Life-Reaping Gourd

On the way back to Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain after leaving West Kunlun, Hongyun could not help but say,

"Brother Shi Mo, you really trusted Queen Mother of the West enough to leave the Yellow Central Plum with her? What if she falls out with you someday and decides to keep the Yellow Central Plum for herself?"

Zhen Yuanzi said, "I do not think Fellow Daoist Queen Mother of the West is that sort of person. Still, the Yellow Central Plum is of immense value, and the human heart is hard to predict. Hongyun is not without reason. Brother Shi Mo, you should indeed be wary."

"Heh, as long as I am strong enough, I will not need to fear Queen Mother of the West turning against me. If I am not strong enough, I will not be able to keep good treasures even if I have them," Shi Mo said with a shake of his head and a smile.

Hongyun pursed his lips slightly. "Brother Shi Mo, I think you are hardly lacking in innate spirit roots or treasures. You probably do not care all that much, do you?"

"I naturally do not care about ordinary treasures, but the Yellow Central Plum... If West Kunlun were not truly suited to growing it, I would not have been willing to let it go," Shi Mo said, shaking his head slightly.

"Still, this trip to West Kunlun was not without gains," Zhen Yuanzi quickly added. "I wonder how much acquired millet King of the East will need. Brother Shi Mo, should we continue planting millet?"

"More planting? It is no fun farming all the time," Hongyun could not help saying.

"You did not say it was no fun when we were dividing spirit treasures and materials," Zhen Yuanzi said, rolling his eyes at him.

Seeing Hongyun choke on his words, Zhen Yuanzi continued,

"If you do not want to plant millet with me, I can do it myself. The blue gourd Brother Shi Mo gave me happens to be water-attributed. Once I refine it, it can gather water spiritual energy and spray sweet dew to hasten the millet's growth."

"Your blue gourd can do that?" Hongyun asked in surprise, then quickly said with a flattering smile,

"I will help you for now! We can talk again once your blue gourd is refined. While I am at it, I will refine my big red gourd too. Every one of you has a spirit treasure to protect yourselves, while I do not have any powerful spirit treasure yet!"

After returning to Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain, Hongyun went with Zhen Yuanzi to refine their respective gourds.

Inside the cave abode on Eight Treasures Peak, Shi Mo sat cross-legged upon a jade platform and flipped his hand over, producing the shriveled green gourd.

"A gourd borne by an innate spirit root will not be ruined so easily. This one did not mature because it lacked energy." As Shi Mo looked at the shriveled green gourd in his hand, he pondered briefly before summoning the Northern Xuanyuan Water-Control Banner.

The next moment, under Shi Mo's control, a tri-colored droplet emerged from the shimmering Northern Xuanyuan Water-Control Banner. It was precisely Three Lights Divine Water.

"Three Lights Divine Water should be enough to nourish this gourd into true maturity, right?" Shi Mo murmured before directly guiding the droplet of Three Lights Divine Water onto the gourd.

As the Three Lights Divine Water seeped in, the green gourd, its surface flowing with tri-colored light, visibly began to regain its vitality.

Yet when the energy within that droplet of Three Lights Divine Water was exhausted, the shriveled green gourd had merely plumped up somewhat and had not fully recovered.

Shi Mo's eyes lit up in delight at the sight. "Excellent! It seems this gourd truly has extraordinary potential. Three Lights Divine Water really is effective on it."

Only after the green gourd absorbed another two droplets of Three Lights Divine Water in succession did it fully recover and seem to come back to life.

Buzz. Suddenly, the fully restored green gourd erupted with an invisible devouring force, as though it were swallowing the life energy within the cave abode. Shi Mo's gaze grew ever brighter.

"It devours vitality? It truly is a very special gourd. If it can devour vitality, then it can draw out the purest life energy. It can kill people and save people alike. It is somewhat like Chanjiao's Chijingzi's Yin-Yang Mirror!"

"What a fine treasure! What should I call it? I have it—the Life-Reaping Gourd," Shi Mo said. After naming the green gourd, he began considering how to refine it.

In truth, innate objects like this often naturally formed Innate Chaos Restrictions. After a simple refinement, adding some complementary restriction runes or incorporating certain spiritual materials, one could fully unleash their power or even multiply it.

Given Shi Mo's current cultivation realm, he naturally re-refined the Life-Reaping Gourd very quickly. The refined Life-Reaping Gourd had also reached the level of a high-grade innate spirit treasure.

However, because of its special ability to devour vitality as though plundering it, the Life-Reaping Gourd was even more troublesome than some top-grade innate spirit treasures.

Take the Heaven-Flipping Seal and the Yin-Yang Mirror. On the surface, the Heaven-Flipping Seal possessed astonishing offensive power and seemed far more formidable than the Yin-Yang Mirror. Its grade was indeed higher than the Yin-Yang Mirror's.

Yet in terms of lethality, the Heaven-Flipping Seal's heaven-defying physical attack was only outwardly impressive and could still be defended against with protective treasures. The Yin-Yang Mirror, however, attacked the soul and primordial spirit directly, making it impossible to guard against and far more feared.

The Life-Reaping Gourd could directly plunder vitality, and in terms of strange and sinister power, it was not inferior to the Yin-Yang Mirror in the slightest.

After refining the Life-Reaping Gourd, Shi Mo left his good corpse incarnation to cultivate quietly at Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain. After contacting Zhen Yuanzi and learning that he and Hongyun had gone to the Western Continent of the Primordial World to plant millet, Shi Mo's true body headed for the eastern region of the Primordial World.

As for the lands and orchards around Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain, Golden Flame was tending them with a group of Earth-Core Fire Dragons.

What Shi Mo had not expected was that just after his true body left, Nuwa and Fuxi arrived at Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain to pay a visit.

"Fellow Daoist Nuwa, Fellow Daoist Fuxi, what brings you siblings here with such leisure?" Though somewhat surprised, Shi Mo's good corpse incarnation, Nebula Daoist, welcomed them warmly and invited them into the cave abode to rest.

It was Nuwa and Fuxi's first visit to Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain, and they could not help being astonished by the rich spiritual energy of its earth veins.

In particular, Nuwa, who was skilled in the Dao of life, could not fail to sense the aura of innate spirit roots from the Flat Peach Mother Tree and the Enlightenment Tea Tree.

After tasting the Enlightenment spirit tea personally brewed by Nebula Daoist, the siblings Nuwa and Fuxi became even more envious of Shi Mo's good fortune.

After all, an innate spirit root like the Enlightenment Tea Tree, which could aid cultivation, was something one could encounter only by chance.

Nuwa and Fuxi had come because of cultivation matters. They had specifically sought out Shi Mo to discuss the Dao.

Among the great powers of the Primordial World, only Laozi and Shi Mo were known to have severed a corpse and become Quasi-Sages.

Nuwa and Fuxi, who had long reached the peak of the Daluo Golden Immortal realm, naturally hoped to sever a corpse as soon as possible. Thus, they wished for an opportunity to receive Shi Mo's guidance.

Since Nuwa and Fuxi had come seeking instruction—and they were both future great deities of the Primordial World—Nebula Daoist naturally did not put on airs.

Building a good relationship with them would bring no harm in the future.

Moreover, discussing the Dao was beneficial to both sides. Shi Mo was also interested in the Dao of life that Nuwa had comprehended. Thus, they hit it off immediately and began discussing the Dao with great enthusiasm.

During their mutual exchanges and discussions, Nuwa was inspired and gained an insight, severing a corpse in one stroke to become a Quasi-Sage. Overjoyed, she felt much more favorably toward Shi Mo, and in their subsequent discussions of the Dao, she held nothing back from him.

Nuwa's foundation had already been profound. After severing a corpse, her improved realm allowed Nebula Daoist to gain even more from discussing the Dao with her.