Chapter 264: A Venerable’s Embarrassment; Immor(t)al Way |
Lo Jik currently resided upon Affection Peak. This was Love Gu Worm's resting spot, and the home afforded to every gu master acknowledged by the legendary gu worm. Lying on lush grass, Lo Jik couldn't help but toy with the rank 9 immortal gu worm. It resembled Nina and always smiled affectionately whenever he poked its cheeks.
"I can't believe Spirit Affinity House had to relocate just because you wouldn't be refined." He snickered while relaxing. A lot had happened and Lo Jik felt like taking a short break before resuming his cultivation. Heck, he was still uncomfortable at the thought of stepping outside the sect's public blessed land, wondering what ill-fate he stood to encounter on the return trip to Tian Ti Mountain.
As for the history behind the sect's relocation?
It was quite an interesting ritual of embarrassment for one of the ten invincible gu immortals—Great Sun Immortal Venerable.
Great Sun Immortal Venerable roamed the gu world after his cultivation reached the invincible stage of rank 9. He took in a great many beauties and constructed five great harem houses in the five regions of the gu world. As a rank 9 gu immortal, it was said that Great Sun Immortal Venerable possessed a legendary rank 9 immortal gu worm!
While traveling the gu world, he also appointed many fairies from the ten great ancient sects to his harem. His sight soon fell upon one peculiar legend situated within Spirit Affinity House.
Like other nine sects, Spirit Affinity House's headquarters was not within a public blessed land. It once occupied a super resource point called Lake Heart Mountain. The entire sect was built around the mountain range and Affection Peak was one of the many peaks of this mountain.
Great Sun Immortal Venerable wanted to refine the wild rank 9 immortal gu worm—Love.
The immortal venerable attempted at refining the legendary gu worm for three years in a row but failed miserably. In reality, he wasn't the first venerable who tried refining Love Immortal Gu Worm.
Giant Sun's concubines hailing from Spirit Affinity House begged for his mercy but he would not budge. Eventually, with some resources, he annexed Lake Heart Mountain into his grotto-heaven, but the result still seemed to leave him with disappointment and loss. After all, Affection Peak still existed in the main continent and did not budge under Love Gu Worm's strength. It was as if the lone mountain was mocking Great Sun Immortal Venerable.
Since then, along with Affection Peak and Love Gu, Spirit Affinity House relocated to Deep Mirror Valley where they built their public blessed land.
'Huh.' Lo Jik suddenly blinked as he recalled the tale. He was lying atop Affection Peak. But a doubt sprung in his mind.
'Did Spirit Affinity House obtain Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable's true inheritance space before or after Giant Sun Immortal Venerable tried to annex the entirety of Lake Heart Mountain? I should check on it. It would be interesting if it's the former scenario. Wouldn't that mean Giant Sun Immortal Venerable also failed to annex Thieving Heaven's true inheritance?'
Just as the thought appeared in Lo Jik's mind, he crushed it.
Idle curiosities did not sit well with him, especially not after the things he was forced to face during his ascension. He couldn't care less about the dead venerables and how Love Gu blue-balled the horniest venerable in existence.
He yawned and closed his eyes, enjoying a short sleep as Love Gu settled on his chest. This short sleep lasted for seventeen hours before he woke up with a satisfied moan.
Lo Jik returned to his residence on top of Affection Peak and entered the cultivation chamber where he sat cross-legged. With the destruction of his aperture and creation of his blessed land, Lo Jik did not need to spend hours nurturing his aperture. The advancement of one's cultivation to the realm of immortals needed a drastic shift in one's mentality for cultivation.
Closing his eyes, Lo Jik inspected his blessed land using Divine Sense Gu. His divine sense spread across the entire space and demanded more of his virtually infinite primeval essence.
His first blessed land was a super-sized blessed land with an area of 12800 square kilometers. Sharp gusts of dry wind blew all around while harsh day light beat down on the unfertile ground. It was an inhospitable environment meant for tough and enduring hides. There was a forest of mountains in the blessed land. These mountains were tall and straight, like pillars of brown, jagged rocks. There were too many of these pillars to count as they shot high up in the air, seemingly holding the sky in place.
One day in the main gu world meant fifty days in the blessed land.
Lo Jik's blessed land had been 13000 square kilometers huge. However, like every other gu immortal in the sect, he had to contribute a part of his blessed land to the sect's public blessed land alongside using Soul Lantern and Life Tablet Gu Worms again because they were broken earlier due to the effects of Bai La's dream realm. In reality, the public blessed land was already huge enough. It did not need more contribution of other supreme elders' blessed lands. But contributing one's blessed land was a way of restricting the gu immortals. It was a huge clue meant to be utilized if any supreme elder ever turned to the demonic path or encountered dangerous situations. There had been enough examples of such a scenario—Myriad Dragon Dock's former supreme elder, Song Zi Xing being the most notable example presently.
In the center of his blessed land was a distinct rock pillar. It was thicker than the rest and also straighter. It was dark and gleamed reflectively. On top of this central pillar, overlooking the entire blessed land, was a six-legged rock cauldron. Inside this rock cauldron rested beads of green grape immortal essence. This was his blessed land's most crucial location and was connected with his immortal aperture's core, steadily producing beads of immortal essence.
Inside this cauldron were forty beads of green grape immortal essence.
To the north of the blessed land existed a small patch of forest. The trees produced thick, pink, flesh-like leaves. These leaves were wide and narrow blood-red veins similar to blood vessels twitched on its surface. If held firmly, one could squeeze out blood-like viscous liquid from the leaves and drink the sweet sap. Each leaf was the size of a teaspoon. The trunk of the and branches of the tree itself were pitch-black like coal and extremely sturdy. Lastly, dark-red flesh-like structure extended towards the ground from the base of the trunk. They were like thick fleshy cylinders and known as meat roots. The leaves were called red meat leaves.
This was a small forest of Meat Root Trees.
Red meat leaves fed Self-Reliance Gu and the wood of the meat root tree was used to feed Violently Beat Poison Gu. This tree needed beast blood for nourishment, as witnessed by the ground dyed completely in dark-red.
Next, he observed his strength path gu set, especially the three immortal gu worms.
First, a heavy, palm-sized square block with its surface covered in tiny, different-colored grooves from black, pink, magenta, and others. It was Lo Jik's lifebound vital gu worm—Borrow Strength Immortal Gu Worm! Lo Jik had obtained its immortal recipe through his trait and utilized it to direct heaven qi and earth qi in refining it during his ascension.
His second strength immortal gu worm—thanks to his trait—resembled a lustrous brown rhinoceros beetle with a majestic horn and six pairs of legs. It was none other than rank 6 All-Out Effort Immortal Gu Worm.
His third immortal gu worm's recipe was deduced in the last minute. He had already been working on it for a long time. It was a brown cockroach with a flat body boasting six pairs of wings.
Rank 6 Self-Reliance Immortal Gu Worm! Lo Jik had obtained its rank 5 recipe from Fairy Yi and finally deduced his first immortal gu recipe using Pool of Wisdom Gu House.
Even without Immemorial Desolate Grotto-Heaven and a second blessed land, Lo Jik's starting point was extremely high. Self-Reliance was one of the best healing immortal gu worms for a strength path gu immortal. Meanwhile, Borrow Strength and All-Out Effort Immortal Gu Worms were the core of the two out of the three branches of cultivation under strength path. All that coupled with his Great Strength True Martial Physique made Lo Jik extremely confident in adopting strength path as his signature path while keeping human path and other methods as his trump cards despite the former's decline.
With enough time, research, and modifications, it was possible to grow most extinct gu refinement materials in one's blessed land.
And in this thought process lay the entire process of a gu immortal's cultivation.
When mortal gu masters cultivate, they nurture their apertures. When gu immortals cultivate, they nurture their immortal aperture.
There were many different ways to nurture an immortal aperture but the ultimate goal was the same: to make the immortal aperture's small world more vibrant and diverse. Building habitats and creating suitable living conditions for beasts and plants, planting different varieties of plants inside it, bringing in more animals, improving the cycle of life and establishing a proper food chain, and nurturing and feeding more varieties of gu worms. The more prosperous the immortal aperture, the greater the life force it would have, and the faster it would produce beads of immortal essence.
Currently, Lo Jik's aperture produced eighty beads of immortal essence every year. Possessing an extreme aptitude, his blessed land was already filled with great vitality! Meaning, his immortal aperture would produce nearly ten beads of immortal essence a day based on the main continent's time.
The act of seeking Meat Root Trees was to develop a habitat more suitable for strength path. It was the same for Little Immortal Xing Luo desperately trying to earn an immortal essence stone to procure Shiver Trees.
Because Lo Jik planted several Meat Root Trees, he was forced to purchase beast blood to irrigate the surrounding land.
But developing one's blessed land was not only about planting trees and counting fruits. Every blessed land was unique and the burden of seeing its true potential fell upon the gu masters and gu immortals.
Was Feng Jin Huang not concerned with the development of Hu Immortal Blessed Land? Did she not take steps to tackle the crucial issues involving the habitats around fox groups when there was a spread of diseases?
Lo Jik had only transplanted a few trees. The current amount couldn't even fully feed rank 5 gu worms. He would soon bring in beast groups such as bandit monkeys. Bandit monkeys could live and climb on the formation of pillar mountains. But that would not be enough. To incorporate bandit monkeys meant creating a suitable environment where they could thrive. So, Lo Jik needed to be mindful of what they ate, what their preys ate, and more, before building a complete habitat.
It was a step-by-step process and could not be rushed. Lo Jik simply couldn't bring over every beast he found and called it a day.
However, with enough time and cultivation, there would be a day where his blessed land could support several other creatures without needing to stress over every little detail.
Even now, after transplanting the trees, Lo Jik did not instantly think about bandit monkeys. Instead, he focused on the soil. It was true that Meat Root Trees could thrive in even the most infertile grounds as long as it kept receiving nourishment of beast blood, Lo Jik knew he could increase his productivity by doing something about the soil.
There were several kinds of soil: diamond soil, cloud soil, worry soil, dragon scale soil, jade root soil, and more. The top soil in Lo Jik's blessed land was ordinary. It was dusty with no favorable texture and grain as it flew with the harsh and dry wind. Meanwhile, spreading pocket soil in the patch of Meat Root Forest was the best in holding the beast blood without letting it dry quickly and being pulled away by the wind.
'Of course. The best way to increase the production of the resources is to create a supporting formation around them.'
A supporting formation would not only help maintain the vitality of the forest, but it would also promote its expansion. Meat root trees did not grow with seeds. Instead, one of the branches of a single tree would eventually grow long meat roots before the branch separated from the tree and fell on the ground. The meat root would dig into the ground and pull the branch upright, prompting its growth into another meat root tree with time.
Most impressive was the fact that Lo Jik's current ideas for expanding the meat root forest did not come from one of the several completed guides to grow this resource in Treasure Yellow Heaven. No. It was a product of his own instinct.
Many gu immortals sold their experience in developing certain gu materials. Such insights were sought by newbie gu immortals of the same path and were often sold at high prices.
But what was the study of the habitat of beasts and forests if not the appreciation of the great dao?
Being a strength path grandmaster, Lo Jik was filled with great instincts towards strength path gu worms and materials.
On the other hand, ordinary gu immortals would accumulate their understanding of the great dao by studying and experiencing these materials with a great intimacy to build their attainments.
This was the essence of gu immortal cultivation.
While definitely stronger than mortal, a gu immortal's cultivation saw them not only researching the gu and killer moves, they also researched and understood nature, deepening their insight about their place in the gu world.
Of course, Lo Jik hadn't even set his sights on the underground space of his blessed land yet.
It brought his attention to the fourth immortal gu worm in his first blessed land.
It was a light-brown earthworm with a coarse texture similar to grains of sand glued together. Its length easily surpassed an adult male human and nearly camouflaged with Lo Jik's dusty blessed land.
Rank 6 Sand Eye Immortal Gu Worm.
Lo Jik focused on this immortal gu worm, letting it consume a bead of green grape immortal essence. Sand Eye Immortal Gu Worm instantly dispersed into countless grains of sand. If scrutinized, one would notice each grain of sand boasting a distinct indent similar to a pupil.
'Whoa...'
Lo Jik's vision instantly split into several screens as every grain of sand looked in a distinct direction. His vision had divided into too many levels and caught him off-guard. However, his thoughts soon caught up and Lo Jik experienced the strength of an investigation-type immortal gu worm.
This immortal gu worm did not strengthen his vision or allowed him to see beyond the what the naked eye could visualize. Instead, Lo Jik could control every grain of sand created by this immortal gu worm in a radius of a hundred kilometers. There was, however, a downside. Injuring any of these grains of sand was the same as harming the immortal gu worm itself. Lo Jik needed to be careful when using this immortal gu worm as it is.
'Let's see…' He had an intuition related to this immortal gu worm. Instead of deducing an immortal killer move within Pool of Wisdom Gu House, Lo Jik let his instincts flow and started arranging the gu worms he purchased from Treasure Yellow Heaven.
He was not only an earth path grandmaster but also an information path grandmaster among others.
He connected Derivation Mind, Perceivable Dao, Particle Viewing, and Heaven and Earth Before My Eyes Gu Worms in the same manner he activated Scan the Dao Killer Move. But he didn't stop there. Several Accumulation, Earth Spy, Black Yellow Mother Qi, Insight, and many other gu worms were activated one after another. There were sixty gu worms activated at once, each a rank 5 gu worm!
Finally, Lo Jik carefully activated Sand Eye Immortal Gu Worm. Until now, Lo Jik had yet to feel any warning signs and trusted his gut.
A total of sixty-one gu worms floated around the human-sized brown earthworm, revolving in a mysterious pattern as Sand Eye Immortal Gu Worm steadily broke into glowing orbs of bluish particles.
Lo Jik's vision did not immediately divide into hundreds of different sights this time around. He slowly controlled the cloud of bluish particles, noticing how he could precisely control them alone as if every particle was an extension of his body.
After a moment, he took out a strand of stone monkey fur. This fur was extremely thick like a straw made from greyish stone. Despite its texture, it was as flexible as a strand of fur and could be twisted into different shapes.
One of the glowing particles floated towards the material and fell on the stone monkey fur.
*Whoosh*
In an instant, Lo Jik found a complete dao mark pattern of the stone monkey fur in his mind—it was burnt into his thoughts!
This unnamed immortal killer move fused the effects of Particle Viewing Gu and Sand Eye Immortal Gu Worm alongside instantly sending the results of scanning different materials to his mind because of the use of Derivation Thoughts Gu Worm.
Lo Jik hummed and carefully deactivated the killer move.
After recuperating for a while, Lo Jik activated another killer move. This time he added Accumulation Gu Worm into the usual Scan the Dao killer move and rearranged its activation process.
Since he was not using the killer move outside his body but within the blessed land, a third horizontal eye did not appear in the center of his forehead. Instead, the gu worms transformed into a glowing blue tetrahedron shining on the stone monkey fur. Several lines appeared on stone monkey fur under the effects of the killer move and soon separated from the material. These brown lines projected the same shape as a stone monkey fur before rushing up and vanishing into thin air. A pattern of dao marks appeared in Lo Jik's mind.
Lo Jik deactivated the killer move and compared the two killer moves.
'The first was an immortal killer move and used two beads of green grape immortal essence. But it could be useful in scanning several hundreds of mortal and immortal materials at once. Meanwhile, adding Accumulation Gu in Scan the Dao killer move instantly elevated it beyond the level of top-tier killer move and could be used to scan weaker immortal materials. It is also efficient because it does not expend any immortal essence at all.'
This was one of Lo Jik's greatest advantage!
Most gu immortals did not possess a single immortal gu worm. They were limited to mortal output peaking at top-tier killer moves. Meanwhile, Lo Jik could easily surpass them and suppress them because of Accumulation Gu. It was his greatest invention to this date.
'I will name that immortal killer move Unlimited Scanning. It also has a lot of room for improvement.' Lo Jik observed deeply. He used earth path immortal gu worm but it was far from being the core gu worm of the killer move. The core of the killer move was still Particle Viewing Gu. Refining Particle Viewing to rank 6 would instantly elevate the killer move by a huge degree. Not only would it reduce the number of gu worms in the killer move, it would also lower the strain on one's mind, becoming simpler and quicker to activate.
And Unlimited Scanning was not the only use of Sand Eye Immortal Gu Worm. Unlimited Scanning was a very restricted form of investigation killer move. Lo Jik also had an intuition of using Sand Eye Immortal Gu alongside Heaven and Earth Before My Eyes to further extend the latter's effects.
Then there was the intuition of incorporating Treasure Light Gu with other investigation-type gu worms to locate treasured materials around oneself.
There was simply too much he could do, which proved the sheer advantage of heightened attainment!
Every single gu worm brought a nigh-endless wave of inspiration.
Lo Jik slowly opened his eyes.
While he spent hours visualizing his blessed land, mere minutes had passed in the sect's public blessed land.
He calmly walked out of his cultivation chamber and pushed open the door of his residence.
Without waiting for flirtatious teasing or any of his usual goading and smug remarks, a slender hand pushed him aside before a figure breached his territory with an ill-fitting gloomy expression—if gloomy meant a flushed face, an annoyed gaze, and a generally carnal temperament ranging from heavy exhales, wandering hands, and a heart lit in a licentious fire desiring every inch of him.
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Alternate Title: Love Gu blue-balling the legendary blue-baller; Love Gu: Throughout heaven and earth, only I'm the blue-balling one; Giant Sun's great harem houses; Method of immortal cultivation; Immortal cultivation was management sim all along; Sacrificing a part of the blessed land; A proper part of an ancient sect; Spirit Affinity House's seventeenth supreme elder; Habitat; Planning blessed land's growth; Immortal Way: Either be smart or get fucked up *Ma Hong Yun: I choose the latter*; Immortal killer move—Unlimited Scanning; Benefits of mortal killer moves; Lo Jik's one true inheritance: Accumulation; Fear of setting out; Use of Sand Eye Immortal Gu; Lo Jik's strength path immortal gu worms; Accumulation's benefits; Confident strength path gu immortal; A bright future; Gloomy Bai La
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