After the Sevenfold Gu advanced to the beyond-mortal realm, not only did its original abilities undergo a qualitative leap, it also gained an additional beyond-mortal skill.
The beyond-mortal skill of the Strength Gu was called “Blood Sacrifice”:
In essence, it burned essence blood and squeezed out one’s potential, raising battle power for a short time. It was somewhat like the Rank Four “Berserk”, but “Berserk” was only a localised boost in strength, and only had the power of a single strike.
“Blood Sacrifice” gave a greater and more comprehensive increase. Xu Qi’an conservatively estimated that if a Strength Gu warrior had just entered third rank, after using Blood Sacrifice, they could contend with someone at the middle stage of third rank.
It was equivalent to raising one minor realm.
As expected of the Strength Gu, the strongest in direct combat among the seven great Gu arts. It’s a bit like a martial artist, abandoning all the flashy nonsense and pursuing only ultimate destructive power.
After the Strength Gu advanced to beyond-mortal, the greatest pleasant surprise was that Xu Qi’an could use “Blood Sacrifice” to raise his own battle power by a small step. Originally, after stepping into first rank, the Strength Gu’s “Berserk” could no longer bring any increase to his combat power. Now it had finally found a use again.
The drawback was also obvious. The longer Blood Sacrifice lasted, the greater the drain on stamina. A martial artist’s endurance would decline.
Put simply, if Xu Qi’an fought a martial artist of the same realm, then after using Blood Sacrifice he could suppress the other party, but he wouldn’t last as long as they would.
If Xu Qi’an were only an ordinary first rank martial artist, Blood Sacrifice would have no meaning at all, because even after using it, he still wouldn’t be able to kill a martial artist of the same realm.
Of course, he wasn’t an ordinary martial artist. With all his various methods and trump cards, so long as he could suppress a first rank martial artist, there was a very high chance he could wear down and destroy someone of the same realm in the process.
Mm, special existences like Agaruka Bodhisattva were an exception.
If I were in the Central Plains, with the power of all living beings and Blood Sacrifice stacked together, plus multiple methods as support, I’d very likely be able, like Shenshu, to break Agaruka’s Immovable Lord and truly kill him.
As for the increase in Strength Gu’s physical power and regenerative ability, they were still rather useless to Xu Qi’an.
After the Desire Gu advanced to beyond-mortal, however, there were many changes.
First, there were now more ways to cultivate the Desire Gu. Xu Qi’an could now nourish it by absorbing the lust of surrounding living beings. Previously, he could also absorb the power of lust, but he could only store it for use against enemies, the Desire Gu itself couldn’t absorb it.
Now, as long as he stayed in brothels and the Jiaofangsi, the Desire Gu could automatically absorb the lust of the surrounding guests and young ladies, eating its fill.
Secondly, women who slept with him over a long period of time would gradually become unable to leave him. Only when facing him would they feel desire, and they would never again be interested in other men. Well, it wasn’t limited to women. If Xu Qi’an happened to like crossing swords, then it would work on the same sex too.
Then, he had gained a kind of ability called “Bewitchment”. His attraction to the opposite sex had risen enormously. Every smile and every glance from him could stir a woman’s heart.
Luanyu, the chief of the Desire Gu tribe, was precisely a bewitching beauty who could seduce men at all times.
Apart from the above changes, Xu Qi’an could also detonate a target’s lust. There was no need for child Gu or aphrodisiac toxins. So long as there was bodily contact, and so long as the other party still had the seven emotions and six desires, then he could trigger their lust.
Of course, this ability belonged to the support category. Any expert who had advanced to beyond-mortal was someone with firm willpower. It wasn’t as though one touch from him would make their legs go weak and spring tides surge, or leave them standing at full mast with their head swelling like a pillar to heaven.
But after lust was layered again and again countless times, even beyond-mortal experts would have to devote part of their energy to resisting it, thereby weakening their battle power.
It had to be mentioned that this was ineffective against beyond-mortal experts of the Heaven Sect.
The so-called Supreme Detachment from Emotion meant absolute control and mastery over the seven emotions and six desires.
The ability added by the Heart Gu at the beyond-mortal realm was called “Empathy”:
It could connect his own emotions with those of the target. If his primordial spirit was stronger than the target’s, then through emotions such as “Suppressing Anger” and “Compassion”, he could erase the target’s will to fight.
He could even guide the other party into suicide, stabbing their companions in the back, and so on. There were many devious applications, it all depended on how the Heart Gu master used it.
If his primordial spirit was weaker than the target’s, then he would be influenced by the other party in turn. There were benefits and drawbacks. For example, when the various chiefs had besieged Xu Qi’an that day, Chunyan had once used this move to “empathise” with Xu Qi’an, who had been afflicted by the Desire Gu.
The result was that one of them burned with raging desire, and the other ended up thoroughly spent.
That was naturally the drawback. As for the benefit, when you empathised with an enemy, regardless of whether your primordial spirit was stronger or weaker than theirs, you and the enemy became “one body”. No one would attack themselves, so a Heart Gu master in a state of empathy was absolutely safe.
At a critical moment, this technique could be used to save one’s life.
The limitation of “Empathy” was that against an expert of the same realm, it could only be maintained for twenty seconds.
If the opponent was one rank above, it could only be maintained for ten seconds. If they were two ranks above, five seconds. If they were three ranks above, it was completely ineffective.
In other words, if Xu Qi’an used this technique against a first rank, he could only “empathise” for five seconds. Against a Beyond-rank, it would have no effect whatsoever.
What an impressive ability. I can empathise with other first rank experts for as long as five seconds.
Xu Qi’an was extremely satisfied with this.
The Dark Gu’s “Shadow Jump” had gained in both range and the number of people it could carry. The two skills “Deception”, which blocked all of the opponent’s senses, and “Shadow”, which let one transform into shadow to avoid attacks, had also been enhanced.
Among them, “Deception” could now affect experts of the same tier. And “Shadow”, which had previously been treated as rather useless because it could only avoid physical attacks, had finally evolved the ability to avoid elemental attacks as well.
But it couldn’t exceed the user’s own rank. Someone at the early stage of third rank could avoid the attacks of a third rank Great Perfection expert, but couldn’t endure the output of a second rank.
As for techniques such as curse of death and Broken Jade, they still couldn’t be avoided.
The skill gained by the Dark Gu after advancing to beyond-mortal was called “Shadow Manipulator”:
As the name implied, it meant controlling the target’s behaviour by controlling their shadow. Against an expert of the same realm, the control time was three seconds, and for each rank higher, it was shortened by one second.
Another powerful hard control. Very suitable for assassination.
Xu Qi’an commented.
The Poison Gu and Corpse Gu gained no new skills, they merely strengthened their previous abilities, but that didn’t mean the two Gu arts weren’t strong. First was the Poison Gu. Xu Qi’an could now kill any expert below the beyond-mortal realm with a single mouthful of saliva.
If he ate enough high-quality poisons and accumulated enough of them, he could even poison third rank experts, so long as they weren’t martial artists.
As for the Corpse Gu, Xu Qi’an had always believed that this Gu art was the one that cared most about accumulation and foundation. Compared with the hundreds of millions of living beings across Jiuzhou, beyond-mortal experts were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. A third rank walking corpse might require the accumulation of several generations.
Besides, at Xu Qi’an’s current level, a third rank walking corpse was completely useless. A second rank might not even qualify to take part. As for first rank, they could be counted on both hands.
So for him, the Corpse Gu was the strongest of the seven great Gu arts in overall strength, and it could also be said to be the most useless.
The current me should be the strongest among all first ranks in Jiuzhou in overall power.
Xu Qi’an let out a delighted breath. This trip to the Southern Marches hadn’t been in vain.
…
Strength Gu tribe.
The Strength Gu tribesmen who had been working at the dam were summoned back to the settlement by flustered tribesmen.
“Great Elder, what’s happened?”
Lina looked at the densely packed tribesmen in the open ground outside the settlement. They were carrying large bundles of supplies on their backs and pulling flat carts without horses, looking as though they were about to set out on a long journey, to migrate.
Every single person wore an incomparably grave and stern expression. Such expressions appearing on the faces of Strength Gu tribesmen was in itself something extraordinary and serious.
The Great Elder sighed:
“Something’s happened in the Abyss. A beyond-mortal Gu beast may very well have been born. We must prepare to head north and avoid it for the time being.”
A beyond-mortal Gu beast had been born… Lina’s little mouth fell slightly open, her face full of panic. Although the Shaman Clans had no written histories, that didn’t mean they had no history at all, only that the means of inheritance was different.
The way the Shaman Clans passed down history was through murals and word of mouth. Lina herself had grown up frightened by tales of beyond-mortal Gu beasts. When she was little, whenever she stayed awake at night instead of sleeping, just playing about,
her mother would use terrifying beyond-mortal Gu beasts to scare her. Then she wouldn’t dare go out, but would huddle under the blanket trembling. The next day she’d wet the bed, and then get a proper beating.
Now she was no longer the child she had once been, yet she understood more and more deeply just how powerful and terrifying beyond-mortal Gu beasts were.
In history, every time a beyond-mortal Gu beast had been born in the Abyss, a Shaman clan chief would die to the Gu beast’s final desperate counterattack.
And the effects of a beyond-mortal battle could very likely spread to the settlements of the various tribes. If the fighting reached them, then people would die in droves.
The Second Elder went on:
“Fortunately, they’re building a border market over in Yuuzhou, so even if we head north, it won’t be as if we’ve nowhere to stay.”
Given the current relationship between the Great Feng and the Shaman Clans, they would absolutely take them in. Moreover, a town was being built at the border market, and manpower was needed. The caravans also lacked experts. The tribesmen might not be able to eat their fill, but at least they wouldn’t starve.
Lina nodded repeatedly:
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go quickly, head north and seek refuge.”
The Strength Gu tribesmen all urged:
“Great Elder, let’s leave quickly. No one knows when the fighting might come over here.”
The Great Elder said solemnly:
“The hunting parties who went out haven’t come back yet. We don’t know where they’ve wandered off to. Wait a bit longer.”
Then he looked at Lina, swept his gaze around her surroundings, and frowned:
“Where’s Lingyin?”
Xu Lingyin was the Strength Gu tribe’s little treasure.
“Oh, she was taken by Xu Ningyan to see Heaven Gu Grandma…”
After saying that, Lina suddenly slapped her forehead and said in delight:
“That’s right, Xu Ningyan’s here. We can get him to help us fight the Gu beast.”
That child Lina had been clever since she was small.
The Great Elder and the others were taken aback at first, then each and every one of them revealed expressions of wild joy and excitement as they urgently asked:
“Silver Gong Xu has come? He’s in the Southern Marches right now?”
Lina nodded.
After receiving confirmation, the Great Elder’s expression relaxed, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
And it wasn’t just him. The tense atmosphere at the scene instantly eased, and the dark cloud hanging over the hearts of the Strength Gu tribesmen also dispersed.
The Strength Gu tribesmen were overjoyed. This sense of happiness at being saved at such a critical moment made them dance with excitement.
“Silver Gong Xu is in the Southern Marches, that’s wonderful.”
“We don’t need to flee like refugees and seek refuge. Let’s stay at home and wait for good news.”
After the war in the Central Plains was settled, the news had spread to the Southern Marches. The people of the Shaman Clans all knew that Silver Gong Xu had become a first rank martial artist, the number one expert of the Central Plains.
With a first rank martial artist here, what kind of Gu beast couldn’t be dealt with?
Unless the Gu God climbed out of the Abyss, the Shaman Clans could sit steady as anglers.
“That child Lina really has been clever since she was small. I’d just forgotten about Silver Gong Xu.” An old man with greying hair sighed with feeling.
“Ah? So that was Silver Gong Xu? I don’t remember what Silver Gong Xu looks like. Central Plains people all seem to look the same.” The auntie beside him looked blank.
They were precisely the old folk of the Strength Gu tribe who had just been chatting with Xu Qi’an.
…
Outside the Abyss, above the primeval forest.
Longtu surveyed the surroundings, his rugged face clouded with gravity as he said in a deep voice:
“The Gu God’s power inside the Abyss has thinned by at least fifty per cent.”
He had made that estimate based on the changes in the “power of qi and blood”. As for the other six kinds of the Gu God’s power, Longtu couldn’t see them with the naked eye.
“About fifty per cent indeed.”
Chunyan and the other chiefs gave their replies according to what each of them had observed.
The result made the expressions of all the chiefs present turn exceptionally grim, with even a trace of fear.
“It seems this time there isn’t just one beyond-mortal Gu beast, and it’s possible some of them can command two or even more kinds of Gu arts at the same time.”
Youshi, wrapped in a black robe with seven walking corpses behind him, spoke in a low voice.
For Gu Masters, accommodating two life Gu at the same time was an act with a nine tenths chance of death. Only a very few geniuses could achieve it.
As for a genius capable of accommodating three life Gu, such a person simply didn’t exist, apart from Xu Qi’an.
But Gu beasts were mad by nature, and the probability of them accommodating multiple kinds of Gu arts was higher than that of Gu Masters.
Throughout history, the Gu beasts that had crawled out of the Abyss had basically all commanded more than one kind of Gu art. That was precisely why they had required the shaman clan chiefs to fight them to the death.
Luanyu’s bright, tender eyes swept about warily as she suggested:
“Grandma hasn’t come yet. Why don’t we go back first and discuss it with her?”
A warm breeze blew past, yet she suddenly felt a little cold. The thin gauze dress on her body couldn’t give her any sense of security.
She wore a pink gauze dress, and beneath it she was dressed very scantily, a chest wrap just covering her breasts, and ultra-short shorts sewn from animal hide and silk.
Her long, shapely legs, her seductively curved slender waist, and her soft, flat belly all showed faintly beneath the gauze dress.
That outfit, paired with her alluring and tempting body, could bring the bewitching power of the Desire Gu to its absolute peak. But right now, Luanyu wished she could wrap herself up completely, preferably with a full set of top-grade magical artefacts protecting her.
The seven kinds of the Gu God’s power had all thinned by nearly fifty per cent at the same time. That meant more than one Gu beast had been born in the Abyss.
Among the chiefs present, her own ability to protect herself was the weakest. If she ran into a Gu beast with the abilities of the Heaven Gu, she could easily die in a sneak attack.
Baji, chief of the Poison Gu tribe, shook his head slightly.
“Didn’t you notice? Grandma said a beyond-mortal Gu beast would appear in about half a year, but it was born ahead of time. Grandma’s prophecy was wrong.”
Heart Gu Master Chunyan pondered for a moment before saying:
“You mean that at least one of the beyond-mortal Gu beasts in the Abyss commands the abilities of the Heaven Gu? If that’s the case, then it should’ve already discovered us when we rushed over to the Abyss.”
Longtu said in his muffled, booming voice:
“We can’t delay. Once a beyond-mortal Gu beast leaves the Abyss, all the living things nearby will suffer utter catastrophe. The best way is to kill it while it’s just been born. Besides, we still don’t even know the number or types of these Gu beasts.
“Go back and discuss it with Grandma? Discuss what? Let’s go down first and meet them.”
Seeing that everyone had made up their minds, Luanyu could only let the minority submit to the majority. She pressed her vivid red lips together and said pitifully:
“Shadow, don’t stray more than thirty feet from me.”
Poison Gu, Heart Gu, Strength Gu, and Corpse Gu all had ways to preserve their lives. Only Desire Gu did not. And the first four could only protect themselves, not others. Only Dark Gu could protect her.
“Mm.”
Shadow wasn’t moved by beauty. He nodded.
Luanyu felt slightly reassured and let out a soft sigh. If only the shaman clans also had a second rank with overwhelming combat power.
At present, only Heaven Gu Grandma was second rank, but Heaven Gu wasn’t adept at battle. Although for the shaman clans, Heaven Gu’s abilities to observe celestial phenomena, determine the seasons, and glimpse the future were extremely useful, when facing an enemy at the beyond-mortal realm, they still needed a peerless powerhouse with unmatched combat power to suppress everything.
Among those present, the strongest in combat was undoubtedly Longtu of the Strength Gu tribe. He was only one step away from second rank.
But after seeing Xu Qi’an’s fighting strength, Luanyu found herself looking down on Longtu a little.
A pity Xu was a man of the Central Plains. Distant water couldn’t quench present thirst.
The group skimmed over the primeval forest, looking down from above. Using their various sensory abilities, they searched for the beyond-mortal Gu beasts in the Abyss.
Chunyan mimicked birdsong, summoning grotesquely shaped birds from the dense forests all around.
“Chirp-chirp! Chirp chirp chirp!”
After listening, Chunyan frowned and said in an odd tone:
“They told me someone entered the Abyss.”
The chiefs immediately stopped their search and looked over.
Someone had entered the Abyss?
At a moment like this, someone had gone into the Abyss… The chiefs looked at one another, their minds teeming with thoughts.
Pressing her red lips together, Luanyu asked:
“When did they enter the Abyss, and what did they look like?”
Chunyan shook her head slightly.
“They can’t answer that.”
Gu beasts had no concept of time, and even less of human appearance.
After saying that, Chunyan turned her head and chattered to them again in bird language.
Her expression suddenly grew grave, and she fell into thought.
“What did they say?”
Youshi’s voice came from beneath his cloak.
Chunyan raised her head, swept her gaze across the assembled chiefs, and slowly said:
“Fear.
“They felt extreme fear from that person.”
Extreme fear… Everyone frowned and exchanged glances, growing even more vigilant.
Gu beasts were mad and savage by nature. Even when facing them, they still dared to attack without fear of death.
Anything capable of making Gu beasts afraid had to be of a vastly higher rank.
At the same time, this also allowed them to judge that the mysterious person who had entered the Abyss was of a higher rank than all of them, far, far higher.
Longtu asked in a deep voice:
“Is that person still in the Abyss?”
Chunyan nodded gently.
The chiefs hovered in mid-air, unsure for a moment whether to advance or retreat.
An outsider had entered the Abyss, and the seven kinds of the Gu God’s power had all thinned by nearly fifty per cent at the same time… Chunyan’s heart stirred, as though she had thought of something. Her grave expression gradually eased, then turned into a restrained, inward smile.
It’s him!
The other shaman clan chiefs weren’t stupid. They immediately guessed the identity of the newcomer.
Because of his younger sister dreaming of the Gu God, Xu Qi’an had recently returned to the Southern Marches for a visit. And the Sevenfold Gu inside him wasn’t a secret. Now, with the seven kinds of the Gu God’s power thinning at the same time, and with the message the Gu beasts had just conveyed, it wasn’t hard to deduce that the changes in the Abyss had been caused by Xu Qi’an.
Autumn light suddenly blossomed in Luanyu’s eyes. The joy rising on her face couldn’t be suppressed no matter what. She was completely different from how she had looked a moment ago, all worried and cautious.
Youshi was excited too. The body beneath his cloak trembled slightly, and anyone could hear the excitement and delight in his voice.
The dried corpse of his dreams!
Longtu remained as stern as ever, with no change in expression, but his taut muscles quietly relaxed, easing out of his alert, battle-ready state.
Whew… Baji let out a breath and said:
“When we fought last time, his Sevenfold Gu was already very close to the beyond-mortal realm. The changes in the Gu God’s power should’ve been caused by his advancement with the Sevenfold Gu.”
He felt rather relieved. This meant the shaman clans’ most troublesome problem had been resolved. For quite a long time to come, they wouldn’t need to worry about beyond-mortal Gu beasts appearing in the Abyss.
At these words, smiles appeared on the faces of the chiefs.
Shadow said:
“Let’s go to the Abyss and have a look. Until we see Silver Gong Xu, don’t lower your guard.”
The chiefs restrained their smiles, nodded slightly, and sped towards the great rift valley.
Luanyu took the lead, her gauze dress fluttering as she rushed to the front. Just before, she had only dared to stay cautiously by Shadow’s side.
Looking at Luanyu’s graceful and seductive figure ahead, Chunyan pursed her lips lightly. The two little snakes hanging from her earlobes let out hissing sounds, as though mocking Luanyu.
…
I should head back.
After preliminarily stabilising the Sevenfold Gu, Xu Qi’an rose from where he had been sitting cross-legged by the cliff edge. Then he lifted his gaze to the strip of blue sky above.
Through the cliffs on either side, seven figures could be seen speeding over through the azure sky. At the front was Luanyu, with her alluring figure and charming beauty. Looking down from the sky, the moment she spotted Xu Qi’an, she immediately accelerated her descent.
Pat.
Her snow-white bare feet landed lightly on the ground, and the seductive beauty called out in a sweet, cloying voice:
“Silver Gong Xu!”
Xu Hard Mule… Xu Qi’an thought to himself, the Southern Marches accent really was unbearable.
The other six descended one after another, smiles on their faces, carrying the ease of tension finally lifting.
“Greetings, Silver Gong Xu!”
The chiefs cupped their hands in salute.
Xu Qi’an’s gaze moved away from Luanyu’s tall, curvaceous figure, and he gave the group a slight nod.
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