An imposing and ancient blood-red cathedral overlooked the surrounding cratered land. It was a piece of architectural beauty, each intricate detail somehow boasting a tale the song of destruction the Blood Path should be unable to achieve. What blood-red structure worshiped, however, was no religious figure, and instead, the length of a photo-realistically carved man-faced serpent coiled around the building's high rise, its fanged maw opened to hiss at the open sky, curtains of light from the broken ceiling through which the duo had climbed down illuminating its features.
The building—its sight—would be a surreal experience for most. The architecture wasn't local to the Central Continent, and the creator must have been a wanderer from another land. Anyone would take a moment to appreciate its sight. However, Bai Shou and Qin Juan didn't. It had been hours since the battle. They had lived to tell the tale another day.
Their experience with the inheritance sight also forced them to remain alert for an hour until Bai Shou had to stop and collapse on the ground like a disowned marionette. Covered in blood, she was a different sight compared to the grand structure behind Qin Juan. Her massive giant's frame had issued several tears upon her robes, and the consequences of the battle had left the strange Senior Sister's body almost naked. So, Qin Juan's jaw locked at the sight of Bai Shou's jelly-like limbs that could be physically wrung like a ragged cloth until the splintered bones tore through her flesh and drained all the blood from the wound.
Where they repaired the ancient blood legacy, the price was not something Qin Juan could bear despite understanding how injuries and growth walked beside one another. She wrung her hands nervously, standing guard without needing any instructions. If Bai Shou could postpone her healing, she would have. It was also common for injured Gu Masters to get extremely cautious of their surroundings, so Qin Juan refrained from interrupting Bai Shou.
All she could do was stay watch after feeling confident that there were no further tests.
Now that Qin Juan had time, she could process everything she experienced.
First and foremost, despite the trust she had developed with Bai Shou after the 'mere' act of having her life saved, it was a traitorous thought that stung the former's heart. However, Qin Juan couldn't overlook a few doubts.
'Did Senior Sister inspect my aperture?'
One's aperture was a Gu Master's source of strength and their greatest secret. Even when their bodies clung together, their hearts sharing the same beat and their heavy pants against each other, the duo chose not to inspect the other's aperture. Regardless of the talks about consent, the thought of which made Qin Juan huff again, she had to assume her secrets, at least the ones in her Aperture, were exposed to Bai Shou.
The crucial aspect of this thought process was dealing with and digesting this doubt. Should Qin Juan suddenly grow wary and suspicious of Bai Shou, especially after the lengths Bai Shou went to preserve her life without knowing about the life-saving treasure?
A figure nurtured by the ruthless demonic path would already question Bai Shou's generosity—the motivation behind such kindness—even if the reason happened to be something as simple as Bai Shou wanting to retain her morality. They would also be, coincidentally, correct in questioning Bai Shou, who followed the path of convenient kindness.
Nothing was convenient about what she had done, especially forcing her body to the breaking point, simultaneously receiving a backlash from the Little Giant King Gu and injuring it.
Fortunately, Qin Juan was raised differently. Every mortal, and by extension, every Gu Master and Immortal, was a product of their environment.
Qin Juan accepted that her aperture might have been exposed, thanked her fortunes that it had nothing that could hint about her connection to a Sect, and chose to look past her doubts. It would not be in her nature to question her savior at the expense of such grave injuries.
As she kept staring at Bai Shou, who used the Self-Reliance Gu to heal, her heart firmed to pay back every grace and kindness. If such a generous figure did not deserve to join their sect, Qin Juan could hardly consider her own kind righteous.
<<<>>>
Unlike a wounded soul, healing her body—although a time-consuming process—was far more straightforward. It had been more than a day since they entered the ruins, and healing took another 6 hours as the dried blood caking her body camouflaged the use of the Rank 5 Eye Gu to inspect if the Inheritance's ground had any other surprise left for them.
Today's battle displayed the need for Bai Shou's Body Refinement. Although she could burst with the strength similar to most Peak Stage Rank 5 Gu Masters and destroy a small mountain should she see fit, maintaining that level required work. The most recent battle also validated Bai Shou's decision to preserve her battle power using the Strength Path.
Her Strength Path Gu Set was almost complete. Its framework was set, and Bai Shou even planned to incorporate the Expend Strength Gu into a Strength Path Battlefield Killer Move! If she had such a Killer Move, dealing with hundreds of Path Beasts without any Gu would have been a child's play. But such Killer Moves were rare and couldn't be used effortlessly. Why else did someone like Tie Mu Bai never possess such a Killer Move? Just the required essence was a challenge worth spending years contemplating and tackling—something the Strength Path prided in consuming less!
Eventually, Bai Shou could sit up, her legs and arms no longer wobbly appendages. Her fingers scratched away at the caked blood until she stopped feeling unpleasant when blinking.
"Senior Sister…"
Bai Shou looked at the source of the voice, her arms suddenly covering her private bits with a sharp gasp.
"Huh? How scandalous, Sister Qin. To think you never looked away even once—" she paused as tears slid down Qin Juan's watery eyes.
"Thank you," she lowered her head. "Thank you for… never giving up on me!"
Bai Shou stared at the figure before she exhaled quietly and stepped forward. Whether she was following her instincts or the agenda of knowing Qin Juan's backers, her body inflated again and became the symbol of peak masculinity. Using the Little Giant King was inadvisable due to its injuries, but that wasn't a strict rule to follow.
A broad palm found its way to hold Qin Juan's chin between its scarred thumb and index, tilting her head as the tearful woman met the Giant King's quiet but predatory green eyes.
"You didn't believe I saved you to see you in tears, did you?" The coarse voice sent a jolt down Qin Juan's spine as the figure suddenly deflated, a cheshire grin splitting her caked features. "We still have our Refinement Path challenge to conclude, Junior. You would have my permission to cry once I wipe your ass off the refinement cauldron."
Qin Juan's breath hitched before she sniffed and pulled back with a quiet snort.
"I am even more confident in winning, Senior. Your Strength Path might be undeniable, which leads me to believe that the Refinement Path is your secondary focus. Hmph! If anybody is doing anything to the ass, it's ME!"
Bai Shou reeled at the words, taking a physical step back and adopting a weird expression.
"That's a strange thing to say, Sister Qin. I didn't know the Little Giant King Gu attracted you so much."
"What? N- No! I meant—ugh! Stop being lecherous for once, Sister Bai. J-Just change your clothes."
Bai Shou shrugged and fished another robe from her Storage Gu, loosely draping it over her torn outfit.
<<<>>>
The cathedral's interior was spacious and empty but just as intricately created as its exterior. The walls were a tale for the murals drawn everywhere, leading the suspicious duo to eventually find a clue as to where to start the story.
The cave's entrance held two murals—on the right was a persecuted figure driven into a lake housing a serpent, and on the left was a depiction of a concealed figure digging the very same blood pool that could create the blood beasts.
Qin Juan was a massive support here since she could understand more clues and symbols than Bai Shou had ever witnessed, displaying her vast knowledge. Memorizing information wasn't a challenge in the Gu World with the support of several Gu Worms; it was amassing said knowledge that took time, effort, and various other resources.
So, the story continued from the moment the figure was exiled and understandably swallowed by the serpent inside the lake.
The beginning sounded like the story behind Long Qing Tian's rise as a Demonic Gu Master once he found a Poison Path inheritance inside a Snake Emperor's belly.
As one might expect, given the surrounding cult-like dedication to the Man-Faced Serpent, the beast inside the lake was just that creature who didn't think twice about gulping down the exiled sacrifice. Something must have happened because the following mural depicted the same individual leaving the Man-Faced Serpent and escaping their settlement.
The 'stick' figure had grown, becoming a Gu Master and eventually hunting his previous family alongside several Man-Faced Serpents before using them in a few materials. The ability to reveal the face of their last meal must have intrigued the creator of the inheritance because Bai Shou and Qin Juan watched them use the material to create several things, going as far as using the corpse to fertilize the land.
The tale then shifted once the figure, to complete the vicious circle of fate if you may, chose to feed one of his enemies to the Man-Faced Serpent. The figure was undoubtedly talented since they used the serpent as a material and, by extension, the fed victim.
The result?
A spider.
A Gu Worm.
It was no coincidence. With the amount of Man-Faced Serpents the figure killed, they understood its property down to the very dao marks their body held.
The shift of the tale lay in the murals depicting the figure creating said spider for many others who prostrated before him—a Demonic Sect!
For some reason unknown to them, the Spider Gu was hinted to be the secret behind the sect's rise.
It was the same spider with a man's face whose statue rested within the cathedral.
Soon, the duo stopped near the secret entrance. Bai Shou confirmed that the entrance had been created after they finalized the test.
Exchanging wary glances, the duo carefully stepped inside the tunnel that led them further down. The stairs were entirely too dark—barely any inconvenience to the duo. Finally, they stepped into a small chamber glowing blood-red. Again, such dim lightning would be irritating to a mortal, but the duo could effortlessly see words angrily scribbled on the walls around the empty room.
There was nothing else but the words.
—Hehe! Hahaha! I lost everything! EVERYTHING!—
—My enemies remain envious of my rise. Oh, those Righteous Demons, the lot of them! They preach and preach and PREACH! HATEFUL!—
Qin Juan grew visibly uncomfortable because even she knew the demon must have written the truth.
—Want my inheritance? They dare? Hahaha! Good! Come on!—
—This Inheritance is never meant to exist. Any idiot who wishes what was mine must face my tests. Hahahaha! And it will all disappear! Opening and completing the inheritance shall activate my final attack against the world! The Blood Beasts I nourished would lay waste to everyone, and that strange Gu Worm I found and used to create the Inheritance with would be long gone! Hehehe—
—But why am I writing this? Why? If the blood beasts are to run away and feast on countless lives… why? Inheritor, if you are there… I shall be the one to clear your doubts. I write this because accidents and fate are something I can never predict. It was the reason for my fall and my family's demise. Hihihihi. Just as they never predicted my return, I never expected my fall!—
—Good! It would be even more interesting if that happened! It allows me to leave my final words! Inheritor! Marvel! Feast your eyes upon my creation! Let it boil your blood! Let it be the death of many more innocents! I want you to use this Gu Worm and create an unprecedented era of death in this damned Continent!—
Qin Juan gritted her teeth. She could visibly 'see' the demonic aura in those words.
—The name of my creation, the one those eunuchs lusted, is Man-Beast Life Burial!—
<<<>>>
"Accident… huh?" Bai Shou muttered as the duo paced back to the sect. Even Qin Juan appeared slightly moody after reading the rest of it.
"Do you think someone interfered, Sister Bai?" she questioned as Bai Shou hummed.
"I could be the group we forced away. But it's annoying that even the entire Inheritance was just a trap meant to kill. It was such a waste of effort… and you almost died."
Qin Juan's core throbbed, and she lowered her head.
"I didn't die in the end… you can stop worrying now."
"Oh, come on," Bai Shou chuckled. "It's so rare to meet someone like you in the wilds. We're both Lone Gu Masters, right?"
The other Gu Master looked up and met Bai Shou's eyes.
"I don't wish to lose someone like you again."
Qin Juan's steps slightly slowed down as Bai Shou kept walking ahead. The look she witnessed on Bai Shou's features was unlike anything she'd seen before, despite just knowing the latter for days.
Just that sentence was enough for Qin Juan to understand that Bai Shou's story—and the depth behind her usual easygoing nature and smile—was undoubtedly darker and filled with sorrow.
"Come on ~! I really need a bath, Sister Qin. Let's head back."
The duo soon returned to the sect, much to the relief of several disciples. Once Bai Shou collected the bones, she retreated to privacy while recalling the Gu Recipe she had received from that god-awful Inheritance.
She was undoubtedly duped, and the experience wasn't pleasant at all!
Man-Beast Life Burial was a demonic Gu Worm utilizing a virgin woman and a carnivorous beast as crucial ingredients alongside a few other materials. The thing to be careful about was the virgin woman possessing a Gu Master's aptitude—C-grade or preferably above to increase the chances of success.
The Gu was a Rank 3 Gu Worm and a lucrative addition to other Demonic Sects. The Gu Worm's function was to add more human resources to the sect by allowing the disciples with low talent to advance to Rank 3 using a woman's purity. It was simple to think about it. Righteous Sects primarily attracted and retained most high-grade aptitude disciples and didn't care about those with lower aptitudes. So, Demonic Sects had the highest concentration of the Gu Masters, who could never advance past the Rank 2 Stage! Armed with this Gu Worm, despite the drawback of having their aptitude lowered further, allowed a Demonic Sect to train and raise an army of Rank 3 Gu Masters at once!
What attracted Bai Shou wasn't the use of the Gu Worm since it mattered little to the Rank 5 Beast but the idea behind how the individual used the human as a material. She had done it several times—using her blood to utilize a Blood Path Killer Move and the Adaptive Qi produced by the humans.
The process of refining the Man-Beast Life Burial Gu involved the enslaved beast consuming every part of the female sacrifice, including the bones. Again, it was slightly similar to how Bai Shou used a human's digestive system to refine a few materials.
And now, after going through the recipe a few times, she had yet another idea—displaying how much a Gu Master needed to accrue their attainment.
'My bones are refined using the Rank 4 Cold Hard Bones Gu. Instead of using the human bones to modify the Rank 5 Thickest Bones Gu recipe… why not use my skeletal structure as a material? It would reduce the requirement for materials by a wide margin. But how do I go about doing this?'
Bai Shou began cleaning herself.
'What medium should I use?'
Truly, finding ways to complete her strength at Rank 5 was far trickier than she expected. It was yet another project forced down her gullet, and as greedy as she was, Bai Shou wanted to see things through because it meant her path… her 'Dao' being strengthened.
<<<>>>
"I still feel a little bad," Qin Juan winced when she recalled the desperate expressions of the disciples trying to persuade Bai Shou to lead them. However, those Rank 1 and Rank 2 Gu Masters couldn't do much since Bai Shou had a Rank 5 Refinement Path Clone to create using Yang Pao. Unmatched glory awaited her in Yuan Yang City.
"They'll be fine," Bai Shou smiled faintly. It still wouldn't be her problem if they weren't. She got her bones and was happy to leave the place with a few more materials to play with.
Instead of turning around to Yuan Yang City, they moved ahead to Bai Shou's initial target—the Pig Triplets.
The chances of encountering the trio were low, and Bai Shou's mission was likely a bust. Despite losing the expected rewards, it didn't matter much to her. There would be other opportunities, and Bai Shou had to adapt to her current circumstances.
The duo merely needed to arrive at the destined location and realize the Pig Triplets had ravaged the surroundings before returning to the city and reporting the failure. As for leaving the mysterious sect with a bad impression?
Bai Shou wasn't a woman born yesterday and never believed that successful missions were criteria for joining the Sect. If so, Yang Pao would already be their member. Despite his rank and ambitions, the latter was too much of a subordinate-minded individual.
So, by the third day since encountering the Brown Yuan Sect's issues, the duo finally ventured into the wilds again.
But it was ordained by Heaven itself that there could never be any rest for the wicked.
Making Qin Juan and Bai Shou freeze was the sight of a youth who could be seen atop a branch, his tiny legs swinging in the air.
The former's eyes widened, and her hands instantly clenched.
Meanwhile, Bai Shou cast a wary glance at the figure, instantly recalling the same sense of pressure she experienced in San Cha alongside the boy's features. She saw him in Yuan Yang City—her first Vital Gu trembling in his presence.
An Immortal.
The youth extended his arm, smiling.
"Come with me."
It was a simple command—which they had to obey.
***
Alternate Title: Creating a Useless Inheritance Is Truly The Most Demonic Act; Jelly Limbs; Pushed Beyond The Limit; Ensnaring Another Damsel; No Matter The Tragedies, The Rizz Never Stops Flowing; Lo Jik/Bai Shou AF: This Is My, An Insignificant Character's Rizz; Final Fuck You From Beyond The Grave; Unnamed Demonic Gu Master AF: Blood Path Resources? RIP Bozo; The Inheritance's Secret; The Mural Story; A Tale of Every Righteous Chase; Average Righteous Path Moment In RI Universe; Scandalous Qin Juan; Qin Juan: I Win, My Ass Is Yours. You Win, My Ass Is Yours; The Giant Really Scrambles With Pitiful Junior Sister's Mind; The Guilty Damsel; Bones!; Getting Bones; Damn, Being a Slut Would Pay Off In RI World; Demonic Gu Master Staring At His Virgin Wife During Honeymoon: Resources; Interfered Inheritance; Aimed To Kill; Forcing The Immortal's Hand; Terminator Moment; A Turning Point; From Provisional Sect Leader To a Sect Member; Easy Pickings; The Immortal Is Here
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A/N: This is the Gu Fang Yuan used on Gu Yue Zie Qi and formed an entirely new Gu that can grant someone else the Extreme Physique. In the Og, FY found the Gu Worm recipe in some ruins, this one. The in-universe au lore is extremely simple: The original group could never deal with the inheritance and died and in this timeline, Lo Jik found them instead.
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THE MEME
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