Chapter 250: The Nascent Soul Sprouts
"Form the formation!"
The Sect Master of Yin-Yang Sword Sect, seeing two immense forces about to collide, suddenly reacted and called out to the disciples watching.
At the same time, the Sect Master swiftly activated the sect's protective grand formation. After all, the place where Gu Mo's avatar was undergoing his tribulation was right at the gates of Yin-Yang Sword Sect.
"Buzz!"
As the disciples of Yin-Yang Sword Sect responded and arranged their defenses, the two immense forces clashed, and everyone suddenly felt a dizzying hum ring in their ears.
The explosive roar from the collision of those two powers had already surpassed the limits of human hearing, which was why they only heard a droning hum.
But that was only the appetizer. Following the dizzying hum came a piercing brilliance that stabbed into their very bodies and souls—brilliance formed from spiritual energy violently hurled outward, carrying terrifying lethality.
Fortunately, the radiance was blocked by the sect's protective grand formation. With the disciples' defensive sword formation reinforcing it, the light only caused some stinging discomfort, and no further harm.
Yet even through the barrier of the protective grand formation, the sting could still be felt—showing just how devastating this collision's power truly was.
With such a violent clash, could Lin Wu still be alive? The crowd endured the stabbing brightness in their eyes, struggling to look toward the source of it all.
After a long moment, when the chaos finally subsided, they saw Gu Mo's avatar still standing tall in the distance.
"Heavens, he actually withstood it!"
Gasps erupted from the crowd. Such a terrifying special tribulation—yet someone had truly endured it!
"In the future, this Tianyuan Realm might very well see the rise of a seventh supreme sect." The Sect Master of Yin-Yang Sword Sect gazed into the distance at Gu Mo's avatar, his feelings complex.
This avatar had already displayed the potential to ascend to a Soul Transformation stage expert. In time, the Grand Yan Sword Sect could very well become the seventh supreme sect—and like Yin-Yang Sword Sect, also a sword cultivator sect.
This would be good for the Righteous Alliance as a whole, but for Yin-Yang Sword Sect, it would mean a tremendous rival.
For one fleeting instant, the Sect Master even felt the urge to strike—but he quickly suppressed the thought.
In front of such a crowd, if he were to slay a peerless prodigy of his own camp, Yin-Yang Sword Sect's reputation would collapse overnight, and even its very foundation might be shaken.
"My thanks to the Sect Master. I will forever remember this kindness." Having successfully endured the Nascent Soul tribulation, Gu Mo's avatar bowed toward the distant Sect Master of Yin-Yang Sword Sect.
That he could undergo his tribulation so smoothly was very much tied to the chosen location. Had it been elsewhere, the Demon Sect's people would have long since descended to interfere.
But this was the mountain gate of Yin-Yang Sword Sect. Even if the Demon Sect knew, they would never dare intrude here.
"This was your own fortune!"
The Sect Master nodded, though inwardly he felt regret. He had missed out on such a monstrous disciple. This very youth had been ready to join Yin-Yang Sword Sect.
It was all the Demon Sect's fault. They struck at Grand Yan Sword Sect and that Xuan Tianhen at such a time, forcing Lin Wu to take the risk of breaking through. Otherwise, Lin Wu would already have been a disciple of Yin-Yang Sword Sect.
Once again bowing in gratitude to the Sect Master, Gu Mo's avatar transformed into a streak of light and vanished into the sky. Having overcome the Nascent Soul tribulation, he now needed time to digest his gains.
Only after fully absorbing the harvest of his breakthrough could he aid Grand Yan Sword Sect. To rush there recklessly would be no different from throwing his life away.
As for the Grand Yan Sword Sect's situation, his true body was observing through Shennong Valley's intelligence network. For the moment, although Xuan Tianhen had been captured, his life was not in danger—he was merely being used to lure Gu Mo's avatar.
This gave the avatar precious time to consolidate his cultivation.
Finding a deserted location, Gu Mo cast Wood Escape, slipping along the roots of a great tree and directly into the earth.
Then, channeling his true essence, he hollowed out a chamber underground.
Once all was prepared, he sat cross-legged and began to examine the gains from his tribulation. Since this was the Nascent Soul tribulation, naturally the greatest harvest was the Nascent Soul itself.
When a cultivator broke through a major realm, they would always receive a gift from heaven and earth. After his tribulation, the Heaven-and-Earth Nascent Soul within Gu Mo's body had likewise received such a gift. The stronger the tribulation, the greater the reward.
Now, as that gift of heaven and earth was quickly absorbed, Gu Mo suddenly saw two tender sprouts emerge atop his Heaven-and-Earth Nascent Soul's head.
This Heaven-and-Earth Nascent Soul was formed from a Golden Core Dao Seed infused with the genes of a Heaven-and-Earth Spirit Root. It already possessed the abilities of a spirit root—but Gu Mo had not expected it to actually sprout like a true spirit root.
With two little shoots atop its head, it looked strikingly similar to Xiaohua, who had flowers growing from hers. If Xiaohua were to see it, she would surely take it as kin.
Of course, along with sprouting came an entirely new transformation. Beyond becoming stronger, the Heaven-and-Earth Nascent Soul awakened a brand-new ability: it could extend into the void and draw power directly from it.
Gu Mo had seen this ability before, when Qi Chunde underwent his tribulation—the Tree of Ten Thousand Laws had displayed the same. Clearly, this was a trait of the Heaven-and-Earth Spirit Root. And now, with the Heaven-and-Earth Nascent Soul sprouted, Gu Mo too had gained this power.
Moreover, his Nascent Soul's ability was even stronger than Qi Chunde's, able to draw far more power from the void. And beyond that, it came with an additional effect—a reward for braving such a terrifying special tribulation.
That effect was: the Heaven-and-Earth Nascent Soul could briefly break into the void.
To break into the void meant entering it directly and using it as a springboard, allowing instantaneous travel to incredibly distant places.
This was the ultimate life-saving ability. Ordinary escape talismans still left traces, but breaking into the void left none at all.
Unless the opponent had also studied the Dao of the Void—which was a supremely profound path, rarely mastered even by Soul Transformation experts—no one could detect it.
Thus, unless he encountered an existence beyond Soul Transformation, or blundered into a ruin with unique space restrictions, his Heaven-and-Earth Nascent Soul could not be caught.
Given how powerful this was, Gu Mo decided not to complain about his Nascent Soul sprouting. His next task was to enhance his combat strength as much as possible.
To endure that special tribulation, he had burned through many trump cards and secret techniques. Now they were all expended, and it was time to replenish.
For example, the twelve Sword Cores he had burned away needed to be condensed again. It would be the perfect chance to test his Nascent Soul's new void-drawing ability—absorbing power straight from the void caused no spiritual fluctuations, making it highly stealthy.
Meanwhile, in Shennong Valley, Gu Mo's true body was carefully inspecting the twelve flying swords forged from supreme-grade Sword-Heart Bamboo. After Gu Mo had supplied her with much Sun Essence, Ding Shiyan had not disappointed him, successfully cultivating third-rank supreme Sword-Heart Bamboo.
Using it, Gu Mo had refined twelve supreme-grade flying sword treasures. He had spent no small amount of sect contribution points for this, though fortunately, as a true disciple, Elder Qing had granted him a large allowance of resources.
Had it been anyone else, forging twelve supreme treasures would have been impossible. But these twelve swords were, of course, prepared for his avatar.
The twelve Sword-heart Bamboo flying swords that the avatar once had had already been reduced to ashes under that final, terrifying heavenly tribulation. Now was the time to replace them with better equipment.
"Xiaohua!"
As usual, he called Xiaohua over. When it came to deliveries, of course Xiaohua had to handle it. Only this time, the delivery destination had changed, the difficulty was higher, and naturally, Gu Mo offered greater compensation.
"Consider it done!"
Seeing such a big task, Xiaohua immediately promised she would complete the delivery. With that, her figure flickered and disappeared.
At the same time as Xiaohua vanished, Gu Mo's avatar slowly opened his eyes and released a wisp of aura, transmitting it through the underground roots of the trees, leaving behind a coordinate for Xiaohua to find him.
After waiting for a while, a palm-sized figure with a tiny flower sprouting from her head appeared, hugging a box. Comparing Xiaohua's appearance with the newly formed Nascent Soul, the resemblance was uncanny.
But recalling what he had seen when Xiaohua broke through to fourth-rank Demon King, Gu Mo knew her origin had to be at least on the level of a Heaven-and-Earth Spiritual Root, perhaps even higher.
"Xiaolin, your aura feels really strange now." Xiaohua examined Gu Mo's avatar. Having frequently delivered things for him, she was very familiar with his usual state.
But this aura was completely different than before—a change of realm, and the breath of the Heaven-and-Earth Nascent Soul now within him.
"Is it? Xiaohua, where's the delivery?"
Gu Mo's avatar smiled faintly. Some things naturally couldn't be told to Xiaohua. Still, she was one of the few who knew many of his secrets.
"Right here! But you'd better give me a five-star rating. If you rate me well, next time I'll even give you a cashback." Talking business, Xiaohua hurriedly handed over the box containing twelve supreme-grade flying sword treasures, then earnestly reminded him.
She even used the "positive review cashback" tactic. After all, this mission's reward was generous, and one good review could earn her lots of especially tasty treats.
So Xiaohua didn't mind sharing a little in return.
"No problem, I'll give you a good review. I don't need the cashback, though—but Xiaohua, I'll need you to help me with something." Gu Mo's avatar took the box.
This "review system" he had set up was precisely so Xiaohua could lend a hand whenever needed.
Now he needed her to help conceal the fluctuations from him refining these twelve flying swords.
"Leave it to me!"
Hearing this, Xiaohua immediately made a serious promise. At once, countless roots grew wildly around the cave where he sat. In just moments, they had wrapped the cavern completely. With this natural cocoon of roots, all movement inside was blocked off.
Then Xiaohua slipped into the roots themselves, earnestly guarding Gu Mo's avatar. For the sake of earning that good review, she was putting her full effort into it.
Seeing this, Gu Mo's avatar opened the wooden box, taking out the twelve supreme-grade flying sword treasures refined from Sword-heart Bamboo. At the same time, he summoned the twelve Sword Cores within his body.
The reason he had prepared twelve Sword-heart Bamboo flying swords was, of course, because he intended to fuse them with his Sword Cores. By merging the bamboo swords—already supreme-grade treasures—with the cores, he could push them toward becoming spiritual artifacts.
Compared with metal flying swords, bamboo swords refined from spiritual plants like Sword-heart Bamboo were not quite as sharp or durable, but they had an innate advantage when it came to nurturing sword spirits.
Combined with Sword Cores condensed from his true essence, the fusion would absolutely produce half-spiritual artifacts containing spirit. And afterward, with enough time to nurture them, they would become twelve genuine spirit-grade flying swords.
This would be an immense boost to his combat power. What's more, by merging Sword Cores with bamboo swords, he could still separate them at need, wielding twenty-four flying swords in total.
All of this was preparation for that one technique. Back when his avatar was still in the Golden Core realm, he had been unable to perform it. But now, having stepped into Nascent Soul, he finally had the ability to unleash it.
This would become yet another deadly trump card of Gu Mo's avatar.
—
Great Yan Sword Sect.
Once a place of verdant mountains and clear waters, the sect was now nothing but shattered ruins. Bloodstains marked the broken stones—the blood of Great Yan disciples.
With the mountain gate broken, the demonic sect naturally showed no mercy. They slaughtered every disciple and elder within the sect, leaving only Xuan Tianhen, bait to lure Gu Mo's avatar.
Of course, the Great Yan Sword Sect had hidden a portion of its disciples elsewhere in advance, ensuring the sect's legacy would not vanish. But those disciples would not dare claim the sect's name for centuries at least.
So to say the Great Yan Sword Sect had been exterminated was no exaggeration.
"To deal with my sect, you've truly gone to great lengths," Xuan Tianhen growled. His body was pinned to the shattered wall of the main hall by a spike that pierced him clean through.
The spike had not only run through his flesh, but skewered his Nascent Soul, sealing his power.
"Too bad. The one you want won't be coming." Xuan Tianhen spat blood, his eyes blazing with madness as he roared: "One day, you'll pay the price for what you've done!"
"Price? What price?"
At that, a gray-robed man beside him stepped forward and stomped on the spike, driving it deeper into Xuan Tianhen's body. His face twisted with pain, but he refused to make a sound, only staring back with icy defiance.
"Heh, not coming? Seems you still underestimate how much you mean to your little disciple." Another figure, cloaked in black robes, let out a low chuckle. "Look. He's here!"
As the black-robed figure spoke, Xuan Tianhen's eyes flew wide. From the distance, a streak of sword light shot toward them at great speed. Its aura—he knew it well. It was the one person he most dreaded to see now.
"What are you doing here?! Leave! It's a trap!" Xuan Tianhen mustered all his strength to roar into the distance.
But the sword light did not retreat. Instead, it accelerated.
In just a few breaths, Gu Mo's avatar arrived at the mountain gate of the Great Yan Sword Sect.
He took in the scene before him: the corpses of slaughtered disciples, the ruins of his sect, and Xuan Tianhen nailed to the wall.
Gu Mo felt the killing intent in his heart surge uncontrollably. In that instant, his Slaughter Sword Intent seemed to step into an entirely new realm.
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