Chapter 147 – Dragonblood Kelp
"Hm?"
Just as Gu Mo was plotting his next move, a sudden unease welled up inside him—an uncanny sensation, as if he'd been locked onto by someone's aura.
"No way… They can still track me this far?" Gu Mo stood up, clearly underestimating the capabilities of a Nascent Soul cultivator—or perhaps more accurately, he had never truly understood what a Nascent Soul expert was capable of.
"Good thing I held something back. Otherwise, I'd be screwed right now." Gu Mo pulled out the identity token Qi Chunde had given him. It contained a detailed map.
The map marked a relatively safe sea route—one currently being used by Xiancheng's ships. Other routes, however, were riddled with danger zones.
Some of those zones were home to Tier 4 sea monsters.
Gu Mo quickly locked onto the nearest Tier 4 sea monster territory and immediately leapt off the ship. Since the Nascent Soul cultivator from Fenghua Sect was still hot on his trail, Gu Mo had no choice but to take refuge in the monster's domain.
As a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, Gu Mo wouldn't attract the attention of a Tier 4 sea monster. Combined with his perfected Aura Concealment Technique, he could minimize his presence to the utmost.
But if a Nascent Soul cultivator were to show up, the Tier 4 monster would definitely react. In fact, a fight might break out between the two sides. And in the ocean, sea monsters held a significant advantage over human Nascent Soul cultivators.
Of course, there was still a risk to this plan—but at this point, Gu Mo had no other choice.
"He changed direction."
While speeding across the sea with his compass artifact in hand, He Zhangcheng abruptly stopped. "He's trying to use the sea monster to hide?" He immediately saw through Gu Mo's intent.
The problem was, there wasn't much He Zhangcheng could do about it. He could negotiate with Xiancheng's city lord—but a Tier 4 sea monster? They wouldn't communicate with human cultivators at all, even though their intelligence was already on par with humans.
The only way to counter this move was to intercept Gu Mo before he entered the monster's territory—or kill both him and the sea monster. Unfortunately, He Zhangcheng didn't have the strength for that. Even for a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, killing an early-stage Tier 4 sea monster in the ocean was extremely difficult.
Yet giving up now made him extremely unwilling. Once that lingering trace of spiritual aura dissipated, tracking Gu Mo again would be nearly impossible.
After a moment's thought, He Zhangcheng decided to pursue anyway. Maybe—just maybe—he could eliminate that slippery brat before the Tier 4 sea monster noticed.
"Damn, I never got the chance to learn Wind Escape… I'm still too slow." Flying just above the sea on his sword, Gu Mo couldn't help but feel a pang of regret. He'd obtained the Wind Escape technique too recently—hadn't even gotten a chance to study it before He Shaogang discovered him.
After killing He Shaogang, he'd had to run for his life. It was only then that Gu Mo truly realized the importance of mastering an escape technique.
"So fast!"
Feeling the oppressive sense of spiritual locking intensify, Gu Mo accelerated even further—then dove straight into the sea. He had officially entered the Tier 4 monster's domain. Now he needed to hide well—and if possible, lure the monster to the area.
"Found you!"
He Zhangcheng's divine sense finally locked onto a faint trace in the distance—his target. Though Gu Mo had entered the sea monster's territory, he hadn't gone deep. Tier 4 sea monsters usually stayed in the core zones and rarely roamed the outskirts.
As long as he was quick enough, He Zhangcheng was confident he could kill Gu Mo before the sea monster reacted—and then leave without a trace.
But just as he approached the area, an aura equal to his own surged up from the depths. He Zhangcheng's expression changed. Why was the sea monster here?
Why, indeed?
Naturally, it had been lured over by Gu Mo. According to Qi Chunde's map, this particular territory was occupied by a unique plant-type sea monster.
Based on the fairly detailed information Qi Chunde had left behind, it was clear the spiritual herb expert had some interest in the creature. However, the massive power gap between them had made him shelve those ambitions for now.
Since it was a plant, Gu Mo figured it might be interested in solar essence. So he tossed out a portion of Tier 3 Solar Essence—and sure enough, the Tier 4 sea monster had taken the bait.
From the deep sea rose a massive, dark green figure—its sheer size radiated pressure. As it ascended, Gu Mo finally got a clear look at it: a colossal kelp in the shape of a dragon.
According to Qi Chunde's records, this was a kelp that had been tainted by dragon blood. That blood had begun transforming it—it was undergoing dragonization.
In its dragonized form, the kelp no longer remained rooted to the seabed. It had become a mobile dragon-shaped kelp beast.
Normally, the Dragonblood Kelp preferred to stay in one place, but the Solar Essence had piqued its curiosity and drawn it over.
Upon absorbing the Tier 3 Solar Essence, the kelp felt an immense sense of satisfaction. The unique energy seemed to greatly aid its transformation into a true dragon.
Eager to obtain more, the Dragonblood Kelp began searching for similar energy sources—eventually spotting Gu Mo lurking in the distance. But a mere Foundation Establishment human didn't interest it in the slightest. Not even worth a snack.
Then it noticed another human approaching—a Nascent Soul cultivator. That stirred its excitement. Could the mysterious energy have come from him?
If so, then killing that cultivator might net it even more of the strange essence.
"Wait a minute!"
Seeing the Dragonblood Kelp suddenly charge out of the sea, He Zhangcheng's face darkened. Why was this Tier 4 monster attacking on sight?
He didn't want to fight a sea monster in its own territory. That was a thankless task at best.
But the Dragonblood Kelp gave him no choice. In its mind, there was only one thought: kill the human Nascent Soul cultivator and seize that unique energy.
As the monster came at him aggressively, He Zhangcheng grew furious. He didn't want to fight—but that didn't mean he was afraid.
And sometimes, the only way to reason with a sea monster… was to beat it into submission. Only then would it back off.
With that in mind, He Zhangcheng stopped retreating. He unleashed his full spiritual power and charged straight at the Dragonblood Kelp.
Boom!
A clash between a Tier 4 sea monster and a Nascent Soul True Lord instantly erupted, sending towering waves crashing in all directions. Gu Mo, watching from afar, turned pale.
Without a second thought, he spun around and fled—but he wasn't fast enough. A massive wave caught him, sweeping him into the chaos.
Gu Mo felt like he'd been tossed into a washing machine. Everything around him twisted wildly.
"Ugh—"
Even with his pseudo-core-level physique, Gu Mo couldn't stop himself from dry-heaving. As he finally escaped the vortex, he looked around in confusion.
"The hell… where did that spit me out?" Gu Mo pulled out Qi Chunde's wooden token. This place wasn't marked on the map.
Which meant the map was now useless—and his plan to reach Shennong Valley was temporarily scrapped. First, he needed to figure out where he was.
Leaping from the sea, Gu Mo soared into the sky on his sword. Scanning the horizon, he quickly spotted an island in the distance. It wasn't small, roughly the size of one of Yuntian Immortal City's branch cities.
Further out, more scattered islands dotted the seascape.
Confirmed his direction, Gu Mo immediately took to his sword and flew off. As he drew closer to the island, his brow furrowed—he could sense the presence of a demonic beast there. Not only that, it was the aura of a Tier-3 beast.
What's more, the island actually housed a Tier-3 spirit vein. That had to be what attracted the beast in the first place.
A Tier-3 spirit vein wasn't just appealing to beasts—it was just as tempting to Gu Mo.
Activating his perfected Breath Concealment Technique to full effect, Gu Mo landed silently on the island. He planned to first observe the situation. If the beast was easy to deal with, he would simply take the island for himself and turn it into a spirit farm.
"Hm?"
As Gu Mo ventured deeper, he spotted numerous human skeletons scattered along the path. His brows knit slightly tighter—this was a man-eating beast. There were humans living nearby, perhaps on those distant island clusters.
Now knowing the beast was not only powerful but vicious, Gu Mo grew even more cautious. After passing through a forest, he reached the center of the island.
There, he saw a lake. Spiritual energy rippled through its waters—this was the Tier-3 spirit vein he had sensed earlier. On the continent, spirit veins generally manifested as terrestrial veins, but out at sea, they often took the form of water veins.
At the moment, this lake was precisely a Tier-3 water vein. Whether terrestrial or aquatic, they both held the same concentration of spiritual energy.
Gu Mo swept his gaze across the lake and spotted a massive lizard lying lazily in the water—this was the Tier-3 demonic beast occupying the place.
"Early Tier-3. This might actually work," Gu Mo muttered to himself as he carefully probed the creature's aura. Confirming that it was only in the early stages of Tier-3, a spark of excitement lit in his heart.
If it were in the late stage of Tier-3, Gu Mo would've left without a second thought. But early Tier-3? That was something he could handle. If he could kill it, the spirit vein would be his.
The giant lizard didn't look like anything benevolent, either. Killing it could even be considered a public service.
With that thought, Gu Mo silently retreated and found a spot with a clear view of the lizard. He then took out a Tier-3 Potato Mine. He hadn't used it in his fight with He Shaogang, so now was the perfect time to let this lizard have a taste.
Given its power, a Tier-3 Potato Mine should easily be able to kill a demonic beast at the early Tier-3 level. The only challenge was figuring out how to lure the creature into stepping on it.
After thinking for a moment, Gu Mo pulled out a flowerpot and planted a Tier-1 Peashooter, placing it next to the Potato Mine.
Then he had the Peashooter launch an attack at the lizard in the lake.
A green energy pea arced through the air and struck the lizard's head. Naturally, a Tier-1 Peashooter couldn't harm a Tier-3 demonic beast, but it was more than enough to provoke it.
The lizard immediately rose and lumbered toward the Peashooter. Perhaps sensing that it was only a Tier-1 plant and that no other threats were nearby, the beast moved in a slow, relaxed manner.
Before long, it drew close to the Peashooter—and its massive front claw landed directly on the Potato Mine.
BOOM!
A blast of annihilating energy exploded from the point of impact, erasing everything within a three-meter radius—this included a quarter of the lizard's body.
The Potato Mine packed a punch, but its explosion radius was limited, and the lizard was simply too large. Even taking the full brunt of the blast only obliterated a fourth of its body.
Still, the damage was devastating. Gu Mo could even see the beast's demon core exposed through the wound.
HSSSS!!
With a quarter of its body gone in an instant, the giant lizard let out a scream of pain—laced with panic. It could clearly sense that if the explosion had hit one of its vital organs, it would've been dead on the spot.
Without hesitation, the beast turned and tried to drag its mangled body back to the safety of the lake.
But Gu Mo had no intention of letting it escape. He summoned a supreme-grade flying sword radiating with icy energy and launched a Sword Art strike.
His previous supreme-grade bamboo sword had been lost along with his false core avatar. The sword he now wielded—a supreme-grade ice-elemental flying sword—was one of the spoils he had taken from He Shaogang. The same went for the supreme-grade defensive artifact he carried.
So long as a magic treasure hadn't formed its own sentience, it could be re-refined after the original owner's death and used anew. But if it had developed spiritual awareness, it would be much harder to bind.
With both a supreme offensive sword and a supreme defensive treasure in hand, paired with the strength of his pseudo-core level body and soul, Gu Mo had no trouble taking down a severely injured early Tier-3 beast.
If his cultivation were a bit higher, slaying such a creature with these tools would be trivial.
Whew…
Looking at the lizard's corpse, now frozen into a block of ice, Gu Mo let out a long breath. Driving supreme-grade magic tools with only Foundation Establishment–level liquid mana was still taxing. Still, successfully taking this Tier-3 water vein was a huge gain. Next, he could plant more Tier-3 Sunflowers and convert all of his liquid spiritual power into Golden Core–grade true essence, making it much easier to wield supreme-grade treasures.
He then harvested the demon core from the lizard's body. The core was incredibly valuable—it could be refined into an external core, allowing Foundation Establishment cultivators to walk the path of an external core cultivator.
Beyond that, the flesh, blood, and bones of a Tier-3 demonic beast were all valuable materials—useful in both alchemy and artifact crafting.
Once the beast's corpse was fully processed, Gu Mo walked to the edge of the lake at the center of the island. Up until now, he had been focused solely on slaying the beast and claiming the spirit vein—but a new problem now loomed.
Sunflowers couldn't grow in water. And if he tried to fill the lake with soil, the water vein would be ruined.
"Looks like I'll need to head back to the vending machine and see if it has any new plant types I can use," Gu Mo thought, and with that, he entered the Black Mist Space.
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