Plant VS Cultivation

Chapter 161: The Heavenly Flame Experiment

To make use of the Iceflame Stump as soon as possible, Gu Mo immediately began researching it. His focus included analyzing the properties of the Iceflame Heavenly Flame itself, exploring how it could be paired with the Peashooter, and testing its applications in alchemy.

There wasn't much research needed to understand the properties of the Iceflame—it only took getting close to feel its piercing cold. This pale-blue flame clearly belonged to the extremely frigid ice element.

Speaking of ice, Gu Mo couldn't help but think of the top-grade ice-elemental flying sword he possessed. Since both shared the same elemental affinity, he wondered if the Iceflame could be used to temper the sword.

Without hesitation, Gu Mo acted on the idea. He exposed the flying sword to the Iceflame for a round of tempering, and the results were unexpectedly excellent. The sword's chill became noticeably stronger after the treatment.

And that was with the most basic form of tempering. After all, Gu Mo didn't know any artifact-forging techniques. If he could use special forging methods, the results might be even better.

"Looks like I need to find time to learn a secret technique for tempering magical artifacts," Gu Mo thought to himself.

With the help of a specialized forging art, this top-grade flying sword might even develop a spirit and become a spiritual artifact.

Using Heavenly Flame to forge spirit—this was apparently a unique technique of artifact forgers. Now that Gu Mo had both the Heavenly Flame and a top-grade magic weapon, all he lacked was that special technique for spiritual forging.

Learning such a secret art, even with only a chance at crafting a spiritual artifact, was well worth the investment.

In the future, if he could obtain more and stronger Heavenly Flames, he might even be able to attempt reawakening the spirit of the damaged spiritual treasure—the Golden jiao Shears. Perhaps a new spirit could be born from it.

After confirming the Iceflame's massive potential in artifact forging, Gu Mo proceeded to test its effects in pill refinement.

The results were, naturally, very gratifying. Although the Iceflame was of the ice element, its ability to refine and extract the essence of spiritual materials was incredibly powerful.

This was especially true for ice-elemental materials—the Iceflame not only extracted their essence flawlessly but even enhanced their potency.

As a result, both the success rate and quality of his alchemy improved dramatically.

Even when used on non-ice-elemental materials, the Iceflame still performed far better than ordinary spiritual flames. Its only drawback was with fire-elemental ingredients—it would destroy their medicinal properties during refinement.

But that wasn't a big issue. Gu Mo could just switch to using a regular Torch Stump when refining fire-elemental materials.

This minor flaw was negligible compared to the tremendous improvements the Iceflame brought to his alchemy. With its assistance, Gu Mo felt he'd soon be ready to attempt refining a Condensed Gold Pill.

Having tested the Iceflame's benefits in both pill and artifact refinement, Gu Mo moved on to his next experiment—testing it in combination with the Peashooter.

He took out a Tier-1 Wall-Nut and placed it in the spiritual field ahead. Then he placed a Tier-1 Peashooter behind the Iceflame Stump.

"Fire!"

Once everything was set, Gu Mo commanded the Peashooter to attack the Wall-Nut.

A glowing energy pea shot forward, passing through the Iceflame Stump. In an instant, it was engulfed in icy blue flames, transforming into a frost-blue Ice Pea.

"Bang!"

The Ice Pea struck the Wall-Nut dead-on. Instantly, it was frozen solid. A few breaths later, the ice shattered—and with it, the Tier-1 Wall-Nut was also destroyed.

Clearly, even a Tier-1 Peashooter paired with the Iceflame Stump had enough power to break through the defenses of a Tier-1 Wall-Nut.

Encouraged, Gu Mo took out a Tier-3 Wall-Nut to test next. This time, although the Wall-Nut withstood the Ice Pea's impact and didn't shatter, it was still frozen solid.

Gu Mo tested the strength of the resulting ice and was delighted—it was a powerful immobilization technique. Although the Entangling Water Grass also served a similar purpose, it could only passively trap enemies in water.

In contrast, the Peashooter and Iceflame Stump combo could actively freeze enemies. Once struck, escape would be extremely difficult.

The only downside was that each Ice Pea consumed a bit of the Iceflame's energy. Overuse could destabilize the flame. Still, as a method of restraining enemies, it was more than effective.

---

While Gu Mo was busy experimenting with the Iceflame Stump, a major event took place among the sea monsters—Lord Chisha the Great Demon was celebrating her thousandth birthday.

It was said that high-ranking sea demons from several surrounding regions came to celebrate, even some from distant waters. After all, Lord Chisha was a strong contender to become a Demon King.

With so many powerful demons gathered, the Lord Chisha Sea was practically bursting with demonic energy that day. And as expected, their conversations naturally turned to recent events—including the situation at the Giant Crab Archipelago.

The tale of General Golden Claw being slain and the archipelago being taken over by a human cultivator had already spread far and wide.

Until now, the other demons had kept their heads down out of fear of Gu Mo's strength. But now that so many were gathered, some began stirring up talk of banding together to reclaim the spiritual land.

Most voiced support in name, but none were willing to actually act. They all knew how powerful Golden Claw had been—his strength ranked among the peak of third-tier demons. Whoever killed him had to be immensely powerful.

For early or mid-stage Tier-3 demons like themselves to go charging in? That would be suicide. Even if they had numbers on their side, who could guarantee they wouldn't be the one to die?

"The Lord Chisha arrives!"

Just then, a loud announcement rang out. All eyes turned as a dignified and graceful woman in a blue gown appeared.

If not for the long, whip-like scorpion tail trailing behind her, she could've easily been mistaken for a charming, mature human woman.

"Greetings, Lord Chisha!"

All the demons bowed. Those who knew her understood she had a peculiar fondness for human customs—be it rituals, clothing, or this very birthday banquet.

In fact, monsters didn't normally celebrate birthdays, which was why the guests had taken the time to learn some human etiquette to avoid embarrassing themselves.

"Thank you all for coming to celebrate this humble one's birthday," said the blue-gowned woman in a voice as smooth as water, making the assembled demons stir with excitement.

"Just a bunch of filthy beasts," Lord Chisha thought to herself disdainfully as she scanned the room. In her eyes, only human Dao bodies were truly perfect.

Back when she was a young sand scorpion just gaining sentience in the desert, she had once seen a celestial maiden bathing. That flawless Dao body had left a deep, unforgettable impression on her.

Some of the water from the bath had splashed on her, mutating her bloodline and turning her into a water-type monster. She later left the desert for more suitable aquatic regions and eventually rose to her current status.

Even now, having become a peak-tier demon, that image of the celestial maiden's perfect Dao body remained seared into her soul. As her cultivation deepened, she only came to understand that perfection more profoundly.

She had tried to transform herself into the celestial maiden's form many times but always failed. That kind of perfection wasn't something she could replicate.

So over the years, Lord Chisha had collected numerous demons with human-like Dao bodies, hoping to study and replicate that ideal form.

Among them, the one she was most satisfied with was Xuan Shui Zhenren—a half-demon with human blood—her most human-like specimen.

"Is Xuan Shui here?"

Lord Chisha took her seat, the banquet officially began, and she swept her gaze around the room. Not seeing him, she asked about his whereabouts. Given it was her millennium birthday, it was strange he wasn't present.

---

Giant Crab Archipelago.

Gu Mo furrowed his brow as he examined the newly unsealed storage artifact. This was the item brought by Shi Yuwei, taken from the Tier-3 mutant fish that had attacked Crimson Coral Island.

Now, Gu Mo knew—the fish had actually been Xuan Shui Zhenren, the very same one who had once warned him about General Golden Claw. Gu Mo had been skeptical—where in the world would a kind-hearted demon like that come from?

Now he understood Xuan Shui's goal: to have Gu Mo and Golden Claw injure or kill each other, then swoop in to abduct the people of Crimson Coral Island and offer them as tribute at Lord Chisha's birthday banquet.

Lord Chisha the Great Demon—a name Gu Mo had naturally heard before. After all, her thousand-year birthday had been making waves recently. Even without knowing her exact power level, a monster that had lived a thousand years was definitely not to be underestimated.

And now the slain Xuan Shui Zhenren turned out to be connected to her.

The only question was—how important had he been to her? Would she come seeking vengeance?

Even if she did, Gu Mo wasn't too concerned. With the near-fourth-tier grand array encircling the island and his current combat strength, he had little to fear—unless the opponent was a full-fledged Demon King.

"Yuwei."

Gu Mo sent a message. He himself wasn't afraid of Lord Chisha, but the other residents of the Giant Crab Archipelago might not be so lucky. So he instructed Shi Yuwei to tell the cultivators nearby to keep their distance—just in case Lord Chisha came seeking trouble and they were caught in the crossfire.

At the same time, it would give those cultivators a sense of participation.

"What? Lord Chisha the Great Demon might come here?"

Upon hearing the news, the gathered cultivators were thrown into a panic. The more timid ones fled overnight. They had come to the archipelago for protection, not to risk their lives.

But most chose to stay and observe for now. After all, the mighty Gu Mo hadn't left—so long as their pillar of strength remained, the Giant Crab Archipelago still had its backbone.

If the danger truly escalated, they'd flee. As seafaring cultivators, escape was something they were very good at. Survival skills were essential in evading demon attacks.

As long as the great Daoist wasn't instantly crushed, even a moment's delay would give them the chance to get away.

Besides, another reason many cultivators chose to stay was because they had already submitted alchemy commissions.

And now, Gu Mo had stopped accepting new ones. If they left now, their commissions would be void—and since he wouldn't be taking any new requests, they'd lose their only chance at those precious pills.

For the sake of spirit pills, cultivators were willing to take on some risk.

Of course, that didn't mean they would just sit around and wait for death. One after another, they began mobilizing their own resources to gather intel on the Lord Chisha Grand Demon. Before long, Gu Mo had received a sizable stack of intelligence reports.

"Free labor really is the best," Gu Mo murmured with a slight smile as he looked over the materials Shi Yuwei had brought him. By getting involved in intelligence gathering, everyone was made to feel a sense of participation.

Gu Mo's eyes skimmed swiftly over the reports. They contained extensive details about the Lord Chisha Grand Demon's upcoming birthday celebration—including discussions among the demons about launching an attack on the Giant Crab Archipelago.

However, the response to this proposal had been lukewarm. In the end, one demon suggested that the Lord Chisha Grand Demon should personally take action to reclaim the archipelago from the human cultivators in order to boost morale.

At first, the Lord Chisha paid no attention to this idea. Having lived for a thousand years, she wasn't the type to be swayed by a few flattering words. She harbored hopes of breaking through to the rank of Demon King, and if she were to engage in battle with humans and sustain an injury that damaged her foundation, costing her that opportunity—it would be an irreparable loss.

Unless the attack on the Giant Crab Archipelago offered her immense benefits—like a treasure that could help her overcome her bottleneck—she wouldn't make a move.

Yet in the end, she agreed to the plan and began preparing to strike the Giant Crab Archipelago.

"It seems the matter with Xuan Shui Zhenren has been exposed," Gu Mo muttered, realizing the Lord Chisha must have already learned of Xuan Shui Zhenren's death—and that the killer was now within the archipelago.

That she was willing to act for Xuan Shui Zhenren's sake spoke volumes about how favored he had been.

"Well, so be it."

Gu Mo set down the report. Since this battle was now inevitable, he would face it head-on.

As news spread that the Lord Chisha was about to attack the Giant Crab Archipelago, countless sea demons erupted in celebration—especially those who had previously fled from the archipelago. They were ecstatic.

At last, those humans would pay for what they'd done.

Within the archipelago, however, the mood turned heavy. The fact that the Lord Chisha was personally taking the field put enormous pressure on them. And she wouldn't be coming alone—many other grand demons would surely accompany her.

If their expert were defeated, the rest of them wouldn't even be able to escape, let alone fight.

"Everyone, I'll be taking my leave."

Eventually, under the crushing pressure, some cultivators began to withdraw. As tempting as the pills were, staying alive was more important.

"I'll be going too."

Soon, more followed suit—mostly False Core and External Core cultivators. Their craving for pills wasn't particularly strong. Their cultivation had already stagnated, and the pills they needed were mostly for healing or replenishing spiritual energy.

In the end, the ones who stayed were the Foundation Establishment cultivators and a few Core Formation elders. The former didn't leave simply because they couldn't—being too weak, they didn't have the ability to cross the seas to other islands on their own.

As for the Core Formation cultivators, they remained partly because they still craved pills to aid in their cultivation, and partly because they had confidence in the great cultivator who resided on the island. If even that great cultivator wasn't running, why should they?

Besides, a few of them had enough confidence in their own strength to believe they could escape when the time came.

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