Boasting quasi-supreme grandmaster attainment in two different paths, specifically the two paths most well-known to encompass the use of so many other paths, left quite a lasting sensation in Lo Jik's mind. The advancement of attainment in the few other paths also sustained Lo Jik's decision of not mindlessly refining hundreds of thousands of gu worms and sacrifice them to Dreamer Gu needlessly. His gains, aside from the bolstered attainment in several paths, also encompassed gu worms and many rare and ancient resources.
First, Lo Jik truly snatched one of the supreme treasures of Long Hair True Inheritance—Long Hair Ancestor's true meaning. But within Lang Ya Blessed Land also existed two other true inheritances just as valuable if not more.
He retrieved a rank 6 immortal gu worm. This immortal gu looked like a dung beetle. Its whole body was golden yellow and had three parts to its body; head, stomach, and a tail. Its head was like a crescent shovel which had paddle like tentacles extending from its sides. Its stomach had a horizontal ridge, and its tail was oval. It had two pairs of legs and a pair of tails. Every tentacle was rough and thick with hard black barbs on their ends.
Dog Shit Luck Immortal Gu!
This immortal gu worm was Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's luck path vital immortal gu worm before he conceptualized All Living Beings Luck and later refined Fortune Rivalling Heaven Immortal Gu. As expected, this luck path immortal gu had great effects. Though supplementary in nature, this immortal gu continuously raised one's own luck!
Luck, like many other resources in a gu master's life, was quite finite. Fortuitous encounters depleted one's luck and soon gave rise to misfortunes. However, this immortal gu could be used to manage the state of one's luck—to maintain good fortune while warding off the expected ill fortune. But it was only limited to this function at the hands of ordinary gu immortals. Being a luck path great grandmaster, Lo Jik could push the use of this immortal gu to its greatest limits. His luck path killer moves could all be modified by a great extent by using this luck path immortal gu as a core. This might be his first and only luck path immortal gu, but it opened a door to a whole new path of cultivation and enrichment.
After all, Lo Jik was someone who possessed the contents of both the Self Luck and All Living Beings Luck true inheritances. Not only could he shape and modify his own luck but he could bring about a calamity to the luck of his enemies.
'Best of all, I have advancement recipes for rank 6-9 Dog Shit Luck Immortal Gu.'
Luck path allowed a gu immortal to ascend to the throne of an immortal venerable. Needless to say, it had a few immortal gu worms whose upper limits reached rank 9. Dog Shit Luck Immortal Gu was one such specimen. For the current him, however, the rank 6 immortal gu was satisfactory enough.
Lo Jik then observed a supreme treasure of the third true inheritance.
It was a bee the size of an adult's fist, covered in alternating black and white stripes. It was surrounded by a layer of red radiance that brightened whenever it moved. On its back grew a comically long stinger with the length of an adult's forearm. It had a cute yet mysterious appearance that failed to betray the suffocating rank 8 aura oozing from its body.
Rank 8 Steal Life Immortal Gu!
'It is said that this immortal gu was the first theft path gu that Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable owned in his life. Steal Life Immortal Gu… as the name suggests, can steal other's lifespan. However, it cannot distinguish friends from the foes. Even the user's lifespan gets drained by the immortal gu worm. Of course, as the owner of the immortal gu worm, the drained lifespan returns soon after.' Lo Jik knew quite a bit about this immortal gu worm but also not enough.
This Steal Life Immortal Gu was not ordinary by any means. It was one of the ten Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable's true inheritance. Even more special was the fact that this was the only true inheritance that wasn't stored in a special space accessibly only by the otherworldly demons. Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable left this true inheritance with Long Hair Ancestor as a compensation so there was no point in confining it within a different space.
'But that's not all. The most problematic issue is the method Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable left on the immortal gu worm.'
Fearing that this immortal gu would cause a great catastrophe in the gu world, Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable restricted and sealed the immortal gu. The immortal gu would self-destruct after three uses.
Both venerables left their true inheritances in Lang Ya Blessed Land. Where Giant Sun's Self Luck True Inheritance was comprehensive and even revealed certain truths about Red Lotus Demon Venerable and the legendary Fate Immortal Gu, Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable's true inheritance was simple and concise.
Theft path is not about gaining without effort. It is the path of greatest efficiency.
Thieving Heaven opened with this statement, already explaining the purpose of this path.
Gu masters and gu immortals want to obtain gu worms and immortal gu worms. Be it gu refinement, transactions, or loot—these methods have high costs and risks. Theft path targets gu worms and steals them. One can save costs and reduce risks, raising their efficiency.
Lo Jik recalled how he had to engaged in negotiations with Lang Ya land spirit and Qin Bai Sheng while also performing a great deal and acting his ass off. Still, he somehow left a few clues behind, prompting Qin Bai Sheng to attack. There were a lot of risks involved. Lang Ya land spirit might have not given into his intimidation and destroyed the immortal gu worms directly if not for Lo Jik's acting alongside other crucial factors such as his luck. On the other hand, Lo Jik had the easiest time of his life while roaming the three continents, the several islands acting as storage units, and the sea region. He stole whatever he desired with minimal resistance. There was simply no contest about it.
As for Steal Life Immortal Gu?
How did it steal lifespan?
Lo Jik knew the answer. Steal Life Immortal Gu targeted the dao marks that made up one's lifespan. Theft path, as a whole, stole gu worms and materials. But what was the essence of a gu?
Every gu worm was a host of dao marks forming a fragment.
Theft path essentially stole these dao fragments and dao marks.
Don't think that theft path is shameless or vicious. Many things can be looked at with another perspective.
That was very true.
Steal a hook and they hang you, steal the whole country and they make you a prince! Any clan or sect makes their members contribute towards the organization. This is an open form of theft but it taken for granted.
For example, Heavenly Court makes members who join it contribute their immortal apertures. They are basically handing over their entire life's cultivation gains. In terms of theft path, this is Heavenly Court stealing the cultivation gains of gu immortals. But people think it as a form of glory. They would die to have this chance.
Lo Jik paused here. In reality, he could see both sides of the explanation. Personally, he wouldn't mind handing over his blessed land if he obtained matching benefits. Immortal aperture, gu worms, materials—these were all part of one's cultivation journey to understand the great dao. Yet, he could also understand why elites among the ten great ancient sects would willingly contribute their immortal apertures. It wasn't just glory that lured such a response but also a sense of belonging. Heavenly Court was considered one's greatest final resting place where the predecessors slept knowing that their successors continued improving and raising the court's foundation. They wanted to act as beacons shining light upon the paths of the new generation and sustain the world of human dominance.
Weak mortals are also able to steal the cultivation of gu immortals in the form of true inheritances. But this world treats that as a norm. It is the culture.
Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable did not argue about something superficial like how the inheritances were left behind the gu immortals with the intention of being inherited. He merely pointed out that inheritance was one of the best methods of stealing someone else's life work! It was the act of taking in the most efficient method possible that was considered theft.
Thievery is merely the most efficient way of gaining something. Creating an organization and making rules, making up honor or using emotions and cultures, they are all theft path methods.
Lo Jik nodded internally. Perhaps he could use theft path immortal killer moves to get over his hurdle of truly stealing everything from his enemies. Until now, he could invade blessed lands, steal memories, and snatch attainments. However, he still couldn't do anything about the target's dao marks and immortal aperture.
But what if they handed over everything willingly?
The thought left Lo Jik momentarily dazed. For some mystical reason, he thought about Ju Lin. This method he intuitively followed after was seemingly connected with the same hazy enlightenment he had around Ju Lin.
'This method has both human and theft path profundities. Earlier, I was too focused on acquiring all the benefits from the targets. My targets were naturally humans and variant humans, so I thought about human path. But what if I changed my targets to mountains and rivers, the sky and the sea, and the very heaven itself? This falls under the aspect of theft path. I should consider both these paths when researching this topic from now on.'
Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable continued with more shocking revelations.
The most powerful theft path method is—Assimilation.
Winds of Assimilation will blow and turn everything to nothingness when grotto-heavens and blessed lands get destroyed. The dao marks in the immortal apertures would be assimilated and absorbed by this heaven and earth.
Thieving Heaven called the gu world's heaven and earth rather distinctly, still clinging to his otherworldly identity, unlike someone similar to Lo Jik, who rather accepted his current world with open arms despite all the failures in his life.
The greatest thief is this world itself.
It steals the cultivation gains of countless generations of peerless geniuses. It accumulates more and more dao marks or even produces new types of dao marks. It stole me from another world, making me an otherworldly demon. It steals the lifespan of myriad beings and ensures death of all lifeforms in this world.
The theft path I created imitates heaven and earth! Using the most efficient method to gather benefits and strengthen oneself…
Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable fully revealed how he used his unique mindset to explain every aspect of the world with theft path. This was a common sight for every path. Take Lo Jik's formation and refinement path as an example. He could look at a mountain and see it as a formation of countless trees, blades of grass, and even intangible aspects like the mountain veins or consider this part of nature through the lenses of a refinement path great expert and realize that the rain and terrible winds were nothing more than refinement practices to mold and shape the mountain. Having such insight in all the paths allowed him to discover the secrets of the gu world with a single glance.
Steal Life Immortal Gu is the first immortal gu in my life. I did not refine it myself.
The more I used it, the more I understood. In the end, I put some arrangements on Steal Life Immortal Gu.
Using Steal Life Immortal Gu normally would steal the lifespan of others, and with the killer move I created, it can increase one's own lifespan. Of course, it has its flaws and is inferior to Lifespan Gu.
Using Steal Life Immortal Gu in reverse would give the user's lifespan to another target. This looks foolish but it has its own profundity. That is also the deepest essence of this true inheritance.
If you are blessed enough to reach this step, inheritor, you will be able to remove my method on Steal Life Immortal Gu and obtain the information of another corresponding true inheritance.
Lo Jik mulled over the matter before going over the rest of the contents. The inheritance also contained the refinement recipe for rank 8 Steal Life Immortal Gu.
'Using Steal Life in reverse…' Lo Jik hummed. It sounded rather similar to his idea of taking everything from his targets. Why shouldn't he aim for their lifespan if he was keen on taking everything.
Although merely a theft path grandmaster, Lo Jik was quite confident in dealing with the demon venerable's arrangement due to his combined attainment. Furthermore… he didn't need to truly deal with this matter at all. Couldn't he simply refine it again as long as his refinement path immortal gu house gained the ability to refine rank 8 immortal gu with a 100% success rate?
Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable might have kind intentions, but what did it have to do with Lo Jik. The former even left the bait of revealing the clue for another true inheritance after understanding this profundity. So be it if Lo Jik was ordinary, but he simply had too many inheritances. And if this other theft path inheritance was left unchecked, he might just acquire it through his trait!
The only reason Lo Jik was willing to understand this profundity was to deepen his theft path attainment… if he didn't get his hands on some theft path dream realm or true meaning before doing so.
With that, Lo Jik moved onto his other treasures.
There was the rank 8 Water Refinement Immortal Gu.
Lo Jik also acquired yet another rank 8 immortal gu right before escaping Lang Ya Blessed Land—Heavenly Essence Treasure Imperial Lotus.
Somehow, Lo Jik already acquired a total of four rank 8 immortal gu worms!
Ordinarily, he would be worried about what to feed them. However, these immortal gu worms were either well-nourished by Lang Ya Blessed Land and did not require any food immediately or simply had simple conditions to feed them.
Such wealth would instantly attract nearly all the lone and demonic rank 8 gu immortals of Central Continent to attack him.
The sum of his Lifespan Gu also surpassed 9500 years' worth of lifespan!
Next Lo Jik observed the other immortal gu worms he swindled and stole from Lang Ya Blessed Land.
First and foremost, there was the rank 6 rule path Multiply Immortal Gu. This was a great acquisition. Lo Jik could use this immortal gu in several immortal killer moves and supplement their strength of numbers.
Next, Lo Jik observed the three rank 6 immortal gu worms that hibernated peacefully. They were rare yet not widely useful.
Rank 6 Bone Armor Immortal Gu, a bone path immortal gu that forced out the gu immortal's bones into a protective armor.
Rank 6 Star Cloud Immortal Gu, a start path defensive immortal gu worm that created a starry cloud around the user to protect them and anyone else inside.
Rank 6 Evasive Mist Immortal Gu, another passive immortal gu belonging to illusion path. It created a deceiving mist around the user. Anyone who entered the mist suffered from their senses played by the mist as they would hallucinate the user everywhere but his actual position.
These rank 6 gu immortals could not be used directly and first needed to be fed a great deal to let them recover. Still, these were great addition for Lo Jik as he could advance the relevant clones to the immortal level and act as gu immortal of different paths.
But these three were merely the first of immortal gu worms he snatched from the storage unit. Aside from thousands upon thousands of rare and extinct mortal gu worms, Lo Jik also had several other immortal gu worms.
Rank 6 Aperture Seal Immortal Gu, a rule path immortal gu worm that severed the connection between the gu immortal and their immortal aperture.
Rank 6 Tempered Refinement Immortal Gu, a refinement path immortal gu used to temper and polish half-finished products during gu refinement.
There was also a gu worm that resembled a round pearl as large as a goose egg. It had countless markings on its surfaces as if a field of lotus or the rumbling of clouds. Strangely enough, this was a blood path immortal gu!
Rank 6 Blood Asset Immortal Gu.
Lang Ya Land Spirit was the one who refined this immortal gu and instead added its advancement recipe to Long Hair True Inheritance. He deduced its recipe using all the blood path recipes it purchased from Treasure Yellow Heaven. When used during refinement, Blood Asset Immortal Gu could preserve a portion of the materials during the failure, greatly lowering the cost of immortal gu refinement. Lang Ya Land Spirit had avoided a great number of losses using this immortal gu worm, managing to preserve rare and near-extinct immortal materials during gu refinement.
But its essence was blood path.
This was Lo Jik's first blood path immortal gu.
He turned his attention to the number of rank 7 immortal gu he stole.
First and foremost was the rule path immortal gu—Combine. It was a great rule path immortal gu with widespread use.
Rank 7 Refine Aperture Immortal Gu was a rare refinement path offensive immortal gu. It could be used on defenseless immortal apertures placed on the main continent to refine a portion of the blessed land's dao marks. As a rank 7 gu immortal, it could not be used on grotto-heavens.
Refine Element Immortal Gu was another rank 7 refinement path immortal gu, used in tandem with other gu worms to refine one element into another. It could be used to refine a rank 7 water path immortal material into a rank 7 ice path material. Its use greatly relied on the user's own ingenuity and how great of a method they could deduce to refine new immortal materials. Such an immortal gu was crucial for Lo Jik in deducing and inventing new immortal materials or uncover long-lost immortal materials.
Rank 7 Qi Refinement, much like rank 8 Water Refinement, used qi path methods to refine and prepare immortal materials for gu refinement.
Lastly—
Rank 7 Beast Enslavement Immortal Gu!
Lang Ya Land Spirit enslaved several desolate beasts within the cloud buildings to defend against the invasion. It was achieved through this immortal gu worm. There were a variety of enslavement gu worms at the mortal level such as Wolf Enslavement Gu, Bear Enslavement Gu, Deer Enslavement Gu, Monkey Enslavement Gu, and more. However, there was only one Beast Enslavement Immortal Gu at the immortal level. Unlike its mortal variant, this enslavement immortal gu was not expendable and could be used to enslave any variety and number of desolate and ancient desolate beasts!
'These gu worms alone are already impressive. However, Blood Asset Immortal Gu was probably one of the land spirit's more prized possession. Furthermore, Aperture Seal, Tempered Refinement, Refine Aperture, Refine Element, and Qi Refinement were all the cores of two of the great methods held by Lang Ya land spirit. Alas, the greatest core was still the Refinement Cauldron Immortal Gu alongside the rank 8 Advance Refinement Gu. The land spirit also had more prized immortal gu worms such as the Prodigal Son Immortal Gu and more, but they were too far away.'
As for what these so-called methods were and the significance they held for Lang Ya Land Spirit, only Lo Jik knew the truth.
'I finally have a method of targeting tribulations. The best research partner I could ask for is none other than Hu Mei Er. I should help her gain a luck path extreme physique and finally research her immortal aperture core after advancing the Vital Human to the level of an immortal killer move.'
***
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