'It's already the eighth round.' Fang Zheng thought as his horizons were broadened once again. Watching those skilled gu masters refine gu worms in challenging conditions was nothing short of a brilliant display of refinement path taken to its limits. He had much to learn and master in his cultivation, he realized.
'Alas, Black Moon's path was cut short in this round.'
Unlike the previous rounds, only one gu master could advance past the seventh round. It increased the difficulty drastically, only allowing the true masters to carve a path of their advancement. Black Moon was one of the more promising candidates but even she could not step past the eighth round. However, the mysterious legacy disciple from Spirit Affinity House surpassed everyone's expectations and became the talk of the disciples.
Fang Zheng, of course, had some interest in the masked disciple.
According to Wang Nu, not only did she become one of the true prospects of becoming the sect's current generation fairy but… she also happened to take Lo Jik in as her only consort.
'Why wasn't Lo Jik allowed to become the next fairy?' Fang Zheng thinned his lips. He had much to consider. The mutated tree spirit never let go of his hatred against Immortal Crane Sect. It had transformed from boiling fury into something darker and colder—something more twisted than the ruined side of his face.
'There's also Wang Nu. She's still under the misconception that we didn't notice her hatred for Lo Jik.' Fang Zheng sighed. Living and making enemies in this world was inevitable. However, the current Fang Zheng would give up on Wang Nu in a heartbeat if it meant obtaining Lo Jik's cooperation.
The irony, however, was the fact that Fang Zheng knew Lo Jik did not even care about Wang Nu at all.
Still cloaked, Fang Zheng stepped out and made his way towards rendezvous—
"Hehe~!"
A sweet giggle near Fang Zheng seized his body as he froze mid-step.
*Splat*
His body exploded into a gory mess before his flesh, blood, and organs caught fire. His remains turned into ashes as the residue blew away. A silent screech, unnoticeable to most, echoed where his body was destroyed as his soul was also crushed into bits.
A proper death.
Fang Zheng died without even being able to utter a single noise.
"What is the name of this killer move, Fairy Shu?" Two figures floated above the clouds. They effortlessly observed the eighth round despite the obstructions as they killed Fang Zheng. One of them, a plain-faced woman with greying hair roots and blue eyes, was none other than the wood path gu immortal Shu Ye from Spirit Affinity House. The other figure looked young and his green-colored brows extended past his face and torso alike. He was also a rank 6 gu immortal like Shu Ye—He Fang Yang from Immortal Crane Sect, an enslavement path gu immortal.
Shu Ye didn't answer at first. She observed the spot where Fang Zheng was murdered and nodded after a few breaths.
"It's called Blood Burning Soul Burial, Sir Winged Crane Flying Immortal." She maintained an indifferent attitude, adding. "It uses wood path to mimic the effects of blood and soul paths."
"No wonder…" He Fang Yang smiled calmly as he stroked his chin. "Would you be willing to sell this mortal killer move?"
"Of course. I've long heard of your Crane Soul Flight killer move. It's one of the rare mortal killer moves capable of employing the souls of enslaved beasts to refine and strengthen one's own soul."
"Haha." He Fang Yang laughed proudly. "You honor me, Fairy Shu. But how can I easily sell one of my top-tier mortal killer moves? Shouldn't our deal be fair. Perhaps you would be willing to trade the top-tier killer move devised by your grandson-in-law."
Shu Ye's expression didn't change but the air around her grew colder. As if oblivious to the change, He Fang Yang waited for her response with a soft smile. Despite his young appearance, he was quite old. Most gu immortals were in similar situation when it came to their ages. A truly young gu immortal was quite rare.
"I'll see what I can do." Shu Ye responded after a moment as He Fang Yang sneered internally.
A gu immortal must be prepared in every aspect and cover all their weaknesses. As humans, their souls did not improve alongside their gu cultivation. Most gu worms meant to refine and strengthen the soul took years to provide any meaningful growth and could not be compared to Guts Gu. Ever since Spirit Affinity House obtained Hu Immortal Blessed Land, they had invested a great deal in the 'refining' aspect of the soul because Guts Gu was the greatest gu worm in strengthening the soul.
There were rumors about how gu immortals like Shu Ye and Bai La also spent resources to improve already established killer moves and refine their souls even more. Meanwhile, He Fang Yang already deduced one such killer move they could use as a reference. How could he watch his opponents grow at an unchecked pace?
Furthermore, his kill Crane Soul Flight killer move helped him advance his soul a touch beyond ten-thousand-man-soul without Guts Gu. It was a rare killer move that strengthened and refined the soul. As an enslavement path gu immortal, it was crucial for He Fang Yang to possess a stronger soul. So, he was quite envious of Spirit Affinity House.
"Let's continue, Fairy." He Fang Yang changed the topic seeing that Shu Ye wasn't inclined to offer anything truly precious for his top-tier mortal killer move.
"No." Shu Ye rejected He Fang Yang. "We were ordered to kill that mutated tree spirit. His companions are of no concern to us."
He Fang Yang's features darkened briefly before he cautioned softly.
"Are you sure? It might serve us well to go above and beyond."
Shu Ye pondered briefly before she shook her head.
"We're not getting any compensation for the rest of the mutated tree spirit's companions. Killing them doesn't interest me. You may continue as you like but this is where we part… after all, you're aware of the next target."
He Fang Yang paled slightly as he nodded and parted from Shu Ye, leaving for somewhere else.
They truly did not care about Fang Zheng till the end—he was merely an objective.
And only one force could order two gu immortals from different ancient sects to accompany each other in such short notice—
<<<>>>
Despite being part of opposing factions and sharing less than a friendly history, it didn't take Fairy Mi Yao and Bai La too much effort to maintain a cordial atmosphere around each other as the former entered Hu Immortal Blessed Land after the first supreme elder relieved her from her duties in Reincarnation Battlefield.
Mi Yao was a water path gu immortal, and a relatively young one at that. Naturally, she was a proud woman like most gu immortals but even she couldn't help and regard Bai La with greater respect.
Her appearance in Hu Immortal Blessed Land wasn't a coincidence, and neither was it due to Mi Yao needing Guts Gu urgently. No, it was because Bai La had to leave Hu Immortal Blessed Land temporarily and surpass a heavenly tribulation to break through into rank 7!
This day was finally here!
The world of gu immortals mostly consisted of rank 6 gu immortals like Fairy Mi Yao and Bai La. A hierarchy existed within this rank itself, dividing experienced and wealthier gu immortals like Bai La and Mi Yao from lone gu immortals and newly advanced gu immortals who didn't even possess a single immortal gu. However, a rank 7 gu immortal was an elite among their kind, and a world without a rank 9 venerable allowed rank 8 gu immortals to reign supreme.
Successfully tackling the tribulation would allow Bai La to soon stand in the same rank as these elites.
The two fairies shared some words before Bai La left to settle her affairs. Each tribulation and calamity was a risk a gu immortal faced in pursuit of power—any of which could spell their end at a moment's notice. Even sufficiently prepared gu immortals like Shang Mi Zhu once fell prey to their calamities.
"This heavenly tribulation will be more powerful and dangerous than all your previous calamities and tribulations, grandmother," Feng Jin Huang spoke softly. She quickly closed the gap between them before hugging her grandmother. The difference in their statures couldn't have been more obvious as such close contact buried Bai La's face into Huang's chest, a smothering tribulation in its own right.
"Please be well," Feng Jin Huang whispered without adding anything else.
"I will, Huang'er."
Bai La pulled back with a chuckle. She calmly handed her granddaughter an information path gu worm alongside a will.
"Should something happen to me, my will shall bestow Bai La Inheritance onto you. You must learn from it and contribute it to the sect after becoming a gu immortal."
The gu immortal disappeared, leaving Feng Jin Huang in the narrow and cold passage as the latter's lips thinned worriedly.
At the same time Black Moon and Lo Jik worked calmly. The latter was quick to notice the former's ambition of not only accumulating wealth through the conflict a smidgen beyond the horizon but to also move past Xu Hao's clutches and establish her own faction to maintain greater autonomy.
Lo Jik soon constructed another refinement chamber to keep Ju Lin from being disturbed by his antics, which could get quite loud and messy. His disciple continued to improve at a remarkable pace and he did not mean that about her skills but her mentality itself. Despite being defeated a few times in the battle stage, Ju Lin prevented herself from reaching the despairing condition of ten consecutive losses.
While Lo Jik did not end up recruiting any admirable talent from the sect to provide support to deduce more gu recipes—something he wasn't keen on doing in the first place—the act allowed him to establish a faction of his own. Black Moon knew full well about the advantages she stood to gain from this simple act and joined rather bluntly.
As for Black Moon and Lo Jik? One poured her entire focus in deducing the recipe for rank 3 Human Adaptive Qi. Meanwhile, Lo Jik pretended he was being busy with the task since he already had its recipe.
His clones, however, worked as diligently as ever in their dedicated house gu worms. Obtaining the results of their research was as simple as breathing as Lo Jik kept improving by leaps and bounds. It had been a year since he set this so-called venture and he was already free from rearing variant human slaves for Feng Jin Huang. This allowed him to divide his time appropriately and accumulate more platinum achievements.
Not only that, Lo Jik was ruthless enough to spend most of his savings in immortal essence stones to purchase enough gu worms to raise his attainment to the realm of a master for all known paths.
'The more time I spent researching unknown or lesser-known paths, like yin-yang path, the more rumors I heard about specialties developed by the venerables.' He mused quietly, his thoughts constantly revolving around one path in particular.
'It's said that Giant Sun Venerable never encountered any calamity in his life. In fact, he could turn dangers into fortuitous encounters. Almost all gu immortals believe the hidden existence of Luck Path, but what is it?'
Lo Jik perused the records held by Spirit Affinity House before encountering a few tales related to Giant Sun Immortal Venerable after he attained rank 9 and began traveling the gu world the moment he caught wind of the mysterious luck path.
However, Giant Sun wasn't alone draped in such mystery. There were some claims related to Genesis Lotus Immortal Venerable, too. But it was much more guarded than the luck path, something which might have trumped others.
Being one of the well-regarded members of an ancient sect proved its worth around that time as Lo Jik soon found records alluding to another dao called the painting path. That wasn't all. Apparently, one of the former members of Immortal Crane Sect found another dao—pill path.
All this enticed Lo Jik.
But he had no way of finding more clues for the gu worms related to these paths. The easiest way would be to seduce the descendants of these mighty figures in hope of letting his trait do the rest. Giant Sun Immortal Venerable was notorious for claiming millions of beauties and siring children left and right. The entire Northern Plains was his… nursery. There was a chance that Lo Jik might be able to gain some luck path gu worms by hooking up with Jirou Na.
Furthermore, Genesis Lotus Immortal Venerable also established Heavenly Lotus Sect, one of the ten ancient sects. His lineage still existed in that sect and attracted countless gazes every time they took any action.
But being a master of almost all known dao was currently enough to satiate Lo Jik. Going for Jirou Na would be too conspicuous and truthfully… Lo Jik could just eventually enter Northern Plains and achieve such goals with anyone now that his trait evolved into a mythical trait.
'I'm currently left with two immortal essence stones.' Lo Jik pursed his lips.
'That said… becoming a strength path grandmaster is a blessing and a curse.' He thought wryly. Of course, it was the blessing of constantly improving oneself. Becoming a strength path grandmaster allowed Lo Jik to advance his gu set even more—to break free from the confines of well-established aspects and branches of this path and develop Domination Immortal Chu Du's human jun strength branch.
Coupled with the sheer wealth of intuition from being a master in so many paths ensured Lo Jik's final gu set before attempting his breakthrough could revolutionize the entirety of strength path.
Something snapped Lo Jik from his thoughts as he looked sideways. The sudden motion attracted Black Moon, who instantly focused on the newcomer, too.
"Umgh~!" Lo Jik stood from his seat before stretching till he heard a few satisfying pops as he reached for the door and greeted a familiar figure who barely reached his chest.
"Senior Bai." He bowed slightly. "Welcome. Please forgive the mess. I would have tidied things up if I knew you were stopping by."
Bai La entered the refinement chamber with a smile. Her gaze scanned the interior before settling on the quiet Black Moon who did not bother showering Bai La in the same awe she would have had they encountered each other in public.
"Congratulations, Fairy Black Moon." Bai La smiled. "Your results in the convention will certainly warrant enough support from the sect for you to become our sect's current generation fairy."
Black Moon nodded slightly.
"Your achievement is much greater than my own, Fairy Bai." The masked gu immortal adopted a modest stature towards another gu immortal of their shared faction.
"Might I have a moment with your consort?" Bai La continued.
"What could a mortal gu master do that I cannot?" Black Moon blinked. "Supporting you right before your tribulation is the least I can do for you. How can I help you, Fairy Bai?"
Bai La's slightly broadening smile didn't reach her indifferent blue orbs as Black Moon met those cold hues, unperturbed and confident.
"You can help me by lending disciple Gu Yue Lo Jik."
"As you can observe…" Black Moon gestured to the refinement chamber with not much of a clutter since the initial stage of deducing a gu recipe was more of a mental exercise for seasoned gu masters like the couple. "He is busy with other responsibilities. You will have to forgive my insolence but I cannot loan you my stud without proper fees. Do consider the loss of time I stand to incur in my consort's absence."
Her black pupils flicked down as she took stock of Bai La with a knowing smile under her mask.
"And you assume I only need him for mere carnal release?" Bai La didn't bother maintaining vague hints around Black Moon. There were already enough rumors about her and Lo Jik given the number of visits he paid to her chambers the past year. After all, Bai La and Black Moon weren't the only gu immortals in the blessed land and Fairy Yi also visited the blessed land once more to deal with the injuries to her soul as she continued exploring dream path.
'Mere?' Lo Jik tossed the woman a deadpan glance. There was nothing mere about this shortstack's releases.
"Not that I'm not proud of my wife's entrepreneurial mindset to whore me out for hundreds of immortal essence stones," Lo Jik interjected, biting through the thickening tensions with a soothing smile. "But I would rather keep certain benefits freely accessible for friends and family."
"Your family is dead." Black Moon reminded calmly.
"Smooth." Fairy Mo's voice echoed in Black Moon's mind.
"I meant my friend's family, dear." Lo Jik chuckled before taking a jab. "I'm happy to involve your family if they are alive."
"Snnrk." Black Moon ignored Fairy Mo as her eyes narrowed dangerously. However, Lo Jik calmly offered her an information path gu worm.
"Please observe it and see if you can improve on my work, dear. I trust your skills in refinement path is no worse than mine," he lied.
Black Moon scoffed softly and observed the gu worm before her heart nearly jumped from shock.
'How did he already reach seventy percent completion rate? Granted, it is merely a rank 3 gu worm recipe… how is he quicker than you, Fairy Mo?'
"Ah, it must have something to do with the fact that I'm merely a will and he is a living being with an unusually sharp mind and great experience in refinement path. Not to mention the fact that he invented this gu worm… so he already had ideas on how to improve it," Fairy Mo replied sarcastically as Lo Jik turned on his heels before escorting Bai La out.
"Your work still isn't finished here, Lo Jik. Be done with Fairy Bai La quickly." Black Moon's voice reached only the exiting couple as the corner of Bai La's lips twitched.
"Huang'er might be onto something when she called Black Moon a bitch." The shorter woman snorted coldly as they walked past the bamboo grove.
"So… is this some sort of last wish thing, Senior Bai?" Lo Jik asked softly. "I can make it special if that's the case… I could dress up like him. Then you can call his name all you like."
Bai La froze before she furrowed her brows in frustration.
"It was a mistake… and I expected you to be upset. Did all the men of your previous world have no self-respect?"
Lo Jik laughed lightly as he looked at the bright sky.
"Honestly, I was flattered. So, there's nothing to be upset about. More than self-respect, I'm self-aware of my role."
He paused and turned to Bai La. His frame positively towered her short stature. His smile, furthermore, continued to remind Bai La of some unsavory memories.
"My role is to serve until I become a gu immortal." Lo Jik took Bai La's left hand in his right before bending and planting a chaste peck on the back of her hand. The act made Bai La frown harder as she demanded coldly.
"And what will be your role once you successfully become a gu immortal?"
"Let's see." He hummed playfully before looking up and meeting her gaze. "It would be to drive that name out of your mind." He straightened up before taking a step towards her. His surprisingly bold right hand reached for Bai La's chin as he caught her gaze at his level this time around instead of bending to meet hers. "Then I will drive it out of everything else. Your heart…"
His thumb pressed on her bottom lip.
"And even your soul, Senior Bai La. Trust me… I've remained unable to fulfill a few promises but this… this, I will do my utmost to uphold, and that too tirelessly."
Bai La seemed to be lost in his gaze but her vicious heart ensured that a familiar tentacle quietly coiled around his ankles as the corner of his lips twitched.
"Then I must drive out a few bad habits from your mind and heart before you can reach that stage." Bai La instructed with a sweet smile as she reached out to caress his cheeks.
'Fuck…' Lo Jik gritted his teeth. He'd have his payback… for sure—he vowed.
***
Alternate Title: Heaven's Will sipping coffee and watching Bai La get more intimate with Lo Jik *Pulls up rank 8 Death Note Gu*; Passing time; Bai La's time; Whose name are we talking about?; A name that's even flattering to Lo Jik; Fang Zheng's death; Are Fang Zheng's stock lost for good?; Dealing with fate escapees; Poor Fang Zheng getting on Heaven's Will nerves; Next target; Heavenly Court moves; Past year; MASTER; Faction with Black Moon; Lo Jik doing his all to preserve Ju Lin's innocence; Promises; Bai La getting one last pegging action before her tribulation; Will Lo Jik's vengeance on her ass remain unfulfilled, tune in for the next chapter of Reverend Rizz Z!
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