Chapter 230: Revealing His Strength
This Heavenly Chosen Battle was, for the righteous and demonic camps, a chance to eliminate enemy prodigies. But for the participants themselves, obtaining the treasures within the battle was their foremost priority.
Eliminating enemy prodigies served the interests of their factions, but securing treasures concerned their own futures.
Thus, when the chance to seize treasures arose, none would hesitate. Lin Wu was no exception. Killing demonic prodigies was his duty as a disciple of the Grand Yan Sword Sect, but that did not hinder him from striving for treasures in the Heavenly Chosen Battle.
Only by obtaining more treasures could he further his strength, enabling him to slay even more demonic prodigies.
This time, however, the golden treasure chest was guarded by a fourth-rank demon king—no easy challenge. If it were anyone else, they would have turned and fled at the sight of such a foe.
Those qualified to join the Heavenly Chosen Battle all had the strength to surpass ordinary Golden Core cultivators. Yet that was only within the Golden Core realm. To leap from Golden Core to Nascent Soul was a feat reserved only for the true heirs of the top sects.
Even then, they could only contend with Nascent Souls, not defeat them outright—let alone kill them.
"Senior Brother Lin, that wild boar demon king is coming over. Shouldn't we run?" Ming Yueyue's face tensed as she looked at the approaching beast. The crushing aura of the demon king filled her with dread.
"Senior, how may I obtain the golden treasure chest on your body?" Lin wu directly asked the demon king.
If killing it were the only way to claim the chest, the difficulty was too high. Such a trial would be acceptable for the supreme jade chest, but for a golden chest it seemed unreasonable.
So Lin wu sought to confirm the actual condition.
"You want the chest? Defeat me and it's yours." The wild boar demon king fixed its gaze on Lin wu, this small human. The one who had bound the chest onto its body had told it exactly this.
If the beast felt outmatched, it could abandon the chest, the restriction would vanish, and it would be expelled from the island.
If it chose not to surrender, its wounds would never heal under the restriction's power. Injuries would stack upon injuries until it was bled dry.
The choice was its alone—self-preservation, or a fight to the death.
"As I thought."
Hearing its reply, Lin wu nodded. If defeating it were the condition, then the difficulty was reasonable.
"Heavens, Lin Wu is actually challenging a demon king!"
Seeing Lin wu not only refuse to retreat but advance instead, the watching cultivators immediately guessed his intent.
"To challenge a demon king—that's the mark of a supreme true heir! Can Lin Wu really pull this off?" Many were doubtful.
Only the true heirs of the most exalted sects possessed the foundation to cross an entire major realm and face a demon king.
Though Lin wu had displayed remarkable power earlier, he was, after all, from the Grand Yan Sword Sect, a mere lower-tier Nascent Soul sect. Compared with the true heirs of the great sects, he should fall short.
"Well then, human brat, I'll give you one last chance to regret." The wild boar demon king glared at him. It did not strike immediately, for this human gave it a far more dangerous feeling than the two cultivators it had faced before.
"No need. Please enlighten me!"
If victory alone was required, Gu Mo was confident in this avatar's strength. True, he would have to reveal many of his trump cards, but if he could secure the golden chest, the treasure within would certainly raise his combat power yet another level.
Even if his cards were exposed, the gain outweighed the loss.
"Courting death!"
His unyielding stance provoked the demon king's fury. As a demon king, retreat was impossible—so battle it must be.
It refused to believe that a Golden Core human could defeat it.
With a furious roar, surging demonic power erupted from its body, forming a layer of earth-yellow armor around it. This was the wild boar demon king's innate spell, massively boosting its defense.
Now, defeating it became far harder. Without overwhelming attack power, even scratching it would be difficult.
Unfortunately for it, Gu Mo's sword-cultivator avatar specialized in nothing but attack.
"Come then!"
Gu Mo summoned his flying sword. In an instant, a blazing sun rose in the air—the manifestation of his Great Sun Sword Intent at full release. Simultaneously, the twelve Sword Pills in his body rapidly formed the Twelve Fiend-Slaying Sword Array. Against a fourth-rank demon king, his attacks had to reach at least the Nascent Soul level to even wound it.
And to defeat one that had cloaked itself in such defenses, mere ordinary Nascent Soul power was not enough. Thus Gu Mo pressed further.
Twelve bamboo swords flew forth, forming another Twelve Fiend-Slaying Sword Array. The twin arrays fused, Gu Mo's aura soaring explosively.
"This… how can he be this strong? His soul and body—how can they endure such power?" The demon king's expression changed drastically. Even at full defense, the might Gu Mo now radiated was enough to harm it.
That a Golden Core cultivator could wield power beyond his own limit without collapsing was unthinkable.
Many means existed to temporarily boost strength—pills, artifacts, secret techniques—but all were bounded by the limits of soul and flesh.
If the soul was lacking, the boosted strength could not be controlled, leading to collapse. If the body was lacking, the overflowing power would tear it apart.
Yet none of these limits seemed to restrain Gu Mo.
This was because he had cultivated Qi Chunde's Soul-Focusing Art, raising his soul temporarily to Nascent Soul level. As for his body, he had long tempered it with fourth-rank Sun Essence, refining it through the Body-Forging Art. At this moment, even this avatar's physique had reached the threshold of the Nascent Soul realm.
With both soul and body at Nascent Soul level, he could naturally command Nascent Soul-level power.
Other true heirs might also unleash such strength, but if their soul or body had not reached the standard, they could only perform such an attack once.
Gu Mo, however, could sustain it—though not indefinitely. Even with twelve Sword Pills, twelve times the foundation of his peers, he could only maintain such strikes a handful of times.
But in a clash of true experts, victory and defeat are often decided in just a few exchanges.
Thus, Gu Mo wasted no time probing. Against a demon king one whole realm above, tentative strikes were meaningless.
He raised his strength to its utmost limit, and the sword intent sun transformed into a golden crow—this time clearer and more solid than ever before. The blazing radiance of the sun poured forth, its supreme yang power incinerating everything around.
"This is the legendary Great Sun Sword Intent, said to surpass even the Extreme Yang Sword Intent." Ming Yueyue gazed up at Lin Wu in the sky, her heart shaken to the core.
Yet it wasn't just her—every cultivator watching Lin wu was stunned by the sudden display of such terrifying power.
Who said this so-called Lin Wu of the Grand Yan Sword Sect was inferior to the true disciples of the great sects? This wasn't inferiority at all—this was clearly surpassing those so-called elites.
"Die!"
Sensing the blazing Golden Crow radiating the aura of supreme yang, the Wild Boar Demon King snapped out of his shock and launched an attack. His massive body, like a mountain, charged at Lin Wu with overwhelming force.
Don't be fooled by the simplicity of this collision—it was the Demon King's most lethal technique, one carrying immense might.
For him to use his signature strike made clear how much pressure Gu Mo's power had put him under.
Originally, the Wild Boar Demon King had intended to wait for the human cultivator before him to strike first. After all, with his defensive spell already cast, he was confident no one could break through it.
But Gu Mo's strength shook even his own faith in that defense, forcing him to strike preemptively.
The oppressive aura of that colossal body charging in would have suffocated any other Heaven's Chosen, plunging them into despair. But Gu Mo's spirit, physique, and power had already reached the Nascent Soul level—such pressure meant nothing to him.
"Great Sun Golden Crow Sword!"
Without hesitation, Gu Mo swung his fire-element half-spiritual sword. With its support, the Golden Crow's might surged even higher.
In the next instant, all of it condensed into a single blazing sword light, which swept across the oncoming Wild Boar Demon King.
"Boom!"
As the sword light brushed past, the Demon King's armor shattered instantly. But even so, the armor, his innate spell, was truly formidable.
Though his armor was destroyed, it had absorbed nearly all of the strike's force. What remained left only a shallow wound on the massive Demon King's body—barely more than a scratch.
For most true disciples, such an all-out attack, even if it managed to break the Demon King's defenses, would leave them drained and weakened. That alone would have sealed their defeat.
But Gu Mo was different. Though this strike had cost him dearly, he still had the strength to unleash a second sword. That was the advantage of a spirit and body capable of bearing such immense power.
"This time, you win!"
Seeing Gu Mo preparing a second strike, the Wild Boar Demon King decisively tossed the golden treasure chest to him. His defense was broken—if that second sword landed, he would have to take it head-on.
He reckoned it wouldn't kill him outright, but it would surely leave him gravely wounded. Even if he could counterattack, surviving in such a state against other foes would be impossible.
Between fortune and life, his survival mattered more. Thus, he abandoned the chest, trusting that in such a situation, this powerful human cultivator wouldn't pursue him further.
The moment he threw the chest, the Demon King was instantly teleported off the island—his task completed.
"He ran!"
Gu Mo blinked in surprise, but since the golden treasure chest remained, that was all that mattered. At once, he reined in his power and approached the chest.
"H-He actually won… Unbelievable!"
As the Demon King vanished and the chest remained, an uproar erupted outside. A Heaven's Chosen had truly defeated a Tier-4 Demon King in a one-on-one fight!
Of course, normally, such challenges allowed multiple true disciples to join forces, and with teamwork, victory was possible. That was the intended way to clear the trial. But Gu Mo had done it alone.
"Wait, hasn't this Lin Wu only recently advanced to the Golden Core realm?" someone suddenly recalled.
At that, the crowd's amazement fell into silence. Gu Mo's strength was so overwhelming that everyone had simply assumed he was a peak Golden Core cultivator.
But now they realized—he wasn't at peak stage at all. He was only in the early Golden Core stage. Early Golden Core, and he had defeated a Tier-4 Demon King! When he reached peak Golden Core, wouldn't he be able to slay Nascent Soul experts?
It was said that Heaven's Chosen only truly came into their own after reaching the Nascent Soul realm. Yet if Gu Mo was already this powerful now, by the time he reached peak Golden Core, even ordinary Nascent Soul True Monarchs would avoid him.
And if he one day stepped into Nascent Soul… then aside from Soul Transformation Sovereigns, who could possibly restrain him?
Such thoughts raced through countless minds. But only Xuan Tianhen knew how difficult the path ahead was for his disciple.
Twelve Sword Cores. Twelve tribulations. The very thought was despairing. Shennong Valley's Qi Chunde, who had only endured two Nascent Soul tribulations, had already drawn wide acclaim. If his disciple could truly endure twelve, even Soul Transformation Sovereigns would take notice.
But even within the Golden Core stage, Xuan Tianhen felt his disciple's strength was already too overwhelming. That last strike hadn't even seemed to be his full strength—he still had energy left for a second blow.
The more power his disciple revealed, the more Xuan Tianhen felt both pride and dread. He could already imagine that the demonic sects were, at this very moment, planning how to eliminate Lin wu.
And his fears were right. Until now, though Lin wu's power had been impressive, the demonic sects had judged him still weaker than the true disciples, and so they had not rushed to act. Their own true disciples could deal with him in due time.
Let him shine for a while—they would crush him later.
But now that his true strength had been revealed, panic spread instantly through their ranks. Lin wu had obtained the golden chest, and whatever treasures lay within would only make him stronger.
"Use our trump cards. From now on, eliminating that Lin Wu is the highest priority."
The demonic sect leaders had no room for debate. Eliminating Gu Mo was no longer optional—it was absolute.
And to kill him, they could only bring out the ultimate weapons they had originally prepared to counter the righteous sects' true disciples.
But Gu Mo's threat was too great. He had to be dealt with first.
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