Dang Hun Mountain was as dream-like from the inside as it was from the outside. Bai Shou also knew it wasn't her first time visiting this strange legendary location. When unconscious, she was brought here to quickly heal her soul. The inner walls were also crystalline pink, but less reflective. The winding path was filled with abstract crystal growths layered with multicolored uneven rocks that resembled a human's gallstone.
"So, these are the Gutstones…" Bai Shou paused and observed these strange rocks. Accompanying her was Little Hu Immortal, who nodded eagerly.
"Yes." The land spirit chimed. "But this is just an ordinary gutstone. Here." She skipped towards another rock and pointed at it. "This is the one with a gu worm inside it."
Bai Shou smiled at Little Hu Immortal.
"Thank you, Lord Land Spirit."
She walked over as Little Hu brightened at her words.
Bai Shou carefully picked the gutstone, observing it. Deep down, she already had an investigation killer move capable of differentiating special gutstones from the ordinary ones. But why waste your primeval essence when the land spirit is more efficient?
'My soul foundation barely experienced any shift. Even if I remained discipline in using the Soul Bell Gu, I continued to accumulate many injuries the past few months. But this…'
Bai Shou was genuinely excited. Soul Path was her curse.
After regaining her composure, Bai Shou's gaze grew tranquil as she crushed the rock.
From within flew out a grey and eerie light. Instead of defending against, Bai Shou let the streak of light enter her body as she instantly felt clearer!
Her thoughts grew spirited, and her mind felt more active.
Bai Shou's soul instantly grew robust, effortlessly displaying the result worth tens of sessions using the Soul Bell Gu!
Closing her eyes, Bai Shou savored the sensation wholeheartedly. Within the enhancement of soul was also a strange emotion. There was something strange.
'So, this is the legendary Guts Gu!'
Bai Shou sighed, feeling the wide disparity between this one-time consumable gu worm and Rank 4 Soul Bell Gu. The two shouldn't even be spoken in the same breath!
Guts Gu was indeed legendary. Like Divine Travel Immortal Gu, it was first introduced in
<<<>>>
After entering the road of death, Ren Zu successfully reunited with his son.
Ren Zu was overjoyed upon seeing his son and ran towards him.
Verdant Great Sun had turned into a white ghost and was lying beside a lake, scooping out the water with a bowl and drinking it.
The water was like wine, blanketing the surroundings with its fragrance.
Verdant Great Sun drank it with utmost satisfaction.
"My son, don't drink anymore. Come, let's go back." Ren Zu walked towards Verdant Great Sun and shouted.
"Esteemed father, how did you come here? This is great, let's drink together." Verdant Great Sun opened his hazy eyes and looked at Ren Zu.
Ren Zu seized the wine bowl from him and said with exasperation: "Don't drink anymore, you only know how to drink wine! Everyone knows there is a bewitching lake in the land of the dead, and its water is the Bewitching Soup. When ghosts drink it, they become muddle-headed and lose the desire to leave."
Verdant Great Sun, however, refuted: "Father, you are wrong. This is not the Bewitching Soup; it is the Soul Calming Wine. It can calm down your soul and remove all the impurities, your soul will no longer be restless, and you will experience utmost tranquility in your heart. This is one of the best quality wines in this world."
"I don't care what wine it is. You have to follow me back." Ren Zu pulled Verdant Great Sun's hand, but found Verdant Great Sun was as heavy as a mountain and could not be budged.
Verdant Great Sun shook his head: "Some people, upon death, will be as heavy as a mountain. Some people, upon death, will be light as a feather. Father, I had Reputation Gu in my life and died after bathing in the light of glory. When I arrived here, my body had become heavier than a mountain, I cannot even walk a single step and can only lie down here."
"What!" Ren Zu immediately felt gloomy and anxiously shouted, "I told you before, a tall tree attracts the wind, reputation is not always a good thing. Throw away the Reputation Gu."
Verdant Great Sun shook his head and sighed: "We were not born with fame and fortune, we also cannot take them with us after death. After I died, Reputation Gu left me. It is Fixed Immortal Travel Gu that has accompanied me."
Fixed Immortal Travel Gu could bring Verdant Great Sun's soul out of the Door of Life and Death or even bring him to any place in the outside world.
However, Verdant Great Sun could only truly resurrect after walking through the path of life.
"What do we do now..." Ren Zu realized he had been played by Wisdom Gu. Although he had arrived at the deepest part of the Door of Life and Death — a death domain that had endless darkness, and has also found Verdant Great Sun, he discovered he could not bring back his son.
At this moment, Fairness Gu spoke: "Oh Ren Zu, do you still not understand? There are only two paths in Door of Life and Death, both appeared because of Fate Gu. Life and death are determined by fate! All living beings live and thus die, this is the cycle that allows the universe to continue existing. Your eldest son Verdant Great Sun died, this is fate and you should accept it. Moreover, he is living a good life here, Obsession Death Domain is the world's most tranquil place. He is drinking the world's supreme quality wine and is free from all the worries of the outside world, do you know how blissful this is?"
Ren Zu stood there and looked at his flesh and blood for a while before heaving a deep sigh.
He knew he could not bring back his son's soul, at least it was like that for now.
He bid farewell to the Fairness Gu and also his son, and left the Obsession Death Domain.
He stepped on another path this time, it was the path of life which went from darkness to light.
However, Ren Zu soon realized walking this path was countless times more difficult than when he walked in through the path of death.
There were many more Suffering Gu on path of life than path of death. When Ren Zu had walked through the path of death, his journey became smoother along the way and the Suffering Gu lesser the further he walked. But as he walked through the path of life, there was not only more Suffering Gu, but every step he took would cause much more Suffering Gu to fly over and obstruct him.
Courage Gu could not resist them any longer: "Ren Zu, there are too many Suffering Gu and they will continue to increase. There is peace in death, but life has endless suffering. Go to Dang Hun Mountain quickly and break some Gutstones. If you want to survive, just relying on courage won't be enough, you need guts too."
Ren Zu hurried forward to Dang Hun Mountain and picked the Guts Gu while enduring the tremors in his soul.
With Guts Gu's help, his soul strengthened greatly, and although he still suffered the tremors, it was not of much worry.
He passed through Dang Hun Mountain and arrived at Luo Po Valley.
Luo Po Valley was a maze with winding and twisted paths. Occasionally, there was a large area of Bewilderment Fog which could cause the soul to loosen, and occasionally, Luo Po Wind would blow through and cut apart the soul.
Ren Zu had fallen into the lowest part of his life and could not distinguish the directions. Because his soul was strengthened by Guts Gu, it was loosening in the Bewilderment Fog at a slower speed. The loosened soul was cut apart by the Luo Po Wind.
Ren Zu almost completely lost his way, but fortunately at this time, Faith Gu flew out and shone upon his path.
Ren Zu was able to walk out of the Luo Po Valley with only the essence of his soul remaining.
He let out a huge breath of relief and could feel he was close to success.
He walked to the reverse flowing river, this was the final barrier in the path of life.
It was extremely difficult to move against the stream.
Endless suffering pushed upon him, causing him to make very slow progress.
However, he forcibly persevered and walked towards the light.
"Almost there." He looked at the success that was just ahead of him, only one final step remained.
He let out a breath of turbid air and relaxed, forgetting the warning of the Wisdom Gu, he stopped.
This brief pause caused Ren Zu to be washed away by the river.
Life was not easy, it was like a boat moving against the flow of the river, if you do not continue moving forward, you will be pushed back.
Ren Zu was washed away by the river into the depths of Luo Po Valley. He was so tired he could not budge a bit and was trapped in the Luo Po Valley.
<<<>>>
Bai Shou was like a woman possessed. Whenever she absorbed a Guts Gu, she felt extreme satisfaction and pleasure. This feeling emerged from her rapidly strengthening soul. When she closed her eyes, she could already sense the faint outline of her soul.
Within a couple of minutes, Bai Shou's foundation rose from ordinary soul to a fifteen-man soul!
This speed was too shocking!
'Dang Hun Mountain is truly a holy ground for soul cultivation.'
But Bai Shou kept feeling something amiss.
'In the long history of the Gu World, ten peerless figures left their marks for hundreds and thousands of years, their wisdom and methods continuously inspiring generations after generations of gu masters and gu immortals.'
She thought while moving onto the next gutstone.
Among them was the founder of Soul Path, the venerable with the deepest killing nature, Spectral Soul Demon Venerable.
Spectral Soul left an era of bloodshed where the law of jungle grew as prevalent and honest as it came—inspiring many demons to openly slaughter and plummet the world into an unprecedented era of chaos!
Spectral Soul Demon Venerable once praised Dang Hun Mountain and Luo Po Valley, calling these legendary grounds the holy grounds for soul path!
He wasn't wrong!
Bai Shou licked her lips.
'I don't feel irritated.' She realized, recalling her innate nature.
Soul irritation was a common phenomenon when dealing with soul path cultivation. Whenever a gu master refined or strengthened their soul, they would need to deal with the innate sense of irritation bursting from their souls after these drastic changes. After all, a human wasn't born with a truly powerful soul. Strengthening and refining it changed its nature, and a gu master needed to let their souls rest for some time to solidify these changes.
'Most gu masters would already feel this issue.'
Bai Shou moved casually, traveling further inside the mountain cave.
'The best method to deal with it is sleeping. Of course, there is another holy ground for soul path.'
Bai Shou recalled <>.
Bewitching Soup or Soul Calming Wine was of the same level as Dang Hun Mountain and Luo Po Valley.
Dang Hun Mountain strengthened the soul.
Luo Po Valley refined the soul.
And the Soul Calming Wine calmed the soul.
However, just possessing any one of these treasures could help a gu master achieve extreme power and advancement in soul path!
Bai Shou couldn't help but sigh softly.
'Yet, my body is naturally different.'
'And this Guts Gu…'
The more Guts Gu she absorbed, the firmer her intuition grew!
Sixty…
Seventy…
A bloated sensation began replacing the earlier weightlessness.
A sense of itch and irritation finally reared its head against the untold pleasure from her soul.
Bai Shou's soul already displayed a clear form.
It was Lo Jik.
However, the soul did not look lean yet muscular. Instead, the human-shaped soul appeared with bulging muscles and uneven proportions. It looked extremely strong!
Eighty…
Ninety…
Hundred…
That sense of fullness grew deeper, and so did the strange emotion bubbling inside Bai Shou's heart.
One hundred and ten…
One hundred and twenty!
For a brief moment, all the earlier signs of limitations were replaced with extreme pleasure!
'Enough!'
Bai Shou was alert and stopped! She felt heavy and full. Her soul was nearly bursting!
A human soul couldn't be strengthened endlessly. It was like how the body cannot hold endless strength.
Similarly, the soul needed refinement and the body needed to be tempered to hold a more powerful soul! If she continued, her soul would explode, instantly killing her!
Bai Shou exhaled, her eyes growing clearer. Divine inspiration flashed across her brown hues as she noted the effects of her Divine Capacity and Guts Gu.
'Guts Gu aren't a soul path gu worm.'
She believed her gut.
She already had too much experience with human path, her attainment nearing the half-way point between a master and a grandmaster.
'Guts Gu is a human path gu worm!'
<<<>>>
A strong soul had several benefits. For Bai Shou, it was like granting wings to a tiger, allowing her to ceaselessly think and innovate! The realization of Guts Gu being a human path gu worm was not a baseless instinct but an application she had already applied on Fake Mind Gu Worm.
'But one needs to take things a step at a time.'
Bai Shou laughed carefreely, not bothering to even think of mimicking Guts Gu. She wasn't so outstanding yet.
The creation of Guts Gu required a few steps.
First, Spirit Affinity House collected a huge number of souls from the main continent and released them into Dang Hun Mountain. Then, Dang Hun Mountain would release an invisible pressure and shock that affected these souls, breaking them and letting it irrigate the mountain. Soon, this nourishment allowed Dang Hun Mountain to produce Guts Gu!
As such, Guts Gu cannot be used outside of Dang Hun Mountain, and this holy land was also crucial in its creation. Without understanding Dang Hun Mountain, Bai Shou had little to no expectation of ever recreating Guts Gu even if its was a mortal gu worm.
Why?
Even if Guts Gu was a human path gu, a supreme treasure capable of strengthening the soul, its effects and creations hid deep secrets related to soul path. After all, Guts Gu did not leave human path dao marks on the soul. No, it strengthened the soul using soul path dao marks!
Similarly, Dang Hun Mountain was a treasure for soul path. Bai Shou's understanding of soul path was meager at best. She could not pierce the fog of mystery surrounding this legendary location to understand its secret.
Furthermore, Bai Shou had another issue at hand.
Soul Refinement.
Before the creation of Fake Mind Gu, Bai Shou would have been satisfied by using the Brave Soul Gu to refine her soul. It resonated with her strength path.
Now?
Bai Shou couldn't help but think about another method.
She was also plagued with other challenges.
Her body refinement set was outstanding for compensating for additional strength inside her body. But it did not help with a stronger soul. Body was the container within which soul rested. A stronger soul couldn't flow out because this container was closed, so, it would destroy the container.
If Bai Shou wanted to advance her soul to the thousand-man limit, she needed to reconfigure her body refinement method.
'To be fair. A hundred-man soul and a good defensive gu is more than enough.' Bai Shou sighed, quietly observing the reproducing rockmen.
'A human has blood, flesh, organs, bones, mind, soul, and an aperture.'
'There is also human path, blood path, bone path, wisdom path, and soul path.' She closed her eyes. 'Most amazingly, human path doesn't conflict with other paths. For the lack of a better term, it's like a… lube. Just because it doesn't conflict with other paths doesn't mean it can facilitate similar aspect with other paths.'
Fake Mind Gu did not target strength path and refinement path to eliminate friction between them. No. Fake Mind created a discreet layer, allowing Brave Thoughts and Derivation Thoughts to coexist in Bai Shou's mind and brain. She could also use strength and refinement path methods to refine these divided sections, something that similar wisdom path gu worms couldn't achieve!
'It's not true dual cultivation.'
Bai Shou worked her jaw.
'Chen Jiu's method actually removed this sense of conflict and friction between rule and wisdom path!'
'So, to dual cultivate strength and refinement paths is still extremely challenging for me.' Bai Shou recalled how she wanted to invest more in refinement path. But doing so required her to make compromises.
'But the same isn't true for strength and human path.' Bai Shou nodded. Earlier, she did not possess so many human path methods or ever expected to encounter such support! Right now, she used a blessed land's resources to conduct research and advanced her human path methods.
'To grow, one must be flexible. With Preservation Gu, the core use of my refinement path is achieved. I can display the full use of Undefeated Hundred Battles Gu, which is ironically a human path gu worm. Instead, dual cultivating strength and human path doesn't have any limitations and only benefits!'
Since the effects of human path did not cause friction with strength path, lowering the efficacy of both paths, she should invest in this direction.
'Heh. If I had Luo Po Valley, converting to soul path would have made the most sense.' Bai Shou smiled bitterly. Even if she could finally enjoy the benefits of Dang Hun Mountain, it did not belong to her.
'If I think about a combination of strength and human paths, I should start thinking about a human path refinement method for the soul.'
'And there's that strength path's human jun strength branch brough to light by Domination Immortal Chu Du.'
Her thoughts shifted.
'If Guts Gu, a human path gu, had such strengthening effects on the soul…'
She felt her heart twitch.
'Is there a method to achieve the same for strength path? A human path gu that strengthens the body instead!'
A whole new road opened for Bai Shou. Even if she was still limited in methods of dual cultivation, she knew it was an ever winding and interesting road. Either she will heal Chen Jiu to learn her methods or someday encounter the very same profundity that led to the creation of Chen Jiu's method of dual cultivation. After all, all roads lead to Grand Dao!
'I can't hide a few of my other gu worms. Using them would reveal the second aperture. So, I must refine them. Also, now that I know about the supreme elders' awareness of my status as an Otherworldly Demon, I regained some initiative. It would be too pitiful to let this chance go to waste.'
Bai Shou's gaze grew calculative.
"Sister Feng."
She called loudly, knowing Little Hu Immortal would alert Feng Jin Huang.
"Would it be possible to discuss a few things with you? I wish to offer my assistance.'
Bai Shou was teleported out of Dang Hun Mountain.
***
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