Chapter 184: First Trial of the Sword Formation
The sect's spiritual plant exhibition was a prime opportunity to earn a large amount of contribution points—naturally, Gu Mo wouldn't let it slip by.
At the same time, he needed the SunlightGlazed Flower to become publicly known. Only by letting everyone know that he had cultivated this rare spiritual plant could he avoid unwanted suspicion when he used Sun Essence. If others saw him take out Sun Essence without any known origin, it would likely lead to scrutiny—and the exposure of more of his secrets.
Of course, for Hou Chunyu, Gu Mo's display of talent as a spiritual plant cultivator was finally coming to light, and he naturally wanted the sect to take notice.
He hadn't yet given up on his plan to help Gu Mo attain inner disciple status. In Shennong Valley, such status came with extraordinary privileges—a rare stroke of fortune for any spiritual plant cultivator.
Hou Chunyu was confident that once Gu Mo showcased the SunlightGlazed Flower, getting a top score would be no challenge at all.
"Do your best. As your master's master, I have high hopes for you," Hou Chunyu said, patting Gu Mo on the shoulder. He was determined to raise Gu Mo into a cultivator worthy of pride—someone who could shame that bastard Qi Chunde.
Just imagining Qi Chunde returning to see that Gu Mo, Hou Chunyu's disciple, had surpassed him in both cultivation and botany was immensely satisfying.
When that day came, Hou Chunyu didn't believe Qi Chunde could remain indifferent.
After Hou Chunyu left, Gu Mo returned to his quarters. While the spiritual plant exhibition was important, there was another event demanding his attention: the sword competition—more specifically, the match involving his sword cultivator incarnation.
For the past three years, this incarnation had been cultivating the Grand yan Sword Sect's core legacies: the Grand yan Cosmic Art and the Grand yan Sword Canon.
Gu Mo had devoted most of his consciousness to comprehending these two techniques. Since he didn't need to spend time on cultivation itself, he could dedicate everything to mastering the principles, allowing his progress in both arts to advance rapidly.
Today was the sect's once-every-three-years grand competition. Three years ago, he had become Sect Master Xuan Tianhen's disciple, which had stirred resentment among many. Naturally, Gu Mo needed to demonstrate his strength.
A sword cultivator couldn't rely solely on comprehension of techniques and manuals—sparring, even life-or-death combat, was an essential part of their growth.
Because of this, sword cultivators also had the highest rate of mid-path deaths among all cultivators. But in Gu Mo's case, it was only his incarnation that participated—no reason to risk his true self.
When Gu Mo arrived at the Grand yan Sword Sect's arena, the competition had already reached the final ten contestants. As the Sect Master's direct disciple, Gu Mo didn't have to battle through the preliminary rounds.
He simply waited for others to challenge him. This was standard protocol: all true disciples, unless in seclusion or out on a mission, were required to accept challenges.
If a true disciple won, they retained their position and privileges. If they lost, their status was stripped.
That's right—lose once, and you immediately lost your status as a true disciple.
Of course, at the next competition, they could challenge for it again. In the Sword Sect, everything was based on strength.
Even Gu Mo would lose his privileges if he were defeated—but with the Sect Master as his teacher, Xuan Tianhen would simply dip into his personal stash to support Gu Mo's cultivation.
After all, Gu Mo possessed the power of immortality and was one of the most promising candidates to become a Nascent Soul Sword Lord. Xuan Tianhen would never abandon such a talent.
"Junior Brother Lin, it looks like everyone's here for you this time," one of the other true disciples remarked as Gu Mo arrived and joined the lineup.
"No matter."
Gu Mo waved his hand dismissively. With his current foundation, there were very few in the Foundation Establishment stage who could pose a real threat—though not none, they were exceedingly rare.
And that was with him still at the early Foundation Establishment stage, not yet tapping into the Golden Core power sealed within. Once he reached Foundation Establishment perfection, he'd confidently claim invincibility in the stage.
All true disciples of the Grand yan Sword Sect were at the Foundation Establishment level. The sect itself was a standard Nascent Soul-tier sect—Golden Core cultivators served as elders, and Foundation Establishment cultivators made up the true disciples. This was normal.
By contrast, in Shennong Valley, only Nascent Soul cultivators could become elders, and Golden Core cultivators were still considered disciples. That was the difference between an ordinary Nascent Soul sect and a top-tier sect.
"Huh? Senior Brother Wang, who's that guy?"
Gu Mo was watching the battles onstage when one fighter caught his attention. This man's combat power was clearly on another level compared to the rest, yet he was only an inner disciple—a curious situation. With that kind of strength, he should easily be a true disciple.
"That's Senior Brother Meng Lei. He used to be a true disciple, and even held the number one spot," the true disciple surnamed Wang replied, a trace of pity in his expression.
"Number one true disciple?" Gu Mo's interest was piqued. After all, the current top disciple was someone he hadn't yet met—his senior brother, also personally taught by the Sect Master.
"That's right. Senior Brother Meng Lei was defeated by Senior Brother Fang Yi in a challenge and lost his title," Wang said, clearly reading Gu Mo's thoughts.
"For years, he's been training hard, aiming to challenge Senior Brother Fang Yi again and reclaim his spot as top disciple."
Gu Mo now regarded his unknown senior brother Fang Yi with even greater curiosity. The fact that Meng Lei had remained an inner disciple all these years meant he had likely challenged Fang Yi many times—without winning once.
"Junior Brother Lin, Senior Brother Fang Yi has been in closed-door cultivation, preparing for a breakthrough. He likely won't show up today. Since you're also a direct disciple, there's a good chance Senior Brother Meng Lei will challenge you instead—be careful," Wang advised.
"Oh? I look forward to it," Gu Mo replied, raising an eyebrow. After three years of intense training, he had long wanted a powerful opponent to test his progress. Meng Lei seemed like a suitable match.
Wang looked at him with surprise. Everyone knew that Gu Mo must be exceptionally talented to become the Sect Master's direct disciple, but no matter how great the talent, it needed time to develop.
In another ten years, no one would doubt Gu Mo's ability to defeat Meng Lei—but right now, there was still a considerable gap.
Ignoring the skeptical glances around him, Gu Mo quietly waited for the final ten to be decided. As expected, the champion was none other than Meng Lei.
The next phase was the top ten's chance to challenge true disciples. As the winner, Meng Lei had first pick.
"I've heard that Junior Brother Lin Wu has been accepted as the Sect Master's disciple. I imagine your strength is formidable—might I trouble you for a match?" Meng Lei said, fixing his gaze on Gu Mo.
All eyes immediately turned to Gu Mo. Meng Lei was at Foundation Establishment perfection; Gu Mo was at the early stage. Faced with this overwhelming gap, would the Sect Master's prized disciple accept—or back down?
"I accept."
Gu Mo nodded, though a flicker of suspicion flashed through his eyes. He had no grudge with Meng Lei, yet just now, he'd sensed a faint killing intent.
Surely, he wasn't transferring his hatred for Fang Yi onto him? If he lost in a legitimate challenge, Meng Lei should blame himself—not lash out at others. With that kind of mindset, no wonder he didn't become a direct disciple.
The moment Gu Mo accepted, the crowd erupted. Regardless of the outcome, just his composure and courage were already impressive.
Soon, the two stood across from each other on the stage.
"No lethal attacks during sparring!" a Golden Core elder reminded as he stepped onto the stage. Though the sect encouraged combat to sharpen the sword path, it didn't condone deadly internal fights.
"Yes, Elder!"
Both Gu Mo and Meng Lei nodded.
The elder activated the arena's formation and withdrew. A countdown began on the light screen projected by the array.
"Please guide me, Junior Brother Lin," Meng Lei said, studying Gu Mo. His mind churned with the image that had haunted him for years—a chance to form a core, and eight supreme-grade flying swords.
That was a fortune beyond imagining. As someone at Foundation Establishment perfection, his thirst for a core-forming opportunity was overwhelming. But such opportunities were limited, and would be given first to Fang Yi.
Originally, Meng Lei had been next in line—but Gu Mo's sudden rise changed everything.
With the sect's limited resources, there might not be a third chance. If he missed this, he'd fall even further behind.
Now, someone was offering both the core opportunity and the eight flying swords—and Meng Lei had made up his mind. To claim it, he needed to cripple this genius.
He wasn't surprised at himself. Back when Fang Yi was rising, some mysterious figures had also approached Meng Lei, asking him to sabotage Fang Yi.
As the top disciple then, he'd scoffed at the idea. Had it not been for those people's mysterious nature, he'd have reported them to the sect outright.
But after all these years of failure, the temptation returned. Fang Yi had been too strong—but Gu Mo? Their difference in cultivation was vast. If he struck before the elder could react, he had a real chance.
He could just call it an accident—cutthroat sparring was part of a sword cultivator's life. If they punished him for that, how could the sword path ever be forged?
"Please, Senior Brother Meng, guide me," Gu Mo saluted with his sword.
The countdown hit zero. Instantly, five flying swords floated around Gu Mo and formed a Five Elements Sword Formation, bearing down on Meng Lei.
This was the Grand yan Sword Sect's typical battle style: lead with a sword formation to suppress the enemy and bolster one's own strength.
"This Junior Brother Lin has some skill—he's already mastered the Five Elements Formation?" The watching disciples were clearly surprised.
The Grand yan Sword Canon listed basic formations in ascending complexity: One Origin, Two Poles, Three Talents, Four Symbols, Five Elements, Six Harmonies, Seven Stars, Eight Trigrams, Nine Palaces, and Ten Directions. All of these were available for inner disciples to study.
The true secrets lay in the composite formations. One such formation, Storm Style, required 24 flying swords: 12 grounded, 12 suspended, forming a powerful sword domain with stunning immobilization power and momentary teleportation.
The user could unleash all 24 swords at once for devastating effect.
After mastering the basics, Gu Mo had spent the last three years studying Storm Style. So no—he wasn't limited to the Five Elements Formation. He simply judged that it was enough to test the waters.
"Nothing special."
Seeing only the Five Elements Formation, Meng Lei relaxed. His plan could still proceed. He immediately summoned seven flying swords, forming a Seven Stars Formation to counter Gu Mo.
Their formations collided—and to everyone's shock, it was evenly matched. Gu Mo's Five Elements Formation held its own against Meng Lei's Seven Stars Formation.
"What is this…"
Meng Lei stared at Gu Mo. It was like his own formation had hit an immovable wall—unable to advance at all.
Although the canon stated that basic formations didn't have absolute rankings, more complex formations were typically stronger. Yet here, that rule was broken.
"Impressive."
In the sky above, Xuan Tianhen nodded as he watched. The more he saw of Gu Mo, the more pleased he became. Though a little less talented than Fang Yi, Gu Mo had superior control over sword formations.
He was now using that control to hold off Meng Lei's superior formation with a simpler one.
Much of this finesse came from Gu Mo's main body's Golden Core soul. Controlling sword formations required strong spiritual power. Though this incarnation was only at early Foundation Establishment, its soul was at true Golden Core level.
Thus, Meng Lei wasn't facing an ordinary Foundation Establishment opponent.
That said, Gu Mo hadn't yet fully committed his consciousness to this incarnation. Only if it came time to unleash the inner Golden Core's power would he shift his full focus—bringing out the might of a true Golden Core cultivator.
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