<
<<<>>>
To rescue Ren Zu once he fell into Luo Po Valley with no way to get out, Desolate Ancient Moon climbed Cheng Bai Mountain and tried getting to the top to get the one and only Success Gu.
Desolate Ancient Moon would be able to save Ren Zu as long as she made a wish to Success Gu.
But a Rockman obstructed Desolate Ancient Moon when she got to the foot of the mountain.
It turns out that when Ren Zu's second daughter arrived at Cheng Bai Mountain, she ruined Love Gu's wonderful dream.
Out of anger, Love Gu awakened the Rockman to obstruct Desolate Ancient Moon.
In the end Desolate Ancient Moon killed the Rockman, successfully getting to the mountain waist.
Love Gu had yet to leave, it appeared before Desolate Ancient Moon and said: "Oh human, you interrupted my sweet dream, yet you still desire to take away Success Gu. Now I will topple the entire Cheng Bai Mountain, you can have fun finding that one and only Success Gu out of billions of rocks. Hahaha."
Saying so, Love Gu crashed towards Cheng Bai Mountain.
Cheng Bai Mountain was not an ordinary mountain. It was a mound entirely made up of stacked rocks.
The entire mountain crumbled after Love Gu crashed into it.
Love Gu left smugly, leaving behind Desolate Ancient Moon who looked at this huge pile of rocks in a daze.
How was she going to find that one and only Success Gu among this chaotic pile of rocks?
Desolate Ancient Moon was troubled, without a choice, she had to return to Cognition Gu to seek advice.
After Cognition Gu heard Desolate Ancient Moon's description, it sighed: "Love Gu has always been demanding and unreasonable. Even me or my child, Wisdom Gu, we would not want to confront it."
"Right now, Cheng Bai Mountain collapsed. You can only look at these rocks one by one to find the real Success Gu from among them. There are no other ways."
Cognition Gu said again: "But you must be careful, there are two Gu on Cheng Bai Mountain. One is Success Gu, at the peak of the mountain. The other is Failure Gu, at the bottom of the mountain. Failure is the mother of success, but it also has many other children. Those rocks are Success Gu's siblings. When you pick those rocks, many unthinkably bad situations will occur. I will tell you a secret here, as long as you continue to affirm the belief of 'me' in your heart, these disastrous situations will gradually disappear."
Desolate Ancient Moon's heart sank. She asked again: "Then how do I differentiate the rocks in my hand? What do Success Gu and Failure Gu look like?"
Cognition Gu sighed: "They look almost the same, but it is easy to differentiate them. Just hold them in your hands, you will learn about their identities."
"In your search for Success Gu, that Failure Gu will be your biggest threat. You cannot hold on to the Failure Gu, otherwise, you will be completely lost, and your life would be in danger."
Desolate Ancient Moon heard this and nodded, expressing her gratitude.
Cognition instructed her again before leaving: "Do not say that I taught you that. If Love Gu comes to find me, I'd be in trouble. In the face of fanatic and toyful love, wisdom and cognition can only run away."
"Don't worry, I won't expose you." Desolate Ancient Moon agreed, returning to Cheng Bai Mountain.
Seeing the huge pile of rocks, her heart was gloomy.
Success was not easily obtainable. To obtain success, she would need to bend down and search while taking great risks.
Desolate Ancient Moon breathed in deeply, picking up the first rock.
This rock was ordinary, but when Desolate Ancient Moon held it in her hand, it shook slightly.
A light wound appeared on Desolate Ancient Moon's hand.
This was not Success Gu, but one of success' siblings, one of the children of Failure Gu.
Desolate Ancient Moon's heart was shocked, she touched the wound on her hand as she recalled what Cognition Gu said —"When you pick those rocks, many unthinkably bad situations will occur. You must affirm the belief of 'me' in your heart."
"So, this is the terrible situation." Desolate Ancient Moon understood.
She chanted in her heart: "Me, me, me, me…"
As she chanted, the wound on her hand miraculously healed! Only a light scar was left.
She tossed the first rock away and picked up the second rock.
When she held this rock in her hand, Desolate Ancient Moon's heart jumped, as an intense feeling of fear assaulted her.
Desolate Ancient Moon was shivering in fear, she almost ran away to escape, away from this place.
But she held on, chanting 'me.'
After a long time, she slowly recovered as the fear in her heart was gone by half, finally picking up the third rock.
This rock made her dejected. She could not help but think: "I want to find that one and only Success Gu among these billions of rocks, how difficult is that. How long would it take me?"
She could barely move anymore, she felt that the future was shrouded in darkness, it was too difficult to find Success Gu.
She almost wanted to give up, but she thought about her father who was trapped in Life and Death Door.
"If I give up, who will save father?" Desolate Ancient Moon shuddered: "Oh no, I forgot to chant 'me'."
Desolate Ancient Moon chanted again, getting rid of the despair in her heart. She bent down to pick up another rock.
Once she held the fourth rock in her hand, Desolate Ancient Moon was shocked to find out that her nose had changed, it turned into a pig's nose.
She chanted 'me' once again, allowing her nose to recover.
Spending a lot of time, she exerted all her effort to get rid of the pig nose. But her nose was still slightly deformed compared to before.
Like this, Desolate Ancient Moon continued to pick up rocks, hoping to find that Success Gu.
But days passed, and all she found was Failure Gu's children.
Among these rocks, some injured her, some left her dejected, despairing, or fearful, while some made her grow a pig head, rat's tail, etc.
Despite Desolate Ancient Moon chanting 'me' continuously. Some of the scars still remained on her. As they accumulated, these scars turned her into a monster.
She grew six heads, three arms, five tails, and looked like a centaur. She had sixteen legs, and some of her legs had soft fur, some had snake-like scales, some had sharp claws, some had tough hooves.
In the search for success, people often transform and become completely different.
But Desolate Ancient Moon also became much stronger because of this.
After going through so much, she had become several hundred times as strong as before. These rocks could no longer trouble her.
"Success, oh success, where in the world are you?" Her seven mouths opened together. Some were screaming, some were shouting, some were whispering while others were growling.
The more she failed, the more she desired success in her heart.
After her great effort, the number of unpicked rocks became fewer and fewer.
Eventually, when there were only two rocks left, Desolate Ancient Moon was stuck between two difficult choices.
Undeniably, among these two rocks, one was Success Gu, while the other was Failure Gu.
Obtaining Success Gu would be the best. But if she picked Failure Gu, then Desolate Ancient Moon would become completely lost. She would be in danger of dying despite becoming hundreds of times stronger than before.
One step to heaven, one step to hell. What should she choose? Desolate Ancient Moon could not help but become hesitant.
"If I do not dare to take the next step for fear of failure, then I will never succeed! I am already so strong, success is a step away from me. Even if I take Failure Gu, as long as I chant 'me,' I should be able to endure it right?" Eventually, she mustered her courage and stretched out her palm, picking one of the rocks.
Unfortunately, she picked Failure Gu.
An unforeseen feeling of loss and self-doubt assaulted her.
"Me, me, me…"
Desolate Ancient Moon continued to chant 'me,' but her voice became softer, as her seven mouths stopped moving eventually, her expression turning into a daze.
She had fallen into endless perplexity. She had completely lost herself.
The biggest tragedy for a human is losing one's sense of self.
<<<>>>
Lo Jik closed the book and stayed silent. He shut his eyes and meditated.
'I see.'
As one could expect, no matter the 'mythical' lore surrounding the seventh calamity, it was limited in strength and could not do anything to Central Continent's strongest genius—Feng Jiu Ge. That man had answers for almost every problem. He was cautious yet confident, his attacks powerful and profound. The entirety of the seventh calamity lasted for no more than eleven minutes.
However, Lo Jik made huge gains.
'Ren Zu. Oh, Ren Zu. Your methods are truly amazing. To think I was blind to the secret about this tale for so long. I learn something new every time I read your legendary tale.'
Being a human path grandmaster allowed Lo Jik to follow and understand his intuitions consistently. That's why he chose to read this section of this tale after the seventh calamity.
Lo Jik was an anomaly due to his attainment and comprehension towards human path.
'This tale is filled with human path profundity. This isn't just a tale spread across the entire gu world but a thinly veiled inheritance!'
'My understanding of human path revolves around my more mortal circumstances. Even my greatest achievement yet, Accumulation Gu, exists due to my thirst for battle strength. But if I can seek some guidance from this tale, doesn't that mean others with greater attainment in different paths can also seek some human path ingenuity to supplant their growth?'
'Being a human path grandmaster, I effortlessly deduced another mortal recipe. But my progress is so swift due to the low complexity of mortal gu worms. Not to mention the fact that I was enlightened to refine a gu worm that will assist in letting me dual cultivate. What others realize from this human path inheritance will be different—directly linked to their circumstances, ambition, and needs.'
Lo Jik surmised his thoughts, feeling slightly emotional. To think such a treasure trove was right by his side all along!
'No wonder I felt strange. I possess Rank 6 Divine Travel Immortal Gu. Back then, I could have refined another legendary immortal gu—Fixed Immortal Travel Gu. The recipe was directly jotted down in <
He felt spirited.
'Even more outstanding is my attainment. The greater my attainment, the more treasures I can extract from this inheritance.'
He blinked.
'Doesn't that also mean that human path is not something new but one of the oldest paths? Hmm. Even if I gained immensely from this biography, taking everything written down there as truth will also be foolish. I can't be sure about human path, but it's clear that its founder was none other than Ren Zu!'
'Amazing. Amazing. With my attainment, I could only deduce the aspects of cloning, the lack of conflict in dao marks, and the recently thought organization-type gu worms. However, there are many more aspects to it. Human path is linked with the creation of humanity. Ren Zu created ten children before using Derivation Gu to create humanity. This might be another aspect of it—creation of humans. Not clone gu worms, but actual humans.'
Lo Jik suddenly shuddered.
'No!'
'Not ordinary humans! All his children possessed ten extreme physiques! To think I spent so much time using blood path to gain Great Strength True Martial Physique when human path might have even more amazing methods…'
He heaved a deep sigh. He felt immeasurable admiration towards Ren Zu.
'There are surely other aspects and profundity in this tale, waiting to be discovered and made use of. But haste makes waste.'
'This realization also greatly boosted my completion of Fake Soul Gu. In fact, one of the best methods of strengthening the soul that even Spectral Soul Demon Venerable praised happens to be a human path gu worm.'
'It's not surprising a human path gu can also have a great effect in refining the soul.'
'But my insight into the human path isn't the only benefit I obtained this time. Taking the risk of being near the calamity when it was being created was a good decision.'
Predicting a calamity and tribulation was very challenging. Most wisdom path gu immortals could not do it.
Still, Lo Jik chose to brave the risks because it was related to his second aperture.
'I could never advance as a gu immortal with a mysterious immortal gu worm in my second aperture. What if the conditions of its activation were related to the tribulation itself? There are simply too many varieties of gu worms. Even now, I have a few mortal gu worms I gained from my rewards that I was unable to discover in Treasure Yellow Heaven.'
'I could mask my intentions by trying to act valiantly to attract Feng Jin Huang and Bai La. But how could I take such risks especially after my trait evolved?'
Lo Jik glanced at his second aperture.
The light of Rank 5 Hope Gu was dim. It actually concealed his second aperture from other gu immortals' inspection. How could a mortal gu achieve that? Lo Jik once believed it might be due to his or Nina's trait. He was partially correct.
The two traits in his soul attracted this gu worm. Lo Jik still had a long way to go before understanding how his traits acted in the gu world. Were they a construct of dao marks on his soul? Were they hidden gu worms? Maybe killer moves?
If so, could Lo Jik use gu worms to affect and manipulate their use? Could he recover Nina?
Even more concerning was the fact that if his traits could attract an immortal gu worm, would this achievement be repeated? Wouldn't that land him in a world of shit storm?
'Moreover, even if it attracted the immortal gu worm, how could I have refined it? Immortal gu worm requires a gu immortal's will and immortal essence to be refined.'
Such questions plagued Lo Jik.
There was also the fact that this Hope Gu had multiple uses…
Hope Gu was a classic gu worm used to awaken one's aperture. It was refined in nature and was present in large numbers. Yet, this Hope Gu worm had the ability to conceal Lo Jik's second aperture at his whim.
This was a massive clue!
The reason Lo Jik was willing to take the risk and stay near the calamity was due to the turbulent heaven and earth qi. The tribulations in a blessed land and grotto heaven didn't appear out of thin air. They were formed from a combination of heaven and earth qi, the two of the components related to the ascension of a gu immortal. Such turbulence also placed slight pressure on gu worms.
Lo Jik was finally able to see through his second aperture's vital gu worm's disguise and realized many things.
He could refine this immortal gu worm due to his trait. Whenever Lo Jik retrieved a gu worm, it would already be refined. He was almost sure the same thing happened when this immortal gu snuck into his body. It was refined around the same time Nina's trait activated and created a second aperture inside his heart.
As for why this immortal gu adopted Hope Gu Worm's looks?
Because it was quietly lurking within the Gu Yue Clan Village's Spring. It snuck into Lo Jik's body when he stepped into the lake to awaken his aperture!
'It has been helping me ever since, disguising my aura without issues.'
'I figured Divine Concealment left on my soul followed my wishes and it could hide itself from inspection. But that was also due to this immortal gu worm.'
Lo Jik sighed deeply.
Being wary of one's surroundings after being transmigrated was surely everyone's instinct. Lo Jik was also instinctively wary of his surroundings. He wanted to hide his outstanding qualities.
In fact, his most outstanding quality at the time was his trait.
It still is.
Nina's words revealed that their trait carried a certain aura—a certain attraction. That's what attracted this immortal gu to Lo Jik in the first place. He was merely a mortal. How could an immortal gu be fearful of him? It could have never expected Lo Jik's trait to be so insidious before being refined.
Even if this aura could not be detected by other gu masters, or even gu immortals, Lo Jik always wanted to keep his trait a secret. The reason why he might not have attracted any other immortal gu before being targeted by almost every gu immortal he came across was due to this immortal gu worm.
It not only concealed his second aperture, but it could even conceal his trait—or at least, the aura it carried.
Lo Jik sensed his soul.
After strengthening, it was still a one-hundred-and-twenty-man soul. It was burly and jacked clone of Lo Jik, looking phantom-like and eerily grey. The next second, at his control, a wave of dao marks so dense and intense that it could be seen through the naked eye wrapped around his soul like silk clothing. It was extremely beautiful and eye-catching.
The next second, it disappeared.
'No wonder this immortal gu is also always hungry. I haven't been good gu master to it at all. I kept feeding it the portions related to a mortal gu worm, but it needs proper nourishment.'
Lo Jik glanced at his second aperture.
It was concealed.
'The second aperture's vital gu is truly a human path gu worm—but not Hope Gu. It also isn't as mysterious now that I uncovered its secret. Like other gu worms except for Love, it also has one use alone. It isn't to conceal. Concealment is merely a way to utilize the gu worm.'
'It is disguise.'
'This immortal gu disguised itself and hid inside Gu Yue Clan Village.'
'It disguised my aura.'
'It disguised my second aperture as a regular heart.'
'It also disguised a rank 9 killer move on my soul! In fact, there was no dao mark conflict at all, allowing this immortal gu to disguise a construct of such a dense theft path dao marks.'
'But its exertion increased due to disguising a rank 9 killer move. It is constantly hungry and weak, and I keep feeding it clouds of rejection. The quantity required is a lot more than I expected.'
'Hehe. In Legends of Ren Zu, it is also Love Gu's so-called sworn brother. Was that the reason Love Gu targeted me initially?'
Even if First Supreme Elder wanted to keep these things a secret, how could Lo Jik not understand that Love Gu was taking a piss at his expense?
He gazed deeply at his second aperture.
The Rank 5 Hope Gu fluctuated.
Its aura skyrocketed!
Rank 6…
Rank 7…
Rank 8!
But there was no pressure in his second aperture. Somehow, only Lo Jik sensed a surge of rank 8 immortal gu worm's aura while Hope Gu continued to maintain a rank 5 aura, keeping his second aperture from cracking like an egg.
With Lo Jik's control, this gu worm kept disguising its aura. In fact, this disguise was so outstanding that it was 'real.' This immortal gu worm could disguise anything, delude truth from reality, distort gu worms, and convince the rules of great dao that its disguise was reality.
Rank 8 Disguise Immortal Gu!
The sun-like Hope Gu vanished from Lo Jik's gaze alone. Instead, in the center of his aperture floated a different creature. It had an ant's head, a butterfly's body, and a bee's sting. Its wings and exoskeleton boasted multi-colored scales not too different from a chameleon's.
'Amazing.'
Lo Jik gulped. He suddenly thought of something.
'In Legends of Ren Zu, it disguised Love Gu as Cognition Gu. But how can these tales be believed without any research?'
Lo Jik didn't dare mess around with Rank 9 Love Gu. Instead, he directed the gu worm to use its ability on a rank 1 gu worm. No immortal essence was needed. Lo Jik didn't even feel any mental exhaustion. This immortal gu was simply divine!
Soon, Lo Jik retrieved a rank 2 Ball Fire Gu.
*Pssh*
However, a ball of water floated around Lo Jik's hand once he activated the gu worm.
'As suspected.' Lo Jik wasn't discouraged or dejected.
'It doesn't transform the dao marks inside the gu worm but the gu worm itself. But this disguise is lifelike. It even emanates a feeling related to fire path gu worm. If I retracted my will from this gu worm, it would consider itself a fire path gu worm and find beasts that possess fire path dao marks for its sustenance.'
'Furthermore, it might try eating the food related to the fire path gu worm instead of its true need.'
'A disguise so convincing that it distorts the gu worm's natural will itself.'
'It distorts the connection of the gu worm with the great dao.'
'Furthermore, disguise of this level means Rank 8 Disguise Immortal Gu actually carves dao marks on the gu worm's surface. But there is no conflict of dao marks. Disguise Gu fully realizes human path's non-conflicting dao marks potential.'
Lo Jik was a human path grandmaster. He could see through many of the secrets and comprehend the truth at once.
'The effect on the gu worm might be limited. But what about me?' Lo Jik paused. Before he could test any further, he needed to adjust the formation.
'Wait. Can't I also use Disguise Gu in the formation? Instead of hiding things, I can distort the truth. Not only would this put the minds of other gu immortals at ease, but I could also stay hidden in plain sight and continue growing!'
Such thoughts were unavoidable. Even more outstanding was the fact that Lo Jik already had a few insights into this matter. Even if his attainment in formation path was less than ordinary, he could still set up a decent formation.
'Hehe! Even more insidious use of this gu worm is disguising someone's thoughts or memories. Disguise Gu is outstanding. Not only does it not require immortal essence stones or any other strenuous activation requirement, but its ability is also simply to disguise. What I choose to disguise is up to me. It's like a killer move but slightly simpler.'
'Once I incorporate it into a killer move, could I not achieve even greater effects? Currently, I can only distort a gu worm's exterior. As I grow, who knows… I might be able to achieve something more permanent. One thing is clear… this Rank 8 human path immortal gu alongside Divine Travel Immortal Gu already improve my foundation in human path by a mile.'
'The first aperture still needs a rank 6 strength path immortal gu. Using immortal gu of any other path would only destroy my potential as someone possessing Great Strength True Martial Physique. But gaining a strength path immortal gu is challenging. I might have no option before, but now I have Disguise Immortal Gu. I might be able to sneakily advance as a human path gu immortal before disguising the truth.'
'Sigh. But doing that would also cripple my growth through the trait unless Shu Zhe and Qin Juan also breakthrough.'
Lo Jik fell into a dilemma. He initially wanted to set up a proper human path foundation. Now, however, he could become a human path gu immortal. His body would gain human path dao marks during the ascension, and a human path blessed land—allowing Lo Jik to grow his own human path resources!
'I cannot always rely on my trait. Besides, the time required to gain platinum achievement would turn out to be months once I advance as a gu immortal, but my rewards would also be based on rank 6 cultivation!'
'And once I become a gu immortal, can't I tackle Xin Cheng more confidently? Hehe. Actually, Disguise Immortal Gu makes matter a lot simpler.'
Lo Jik's smirked.
'Finally, I can think of a way of dealing with all the contracts I made and will ever make. Disguise Immortal Gu is the best source of inspiration.'
He almost laughed loudly.
'First, I should start by modifying the formation and instill Disguise Immortal Gu Worm's effects. I can start retrieving my rewards that way.'
Lo Jik sensed something just when he was about to dive into sweet, sweet cultivation.
He walked out of his hut and accepted an information path mortal gu with utmost reverence.
'Fairy Yi summoned me. What's the matter?'
Lo Jik felt cautious as he moved towards Dang Hun Mountain.
He wasn't worried about being exposed. However, Fairy Yi was Spirit Affinity House's second rank 8 expert. She wouldn't call Lo Jik over without any reason.
'Sigh… I'm most probably about to be saddled with a complicated mission.'
***
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