Chapter 199: Twelve Sword Cores
A hundred li away from the Grand Yan Sword Sect.
"What an astonishing spiritual energy vortex… Someone's condensing an Immortal-grade Golden Core." Elder Wu of the Shennong Valley stared in awe at the massive vortex swirling above the Grand Yan Sword Sect.
Upon hearing that the Grand Yan Sword Sect had been attacked by the Demonic Sect, Elder Wu had rushed over to aid them. After all, he shared a close friendship with Xuan Tianhen—when a friend is in trouble, it's only right to lend a hand.
And not just him—other Nascent Soul elders of the Shennong Valley were on their way as well. He simply arrived faster. But halfway through, Xuan Tianhen had already messaged him, saying the crisis had been resolved.
So the other elders returned, while Elder Wu decided to press on to check in person. That's when he saw the vast spiritual vortex swirling above the sect.
"Well of course. Do you not see who his disciple is?"
Before Elder Wu could respond, Xuan Tianhen's voice rang out. Having sensed Elder Wu's arrival, he had immediately come to greet him.
"You…"
Elder Wu looked Xuan Tianhen over. Though he seemed slightly unstable after the battle, he was far from the weakened state the reports had described—supposedly cursed and reduced to a tenth of his strength.
"Got lucky with some opportunities," Xuan Tianhen said casually, waving it off. He didn't go into detail—especially not about the Tier-4 Solar yang pill. That was a sensitive topic, and he wouldn't let word of it slip from his own mouth.
Elder Wu nodded, choosing not to press further. He knew Xuan Tianhen well—if he didn't want to talk, no amount of questioning would get him to open up.
"Tell me about the attack. What exactly happened with that Nascent Soul demonic cultivator?"
"You mean Elder Xiaohua?"
When Elder Wu learned that the key figure who had turned the tide of battle was Elder Xiaohua from Shennong Valley, he was momentarily stunned. She had just recently been promoted to elder—when had she become strong enough to single-handedly kill a Nascent Soul demon?
He didn't know much about Xiaohua, but he had met her before. That silly, wide-eyed demeanor didn't exactly scream "Nascent Soul slayer."
Still, considering her mysterious origins—even her creator, Hou Chunyu, didn't know her full background—perhaps she had awakened some kind of hidden power after becoming a monster king.
Whatever means Xiaohua used, the result was undeniable: one Nascent Soul demon dead. Combined with the two slain by Xuan Tianhen earlier, the Demonic Sect had lost three Nascent Soul experts in a short span. They were unlikely to take this lying down.
"Looks like war is coming," Elder Wu sighed. With that, he took his leave to report back and ready the sect for the conflict ahead.
Once Elder Wu departed, Xuan Tianhen returned to the sect to continue guarding Gu Mo's breakthrough.
Half a month passed.
At last, the massive vortex in the sky began to shrink. Seeing this, the entire Grand Yan Sword Sect let out a collective sigh of relief.
This was a real eye-opener for them. It had taken over a month just to break through to the Golden Core stage.
—Central Spirit Grounds—
Gu Mo's divine sense turned inward. In his dantian, a large golden core was slowly forming, already beginning to radiate Immortal Essence.
Normally, a cultivator at this point would simply wait for the core to fully form. But Gu Mo was a sword cultivator, and what they condense isn't a typical golden core—it's a sword core.
A sword core is forged into a blade, which is then fused with the cultivator's flying sword to become their life-bound sword.
The Grand Yan Sword Sect specialized in sword formations, but they also trained in life-bound swords. With one as the core, sword formations could be executed more fluidly and precisely.
Gu Mo glanced at the massive golden core in his dantian. If he forged it into a sword, it'd probably be a greatsword.
Then an idea struck him: since the Grand Yan Sword Sect focused on sword formations, why not refine multiple sword cores and use them to directly construct a formation? Wouldn't that make it even more powerful?
For most cultivators, a single core isn't enough for multiple swords. But Gu Mo's core was so massive it could easily be split into several parts.
"Let's do it!"
With that thought, Gu Mo decided to try. This avatar was meant for experimentation anyway—if it failed, he could just rebuild it. With his main body's help, it wouldn't take long to recover.
"Break!"
Focusing his will through the avatar, Gu Mo gave a sharp shout and divided the enormous core into twelve parts—each the size of a normal golden core.
That meant his sword core's foundation was twelve times greater than a typical cultivator's. It even surpassed his main body's ninefold foundation—though his main self hadn't had access to Immortal Essence back then.
"Hiss…"
The core split, and Gu Mo felt searing pain. He immediately retreated his awareness back to his main body to escape it, then returned once it passed.
Now came the next step—refining all twelve into sword cores.
Among these, only one contained Immortal Essence. The core could be split, but Gu Mo couldn't yet divide the Immortal Essence. No matter—he'd just ask Xiaohua to fetch eleven more portions of Tier-4 Sun Essence to solve that.
With the sword cores forged, Gu Mo hit his first major roadblock.
This was the downside of doing something unprecedented—no blueprint to follow.
The question: Where to store twelve sword cores? He couldn't just toss them all into his dantian. That would be utter chaos.
"Wait… I remember something in the Grand Yan Sword Codex—'The Celestial Twelve Sword Fiend Formation.'"
Gu Mo paused, recalling a high-tier formation from the codex. It required twelve swords as a base, modeled after the legendary Celestial Twelve Fiends Formation—a fearsome killing array.
With twelve sword cores, he could build the formation directly inside his dantian. That meant he'd have its power available at all times, and internal placement meant no one could disrupt it from the outside.
"I'm a genius!" Gu Mo grinned, brimming with excitement.
Of course, he hadn't yet mastered that formation. He'd need to study and understand it first. Until then, the twelve sword cores would just have to sit there. Maybe he could use some simpler formations in the meantime.
"Disciple, how are you doing?"
Just then, Xuan Tianhen's voice echoed in. Seeing the vortex vanish, he knew the breakthrough was complete—but Gu Mo hadn't emerged yet, and that worried him.
After all, a Nascent Soul demon had attacked during the breakthrough. Who knew if they'd left some hidden move behind?
"Master, I'm fine."
Gu Mo stepped out of seclusion.
"…Huh?"
Xuan Tianhen's eyes narrowed. Gu Mo was indeed at the Golden Core stage—but his aura was faint, like an ordinary sword cultivator's.
With a vortex like that, this couldn't be the final result. Did something go wrong? Xuan Tianhen's heart grew heavy. Still, as long as the breakthrough succeeded, that was what mattered most.
"Master, are you alright?"
Gu Mo noticed his master's odd expression and asked, worried he'd been injured in the earlier battle. But with his current alchemy skills, Gu Mo could probably try crafting Tier-4 healing pills now.
"It's nothing. Just remember, for sword cultivators, cultivation isn't everything—your understanding of the sword is just as vital."
Xuan Tianhen tried to offer comfort. He assumed Gu Mo had failed to form a strong sword core—understandably upsetting, considering what he could've achieved.
But Gu Mo was confused—then it clicked.
Of course. His aura was weak because his single core had been split into twelve. No wonder.
He quickly explained everything to Xuan Tianhen. Previously, there had been no one to consult, but now that he had a Nascent Soul sword cultivator around, Gu Mo hoped for some guidance.
"W-What?!"
Upon hearing this, even Xuan Tianhen—a battle-hardened Nascent Soul cultivator—was stunned speechless.
"M-Master, this isn't a problem… right?"
Gu Mo asked nervously. While this was just an avatar and could be rebuilt, he preferred it succeed.
"Not a problem at all."
Xuan Tianhen let out a long sigh. "In fact… this might be the true cultivation method of the Grand Yan Sword Codex."
"What?!"
Now it was Gu Mo's turn to be shocked.
"Refining multiple sword cores and arranging a sword formation in the dantian… that's the original intent behind the Grand Yan Sword Codex," Xuan Tianhen said, looking at Gu Mo with a complicated expression.
Without guidance, Gu Mo had stumbled onto the right path—a path few dared to walk. It was so difficult that most had settled for using multiple flying swords externally instead. But external formations were fragile and stationary.
Over the years, a few geniuses with deep foundations had tried the internal sword core route. All had failed.
Why? Because the more sword cores one had, the longer cultivation took. Multiply that across twelve cores, and there was barely any time left for comprehending the sword itself.
And that wasn't even the hardest part.
The real challenge was the Nascent Soul Tribulation. It was supposed to be fixed, but multiple sword cores meant multiple tribulations—one per core.
Even a single round of tribulation was enough to kill most Nascent Soul cultivators. Surviving twelve was practically unthinkable.
"Still, our sect does have one successful predecessor," Xuan Tianhen quickly added upon seeing Gu Mo's increasingly grim expression.
"The one who tried to reach the Divine Ascension realm?" Gu Mo asked.
"Yes. Our founder forged three sword cores and survived three rounds of Nascent Soul Tribulations. He became the strongest Nascent Soul cultivator of his era. Had he reached Divine Ascension, he would've been the strongest ever… Alas."
Even just three cores had made him a peerless powerhouse. If Gu Mo succeeded with twelve…
Xuan Tianhen didn't dare imagine it.
But the resources needed would be astronomical—far beyond what the Grand Yan Sword Sect could afford.
"Master, I will succeed."
Unlike Xuan Tianhen's worries, Gu Mo was full of confidence. With enough Sun Essence, he didn't fear the twelvefold cultivation burden.
As for the multiple tribulations? Immortal Essence would help him through. As long as he gathered enough protective artifacts, he'd make it.
Besides, a formation of twelve sword cores should be able to withstand at least a few rounds.
And if his main body could acquire a Tier-5 spiritual field and refine Tier-5 Sun Essence… everything would fall into place.
"Good… good!"
Seeing Gu Mo's confidence, Xuan Tianhen relaxed a little. His greatest fear had been that the truth would crush Gu Mo's will.
He handed Gu Mo a cultivation journal left by their ancestor, hoping it would help. Then he left to figure out how to gather the massive resources Gu Mo would need.
Gu Mo was now the sect's final hope. If he failed, the Grand Yan Sword Sect's current reserves wouldn't be enough to cultivate another Nascent Soul sword cultivator.
Still, even if Gu Mo didn't reach Nascent Soul, twelve sword cores at peak Golden Core would grant him power equal to a Nascent Soul sword cultivator.
That was already a guaranteed trump card.
And if he succeeded, the Grand Yan Sword Sect might rise to become the fourth great righteous sect.
As Xuan Tianhen pondered how to raise resources, the Demonic Sect, on the other hand, was already in an uproar.
Just as Elder Wu had predicted, losing three Nascent Soul elders in such a short time had infuriated them. If they didn't retaliate, they'd be mocked by all.
The battle between righteous and demonic paths was about power—and pride.
With signs of mobilization from the Demonic Sect, the righteous sects began their preparations. Resources flowed rapidly toward the frontlines.
But for now, none of this concerned Gu Mo. A full-scale war would take years to prepare. It wouldn't erupt immediately.
Still, he could feel the brewing storm. The sect had even increased its orders for Solar yang pills.
In war with the Demonic Sect, the greatest problem was demonic corruption—and the Solar yang pill was the best countermeasure.
A treasure like that? Best to stock up.
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