Inside a vast underground chamber, Ning Zu sat cross-legged on the floor, struggling to contain a liquor worm gu that was trying to escape.
"It was quite a challenge to convince my mother to allow me to have this gu as my vital gu. It would have been foolish for anyone else in the clan to attempt it, but I am different."
Xiong Er was concerned about her son's future, as the recipes for upgrading the liquor worm to the next realm within the clan were mediocre compared to those for the bear strength gu. After all, their clan primarily focused on cultivating strength path.
"But they don't know that I possess a gu recipe that would leave them astounded. It comes from the inheritance that the Heavenly Court tried to kill me to obtain."
'I'm sure that wasn't the main reason they wanted me dead, though. I've defied fate for too long, making it harder for them to fix fate gu.'
While Ning Zu was lost in thought, the gu worm continued its desperate attempts to flee, clearly unwilling to obey him.
"Hm, it seems I'll need to use that gu." As he spoke, a blue lotus mark appeared on his forehead. This tattoo manifested whenever the gu was activated.
What was remarkable about it was that it was a rank 8 gu: Soul Lotus Immortal Gu!
However, Ning Zu did not activate the gu. Instead, he merely utilized its rank 8 aura to subdue the gu worm.
Upon sensing the rank 8 aura, the liquor worm immediately surrendered, allowing Ning Zu to refine it effortlessly.
The gu worm now played contentedly within his aperture, which was 99% filled with his jade-green essence.
'This gu will be very useful. It was wise to leave it sealed in the tree, even though it leaves a mark that resembles the one that simp has, albeit with a different color.'
If someone were to read his thoughts, they would never imagine he was referring to the most mysterious venerable: Red Lotus.
Ning Zu mentally sighed, 'Mysterious my ass. Well, he almost broke fate gu, and his will answered every question I asked without lying or hiding anything. So he's not that bad, compared to the other venerable wills, at least.'
Ning Zu had traveled the world after Spectral Soul's death and had spoken with numerous wills of deceased immortals, including Red Lotus.
"Now I need to begin my plans. I must reach that inheritance and start gathering the materials to refine that gu as my vital gu."
In his cultivation room, Ning Zu called for his servant, who arrived promptly.
The servant was a tall man with the clan's typical brown hair and eyes, wearing a headband. He was a peak-stage rank 1 gu master, after he entered he bowed his head, closing the door behind him.
"Did you buy what I asked for?" Ning Zu inquired.
"Y-yes, sir. I ensured they were the highest quality." The servant pulled from his clothes a bag filled with purple powder, a rank 1 refinement material.
"Good, give it to me."
The servant complied and handed over the bag. Ning Zu examined it and nodded in approval.
"You did well. Come here for a moment."
The servant approached with his head still bowed, anticipating either a reward of primeval stones or some kind of praise.
Instead, Ning Zu delivered a sharp punch to his gut, causing him to gasp for air.
The servant, shocked, didn't know what to say, when Ning Zu suddenly grabbed the purple powder from the bag and threw it at his face.
The servant began to cough uncontrollably, blood streaming from his eyes, and started having difficulty breathing.
"Y-young *cough*-*cough* master *cough* why!" He could hardly speak, dropping to his knees and clutching his neck desperately.
"Oh, stop acting like a wimp. That poison would kill a mortal, but you're a strength path gu master. You'll only pass out at most."
Ning Zu was irritated by the servant's cries, feeling he was not acting how a proper gu master should.
Ning Zu was from the Late Antiquity Era after all, it was a time when soul path was the most popular and the Spectral soul killed en masse every day, so he found the servant's reaction particularly frustrating.
"You strength path cultivators are the hardest to kill, you know?"
The servant, unable to hear anything further, lost consciousness.
Ning Zu approached the servant and check his veins.
Once he confirmed the servant was unconscious, he checked his aperture.
'Hmm, he didn't self-detonate any gu. Good.'
He laid the servant flat on his back and sat cross-legged, activating the Soul Lotus Immortal Gu, which required a part of the users soul and mental energy to use.
His soul then separated from his body, leaving it looking as if it were asleep, but now it was a mere lifeless vessel.
The soul was strikingly different from the body it had left. It was as white as jade, with very long hair that nearly reached the ground. It was a well-built human soul but was exceptionally tall standing at an impressive two and a half meters. The face was beautiful, and despite being thousands of years old, it appeared as if the soul was only twenty years .
The Soul Lotus Immortal Gu was within the soul, engraved with a blue lotus mark that shone like the moon in the night.
Ning Zu carefully inspected his soul from head to toe.
'It seems my soul is just as it was in my past life. Thanks to staying in that word for all that time, it doesn't change to match the body it inhabits like other souls. However, the soul does adapt to the body normally; only its shape remains the same.'
After ensuring everything was as it should be, he entered the servant's body without hesitation.
Soon, the body began to tremble and appeared to have a seizure. In reality, Ning Zu was taking control of the body and making it his own.
He absorbed all the memories from the servant's soul, learning everything about him from birth to the present.
Though the soul resisted, it was futile—a single one man soul could not fend off a million man soul.
Eventually, the trembling ceased, and the blue lotus mark appeared on the servant's forehead.
The servant awoke acting like nothing has happened then sat cross-legged.
He removed all the primeval essence he had, then took out a primeval stone and began replenishing his primeval essence.
Anyone who knew the servant would remark on his unusual behavior, as he had been gathering primeval stones for over a year in hopes of advancing to rank 2.
Now, however, he used primeval stone after primeval stone without any concern.
This was because the original servant no longer existed, not even his soul remained in this world.
So, who could it be if not Ning Zu?
Ning Zu utilized the rank 8 aura of the Soul Lotus Immortal Gu to refine all the gu the servant possessed.
'I had to remove the primeval essence he had earlier because it was imbued with his will. Now that I've taken over his body, it will produce essence filled with my will instead.'
Once Ning Zu refined all the gu in the aperture, the blue lotus mark disappeared and reappeared on his original vessel, indicating he had returned to his body.
This was the effect of the Soul Lotus Immortal Gu—it allowed the soul to switch bodies whenever desired, provided it had been marked with the blue lotus sign at least once and the soul had previously inhabited that body.
With Ning Zu's technique, which allowed him to possess anyone by fully absorbing their soul, he could have multiple bodies and switch between them at will.
'Though a small part of my soul is lost each time I use this gu, it is a price I am willing to pay.'
Ning Zu rose from the ground, leaving the cultivation room, he entered his room and changed his clothes then went to bed.
He then switched to the servant's body, hiding the blue lotus mark to avoid suspicion.
He immediately stepped out of that room, and started to think about what to do now.
'I need to purchase a few things first, then I'll head straight to that inheritance and start preparing for the refinement. After that…'
His thoughts were interrupted by the voice of a little girl.
"Hey! Tang Fang!" she called loudly, despite him being directly in front of her.
"How may I assist you, young miss?" Ning Zu perfectly mimicked the servant's demeanor. He knew him better than anyone after all and was an exceptional actor.
"Has he finally come out of that cave?" Xiong Chu Er was referring to the cultivation room. "He hasn't emerged since last night!"
"He just left the room and is currently deep asleep. He asked me to ensure that no one disturbs him."
"Oh, did he not sleep at all? I thought he slept in that cave…" Xiong Chu Er's voice grew soft, her eyes filled with concern.
"Don't worry, young miss. The young master will be fine after a few hours of rest."
Xiong Chu Er's face brightened slightly upon hearing this from the "servant."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes, young miss. I am also sure he will play with you once he wakes up."
"Yay! I'll go study so I can play with him as much as I want then."
With determination, Xiong Chu Er ran to her room, eager to study with all her energy.
And if you were wondering what she meant by studying, she intended to read the legends of Ren Zu multiple times, as she usually did.
'This sister of mine, hahahaha, she truly cares for me despite her demeanor.'
Ning Zu left the house and used a movement gu, quickly arriving at the servant's residence.
It was a bamboo house that looked like it was on the verge of collapsing.
'But since it was cheap and conveniently located, the servant didn't mind its condition,' thought Ning Zu.
He entered the house as if it were his own, proceeding to a room that contained only a bed. He pushed the bed aside and retrieved several bags full of primeval stones.
'Hiding all these stones here is quite foolish. This servant deserved his death,' thought Ning Zu, feeling no remorse for effectively removing the servant from existence, denying him even the chance to cross into the door of life and death.
Under the bed were exactly one thousands and five hundred thousand primeval stones, with a few dozen more on the servant himself.
'This won't be enough for everything I need for the refinement. It looks like I'll have to acquire the rest myself.'
Ning Zu used his movement gu and decided to leave the clan immediately, planning to go to Bai Village, the stronghold of the Bai Clan, the second most powerful clan on the mountain.
Meanwhile, elsewhere…
"Yang Fan greets the academy elder!" Xiong Yang Fan, the most trusted servant of the academy elder, announced loudly.
"Have you completed all your tasks, Yang Fan?" Elder Fan did not waste time, eager to see results that met his expectations.
"Yes, master. I delivered the message to the elders and informed the clan leader about your plan."
"Good. What about the information I requested?"
Xiong Yang Fan pulled an information path gu from his aperture containing all the details he had gathered about Xiong Zi Rui, who was actually Ning Zu.
"This is everything I've found in recent days. Please review it."
The elder examined the gu, then infused it with his snow-white primeval essence, closing his eyes to scrutinize the information.
After a while, he opened his eyes.
"Everything seems normal, but the fact that his father requested a blood test immediately after the child's birth is suspicious."
"I don't think it's significant, master. I believe he simply wanted to confirm the child's paternity, and the test ultimately proved positive."
"You may not know this, Yang Fan, but Elder Zi is deeply devoted to his wife. His request to verify her fidelity is rather suspicious."
"Should I investigate Elder Zi, master?"
"No, that would be unwise. Elder Zi avoids involvement in clan power struggles, but if someone threatens him or his family, he will make them regret it."
Recalling a past incident, Xiong Yang Fan dismissed the idea from his mind.
"What's the plan now, master?"
"Hmm, we'll set this matter aside for now. Do not draw any suspicion from the elders, particularly Elder Zi."
"Yes, master. And regarding the clan leader…"
Xiong Yang Fan hesitated, unsure whether to bring up the matter with his master.
"He agreed, didn't he?"
"Yes, he agreed, on the condition that you refine a gu for him."
"Hmm, which gu did he request?"
"He asked for a rank 4 Four Eyes Zombie Gu and mentioned he would provide the materials himself."
The clan leader's request surprised Elder Fen. He had previously discussed with the clan leader the use of zombie-type gu, given their collection of recipes from former demonic gu masters they had hosted.
Elder Fen had strongly opposed this due to the dangerous nature of such gu, which could permanently turn someone into a zombie—a condition frowned upon in the righteous faction.
'It seems he hasn't changed his mind. Perhaps I should become a zombie instead of dying… No, that would make me no better than those demonic gu masters, and it would ruin my cultivation.'
After some contemplation, Elder Fen agreed.
"Very well. Retrieve the materials from the clan leader. I will refine the gu as soon as possible."
"Yes, master."
Xiong Yang Fan did not question his master's decision and went immediately to the clan leader's residence.
While others might worry about their master's safety, Xiong Yang Fan was confident in his master's abilities. The elder was renowned as the best refinement gu master on the mountain, possessing rare talent from birth.
He was a refinement master after all,something that is rarely achieved in the mortal word.
But what would the reaction of the three clans be if they discovered that Ning Zu was a great grandmaster in the refinement path, only steps away from becoming a quasi-supreme grandmaster?