Chapter 142: Demon Blade Gouchen

Gu Mo felt the strange heat radiating from the blade, slightly furrowed his brow, and slowly walked towards it.

"Don't touch it! Don't touch it!"

Just then, the large, clumsy man who had been hiding in the nearby house, scared, rushed out. He said, "Don't touch it! That demonic blade is ill-omened. If you touch it, you'll become possessed, just like that person just now, killing everyone you see!"

Gu Mo furrowed his brow slightly.

At that moment, Lin Qixia, Xie Liuying, and the other disciples from the Xuan Nü Palace walked over, supporting each other, looking disheveled.

"Thank you for your timely assistance."Lin Qixia, accompanied by the other Xuan Nü Palace disciples, thanked Gu Mo.

"You're welcome," Gu Mo replied, waving his hand.

"May I ask for the hero's esteemed name?"Lin Qixia asked Gu Mo, wiping the blood that kept flowing from her mouth.

Gu Mo said, "Perhaps you should heal your injuries first. You've already vomited several pounds of blood."

"These minor injuries are nothing worth mentioning," Lin Qixia said. "Please tell us your name so we may engrave it in our hearts."

Just then,Gu Chuwinter and Liu Feiyang also approached. Liu Feiyang quickly interjected, "Fairy Lin, the person standing before you is none other than the legendary Grandmaster Gu Mo, the Hero of Yunzhou! He is a man who despises evil and is known for his boundless righteousness!"

Lin Qixia was slightly taken aback, then reverently asked, "Are you the Hero Gu Mo, who single-handedly defeated the Demon Grandmaster Ren Tianqi in Lingnan, exposed the true identities of the Snow Ridge Twin Immortals and slew the Chang ghosts, and vanquished the Moon Worshiping Demonic Cult within Yunzhou?"

Gu Chuwinter leaned closer to Gu Mo and whispered, "Brother, do you have so many titles now?"

Liu Feiyang, standing nearby, beamed with pride and affirmed, "Indeed, he is Hero Gu Mo!"

Lin Qixia immediately gestured to the Xuan Nü Palace disciples and called out, "Junior Sisters, quickly come and pay respects to Hero Gu Mo!"

Immediately,Despite their injuries, all the Xuan Nü Palace disciples bowed respectfully to Gu Mo."Greetings, Hero Gu!""Thank you, Hero Gu, for your assistance!"

Gu Mo returned their bow.

Afterwards, the Xuan Nü Palace disciples sat directly on the ground and began taking medicinal pills to heal their injuries.

Meanwhile,The large, clumsy man stood two or three zhang away from the demonic blade, distraught with worry.

"Hey, clumsy fellow, what's going on with this blade?" Gu Chuwinter asked.

Everyone, including the Xuan Nü Palace disciples who were healing, looked towards the large, clumsy man.

The large, clumsy man squatted on the ground, frantically pulling at his hair. "What am I going to do?" he exclaimed. He then looked up at Gu Chuwinter and explained, "This blade was forged by my master. He had been working on it ever since I can remember.Its name is Gouchen, and it took him many, many years to create. It was only three months ago that the blade was finally completed, but my master also reached the end of his life. Before he died, he instructed me to deliver this blade to Manor Lord Lu Canyang of Righteousness Manor. He repeatedly warned me not to let the blade appear in the world or let it draw blood until it was handed over to Manor Lord Lu.This is because it's a demonic blade, extremely ominous. It will corrupt people's minds. Anyone who takes possession of it will become a puppet controlled by the blade, constantly killing. The more people it kills, and the stronger its victims, the more powerful its demonic energy will become, eventually leading to widespread devastation and rivers of blood!"

Gu Chuwinter asked, puzzled, "Can a blade really be that powerful?"

"It's not impossible," Liu Feiyang said. "I once heard a story about a Sword Devil. It's said that thirty years ago, Jiang Ruoxu, who was known as the Sword Saint and the foremost martial artist in the world, had his mind controlled by his own sword. He eventually succumbed to demonic possession, transforming from the Sword Saint into the Sword Devil, and was ultimately besieged by the martial arts heroes. Legend has it that Jiang Ruoxu's sword was extremely demonic, so much so that even Jiang Ruoxu, the greatest in the world, couldn't suppress it."

Gu Chuwinter and Gu Mo had also heard this story.They also knew that Jiang Ruoxu's sword was named Jingzhe.

Gu Chuwinter pointed at the demonic blade and said, "So, this blade is similar to Jiang Ruoxu's Jingzhe Sword?"

"It seems so," Lin Qixia said, sitting cross-legged on the ground. "Last night at Righteousness Manor, White Shadow—that person from just now—we all saw him, and he was a normal person. But just now, as everyone witnessed, White Shadow was clearly not himself; his mind was completely controlled.White Shadow is no ordinary person; he is a renowned top-tier master from Qingzhou, one of the Nine Heroes of Qingzhou who made a name for themselves forty years ago. He had only possessed this demonic blade for barely two hours before becoming its puppet. The horror of this demonic blade is evident!"

Gu Chuwinter looked at the large, clumsy man and asked, "Clumsy fellow, how should this demonic blade be handled? Since your master forged it, didn't he tell you what to do if something unexpected happened?"

The large, clumsy man replied, "He did. My master told me that if something unexpected happened and the demonic blade appeared, I shouldn't hesitate. I should run, as far and as fast as I could."

"And the blade? Are we just to leave it?" Gu Chuwinter asked.

"Of course, we have to deal with it," the large, clumsy man said. "But first, we have to survive."

Gu Chuwinter said, "If it's that sinister, surely we can destroy it?"

The large, clumsy man shook his head. "This demonic blade is extremely sharp and tough, and it's not afraid of fire. It's already incredibly hot itself, so there's no way to destroy it. My master told me that if an accident occurred, I should flee for my life, and once I was safe, I should seek out my martial uncle. My martial uncle possesses a supreme treasure called the Ice Soul, an object of extreme cold that can suppress the demonic nature of the Gouchen blade."

"Ice Soul? Is your martial uncle the Medicine Saint Qi Miaoxuan?" Lin Qixia asked in surprise.

"You know my martial uncle?" the large, clumsy man exclaimed, surprised and pleased.

Lin Qixia asked, puzzled, "Don't you know what your martial uncle does?"

"Of course," the large, clumsy man replied. "He's a doctor!"

"He's the Medicine Saint," Lin Qixia corrected. "There aren't many in the martial arts world who don't know him. Since you're his martial nephew..." At this point, Lin Qixia paused, then said, "Could your master be the Weapon Saint Tie Zhu?"

The large, clumsy man nodded. "You know my master too? My master is Tie Zhu, and he gave me my name, Tie Tou (Iron Head)."

Lin Qixia asked, perplexed, "But as far as I know, the Weapon Saint Tie Zhu retired from the martial arts world many years ago. I haven't heard that he had any disciples?"

"My master took me in later," Tie Tou explained. "I was an orphan, only three or four years old when I met him. Since then, I've been following him in the valley, learning to forge iron. It's been seven or eight years now!"

"Oh, so that's how it is... Wait, no," Lin Qixia said, staring in shock at Tie Tou, who resembled an iron tower with his full beard. "You said you met your master when you were three or four, and it's only been about ten years? How old are you?"

"Twelve!"

Lin Qixia looked utterly bewildered.Gu Chuwinter, Liu Feiyang, and the others also stared in astonishment at Tie Tou, with his full beard and dark skin, unable to believe he was only a twelve-year-old child. But upon closer thought, aside from looking old, Tie Tou's strange behavior throughout the situation suddenly made sense if he was indeed only twelve. No wonder such a large man almost cried from being questioned by Xie Liuying.

Gu Mo, however, didn't dwell on Tie Tou's age. He asked, "Young brother, from what you just said, does it mean that any object of extreme cold can suppress the demonic nature of that blade?"

Tie Tou nodded repeatedly. "Yes," he affirmed, "although the demonic blade Gouchen is brimming with demonic energy, its biggest issue at this stage is primarily its intense heat. As long as that fire can be suppressed, the blade's demonic nature will also be suppressed."

Gu Mo pondered for a moment, then slowly circulated his Mingyu Art, activating his Ice Qi. He pointed a finger into the air. As the Mingyu Art circulated, Gu Mo's Ice Qi surged through his meridians like a turbulent undercurrent.

In an instant, a biting cold aura emanated from him, spreading outwards. The surrounding air seemed to be rapidly compressed by an invisible pair of hands, instantly freezing and emitting crisp, cracking sounds.

The demonic blade Gouchen, seemingly possessing sentience, sensed the threat and let out a series of hums, its sound filled with intense, savage fury, as if roaring and resisting unwillingly. Faint black flames surged on the blade, attempting to break through the sudden icy restraint.

However, Gu Mo's Mingyu True Qi was inherently a supreme Yin internal energy, and when condensed as Ice Qi, it was no less potent than thousand-year-old ice. Furthermore, his true qi was continuous and endless, flowing like a vast, unceasing river.

Each stream of True Qi carried boundless cold, pressing heavily upon the demonic blade. Under this powerful force, the blade's resistance gradually weakened. The flames rapidly dissipated under the erosion of the cold, and the blade itself began to be enveloped by a thick layer of ice.

Tie Tou was overjoyed and quickly said, "Wait for me, wait for me! I'll go back now and retrieve my iron box. That box was specially made by my master and has a strong suppressing effect on the demonic blade."

"We'll go and help you."Liu Feiyang immediately volunteered. He gave Tie Tou a horse and, accompanied by a bodyguard, the three of them quickly rode back up the mountain to Righteousness Manor.

Not long after,The Xuan Nü Palace disciples with lighter injuries began searching the village to see if they could find any survivors.

Gu Mo, meanwhile, walked over to the ice-sealed demonic blade Gouchen and slowly extended his hand to sense it.

A very wild and extremely violent aura emanated from within the demonic blade.

"Hero Gu, you must be extremely careful," Lin Qixia cautioned.

"I will," Gu Mo nodded slightly.

Lin Qixia looked at White Shadow, who had been reduced to a pile of ashes nearby, and said solemnly, "One of the Nine Heroes of Qingzhou from back then, he actually destroyed his own brother's descendants for this demonic blade, and then died by it himself. I wonder if he felt any regret when he died."

Gu Chuwinter, standing nearby, asked curiously, "The Nine Heroes of Qingzhou? I heard Guard Liu mention earlier that the Manor Lord of Righteousness Manor was the leader of the Nine Heroes of Qingzhou?"

Lin Qixia explained, "The Nine Heroes of Qingzhou were nine renowned heroes in Qingzhou's martial arts world over forty years ago. Sharing similar aspirations, they gathered and became sworn siblings. Afterwards, they traveled the land, upholding justice and and earning a formidable reputation throughout the martial arts world.Later, Righteousness Manor was annihilated overnight, becoming an unsolved mystery in the martial arts world. The Nine Heroes of Qingzhou, having searched without success and feeling disheartened, dispersed. However, this also led to several of them becoming Grandmasters!"