Cold.
Unending bitter cold.
Kao Dao Ji took several mouthfuls of air.
From it, steam could easily be seen taking shape.
His body shivered; despite the several layers of clothing, the cold was simply beyond what a human body could bear.
'Warming Gu.' In his chest, a Rank 1 Gu rapidly began to take effect.
The Gu expanded rapidly, heating up his body, even so.
The effect of a mere Rank 1 Gu was far too limited.
Besides.
"Woman, hurry the fuck up! I am freezing"
Kao Dao Ji sighed helplessly. Despite being so cold that even his eyes hurt, he had no other choice but to turn towards another person and, with whatever power he had, approach.
He pressed his gloved palms inside the man, injecting his Primeval Essence into Warming Gu once more.
The man felt invigorated by this; he exhaled, satisfied.
From his pockets, he took a couple of Primeval Essence Stones and put them right at his hands.
Still, Kao Dao Ji could not find the energy to thank him; he merely concentrated on refining the Primeval Essence whilst walking towards another person.
As for what was happening?
It was the aftermath of the great blizzard that comes once every ten years in the Northern Plains.
The freezing cold is so intense that the people have no other choice but to remain in their houses for days or weeks; beforehand, they stockpile large amounts of food to endure the winter.
Yet.
How could their reserves last forever?
Eventually, and naturally, they would run out of food.
Thus, no matter how hard it was to withstand. The people had to get out.
To hunt, to fish, or simply to collect herbs or materials.
To tie the loose ends, the Hui Gui Clan had sold 'Hui Gui Xi Mei' to the Murong Clan, one of the many losers of the previous conflict.
But before leaving him there to freeze to death, they oh so generously provided him a set of three Gu.
Icy Heart, Cold Blooded and Warming Gu.
Cold Blooded Gu ensured that his body gained properties akin to reptiles; unlike its name implied, it did not directly provide cold blood but instead enabled his body to undergo a process named brumation.
A state akin to hibernation in which the vital functions, and even metabolism, would come to a halt.
Though during this state the brain would still be able to somewhat respond and the aperture would remain equally active, giving the person a possibility of survival no matter how slim.
The second Gu was named Icy Heart, which gave the heart the ability to pump out blood even at low temperatures, a useful Gu which could enable him to restart movement even at absurdly low temperatures, if he so willed. Albeit it was hardly advisable. As the state of brumation would cease, he would suffer the consequences of low temperatures.
Finally, there was Warming Gu.
Through it he could easily create an area of 'warm' which could keep his body somewhat stable, despite the temperatures. And combined with Cold Blooded, could enable him to survive temperatures beneath -30 degrees.
Of course, such a rare ability also made him very valuable to the Murong Clan.
Kao Dao Ji gritted his teeth.
To force himself to keep walking, he used Warming Gu continuously as his Primeval Essence Reserves rapidly depleted.
He reached another person and began to inject Primeval Essence into the Gu again.
But at some point.
He felt a sharp pain; the warm aura came to a halt out of nowhere.
"Why did you stop?" The middle-aged man asked.
"I ran out of Primeval Essence…"
"What a useless little thing. At least give me some warmth…" The man squinted his eyes.
"Fine…Sir." Kao Dao Ji had no other choice but to stretch his arms and give the man a huge hug.
And as he did so, his body shivered.
"Fuck, you are too cold. Get out of me!" The man snapped, moving his hands rapidly.
Kao Dao Ji, who was already running out of energy, fell into the cold snow.
His gaze was almost vacant as he stared at the white skies.
"If I were to die here, would I die in real life? At this point, I think…I can take the odds…" Those were the last thoughts he had before his vision blackened.
But he would not die yet.
From the horizon, there was a stern-looking man.
In reality, while it seemed like a small group, in reality there were over 38,000 people moving at the same time.
Made up of slaves, common men, and even formidable Rank 3 to Rank 4 Gu Masters.
Naturally, to handle such a large group, there were several commanders overseeing the situation.
He rapidly transmitted orders, and several buffed men began to run towards Kao Dao Ji, carrying his almost catatonic body alongside the group.
The little amount of warmth their bodies generated enabled Kao Dao Ji to barely sustain his conscience.
Several Primeval Essence Stones that were hidden in his clothing began to shine slightly.
As Kao Dao Ji focused intently on absorbing them.
Little by little.
His Primeval Essence replenished itself as the minutes and hours went by.
And as he activated Warming Gu over and over again, his skin and body began to recover.
To the extent that he could once more move his limbs properly.
Even so, his mind was still slightly disoriented.
"Oh? Is that a red star?" He muttered to himself weakly, whilst staring at it.
A red orb hung on the horizon, floating ominously.
Suddenly.
His pupils widened.
Red Lighting descended.
Befalling upon his body.
"What the fuck??????" His lips trembled.
As the lighting reached his body.
Upon reaching him, his blood felt a strange change as if it were boiling.
The other two buff men felt a similar effect; they spared no energy to take care of him.
Instead, they rolled in the snow, seemingly trying to divert the heat.
Yet.
They could do nothing but observe.
Observe as their skin melted.
They screamed in agony until they died.
Surprisingly, Kao Dao Ji, despite being hit by the lightning, did not suffer similar effects.
Of course, he was not able to observe this.
All he could see was how the two threw him to the cold snow, and how his blood began to heat up.
Yet. Despite everything apart from twitching involuntarily, he was unable to move his body properly.
One had to understand.
Disregarding the previous Gu, who altered his physique, enhancing it beyond the level of a common man, alongside the ones that enhanced his resistance to coldness.
They were all of a low Rank.
How could Gu's of such a low level prepare the body for a change of temperature so drastic? From freezing cold to the temperature at which one boils water.
How could his body cope?
And so, because he did not react, nobody came to rescue him.
Assuming him dead.
Yet Kao Dao Ji still kept a sliver of consciousness inside him; he witnessed in horror how he was abandoned.
His body was engulfed by the snow and then carried by the wind.
All he could do in that state was use Warming Gu.
The minutes, the hours, and then the days passed by.
Due to his peculiar state, he did not experience usual hunger.
Perhaps he would not even have begun to feel it until a few months had passed by.
At the beginning, he used Warming Gu to try to preserve the heat.
But soon he discovered two things.
No matter how much he tried to use the Gu to bring his body to usual temperatures, it was simply too slow.
Yet he also realized that the colder his body became, the more rapidly his Primeval Essence recovered.
It was this same fact that kept him alive.
"Is this because of Cold Blooded Gu? Or due to the Gu used to change my gender?" He wondered to himself.
Whilst he was not yet masterful enough to call himself an expert in Yin-Yang, he had some experience.
He knew some of the patterns which the path followed, and he also understood several things.
"The method employed on me was rather special…"
More than say that it merely changing the gender, its effect was that it transformed them, making them into an identical replica of the other.
Even if one were to look at the genetic code, Kao Dao Ji heavily suspected that it would be identical to the previous physique of Hui Gui Xi Mei before her transformation.
It was precisely because the transformation was so perfect that nobody had uncovered the truth after so many generations.
"To achieve so, it required not only the Yin Qi of her body but also samples of her blood. Similarly, she also took samples of my own blood and Yang Qi.
I wonder…If she took this much Yang Qi from me, and I took so much Yin Qi, and on top of that, my body was modified to produce the common levels of Yin Qi for a woman….
Do the levels of Yin have surpassed the usual dose?" His eyes gleamed as he analyzed.
The transformation + the usage of other Gu Worms may have had an unintended effect, changing his physique in such a way that it partially resembled the Extreme Physique Northern Dark Ice Soul.
In which the environment modified the speed of Cultivation, of course, it was by far inferior in most senses.
As he had this realization.
Kao Dao Ji also pondered.
"If my body goes too cold, I will die. But if I keep it just at the right level…The levels of essence I produce are overbearing, almost 3 times as great as before." His eyes gleamed in calculation.
Such an amount of essence.
Was quite large, large enough that he could sustain Warming Gu.
Large enough that he could cultivate!
As of now, his Aperture was of Rank 1 Upper Stage; if it were at Peak Stage, he could break the deadlock and escape from the snow.
Kao Dao Ji ignored everything.
He merely cultivated for what seemed like days and weeks.
Until finally his aperture was lit.
It reached the Rank 1 Peak stage!
And as this passed.
His levels of Primeval Essence generation finally reached a certain limit, if he so willed.
He could use this much Primeval Essence to eventually regain his mobility.
And yet.
He kept cultivating.
In his mind, any thoughts of escaping had been overwhelmed.
Instead.
His ambition grew.
"With this power…I will be able to escape." His expression turned colder, and the rage in his heart surged.
The feelings of vengeance which had been suppressed for so long had finally erupted once more.
And he Cultivated…
One month later.
Kao Dao Ji stood up.
His Aperture had yet to reach Rank 2, yet he had finally begun to feel hungry.
He knew that whilst his body could last for a long time, it could not sustain itself forever in such a state.
Furthermore, the cold was finally receding.
He walked towards a cave.
To try and see if there were some living creatures there.
Whilst he was not that hungry, he knew the desperation would only increase; even if he had to eat cockroaches to survive, he would do it.
Yet as he finally reached the cave.
He saw that there was a white barrier.
"Is this…An inheritance?" His heart began to beat faster.
Unfortunately, there was not much he could do.
There were no Gu that he could use to destroy the barrier.
He gritted his teeth.
He grabbed a stone and threw it with all his might.
But the barrier did not even flinch in the slightest.
On the contrary, its white light surged even more intensively.
The pebble was bounced back towards him.
Hitting him right at the stomach and forcing him to kneel.
He struggled under the ground, as he gasped for breath.
Even so.
Once he recovered, the hunger in his eyes only grew more intense.
"I need to enter." He thought.
No matter what he had to.
Without it, what could he do?
He only knew about Cloud Path recipes and the like, but unless he found a jetpack, they were more or less useless.
The only real way to survive would be by entering into that cave, which was either an inheritance or the home of an old monster.
Even if the latter case became true, then he could only pray that they were merciful, regarding the former.
It may be his only hope of overturning the situation.
But how could he do so when he had no mediums to attack?
Was he supposed to dig his way through the side?
But even if he did, how did he not know that the barrier was not protecting every angle?
Could he truly afford to waste months of his life digging only to find yet another barrier?
"I doubt that they were able to survive like this…" He muttered to himself, and he frowned deeply.
He had his suspicions, and he had to take a gamble.
Slowly, he raised his arm, then he clenched his hand, only keeping his index finger stretched.
Even if the barrier reacted, it would only destroy one of his fingers, but he hoped this would not happen.
That somehow the barrier would let him go through.
And to his surprise.
It did.
Effortlessly, his finger passed through the barrier.
"Hahahaha! The Heavens finally answered me!" Kao Dao Ji laughed heartily; of course, that was not his own voice.
He had long since figured that the more the dream progressed, the more he became consumed by it; little by little, the thoughts of another voice overtook his.
Which was disconcerting to say the least.
But what else could he do? Die and hope that it did not kill him in real life?
Of course, he also felt slightly curious; the fact that Hui Gui Yu had reached Rank 6 meant that eventually they had to gain something, or at least produce something of such value.
And most likely this was the opportunity.
Without further hesitation, he entered, and as he did.
He saw a certain sign which stated.
[The fact that you are here and that none of my methods have triggered means that you possess a special physique extremely attuned to either Yin or Yang.]
[That or you simply diverted my defenses, in which case I could only sigh. And pray that you make good use of my achievements.]
[As for who I am, and why I left this inheritance…]
[Is due to my research regarding Yin and Yang.]
[Unfortunately, ordinary people are unable to make full use of it, including myself, of course.]
[I wasted decades of my life trying to manipulate, alter my physique, trying to reach a fraction of that with what you are naturally born with.]
[I used to envy you. And yet, all I can do now is put my hopes on you.]
[Do not let my inheritance. Taiji Shen's inheritance dies with me…]