Chapter 231: Demonic Forbidden Art
The demonic sects wanted to eliminate Gu Mo, but the righteous side naturally would not allow them to succeed. The strength Gu Mo had revealed greatly boosted the morale of the righteous side.
If they could join forces with Lin Wu of the Grand Yan Sword Sect, the righteous faction would surely claim a resounding victory in this Heavenly Chosen War.
Almost simultaneously, both righteous and demonic sides moved into action. Meanwhile, Gu Mo was examining the treasures inside the golden chest.
There weren't many items within—just three: a jade slip, a jade bottle, and a palm-sized little cauldron.
Gu Mo's gaze was immediately drawn to the cauldron. With his skill in alchemy, he could tell at a glance that it was a pill furnace.
Taking the cauldron from the chest, it was just as he had guessed—it was indeed an alchemy furnace, and not just any ordinary one, but a spirit-grade pill furnace.
Within that furnace, Gu Mo could sense the presence of a spirit.
A spirit-grade pill furnace—this was something configured only for a fourth-rank alchemist. Elder Liu of Shennong Valley had such a furnace, one she had painstakingly nurtured herself over a long period of time.
Such spirit furnaces, nurtured by alchemists themselves, were far more valuable than those forged directly by artifact refiners.
The reason was simple: once the furnace birthed a spirit, it could actively assist the alchemist in refining pills. But to enable the spirit to grasp the art of alchemy, the alchemist had to constantly instruct and guide it.
In contrast, a furnace made directly by an artifact refiner—even if it was spirit-grade—would have a spirit that knew nothing, requiring the alchemist to spend much additional time cultivating and teaching it.
Furthermore, the value of a spirit furnace varied depending on the alchemist who nurtured it. Those used by famous alchemists were worth far more than ones belonging to ordinary practitioners.
It was said that the highest-grade pill furnaces possessed spirits that were themselves top-tier alchemists, capable of refining pills on their own.
The spirit-grade furnace in Gu Mo's hand looked brand new, clearly one that required him to nurture and cultivate it before it could unleash its true potential.
But just acquiring such a furnace already satisfied him greatly. Whether or not it had been nurtured by an alchemist, he didn't particularly care.
After stowing away the furnace, Gu Mo turned to the jade bottle. From its shape, it was clearly meant for storing pills.
A pill furnace and now some medicine—it all felt rather fitting.
Opening the bottle, a unique medicinal fragrance wafted out. One whiff, and Gu Mo immediately recognized what was inside.
"Condensation Pill!"
Inside the jade bottle was indeed a genuine Condensation Pill. No wonder this golden chest had been guarded by a fourth-rank monster king—the contents truly lived up to the effort.
If the other prodigies saw this pill, they would be ecstatic. For those at the peak of the Core Formation realm, a Condensation Pill was even more valuable than a spirit artifact.
But for Gu Mo, its value was rather average. After all, he had no use for it. Thus, upon discovering it, his expression hardly changed. To outsiders, it simply looked as though the jade bottle contained some ordinary pills.
While Gu Mo examined the chest's contents, others outside could see as well. He felt helpless about it—this avatar didn't have the Black Fog Space and therefore couldn't block the identity token's tracking.
He could discard the token, but that was clearly unwise. If the demonic sect struck at this moment, he would lose a vital means of retreat.
Though Gu Mo had defeated the fourth-rank monster king, he didn't underestimate the true disciples of the demonic sect—more precisely, he didn't underestimate the hidden trump cards they might have.
A furnace, a pill… could this jade slip be a pill recipe or some alchemical inheritance?
If so, this golden chest would feel like a loss. He had just fought the fourth-rank monster king and exposed several of his trump cards; if this chest didn't provide some means of enhancing his combat strength, then it meant fewer surprises to use in critical moments.
With a trace of unease, he picked up the jade slip and sent his divine sense into it. In the next instant, Gu Mo froze.
The jade slip contained neither pill recipes nor an alchemist's inheritance, but a forbidden demonic technique—Heavenly Demon Disintegration!
"So it's this!"
Like the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, Heavenly Demon Disintegration was a classic demonic art. Classic didn't mean outdated or weak—on the contrary, it was precisely because of its power that it became a classic.
"And it's the complete Heavenly Demon Disintegration!"
Gu Mo quickly scanned through it. This wasn't one of the fragmented versions circulating outside—it was the full version.
The complete Heavenly Demon Disintegration was undoubtedly one of the demonic sect's top inheritances. Yet now they had made it a reward for the Heavenly Chosen War.
What were they scheming? Perhaps to lure righteous prodigies into cultivating this forbidden art, only to cripple their own foundations when using it, thereby wasting a future powerhouse?
Heavenly Demon Disintegration was a forbidden art that massively boosted strength, divided into several tiers.
The first tier burned spiritual power to amplify combat strength.
This was relatively safe, with the main drawback being rapid depletion of energy. Naturally, the boost wasn't huge.
The second tier, however, raised the boost significantly—at the cost of burning a cultivator's essence blood. Excessive loss of essence blood damaged one's foundation, though recovery was still possible.
The third tier was the true point of no return. It required at least the Core Formation realm to perform, as it involved burning one's golden core to unleash power beyond all limits. But the golden core was the very foundation of cultivation. Once consumed, even if one survived, their cultivation would be ruined, and they'd be crippled at best, dead at worst.
And then there was the fourth tier—unquestionably fatal. It burned the cultivator's very soul. Once the soul was incinerated, not even immortals could save them.
"Still… it isn't unusable."
Studying it carefully, Gu Mo had to admit that this art truly deserved its reputation.
At least the first two tiers could serve as reliable burst techniques. In desperate moments, even the latter two weren't without value—if death was inevitable, better to drag the enemy down too.
Especially the third tier—it stirred an idea in his heart.
For other Core Formation cultivators, burning their sole golden core meant crippling themselves or dying outright.
But Gu Mo's avatar had twelve sword cores. Burning one of them might not be that impactful. This could serve as a last-ditch trump card.
As long as he didn't burn all twelve, his cultivation realm wouldn't collapse. Of course, the loss of foundation from sacrificing a core would be unavoidable.
Still, if it came down to a true life-and-death crisis, preserving this avatar took priority above all.
Besides, since Gu Mo obtained this Heavenly Demon Disintegration Forbidden Art during the Heavenly Chosen War, cultivating this demonic technique would not be held against him. Otherwise, if a righteous cultivator practiced a demonic forbidden art, they would easily be branded as a demonic sect spy.
It was just like when the Hundred Flowers Sect's master gave Gu Mo the Sword-Intent Stone. With that stone in hand, he essentially had the Yin-Yang Sword Sect's permission to wield Yin-Yang Sword Intent without facing censure.
At present, any technique or secret art that appears in the Heavenly Chosen War carries this kind of built-in authorization. Even if demonic sect Heaven's Chosen obtain righteous sect techniques, they can openly cultivate and use them.
As for truly evil techniques—those that immediately drag the cultivator into corruption upon cultivation—those naturally could not appear. The rewards of the Heavenly Chosen War are jointly approved by both righteous and demonic sides. Only arts and techniques acknowledged by both are placed as rewards.
The Heavenly Demon Disintegration, though a demonic forbidden art, does not affect a cultivator's state of mind nor cause them to fall into the demonic path.
"Find a place to comprehend this!"
Gu Mo put away the jade slip, preparing to carefully study this forbidden art. With his twelve Sword Cores, once he cultivated this technique, the power he could unleash would far exceed that of others.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Gu Mo sharply raised his head, his gaze fixed on the distant skies. There, a dense mass of black clouds had abruptly appeared.
"A tribulation cloud!"
The moment he saw it, Gu Mo immediately recognized that it was no ordinary storm cloud, but a tribulation cloud—the sign that someone was attempting a breakthrough to the Nascent Soul realm.
Choosing to break through here on this island—if successful—the person would face everyone with Nascent Soul cultivation.
The Heavenly Chosen War restricted cultivation to the Golden Core realm, but that restriction only applied upon entering the island. If a Heaven's Chosen at Golden Core Great Perfection chose to attempt a breakthrough inside, the rules could not stop them.
"It's a demonic sect true disciple—someone is attempting to break through to Nascent Soul!" Outside, the spectators also noticed the tribulation cloud immediately.
Normally, attempting a major breakthrough required careful preparation and a secluded, undisturbed place. To choose to attempt it amid the Heavenly Chosen War was unimaginably risky.
But there was no other way. The strength displayed by Gu Mo's incarnation had put immense pressure on the demonic sect. They had no choice but to play their trump cards. This sudden breakthrough was one such card.
Although this move carried extreme risks, if it succeeded, the advantage would be tremendous. They could not only eliminate Gu Mo, but also slay several righteous sect true disciples along the way.
"Stop them!"
The righteous sect true disciples, who had been preparing to search for Gu Mo, immediately turned around and charged toward the tribulation cloud's location upon seeing the demonic sect disciple attempting a breakthrough.
These top disciples of major sects had the confidence to face ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators. But if the one breaking through was a top-tier Heaven's Chosen from a great sect, their strength would far surpass that of Nascent Souls born from common sects.
Since the righteous side wanted to interfere, the demonic sect true disciples quickly gathered as well, moving to block them.
In an instant, the top true disciples of both righteous and demonic sects converged, forming a tense standoff. At this moment, a single spark would ignite a full-scale battle between true disciples.
Faced with this storm on the verge of breaking, the other Heaven's Chosen wisely kept their distance. They knew well that they could not intervene in a clash of this level.
"Let's go take a look!"
Gu Mo called to Ming Yueyue, heading toward the tribulation cloud. He wanted to see who was undergoing the tribulation. If it was a demonic sect cultivator, he would disrupt it; if it was someone from his own side, he would lend a hand.
However, the tribulation cloud was located at the island's edge, quite far from him. Even at full speed, it would take Gu Mo at least an hour to get there. Hopefully, he wouldn't be too late.
"Boom!"
After brewing for a moment, the tribulation cloud unleashed a dazzling bolt of lightning, striking down upon the hazy figure being protected behind the demonic sect true disciples.
"Take action—disturb the spiritual energy here! We can't let them succeed!" a righteous sect true disciple shouted. They could not approach the one crossing the tribulation directly, lest they be dragged into it and forced to undergo the Nascent Soul tribulation themselves while still at the Golden Core Great Perfection stage.
But there were many ways to sabotage. Especially at such a critical moment, even the slightest disturbance could ruin the breakthrough.
Even for a true disciple, transcending the Nascent Soul tribulation carried no small risk. And with interference, the chance of failure was even greater.
The demonic sect disciples could do little to stop this. If they tried to clash directly with the righteous disciples, it would only stir the surrounding spiritual energy further.
All they could do was guard against direct ranged attacks on the tribulation-taker; as for the righteous disciples deliberately disturbing the flow of spiritual energy, they had no way to prevent it.
"Ah!!"
As the surrounding spiritual energy was disturbed, the demonic sect disciple undergoing the tribulation was indeed affected. By the third lightning strike, they were already struggling to endure.
"Something's wrong!"
Instead of delight, unease filled the righteous sect disciples. For a top disciple of a great sect, to be unable to endure even the third heavenly thunder was abnormal. Even with interference, their foundations should have allowed them to withstand six or seven strikes at least.
Without that level of strength, they had no right to call themselves true disciples.
"No—that's not a demonic sect true disciple!"
A Taixuan Sect true disciple spoke solemnly, his eyes glowing faintly—he had activated a special pupil technique to pierce through the hazy figure's disguise.
"What!"
The crowd was shocked. If it wasn't a demonic sect true disciple undergoing the tribulation, then…
At once, several righteous sect disciples scanned the demonic sect's lineup. They immediately noticed that the demonic side was missing one person. Everyone had assumed that the missing one was the one undergoing tribulation.
But now that it wasn't them—what was that missing disciple doing?
Suddenly, everyone's eyes turned toward the distant horizon. At the far side of the island—practically its opposite edge—another pitch-black tribulation cloud was forming.
"It's a decoy!"
In that instant, everyone realized the demonic sect's scheme. They had used a fake as bait to lure them over, while the real breakthrough was taking place on the other side of the island.
The island was vast—crossing it would take at least five or six hours. That was more than enough time for the real one to complete their breakthrough. Even if they turned back immediately, it would be too late.
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