Qing Mao Mountain, outside Gu Yue Village.
A man with vigorous white hair wore a mask on his face, followed by a beautiful young woman—it was his daughter, Tie Ruo Nan.
The man's skin was as pale as paper, showing a sickly weakness, yet Rank Five Purple Crystal True Essence surged around him. He was none other than the high stage Rank Five Southern Border Divine Investigator—Cold Iron Blood.
Cold Iron Blood led Tie Ruo Nan into Gu Yue Village, and Clan Chief Yuan Fang immediately led over fifty Elders to welcome them.
From Tie Ruo Nan's words, Yuan Fang learned that the two were passing through Qing Mao Mountain to investigate a murder case. Seeing the Wolf Tide break out, they had intended to help Qing Mao Mountain weather the crisis, but they didn't expect it to have already been settled.
"It was my intrusion. Clan Chief Fang Yuan is truly a young talent, reaching Rank Five cultivation before the age of twenty. Truly, heroes come from the youth."
Beneath the mask, Cold Iron Blood's voice was flat and emotionless:
"I heard that the Gu Yue Clan's Fourth Generation Clan Leader was also a Rank Five powerhouse, yet he only broke through that Realm after twenty. It is a pity he fell while eliminating the Demonic Path expert, Flower Wine Walker. May the Gu Yue Clan Chief inherit the aspirations of his predecessor, eliminating demons and defending the Dao."
Listening to Cold Iron Blood's high-sounding words, Yuan Fang sneered repeatedly in his heart.
Attitude is the mask of the heart. Every member of the Tie Family wears a mask, symbolizing impartiality and so-called justice. But in this cruel Gu World, where is there true justice?
Not to mention that the Fourth Generation Clan Leader's actions were originally unsightly; even the Heavenly Court is not the Heavenly Court of the Human Race of the Five Regions, but the Heavenly Court of the Central Continent.
eternal heaven is the spiritual pillar and emotional sustenance for every Northern Plains person.
The great Giant Sun ancestor opened the King Court Blessed Land, leaving opportunities for his descendants, yet he used the Calamity Beckoning Immortal Gu to bring a decennial blizzard to the children of the Northern Plains.
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable is also known as the Protective Immortal Venerable, the most protective among the ten Venerables, yet he alone forgot the Northern Plains.
For millions of years, the great blizzard has raged unceasingly. The children of the Northern Plains are already covered in scars, yet they still kneel before the statue of the Giant Sun ancestor, praying for the protection of eternal heaven.
To be honest, in this Gu World, there isn't a single truly clean existence. If there are still good people, perhaps there are only a few like Great White Cloud Life, Shang Xin Ci, and Xie Han Mo.
That night, Gu Yue Fang Yuan ordered a bamboo building to be constructed in the village for Cold Iron Blood and his daughter to stay in.
Whether due to a pleasant mood or some other reason, Cold Iron Blood actually took Tie Ruo Nan for a night stroll through Gu Yue Village.
Coinciding with Yuan Fang's Breakthrough to the Rank Five initial stage, the entire Gu Yue Village was celebrating. At night, the village was brilliantly lit, and the streets were crowded with pedestrians.
Some shops hung up discount signs—usually one primeval stone for ten moon orchid petals, but these few days, one could get fifteen petals.
The only inn in the village was exceptionally lively. When Yuan Fang was still a Student, he went to the inn almost every day to buy green bamboo wine.
This green bamboo wine is a specialty of Gu Yue Village and the most expensive and finest wine in the village, originally priced at two primeval stones a jar. Since Yuan Fang's Breakthrough to Rank Five, the inn specially hung a large red advertisement:
"green bamboo wine—The favorite of the Gu Yue Genius."
Once the advertisement was out, green bamboo wine became a favorite of the Gu Yue Clan Members, and the price rose from two primeval stones to three.
Not only that, Yuan Fang brought back Gu recipes for bone spear gu and other Gu from White Bone Mountain. With his Rank Five strength backing the village, the status of the bone spear gu now equaled that of the moonlight gu, becoming the glory of the Gu Yue Clan.
Among the fifty or so Students, more than twenty chose to Cultivate the bone spear gu, and over twenty practiced the moonlight gu; the entire village had over two thousand Gu Masters equipped with the bone spear gu series.
The food for these Gu was very simple, feeding only on milk. Milk is easier to preserve than moon orchid petals, but Qing Mao Mountain does not produce milk.
As early as a year ago, the Gu Yue Clan had opened a trade route to White Bone Mountain, occupying a local Milk Spring and an origin spring, bringing considerable profit to the village.
But the milk obtained this way was still in short supply. The amount the Caravan brought back each time was barely enough to feed the village's bone spear gu series, and the cultivation effect of the Gu was greatly compromised.
To this end, the Family higher-ups refined Milk Spring Gu according to the Rank Three Milk Spring Gu recipe. Combined with the one Yuan Fang brought back, Gu Yue Village now has six Milk Spring Gu.
One Milk Spring Gu can produce a vat of milk a day, and one vat is enough for hundreds of Gu to eat peacefully for half a month, so the village's milk supply became plentiful.
The surplus milk was also fully utilized by the Gu Yue Clan Members:
Selling milk directly yielded meager profits, so the clever Gu Masters brewed the milk into wine. This wine became the second-best wine in Gu Yue Village, second only to green bamboo wine.
All of this was a change brought by Fang Yuan. Since he was the third Rank Five Gu Master in the history of Gu Yue Village, the clansmen named this milk wine "Three-Five Wine."
It contained the meaning of the "third Rank Five" and also the origin of "prospering because of Rank Five."
"Father, this Gu Yue Clan Chief seems to have extraordinary strength."
Tie Ruo Nan said with a smile.
Cold Iron Blood fell into deep thought. The two sat down in the village's only inn, and the waiter came forward to serve them with a face full of flattery.
Tie Ruo Nan took out three primeval stones and bought a jar of green bamboo wine. Before long, the waiter broke the seal and respectfully placed the jar on the wooden table.
Just then, a flying crane descended from the sky and landed in front of Cold Iron Blood, with a secret letter tied to its leg.
Cold Iron Blood's expression remained unchanged as he opened the letter and scanned it, but his face suddenly darkened. Tie Ruo Nan could clearly feel that beneath the mask, her father's expression had become extremely strange.
Cold Iron Blood did not let Tie Ruo Nan see the letter; he simply crumpled the paper into a ball, and with a burst of True Essence from his fingertips, the paper turned to ash.
"Ruo Nan, the situation has changed. We will stay in Gu Yue Village for a few more days."
"What?"
Tie Ruo Nan was slightly surprised. She could hear the unquestionable decisiveness in her father's tone and see those determined eyes that had weathered many battles behind the mask—this was the aura of the Southern Border's number one divine investigator and the arrogance of a Southern Border Rank Five powerhouse.
Although Cold Iron Blood's cultivation was only at the high stage of Rank Five, his combat strength was at the same level as the Shang Family Leader Shang Yan Fei, and the Northern Plains' Chang and Ge Families' Supreme Elder, "Elder of Chang Family."
The Rank Five Gu he possessed, as mentioned in the original work, included the Suppressing Demon Iron Chain Gu, Drawing Fire from under the Pot Gu, Hill Earth Puppet Gu, Heaven and Earth Great Sound Gu, Righteous Qi Gu, Oil Dragon Gu, and Fire Dragon Gu.
In contrast, Yuan Fang at this time only had the blood dropper swarm and Thousand-Mile Earth Wolf Spider as Rank Five Gu. The Blood Aperture Gu had already been used, and the blood dropper swarm currently only had the combat strength of a Thousand Beast King. In front of Cold Iron Blood, he was nothing more than an ant by the roadside.
Yuan Fang was also full of distress about this. He had too few Rank Five Gu and was simply not Cold Iron Blood's match. Once a battle started between the two sides, he would undoubtedly lose. For this reason, under the guidance of the previous Clan Leader, Gu Yue Bo, Yuan Fang stepped into the Underground Insect Cave of Gu Yue Village.
The Underground Insect Cave hid a massive amount of Gu left behind by previous Clan Leaders, but none of these Gu caught Yuan Fang's eye.
He continued deeper into the worm cave and finally found the Gu left by the Fourth Generation Clan Leader, including both Rank Four and Rank Five, all of superior quality. Yuan Fang selected these few Gu:
The Rank Five treasure moonlight king gu conjures a golden light for defense, capable of collective defense with an effect similar to the moon shawl.
The Rank Four moon shadow gu allows a Gu Master to hide their tracks and become invisible. The Fourth Generation Clan Leader once used this Gu to sneak attack the Flower Wine Walker, but was ultimately killed by the opponent with a single punch.
In addition, Yuan Fang also obtained a Killer Move from the Fourth Generation Clan Leader:
Using the Rank Five treasure moonlight king gu as the core, a defensive Killer Move similar to a Gu Formation was created, named "Stars Arching Towards the Moon."
This Killer Move is like a mobile fortress. Centered on oneself, a movable yellow sphere shaped like a moon appears within a ten-meter radius, and the Gu Master can hide inside.
During combat, "Stars Arching Towards the Moon" is like a tank, with powerful defense and mobility; the Gu Master inside the sphere can actively attack external enemies, while the enemies can only strike at this "tank shell."
Since it is named "Stars Arching Towards the Moon," with a "moon," there must naturally be "stars."
Outside the yellow sphere, ten small stars like satellites revolve around the Killer Move, forming an offensive against the enemy.
Yuan Fang collected the treasure moonlight king gu and moon shadow gu, fed the Killer Move's content to the bookworm, and took the other Gu used to construct the move. He continued deeper into the Underground Insect Cave and discovered a Rank Four Gu.
This Rank Four Gu was the most precious and practical one he had encountered in the Underground Insect Cave.
This Gu was the Rank Four poetic intent gu.
poetic intent gu belongs to the Wisdom Path Gu, capable of generating poetic intent in the Gu Master's mind, assisting in the deduction of Gu recipes, the conception of Killer Moves, and helping to activate Killer Moves.
To put it simply, it helps the Gu Master achieve multi-tasking, or in common terms, "becoming smarter."
There are many Wisdom Path Gu with similar effects, such as Joyful Intent Gu, malice gu, False Intent Gu, Special Intent Gu, as well as immortal gu and Love Intent Gu.
These types of Wisdom Path Gu can all generate corresponding "thoughts," and each type of "thought" is different.
Just like Fang Yuan in the original work, who possessed the rank six immortal gu in the fourth volume and constantly generated Joyful Intent with it.
Consequently, in the Immortal Zombie arc, he was full of passion all day long, selling Bubble Fish and searching for the "Life and Death immortal aperture," clearly muddled by the joy.
"With this Gu, I can multi-task fifteen ways, and activating a Killer Move constructed from fifteen Gu will be effortless."
Yuan Fang was overjoyed and immediately took this poetic intent gu.
The Stars Arching Towards the Moon Killer Move is composed of eight Gu, including one Rank Five Gu, four Rank Four Gu, and three Rank Three Gu. Activating it would originally consume a massive amount of thoughts, and the poetic intent gu happened to be able to quickly replenish thoughts, solving this urgent problem.
But Yuan Fang was still full of worry:
"Although I hold a complete Rank Five Moon Path Killer Move, I am still not Cold Iron Blood's match."
During Cold Iron Blood's Peak, even the likes of Shang Yan Fei and Elder of Chang Family would be wary.
Although he is currently injured and his combat strength is not as high as the Gu Yue First Generation, his Gu are still there, and no one can say for sure if this old fellow is hiding any trump cards.
The scene shifts to the Immortal Crane Sect in the Central Continent.
Heavenly Crane Venerable held a Blood Path Gu—the Blood Kin Gu (seemingly also known as the Kinship Gu). A faint, indiscernible smile crossed his aged face as he asked:
"Senior Brother, are you satisfied with this gift?"
Heavenly Crane Venerable's Senior Brother was none other than the Gu Yue First Generation.
In the Blood Lake cemetery, the Gu Yue First Generation woke up from his slumber.
He had been silent for a long time. The last time he woke up was hundreds of years ago, disturbed by the Flower Wine Walker. At that time, he reached out a stiff hand and pushed open the blood-red coffin lid.
A foul stench filled the surroundings of the Blood Lake, and the blood water on the surface surged.
The Gu Yue First Generation fully opened his eyes in the coffin. That coffin was like a small boat floating on the Blood Lake, the wood soaked red by the blood water, exuding an indescribable and eerie gloom.
The Gu Yue First Generation had been dead for a thousand years, having perished even before the Flower Wine Walker, yet he had not truly disappeared.
He had become a zombie, no longer a living person. A thousand years ago, after failing to find a lifespan Gu, he could only use the Blood Wight Corpse Gu to refine himself into a Blood Puppet Corpse.
The Blood Puppet Corpse belongs to the flying zombies, so the Gu Yue First Generation had a pair of huge bat wings on his back, looking majestic. With them, he could fly through the air.
At this moment, he flapped his stiff bat wings and flew straight into the bottom of the lake.
The bottom of the lake was the hiding place of the Gu Yue First Generation. Inside, there were not only countless blood dropper swarms and Rank Three Blade Wing Blood Bat swarms, but also a blood-red giant python that approached him as submissively as a dragon.
This was the Rank Five Blood Path mount Gu, the Blood River Python. Although not as good as the Thousand-Mile Earth Wolf Spider, it still had Rank Five combat strength, slightly stronger than a Ten Thousand Beast King.
In addition, the bottom of the lake also hid the Gu from the Gu Yue First Generation's lifetime, such as the Rank Four blood frenzy gu and Rank Four blood skull gu. He continued deeper and discovered a massive amount of primeval stones.
The Gu Yue First Generation held a primeval stone the size of a duck egg in one hand and began to chew it like a steamed bun, greedily absorbing the natural True Essence within.
He was originally a Blood Puppet Corpse, with an incomparably powerful Physical Body, and was at the Rank Five Peak Realm. He was not at all afraid of breaking his teeth or bursting his aperture, so he could naturally chew the primeval stones directly.
In a short while, his aperture was filled with Rank Five Peak purple-gold True Essence. Although the body of a Blood Puppet Corpse is powerful, it is ultimately a dead person's body, and the aperture had long since become a dead aperture.
He could neither Breakthrough his cultivation nor naturally recover True Essence; he could only rely on devouring primeval stones to replenish it.
After eating his fill of primeval stones, the Gu Yue First Generation patted the Blood River Python's obedient head and then took out a Rank Four investigative Gu, the Blood Eye Gu.
With the power of the Blood Eye Gu, his consciousness penetrated the layers of rock above his head and probed toward Gu Yue Village.
"It's truly good; the Gu Yue Clan has actually produced a third Rank Five Gu Master. It's just a pity that no junior with the Ten Extremes Physique has appeared, otherwise our clan would truly rise."
The Gu Yue First Generation looked at the outside world, his heart full of gratification. He hoped for a descendant with the Ten Extremes Physique not to lead the Gu Yue Clan, but only because of his precious Gu—the blood skull gu.
"A junior of the Tie Family? Why would they come to my Qing Mao Mountain?"
The consciousness of the Gu Yue First Generation swept over every house in the village and actually stumbled upon Tie Ruo Nan who was bathing.
The Gu Yue First Generation had not touched a woman for a long time, and this Tie Ruo Nan's appearance was quite good. She was currently drying her hair, revealing her snow-white nape.
Tie Ruo Nan's figure was graceful and slender, her skin smooth; even through the earth, he seemed to smell the youthful fragrance of a beautiful girl.
"How nostalgic. After I return to a human body in the future, I must enjoy myself and experience the natural happiness of humanity."
Just then, a voice rang in the ears of the Gu Yue First Generation. The voice carried authority and couldn't help but startle him. The voice said:
"Gu Yue First Generation, does it look good?"