Blind Ghostwriter: Starts with the full level of Nine Yang Magic Skill

Chapter 308 Returning to Yunzhou, Iron Head Disappears
After leaving the Northern Zhou imperial palace, Gu Mo and Ye Chen went to Feilai Temple and found the stone tablet that the holy monk Huineng had mentioned, which recorded the story of the Seven Saints Slaying the Dragon.

Gu Mo and Ye Chen were unable to decipher the contents recorded, as the writing from more than two thousand years ago was indeed somewhat abstract, and neither of them were experts in this area.

but,

Gu Mo did not doubt that the Holy Monk Huineng was lying, because there was no need to. Moreover, although he and Ye Chen could not recognize the characters from two thousand years ago, they could simply record them and have them checked by the people at the Imperial Academy in Qian Kingdom.

Gu Mo's trip to Feilai Temple was not primarily to verify the stone tablet, but to erect a cenotaph and leave a stele for Master Huineng, so that future monks of Feilai Temple would know that Master Huineng sacrificed himself to subdue demons.

Subsequently,

Gu Mo, Ye Chen, and the Yun brothers then left.

On the way back, the speed was much slower than on the way there, because there was no rush. Gu Mo also pondered how to use the magic stone source energy while returning.

His Dao Heart Demon Seed Technique also absorbs demonic energy, and the demonic energy of the Demon Blade is extremely pure, complementing the source energy of the Demon Stone perfectly.

As for the dragon scale, Gu Mo decided to go back and have Tie Tou forge it into a sword for him. Now that he had obtained a max-level magic sword, he was just missing a suitable one.

The Qilin Demon Blade in Gu Chudong's hand was not bad, but Gu Mo was no longer very comfortable using it. First, the Qilin demon power inside could not keep up, and second, the demon blade had developed sentience and recognized Gu Chudong as its master. Although Gu Mo could use it, it was not quite in sync with him.

It's not that the Qilin Demon Blade is going against Gu Mo, but rather that the blade spirit's consciousness is limited and its mind is too rigid to adapt flexibly at the moment.

In comparison, the Qilin Demon Blade's consciousness is not as strong as Gu Mo's Taixu Sword. His Taixu Sword contains Xuan Tian Fu Shi, which has great potential for evolution. Later, he cleansed Ling Xiao's primordial spirit and merged it into the sword, making it a sword spirit. It has mature intelligence from the moment it was born.

Therefore, although the Taixu Sword recognizes Gu Mo as its master, others can also use it as long as Gu Mo gives the order, making it very flexible.

Therefore, recalling Ye Chen's earlier speculation that there might be other hidden Ascension Realm cultivators who might emerge to wreak havoc on the world, Gu Mo felt a sense of anticipation. When the dragon scale-forged sword was finally made, he could simply follow the same procedure, capturing an Ascension Realm cultivator's primordial spirit, cleansing it, and using it as the sword's spirit.

Late March.

Gu Mo and his group left Northern Zhou and arrived at the border of Qian Kingdom.

Ye Chen then bid farewell to Gu Mo.

At the foot of a cliff, at a crossroads, Ye Chen, riding his horse, cupped his hands towards Gu Mo and said, "Brother, I will come to Qian Kingdom to visit you often in the future. Of course, if you miss me, you can also come to Chu Kingdom to visit me. I'll treat you and make sure you have a great time. I'm very popular in Chu Kingdom."

Gu Mo nodded slightly and said, "I will come to Chu in the second half of this year."

Ye Chen quickly said, "That would be great! But, big brother, could you write me a letter before you come? I have to ask my mother for permission every time I go out. Sigh, don't laugh, even though I'm in my twenties, I still get beaten by my mother a lot at home. So, I have to tell her before I go out, otherwise, if I dare to sneak away, I'll get a beating when I get back!"

"Hahaha..." Gu Mo chuckled and said, "Okay, no problem. I'll definitely send you a letter before I go to Chu, and I promise you won't get beaten up!"

Ye Chen scratched the back of his head and chuckled.

Gu Mo added, "By the way, you have now reached the threshold of the Ascension Realm. For an ordinary person, it might take thirty to fifty years to take that step, but your situation is special. You might encounter some opportunity and break through at any time. But you must restrain yourself, do not ascend, and do not abandon your physical body."

Ye Chen asked in confusion, "Why? Haven't you already killed all the inner demons?"

Gu Mo said, "It's not just a matter of inner demons. I feel there might be a problem with ascension. There's an ancestral precept at Longhu Mountain that forbids ascension. I didn't quite understand it before, but ever since I killed my inner demons, I've had a vague feeling that something in the sky is probing me."

However, when I investigated, I found nothing. Furthermore, theoretically, the Heavenly Gate should appear upon reaching the Ascension Realm, but there are always exceptions, like me. I reached the Ascension Realm physically first, but the Heavenly Gate didn't come to see me, which also indicates something is wrong.

Ye Chen quickly replied, "I understand, brother. I will also try to find a way to achieve physical ascension."

Gu Mo said, "My method of physical ascension is something that no one else can learn except me. However, you can try to break through the limits of your physical body. You are still young and have plenty of time. Don't worry about your lifespan. You can try to break through."

Breaking the limits of the physical body mainly involves two directions: one is breaking the constraints of space on the physical body; the other is eliminating impurities from the body, similar to cleansing the marrow and tendons. The Great Compassionate Monk in Chang'an creating the clay figures was an example of this approach.

Ye Chen was also one of the world's top martial arts masters, and he understood many things very quickly. He immediately cupped his hands and said, "I understand, elder brother!"

Gu Mo cupped his hands in greeting and said, "It's getting late, let's go!"

"gone!"

Ye Chen turned his horse around, waved, and quickly rode away, kicking up clouds of dust.

immediately,

Gu Mo and the Yun brothers quickly left in another direction.

……

Early April.

Gu Mo returned to Chang'an City.

Chang'an City was as bustling and prosperous as ever, and the storm brought about by the establishment of the crown prince had passed.

Gu Mo went straight to Princess Chengyang's residence.

Gu Chudong and Li Li came together to greet Gu Mo after hearing the gatekeeper's announcement.

Gu Mo followed Gu Chudong and Li Li into the mansion, but the scene before him shocked him. When he returned from Penglai Island last year, Li Li's princess mansion had already reduced its food, clothing and daily necessities and sold many valuable items.

But at least it's passable.

But now, the princess's mansion is just a bare building. Even the welcoming stone at the entrance is gone, the marble table in the pavilion and the koi in the artificial lake are gone, and even the rockery is just a base. The large groups of servants that used to be there are also much fewer.

"Li Li, your house... got robbed?" Gu Mo asked with a smile.

Li Li curled her lip and said, "Who would dare to steal from my house? Just like last year, I sold all those things, and I reduced the number of servants working in the mansion as much as possible. All the money went into the national treasury. Hmm, I even gave my father 30,000 taels of silver in early winter!"

Gu Mo looked at Gu Chudong with some surprise. He knew very well how stingy Gu Chudong was. She was the kind of person who would eat several bowls of rice to make up for her losses when she went to give gifts to her friends. It was unbelievable that she would be so generous as to give away tens of thousands of taels of silver!

Gu Chudong understood Gu Mo's puzzled and shocked expression and said, "Brother, His Majesty is going to lead the army in person. I can't help much, so I can only contribute some money, just like Chengyang did!"

Gu Mo knew that Emperor Qian was going to personally lead the army on a military campaign; the emperor had told him about it a long time ago. At the beginning of this year, Ye Jinglan was transferred from the Ministry of Justice back to the Imperial City Guard in preparation for the emperor's personal campaign, as Ye Jinglan would be going to the front lines as Emperor Qian's accompanying general.

"When?" Gu Mo asked.

"We'll be setting off in two or three days," Gu Chudong said. "Brother Ye is going too."

Gu Mo nodded, said nothing more, and carried the wrapped dragon scales into the courtyard.

Although the dragon scales have now returned to their original state, no longer the ten feet wide they were when manipulated by the inner demon, they are still two feet long and one foot wide, weighing a thousand pounds.

Fortunately, Gu Mo's cultivation was profound. If an ordinary person wanted to bring this dragon scale back from Wutong City in Northern Zhou, it would have required a huge amount of manpower and resources.

As Gu Mo placed the dragon scale on the ground, the floorboards suddenly sank.

Seeing this scene,
Gu Chudong asked in confusion, "Brother, what is this?"

“Dragon scales,” Gu Mo said, “I’ve brought back some good stuff from my trip to Northern Zhou. I’ll use it to forge a sword.”

Gu Chudong lifted the cloth, revealing the true form of the dragon scales.

Like a piece of jade, its edges are irregularly wavy, shimmering with a deep blue luster, as if hiding the secrets of the deep sea. The surface texture is winding and interwoven, as if there is air flowing within it. Touching it lightly, a cool sensation seeps into your bones, as if you can feel the magnificent momentum of a dragon galloping.

"Brother, are there really dragons in the world?"

"I've even killed a Qilin, so it's not surprising that I have dragons, is it?" Gu Mo chuckled.

“That’s true,” Gu Chudong grinned and said, “It’s amazing, dragon scales! So amazing!” She gently stroked the dragon scales and said, “Then, doesn’t that mean the Reverse Scale Blade from the Thirteen Forbidden Blades might actually be real?”

“I think the thirteen taboos might all be true,” Gu Mo said.

"I see," Gu Chudong slowly stood up and asked, "Then, brother, are you going to have Tie Tou forge a dragon scale blade for you?"

Gu Mo nodded slightly and said, "I plan to go back to Yunzhou to find Tie Tou in a couple of days."

He had great faith in Tie Tou's weapon-forging abilities, as evidenced by the Tai Xu Sword.

Gu Chudong asked excitedly, "Brother, when are we going back? Will we be staying for a long time this time? My orchard isn't ready yet!"

Since buying the estate in Yunzhou last year, Gu Chudong has been busy with construction, wanting to fulfill all her childhood dreams about the house, such as having her own orchard, fishpond, vegetable garden, etc. Moreover, she wants to be personally involved in the entire process to be satisfied.

At the beginning of this year, Gu Chudong's orchard had already begun construction, but it had to be stopped once he arrived in Beijing.

Seeing Gu Chudong's expectant eyes, Gu Mo smiled and said, "This time I will stay for a long time. I will go to Chu Kingdom at the end of the year. I made an appointment with Master Liansheng before."

Gu Chudong quickly said, "Then that's enough time. I'll go ask Li Li if she wants to come to Yunzhou with me."

With that, Gu Chudong wrapped up the dragon scales and ran out.

A short while later, a guard from the princess's residence came to announce that Ye Jinglan had arrived.

With Gu Mo's permission, Ye Jinglan entered shortly afterward.

As soon as Ye Jinglan arrived at the door, he smiled and said, "Brother Gu, if you hadn't come back soon, you would have had to go to Jiang Kingdom to see me."

Gu Mo chuckled and said, "I just happened to be back in time."

"You've barely arrived in the capital when the Imperial City Guard received the news..."

The two walked into the hall while talking.

As soon as Ye Jinglan entered the hall, he suddenly felt uneasy. His gaze fell on the dragon scales covering the area in the living room, and a serious expression appeared on his face. He asked, "Brother Gu, what is that? I feel a sense of repulsion!"

“Dragon Scales,” Gu Mo said, “you have Qilin blood flowing in your veins and Qilin bones in your body. You are a divine beast, just like the dragon. As the saying goes, kings do not meet kings, so it is normal for there to be some rejection.”

Ye Jinglan asked in surprise, "Where did these dragon scales come from?"

"Obtained from killing the inner demon..."

Then, Gu Mo briefly recounted the events of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.

After listening, Ye Jinglan sighed, "The Northern Zhou was already in chaos, and now this has only made things worse. It's probably in a state of utter chaos now."

Gu Mo nodded slightly.

Ye Jinglan pointed at the dragon scales again and said, "So, you're planning to use these dragon scales to forge a knife?"

"That's the plan," Gu Mo said.

Ye Jinglan said, "Here's what we'll do. When I get back, I'll find a cold jade bottle and put a drop of my essence blood in it for you. You can then give my essence blood to Tie Tou. That kid is a disciple of the military strategist Tie Zhu, so he'll definitely know how to use my Qilin blood to blend with the earth fire."

"These are dragon scales. With Iron Head's methods, he can definitely refine them, but ordinary earth fire will inevitably lose some of their properties. However, with Qilin fire, it's different. Moreover, it can speed up the process, and might even stimulate the dragon scales' dragon might even more."

Gu Mo reached out and placed his hand on Ye Jinglan's shoulder, feeling Ye Jinglan's physical condition, and chuckled, "Hmm, that's fine. You're almost fully evolved into the Qilin body now, so a little bit of essence blood won't have much of an impact!"

Ye Jinglan said, "I have to thank Brother Gu for the Qilin bone you gave me. The energy contained in it is too powerful. After refining it over the past two months, my Qilin Body is indeed almost complete. I am about to reach the physical ascension realm you mentioned. It can be considered as half a step into ascension."

Gu Mo nodded slightly and said, "It'll be soon. Once you've mastered the Qilin Body, you'll be able to reach the complete physical ascension realm. It's just a pity that your current path relies too much on Qilin blood, so your primordial spirit has no chance of ascending."

Ye Jinglan laughed and said, "Brother Gu, not everyone is like you. Without the Qilin blood, with my talent, it's hard to say whether I could even reach the Ascension Realm in this lifetime. Moreover, according to you, there might be problems with the Nascent Soul Ascension. I've already made a huge profit!"

Gu Mo smiled and asked, "When are you leaving?"

"The day after tomorrow," Ye Jinglan said.

Gu Mo said, "You will be leading a large army and protecting the emperor's safety, so I won't cause any trouble. I wish you a safe journey in advance, and I won't see you off the day after tomorrow."

Ye Jinglan laughed and said, "If you're going to see me off, I really won't have time to pay attention to you."

"Ha ha……"

……

That day, Gu Mo visited Zhuo Qingfeng and Su Ziyou again, and finally, he went to the palace to see Emperor Qian.

Early the next morning, Gu Mo left the capital with Gu Chudong and Hongyi.

However, Gu Chudong was a little disappointed because Li Li refused her invitation to visit Yunzhou.

It wasn't that Li Li didn't want to go; Li Li was naturally a playful person and longed to be with Gu Chudong all the time. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't refuse Gu Chudong's invitation.

However, Emperor Qianlong is about to personally lead an expedition.

While a personal military campaign can greatly boost morale, it is also accompanied by suspicion and talk of defeat. After all, why would an emperor personally lead a campaign if it were not a matter of life and death? Even Emperor Xiao Zhaolin of Chu, who was known for his love of personal military campaigns, has not taken that step yet.

Therefore,
Emperor Qianlong's personal campaign was actually a double-edged sword. It could boost morale at the front, but it also caused unrest among the people at home.

At this time, any move by the royal family could be amplified by those with ulterior motives, leading to the fabrication of various rumors.

This is why Li Li refused Gu Chudong. She was worried that if she went to Yunzhou, people would spread rumors that the royal family had secretly moved away, that the war at the front had been completely lost, and so on!

but,

Gu Chudong was not disappointed for long, because Gu Mo began to teach her the Demon Blade Technique.

However, the demonic sword that Gu Mo taught Gu Chudong was modified. The original demonic sword required first mastering its essence and techniques, and then entering the blood pool of the "Turbid World Demon Pool" to absorb its profound meaning. The pool water was a mixture of all the world's poisons, with a pungent and foul stench, containing extremely strong demonic nature and killing intent.

This demonic blade is crafted to create a killing machine.

Therefore,
After obtaining the max-level demonic blade, Gu Mo used his current martial arts level to modify it, keeping the moves unchanged but altering the artistic conception.

The original Demon Blade allowed demonic energy to control people, turning them into demons. However, Gu Mo's modified version allows people to control demonic energy, with the demon being merely a martial arts technique.

The reason for this change is that, apart from Gu Mo's current high level of martial arts, the biggest reason is that he no longer needs the Turbid World Demon Pool. This is because Gu Mo now has a purer source of demonic energy than the Turbid World Demon Pool, which Gu Chudong can continuously absorb demonic energy from.

The Demon Blade is a martial art that can be learned quickly.

After Gu Mo eliminated the drawback of demonic nature invading divine consciousness, although the speed decreased, it still took only about a month for Gu Chudong to complete the new version of the demonic blade.

Gu Chudong was originally a martial arts master, and now, with the mastery of the Demon Blade, she has directly cultivated her Demon Blade Domain.

As for the next level of ascension, it is not simply about martial arts cultivation, but about understanding the realm. Even if one wants to ascend with the Demon Blade, it is not just about achieving the goal, but about comprehending one's own unique path of cultivation and cultivating a primordial spirit or a demonic body.

That's it.
Time flies,
It's early May.

Gu Mo and his group finally returned to Yunzhou and arrived in Yuncheng.

Gu Mo went straight to the Six Doors.

After Gu Mo revealed his identity, the Commander of the Six Doors of Yunzhou and Chief Constable Du Sha came to greet him personally.

Du Sha is Zhuo Qingfeng's master. He met Gu Mo when they rescued the former Second Prince, now Crown Prince Li Zhongqing, in the northern desert. So, they have a pretty good relationship and are quite familiar with each other.

therefore,

After a few simple pleasantries, Gu Mo got straight to the point, saying, "Chief Constable Du, I've come here today to see Tie Tou. I need him to forge a weapon for me."

Upon hearing this, Du Sha and the garrison commander's expressions changed slightly.

Du Sha cupped his hands and said, "Hero Gu, Tie Tou has gone missing. Our Yunzhou Six Doors has been searching for him for half a month, but we still have no clue!"

Gu Chudong exclaimed in surprise, "How could Tie Tou get into trouble? He's always been so simple-minded and never offends anyone!"

Du Sha nodded and said, "Even if we offend people, it's okay. Tie Tou is the number one weapon-making master in Yunzhou. He has made many contributions in the past two years and his rank has reached the level of a thousand-household commander. Most importantly, at the beginning of the year, he improved the God-Slaying Crossbow, which has reached the ears of the emperor. His Majesty personally rewarded him. If he hadn't been unwilling, His Majesty would have been preparing to transfer him to the Ministry of Works."

His weapon-making workshop is staffed with ten top-tier experts, over forty elite soldiers from the Six Doors (a powerful military organization), and more than a hundred apprentices, all skilled in martial arts. It's no joke; the level of importance he places on us is now no less than that of our Yunzhou governor, and perhaps even greater. He is incredibly important; every weapon he improves means a greater chance of victory for our Qian Kingdom on the battlefield.

Gu Mo asked in confusion, "Then how did he disappear?"

"I don't know," Du Sha said with a guilty look. "To my shame, half a month has passed, but we still haven't figured out when Tie Tou disappeared."

Du Sha organized his thoughts and said, "On April 12th, Tie Tou was forging weapons in the weapon-making workshop as usual, and there was nothing unusual about him until he went to sleep."

He also slept in the weapon-making hut, so all the guards were on duty. Not only were there always patrols, but his small courtyard was always guarded by experts. Moreover, Tie Tou himself was a top-notch expert. His Golden Bell Cover with the Eleven Mysterious Gates was rare in the world, and his hidden weapons were also among the best in the world.

That night, there was no sound or disturbance, but the next morning, Tie Tou didn't appear, even though he usually got up before dawn. The guards realized something was wrong and went inside to check, but he was gone.

Strangely, there were no signs of a struggle inside the house, as if Tie Tou had left on his own. However, he didn't take any of his belongings, and none of the many guards in the courtyard saw him leave. It was as if he had simply vanished while asleep.

Gu Mo asked, "Did Tie Tou say anything or do anything strange before he disappeared?"

“No,” Du Sha said. “Tie Tou is now a treasure of the imperial court, and everything he does is taken very seriously. It can be confirmed that there was nothing unusual about him before he disappeared.”

However, the unusual thing is outside. During this period, Tie Tou wasn't the only master weapon maker to disappear in Yunzhou. Thirteen cases have been reported so far, and without exception, they all vanished suddenly and mysteriously, just like Tie Tou.

Gu Chudong asked in surprise, "So many people, and not a single one of them seems out of place?"

Du Sha nodded and said, "There's nothing unusual at all, and no trace has been left at any of the places where the disappearance occurred. Currently, there's been absolutely no progress in this case!"

(End of this chapter)