"Why? Because I am tired of living in your shadow! You are the one whom everyone treats with respect, To everyone else I am nothing more than the unpleasant zit that they are forced to tolerate for you! I will reach the peak of rank 5 and then ascend to the ranks of gu immortals on my own merit!"
The younger breather coughs, in the process vomiting blood over both himself and his brother. The older brother kicks his sibling, sending him sprawling on the ground and leaving him to die before entering the inheritance ground.
Blood Sea Ancestor was a demonic cultivator, and as such his inheritance is a demonic inheritance. The key difference between righteous path inheritance and a demonic path inheritance is their attitude to prospective inheritors. Failing a righteous path inheritance will lead to embarrassment at worst, there are no dangers towards a gu masters life to be found in one.
This is not the case with the Blood Sea Ancestors inheritance. The will and character of the older brother is arduously tested, to fail even a single test means certain death. The trials take three restless days and nights, where the older brother was not allowed even a wink of sleep or rest.
At the end he is rewarded. The method to ascending to a gu immortal is made clear to him.
The higher the aptitude of a gu master when ascending, the stronger they will become after successfully ascending to a gu immortal. The inheritance even provides him with the methods to overcome the curse of his low aptitude, the recipe of the blood skull gu ranging from ranks four to seven.
While the older brother was facing the inheritance, the younger brother was instead facing his imminent death. As an enslavement path gu master his specialty has always been commanding his beasts from the backline, physical combat had always been the specialty of his younger brother.
From time to time, he'd have to either put down or heal one of his beats. Most of his healing gu worms are either made for healing beasts, not humans or are simply not adequate for dealing with his injury in its current state. A fist sized ball of flame appears in his hand, which is quickly pressed into the wound. The younger brother howls in pain as the fire singes his skin, melts his fat and burns his muscles. He pushes the flame until even his heart is touched and burned.
Cauterizing the wound in this manner has not solved anything, his heart is still stabbed and bleeding. It could even be said that the wound is now worse than before. What matters to him right at this moment is that the state of the wound has changed, it is now not just a stab wound, it is a burn wound as well.
The expendable rank 2 Burn Heal gu can only heal burn wounds. By turning his stab wound into a burn wound in this manner this gu can be used to heal it. Activating the gu worm heals his physical heart in its entirety.
He is still left exhausted both physically and mentally. His tears fall from his cheeks onto the ground as he pathetically crawls away. 'Why brother?! WHY!?'
The person who'd been his pillar of support has betrayed him, the very person who took care of him from when he was a babe has cast him aside in favor of worldly power.
He continues to crawl for hours, his body may be broken and his spirit battered, but his will is undying yet. It takes him two hours of pitiful crawling to reach his horde of cranes.
He is too weak to ride them. The man sized iron beaked birds take him in their steel talons, beginning the journey back to the Crane Wing sect.
This is the tale of the twin crane brothers, of the man who was betrayed by his older brother for worldly wants, and of the man who inherited the Blood Sea Ancestor's true inheritance, who would then go on to found the Gu Yue clan.
—
Fang Yuan pov
I break a small chip off of the gambling rock. Luli swallows nervously. "Do we really have to do that? I… it's just… wrong."
Shen Cui shakes her head in admonishment. "Master is right, they will die regardless of whether we are the ones to kill them or not."
I continue to carefully chip away at the gambling rock. Technically if the Bai and Gu Yue villages managed to survive the next beast tide largely intact they would then be strong enough to survive the next one. "I know it feels wrong Luli, but this is just the way the world is. Between us and anyone else we have to always choose us."
Luli closes her eyes and sighs. "Can we at the very least spare anyone that I know? Please?"
I nod. "Sure, we only need about at most eight hundred people in total for the two of you."
I take away a final piece of rock and reveal the gu inside of the gambling rock, a rank 5 extreme light gu. I blink in confusion, Cui sighs. "You will get used to it in time, the life of a gu master is not easy. Us mortals are forced to make do with the hand that we are dealt, gu masters must make their own fate."
The rank 5 extreme light gu has been extinct for millions of years, its effect isn't something that helps directly in combat.. Its effect is to shine the light of glory of the immemorial era.
To put a long story short, there used to be nine heavens in this world, now there's only two. This gu shines with the light of glory of the immemorial era, the era when the heavens were still intact. The light of glory passes through everything, without exception.
If I used it atop of a cave the light would pass through the rocks underneath me and into the cave below unhindered. By itself it can't do very much, when used in a killer move it's going to be a whole other story. It's just too bad that I don't have anything to combo it with, there's just not enough gu variety in Qing Mao mountain to make a proper killer move.
I put the extreme light gu in my aperture for now. The gu is fairly tired from the hibernation, thankfully it appears to be unwounded. "Cui is right. Mortals don't have any agency in their lives whatsoever. You've already personally experienced this with me and the clan."
Luli closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, before opening her eyes and giving Cui and I a resolute nod. "I understand."
The plan is slowly coming into fruition. Finish with the Blood Sea Ancestor's inheritance, take Cui and Luli to awaken their apertures, use the blood skull gu to get them to at least 90% aptitude and then go to the Bai clan to pick up Ning Bing and leave the mountain.
Cui gives Luli a hug. "At fi-"
We all hear frantic knocking come from the door. I sigh. "Enter."
A young man nervously and hesitatingly opens the door. "Master, there is someone here to see you. We told them that you were unavailable but they threatened violence in response. Please spare this one!"
I'd told the servants not to interrupt us or barge into our conversation. "Who is this person? Did you get their name or appearance at least?"
The servants frantically nods. "She is a pale, white haired woman calling herself Ning Bi-."
Ning Bing pulls the man and throws him out of her way. "There you are! Do you know for how long I've been searching for you?"
—
"Ning Bing, meet Sheng Cui and Wang Luli. Sheng Cui and Wang Luli, meet Ning Bing."
Sheng Cui is seizing up Ning Bing, Luli is alternating between glancing nervously at the smiling Ning Bing and glancing pleadingly at me and Ning Bing is bullying Luli and attempting to bully Shen Cui. "You've got some pretty toys, I'm pretty sure they'd put even the previous Bai clan leader's concubines to shame."
So he died too then. "My condolences, I know he was important to you."
Ning Bing shrugs in response. "He'd probably just give me a painfully long lecture if he found out I was moping about, so I'm just moving forward with my life. Now that he's dead I don't owe my clan anything anymore. When are we leaving Qing Mao mountain?"
As a possessor of one of the ten extreme physiques Ning Bing's combat strength will almost always, with a few notable exceptions, be a rank higher than her actual rank. Any gu of ice or soul path that she uses will have their effects boosted by a rank thanks to her Northern Dark Ice Soul physique. "There's a few things that I still need to prepare before we leave. Until then you can just make yourself comfortable."
She'd still get herself instantly killed by that blood python. At rank 3 she can display the combat strength of a rank 4 gu master, not nearly enough to even serve as a distraction against that thing. Shen Cui gives me a questioning look. I nod. "The two of you can trust Ning Bing, she's coming with us."
—
All of my preparations are now complete, there is nothing else to do that will increase my chances in exploring the cave further. I sit quietly on my bed as I make the final preparations.
The rank 5 blood frenzy gu bites my set of moonlight gu, the core gu worms of my thunder roar killer move and the wisdom path gu worms that I've got from Chi Lian. I have rank 3 replacements for most of the gu that I'm burning away, so I won't be caught with my pants completely down once the gu are dead.
It takes ten breaths of time for the effect of the blood frenzy gu to settle. I activate the rank 5 Heavenly Moon Armor gu before immediately teleporting to the cave with the blood river python, I have ten minutes to deal with any danger that's present there.
The cave is as dark as before, the only lightsource is the bloody soil glowing red. The python is instantly alerted to my presence, its angry roar shakes the walls and ceiling of the cave as it charges towards me. The python is on the other side of the cave, so I prepare to use the rank 5 Heavenly Moon Glow gu as a counterattack.
The bladewing blood bats are too weak to penetrate the defense of my rank 5 Heavenly Moon Armor gu, so I can focus all of my efforts on dealing with the python as fast as possible.
I need to take care not to cause a cave in, that would make finding any potential inheritance a gigantic pain. Adding in any auxiliary gu worms would heavily damage the blood river python. I throw a straight punch in the air, unleashing the moonblade without any boosts from auxiliary gu worms, doing so would also risk a cave in.
The moonblade lands right in the mouth of the blood river python, carving up its insides with ease. I teleport to the other side of the cave and prepare to throw another, before a giant black coffin rises from the pool of blood in the middle of the cave.
The lid is thrown upwards as if an explosion pushed it. "Who dares disturb my slumber?!"
A literal zombie rises from the coffin. Withered black robes hang from his mummified body. I prepare another moonblade, teleport behind him and punch his head as hard as possible while unleashing the moonblade.
He is thrown into the cave wall, the python gets its bearings and lunges at me again. Its severe internal wounds seem to only serve to make iit fiercer and angrier. I throw another moonblade at its mouth and immediately teleport where the zombie has landed.
The gu this guy used to transform into the zombie is familiar to me, it's one of the core gu in refining the rank 6 Vampire gu. He's transformed using the rank 5 blood wight gu, granting him an absurd boost in defense and halting the consumption of his lifespan in exchange for not being able to regenerate primeval essence naturally.
He's still somewhat dazed from awakening in the manner that he did, me kicking him into the wall probably didn't do anything to help either. The bad news is that he's barely damaged by my attack. I reach to throw him out of the hole he's in, only to barely block a kick that throws me right back to the other side of the cave.
The blood python is angrily thrashing around in its death throes now, two moonblades right in its internal organs were too much for it to handle. I prepare to teleport and combo a kick with a moonblade, before the ceiling of the cave is violently broken. A loud voice resounds throughout the rubble. "Brother!"
—
The younger brother's state upon his arrival in the Immortal Crane sect left everyone confused. He was initially given a day of rest, something that was immediately revoked once the true leaders of the sect heard of the reason for his current state. A true inheritance of the Blood Sea Ancestor. In his current state of mind he cared not what anyone thought of him for finding such a vile thing.
Somehow, one of the Gu immortals of his sect even came to him personally to receive his report. "That is the pathetic tale of this one, does the honored immortal wish to know anything else?"
He Feng Yang shook his head. "No, that is all. I have understood the situation clearly. Your brother stole the Blood Sea Ancestor's inheritance from our Immortal Crane sect. He is to be found as soon as possible and the inheritance is to be returned to us, its rightful owner."
The betrayed brother was shocked beyond words. Their sect, one of the most righteous in the whole of central continent, desired the inheritance of the Blood Sea Ancestor? "This one apologises, but why are we seeking the inheritance of the Blood Sea Ancestor, are we not of the righteous path?"
He Fang Yang smiles. "It is better for the inheritance to be in our hands than someone else's, who knows what they would do with such a vile thing. We, however, are of the righteous path. Anything we would use it for would be righteous, for we are the ones most virtuous in the gu world! We supreme elder's have decided unanimously that this task shall fall to you, bring glory to our clan!"
From that day on the younger brother would relentlessly search for his sibling. His use of lifespan gu made him confident in finding his former protector. He'd search the whole of central continent, to no avail. He'd become known as Lord Sky Crane, he'd become known as a legend in the mortal world. All of it was to no avail.
He searched for centuries, until his lifespan was about to run out. In desperation he sealed himself inside of rank 5 Life-Retaining Jade Burial gu. This gu worm is a coffin. It did not increase a gu master's lifespan, it merely delayed the consumption of it so long as one was sealed inside.
Even sealed away, his search continued. His cranes would scour the land relentlessly. Lord Sky Crane used many methods from many paths, from blood path methods to information path methods, all in order to find his brother and exact his revenge.
In the end he finally finds a lead in southern continent. Each continent is known for something that sets them apart from the other four. Northern plains has the biggest combat strength, central continent has the sect system, Western desert is known for its endless dunes, eastern Sea is known for its trade and southern continent is known for secrecy.
It is said that it is not unordinary for peerless gu masters to be born, rise and die all in seclusion with the outside world none the wiser. The perfect place for his brother to hide himself away.
Kinship Blood worm gu started to point south when a crane was passing the border between central continent and southern continent. This gu worm points right to the blood relatives of a gu master, whoever it is that it is pointing towards is likely to be a descendant of his brother, a lead in recovering his stolen inheritance.
Lord Sky Crane immediately unsealed himself from the Life-Retaining Jade Burial gu. His visage has long since turned into that of an elderly man. His long, white beard, white hair and abundant wrinkles did not detract from the hatred on plain display. 'Senior brother, I will find you and repay your betrayal a thousandfold! I will eradicate your entire bloodline!'
He mounted his fastest crane and rushed towards southern continent. The Qi wall separating the two regions provided a small amount of resistance, the greater issue was the suppression of his cultivation. His rank 5 peak stage aperture started to produce true gold primeval essence, the primeval essence of a rank 4 peak stage gu master, instead of the Crystal Purple primeval essence characteristic of rank 5 peak stage gu masters. Even his gu worms were suppressed, their effects become weaker by a whole rank!
'No matter, I simply need to wait a few years for my aperture to adapt to the suppression. My combat strength comes from my flock of cranes, the gu worms are mostly auxiliary. If brother is still alive he is either a zombie or has found lifespan gu, the former is much more likely than the latter. I will make preparations, he cannot recover primeval essence as a zombie, there are some gu worms that will be of significant aid in dealing wi-'
A pillar of flames killed all of his flock and leaves him to helplessly plummet to the earth. He is saved by a black haired middle aged man who catches him by the foot in mid air. "What do we have here? What is a dog of the Immortal Crane Sect doing in my southern continent?"
The man radiated the same aura that the supreme elder had. This man is a gu immortal!
Lord Sky Crane gulps nervously, the blood rushing down prevents his face from turning pale. "This one has come to enact revenge on a traitor of our sect. This one begs the honoured immortal to forgive him!"
The gu immortal laughs. "For mere revenge? Your sects keep you leashed even more than we keep our wildest dogs, you would never be sent here for mere revenge. You have five seconds to tell me the true reason for your little visit before I burn you to a crisp!"
AN: update pace is going to slow down for a bit of time, I need some time to recharge my batteries xd.
I've fixed the number mistake in chapter 26, it'll be up soon.