Ge Wenxuan placed the faintly glowing white scale and the bronze plate engraved with the Eight Trigrams and Five Elements by his side, and continued to take out a small cloth bag from his brocade pouch.
He grabbed a handful of light brown powder from the cloth bag. As he loosened his fingers slightly, the powder fell straight down between his fingers. Moving his arm, Ge Wenxuan seemed to be drawing something, leaving behind lines of “brushstrokes” on the ground with the powder.
This was a formation. Before fourth rank in the Arcanist system, if one wanted a formation to exert its power, it was necessary to rely on materials rich in spirituality, and to draw or arrange the formation stroke by stroke.
Fortunately, this formation was simple and served only to awaken the power within the bronze plate.
It was similar to a key.
As the brown powder in his palm gradually diminished until it was all used up, the formation was completed.
Ge Wenxuan then cut his wrist, letting fresh blood flow onto the formation. Once the brown powder making up the formation touched the blood, it immediately started to glow, like phosphorescent dust in the dim Abyss.
Ge Wenxuan held the bronze plate in both hands and placed it above the formation.
The bronze plate floated gently in the air, then started to spin “whir-whir,” absorbing the phosphorescent powder. It spun faster and faster, creating an air current and whipping up a gale.
“Whoosh…”
The powder, its spirituality exhausted, was blown away by the gale. The bronze plate, spinning, flew towards the Confucian Sage’s statue and hovered above its head, spinning rapidly.
At Ge Wenxuan’s level, he had no idea what this was for, he simply followed the steps memorised in his mind. He picked up the faintly glowing white scale, placed it in his palm, channelled his qi into it, closed his eyes, and began chanting incantations.
This process lasted for over ten seconds. Ge Wenxuan opened his eyes and threw the white scale into the pitch-black abyss.
As the scale fell into the abyss, its light erupted, expanding into a blazing white sun, flooding the whole Abyss with blinding light. Yet, even such a powerful light source could not illuminate the depths of the Abyss.
The light was devoured by endless darkness.
Ge Wenxuan hurriedly closed his eyes, not daring to look directly at the source of light. Hot tears gushed from his eyes.
“Awooo…”
At the same time, a beastly roar rang in his ears. The roar sounded very strange, not the ferocious, bloodthirsty bellow of some wild beast, nor did it carry the malice of an animal.
Instead, it was clear and melodious.
Ge Wenxuan still did not open his eyes, for he could feel the dazzling white light beyond his eyelids.
…
Beneath the shade of a certain tree, a patch of shadow swelled as Xu Qi’an and his party emerged from it, all looking toward the horizon, in the direction of the Abyss.
There, a pillar of white light shot up into the sky, piercing the clouds.
“What is that?” Luanyu cried out.
“This aura…” The Shadow’s voice grew extremely grave as it glanced at everyone,
“It’s not the Gu God’s power.”
“Nor is it Confucian, Buddhist, Daoist, Gu, martial, Yao, or Warlock,” Xu Qi’an said calmly.
The several leaders stared blankly at him. Xu Qi’an looked back at them:
“I’ve fought beyond-ranks from every system.”
Even if I haven’t fought them, I’ve had in-depth encounters with them…
Fought all of them… Chunyan, Luanyu and the rest looked at him with complicated expressions. This “fought all of them” evidently also included themselves, who had just been brutally beaten.
Xu Qi’an turned to look at Heaven Gu Grandma, asking,
“Grandma, with all your experience, do you know what’s going on?”
Heaven Gu Grandma shook her head, her face kindly,
“We old folk have never left the Southern Marches in our life, and know very little of the outside world.”
No one wasted any more words. Shadow melted into the darkness, taking the group towards the Abyss once more.
…
Feeling the blazing white light fade behind his eyelids, Ge Wenxuan finally dared to open his eyes. In his vision, a tall, majestic four-legged beast stood upon the Abyss.
It was formed from white light, with a body like a deer, covered in snowy white scales, crowned with a pair of antlers, hooves like those of a horse, and a snake for a tail.
This… Ge Wenxuan’s pupils shrank. He recognised this spiritual beast, everyone in Baidi City did. It was the legendary overseas divine beast in Yunzhou folklore, said to appear in years of great drought to bring rainstorms and wind, nourishing the land.
The people of Yunzhou called it, the White Emperor: Baidi!
To this day, a statue of it was still enshrined in the Baidi Temple in Baidi City.
The overseas spirit beast, Baidi, swept its gaze slowly around, pausing at a spot behind Ge Wenxuan, then withdrew its gaze, lowering its head to look at the depths of the abyss, and uttered a brief, strange string of sounds.
This was a language Ge Wenxuan had never heard before, phonemes that a human throat could never produce.
Who is it talking to…? A terrifying guess flashed through Ge Wenxuan’s mind, making his face pale. He subconsciously tightened his grip on the teleportation artefact in his sleeve.
That artefact could take him away, teleporting him to a preset location, allowing for a quick escape.
Teleportation artefacts could be either one-way or random. If no formation had been set up in advance, it would be random, sending the user anywhere within a certain range.
Therefore, he could not use it to accurately reach the Confucian Sage’s statue. To teleport at random within the Abyss would be irresponsible to his own life.
At this moment, Ge Wenxuan suddenly felt a familiar lurch in his heart, all his pores dilating, his hair standing on end. His martial artist’s crisis sense erupted, frantically warning him to flee.
He resisted, lowering his head and prostrating on the ground, making no movement.
A dreadful will awakened in the Abyss. Prostrating, Ge Wenxuan trembled all over, he could feel that something terrifying was about to emerge from the Abyss, something so dreadful it could make one’s soul shatter.
What was in the Abyss?
The answer was obvious.
A tendril of black smoke drifted up from the pitch-black depths, floating before Baidi. The outer layer of the smoke flickered like dancing flames, constantly wavering, while within its core glimmered a pair of eyes.
Those eyes held no emotion, not even indifference.
Baidi gazed at the black smoke, and uttered another sequence of strange syllables.
After speaking, it fell silent for a few seconds, tilting its head as if to listen.
Some distance away, the yellow-furred monkey, hiding in a secret spot, also cocked an ear to listen.
Baidi seemed lost in thought for a while, then spoke in those strange syllables again, this time for a full dozen seconds.
It listened for quite some time, then gave a slight nod.
Then Baidi spoke again, asking a third question.
As the strange syllables ended, it stared fixedly at the black smoke, its slender neck stretching forward slightly, as if a human would lean in.
This question seemed very important.
The yellow-furred monkey, unable to resist any longer despite the risk of being discovered, crept out of its hiding place and listened intently, its ears pricked.
Just then, a cracking sound shattered the air in the Abyss.
The bronze plate, spinning atop the Sage’s statue, shattered into dust.
The black smoke that had floated up from the depths of the Abyss dissipated without a trace.
The spirit beast Baidi dove down, giving chase for a distance, crashing into a translucent barrier of light that nearly shattered its body of pure radiance.
A tremendous sigh echoed through the Abyss.
The Baidi glanced at Ge Wenxuan, prostrate on the ground, and spoke in a resounding voice:
“Take my scale back with you.”
With that, it dissolved into white light, turning back into the snowy white scale, which floated automatically over to Ge Wenxuan.
Ge Wenxuan cautiously placed the scale into his brocade pouch. Suddenly his ears twitched, above him came the sounds of countless beasts roaring in chaos.
They’ve caught up? Xu Qi’an is here… Ge Wenxuan’s face shifted slightly in alarm, and recalling the terrifying strength Xu Qi’an had just displayed, he decisively crushed the teleportation jade talisman in his palm.
A burst of clear light rose up, enveloping him and making him vanish on the spot.
Before he left, he saw a golden beam dive down from above, a figure wreathed in a ring of fire behind his head. It was indeed Xu Qi’an.
Xu Qi’an shot forward like a cannonball. When he neared the Confucian Sage’s statue, he came to a sudden halt, defying the laws of physics and dissipating all inertia as if it had never existed.
The reason why a fifth-rank martial artist was called Transforming Force lay precisely in this.
He landed silently, raised his head and examined the statue of the Sage. The features were striking and dignified, exuding an air of authority that was not overbearing, there was even a hint of compassion for all living things.
The statue’s long robe was different from the current mainstream Confucian robes, and the Confucian cap had a sense of history, taller and heavier than those worn today.
There was a deep crack between his brows.
So this is the statue of the Confucian Sage, the core of the seal imprisoning the Gu God… Xu Qi’an straightened his clothes and hat, then bowed deeply to pay his respects to the most powerful person in Central Plains human history.
I’d like to be as strong as you one day, but I can’t afford to die young, he thought to himself.
Heaven Gu Grandma and the others arrived in succession. Baji and Shadow ran to the statue, scrutinised it and breathed a sigh of relief.
“The statue is intact, there’s no damage.”
Following behind, Luanyu, Chunyan and Heaven Gu Grandma also came over. After carefully inspecting the statue, they looked greatly relieved. Luanyu’s bright red lips curved as she glanced at Xu Qi’an.
“I told you, how could the Sage’s seal be broken so easily?”
Chunyan cautiously scanned the surroundings and, finding nothing unusual, couldn’t help but frown.
“But Silver Gong Xu’s predictions are correct. Ge Wenxuan really did come to the Abyss, he wouldn’t have come just to look around.”
As Ge Wenxuan saw Xu Qi’an, Xu Qi’an and his companions also saw him.
Xu Qi’an walked to the edge of the cliff, looking down into the unfathomable blackness of the Abyss and tentatively asked,
“Is the seal still there?”
Chunyan blew a clear whistle, summoning a two-headed bird, which she manipulated to dive towards the Abyss.
Xu Qi’an clearly saw the two-headed bird dive for a distance, before being reduced to dust by a ripple of clear light. The light spread like ripples, illuminating the entire Abyss.
Chunyan stooped and picked up a stone, tossing it into the chasm. The light did nothing this time, and the stone vanished into the darkness.
Xu Qi’an listened carefully for a long time but did not hear the stone hit the ground.
Chunyan explained,
“Anything alive cannot enter the Abyss. But objects without consciousness can pass through the Sage’s seal.”
Xu Qi’an pondered before responding,
“It should be anything with consciousness, right? Otherwise, item spirits could enter too.”
Chunyan gave a wry smile.
“The shaman clans have no magic treasures. We’ve never tried.”
As she finished speaking, the ground beneath everyone’s feet suddenly shook. Stones and grit rolled down the gentle slope.
A low and terrifying roar echoed from the depths of the Abyss, far below.
By the time the sound travelled up, it had transformed into pure vibration due to the vast distance.
At the same moment, the Sevenfold Gu at the back of Xu Qi’an’s neck became restless, as if it wanted to tear out of his spine and flee.
“The Gu God has awakened?”
Luanyu’s voice trembled with fear, but though she was scared, she remained calm and retreated steadily.
After the roar faded, the tremors didn’t stop, but instead grew even more intense. Stones and sand cascaded constantly from the upper slopes.
Everyone sensed a titanic force surging up from the Abyss.
Chunyan’s expression changed,
“It’s the power of the Gu God, retreat quickly!”
What does that mean? Isn’t this place already filled with the Gu God’s power… Xu Qi’an muttered inwardly. Never one to act bravely out of pride, he immediately retreated with Chunyan.
The next moment, he understood what Chunyan meant.
A flood of the Gu God’s power erupted from the Abyss, black-red blood and qi power, dark green poison Gu power, pitch-black corpse Gu power, pale blue heart Gu power… purer and more copious than anywhere else near the Abyss.
Xu Qi’an and Chunyan were closest to the cliff, and were instantly enveloped by a surge of Desire Gu power. Instantly, the air was thick with a sweet, cloying scent.
He felt his mouth go dry, his whole body becoming feverish, a certain part swelling as if about to explode. The Sevenfold Gu greedily absorbed the invading Desire Gu power but could not fully digest it.
Even so, Xu Qi’an managed, but Chunyan, as a Heart Gu master, immediately became dazed. Her pretty cheeks flushed, and moans laced with sweetness slipped from her dewy lips.
She wrapped her arms around Xu Qi’an hungrily, pressing him into a hot, passionate kiss. Her hands clumsily groped him, searching for some means to satisfy her craving.
You really are inexperienced… Xu Qi’an knocked her out with a quick hit to the neck. It was easy, for Chunyan’s will had collapsed under the onslaught of the lust poison.
He carried her back to Baji and the others, then looked up as the torrent of energy soared into the sky and slowly cascaded down, scattering across the area near the Abyss.
Heaven Gu Grandma said grimly,
“Let’s go, we should leave here for now.”
The group retraced their steps. Along the way, they saw Gu insects and beasts driven mad.
Under the nourishment of this power, terrifying mutations occurred: the two-headed bird grew a third head; a giant python moulted, becoming thicker and longer; swarms of insects swelled rapidly, growing to the size of rats; vegetation grew madly, giving off wailing or the laughter of children…
Mutant monsters so malformed their species could not be guessed at, grew second reproductive organ; black-backed apes sprouting a second pair of arms from their sides; enormous shadows roaming aimlessly, devouring all living things in their path…
Every monster in the Abyss had gone mad.
Under Shadow’s guidance, they soon left the Abyss and emerged at the edge of the primordial forest.
“The Sage’s statue is undamaged, and the seal remains, so why is this happening?”
As an outsider, Xu Qi’an was at a loss.
Baji said gravely,
“The Gu God constantly leaks power. Its state is unstable, sometimes less, sometimes more. Its power makes beasts near the Abyss unusually strong, every six or seven centuries, an extraordinary-level Gu beast is born. Slaying these is a duty our shaman clan must bear. Each time an extraordinary Gu beast is born, our clan leader is always lost.”
Xu Qi’an frowned,
“So, is this normal?”
Heaven Gu Grandma shook her head.
“This was caused by that brat. I don’t know how he did it, but I wager the Gu God’s consciousness has stirred even further. There will be several more such surges of power in the near future.”
Luanyu and the others went pale.
Heaven Gu Grandma said slowly,
“You’re right. This is how Xu Pingfeng hinders our shaman clan’s extraordinary experts, by further waking the Gu God, causing a sudden, short-term explosion of Gu God power around the Abyss, and drastically increasing the birth rate of extraordinary Gu beasts.
“He forces us to remain in the Southern Marches, needing to devote ourselves to regularly clearing out the beyond-mortal Gu beasts, leaving us unable to intervene in the Central Plains.”
Handing Chunyan over to Luanyu, Xu Qi’an asked,
“To clear out powerful Gu beasts, do you need ordinary clansmen?”
Heaven Gu Grandma nodded.
“For ordinary clansmen, entering the Abyss is a deadly risk. They are of no use.”
At least I can still ‘hire’ ordinary shaman warriors… Xu Qi’an asked again,
“With the Gu God awakening, does that mean the seal has loosened?”
Heaven Gu Grandma shook her head.
“For a thousand years, the Gu God has been eroding the Sage’s seal, sometimes even awakening, but it always soon returns to slumber, sometimes for decades, sometimes just a few years. Fact is, only those beyond-rank can shake a beyond-rank seal. Xu Pingfeng is far from weakening even the Sage.”
Xu Qi’an looked at her.
Heaven Gu Grandma swept her gaze over the other clan leaders.
“Go and inform our clansmen: in three days, all those above fourth rank are to follow us to explore the Abyss and slay the Gu beasts.
Silver Gong Xu’s power is second to none. We sincerely ask his help.”
Longtu, Baji and the others looked at Xu Qi’an.
“Alright.”
Xu Qi’an nodded, then asked,
“Wouldn’t a surge of the Gu God’s power actually be good for the shaman clans?”
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