Chapter 268: Forging the Incarnation
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Zhuo Suzhu gripped her spirit-forged greatsword, relentlessly hacking at the Nascent Soul–level zombie before her, forcing it back step by step.
Yet the zombie's physical defense was terrifyingly strong. Though Zhuo Suzhu's overwhelming combat strength kept it suppressed, killing it outright was not something that could be accomplished in a short time.
The other Nascent Soul True Lords were in similar straits. While their sheer battle power might not equal Zhuo Suzhu's, each of those who had lived for hundreds or even thousands of years possessed a signature move or two.
Holding down zombies that had only brute force but no intelligence was not a problem. But suppressing them and utterly eradicating them were two very different things—it was going to take considerable effort.
Still, at least victory seemed within reach.
"Hm?"
Just as Zhuo Suzhu was pressing her attack, she suddenly noticed a glimmer of intelligence flicker in the zombie's dead, lifeless eyes.
Her heart jolted with alarm. The very reason these zombies were easy to suppress was their lack of wit. If one of them gained true intelligence, with that monstrous body as a foundation, it would become an incredibly formidable enemy.
"Heartflame!"
Without hesitation, Zhuo Suzhu's true essence roared to life, igniting Heartflame—a force even higher than Heartfire. A strange flame spread across her sword.
In the next instant, she swung the Heartflame-wreathed blade at the zombie. She didn't know why it had suddenly awakened, but her long years of battle told her one thing: the best way to counter unknown danger was to seize the moment and kill it outright.
The full force of a Nascent Soul True Lord erupted—its aura so fierce that even nearby True Lords and monster kings glanced over, wondering why Zhuo Suzhu was suddenly going all out.
Against these zombies, slowly grinding them down should have been enough.
But then everyone's eyes froze. That earth-shattering strike had actually been blocked—stopped by a single hand.
"This… how is this possible?!"
Zhuo Suzhu's face filled with shock. The same incredulity rippled through every other Nascent Soul True Lord and monster king. The zombie's aura hadn't changed—it was still only at early Nascent Soul level. Yet it had easily received Zhuo Suzhu's full-force blow.
"Heh!"
The zombie, controlled by the remnant soul, let out a disdainful chuckle at her astonishment. Though merely a fragment, his cultivation realm was far beyond what these Nascent Soul juniors could fathom. The same measure of power that let others exert three parts of strength—he could draw out thirty.
And these ant-like creatures dared obstruct his plans? Courting death.
Of course, striking through this corpse wasn't without cost—it consumed what little soul force he had left. But the zombies he'd summoned were crucial to breaking the seal. If others cut them down first, it would only delay him.
The longer the delay, the greater the chance of unexpected mishap. So even if it drained him, he did not hesitate.
"Die!"
The remnant soul drove the zombie's body into motion, hurling a punch at Zhuo Suzhu meant to end her life. Remove these pests, and no one could stop him.
"Not good!"
A chill raced down Zhuo Suzhu's spine. That seemingly ordinary punch radiated sheer dread.
Worse, her sword was caught fast, held by a binding force she couldn't shake free of. Dodging was impossible.
"Clang!"
At the critical moment, a blazing sword-light cleaved through the sticky binding, letting her pull back just in time.
"Be careful, this zombie is no ordinary foe!" she warned as she passed Gu Mo, whose strike had saved her.
"Who are you?"
Gu Mo's eyes locked on the zombie. For a Nascent Soul-level zombie to develop intelligence was not unheard of—by that stage, they usually shook off their madness.
But these zombies clearly came from the Tianyuan cultivation world, twisted into being by the power leaking from the headless corpse. They should have had only brute force and no minds of their own.
For one of them to awaken intelligence here… that was alarming. If Tianyuan's zombies all began to do the same, the entire realm would face disaster.
"You are not worthy to know."
The remnant soul's gaze lingered on Gu Mo. In the sword-light just now, he had felt real threat. Of all the cultivators here, this one was the only one capable of endangering him.
Of course, that was only while he was in this fragmentary state. Were he to draw on a trace of his true body's power, such a Nascent Soul cultivator would still be nothing but an insect.
"Is that so."
Since the zombie refused to speak further, Gu Mo saw no reason to waste words. Killing it would suffice.
As he spoke, a blazing sun rose into the air—his Great Sun Sword Intent. Against yin-corrupted creatures like zombies, this was his most fitting weapon.
At the same time, twelve natal flying swords emerged, forming the Heavenly Twelve Sword Fiend Array, lending greater power to the Sword Intent.
"As I thought."
The remnant soul gazed straight at the blazing sun born of Gu Mo's sword intent. That was indeed the threat he had sensed. Such pure yang force did suppress the zombie body he was inhabiting. But to think it could defeat him? Laughable.
"A troublesome target indeed!"
The fact that the zombie dared to face his Great Sun Sword Intent head-on only confirmed for Gu Mo how difficult this foe would be. But difficult or not, this battle could not be avoided.
"Great Sun Golden Crow Sword!"
When his power reached its peak, Gu Mo struck without hesitation. The great sun transformed into a golden crow and dove at the zombie.
The remnant soul only sneered. Golden radiance burst from the zombie's body, and he sent it charging to meet the descending crow.
"Clang!"
The golden crow slammed into the zombie with a peal of ringing metal. Then it shattered away, leaving only a figure gleaming gold from head to toe.
"This is…"
Gu Mo's eyes widened at the sight of the golden-lit zombie. "A body-forging divine ability!"
Having cultivated divine abilities himself, he instantly recognized it. That golden sheen was indeed a rare body-refining art.
Zombies already had monstrous flesh. Adding a body-refining divine ability created a body so tough that even Gu Mo's Great Sun Golden Crow Sword couldn't break it.
"As expected—very troublesome."
Gu Mo let out a long breath, then sent forth his twelve natal swords. They arced into the sky, forming a perfect circle.
The Great Sun Golden Crow Sword had not been his strongest move.
This was.
"Mm!"
The remnant soul clearly sensed something was wrong and quickly charged at Gu Mo. At this moment, it was nothing more than a remnant soul paired with a Nascent Soul–level zombie. The two together could unleash an extremely powerful combat force, but there was still a limit to that strength.
If they faced an attack beyond that limit, even the remnant soul would not be able to withstand it.
"Hmph!"
Looking at the rapidly approaching zombie, Gu Mo let out a cold snort and waved his hand. In an instant, twelve sword shadows descended, linking with the twelve natal flying swords in the sky to form a sword array—Storm Formation.
As the array took shape, a mighty imprisoning force immediately fell upon the zombie. The creature, already not fast, suddenly moved as if in slow motion.
"Not good!"
The remnant soul realized its control over the zombie had been restricted, and his heart gave a violent jolt. He had never expected that in a small world like this, someone would be able to deploy a sword array involving the power of the void.
With his cultivation, he had naturally dabbled in the Great Dao of the Void. But in this weakened remnant state, with only a temporarily controlled zombie, he clearly could not manifest any true void techniques.
Thus, his only option was to take the attack head-on.
But the result of that would be his body-refining divine art getting broken. A sword array infused with void power—this level of attack already surpassed his upper limit.
In the end, the remnant soul could only abandon the zombie and flee far away.
This strike had already consumed much of his soul force; he could not continue controlling other zombies in battle. Otherwise, if his soul force was exhausted, this remnant would disperse completely.
Without the obstruction of the remnant soul, the remaining zombies were quickly slaughtered by the other Nascent Soul True Lords and demon kings—even faster than expected.
That was because they were all shaken by Gu Mo's final outburst of power. Especially that last sword that tore open the void—it had already exceeded the limits of their understanding.
"Let's go!"
After confirming that no zombies remained, the zombie-cleansing operation came to an end.
Secret Ruins.
Yao Shifeng had sensed the remnant soul's presence, and moreover, its aura now seemed weaker than before. This greatly piqued Yao Shifeng's curiosity—what could have caused that remnant soul to suffer such a loss?
"Here, take this."
The remnant soul tossed a black pearl to Yao Shifeng. It was the origin power extracted from the zombie it had controlled. Originally, the plan had been to gather zombies to help break the seal. Now that the plan had failed, the remnant soul had no choice but to continue using Yao Shifeng instead.
And to ensure Yao Shifeng would cooperate willingly—and even speed up the seal's unraveling—the remnant soul naturally had to offer a benefit, a boost to Yao Shifeng's cultivation.
A portion of the origin power from a Nascent Soul–level zombie was enough to raise a Golden Core cultivator like Yao Shifeng to Golden Core Perfection. As for the Nascent Soul realm, that could not simply be piled up with resources.
"Many thanks, senior!"
Receiving the black pearl, Yao Shifeng immediately felt the pure origin force within it. Overjoyed, he knew that devouring such power would definitely allow his cultivation to rise rapidly.
"Work hard. Benefits like this won't be lacking for you." The remnant soul waved his hand dismissively, then fell silent. Having expended a great deal of soul force in this fight, he too needed to rest and recover.
Qinglu Sect.
Several months had passed since the last zombie-cleansing battle. That fight had made Gu Mo realize that the zombie tide was far more troublesome than he had imagined.
Thus, Gu Mo urgently needed to strengthen his combat power. He had long been enhancing his plant companions, but that alone was not enough.
Therefore, Gu Mo decided to resume the incarnation-forging process he had once been forced to interrupt. Over the past few months, he had continued refining and optimizing his plan for forging an incarnation with mysterious blood.
"Then, let's begin."
When everything was ready, Gu Mo took out that drop of mysterious blood. First, he used the Clone technique to merge the mysterious blood with spiritual power infused with Primal Force.
The fusion went smoothly. After all, Primal Force was the most fundamental power, and hardly anything would reject it.
Under normal circumstances, once it fused with Primal Force, one could perform the Clone technique to forge an incarnation. But when Gu Mo attempted it, the blood fused with Primal Force showed no reaction whatsoever.
He was not surprised. His Clone technique was incomplete—suitable for using his own blood, but ineffective with other blood, especially one as mysterious as this.
Immediately, Gu Mo moved on to the next step, merging the blood fused with Primal Force into his Golden Core Dao Seed. This fusion also proceeded without issue, the result of countless simulations and refinements of his plan.
Finally, a Golden Core Dao Seed exuding a faint, ethereal aura appeared in Gu Mo's hand. But this was only half the success. The true key lay in whether this Dao Seed could sprout.
And for that, it required a vast amount of spiritual power. Fortunately, Gu Mo's Heaven-and-Earth Nascent Soul specialized in such things.
"Rumble!"
The disciples of Qinglu Sect looked up at the massive vortex of spiritual energy in the sky, their hearts shaken. The vortex was so immense that even half the cultivators in the Qinghe Realm had noticed it.
"This won't cause problems, will it?"
Yuan Niya gazed at the core of the vortex—the place where Gu Mo was in seclusion.
"It shouldn't."
Chu Feifei scanned the surroundings. She saw no heavenly tribulation forming. If it was merely a gathering of spiritual energy, there shouldn't be any danger.
"But Feifei, your breakthrough may have to be postponed." Yuan Niya spoke up. Gu Mo had drained too much spiritual energy, and recovery would take time. Attempting to impact the Nascent Soul realm during this period was clearly unfavorable for Chu Feifei.
"I don't really mind!"
Chu Feifei shook her head. For her, the density of spiritual energy didn't matter much when breaking through—that was the benefit of having a deep foundation. Right now, she was far more curious about Gu Mo's situation.
"This is devouring way too much."
Gu Mo, staring at the Dao Seed before him, was sweating at the brow. Even he hadn't expected that sprouting a Dao Seed fused with mysterious blood would require such an astronomical amount of spiritual power.
The vortex of spiritual energy visible to everyone was only part of it. Even more was being directly siphoned from the void by his Heaven-and-Earth Nascent Soul. Otherwise, relying solely on the Qinghe Realm's ambient energy would never suffice.
Under the vast influx of spiritual energy, Gu Mo could already sense vigorous life swelling within the Dao Seed. If the flow stopped now, the sprouting would cease midway. So even though the Dao Seed demanded more and more energy, Gu Mo dared not stop, forcing himself to sustain it.
"Pop!"
At last, after an indeterminate wait, a crack split across the Dao Seed. Then, like a chick breaking free of its shell, a tiny figure crawled out.
"Success!"
Gu Mo's eyes lit with joy. The forging of his incarnation had succeeded.
But when he clearly saw the form of the incarnation he had created, his expression froze in surprise—for it looked quite different from what he had imagined.
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