*Boom*
*Boom*
*Boom*
*Boom*
It was a scene of destruction in the blessed land. A hill-sized dark brown beast defended against three desolate beast horses. The hill-sized brown beast was actually a gigantic hippopotamus. Large rocks grew from its back, burdening its body and lowering its speed. However, it was quite durable and resisted the impacts of the three familiar desolate beasts attacking its body.
These three were none other than Nightmare Demonic Colts!
Unexpectedly, a Shark-Tooth Hippopotamus was locked in a duel of life and death with three Nightmare Demonic Colts! One side was known for its docile nature yet it currently fought ferociously. Meanwhile, the other side also attacked frantically as if possessed by demons. These horses with dream path dao marks on their bodies glared at the mountain behind the hippopotamus with crazed neighs. Yet, these beasts lacked intelligence. Despite being slower, Shark-Tooth Hippopotamus moved ingeniously enough to tackle and defend against all three horses.
Injuries on both sides continued to pile.
*Boom*
Shark-Tooth Hippopotamus' victory was pyrrhic at best as the four desolate beasts collapsed in pools of their blood.
Three figures appeared before the scene, their expressions terrible.
Two dark-haired gu masters resembled each other. They couldn't help but feel shocked and fearful by the earlier attack of three desolate beasts! How could mortals deal with such powerful beasts? Even more shocking was the fact that these three desolate beasts actually had dream path dao marks on their bodies. Dream path was an emerging force and couldn't be blocked easily.
The pair was none other than Fu and Nu. The third individual was the strange and lecherous human-faced but snake-bodied land spirit. Even the land spirit appeared furious and scared.
"Too close… too close…" Fang Dang Land Spirit muttered under his breath. "We would have died if not for my main body acquiring that enslavement path immortal killer move in a true inheritance, allowing me to control this Shark-Tooth Hippopotamus."
"How could an earthly calamity be so powerful?" Elder Brother Fu sucked in a breath of cold air. These Nightmare Demonic Colts were simply too strong despite Fang Dang land spirit using his heavenly power to restrict the use of all the mortal gu worms on their bodies.
"Masters, you two just started learning about gu immortals and the relevant knowledge. It isn't strange why you will be so shocked by this." Fang Dang Land Spirit smiled bitterly. He revealed, "Heaven and earth is vast and grand. It has its operations and balance. By cultivating, gu masters and gu immortals seek strength and inevitably upset this balance. The greatest example is the existence of a gu immortal's immortal aperture. A blessed land is a small word of fortune and is aptly named as such. Here, we could grow many materials and countless mortal gu worms. With enough foundation, naturally refining Lifespan Gu is not strange at all. But this goes against the laws of nature. That is why gu immortals, or rather, blessed lands and grotto-heavens draw heaven's wariness and wrath in the form of calamities and tribulations."
"My main body died during the blessed land's first heavenly tribulation not long ago. In essence, the blessed land already passed nine earthly calamities and one heavenly tribulation. This earthly calamity was the tenth one."
"These tribulations and calamities do not appear out of nothing. It is actually the mechanism of Heaven's Will!"
"Heaven's Will?" Little Sister Nu repeated the word before her eyes flashed brilliantly. "Is it the same entity we will interact with during our immortal ascension?"
Fang Dang Land Spirit nodded.
"That is so, Master Nu. Anyone who lives through a few calamities ends up in a pathetic state and would search more about it. My main body was the same and he paid a considerable price to learn more about immortal cultivation in Treasure Yellow Heaven. He learned that Heaven's Will creates these tribulations. The richer the blessed land's foundation, the stronger the tribulation! Of course, calamities and tribulations also get stronger every time a gu immortal passes them."
Fu cupped his chin thoughtfully.
"The richer the blessed land's foundation, the stronger the tribulation? Why is that the case, land spirit? Does Heaven's Will hates us?"
Fang Dang Land Spirit heaved a bitter sigh.
"That's the terrifying thing about Heaven's Will, Master Fu. Heaven's Will is impartial and indifferent. It does not think like us humans and land spirits. It bears no grudges and only seeks to balance the world!"
"When a blessed land gains a lot of fortune, it attracts a stronger calamity. That is the world's way to achieve balance by destroying the blessed land's surplus. This time, we attracted these Nightmare Demonic Colts because of this dream path resource point in the blessed land. Heaven's Will wanted to get rid of this surplus!"
"So cruel!" Little Sister Nu gasped in shock.
"No, Master Nu. As I said, Heaven's Will is the will of the world. It is impartial. Just as it seeks to take away surpluses, it also replenishes deficits. A land plagued by a drought will erupt with a clear spring, a village destroyed by a great disease will also become the breeding ground for its cure. The mechanism of the world is to maintain balance, which is achieved by reducing surpluses and compensating for deficits."
The siblings silently digested this information before Elder Brother Fu scratched his head and grunted loudly.
"But this is too much! We lost our line of defense. The blessed land has no other desolate beasts. We are merely rank 4 gu masters, and your immortal essence is also dwindling! What's the point of cultivation if we're forced to suffer through a string of calamities and tribulations?! How can we grow?! Furthermore, those desolate beast horses caused so much destruction all around the blessed land. We barely managed to protect this resource point."
This was just the tenth earthly calamity. Since Fang Dang Blessed Land's true body perished, it cannot rise in rank no matter how many calamities it endured. As such, the siblings realized that they would have to deal with calamities, that would grow stronger every time, every decade! The blessed land already lost so many resources. It was impossible for them to continue like this.
Surprisingly, Fang Dang Land Spirit appeared quite satisfied and shook his head.
"That isn't the entire picture, masters. Didn't I say that the way of the world is to maintain balance? Fortune resides in disasters, that is why gu immortals also call calamities and tribulations as blessings in disguise. Earlier, we attracted a dream path desolate beast calamity. These Nightmare Demonic Colts caused a lot of destruction. There were immense losses and our foundation got hurt. However, calamities and tribulations are the most orthodox method of gu immortal cultivation!"
"Enduring 27 earthly calamities and three heavenly tribulations in three hundred years advances a rank 6 gu immortal into a rank 7 gu immortal! Furthermore, enduring each calamity and tribulation also benefits the blessed land in the form of dao marks."
"You mean—!" Fu and Nu were shocked. They knew about the essence of gu cultivation and how the dao marks they dealt as a mortal was merely less than a hundredth or even thousandth of a fraction of the quality of dao marks at the level of gu immortals, or the so-called complete dao mark.
"Indeed!" Fang Dang Land Spirit smiled. "Possessing this dream path resource point attracted a relevant dream path earthly calamity. Not only did we gain dream path immortal materials in the form of the corpses of these dream path desolate beasts, we also acquired countless dream path gu worms on their bodies. Furthermore, the earthly calamity carved a lot of dream path dao marks on the blessed land!"
The sibling's eyes nearly bulged out in surprise before things clicked in Fu's mind.
"So, that is what you meant by calamities being blessings in disguise." His gaze sparkled. "Every calamity brings along dao marks, which raises the blessed land's foundation. Calamities and tribulations might cause immense damages, but they simultaneously raise the blessed land's potential itself."
"That is so, Master Fu." Fang Dang Land Spirit laughed happily. "Also, this addition of dream path dao marks supports this dream path resource point. The dream path dao marks on the mountain have already stopped dissipating and it is even showing signs of attaining a balance. Dao marks obtained from tribulation may wary based on the tribulation itself, but dao marks obtained in this method are always beneficial for the immortal aperture."
Fu and Nu gaze at each other with happiness as Fang Dang Land Spirit encouraged.
"Please, don't mind me, masters. Engage in passionate love-making! It's always an honor to see Master Fu and Master Nu climax together—"
"Shut the fuck up!" The siblings screamed with bright red faces when Nu suddenly blinked. She sensed something and forcibly suppressed her embarrassment.
"What is this?"
She stared at one of the desolate horses. A gentle white glow blossomed through the injury on its head.
"Eh?!" Fang Dang Land Spirit's expression changed. He screamed in horror.
"Oh, no! The calamity hasn't ended yet. How could it be so troublesome?!"
Fu was alarmed and he reached for the puzzled Nu as a beam of white light instantly shot out from the horse's head to the center of Nu's forehead. Fu went pale as he felt an immortal gu worm's aura while Fang Dang Land Spirit was helpless.
He could restrict mortal gu worms but he couldn't do anything against an immortal gu worm.
Nu collapsed on the ground and the light disappeared entirely.
"Little Nu!" Fu screamed and ran towards her but she wouldn't respond. Thankfully, she was alive.
"That was a dream path immortal gu worm, master. It…" Fang Dang Land Spirit gasped. "It hasn't disappeared. Its actually slumbering within Master Nu's soul!"
<<<>>>
"Huff!" Lo Jik's shoulders relaxed as he entered Chun Ni Blessed Land. 'I really cannot relax whenever I'm outside of blessed lands. Ignorance truly is a bliss. I never had to worry about Heaven's Will until I was informed about it in that dream path true inheritance.'
He scanned his surroundings and felt the restriction of the blessed land limit his use of mortal gu worms to affect his surroundings. However, his body had plenty of strength path dao marks. He could still use mortal gu worms to affect himself and use mortal killer moves to fly.
"I'm here to meet with the land spirit. Please reveal the conditions to inherit this blessed land."
Lo Jik spoke without using any gu worms to augment his voice as a bright light shot out from the distance and traveled to the bamboo forest surrounding Lo Jik.
A bright, white-colored sword appeared before Lo Jik.
The land spirit.
Land spirit came in many shapes and form. This was Chun Ni Land Spirit. Being a sword, it couldn't talk. However, its blade would flash cold white light. Lo Jik instinctively heard the land spirit's voice whenever the blade of the sword flashed its light.
"I'm Chun Ni Land Spirit!" The voice sounded childish, a great contrast from Old Sword Immortal's experienced and patient mannerism. "You want to become this blessed land's owner? Forget about it! I am a sword cultivator. I will only follow the sharpest blade. Only a sword path supreme grandmaster is worthy of my blade and allegiance!"
The corner of Lo Jik's lips twitched.
'A sword path supreme grandmaster? Perhaps only someone like Bo Qing was close to this realm. But how can I achieve this state so easily? Great grandmaster is the limit of dream path when it comes to nurturing one's attainment.'
Lo Jik knew he couldn't fulfill this condition.
He fell silent for a moment as the land spirit started threatening him to leave.
'Should I try using that immortal killer move? I was saving it for Lang Ya Land Spirit. This blessed land just fell and took in a large amount of heaven and earth qi. It must also have some Heaven's Will inside of it. Unlike my constitution which literally forces out Heaven's Will in the form of clouds of resentment and negativity, I cannot ward off Heaven's Will's senses in here.'
Lo Jik fell in a dilemma. One of the reasons why Lo Jik was so relieved after supporting Immemorial Desolate Grotto-Heaven using Concealed Paradise Formation was the fact that he could help his grotto-heaven escape Heaven's Will's senses.
'There are also going to be gu immortals outside. Forget it. This blessed land isn't worthwhile enough to expose that dream path killer move yet. I should keep it as my trump card for now.'
Lo Jik turned around as his thoughts surged.
'Heaven's Will is vast. It exists everywhere. I still face great challenges despite my luck because of this entity. The more I preserve my strength, the better I can prepare for any unforeseen circumstances.'
He exited through the glowing white gate connecting the blessed land with the outside world momentarily.
'After all, calamities and tribulations drawn by heaven and earth qi aren't the only tools in Heaven's Will's box of vicious schemes.'
Unlike Fang Dang Land Spirit, Lo Jik—for some reason—believed that not only Heaven's Will was capable of conscious schemes but it also targeted him with said scheming mindset!
But he wasn't the only one. Unknown to Lo Jik, Qin Bai Sheng was also wary of Heaven's Will, indicating to the stance the organization behind him took in terms of the rules of the world.
Shouts from nine gu immortals immediately snapped Lo Jik out of his thoughts as he completely stepped outside the blessed land. The door behind him vanished into thin air. A blessed land's door was the only method of communicating with the outside world. Without it, other gu immortals must use rare and prized methods to invade the blessed land itself. This route, obviously, served to ruin the relationship between the gu immortals and the land spirit, leading to a great conflict.
"I can't understand a thing you're saying when you scream like that." Lo Jik chuckled leisurely. A martial artist's tunic and trousers hugged his body alongside white bandages wrapped around his forearms and ankles. The legendary Love Immortal Gu, as usual, colonized his shoulder. Today it seemed to prefer his left shoulder more than the right one. On his waist hung a handmade golden gourd. His appearance was far from his signature lose outfit. There was no need to expose his torso by wearing an extremely baggy robe since he stopped utilizing Little Giant Emperor Gu.
His words and casual demeanor left the few gu immortals from the other nine ancient sects speechless before one of them pointed at the man.
"How could you kill a righteous figure like Old Sword Immortal, Elder Gu Yue? Where is your decorum as a Spirit Affinity House's supreme elder? We are supposed to guide Central Continent's gu immortals on the path of righteousness, yet you slaughter them freely."
These nine gu immortals were surely recording this interaction. Their words were filled with heroic passion while they simultaneously painted Lo Jik was a demon incarnate.
"Everyone. I understand your concerns. This Old Sword Immortal may appear righteous on the surface but he was no worse than the most disgusting piece of trash! Did you know he snatched mortal women from various villages, ravished their purities, and killed them after having his way with them? The reason he blinded himself was not because he was fed up by the sins of the world but because he was a truly sick individual. He liked 'guessing' if his target was beautiful or not based on the sensations he enjoyed during this reviled act!"
The two female gu immortals immediately put on their masks of disgust while secretly cursing Lo Jik. Who didn't know about Old Sword Immortal going out of his way to protect and save as many women he could from the clutches of demonic entities? But now that the old man was killed, Lo Jik spun and weaved his kind act into such a heinous tale.
"Absolute lies!" One of the gu immortals from Black Heaven Temple suddenly shouted. They had hired Old Sword Immortal to pick a fight with Lo Jik. How could this gu immortal sit and let Lo Jik tarnish Old Sword Immortal's reputation. Mind you, the supreme elder from Black Heaven Temple did not care for the corpse's reputation but the fact that many gu immortals knew about their sect backing Old Sword Immortal. Wouldn't Lo Jik's vile insults also indirectly harm Black Heaven Temple's reputation since they approached Old Sword Immortal?
"Lies?" Lo Jik smirked coldly. "I have—"
"You have what? Evidence?" The rank 6 supreme elder from Black Heaven Temple laughed coldly. "Nothing but forgeries. Hmph! As if this pathetic display is enough to get you out of trouble."
"Trouble?" Lo Jik paused and looked the supreme elder right in the eye. The rank 6 gu immortal's breath hitched and he took a step back before feeling shame overcome him.
"Careful, friends. Gu Yue Lo Jik has a wisdom path killer move that relies on his words. Don't let his words cloud your mind with anger."
The gu immortal from Wind Cloud Manor instantly reminded the supreme elder from Black Heaven Temple and the rest. Earlier, Old Man Bei Feng had seen through this killer move and shared this information with the rest of the gu immortals in the sect before entering seclusion with his grandson.
"We know all about your schemes, Elder Gu Yue Lo Jik," spoke the female gu immortal from Spirit Butterfly Valley, one of the ten great ancient sects most skilled in gathering information. "You planned on using forged evidence against lone gu immortals and kill them! Sigh, that is too cruel, Elder Gu Yue. This is truly a demonic act."
Lo Jik grew silent as other gu immortals piled on.
So what if Old Sword Immortal was righteous and kind? So what if he saved women and cared after many victims? So what if he had family and friends living in his blessed land?
"I am righteous."
Lo Jik retorted plainly, his quiet voice cutting through the noise of accusations and schemes.
He slowly rose to the sky.
'What is he doing?' Black Moon felt things were going out of hands as she focused on this matter. She expected Lo Jik to use his glib tongue and get out of this mess. However, his expression was cool and aloof.
A manic glint flickered in his brown hues.
"The condition of inheriting Chun Ni Blessed Land is simple. The land spirit will accept anyone whose understanding of sword path surpasses its own." Lo Jik's words were technically correct.
"What are you doing?" The gu immortals shouted in anger and felt confused. Why would Lo Jik readily give up on such a headstart when it came to inheriting a blessed land. They didn't want the other lone gu immortals to hear this secret and preferred to divide this loot between themselves. However, it was too late. Chun Ni Blessed Land would definitely attract a crowd of gu immortals!
"I vowed to make Tian Ti Mountain a land of inheritances again. This Chun Ni Blessed Land is merely one of them. Go ahead. Try inheriting it. You have my, Gu Yue Lo Jik's, blessing. As for this bullshit of everyone pestering me every single day…"
Lo Jik smiled coldly.
"Don't you all feel I deserve some vacation after replenishing Tian Ti Mountain with a gu immortal's true inheritance? Everyone, I will show you all how righteous I truly am!"
"I shall leave Tian Ti Mountain for a moment and visit the other great ancient sects. Let us discuss things to our heart's desires!"
Lo Jik flashed with a white glow and flew at a shocking pace, leaving the other nine gu immortals speechless and shaken.
"That man is truly a crazy demon!"
"Hmph! He actually wants to challenge us collectively?!"
"Let's see how long you last."
"He'll run out of fumes within a few days."
Other nine gu immortals did not move and snorted in derision towards Lo Jik's plan. To think he would actually break under pressure and suddenly challenge everyone. At least, his life was still stable when only lone gu immortals were targeting him. Of course, they had no intentions to leave.
First of all, Lo Jik's battle strength left a deep impression on all of them. Alone, they weren't his match.
Secondly, they needed to compete for this blessed land!
Just as they were thinking about this matter, another rank 6 gu immortal flew over with a cold look in her eyes.
She was Spirit Affinity House's current generation fairy, Black Moon.
"Greetings. Seeing that none of us are sword path gu immortals, let us quickly form a perimeter around the blessed land and wait for the reinforcement from our sects. We will discuss how to compete for this blessed land once things settle."
She spoke in a straightforward fashion and instantly earned goodwill from her peers. They all acted in unison and prevented other lone gu immortals from getting closer to Chun Ni Blessed Land.
All the while, Black Moon felt something was afoot.
This was not how Lo Jik handled things.
He was being too direct this time… quite similar to Feng Jiu Ge's way of handling things before he converted to righteous path due to Fairy Bai Qing's love.
'Could it be that he received another mission from the sect?'
Black Moon guessed correctly.
***
Join the discord through the link in the synopsis.
Read 60 chapters ahead @ Patron and Subscribe Star (Links in the synopsis.)
Support the Fanfic through comments, likes, reviews and such (if the published site allows it.)