txolops Chapter 153 Seclusion to Refine Paper, After Many Trials and Tribulations
Chapter 153 Seclusion to Refine Paper, After Many Trials and Tribulations
The inner gate of the Liuyun Sect, at Cuizhu Peak.
The morning light pierced through the thin sea of clouds and fell on the green bamboo covering the mountains and fields.
The bamboo leaves, glistening with dew, swayed in the wind, making a rustling sound.
The mountain path, paved with bluestone slabs, winds its way up and disappears into a white mist.
Gu Yan pushed open the stone door of a cave halfway up the mountain.
This is the inner sect residence that Liuyun Sect specially assigned to him.
The cave dwelling was quite spacious, with a warm, smooth jade bed in the center, and a stone table and several round stools beside it.
Several fist-sized luminous pearls were embedded in the cave ceiling, emitting a soft white light.
A spring of spiritual energy gushed out from a corner, its steam rising and making the spiritual energy inside the cave several times more concentrated than that outside.
Gu Yan walked to the stone table and sat down, casually glancing at the simple furnishings.
Instead of immediately beginning his cultivation, he pulled out more than a dozen array flags from his robes and began to shake his wrists.
The battle flags transformed into streaks of light, precisely disappearing into the stone walls surrounding the cave. Then,
He then scattered hundreds more pieces of grayish-brown paper.
These pieces of paper folded in the air into paper spiders the size of fingernails, quickly crawling into every corner of the cave and concealing their presence.
No matter what, one should always be wary of others.
Especially on the main peak of the Flowing Cloud Sect, where there are eyes and ears everywhere, one cannot be careless.
After doing all this and confirming that the cave had become an impenetrable fortress even to divine sense, Gu Yan finally breathed a long sigh of relief.
He flicked his finger, and the storage bag at his waist and several storage rings on his hands simultaneously lit up faintly.
A rustling sound echoed in the silent cave.
Like a torrential rain, piles of low-grade and mid-grade spirit stones, as well as colorful fragments of magical artifacts, demon beast cores, and rare ores, filled most of the cave.
The colorful lights intertwined, dazzling the eyes.
This was all the wealth he had acquired through extortion in Changning County and by fighting back against the Shadow Tower assassins along the way.
Gu Yan looked at the small mountain in front of him, which exuded a rich spiritual energy, and a satisfied smile appeared on his lips.
Meteor Abyss is a lawless place where killing is forbidden.
Nangong Yue and the others saw him as a burden, and when it came to a life-or-death situation, they would never expect those proud and arrogant women to save them.
Blacksmith need its own hardware.
He must transform these resources into real combat power within these fifteen days.
The Flowing Cloud Myriad Transformations Sword Technique has already reached the Grandmaster level, and it cannot be upgraded in a short time.
His true trump card has always been his paper-crafting skills.
Gu Yan walked to the pile of spirit stones, his gaze falling on the fragments of magical artifacts looted from the assassins of the Shadow Tower.
Especially that bladeless heavy sword, half of which he had corroded with demonic energy; it was a fine piece forged from millennia-old cold iron.
And the skeletons of those twelve top assassins—although their flesh and blood were dissolved by demonic energy, the essence of late-stage Foundation Establishment and even Golden Core stage contained within their bones was perfectly preserved.
With the materials in hand, the furnace can be started.
Gu Yan sat cross-legged on the cold jade bed, his eyes slightly closed, his hands forming a strange mudra in front of his chest.
Deep within the Qi Sea, the Divine Demon Golden Core slowly rotated.
Instead of mobilizing the vast sacred incense power on the left side of the Golden Core, he simply drew out the pitch-black, extreme demonic energy on the right side.
Black demonic flames rose from his palm, without any scorching heat, but instead exuding a chilling aura that could freeze the soul.
With a wave of his sleeve, Gu Yan swept the twelve skeletons of the assassins into the demonic flames.
With a chilling crackling sound, the hard white bones gradually turned into a pool of pale white bone powder under the burning of the demonic flames.
Gu Yan then threw in the hides of several third-tier demonic beasts. The bone powder and animal hides fused and stretched in the demonic flames, eventually turning into two pale white sheets of paper, each about seven feet long, as thin as cicada wings, yet incredibly tough.
It uses bones as its framework and skin as its paper.
This is just the first step.
Gu Yan focused his gaze, his right hand forming a knife-like shape as he slashed fiercely across the broken, thousand-year-old cold iron heavy sword.
The pure spiritual energy transformed into a sharp blade, slicing the heavy sword to pieces, and then smelted it into a pool of silvery-white molten iron using high temperature.
He bit his tongue, forcing out two drops of his life essence blood, containing divine and demonic essence, and dripped them into the molten iron.
The silvery-white molten iron instantly turned an eerie dark red.
Gu Yan took a deep breath, used his finger as a pen, dipped it in the dark red molten iron, and wrote with flowing strokes on the two pale pieces of paper.
Intricate runes spread across the paper. This was no ordinary spirit-gathering formation, but rather an extremely insidious and profound killing formation within the paper-crafting tradition.
For three whole days and nights, Gu Yan did not sleep or rest.
When the last stroke was made, all the spiritual energy in the entire cave was instantly drained.
The two pieces of parchment folded, twisted, and expanded automatically in mid-air, eventually transforming into two life-sized paper figures.
These two paper figures have no facial features; their faces are a smooth, pale white.
These two paper figures have no facial features; their faces are a smooth, pale white.
On the left, Gu Yan draped a pure white paper robe over the paper figure and infused it with a trace of sacred incense power from the Divine Demon Golden Core.
In an instant, the white-robed paper figure exuded a peaceful aura of compassion and mercy, like a guardian deity emerging from a temple.
Gu Yan draped a jet-black paper robe over the paper figure on the right and infused it with extreme karmic demonic energy.
The black-robed paper figure was immediately shrouded in a thin layer of black mist, cold and violent, like a soul-reaping demon crawling out of hell.
This is the Yin-Yang Paper Sword Servant, a high-level paper puppet.
Gu Yan looked at the two masterpieces before him and nodded in satisfaction.
These two paper sword servants are made of a combination of cold iron and high-grade bone powder, and their physical bodies are as hard as top-grade magic weapons.
The operating route of the Flowing Cloud Myriad Transformations Sword Technique was engraved in their bodies. As long as Gu Yan had a thought, they could release a terrifying sword formation comparable to the early stage of the Golden Core realm.
The most ingenious thing is that the two auras, one divine and one demonic, are perfectly separated.
In a chaotic place like Meteor Abyss, Gu Yan could easily control them to act separately.
No one would associate a white-robed monk exuding the scent of Buddhist incense and a black-clad assassin brimming with demonic energy with Gu Changsheng, the timid and submissive disciple of the Flowing Cloud Sect.
With a thought, Gu Yan's two paper sword servants transformed into two thin sheets of paper, silently attaching themselves to his left and right wrists, turning into two extremely ordinary yin-yang Tai Chi tattoos.
After the resource conversion was complete, Gu Yan closed his eyes, grabbed a handful of spirit stones, and began to replenish his depleted spiritual power.
……
At the same time.
In a secret room deep within the Law Enforcement Hall of the Liuyun Sect.
A dim, ever-burning lamp flickered erratically.
The Grand Elder Zhao Wuji stood with his hands behind his back in front of a bronze wall covered with reliefs of evil spirits.
His wrinkled old face was so gloomy it looked like it was about to drip water.
At his feet knelt a messenger shrouded in a black robe.
"Completely wiped out? Twelve top assassins, and they didn't even manage to touch a single hair on Gu Changsheng's head?"
Zhao Wuji's voice was very low, revealing a suppressed madness.
The black-robed envoy kowtowed tremblingly, his voice shaking: "Elder, please calm your anger. We have investigated the scene, and there are no signs of a fierce battle in that dilapidated temple. The twelve assassins seemed to have had their minds and bodies obliterated by some extremely terrifying force, leaving only a pile of white bones. The Shadow Tower Master speculates... that Gu Changsheng definitely possesses a deadly trump card left behind by a Nascent Soul cultivator. The Master has spoken: the Shadow Tower cannot accept this job, and all deposits will be refunded to you in full."
"Useless! They're all fucking useless!"
Zhao Wuji suddenly turned around and kicked the black-robed envoy away.
The black-robed messenger crashed into the bronze wall, spitting out a mouthful of blood, but he didn't dare to utter a sound. He quickly got up and knelt down again.
Zhao Wuji was breathing heavily, his eyes bloodshot.
He desperately wanted Gu Yan dead.
But Gu Yan had been hiding in that turtle shell in Changning County for many years and never came out.
Now that they finally have a chance, those rats from the Shadow Tower, who are known for being everywhere, have actually chickened out.
"The trump card of a Nascent Soul cultivator..."
Zhao Wuji narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth.
He had considered this possibility, but he originally thought that such a trump card would have limitations or costs in its use.
It now seems that ordinary assassins simply cannot extract any information about Gu Changsheng.
To kill him, we must find a desperate fugitive who is strong enough, ruthless enough, and completely unafraid of the intimidation of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
"Meteor Abyss is a place where killing is forbidden; it is the most chaotic place in the entire Eastern Continent. Even the hands of a Nascent Soul cultivator cannot reach there."
Zhao Wuji's mind raced, and suddenly, a name flashed through his mind.
"Has the Blood River Sect recently produced a demonic figure who has gained immense popularity?"
Zhao Wuji asked coldly.
The black-robed envoy, ignoring the blood at the corner of his mouth, hurriedly replied, "Yes, Elder. In recent years, a sword cultivator has risen to prominence in the Blood River Sect, calling himself the Blood Swordsman. This man is extremely ruthless, his swordsmanship is unpredictable, and he never leaves any survivors. It is said that he recently broke through to the Golden Core stage and single-handedly wiped out three rival demonic sects, and now his status within the Blood River Sect is rising rapidly."
The Blood Swordsman... the guy who supposedly killed his son.
A cruel glint flashed in Zhao Wuji's eyes.
He knew that the Blood Swordsman was just a cover for his son's death, and the real mastermind was someone else.
Those in the Demonic Sect are inherently bloodthirsty and would even betray their own masters for profit, let alone fear the prestige of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
As long as the stakes are high enough, there is no one in this world that the Demonic Sect wouldn't dare to kill.
"go."
Zhao Wuji took out a tightly sealed jade box from his storage ring and tossed it to the black-robed messenger.
"Take this seventh-grade blood lotus to the black market and contact that Blood Swordsman through a secret contact. Tell him that this blood lotus is a deposit. As long as he cuts off Gu Changsheng's head for me in the Meteor Abyss and brings it out of the secret realm, I will give him the mining rights to a small spirit stone vein. Moreover, I will provide him with all of Gu Changsheng's routes after entering the Meteor Abyss, as well as the weaknesses of the other three members of his team."
The black-robed envoy took the jade box, his hands trembling slightly.
A seventh-grade blood lotus is an invaluable treasure for demonic cultivators, enough to tempt even Golden Core cultivators.
"Yes, sir. I will do it immediately."
The messenger vanished as a cloud of black mist, restoring tranquility to the secret chamber.
Zhao Wuji looked at the empty room and let out a low, twisted, cold laugh.
"Gu Changsheng, I'd like to see you die this time. With the Blood River Sect's mad dogs and the intelligence provided by their internal accomplices, Meteor Abyss will be your burial ground!"
As the laughter subsided, the madness on Zhao Wuji's face gradually transformed into extreme malice and mockery.
"However... do you really think I would hand over a spirit stone mine that can produce an endless stream of wealth to a demonic cultivator? What a joke!"
He walked slowly to the bronze wall engraved with bas-reliefs of demons, his withered fingers gently stroking the hideous patterns on it, and a sinister light, like that of a venomous snake, gleamed in his cloudy old eyes.
"Blood Swordsman, Blood Swordsman, it was your demonic sect's blade that killed my son, Ling Feng, in Sunset Valley. Even if you were instigated, I have never forgotten this blood feud!"
Zhao Wuji clenched his fist tightly, his knuckles cracking.
"First, I'll use your mad dog's teeth to bite that eyesore Gu Changsheng to death. When you come smugly to me with Gu Changsheng's head to redeem the spirit stone mine... I'll have already laid a trap at the trading location!"
"At that time, I will not only reclaim that seventh-grade blood lotus, but I will also rightfully extract your soul and refine it, lighting it as a hundred-year-old heavenly lamp to commemorate my son's spirit in heaven!"
Zhao Wuji tilted his head back and let out another hearty laugh.
Use your enemy to kill your enemy, and then break and destroy the knife to ensure there are no witnesses.
This flawless, double-edged killing spree allowed his heart, parched by the loss of his son, to experience a long-lost sense of revenge.
……
at the same time.
Gu Yan, who was meditating with his eyes closed in his cave on Emerald Bamboo Peak, suddenly frowned.
He slowly opened his eyes, his gaze becoming extremely strange, even revealing a hint of unbelievable absurdity.
Just now, the Blood Swordsman clone he left behind at the Blood River Sect received an extremely secretive bounty order.
Someone offered an exorbitant price on the black market to have the Blood Swordsman kill someone.
The buyer was extremely generous, presenting a seventh-grade blood lotus as a token of their interest.
The buyer had only one requirement: to go to Meteor Abyss and find an opportunity to kill Gu Changsheng, an inner disciple of the Flowing Cloud Sect.
Furthermore, the buyer thoughtfully promised to provide detailed information about Gu Changsheng.
Gu Yan sat on the cold jade bed, holding a pill to replenish spiritual energy in his hand, but didn't put it in his mouth for a long time.
His expression was priceless.
Shock, astonishment, then transformed into an extremely bright and silent laugh.
"Zhao Wuji, you old dog, you're quite the talent."
Gu Yan clutched his stomach, his shoulders shaking with laughter.
He never dreamed that Zhao Wuji, in order to kill him, would actually go around in circles and end up targeting his own clone.
"You're offering me a seventh-grade blood lotus to kill myself, and then you get a spirit stone mine in return?"
Gu Yan touched his chin, his mouth stretching to his ears in a wide grin.
It would be against all reason not to accept such a windfall.
"Take it, we have to take it. Tell the middleman in the black market that Blood Swordsman has taken the job."
Gu Yan, through his divine soul, issued an order without hesitation to the Blood Swordsman clone, who was thousands of miles away.
Not only do we have to accept it, but we also have to act it convincingly, and get our hands on that seventh-grade blood lotus first.
When the time comes, you can just find a corpse in the Meteor Abyss, disfigure it, or simply use paper-making techniques to make a fake head to complete the task. Then, the spirit stone vein will naturally fall into your hands.
"Since the Grand Elder is so kind, I can't just sit idle during these fifteen days of preparation."
Gu Yan suppressed his smile, a cunning glint flashing in his eyes.
Since Zhao Wuji was going to betray their team's whereabouts, this was an excellent opportunity to set up a trap.
He was still having a headache about how, in a chaotic place like Meteor Abyss, he, a mere "early Foundation Establishment" cultivator, could somehow escape the sight of Nangong Yue and the others and go out on his own to seek out opportunities.
Now, Zhao Wuji has personally delivered this excuse to him.
As long as the Blood Swordsman's clone appears at the right time and place, staging a scene where the group is attacked and scattered by the Demonic Sect, he can legitimately leave the main force.
When the time comes, with the Divine Demon Golden Core and the Paper Realm Divine Power fully unleashed, wouldn't all the opportunities in this Meteor Abyss be his, Gu Changsheng's, possessions?
Fifteen days passed in the blink of an eye as Gu Yan secluded himself and began his scheming.
For the past two weeks, the cave entrance on Emerald Bamboo Peak has remained tightly shut, and Gu Yan has not stepped out once.
In addition to getting himself into peak condition, he also stocked up on various antidotes, healing pills, and spiritual energy replenishing pills in his storage ring.
The morning I left the customs.
The sky was a clear, deep blue, with a few wisps of white clouds drifting lazily by.
On the white jade plaza of the main peak of the Liuyun Sect, the bell tolled nine times in a melodious tone.
This is the highest-level signal a sect can send its core disciples into battle.
The morning light pierced through the sea of clouds and fell on the square paved with bluestone.
A massive, three-hundred-foot-long flying boat floated in mid-air.
The ship's hull is crafted from thousand-year-old spiritual wood, with intricate windproof patterns engraved on its surface. A massive, lifelike crane is carved on the bow, radiating a chilling aura of power.
The square was filled with disciples from both the inner and outer sects who had come to see him off.
Wearing a brand-new blue Taoist robe and holding a folding fan, Gu Yan mingled in the crowd and walked with a smile toward the boarding gate of the flying boat.
He looked energetic His complexion was rosy and healthy, making him look exactly like a spoiled brat who was oblivious to his own mortality and was about to go on a picnic in a secret realm.
At the boarding gate, the other three members of the first team had already arrived.
Nangong Yue was still wearing that purple and gold Taoist robe, standing with her sword in her arms, cold and aloof.
No one dared to approach her within a ten-foot radius; they even avoided eye contact with her.
Su Hongxiu, dressed in a dark red outfit, was wiping the long knife in her hand, her eyes sharp.
Shen Youwei, dressed in white, stood quietly to the side with a calm expression.
"Good morning, senior sisters. I'm sorry I'm late."
Gu Yan strode forward and greeted him with a big smile.
Nangong Yue glanced at him coldly, her gaze falling on the dusty storage bag at Gu Yan's waist, her eyes flashing with undisguised contempt.
"Once you're on the airship, find a corner in the lower deck and don't get in the way on the deck."
After Nangong Yue finished speaking, she turned around and transformed into a streak of light, flying directly to the luxurious pavilion on the top floor of the flying boat.
Su Hongxiu sheathed her long sword and paused for a moment with a half-smile as she passed by Gu Yan.
"Junior Brother Gu, you look so radiant, you seem quite confident about the trip to Meteor Abyss. But let me warn you, there are countless ruthless demons inside. Your title of Nascent Soul Master won't be of much use there. Don't end up wetting your pants in fear."
"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Sister Su. I'm a bit timid, but I'll definitely stay close behind you and cheer you on."
Gu Yan flattered him, acting as if it were his right to suck up to him.
Su Hongxiu rolled her eyes, too lazy to pay any more attention to this shameless guy, and went straight onto the flying boat.
Only Shen Youwei walked at the very end.
She glanced at Gu Yan, took out a pale gold talisman from her sleeve, and discreetly slipped it into Gu Yan's hand.
"This is a Swift Travel Talisman bestowed upon me by the sect leader; it allows me to travel a thousand miles in an instant. Since your cultivation level is the lowest, keep it to save your life."
Shen Youwei's voice was clear and cold, without any unnecessary words.
Gu Yan held the talisman that carried a faint fragrance, paused for a moment, then solemnly put it into his pocket, his slickness fading slightly, and nodded seriously.
"Thank you, Senior Sister Shen."
"Let's go."
Shen Youwei turned and boarded the ship.
Gu Yan followed behind and stepped onto the deck of the Flowing Cloud Flying Boat.
He stood at the edge of the deck, gazing out from the railing.
The distant mountains are faintly visible in the sea of clouds.
The Grand Elder Zhao Wuji stood on the high platform where he was seeing off, staring intently at him with the look of someone looking at a dead man.
Gu Yan met Zhao Wuji's gaze without flinching; instead, he grinned and waved brightly.
Zhao Wuji's face hardened, and he turned away with a cold snort.
"Waaah—"
A deep horn sounded.
The Flowing Cloud Flying Boat shuddered violently, its massive array activated, pushing aside the vast sea of clouds and transforming into a giant stream of light, hurtling towards the Meteorite Abyss in the center of the Eastern Continent.
The gale was blocked by the formation outside the flying boat.
Gu Yan turned and walked towards the lower deck, touching the yin-yang paper doll tattoo on his wrist. The fighting spirit deep in his eyes was like a volcano about to erupt, which could no longer be concealed.