Chapter 251: Battle Against a Nascent Soul Perfection Expert
"Brat! Since you've come, don't think of leaving."
Seeing Gu Mo's avatar appear, the two Nascent Soul cultivators in gray and black robes quickly blocked his retreat. Having lured him here with difficulty, they naturally couldn't allow him to escape.
"Just the two of you?"
Gu Mo's avatar looked at them coldly. One was an early-stage Nascent Soul, the other mid-stage. With strength like this, he didn't believe they could break through the Grand Yan Sword Sect's mountain gate and suppress Xuan Tianhen.
"What? The two of us aren't enough?" The black-robed mid-stage Nascent Soul sneered. Though the man before him had once slain a Nascent Soul cultivator, against someone like him—a mid-stage Nascent Soul—such things were simply impossible…
That very thought had just arisen when suddenly, he felt a surge of deadly danger. Before he could react, a sword light flashed. His body was instantly severed, and his Nascent Soul flew out in terror.
Yet it didn't make it far. It exploded almost instantly. That sword light had not only destroyed his flesh but also obliterated his Nascent Soul. To truly kill a Nascent Soul cultivator, destroying the Nascent Soul itself was the key.
Normally, unless the difference in strength was overwhelming, directly annihilating an opponent's Nascent Soul was impossible. Battles between Nascent Soul cultivators usually involved destroying the body first, then pursuing the escaping Nascent Soul. And since Nascent Souls were famed for their incredible escape speed, pinning one down was no easy feat.
But Gu Mo's avatar had already been able to slay Nascent Soul experts while still at the Golden Core stage. Now, having formally stepped into the Nascent Soul realm and gained a Heaven-Earth Nascent Soul, he no longer needed to conserve spiritual power. Going all out, cutting down a mid-stage Nascent Soul was no difficult task.
"Y-you… a Nascent Soul!!"
The black-robed cultivator had been slain in a single strike, even his Nascent Soul annihilated. Such terrifying means left the gray-robed early-stage Nascent Soul trembling in shock.
But horror was swiftly followed by instinct. Without hesitation, the gray-robed cultivator turned to flee. Yet, with Gu Mo's current combat power, unless his foe had mastered divine arts like the Five Elements Escape Technique, there was absolutely no way he could escape.
One mid-stage Nascent Soul, one early-stage Nascent Soul—slain in a single exchange. That alone was proof of just how fearsome Gu Mo's avatar had become.
"Master, your disciple is late."
After finishing off his foes, Gu Mo's avatar arrived before the shattered main hall of the mountain gate, looking softly at the weakened Xuan Tianhen.
Seeing him appear, Xuan Tianhen's eyes revealed both relief and anxiety. Relief, because Gu Mo had stepped into the Nascent Soul stage, even surpassing his own teacher.
He didn't know by what means his disciple had managed this breakthrough, but he was certain the process had been fraught with hidden, unimaginable dangers.
As for the anxiety, it was because this place was still unsafe. The true enemy was hidden in the shadows, waiting for Gu Mo to let down his guard.
Yet with his cultivation sealed, Xuan Tianhen couldn't use divine sense transmission nor even speak clearly. He could only signal with his eyes, urging Gu Mo to leave quickly.
Gu Mo noticed the look in his master's eyes. But wasn't he here precisely to save him? In such a situation, how could he possibly abandon his master to flee alone?
"Master, don't worry. Your disciple is no longer weak. Rest assured—once I've slain our enemies, we'll rebuild the Grand Yan Sword Sect together."
As he spoke, Gu Mo pulled out the spike piercing through Xuan Tianhen's body, then cast a Healing Art. Though this avatar specialized in sword cultivation, everything his true body knew, the avatar also possessed. The only difference was that due to differing cultivation methods, the effects were somewhat weaker.
"Pffft!"
After receiving treatment, Xuan Tianhen managed to catch his breath, spitting out a mouthful of poisonous blood.
"Quick, leave! There's—"
As he regained strength, Xuan Tianhen hurried to speak. But before he could finish, his pupils suddenly contracted. Reflected within them was a figure.
"Returning Sword!"
Gu Mo's avatar gently pushed his master aside, then raised the Gold Fiend Sword behind him.
Clang!
A piercing explosion rang out, followed by a terrifying force that blasted Gu Mo's body away.
"A late-stage Nascent Soul… no, Nascent Soul Perfection!"
He had already known the enemies this time wouldn't just be the mid-stage and early-stage Nascent Soul pair. But he hadn't expected the true foe to be one at Nascent Soul Perfection. That was the level of a sect master among the six great orthodox and demonic sects.
The demonic sect had clearly dispatched its most secure force to eliminate him. A Nascent Soul Perfection expert—more than enough to guarantee success.
Not only that, but their armies had been deployed at the borders, drawing away the righteous path's strength so no reinforcements could come to aid the Grand Yan Sword Sect.
All of this—just to completely erase Gu Mo's avatar.
Yet even so, the demonic sect's Perfection-stage Devil Lord felt no waste in the effort. In fact, he was grateful.
After all, they hadn't expected the target to break into Nascent Soul so quickly, and at his very first strike kill two Nascent Soul devil lords, one of them mid-stage.
With such terrifying combat power, even sending a late-stage Nascent Soul might not have guaranteed victory. Fortunately, it was he, a Nascent Soul Perfection expert, who had come.
This time, no matter what, the boy had to die. The devil lord had a strong sense—if they failed to kill this "Lin Wu" today, the demonic sect would never have another chance. This was their final opportunity.
"Picking on a junior? What sort of skill is that—face me if you dare!"
Seeing Gu Mo blasted back, Xuan Tianhen was horrified. He roared at the demonic Perfection cultivator, then turned to flee.
But the devil lord completely ignored his provocation and retreat. His gaze never left Gu Mo's avatar.
As for Xuan Tianhen's petty ploy, he cared nothing for it. The man was simply trying to divert his attention to give "Lin Wu" a chance to escape.
Yes, capturing Xuan Tianhen might threaten Lin Wu. But if Xuan Tianhen chose to self-destruct, that would backfire. The safest course was simply to let him leave.
That way, Lin Wu would have no choice but to stay. Because he knew—if he fled, his master would surely die.
And as expected, once Lin Wu recovered from the strike, he didn't choose to flee. Even knowing he was outmatched, he stayed behind. That was precisely the value of Xuan Tianhen.
"Nascent Soul Great Perfection, huh? As expected, it's a tough battle."
Gu Mo's avatar regulated the surging qi and blood within his body. That last strike had left him with a serious injury—after all, it came from a Nascent Soul Great Perfection cultivator. As a sword cultivator, Gu Mo's avatar excelled in offense, but his defense was still somewhat lacking.
However, under the nourishment of the Heaven-and-Earth Nascent Soul, the injury quickly healed. This, too, could be considered one of the effects of the Heaven-and-Earth Nascent Soul.
Of course, if paired with the true body's Shennong Hundred Herb Canon, the recovery effect could be raised another level.
But so long as the enemy wasn't strong enough to obliterate the avatar in one strike, he could keep fighting. "Then let's use the blood of a Nascent Soul Great Perfection to send a warning to the demonic sects." Gu Mo's avatar drew a deep breath.
In the next instant, the first stage of the Heavenly Demon Self-Sacrifice Secret Art was activated. For Gu Mo's avatar, who possessed the Heaven-and-Earth Nascent Soul, the first stage of this technique could practically be used as an ordinary secret art. With the Heaven-and-Earth Nascent Soul's speed of absorbing spiritual qi, the avatar had no need to worry about exhausting his true essence.
Then, his twelve natal flying swords within his body arranged themselves into the Heavenly Twelvefold Sword Fiend Array, raising Gu Mo's avatar's strength by yet another level.
Combined with his recent breakthrough in Slaughter Sword Intent, at this moment Gu Mo's avatar could fully unleash the power of the supreme-grade spiritual flying sword in his hand—the Gold Fiend Sword.
Unfortunately, this Gold Fiend Sword came from the hand of a Nascent Soul Demon Lord and carried certain restrictions. While its full power could be drawn out, some of its special abilities could not be used.
But for Gu Mo's avatar, this was already enough. With this supreme-grade spiritual sword, he could narrow the gap in strength against the Nascent Soul Great Perfection demonic lord.
This fact was soon clearly reflected in battle. Although Gu Mo's avatar was suppressed in direct combat, the gap wasn't so great that he was crushed outright. That alone was enough for him to hold his ground.
Moreover, with the Heaven-and-Earth Nascent Soul acting as a super "blue potion," Gu Mo's avatar could ignore true essence consumption and maintain peak combat power continuously.
Of course, if the Nascent Soul Great Perfection opponent hadn't been from the Blood Demon Sect, Gu Mo's sword cultivator avatar might not have been suppressed so badly in direct battle.
Among the three great demonic sects, the Blood Demon Sect was the strongest in pure slaughter techniques. The Ten-Thousand Ghost Cavern and the Corpse Yin Sect excelled in other aspects, but in sheer killing power, they could not compare with the Blood Demon Sect.
This time, the demonic sects had dispatched a Nascent Soul Great Perfection of the Blood Demon Sect—clearly intending to completely eliminate Gu Mo's avatar in one stroke, leaving no future trouble.
Since direct battle was disadvantageous, Gu Mo's avatar switched to a roaming, evasive style of combat. This left the Blood Demon Sect's Nascent Soul Great Perfection demonic lord, with his fearsome killing methods, unable to find an opening to unleash them.
Compared to the versatile Ten-Thousand Ghost Cavern or the Corpse Yin Sect, who had corpse puppets as assistance, the Blood Demon Sect's methods were overwhelming in slaughter but weaker in restraining or trapping enemies.
Of course, as a Nascent Soul Great Perfection, the demonic lord had cultivated some restraint techniques to compensate for this weakness.
"Blood Fiend Miasma!"
The Nascent Soul Great Perfection demonic lord hurled a mass of blood fiend energy from his hand. This was his trapping technique, designed to ensnare the enemy within a poisonous miasma that would reduce them to a pool of blood.
"Metal Escape!"
As the blood miasma descended, Gu Mo slipped into the Gold Fiend Sword. A moment later, the sword transformed into a streak of golden light, piercing through the blood fiend miasma and escaping.
The Five Element Escape Techniques—even grasping a single one, and only superficially—was enough to preserve one's life.
Unless faced with an overwhelming disparity in cultivation and strength, it was extremely difficult to trap a cultivator who had mastered one of the Five Element Escape Techniques.
Of course, escaping wasn't easy either. The Blood Demon Sect's Blood Escape Technique was by no means weak, and Gu Mo's avatar only knew a superficial layer of Metal Escape. It was far from guaranteed he could shake off the other's Blood Escape.
A Nascent Soul Great Perfection demonic lord with powerful slaughter arts and mastery of the Blood Escape Technique—once he targeted someone, it was practically impossible for them to get away.
That was precisely why the demonic sects had sent this man to kill Gu Mo's avatar. Yet as things stood, Gu Mo's avatar could not escape, but the demonic lord could not kill him either.
The two were locked in stalemate, each waiting for the other to exhaust their true essence. The demonic lord believed his higher cultivation meant he could last longer.
But Gu Mo's avatar had the Heaven-and-Earth Nascent Soul, endlessly drawing power from the void. He naturally feared no battle of attrition. In fact, Gu Mo hadn't even played his trump cards yet—he was deliberately draining the opponent's true essence first, intending to strike decisively afterward.
Besides, this was righteous territory. For the demonic sects to create such an opportunity, they had already paid a steep price. And the longer this dragged on, the greater the price they continued to pay.
To tie down the righteous alliance's powerhouses, the demonic sects sometimes had to throw out bait or adopt an aggressive stance to keep them from splitting their focus.
But throw out too much bait, and the cost became painful. As for acting aggressive, if they lost control, it could trigger a full-scale war—causing even greater losses.
So, the longer Gu Mo's avatar dragged things out, the more it bled the demonic sects.
The Nascent Soul Great Perfection demonic lord knew this perfectly well. Yet retreat was impossible. Especially after learning of Lin Wu's terrifying strength, if they abandoned the chance now, the demonic sects would never have another opportunity.
Thus, no matter how long this dragged on or how much it cost, the demonic sects had no choice but to grit their teeth and endure.
The righteous alliance was baffled by the demonic sects' reckless persistence. Still, since they were consistently coming out ahead, they were willing to "play along."
In fact, many didn't even know the demonic sects' true goal. Only a handful of righteous alliance powerhouses were aware. But knowing was one thing—given the demonic sects' posture, the righteous alliance couldn't pull their forces back to support the Grand Yan Sword Sect.
If by chance the demonic sects' "fake attack" on Grand Yan Sword Sect turned out to be real, while the true plan was to ambush the righteous alliance, wouldn't they be falling straight into the trap?
It had to be said, this move by the demonic sects was an open conspiracy—forcing the righteous side to choose between the safety of the entire alliance or the Grand Yan Sword Sect alone.
Admittedly, the price of such a move was high. But if Lin Wu wasn't eliminated now, the price the demonic sects would pay in the future would only be higher.
"Still not finished yet?"
On the demonic sect side, they grew anxious at the lack of a mission-success report. Time was something they truly couldn't afford to waste. Once they received the confirmation, they were prepared to withdraw.
But they waited and waited, and still no word came. A Nascent Soul Great Perfection demonic lord needing so long to kill a junior at the Golden Core stage?
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