After leaving the Northern Zhou Imperial Palace, Gu Mo and Ye Chen made a trip to Feilai Temple and found the stone stele Venerable Monk Huineng had mentioned, the one that recorded the story of Seven Sages Slay the Dragon.
Neither Gu Mo nor Ye Chen could decipher what was written on it. The script from over two thousand years ago was indeed rather abstract, and neither of them had studied such things.
However,
Gu Mo did not suspect that Venerable Monk Huineng had lied. There was simply no need for it. Besides, although he and Ye Chen could not recognize writing from two thousand years ago, they only needed to copy it down and return to the Qian Kingdom. Someone at the Imperial Academy would surely be able to identify it.
Gu Mo had not come to Feilai Temple primarily to verify that stone stele. He had come to erect a cenotaph and leave behind a monument for Dharma Master Huineng, so that when the monks of Feilai Temple returned in the future, they would know that Dharma Master Huineng had sacrificed himself to subdue demons and suppress devils.
After that,
Gu Mo, Ye Chen, and the Yun Family Brothers departed.
Their return journey was much slower than their journey there, since they were no longer pressed for time. As Gu Mo traveled back, he pondered how to use the Demonic Stone Origin Qi.
His Dao Heart Seed Demon Great Technique also absorbed demonic qi, while the demonic qi of the Demonic Blade was pure to the extreme. It complemented the Demonic Stone Origin Qi perfectly.
As for that Dragon Scale, Gu Mo decided that once he returned, he would have Tie Tou forge it into a saber for him. Now that he had obtained the max-level Demonic Blade, he happened to be lacking a suitable saber.
The Kirin Demon Saber in Gu Chundong's hands was fairly good, but it no longer felt right in Gu Mo's hands. First, the Kirin Demonic Power within it could no longer keep up with him. Second, the demon saber had developed intelligence and acknowledged Gu Chundong as its master. Although Gu Mo could still use it, they never quite moved in harmony.
It was not that the Kirin Demon Saber was deliberately opposing Gu Mo. Rather, its saber spirit possessed only a trace of awareness and had a stubbornly rigid mind. For the time being, it could not adapt flexibly.
By comparison, the Kirin Demon Saber's awareness was inferior even to Gu Mo's Grand Void Sword. His Grand Void Sword contained a Profound Heaven Floating Stone and possessed immense potential for evolution. Later, after cleansing Ling Xiao's Nascent Soul, he had fused it into the sword to become its sword spirit. From the moment it was born, it possessed mature intelligence.
Therefore, although the Grand Void Sword recognized Gu Mo as its master, anyone else could use it as long as Gu Mo gave the order. It was exceptionally flexible.
Thus, recalling Ye Chen's earlier speculation that other hidden Ascension Realm cultivators might emerge to throw the world into chaos, Gu Mo felt a faint anticipation. Once the saber forged from the Dragon Scale was finished, he could follow the same script: capture an Ascension Realm cultivator's Nascent Soul, cleanse it, and turn it into a saber spirit.
Late March.
Gu Mo and the others left Northern Zhou and arrived at the border of the Qian Kingdom.
Ye Chen then bid Gu Mo farewell.
At a crossroads beneath a cliff, Ye Chen sat riding a horse and cupped his hands toward Gu Mo. "Big Brother, I'll come to the Qian Kingdom often to visit you in the future. Of course, if you miss me, you can come find me in the Chu Kingdom too. I'll be the host—I guarantee you'll have a wonderful time. I'm very well-connected in the Chu Kingdom."
Gu Mo nodded slightly. "I'll come to the Chu Kingdom in the second half of this year."
Ye Chen hurriedly said, "That would be wonderful! But Big Brother, could you write me a letter before you come? Every time I leave home, I have to ask my mother in advance. Sigh, don't laugh at me for this, but even though I'm already in my twenties, my mother still beats me viciously at home all the time. So every time I go out, I have to talk it over with her beforehand. Otherwise, if I dare sneak away, I'll get beaten when I return!"
"Hahaha..." Gu Mo chuckled. "Alright, no problem. Before I head to the Chu Kingdom, I'll definitely send you a letter first. I guarantee you won't get beaten!"
Ye Chen rubbed the back of his head and gave a "heh heh" laugh.
Gu Mo added, "By the way, you have already touched the threshold of the Ascension Realm. For ordinary people, they might not be able to take that step even after thirty or fifty years. But your circumstances are special. Who knows when you might encounter some opportunity and break through. Still, you must restrain yourself. Do not ascend, and do not abandon your physical body."
Ye Chen asked in confusion, "Why? Didn't you already kill the Inner Demon?"
Gu Mo said, "It isn't only an Inner Demon issue. I feel that ascension itself may have a problem. Dragon Tiger Mountain has an ancestral injunction: do not ascend. I did not understand it before, but ever since I killed the Inner Demon, I have vaguely felt as though something in the heavens has been watching me.
"But when I tried to investigate, I found nothing at all. Also, in theory, when one reaches the Ascension Realm, the Heavenly Gate should appear. Yet there are always exceptions, such as me. My physical body reached the Ascension Realm first, but the Heavenly Gate did not come to see me. That also shows there is a problem."
Ye Chen quickly said, "I understand, Big Brother. I'll also try to find a way to achieve Physical Body Ascension first."
Gu Mo said, "My method of Physical Body Ascension cannot be learned by anyone but me. However, you can try breaking through the limits of your physical body. You are still young and have plenty of time. You need not worry about your Lifespan, so you can take your time trying.
"There are two main paths to breaking the limits of the physical body. One is to break space's restraints on the physical body. The other is to remove the body's impurities, similar to cleansing the tendons and marrow. The Clay Figurines Great Compassion Divine Monk created in Chang'an City took that direction."
Ye Chen was also one of the foremost Martial Dao experts in the world. Many things only needed the slightest explanation for him to grasp them. He immediately cupped his hands and said, "I understand, Big Brother!"
Gu Mo cupped his hands in return. "It's getting late. Hurry and go!"
"I'm off!"
Ye Chen turned his horse around, waved, and quickly galloped away, kicking up clouds of dust.
Then,
Gu Mo and the Yun Family Brothers swiftly departed in another direction.
Early April.
Gu Mo returned to Chang'an City.
Chang'an City remained as prosperous and bustling as ever. The turmoil brought about by establishing the Crown Prince had already passed.
Gu Mo went straight to Princess Chengyang's Mansion.
After hearing the gatekeeper's report, Gu Chundong and Li Li came out together to greet Gu Mo.
Gu Mo followed Gu Chundong and Li Li into the mansion, but the sight before him greatly startled him. When he returned from Penglai Island last year, Li Li's Princess Mansion had already cut back on all sorts of food, clothing, and expenses, and sold many valuable belongings.
Still, it had been livable enough.
But now, the Princess Mansion was left with nothing but bare houses. Even the welcoming stone by the entrance was gone. The marble table in the pavilion and the koi in the artificial lake had vanished. Even the ornamental Mountain Stones had been reduced to their bases. The servants who once moved about in groups had also dwindled greatly.
"Li Li, was your home... robbed?" Gu Mo asked with a smile.
Li Li curled her lips. "Who would dare rob my home? Just like last year, I sold all those things. I also cut down the servants working in the mansion as much as possible. The money all went to replenish the national treasury. Mm, Chudong even gave my father three thousand taels of silver!"
Gu Mo looked at Gu Chundong in surprise. He knew very well how stingy she was. She was the kind of person who would eat several extra bowls of food at a friend's house when bringing them a gift, just to recoup her costs. Yet she had actually given away tens of thousands of taels. It was simply unbelievable!
Gu Chundong understood the doubt and shock on Gu Mo's face and said, "Brother, His Majesty is going to lead an expedition personally. I can't help with much, so like Chengyang, I can only contribute some money!"
Gu Mo knew that the Qian Emperor was going to lead an expedition personally. The Qian Emperor had told him about it long ago. At the beginning of this year, Ye Jinglan had been transferred back from the Ministry of Justice to the Imperial City Division in preparation for the imperial expedition, because Ye Jinglan would accompany the Qian Emperor to the frontline as a Great General.
"When?" Gu Mo asked.
"They'll leave in Two to Three Days," Gu Chundong said. "Big Brother Ye is going too."
Gu Mo nodded and said no more. Instead, he carried the wrapped Dragon Scale into the small courtyard.
Although the Dragon Scale had returned to its original form and was no longer a zhang wide as it had been under the Inner Demon's control, it was still two chi long, one chi wide, and weighed a thousand jin.
Fortunately, Gu Mo's cultivation was profound. If an ordinary person wanted to bring this Dragon Scale back from Wutong City in Northern Zhou, it would have required an enormous expenditure of manpower and resources.
When Gu Mo placed the Dragon Scale on the ground, the floor directly caved in.
Seeing this,
Gu Chundong asked doubtfully, "Brother, what is this?"
"Dragon Scale," Gu Mo said. "A good thing I obtained during this trip to Northern Zhou. I brought it back to forge a saber."
Gu Chundong lifted the cloth, revealing the Dragon Scale's true form.
It resembled a piece of green jade, its edges rippling in irregular waves and gleaming with a deep blue luster, as though it concealed the secrets of the deep sea. Its surface patterns twisted and interwove, seeming to contain flowing qi. At the slightest touch, a bone-piercing chill seeped in, as though one could feel the majestic force of a giant dragon charging forward.
"Brother, dragons really exist in this world?"
"I've even killed a Kirin. Is it so strange for there to be dragons?" Gu Mo said with a chuckle.
"That's true," Gu Chundong said with a broad grin. "How amazing! A Dragon Scale—it's so amazing!" She gently stroked the Dragon Scale and said, "Then doesn't that mean the Reverse Scale Blade among the Thirteen Taboos is very likely real too?"
"I think the Thirteen Taboos may all be real," Gu Mo said.
"I see," Gu Chundong said as she slowly rose. "Then, Brother, are you going to have Tie Tou forge a Dragon Scale Blade for you?"
Gu Mo nodded slightly. "I plan to return to Yunzhou in a couple of days to find Tie Tou."
He had great faith in Tie Tou's weapon-forging ability. The Grand Void Sword was proof enough.
Gu Chundong said joyfully, "Brother, then when are we going back? Will we stay for a long time this time? My orchard still isn't finished!"
Ever since buying an estate in Yunzhou last year, Gu Chundong had constantly been busy building and renovating it, wanting to fulfill every idea about houses that she had ever had since childhood—her own orchard, fishpond, vegetable garden, and so on. Moreover, she would only be satisfied if she personally participated in every part of the process.
At the beginning of this year, Gu Chundong's orchard had already begun construction, but after coming to the Capital City, she had been forced to stop.
Seeing the anticipation in Gu Chundong's eyes, Gu Mo smiled. "This time, we'll stay for a long while. We won't make a trip to the Chu Kingdom until the end of the year. I made an agreement with Dharma Master Liansheng before."
Gu Chundong hurriedly said, "Then there's enough time. I'll go ask Li Li whether she wants to come to Yunzhou with me to have fun."
As she spoke, Gu Chundong wrapped up the Dragon Scale and ran out.
Not long after,
A guard from the Princess Mansion came to report that Ye Jinglan had arrived.
With Gu Mo's permission, Ye Jinglan entered shortly afterward.
The moment Ye Jinglan reached the entrance, he smiled and said, "Brother Gu, if you had returned any later, you would have had to go to the Jiang Kingdom to see me."
Gu Mo chuckled. "Didn't I make it back at just the right time?"
"The Imperial City Division received word the moment you entered the Capital City..."
As they spoke, the two walked into the main hall.
The instant they entered, Ye Jinglan suddenly felt uncomfortable all over. His gaze fell upon the wrapped Dragon Scale in the hall, and a trace of gravity appeared on his face. He asked, "Brother Gu, what is that? I feel a sense of rejection from it!"
"Dragon Scale," Gu Mo said. "Kirin Blood flows through your body, and you have Kirin Bone. Dragons and Kirin both belong to Divine Beasts. As the saying goes, kings do not see kings. It is normal for there to be rejection."
Ye Jinglan asked in surprise, "Where did the Dragon Scale come from?"
"I got it from killing the Inner Demon..."
Gu Mo then briefly recounted what had happened in Northern Zhou.
After hearing it, Ye Jinglan sighed. "Northern Zhou was already chaotic. Now it has suffered one blow upon another. I'm afraid it has become a complete mess."
Gu Mo nodded slightly.
Ye Jinglan pointed at the Dragon Scale again and said, "So you plan to use this Dragon Scale to forge a saber?"
"That is the plan," Gu Mo said.
Ye Jinglan said, "How about this? After I return, I'll find a Cold jade bottle and fill it with a drop of my essence blood. When the time comes, give my essence blood to Tie Tou. That kid is the disciple of the Weapon Saint Tie Zhu, so he will certainly know how to use my Kirin Blood to blend it into the Earth Fire.
"This is a Dragon Scale. With Tie Tou's skill, he can certainly refine it. But if it is refined with ordinary Earth Fire, some of its properties will definitely be lost. Kirin Flame is different. It can also speed up the process, and perhaps it may even stimulate more of the Dragon Scale's Dragon Might."
Gu Mo reached out and placed a hand on Ye Jinglan's shoulder, sensing his physical condition. He smiled. "Mm, that works. You're already close to completely evolving into a Kirin body. A little essence blood won't affect you much."
Ye Jinglan said, "I still have to thank you, Brother Gu, for giving me that Kirin Bone. The energy contained within it was far too powerful. Over these past two months, after refining it, my Kirin body has indeed nearly reached completion. I'm almost at the physical body Ascension Realm you mentioned—Half-step Ascension, you could say."
Gu Mo nodded slightly. "Soon. Once your Kirin body reaches completion, you can attain the complete physical body Ascension Realm. It is just a pity that your current path relies too heavily on Kirin Blood. There is no possibility for your Nascent Soul to ascend."
Ye Jinglan laughed heartily. "Brother Gu, not everyone is you. Without Kirin Blood, with my talent, it would be difficult to say whether I could reach the Ascension Realm in this lifetime. Besides, according to what you said, Nascent Soul ascension may have problems as well. I've already made a tremendous profit!"
Gu Mo smiled and asked, "When are you leaving?"
"The day after tomorrow," Ye Jinglan said.
Gu Mo said, "You'll be leading the army and protecting the Emperor's safety, so I won't go add to your troubles. I wish you a smooth journey in advance. I won't see you off the day after tomorrow."
Ye Jinglan smiled. "Even if you came to see me off, I truly wouldn't have time to pay attention to you."
"Haha..."
That day, Gu Mo went to see Zhuo Qingfeng and Su Ziyou, then finally went to the Imperial Palace to meet the Qian Emperor.
Early the next morning, Gu Mo left the Capital City with Gu Chundong and Red Clothes.
Gu Chundong was somewhat disappointed, however, because Li Li had refused her heartfelt invitation to visit Yunzhou.
It was not that Li Li did not want to go. Li Li had always loved having fun, and she wished she could cling to Gu Chundong every day. Under normal circumstances, she would never refuse Gu Chundong's invitation.
But the Qian Emperor's imperial expedition was imminent.
Although an imperial expedition could greatly boost morale, it was also accompanied by doubts and talk of defeat. After all, if it were not a moment of dire crisis, why would an emperor personally lead an expedition? Even Xiao Zhaolin, the Emperor of Chu, who was famous for enjoying personal campaigns, had not taken that step.
Therefore,
The Qian Emperor's imperial expedition had two sides. It could raise the frontline's morale, but it would also cause unrest among the people at home.
At such a time, any action by the imperial family could be endlessly magnified by those with ulterior motives and turned into all manner of rumors.
That was why Li Li had refused Gu Chundong. She feared that if she went to Yunzhou, people would spread rumors that the imperial family was secretly relocating, that the war at the front had already been completely lost, and so on!
However,
Gu Chundong did not remain disappointed for long, because Gu Mo began teaching her the Demonic Blade saber art.
However, the Demonic Blade Gu Mo taught Gu Chundong had been modified. The original Demonic Blade required one to first grasp its intent and moves, then enter the blood pool of the "Demonic Pool of the Turbid World" and absorb its mysteries. The pool water was formed from a mixture of all poisons under heaven. Its stench was overpowering, and it contained immensely powerful Demonic Nature and Killing Intent.
Cultivating such a Demonic Blade was meant to create a killing machine.
Therefore,
After obtaining the max-level Demonic Blade, Gu Mo used his current Martial Dao Realm to modify it. He retained the moves but changed the intent.
The original Demonic Blade used demonic qi to control people, turning people into demons. But after Gu Mo's modification, people controlled demonic qi. Demons were merely a Martial Dao method.
The reason such a transformation was possible was not only because Gu Mo's current Martial Dao Realm was high enough. The greatest reason was that there was no need for the Demonic Pool of the Turbid World, because Gu Mo now possessed Demonic Stone Origin Qi purer than the pool itself, allowing Gu Chundong to continually absorb demonic qi.
The Demonic Blade had always been a martial art that could be mastered quickly.
After Gu Mo eliminated the drawback of Demonic Nature invading the consciousness, its cultivation speed slowed somewhat. Yet in just about a month, Gu Chundong had mastered the new version of the Demonic Blade.
Gu Chundong had originally been a martial arts grandmaster. Now that she had mastered the Demonic Blade, she directly cultivated her own Demonic Blade domain.
As for advancing further into the Ascension Realm, that could not be achieved through martial arts practice alone. It depended on comprehending one's realm. Even if one wished to ascend through the Demonic Blade, it was not enough merely to master it. One needed to use it to comprehend a personal great path of cultivation and cultivate either a Nascent Soul or a demonic body.
And so,
Time flashed by,
Until early May arrived.
Gu Mo and the others finally returned to Yunzhou and reached Yun City.
Gu Mo went directly to the Six Doors.
After Gu Mo revealed his identity, the Pacification Commissioner of Yunzhou Six Doors and Chief Constable Du Sha personally came to receive him.
Du Sha was Zhuo Qingfeng's master. He had also met Gu Mo during the rescue of the former Second Prince, now Crown Prince Li Zhongqing, in Mobei. Their relationship was fairly good, and they knew each other rather well.
Therefore,
After a brief polite exchange, Gu Mo got straight to the point. "Chief Constable Du, I came today to find Tie Tou. I need to ask him to forge a weapon for me."
At those words, Du Sha, the Pacification Commissioner, and the others all changed expressions slightly.
Du Sha cupped his hands and said, "Great Hero Gu, Tie Tou has disappeared. Our Yunzhou Six Doors has been searching for half a month, yet we still have no clues!"
Gu Chundong exclaimed, "How could something happen to Tie Tou? He's always so simple and harmless, and he never offends anyone!"
Du Sha nodded. "Even if he did offend someone, it would not matter. Tie Tou is Yunzhou's foremost weapon forging master. Over the past two years, he has rendered many meritorious services and has already reached the rank of Thousand Household Commander. Most importantly, at the beginning of this year, he improved the God-Slaying Crossbow. The matter reached Heavenly Ear, and His Majesty personally commended him. If he had not been unwilling, His Majesty would already have transferred him to the Ministry of Works.
"Ten Super-Class Experts and more than forty elite Six Doors agents have been arranged to protect his weapon-forging workshop in every respect. Over a hundred apprentices are also skilled Martial Dao practitioners. To put it bluntly, the importance attached to him now is no less than that attached to our Yunzhou Prefect—perhaps even greater. He is too important. Every weapon he improves means the Qian Kingdom's chances of victory on the battlefield increase by another measure."
Gu Mo asked in confusion, "Then how did he disappear?"
"I don't know," Du Sha said with guilt written all over his face. "To our shame, half a month has already passed, yet we have not even figured out when Tie Tou disappeared."
Du Sha organized his thoughts and said, "On April twelfth, Tie Tou was forging weapons in his workshop as usual. There was nothing abnormal at all until he went to sleep and rest.
"He also slept in the weapon-forging workshop, so all the guards followed their usual routines. Not only were people constantly patrolling, but experts had always been guarding the small courtyard where he slept. Furthermore, Tie Tou himself was a Super-Class Expert. His Golden Bell Shield, with its eleven mystic gates, was rare under heaven, and his hidden weapons were among the finest in the world.
"There was no sound that night, not the slightest disturbance. Yet the next morning, Tie Tou failed to appear for a long time. He usually rose before dawn. The guards realized something was wrong and went inside to look, only to find that he was gone.
"What is strange is that there were no signs of fighting in the room. It was as though Tie Tou had left on his own. But he took none of his belongings, and despite all those guards in the courtyard, not one person saw him leave. It was very much as though he had suddenly vanished in his sleep."
Gu Mo asked, "Before Tie Tou disappeared, did he say anything or do anything unusual?"
"No," Du Sha said. "Tie Tou is now a treasure of the court, and every matter concerning him receives the utmost attention. We can confirm that there was nothing abnormal before his disappearance.
"However, the anomaly lies outside. Tie Tou is not the only weapon forging master to disappear in Yunzhou during this period. Thirteen cases have been reported so far. Without exception, every one of them vanished suddenly and strangely, just like Tie Tou."
Gu Chundong asked in astonishment, "So many? Not a single one of them showed anything unusual?"
Du Sha nodded. "Not the slightest anomaly. Nor was any trace left at any of the places where they disappeared. At present, this case has made no progress at all!"
Before you continue