Chapter 120: The Incarnation's Journey
In the spiritual field, a small wooden house stood.
The original magical artifact house had been obliterated by a massive surge of spiritual energy during the previous explosion. At this moment, Gu Mo could only hastily construct a small wooden house as a temporary replacement. When he had the time, he would purchase a new magical artifact house.
Focusing his mind and calming his energy, Gu Mo sat cross-legged within the small wooden house, circulating the familiar foundational cultivation technique. As expected, both Gu Mo's true self and his incarnation encountered the same issue: the liquid spiritual energy could no longer be compressed, stalling the progress.
However, Gu Mo now had a solution. Instead of using the viscous liquid spiritual energy he had initially acquired from his incarnation's dantian, Gu Mo directly used a small amount of fake dan power to propel the foundational cultivation technique forward.
Once past this hurdle, everything proceeded smoothly. After running the foundational cultivation technique once, Gu Mo felt a sense of completion.
Though Gu Mo had already possessed everything a foundational cultivator should have, it had all been acquired through skipping steps and didn't involve a true breakthrough through regular cultivation.
The cultivation system in the immortal world had been around for countless years, with its own set of rules. Changing it easily was not so simple.
"It's a pity there's no breakthrough reward," Gu Mo opened his eyes. After completing the foundational cultivation technique, he didn't receive the breakthrough reward for reaching the foundational stage. Or rather, this reward had already been given earlier, and now Gu Mo was just paying the price.
However, the reward he had received earlier had stopped midway, leaving him with half of the foundation's accumulation. On the bright side, he had gained six drops of initial liquid spiritual energy, which wasn't too bad.
As for the foundation, Gu Mo could continue to accumulate it, but treasures containing initial power were rare and hard to come by.
Having now made up for stepping into the foundational stage, the next task for Gu Mo was to refine his incarnation. He took out a drop of initial liquid spiritual energy and a drop of his own blood, then used the outer body technique. Soon, a brand-new incarnation was born.
The incarnation, however, was still a blank slate. Gu Mo needed to spend time improving its strength, which was one flaw of the outer body technique.
Not only did the incarnation's cultivation need to be raised, but his true self also needed to improve after formally becoming a foundational cultivator. Additionally, both the true self and the incarnation still needed to use fake dan power to temper their physiques with the Spirit Refining Art.
In particular, the incarnation required Gu Mo to raise both its cultivation and physique to the middle stage of foundation-building, so it could then refine a fake dan and become a fake dan cultivator.
With a fake dan-level incarnation, Gu Mo would have no fear, even if He Shaogang sent someone to assassinate him. Unless He Shaogang sent a Golden Core cultivator, but this possibility was low.
Moreover, if a Golden Core cultivator were to come, they would need to pass through the territory of a third-tier demon beast, which would provoke the demon beast's attack. As for Gu Mo's current displayed strength, it wasn't enough to draw the attention of a Golden Core cultivator.
It was like an ant: with one slap, it could be crushed. Even with a nuclear bomb, the ant would be destroyed. Any normal person would choose to simply swat it.
Of course, there was always the chance that He Shaogang would do something irrational, so Gu Mo still needed to be fully prepared, such as making a second-tier top-quality cherry bomb. The power of a cherry bomb of this tier should be able to deter a Golden Core cultivator.
As for why not directly upgrade the cherry bomb to third-tier, that was naturally because of the massive amount of solar essence needed to upgrade it to that level.
If Gu Mo were to forcibly upgrade it, he would need to use all the solar essence in the spiritual field over the next few years. Without obtaining the fake dan first, Gu Mo might have gritted his teeth, saved every bit, and spent several years to forcibly create a third-tier cherry bomb.
Spending several years to get a weapon capable of killing a Golden Core cultivator was definitely worth it.
But now, with the fake dan and the incarnation, Gu Mo felt that upgrading the incarnation offered a higher cost-performance ratio. The cherry bomb's power was strong, but it was a one-time use.
If that one strike missed, Gu Mo would lose all ability to resist. But with a fake dan incarnation, though it couldn't match a true Golden Core in combat, a Golden Core cultivator would still need time to eliminate a fake dan cultivator.
That time would be enough for Gu Mo to escape or use a second-tier cherry bomb to counterattack and force the enemy to retreat.
Thus, Gu Mo's next plan was to prioritize improving the incarnation's cultivation and physique, at least to the mid-foundation stage, to meet the minimum requirement for refining a fake dan. After that, he would focus on upgrading the second-tier top-quality cherry bomb.
If conditions allowed, he would also upgrade the Sunflower, Peashooter, Potato Mine, and Walnut to second-tier top quality.
Only then would he focus on improving his true self's cultivation and physique. First, he would shore up his protective methods, and later, he would improve his true self's strength to prevent sudden danger from causing a fatal blow.
As for raising his true self's strength to the max, it was a valid approach, and one quite classic.
No external object could be stronger than one's own power. However, the issue was that once the incarnation reached the mid-foundation stage, it could refine the fake dan and possess the combat power of a fake dan cultivator. The cherry bomb, Peashooter, Potato Mine, and Walnut could all be upgraded quickly to the second-tier top-quality if there was enough solar essence.
But to raise his true self's cultivation to the peak of foundation-building, Gu Mo had no idea how many years it would take. This speed was far slower than the speed of upgrading the incarnation and plants.
After deciding on the next cultivation plan, time unknowingly began to fly by.
"Phew~~ Finally, the mid-foundation stage."
Gu Mo's incarnation slowly opened its eyes. With the full investment of resources, Gu Mo successfully raised the incarnation's cultivation to the mid-foundation stage.
It took two years for this. From a blank slate to the third layer of foundation-building, it took one year. The remaining year was spent breaking through the bottleneck to the mid-foundation stage.
Compared to the bottleneck of the Qi Refining stage, breaking through the Foundation Establishment stage was much harder. Of course, this was also related to the inferior spiritual root of both the incarnation and Gu Mo's true self.
But even so, Gu Mo broke through in just one year. This speed was not typical for inferior spiritual roots. Even cultivators with superior spiritual roots couldn't break through to the mid-foundation stage so quickly.
The reason superior spiritual root cultivators couldn't break through as fast as Gu Mo was that they didn't have a fake dan cultivator with the same power to guide them.
Gu Mo, with his inferior spiritual root, reached the mid-foundation stage in just a year with the help of the fake dan power directly pushing through the bottleneck. As for whether such a rough breakthrough method would have any hidden risks, Gu Mo wasn't concerned, especially since it was just the incarnation.
The incarnation's sole purpose was to clear the path for the true self. Gu Mo had personally experienced the breakthrough to the mid-foundation stage through the incarnation. When his true self reached that stage, he would have experience and could take his time, building a perfect foundation.
With the incarnation successfully reaching the mid-foundation stage, Gu Mo could now use the external dan technique to refine the fake dan, turning the incarnation into a fake dan cultivator.
However, Gu Mo quickly realized a problem: he seemed to lack the method for cultivating the external dan technique. After all, Gu Mo hadn't expected to, by chance, obtain a fake dan that he had personally refined.
The art of external alchemy should be found in the sect's library, but the issue is that the sect sealed its gates years ago and has been focusing entirely on refining the Ning Ying Dan. Before the completion of the pill's refinement, Gu Mo cannot enter the sect, nor can anyone leave.
"It looks like I'll have to check the nearby market," Gu Mo thought to himself, not wanting to wait around.
The art of external alchemy isn't an especially rare cultivation method; large markets should have it. If not, Gu Mo can only head to the immortal city to find it.
However, the immortal city is quite far away, and with Gu Mo's speed, it would likely take months to reach.
He took out a storage bag seized from a slain enemy during a previous battle. From within the dark mist space, Gu Mo took out large amounts of spirit stones, pills, and magical tools, packing them into the storage bag.
These were spoils from when Gu Mo eliminated some assassins a few years back. He didn't really have much use for them, so it was a good opportunity to sell them at the market.
Finally, Gu Mo took out a second-tier supreme Cherry Bomb and placed it inside the bag.
During the year when his avatar used pill power to break through the mid-stage Foundation Building bottleneck, Gu Mo had used all the solar essence he had gathered to upgrade the Cherry Bomb. Upgrading it to a second-tier supreme was acceptable in terms of the solar essence consumed. Over the course of the year, Gu Mo had gathered three second-tier supreme Cherry Bombs.
Now, he was giving one to his avatar to serve as a trump card. After all, his avatar had not yet refined a fake pill and was only at the mid-stage of Foundation Building.
Gu Mo handed the storage bag, now filled with supplies, to his avatar. His real body didn't need a storage bag, as he had the dark mist space, but his avatar didn't have such a convenient method.
Given that this trip involved more items, using a small spatial artifact wasn't suitable.
"Then, I'll be off."
Gu Mo, in his avatar form, waved to his real body. This was the first time he'd sent his avatar out after its creation, and honestly, Gu Mo was looking forward to it.
Without alerting anyone, Gu Mo's avatar silently left the resource point.
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Qing Lu Sect.
Two years ago, Qing Lu Sect had completely sealed its gates, focusing all efforts on refining. When a large sect like Qing Lu sect one suddenly closed its gates, it naturally attracted much attention.
Soon after, the news of Qing Lu Sect refining the the pill was leaked. The sect was aware that it wouldn't be able to hide this for long, but by the time other sects found out, it was already too late.
Even so, the other sects didn't reduce their focus on Qing Lu Sect. Whether or not Qing Lu Sect could successfully refine the pill would directly impact the pattern of the cultivation world for the next several hundred years.
However, the sect's gates remained tightly shut, making it difficult to gather detailed information. Even though there were spies from other sects planted in Qing Lu Sect, under the closed gates, they couldn't send any useful information out.
Nevertheless, no matter how tight Qing Lu Sect's defenses were, they couldn't stop traitors from emerging within, especially one who held great power within the sect.
Unbeknownst to anyone, a group of cultivators had hidden their presence and secretly crossed through the sect's protective mountain array, infiltrating Qing Lu Sect.
However, these infiltrators didn't immediately take action. Instead, they hid because the number of infiltrators wasn't enough yet, and the true powerhouses hadn't arrived.
The mountain array, though breached by He Shaogang's use of the proxy sect leader's authority to open a back door, could still detect any powerful cultivators attempting to break in. Therefore, He Shaogang could only open the full permissions when he was ready to let his sect's experts enter.
For now, the most he could do was prepare. He Shaogang was waiting for Qing Lu Sect's failure to refine the pill. When that happened, Sect Leader Gao Yunrui would have no other choice but to forcibly attempt to break through.
Attempting to break through without using any pills was a matter of life and death. If Gao Yunrui failed and died, it would mark the perfect moment to seize Qing Lu Sect and its 4th-tier spiritual land.
As for Qing Lu Sect's strongest force, the Law Enforcement Hall's Elder, she posed a threat but not a major one. Once she took action, her heart fire would quickly erode her. As long as they didn't confront her head-on, they could deal with her.
Without Gao Yunrui and law Elder, the remaining Golden Core Elders posed little threat.
Of course, seizing the gates of a former Nascent soul sect required great care. Therefore, external attacks had to be carefully planned, and internal cooperation was indispensable.
He Shaogang's primary mission was to undermine Qing Lu Sect from within. He had already successfully turned several sect disciples to his side, including a few true disciples.
With their cooperation, the infiltrators from outside could avoid the sect's patrols.
Unfortunately, he hadn't found an opportunity to turn Yuan Niya, the second true disciple. He Shaogang had two methods of persuasion: one was to entice with benefits, which worked well on regular disciples; they were happy to do his bidding as long as the rewards were sufficient.
But for true disciples, offering benefits had little effect. After all, true disciples had been heavily cultivated by the sect, and their loyalty was unquestionable.
Thus, He Shaogang used a second method with the true disciples: forcibly controlling them with special means.
He Shaogang used his position as proxy sect leader to summon a disciple, then, when the disciple was off guard, he would directly control them, implanting a restriction to control their life and death.
This method was almost always effective, except with Yuan Niya, who never responded to He Shaogang's summons and always kept her distance.
Her behavior made He Shaogang wary. He wondered if she had discovered something, especially since she was close to Gu Mo. Could she have heard something from him?
After carefully investigating, He Shaogang dismissed the idea. If Yuan Niya had truly learned something, she could have easily reported it to her master. If the Law Enforcement Hall's Elder got involved, it would become a serious issue.
After confirming that Yuan Niya didn't suspect him, He Shaogang abandoned any plans to act against her. If she were to report him, he would have to risk eliminating her.
Since Yuan Niya didn't know anything and was simply hostile toward him, He Shaogang saw no need to take unnecessary risks and decided not to eliminate her yet.
This is why Gu Mo only warned Yuan Niya to be cautious around He Shaogang but didn't tell her the whole truth—he didn't want her to face He Shaogang directly. With her intelligence, she wouldn't be able to outmaneuver him.
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