual weapon, its power was immense. He had relied on this intent in his fight with the demon earlier.
The other was the Great Sun Sword Intent, which he had comprehended entirely on his own. Though it lacked a supreme weapon's support, his deep insights made it no weaker—only slightly inferior to the Slaughter Sword Intent. Breaking the so-called Soul-Seizing Array was child's play.
"This is troublesome…"
When even the Corpse-Ghost Soul-Seizing Array failed, the demon finally felt the urge to retreat. His target was far too difficult. And as a cultivator of the Yin Corpse Sect, half his strength relied on his corpse puppets. But he had already sent them away to lure Xuan Tianhen. Without them, he couldn't even overcome a mere Golden Core cultivator.
Of course, this was no ordinary Golden Core—this was a monster. If not eliminated, he would become an endless threat.
"Trying to flee?"
When the demon feigned a strike and suddenly turned to run, Gu Mo's avatar sneered. With his mastery of the Wind-Escape Technique at perfection, and having touched upon the mysteries of Metal Escape, unless the enemy also cultivated the Five Elements Escape Arts—or was vastly stronger in realm—there was no chance of escaping him.
The Goldfiend Sword appeared again, transforming into a streak of golden light that shot toward the fleeing demon. At the same time, Gu Mo employed Metal Escape, merging into the flying sword to boost its speed even further.
"Boy, don't push me too far!"
Sensing the deadly edge quickly closing in from behind, that Nascent Soul demon cultivator shouted harshly. As a Nascent Soul Devil Lord, how could he not have some trump cards hidden away? If forced, neither side would come out unscathed.
"The one who's gone too far is you!"
Gu Mo's divine sense spread out, and almost the instant his thought reached the opponent, the golden sword light pierced straight through the Devil Lord's body.
"Good, very good. Since that's how you want it, then let's die together!" the Nascent Soul demon cultivator snarled, his expression contorted with malice.
"Corpse Explosion!"
As he spoke, just as the golden sword light came slicing again, that Devil Lord unhesitatingly detonated his own physical body. The self-destruction of a Nascent Soul Devil Lord—its destructive power was unimaginably vast.
That terrifying force smashed against the GoldFiend Sword, and even Gu Mo's avatar, who had merged into it through his golden escape art, was forced out. There was no helping it—Gu Mo had only grasped a superficial wisp of the gold escape technique.
If it had been true golden escape, fully fused into the flying sword, then unless the attack could actually destroy a top-grade spirit sword, nothing would have shaken him out.
"Escaped?"
As the blast's aftershock dispersed, the Devil Lord's aura was gone. But Gu Mo's avatar knew well—this was not the enemy's death. The Devil Lord had merely blown apart his fleshly body, letting his Nascent Soul seize the chance to flee.
Compared to that newly-advanced Devil Lord from the Heaven's Chosen Battle, these old-generation Devil Lords clearly had deeper methods and bolder resolve. Killing one of them was far more difficult.
Of course, this was also because Gu Mo's avatar's cultivation was still too low. If he too were at the Nascent Soul realm, one sword would have been enough to annihilate both body and Nascent Soul together, ending everything in a single stroke.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Gu Mo's avatar cast his gaze far into the distance. From over there emanated a very familiar sword intent—it was precisely that of his master, Xuan Tianhen.
Before leaving, Xuan Tianhen had naturally sent Gu Mo a transmission to alert him. Knowing Gu Mo's cultivation was intact, only then had he dared to leave the sect. Otherwise, he would never have fallen for such a luring ploy.
"Disciple, are you alright?"
Moments later, a sword light streaked over and revealed Xuan Tianhen's figure. Feeling the lingering auras in the surroundings, his face held a trace of worry.
"No problem. Just a Devil Lord of the demonic sect. I destroyed his body, but his Nascent Soul escaped." Gu Mo shook his head, tone full of regret.
His words made Xuan Tianhen freeze for a moment. Was this even human speech? You're still only at the Golden Core realm!
Not to be outdone by his own disciple, Xuan Tianhen snorted lightly and reported his own accomplishment. "Hmph, your master also destroyed one of their fourth-rank corpse puppets."
With both corpse puppet and body destroyed, that Devil Lord of the Yin Corpse Sect had suffered a crippling loss. Without several centuries, recovery was unlikely. And with the body destroyed, even if he seized another vessel, his path forward was cut off—he would never advance further.
Crippling a Nascent Soul Devil Lord—this should have been a satisfying triumph. But the real trouble was only just beginning.
Gu Mo's avatar's intact cultivation could no longer be concealed. If he had truly become a cripple, the demonic sects might have barely tolerated it. But now that not only had he not lost his strength, he had grown even stronger—there was no way the demonic sect would ignore this.
So, Gu Mo's avatar would now face their frenzied retaliation. And given his demonstrated battle power, those sent against him would certainly not be just Nascent Soul early-stage opponents. Mid-stage Devil Lords were a certainty, and if they wanted to be thorough, late-stage ones would be even better.
"Disciple, you should lie low for now." Xuan Tianhen thought for a long moment, then spoke gravely.
If only early Nascent Soul cultivators came, he could still shield Gu Mo. But if late-stage ones came, even he would be helpless. His disciple's growth had simply been too fast—so fast that he, as the master, could no longer fully protect him.
"Master, where could I possibly hide?" Gu Mo shook his head. He could vanish, yes, but what about the Grand Yan Sword Sect? If the demonic sect failed to find him, they would vent their wrath on the sect instead—or directly on Xuan Tianhen. Could Gu Mo really just stand by and watch his sect and master be annihilated?
"So long as you live, the sect's legacy will endure." Xuan Tianhen's voice was calm, but in the depths of his eyes, Gu Mo glimpsed a flicker of madness.
"Master, this is righteous territory. Even if the demonic sect wants revenge, they won't dare act openly. So things haven't yet reached the direst moment. Let's plan carefully." Gu Mo hurriedly soothed him, fearing his master might take some desperate step.
"Very well."
Xuan Tianhen withdrew that madness from his gaze and nodded.
Shennong Valley, Qianye City.
Gu Mo's true body rubbed his temples. At this moment, he was truly at a loss. The avatar had intended to keep a low profile for a while—but so much for that.
Just earlier, Gu Mo had sensed several sect elders flying toward the Grand Yan Sword Sect. The sect wasn't far from Shennong Valley, and battle fluctuations at the Nascent Soul level naturally could be detected.
"Forget it. From now on, all the Sun Essence will be used to raise the avatar's cultivation." Gu Mo sighed deeply. Things had come to this—there was no other way but to accelerate the avatar's advancement.
As long as the avatar reached Golden Core Great Perfection, he would have enough ability to defend himself. If he could even pass the despairing twelve tribulations of the Nascent Soul breakthrough and step into the Nascent Soul realm—
Then unless a Spirit Severing venerable personally descended, no one would be able to touch his avatar.
"Junior Brother Gu Mo, what's wrong?"
Wei Yang noticed Gu Mo's expression wasn't good and asked.
"Nothing, just thinking of some difficulties in cultivation." Gu Mo waved it off. Indeed, advancing the avatar into Nascent Soul was no small problem.
Hearing this, Wei Yang wisely shut his mouth. If even someone like Gu Mo was troubled by a cultivation difficulty, then he certainly had no place meddling in it.
The conversation cut off there. Gu Mo let his gaze sweep toward the plaza, intending to see if there were any promising seedlings among the crowd.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, his eyes locked onto a girl among the crowd. Though her face was veiled, from her body Gu Mo sensed a very familiar aura.
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