Yellow sand swirled across the sky. In the endless desert, a large caravan of over a thousand people struggled to move forward against the wind and sand.
They looked small in the vast golden desert, like tiny black ants. As the weather grew worse, the caravan slowly came to a stop and began setting up camp to rest.
Inside one of the separate tents, Lin Yan sat quietly, his expression dazed. He had just finished sorting through the memories of the original owner in his mind, and everything still felt a little unreal.
"I didn't expect to transmigrate into the Gu World… what bad luck."
In his previous life, he was just an ordinary university student on Earth, living a normal and uneventful life without anything special worth mentioning.
After reading Reverend Insanity, he became curious about all kinds of Gu worms. Because of that curiosity, he personally traveled to a remote region in southern China to explore it himself.
Unexpectedly, he slipped and fell off a cliff during the trip. He died, and when he opened his eyes again, he had already transmigrated into this body, which coincidentally had the same name as his own.
Lin Yan clearly understood how dangerous this world was, especially for transmigrators like him. The natives called them Otherworldly Demons and would kill them as soon as they were found.
Above everything stood the Heavenly Court. They controlled the Fate Gu, which could influence the will of heaven, and decided the fate of all living beings.
Below them, clans and sects held most of the power, making it very hard for ordinary people to rise. Throughout history, there have also been Ten Rank 9 z Venerables. They stood at the very peak, and their methods and schemes had shaped the entire world.
This world was dark and unforgiving. It felt like a mix of a lawless game, ancient times, and strange cultivation stories, where power decided everything and no one could escape fate.
Even Fang Yuan struggled through two lifetimes. He was controlled by heaven's will and powerful people, and never truly free.
"Luckily, I was born in the Western Desert. I'm part of a clan, and far from all this trouble."
"And I know the story and its rules," Lin Yan thought.
Lin Yan felt a bit relieved because the Gu World was divided into five main regions: Central Continent, Northern Plains, Western Desert, Eastern Sea, and Southern Border.
And the Central Continent was controlled by the Heavenly Court. If a transmigrator showed up there, they would be killed immediately.
Southern Border was where the story began and where Fang Yuan was most active. It was watched closely by heaven's will and controlled by powerful cultivators. A small mistake there could easily turn someone into a pawn or cannon fodder.
Northern Plains was ruled by Longevity Heaven, the peak of the clan system. There was even a Venerable watching from behind the scenes, making it just as hard to rise there.
Compared to these places, the Eastern Sea and Western Desert were better.
The Eastern Sea was rich in resources and full of opportunities, while the Western Desert was barren and harsh.
However, there was one thing about this place. In the original story, most transmigrators who appeared here. They were rarely noticed by heaven's will and were able to grow more easily.
"Could this be because of the Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable? He was the only transmigrator among the ten Rank 9 Venerables, and he also came from the Western Desert."
Lin Yan thought about it for a moment, then shook his head.
It doesn't concern him at the moment. What mattered was that his situation was still good, and his identity as a transmigrator had not been exposed.
For now, he just needed to settle in and adapt to this world as quickly as possible. At that moment, footsteps came from outside the tent, followed by a low voice.
"Gu Master Lin Yan, it's getting hot during the day. Please help cool the camp."
Hearing this, Lin Yan came back to his senses and replied, "Coming."
He steadied himself and went through the original owner's memories again, making
sure he wouldn't make any mistakes.
The previous Lin Yan was just over fifteen years old. He had opened his aperture half a year ago and was a Rank 1 mid-stage Gu Master, mainly handling logistics while following the caravan to gain experience.
He already understood the system of this world. Cultivation was divided into nine ranks. Rank 1 to Rank 5 were mortal levels, and each rank had early, middle, high, and peak stages.
Rank 6 to Rank 9 were immortal levels, and Rank 9 was the highest, reached only by the ten Venerables in history. His current primeval essence was called the Green Copper sea, something every Rank 1 Gu Master had. It was formed from essence, energy, and spirit, and showed a person's foundation.
The Green Copper sea filled most of the aperture, around seventy-eight percent. That meant his aptitude was B-grade, but at the peak, very close to A-grade.
"Good… aptitude depends on how much of the aperture is filled by primeval essence, divided into A, B, C, and D grades."
"A-grade is eighty to ninety percent, and D-grade is only twenty to thirty percent."
Seeing this, Lin Yan felt a bit relieved. Aptitude at the early stage was very important. The more primeval essence one had, the faster the cultivation speed, the more Gu one could use, and the stronger one's overall strength would be.
He didn't think about having the best aptitude. For him, being good enough was already enough. D-grade could only reach Rank 1 or 2 at most, and most of them ended up doing support work and C-grade might reach Rank 3.
B-grade, however, had the chance to reach Rank 5 peak among mortals. With a good opportunity, it might even be possible to step into the immortal level.
After sorting out his thoughts, he walked out of the tent.