Chapter 271: Crushing Sweep
With a thought from Gu Mo, his Cave Heaven space connected with the outside world. Instantly, the barren wasteland around him transformed into vast spirit fields.
The charging remnant soul saw the change and immediately guessed something. He sneered, "Trying to hide inside your Cave Heaven space? How naive!" With his vision, once he found the location of a Cave Heaven, entering it would be no difficult matter.
But soon the remnant soul realized he had guessed wrong. The target wasn't trying to hide inside, but rather to connect the Cave Heaven space with the outside world.
Hiding within a Cave Heaven, that he could understand. But opening it to connect with the outside—what kind of operation was this? In such a case, outsiders could directly enter the Cave Heaven through the connection.
"Mm?"
Just as the doubt rose, the remnant soul abruptly halted the Great Perfection Nascent Soul zombie under his control. By now, the Cave Heaven's spirit fields had fully descended.
And on those spirit fields stood neat rows of plants, each exuding Nascent Soul-level auras, with a few even reaching the Great Perfection stage.
"What's going on? Isn't the other party a sword cultivator?" The remnant soul could hardly believe it. Last time, Gu Mo had used a powerful sword formation to forcefully kill the zombie he controlled, so he had always assumed Gu Mo was a formidable sword cultivator.
But now Gu Mo revealed a host of Nascent Soul-level spirit plants, plants even the well-traveled remnant soul had never seen before.
"Little Bean, lock on to the target!"
Gu Mo commanded the sentient Peashooter. At his order, the Peashooters in the fields aimed their pods at the zombie under the remnant soul's control.
"Attack!"
With Gu Mo's command, pea after pea charged with fourth-rank power shot at the Great Perfection zombie.
"Just this?"
After his initial shock, the remnant soul calmed down. He immediately used the Vajra Indestructible Divine Power, transforming the zombie into a golden body that withstood the storm of energy peas.
Ordinary fourth-rank peas couldn't penetrate its defenses at all. Only those of top-grade fourth rank could cause minor injuries, but not fatal ones.
Even so, the sheer number of Peashooters compensated for the lack of killing power. The dense barrage left the golden zombie unable to advance.
"Hmph!"
Seeing this, the remnant soul gave up on killing Gu Mo immediately. He ordered other zombies to attack and share the damage.
This tactic worked. The horde this time was larger than before, and all of them were at the Nascent Soul stage. Qinghe's cultivators could hold back only a few; the rest would fall to Gu Mo to stop.
Gu Mo thus had to divide the Peashooters' firepower to intercept the others. He could not let a single one breach the line—for if such zombies entered the Qinghe Realm, it would be a disaster beyond measure.
"Die!"
As the firepower spread out, the pressure on the golden zombie lessened. It braved the remaining peas and charged at Gu Mo.
Gu Mo's gaze remained calm. Another spirit field appeared. This time, not Peashooters but tree stumps.
"Boom boom boom boom!"
The stumps burst into blazing flames. Each flame carried fourth-rank power, some at peak fourth rank. One stump even burned with a tri-colored flame—a rare and powerful exotic fire.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!"
The Torchwood stumps ignited the peas fired from behind. Each pea turned into a blazing fireball as it flew at the zombies.
The combination of Peashooters and Torchwoods instantly elevated the firepower. A top-grade fourth-rank Peashooter and Torchwood working together unleashed attacks nearly touching the fifth rank—the Soul Transformation level.
Such attacks posed real danger even to the golden zombie. Without the Vajra Divine Power, it would already have been obliterated.
"Roar!"
Under the remnant soul's control, the golden zombie bellowed. Instantly, the surrounding zombies swarmed to shield it as they advanced toward Gu Mo.
In the remnant soul's mind, as long as Gu Mo the controller died, everything else would resolve itself.
"Boom boom boom boom!"
One Nascent Soul zombie after another was blasted apart by flaming peas, but for every one that fell, another pressed forward, shielding the golden zombie's approach.
Watching the horde advance, Gu Mo's expression didn't change. They were lining up for him to kill—what was there to be dissatisfied about?
As for the golden zombie's threat, ever since connecting his Cave Heaven to the outside, Gu Mo had never once worried.
"Die!"
When most of the horde had been consumed, the golden zombie finally drew close. The remnant soul knew his plan was failing again, but if he could just kill Gu Mo, it would all be worth it.
"Bang!"
The golden zombie's fist crashed down on Gu Mo—only to be blocked by a shimmering barrier. Ripples spread, but it did not break.
"What!"
The remnant soul was shocked. That blow had been enhanced with secret forbidden arts, pushing the Great Perfection zombie's strength to its utmost. He had even drawn on the zombie's very essence. He was certain that strike had reached the Soul Transformation level. Yet it had been stopped.
What blocked it was Gu Mo's Walnut Formation, anchored by over a dozen top-grade fourth-rank Walnuts and supported by hundreds more.
Such a formation could easily withstand attacks of the Soul Transformation stage.
Gu Mo's greatest investment was in Walnuts. Only with a fortress-like defense could his plants fight unimpeded. As long as the Walnut Formation held, nothing could threaten the barrage.
"Good, good… I'll remember you."
The remnant soul glared ferociously at Gu Mo. Twice now this man had ruined his plans. His hatred burned, but so too did his wariness.
"Then let me deepen the impression for you."
Gu Mo's tone was even. After two clashes, he had already confirmed it: the zombies hadn't developed intelligence of their own—they were being possessed and controlled.
This showed that behind this zombie tide there was still a hidden hand pulling the strings. A pity—if Gu Mo had mastered some powerful sealing technique, he might have tried sealing the consciousness inside that zombie.
Since there was no way to extract any useful clues, Gu Mo could only destroy it even more thoroughly.
"Mm!"
Hearing Gu Mo's words, the remnant soul instantly grew wary. His divine sense swept around, and soon he spotted several crimson-red cherries.
"Rumble!"
The moment the remnant soul noticed the cherries, a force of annihilation erupted, directly engulfing the zombie. Those cherries were grade-4 supreme-quality cherry bombs, their might almost reaching grade-5. In an instant, they wiped out the zombie that had already lost the protection of the Vajra Indestructible Divine Ability.
Moments earlier, the remnant soul had drawn on the zombie's very origin to unleash an attack whose power touched the Soul Transformation level. That had already drained the zombie's strength, making it impossible to maintain the Vajra Indestructible Divine Ability any longer.
This was also why, the moment he struck, the remnant soul knew the plan had failed—for with that single blow, the zombie under his control was finished.
Had sacrificing a perfected-Nascent Soul zombie been enough to kill Gu Mo, the remnant soul would have been quite satisfied. But in the end, nothing was achieved.
Worse still, the annihilation force not only obliterated the zombie's body but also left the remnant soul heavily wounded. Still, that was not a major problem. Now that he had torn open a tiny crack in that seal, they could use it to rapidly restore themselves.
The real trouble was: how to eliminate this obstacle called Gu Mo.
With the destruction of the zombie controlled by the remnant soul, this battle to block the zombie tide finally came to an end. At this moment, all the local Nascent Soul True Lords and demon kings of the Qinghe Cultivation Realm gazed upon Gu Mo with reverence.
Last time, Gu Mo had dispelled the zombie tide with his sword cultivator means, and the terrifying power he displayed had already shocked them deeply.
Now, Gu Mo had used countless powerful spirit plants to hold back a tide led by multiple perfected-Nascent Soul zombies. Such strength meant that unless Soul Transformation–level zombies appeared, none could break through the defense he had erected.
"Quickly, quickly!"
Far out at sea, Qi Chunde urged the several Nascent Soul True Lords at his side. Once he learned that the zombie tide which had vanished had already reached the Qinghe Cultivation Realm ahead of them, his heart was filled with anxiety.
That tide was led by multiple perfected-Nascent Soul zombies—there was absolutely no way the foundation of the Qinghe Cultivation Realm could withstand such power.
The sooner they arrived, the fewer lives would be lost in the Qinghe Cultivation Realm. Especially since his disciple was still there, Qi Chunde could not know what had happened.
"We've arrived!"
With the speed of Nascent Soul True Lords, Qi Chunde and the others quickly reached the Qinghe Cultivation Realm—but they did not sense any chaos.
"Go!"
Qi Chunde took out a dandelion and gave it a light blow. The dandelion's seeds floated off in a certain direction. Seeing this, Qi Chunde followed them without hesitation.
Along the way, the peace of the Qinghe Cultivation Realm left the visiting True Lords astonished. Weren't they told that the zombie tide had already arrived here? Why was everything so quiet?
Soon, they reached a coastline, and upon seeing the scattered zombie fragments still radiating Nascent Soul aura, all of them froze.
The zombie tide had indeed reached the Qinghe Cultivation Realm—but it seemed it had already been annihilated.
"This is a perfected-Nascent Soul zombie!" one True Lord carefully picked up a fragment, confirming its origin.
For even perfected-Nascent Soul zombies to be slain—since when did the Qinghe Cultivation Realm wield such terrifying strength?
"But isn't that Senior Qi Chunde!"
As they examined the zombie fragments, a local Nascent Soul True Lord hurried over. Fighting zombies had one benefit: anyone alive was almost certainly an ally, so there was little worry about spies.
"What happened here?" Qi Chunde asked with a nod, voicing his doubts.
"That was all thanks to Lord Gu Mo!"
The local True Lord immediately recounted the whole battle in vivid detail. His duty, besides handling the aftermath and clearing away the fragments, was precisely to report the battle's events to the senior experts who came from the Tianyuan Realm. For this reason, he had carefully rehearsed and polished his story in advance, so that his telling carried a gripping sense of being there in person.
"This, this…"
Hearing the account, Qi Chunde was left utterly dumbfounded. When had his disciple grown so formidable?
According to the description, as long as no Soul Transformation–level zombie appeared, the Qinghe Cultivation Realm would remain safe and sound.
"Let's return."
Qi Chunde exhaled a long breath and spoke to the True Lords beside him. They had come to provide support, but with Gu Mo sitting here, Qinghe needed none.
Since that was the case, Qi Chunde chose to head back immediately to the Tianyuan Realm, for its situation was even more dire.
"After coming all this way, aren't you going to see your disciple?" one of the True Lords asked. At this point, they were all filled with curiosity toward Gu Mo. To single-handedly crush a zombie tide led by perfected-Nascent Soul zombies—what terrifying strength that was.
"What's the point of seeing him now? When the zombie tide is over, there'll be plenty of chances to meet." Qi Chunde waved it off. Of course, though he said so, inwardly he felt quite uneasy. His disciple's strength had already surpassed his own, and Qi Chunde was far from ready to admit he had grown old.
Qinglu Sect.
"What? He went back already!"
Just as Gu Mo was preparing to host Qi Chunde properly, he heard that Qi Chunde had left straightaway. This left him a little stunned. But since the man was already gone, it was too late to see him off.
Shaking his head helplessly, Gu Mo shifted his focus to the black-fog space. More precisely, to the cultivation chamber within that black-fog space. There, in a flowerpot, Little Flower was fast asleep.
And in Gu Mo's vision, the upgrade arrow beside Little Flower was already more than ninety-nine percent green. Her advancement to grade-5 was imminent.
This time, the zombie tide had brought perfected-Nascent Soul zombies. If another wave came, Gu Mo felt there was a high chance Soul Transformation–level zombies would appear.
In such a case, he would need grade-5 plants. Over the years, he had gathered plenty of grade-4 supreme-quality plants. But to evolve them into grade-5, he would need to use grade-5 Sun Essence.
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