Chapter 282: One Bite at a Time
The old man was a Void Refining cultivator. By rights, Gu Mo's fifth-rank Giant Maw Flower shouldn't have been able to devour him. But in order to enter that small world, the Void Refining elder had lowered his cultivation, bringing himself within the flower's devouring range.
Not to mention a self-suppressed Void Refining elder—even that Corpse Immortal, once its head was suppressed to the Nascent Soul level, was still doomed to be swallowed in a single bite.
The Vast World.
In a hidden underground cavern, a Void Refining-level formation had been set up. Within the formation rested a crystal, and sealed inside that crystal was a single drop of blood.
Suddenly, the silent formation flared with dazzling light. The crystal cracked apart, releasing the blood, which floated into the air. All around, spiritual energy surged into the formation and poured into the blood.
As the spiritual energy flooded in, the drop of blood squirmed and pulsed until it finally took the form of a youth.
"What's going on? How did my true self fall?" After a brief moment of confusion, the youth suddenly snapped to awareness. The "true self" he spoke of was, of course, the Void Refining elder devoured by the Giant Maw Flower.
Any Void Refining cultivator who had awakened the Blood-Drop Rebirth divine ability would always seek out a hidden location to leave behind a drop of their blood. In this way, even if their true self perished, they could be reborn through that single drop.
However, after such rebirth, everything had to begin anew. Still, with a Void Refining-level foundation, rebuilding one's cultivation wasn't difficult—as long as resources were sufficient.
More importantly, the reborn body retained none of the true self's memories. Since the true self's nascent soul and spirit were gone, the reborn elder had no idea how he had died.
All this new body knew was that the true self had gone into a small world—and then, suddenly, he was reborn.
"How could that small world possibly harbor power that could threaten my true self? Could something have gone wrong?" The reborn elder frowned. This matter needed to be reported to the sect immediately.
But before that, he had to restore some cultivation. Only then could he control the artifacts left in this place and return to the sect.
As he was now—cultivation completely lost—making his way back on his own would take far too long. The revival point had been deliberately placed far from the sect, for safety. If the sect itself were ever attacked and destroyed, leaving the blood there would mean certain death. Hidden far away, the chances of survival were much higher.
But now this meant a long return journey. "A few months at most," he thought to himself.
With his Void Refining foundation, reaching Golden Core level again wouldn't take long. Then he could set out for the sect.
Tianyuan Cultivation Realm.
At first, the sudden disappearance of the Void Refining elder didn't raise alarms. At that level, who could predict such a person's movements?
But when the Remnant Soul in the Nine Nether Domain rallied a powerful zombie army, people quickly noticed the elder was nowhere to be found.
The Remnant Soul had prepared forces sufficient to contend with a Void Refining cultivator. Yet now, with that cultivator missing, the defensive lines of the living collapsed almost instantly.
The foreign cultivators stationed there hastily sent pleas for help back to their sect.
But their sect couldn't immediately dispatch another Void Refining cultivator. After all, the elder had vanished without a trace—until the cause was known, who would dare risk coming?
Yet without reinforcements, the battlefront was on the brink of total collapse. If the Heaven Origin Realm fell, the Immortal's legacy would be lost.
Desperate, the foreign sect chose to sell the news to an allied sect. Sharing the spoils meant their own share would shrink, but that was better than letting the table be overturned by zombies and ending up with nothing.
But secrets are like that—the more people who know, the greater the risk of exposure.
And so, once the news was leaked, it spread quickly. Before long, nearly every sect and power across the Vast World had caught wind of it.
Cultivators poured in. Some were rogue cultivators, but many were disciples of great sects—sects with Tribulation-Crossing or Great Ascension experts presiding over them. Most dazzling of all were the disciples of the top sects that possessed Immortal artifacts. For those sects, the Immortal legacy was of the utmost importance.
After all, each activation of an Immortal artifact consumed Immortal Stones. Their hunger for such resources far outstripped anyone else's.
The flood of foreign cultivators stabilized the collapsing front almost instantly.
Seeing this, Gu Mo—who had been about to act—quietly returned to his little courtyard. He had anticipated the chain reaction that killing the Void Refining elder would trigger.
He had prepared himself to intervene if necessary. Though his power had not yet reached its peak—even more so now, with the Giant Maw Flower's devouring of the elder raising the concentration of spiritual energy in his cave-heaven, lifting his potential ceiling further—he was confident he could repel the special zombie army.
But if he revealed himself, the Corpse Immortal's remnant soul would surely grow suspicious, making future plans harder. Gu Mo's strategy was to bide his time, stockpiling power, then suppress the Nine Nether Domain in one decisive move. He had already been refining the details of this plan in his mind.
Now that so many foreign cultivators had arrived and the situation was under control, Gu Mo naturally turned back to farming and gathering strength.
"Excellent… so many souls. My strength will recover even further," the Remnant Soul exulted, far from alarmed by the influx of cultivators.
Under his command, the zombie army—led by three Nascent Soul experts of the Demonic Sect—clashed with the combined forces of the outsiders. The battle was brutally fierce.
Countless zombies were slain, but many cultivators also fell. When cultivators died, the three Nascent Soul demons used a special secret art to bind their souls and deliver them to the Remnant Soul.
Bit by bit, the Remnant Soul's strength recovered. He released more of his true power, forging additional elite zombies.
Meanwhile, the foreign cultivators, driven by the lure of the Immortal legacy, continued to arrive.
Among them, elite disciples of the great sects stood out. Though only at the peak of Nascent Soul, they could unleash power rivaling Void Refining. They became the mainstay in resisting the zombie tide.
The flood of newcomers also brought treasures and legacies unknown to the Heaven Origin Realm. It was no exaggeration to say the realm had now connected directly with the Vast World.
For those who sought these treasures and inheritances, the path was clear: earn contribution through hunting zombies, and exchange it.
The sects represented by these foreign cultivators even issued exchange lists, openly purchasing contribution. This not only benefitted the native cultivators of the Heaven Origin Realm, but even Vast World rogue cultivators gained access to legacies they would normally never touch. Here, by hunting zombies, they had the chance.
What else could one call such fortune?
Of course, fortune came with danger. The zombie tide was no easy prey.
Especially those special late-stage Nascent Soul zombies, whose combat strength rivaled Void Refining cultivators. Aside from elite disciples from the top sects who could contend with them, other cultivators simply weren't opponents.
As time passed, the slaughter between the zombie tide and the outside cultivators went on for several years. In that span, countless zombies were hunted, and countless cultivators also perished miserably.
The mass killing of zombies even reduced the power of that headless corpse in the Nether Domain by one-thousandth. After all that time and consumption, it had only diminished one-thousandth of the headless corpse's strength—enough to show how terrifyingly powerful the Corpse Immortal was.
But so long as the Corpse Immortal's strength could be consumed—even if just by one-thousandth—there would one day be a time when it was completely exhausted.
Though many cultivators had died, large numbers descended every day as replacements. After several years, not only had the number of visiting cultivators from the Tianyuan Cultivation World not decreased, it had actually grown.
This place had clearly become a land of fortune for cultivators across the great worlds. No matter how mighty the Corpse Immortal's strength, faced with this endless stream of cultivators to wear it down, in the end it would likely only be consumed to death.
If things went on like this for a few thousand years, and the Corpse Immortal crisis was completely resolved, that would indeed count as a perfectly fulfilled merit.
Unfortunately, things would not proceed so smoothly. With the descent of demonic cultivators, the situation changed. A sect called the Corpse Ghost Sect entered this small world and actually joined the zombies' side.
The Remnant Soul naturally welcomed this, granting them part of the Corpse Immortal's inheritance and power, causing the Corpse Ghost Sect's strength to soar.
Clearly, the Corpse Immortal was their true fated chance. It was said the Corpse Ghost Sect's inheritance originated from a Corpse Immortal—this was essentially them finding their ancestral founder.
The Corpse Ghost Sect's joining directly broke the balance of power. However, as Void Refining cultivators descended after suppressing their cultivation, the scales of battle were restored once more.
But with zombie hunting becoming harder, many cultivators felt that killing zombies to earn contribution points for treasures was no longer cost-effective.
Thus, some cultivators began turning their thoughts to the Immortal ruins. The Immortal treasures at the exchange point clearly weren't appearing out of nowhere; it was obvious there must be Immortal ruins hidden within this small world.
Yet no one had found them so far. It was only speculated that the Immortal ruins might lie within the continent known as the Qinghe Cultivation World.
That continent, however, was enveloped by a great formation that outsiders couldn't enter. A few who relied on their strength to break the formation and force their way in never returned, disappearing without a trace. This filled many cultivators with awe toward Qinghe Cultivation World.
"Ridiculous!"
At this, a Void Refining cultivator who had suppressed his cultivation scoffed. In a small world with a limit of only the Nascent Soul stage, could there really be anywhere that could threaten him?
Immediately, a Void Refining cultivator from a great sect broke the formation and charged into Qinghe Cultivation World.
"Let me see what could have destroyed my true body so completely." Outside Qinghe Cultivation World, a youth gazed deeply at the intruding Void Refining cultivator.
This youth was the reincarnation of that very first Void Refining elder who had entered this place. Now he had returned to this small world, seeking to uncover the truth behind his original body's fall.
Unfortunately, the youth could only determine that his true body's final disappearance had been within Qinghe Cultivation World. After that, there was no clue. The body's end was too absolute—not even the faintest trace of soul aura remained. Otherwise, the reincarnated Void Refining elder could have used those traces to gain some insight.
But now that another Void Refining expert had broken in, perhaps he could obtain some intelligence from this.
"Again?"
Gu Mo frowned. Over the years, more and more outside cultivators had intruded. If they behaved themselves, he could turn a blind eye. But none of them were decent sorts; in their search for the Immortal ruins, they brought destruction instead.
To this, Gu Mo had shown no mercy, feeding every last one of them to his Bigmouth Flowers.
He had thought this would serve as deterrence, but unexpectedly another had come—and this time it was even a Void Refining who had suppressed his cultivation.
Yet even a suppressed Void Refining expert was still just one bite for the Bigmouth Flower.
"So there's actually a Nascent Soul here!"
After waiting a moment, that Void Refining cultivator who had suppressed his realm appeared before Gu Mo. At present, Gu Mo—after refining fifth-grade Sun Essence—had a sea of divine sense surging within his consciousness. Though he had not yet condensed his Nascent Soul Dharma Aspect, in others' eyes, he was no different from a true Nascent Soul cultivator.
In fact, purely in terms of the quantity of soul force, Gu Mo even surpassed ordinary Nascent Souls.
The Void Refining cultivator, wanting information about the Immortal ruins on this continent, naturally sought out Gu Mo, the strongest figure in Qinghe Cultivation World, as the fastest route.
"You should know plenty about those Immortal ruins," the Void Refining cultivator said, plopping himself down casually in a stone chair across from Gu Mo.
"Your chance lies in the Tianyuan Cultivation World, not here," Gu Mo shook his head. Killing zombies to exchange for Immortal treasures—that was the correct way for outside cultivators to find fortune.
"I say it's here."
The Void Refining cultivator's eyes narrowed. With unrivaled power in this small world, he exuded complete arrogance.
"If you say it's here, then here it will be—forever here." Knowing he was a man impossible to reason with, Gu Mo couldn't be bothered with more words. He waved his hand.
Instantly, from the courtyard's pond, vines burst forth, winding toward the Void Refining cultivator. These were fifth-grade Binding Waterweeds, which Gu Mo had placed in the pond to work in tandem with his fifth-grade Bigmouth Flowers.
"What!"
Sensing the waterweeds' level, the Void Refining cultivator was shocked. He hadn't detected them at all earlier. Such terrifying aura-concealment was astonishing.
But, mere fifth-grade spirit plants, and still…
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a purple, spike-lined maw appeared, lunging toward him. This time, however, the Void Refining cultivator from the great sect was clearly stronger than the last one. At the critical moment, he managed to dodge.
But seizing that chance, the vines of the Binding Waterweeds coiled tightly around him—and then, another gaping purple maw appeared.
In these past years, Gu Mo's collection of fifth-grade Bigmouth Flowers was clearly no longer limited to just one.
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