804. Conversing With the Gu God

“I wouldn’t advise you to go!”

Unexpectedly, Heaven Gu Grandma took an opposing stance.

Xu Qi’an frowned slightly and listened as Heaven Gu Grandma explained:

“The Sevenfold Gu inside you was the Gu God’s attempt to break free of the seal back then. Although its will was worn away long ago, the Gu God’s methods can’t be taken lightly. The beyond-mortal realm is a threshold. Before that, the Sevenfold Gu might not show any abnormalities.

“But once you push the Sevenfold Gu into the beyond-mortal realm, I’m afraid all the problems will erupt at once.”

Xu Qi’an stroked his chin and analysed:

“The most likely outcome is that after the Sevenfold Gu advances to the beyond-mortal realm, the Gu God will see me as a vessel and descend directly through it with its consciousness. But I’m already a first rank martial artist. The martial artist’s trait of uniting vitality, qi, and spirit lets me ignore possession by any being, including Beyond-rank ones.

“Besides, with an Earthly Immortal helping me, it shouldn’t be hard to wipe out the Gu God’s will, should it?”

Heaven Gu Grandma nodded gently.

“With an Earthly Immortal helping, there’s indeed no need to fear the Gu God’s will… must you really take this risk?”

Xu Qi’an said helplessly:

“With my current cultivation, and the power of all living beings blessing me within the Great Feng’s borders, among the existing first rank powerhouses of Jiuzhou, no one can contend with me. But once I leave the Central Plains, I only have a slight advantage at best, or perhaps no advantage at all.

“The great calamity is approaching. I must find a way to increase my strength. For that, taking some risks is completely worth it.”

After his fight with Sarun Agu, Xu Qi’an had realised that his combat strength inside and outside the Central Plains were on two completely different levels.

With the blessing of the power of all living beings, he was even confident of fighting the complete Shenshu. But once he left the Central Plains, he could only say one thing:

Big boss, go easy on me!

He couldn’t keep fighting only within the Central Plains. That would be far too passive. The Central Plains was only just beginning to recover, and it couldn’t withstand the ravages of high-level battles, so he had to learn to strike first.

And if he wanted to fight beyond the Central Plains, he had to raise his combat strength. As a first rank martial artist, he had bottlenecks everywhere, and it would be hard to make a sudden leap in a short time. At present, the breakthrough point was the Sevenfold Gu.

As long as the Sevenfold Gu could rise to the beyond-mortal realm, he would possess both the martial artist’s brute crudeness and Gu arts’ uncanny trickery. Whether it was a direct clash of tough men or a contest of fancy techniques, he wouldn’t fear anyone.

“At your current level, the Sevenfold Gu doesn’t mean much any more. It is indeed worth taking the risk. Your combat strength will rise another step.”

Heaven Gu Grandma nodded and did not try to dissuade him further.

Xu Qi’an continued:

“I also want to take this chance to have a talk with the Gu God and see whether I can gather any information from it about the great calamity.”

Heaven Gu Grandma warned him:

“When dealing with Beyond-rank beings, caution must always come first.”

Xu Qi’an gave an “Mm” and said:

“I’ll leave Lingyin in your care. I’m heading to the Abyss now.”

He didn’t want to waste time. He wanted to strengthen himself as soon as possible.

Xu Lingyin immediately looked at Heaven Gu Grandma, rubbed her belly, and said sweetly:

“Grandma, I’m hungry.”

For the sake of a mouthful of food, she’d even learnt to act cute.

Heaven Gu Grandma’s face was kind and benevolent. With a casual wave, she summoned over a basket of deep-fried insect pupae from the kitchen, golden in colour and glistening with oil.

“Eat up!” Grandma smiled kindly.

Xu Lingyin swallowed and immediately stretched out her chubby little hand. She grabbed a handful of the deep-fried pupae and stuffed them into her mouth.

Don’t feed my little sister this sort of thing. No matter what, she’s the future young lady of a great noble household in the capital… Xu Qi’an’s lips twitched, but in the end he chose silence.

Heaven Gu Grandma smiled.

“This is good stuff. It builds strength and toughens bones and sinews. It’s no worse than meat.”

I know, ten times the protein of beef, and you don’t even have to remove the heads… Xu Qi’an grumbled inwardly. Then he shot into the sky, leapt out through the open courtyard, and vanished into the horizon.

…

Heaven Sect.

Auspicious clouds shrouded the place, cranes cried and apes called, a scene worthy of an immortal abode.

In a secluded and elegant little courtyard, inside a quiet meditation room, sandalwood incense curled softly through the air.

Li Miaozhen wore a pale blue Daoist robe. Her beautiful hair was pinned up with a daoist clasp, and she sat cross-legged on a prayer cushion, calming her heart and regulating her breath.

Her features were exquisitely beautiful, and her brows were slightly thick, giving her a heroic air. But now she had trimmed those sharp brows flat, turning them into curved willow brows.

Sitting there expressionlessly, she unexpectedly possessed a certain aloof purity, as though untouched by mortal dust.

With the purple cinnabar mark at the centre of her brow, she looked even more like a celestial maiden.

“Creak~”

The meditation room door was pushed open. A young female daoist stepped over the threshold, saluted by the table, and said softly:

“Holy Maiden, Master asks that you come over.”

Li Miaozhen opened her eyes. Her gaze was calm, even somewhat indifferent.

“Understood.”

Her voice too was cold and detached.

She rose expressionlessly. At some point, a horsetail whisk had appeared in her hand. She hooked it over her arm and walked out of the meditation room in measured steps.

Every step seemed carefully measured, not a fraction too much, not an inch too little, as though following some rule.

Watching Li Miaozhen’s back, the young female daoist sighed inwardly. After returning from her worldly training, the Holy Maiden had been utterly transformed and had just entered the state of supreme detachment.

Given time, the Heaven Sect would produce another third rank.

Li Miaozhen walked out of the meditation room, out of the little courtyard, and along a path paved with green stone all the way to the Hall of Bingyi Yuanjun.

Outside the hall, three daoists had been waiting for a long time. They were her master Bingyi Yuanjun, Daoist Xuancheng, and the Holy Son, Li Lingsu.

Li Miaozhen walked over expressionlessly, performed a standard daoist salute, and said:

“Greetings, Master, Senior Uncle Xuancheng, Senior Brother Holy Son.”

Her voice had no rise or fall at all. It carried no emotion.

Li Lingsu’s handsome face was likewise devoid of expression, his gaze deep as a pool. He returned the salute and said:

“Greetings, Junior Sister.”

His voice too was completely devoid of emotion.

The two master-disciple pairs looked almost identical in bearing and expression.

Bingyi Yuanjun’s calm gaze swept over the two of them, and she said flatly:

“You don’t need to keep pretending. You might fool me, but you won’t fool the Heavenly Venerable.”

Li Lingsu’s and Li Miaozhen’s faces both fell at once, and they complained about each other in unison:

“It’s all because you’re useless. You can’t even act properly.”

Daoist Xuancheng said with little expression:

“The Heavenly Venerable has summoned the elders of every peak to hold a ritual for you. It will sever mortal ties and wash away your mortal hearts, helping you comprehend supreme detachment from emotion more quickly.”

Li Lingsu’s and Li Miaozhen’s expressions changed.

This so-called “severing mortal ties and cutting away the mortal heart” was a secret technique of the Heaven Sect for erasing memories.

In a cold tone, Bingyi Yuanjun explained:

“The Heavenly Venerable believes that during your three years travelling down the mountain, you became entangled in too much karma, clouding your dao hearts. If these memories aren’t removed, you may never comprehend supreme detachment for the rest of your lives.”

They’re going to strip away my memories… Li Miaozhen’s lovely face went slightly pale. She instinctively looked at Li Lingsu, only to see the Holy Son staring blankly, his expression ugly.

Daoist Xuancheng said emotionlessly:

“When you enter the Heavenly Venerable’s hall later, the Heavenly Venerable will ask whether you’re willing. Just nod. Otherwise, you’ll be dealt with according to the sect rules.”

…

The Abyss.

Xu Qi’an slowly descended from on high. Tap. His boot touched the ground and stepped on a piece of rubble.

The rubble came from the Confucian Sage’s statue.

Xu Qi’an examined the statue, one hand behind its back, one placed over its lower abdomen. He saw that the crack at its brow had already spread to its chest. The fissure was half a finger wide, and a few bits of broken stone lay at the statue’s feet.

The Confucian Sage’s power is constantly weakening. It won’t be long before the Gu God breaks free of the seal.

Xu Qi’an silently let out a breath, and the sense of anxiety in his heart grew heavier.

No matter what, before the Beyond-rank beings broke free completely, he had to reach the level of a half-step Martial God. That was the bottom line.

Then he shared the Sevenfold Gu’s vision and looked into the great rift. In the Sevenfold Gu’s sight, dense power of the Gu God was gushing out from the depths of the Abyss, blood and qi representing the Strength Gu, black light representing the Dark Gu…

Xu Qi’an put some distance between himself and the Confucian Sage’s statue, sat down cross-legged, and began absorbing the Gu God’s power.

“Huff, huff…”

The breathing of the first rank martial artist gradually grew heavier, stirring air currents through the Abyss. His terrifying lung capacity was like the breath of an ancient beast.

The seven powers symbolised by seven different colours entered Xu Qi’an’s body with each breath and gathered at the back of his neck.

The Sevenfold Gu, originally lying flush against his spine, bulged up from beneath the surface of his skin, constantly swelling and contracting in the same rhythm as Xu Qi’an’s breathing.

It greedily absorbed the Gu God’s power that entered Xu Qi’an’s body through his breathing, then fed that power back into Xu Qi’an, forming an interaction, a cycle.

When the Sevenfold Gu fed the Strength Gu’s power back into Xu Qi’an, his muscles expanded accordingly, swelling his loose robe taut.

When the Sevenfold Gu fed the Desire Gu’s power back into Xu Qi’an, a certain part of him swelled too, as if it were about to break through its prison and stand like a pillar reaching for the abyss.

Each kind of power manifested on Xu Qi’an in its own unique way.

Huff, huff… the dragon-like breath continued to intensify. Air currents swept across the Abyss, scraping over jagged cliffs and producing sharp whistling cries.

Above the entire Abyss, the Gu God’s power formed an outrageous vortex several thousand feet wide, collapsing downward, like a whirlpool appearing on the sea’s surface and madly devouring the seawater.

The Gu God’s power scattered around the Abyss began to grow thin.

…

Strength Gu tribe.

Longtu, who was making preparations for tomorrow’s ceremony, sensed something and looked towards the direction of the Abyss.

Then the six elders did the same, all noticing the abnormality in the Gu God’s power. The disturbance was so exaggerated that even fourth rank cultivators like them could easily sense it.

The Great Elder was struck with horror. His hand clenched his walking stick tightly as he cried out in alarm:

“The Gu God’s power in the Abyss is disappearing. Th-this, has a beyond-mortal Gu beast been born?!”

The Second Elder’s voice trembled.

“Didn’t Grandma say it would take at least half a year before a beyond-mortal Gu beast appeared? Quick, quick, call back the clansmen and prepare to flee north.”

Longtu said nothing at all. With a thunderous crash as the ground under his feet collapsed, he shot into the sky like a cannonball and flew towards the Abyss.

At the same time, the leaders of the Dark Gu, Heart Gu, Desire Gu, Corpse Gu, and Poison Gu tribes all rose into the air and rushed towards the Abyss ahead of the rest.

Meanwhile, the tribesmen in the settlements moved swiftly, gathering people and packing supplies, making orderly preparations to evacuate despite the panic.

Once a beyond-mortal Gu beast emerged, it would certainly wreak havoc on a grand scale. No one could guarantee whether the battlefield would shift to the dwelling places of the various tribes.

If ordinary tribesmen were caught up in a beyond-mortal battle, they would die in droves.

…

I’m starting to miss women a bit… and little mares too… want to refine corpses… want to eat arsenic… want to fight… want to find a pit and hide in it… Xu Qi’an closed his eyes and breathed steadily as thought after thought flashed through his mind.

The instant each thought appeared, he suppressed it completely.

The stronger the thoughts became, the closer the Sevenfold Gu was to succeeding in its advancement.

At this moment, the Sevenfold Gu had swollen greatly and now covered half of Xu Qi’an’s spine. Its seven limbs looked like seven ribs.

The Sevenfold Gu’s growth came with the pain of tearing flesh, but to a first rank martial artist, it was nothing much.

Xu Qi’an focused on the pain in his back. After an unknown length of time, the pain vanished.

The Sevenfold Gu stopped growing. The advancement was complete.

All kinds of abilities belonging to the beyond-mortal Sevenfold Gu were instantly fed back into Xu Qi’an’s mind.

But just as he was savouring the skills after the advancement, the Sevenfold Gu, which should have had no consciousness and only instinct, suddenly gave birth to a terrifying and overbearing will.

This will was vast and majestic, making one feel as if standing on the edge of an abyss, as if facing divine might.

“So you really did come, Gu God!”

The corner of Xu Qi’an’s mouth curled up into a smile.

That will ignored him and surged into his sea of consciousness like a raging tide, trying to possess him and seize this first rank martial artist’s body.

But no matter how fierce the tide was, no matter how many times it washed over his sea of consciousness, it could not leave behind any trace or alter it in the slightest.

Under normal circumstances, possession only required devouring the primordial spirit within the sea of consciousness. But a first rank martial artist’s primordial spirit was not in the sea of consciousness. It was in the flesh, in the qi. So simply battering the sea of consciousness could never achieve possession.

It was like how, after Shenshu was dismembered, his primordial spirit had also split apart and been contained in the separate limbs.

After failing again and again, the powerful will stopped its invasion. Then a majestic, imposing voice echoed through Xu Qi’an’s mind:

“Who are you? I never saw you when I peered into the future!”

804. Conversing With the Gu God

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