Chapter 125: The Fishing Plan
"Phew…"
Gu Mo took a deep breath to steady his emotions and continued toward Immortal City. With Qinglu Sect now annihilated, he currently lacked the power to avenge them or rebuild the sect. All he could do for now was hide himself well and steadily cultivate his strength.
One day, when he reached the Nascent Soul stage, Gu Mo would personally reclaim Qinglu Sect's spiritual territory to repay the bonds he owed from all these years.
His journey to Immortal City went smoothly, without any unexpected incidents. After all, with the concealment and disguise techniques layered atop one another, no one could see through his true identity.
Drawing from past experience, Gu Mo didn't suppress his cultivation to the Qi Refining stage this time but instead revealed his actual Foundation Establishment level. This would deter many low-level cultivators who might otherwise try to rob him without realizing the risk.
Of course, if a Foundation Establishment stage rogue cultivator did appear, Gu Mo wouldn't be fazed in the slightest. Although his main body was still only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, both his physical body and divine soul had already reached the peak of Foundation Establishment. Ordinary cultivators at the same level wouldn't be able to stand against him.
Not to mention, he still had his fake Core Formation body as a powerful trump card. Even if multiple Foundation Establishment stage enemies showed up, he could make sure none of them walked away.
As for Core Formation rogue cultivators—anyone who'd advanced to that level wouldn't need to stoop to robbery. They could easily join any faction and receive generous rewards.
"Let's rest up ahead."
Gu Mo spotted a medium-sized marketplace ahead and decided to stop and recuperate. Immortal City was still a long way off, and at his current speed, it would take several months to get there. Naturally, he couldn't travel nonstop.
Upon entering the marketplace, Gu Mo found an inn that catered to cultivators and ordered a table full of spiritual dishes. Now that his net worth exceeded ten million, he didn't need to be frugal.
"Have you heard? Something happened to Qinglu Sect."
"Yeah, I heard too. They were apparently attacked by a powerful enemy. The sect has already been destroyed."
"No way. Qinglu Sect was a Nascent Soul-tier sect—how could they be wiped out so easily?"
…
Gu Mo sat quietly, listening to the surrounding cultivators' conversations. Unsurprisingly, news of Qinglu Sect's fall had already spread. The destruction of a Nascent Soul-tier sect was a major event—something that might not happen even once in several centuries.
It would undoubtedly have a profound impact on the balance of power in this cultivation world.
However, after listening for a while, Gu Mo shook his head. The things these cultivators were saying were a mix of truth and rumor—not reliable intelligence.
To get genuinely useful information, one had to go to a professional intelligence-trading organization. Although Gu Mo had learned the basics from Qi Chunde's message transmission, he knew nothing about what happened after that.
"Hm?"
Gu Mo's gaze swept casually across the street outside the window when suddenly, his eyes narrowed. He tossed down a few spirit stones and swiftly descended the stairs.
"That's a sect marker. Did a disciple from Qinglu Sect escape to this place? And… it's a distress signal." Gu Mo stared at a discreet marking on a street corner. It was a sign used by Qinglu Sect disciples for secret communication when outside.
Without hesitation, Gu Mo followed the marker's directions and stopped at a secluded spot within the marketplace. "This should be the place," he murmured, frowning slightly at the building in front of him.
He then backed up a few steps and walked around the area, as if scouting the surroundings. When he stepped into a corner and emerged again, a subtle shift in his aura had taken place.
Knock knock knock!
Gu Mo returned to the small building and knocked on the door using a special rhythmic pattern.
Inside the room, five figures were seated cross-legged, each exuding a different level of spiritual pressure. The strongest had reached the peak of Qi Refining, while the other four hovered around the mid-stages.
"Senior brother, someone just triggered our signal."
One of the mid-stage cultivators opened his eyes, a trace of conflicted emotion flickering across his gaze.
"Remember—don't give yourselves away. Lure them inside, then strike," the peak Qi Refining cultivator instructed gravely.
"Yes!"
The four mid-stage cultivators responded in unison.
Knock knock knock!
As the unique knock echoed again, the nearest cultivator adjusted his expression and opened the door.
"Who are you?"
He stared at the young man in front of him, his mind racing. But he couldn't recall who the stranger was. That wasn't unusual, though. With so many disciples in Qinglu Sect, as an outer disciple, he couldn't possibly recognize everyone. Still, if the man had followed the signal, he was most likely one of theirs.
"I'm Hu Shuo. I saw the distress signal. Are you in some kind of trouble?" Gu Mo casually gave a false name. His gaze passed over the cultivator at the door and into the room, noting the other four inside. None of them looked injured or in distress.
"So it's Senior Brother Hu Shuo. Please, come in!"
The mid-stage cultivator welcomed him in and shut the door behind him. As soon as it closed, countless formation patterns lit up around the room.
Gu Mo immediately felt a binding force pressing against him—the room had been set up with a trapping array.
"Attack!"
Seeing Gu Mo caught in the formation, the five cultivators drew their spirit swords and slashed toward him.
Clang clang clang clang clang!
But the five swords only struck with metallic clangs—none left a scratch. What a joke. If a few Qi Refining cultivators could injure him, he might as well bash his head into a rock.
"Out of respect for our shared sect background, I'll give you a chance to explain," Gu Mo said calmly, looking at the five astonished cultivators.
When Gu Mo had first seen the house, his divine sense—already at the peak of Foundation Establishment—had scanned the area. He'd already discovered the house's abnormality. However, since there were no Core Formation cultivators nearby, he hadn't been concerned.
With his current power, unless a real Core Formation expert appeared, no Foundation Establishment cultivator could threaten him.
Still, to be cautious, Gu Mo had taken a walk around and sent his fake Core Formation body to investigate. So the five cultivators had actually attacked a fake Core Formation puppet.
"We were forced into this… Blame the sect for being too weak. It failed to protect us. We just want to survive!" The peak Qi Refining cultivator's eyes turned red as he shouted and lunged again with his sword.
"Is that so?"
Given the circumstances and what he'd just heard, Gu Mo could pretty much guess what had happened—these were likely outer sect disciples.
The sect that He Shaogang belonged to had clearly employed some kind of method to control these outer sect disciples, forcing them to obey orders. Then, using these disciples, they deployed special sect markers to lure those who had fled from the sect into ambushes and slaughtered them.
It had to be said—this tactic was vicious. No one knew how many former sect members would fall victim to it. Though the ploy would likely be exposed soon, the damage would already be done: those who had fled the sect would lose the ability to trust one another. Already weakened and isolated, they would be unable to unite, making an already dire situation even worse.
"Sigh…"
Gu Mo let out a long sigh, raised his hand, and caught the oncoming magical sword from a Qi Condensation disciple at the peak of the stage. With a light flick of his wrist, the five former disciples of Qinglu Sect were all slain.
Clap clap clap clap!
Just as the five Qinglu Sect disciples were cut down, a sudden round of applause rang out. Five more figures emerged, each emanating the aura of Foundation Establishment cultivators. Among them, the one clapping exuded the presence of a late-stage Foundation Establishment expert.
"How touching—sect disciples, so affectionate toward one another!" The late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator fixed his gaze on Gu Mo. When he sensed the aura of early-stage Foundation Establishment radiating from Gu Mo, a cruel smile formed at the corner of his mouth.
"Looks like we've hooked a big fish!"
Another mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator stared at Gu Mo like he was some priceless treasure.
Those who had escaped from Qinglu Sect—especially the stronger ones—still carried the legacy of a powerful Nascent Soul-level sect. Killing just one of them could lead to unimaginable wealth.
Even if they didn't strike it rich, eliminating a remnant Foundation Establishment disciple of Qinglu Sect would earn them a hefty amount of sect contribution points.
"Noisy."
Gu Mo said coldly.
As he spoke, a strand of sharp metal-element sword qi burst from his fingertip and swept outward. In the next moment, five heads flew into the air. Though the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator had activated a spiritual shield before death, it was as fragile as paper before the pseudo-Core-level power Gu Mo wielded. The shield didn't even delay his death for a single breath.
"Looks like that was all of them."
At that moment, Gu Mo's true body entered the room. While his pseudo-Core incarnation had been killing, his true self had been searching the area and confirmed there were no other hidden enemies.
With Gu Mo's current strength, even his true body could have handled this group easily. But given that this was a market town, any major disturbance could attract attention. Using his pseudo-Core incarnation was a safer choice.
Given the massive gap in cultivation, the pseudo-Core incarnation easily eliminated the five Foundation Establishment cultivators. And with the formation shielding the room, no one outside would be aware that five Foundation Establishment cultivators had just died here.
Those five were truly unfortunate to have run into Gu Mo. If their opponent had really been a Qinglu Sect Core Formation elder, they wouldn't have shown themselves at all. They would've fled far away and then alerted their sect to send someone more powerful to deal with the target.
Of course, in their minds, the chances of hooking a Core Formation elder were extremely low. After all, the quality of the bait determined the quality of the catch.
Outer sect disciples couldn't bait a Core Formation elder—only inner sect disciples or even core disciples could do that.
And just as they had expected, they didn't lure a Core Formation elder—but instead caught Gu Mo, a man-eating shark in human form.
"A mid-grade flying sword magic treasure!"
Looting the bodies after a kill had already become second nature to Gu Mo. After all, his overnight fortune after killing the owner of the Yuquan market had set a precedent—it was a hard habit to break.
Sure enough, this time he'd struck gold again. From the body of the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, he retrieved a mid-grade flying sword. His pseudo-Core incarnation was still using a low-grade flying sword, so this would significantly boost its combat power.
Of course, to fully or even over-activate the strength of a pseudo-Core incarnation, only a top-grade magic treasure would suffice—but such treasures were typically held only by Core Formation-level cultivators.
It was rare for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to possess a top-grade magic treasure unless they were elite prodigies from top-tier sects.
Besides that mid-grade flying sword, Gu Mo also obtained four low-grade flying swords, some spirit stones, pills, and talismans—altogether worth over a hundred thousand spirit stones. As expected, killing and looting remained the fastest path to wealth.
After counting his spoils, Gu Mo departed without leaving a trace. As for the corpses, he didn't bother dealing with them. Consider it a warning to those who orchestrated this scheme.
At the same time, Gu Mo removed the sect markers along the way. That was the most he could do. As for gathering and protecting the scattered disciples of his former sect, Gu Mo simply didn't have the capability.
Seizing the chance before the enemy realized something was wrong, Gu Mo didn't linger. He left the market town immediately. A few days later, he arrived at another market town and once again saw the sect's markers.
What followed was almost a repeat of what had happened before. The only difference was that this town was smaller, and so the enemy had stationed weaker cultivators there—resulting in fewer gains for Gu Mo, only a few tens of thousands of spirit stones.
But that was fine. There were still plenty of market towns along the way, and Gu Mo could sweep through them one by one.
Former Qinglu Sect Mountain Gate.
"Young Master, three more Foundation Establishment disciples' soul lamps have gone out." Yao Shifeng rushed to He Shaogang's side and bowed as he delivered the news. Compared to before, Yao Shifeng's aura had changed significantly. After siding with He Shaogang—and with He Shaogang's recent triumph—he too had reaped immense benefits.
"I see. Pass the word—terminate the fishing operation!" He Shaogang took a deep breath and gave the order to halt the plan.
Using former Qinglu Sect disciples as bait to lure and eliminate those who had fled the sect had been his idea—a truly sinister strategy. At first, it worked beautifully, eliminating many hidden enemies. But soon, He Shaogang noticed that the disciples his sect had sent out were being attacked in return, suffering heavy losses.
With no clue who the culprit was, He Shaogang had no choice but to shut the plan down.
But ending it like this left a bitter taste in his mouth. Unwilling to let it go, he took out a map, marked with many red dots—each indicating a site where a sect disciple had died.
"This one…"
Suddenly, He Shaogang's gaze fixed on one particular market town. Based on the pattern of the red dots, there was a high chance the killer would show up there next.
"Summon Elder Zong," He Shaogang said to Yao Shifeng.
"At once!"
Yao Shifeng accepted the order and quickly departed.
Soon, a lean and wiry pseudo-Core cultivator appeared. Upon seeing He Shaogang, he clasped his hands in salute. "Greetings, Young Sect Master!"
He Shaogang had played a major role in seizing Qinglu Sect's spiritual lands. With such monumental merit—and given his lineage—he had already been designated as the next Sect Master.
"Elder Zong, I have a task that requires your personal attention," He Shaogang said courteously, not putting on any airs despite his status.
"Please give the order, Young Sect Master!" Though He Shaogang remained polite, Elder Zong dared not take him lightly. Everyone knew by now: the Young Sect Master had achieved great merit, and after taking the Reincarnation Pill to fix his foundation, he now had a real chance of reaching the Nascent Soul stage.
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