"Wanderer from afar..."
A male voice, incredibly pleasant, suddenly echoed directly in Tu Dai's mind without any warning.
Instantly, Tu Dai's hairs stood on end, as if pricked by invisible needles; he stumbled back a step! His back hit the stone wall with a thud, and the icy touch immediately cleared his head. Tu Dai's heterochromatic eyes, sharp as an eagle's, quickly scanned the stone chamber, which was enveloped in a faint purple mist.
As far as his gaze reached, there was nothing but the seamless jade-colored stone walls and the slowly flowing purple Qi!
"Who?!" Tu Dai demanded sharply, his voice strikingly abrupt in the absolute silence of the stone chamber, carrying a hint of suppressed alarm.
To be dragged here silently, and now to transmit thoughts telepathically... such methods indicated that the opponent's strength was absolutely beyond what he could currently handle.
"My real name... is Benjamin."
The voice sounded again, containing an indescribable penetrative power.
"Of course, you might be more familiar with another name."
The voice paused slightly, like a stone dropped into an ancient well, stirring up a monstrous wave in Tu Dai's heart.
"The world calls me Dao Tian Demonic Venerable."
"What?!!!"
Tu Dai's pupils suddenly contracted to pinpricks.
Dao Tian Demonic Venerable!
This name, to him, was more than just familiar!
That was one of the giants standing at the Peak of the Gu World's long history! A Rank Nine Venerable! A Demonic Path giant! The pioneer of the Stealing Dao! He stole space, plundered time, and could even steal existence itself! His prestige and legends were enough to make the entire Gu World tremble!
More importantly, according to ancient texts circulated in the most secret corners, this Demonic Path giant, he was not from this world either! Like him, he was also a demon from beyond the heavens!
"Could it be..." An unbelievable yet incredibly logical thought, like lightning, tore through Tu Dai's mind!
"If I'm not mistaken,"
Tu Dai forcibly suppressed his churning emotions, his voice trembling slightly with excitement.
"This is... your Legacy?"
Legacy! A Treasure Trove left behind by a Gu Master after his death. Whether to continue the lineage of a school or to leave a final mark between heaven and earth, they set up numerous trials, awaiting discovery by the fated.
And the Legacy of a Rank Nine Venerable, its value was enough to overturn a region and stir up a bloody storm that would sweep across the entire Gu World! Tu Dai could even imagine what terrifying covetousness and contention such a Legacy would attract if it appeared in the world!
"I sense in you the same obsession with returning home as I had."
The voice deepened, carrying a distant sigh.
"I have left Legacies scattered across this world. And this place is the most special of them, or rather, my final watch post."
In the center of the stone chamber, the pervasive purple mist suddenly surged and swirled violently. An extremely blurry, almost human-shaped outline, seemingly pieced together from countless broken light fragments, slowly condensed at the center of the vortex.
Tu Dai could not see his face; the entire figure flickered like a candle in the wind, as if it could completely dissipate into nothingness at any moment.
"Pass my trial..."
The ethereal figure, or rather, the remnant will of Dao Tian Demonic Venerable, Benjamin, spoke with a clear and solemn voice.
"I will bestow upon you the most precious gift to me."
"Gift?" Tu Dai held his breath, his heterochromatic eyes fixed on the ethereal figure.
"Exactly!"
The figure's voice suddenly rose, carrying a resolute and fervent determination that seemed to pierce through eons, and his ethereal body seemed to flicker violently due to the surge of emotion.
"That is—the method of returning home that I spent a thousand years and traversed the entire Gu World to collect!"
Boom—!
These words, like a thunderclap that split heaven and earth, struck Tu Dai's Soul! All his vigilance, all his calculations, all his icy exterior, were shattered into dust at this moment! An indescribable torrent, mixed with ecstasy, hope, and a sense of suffocation, instantly breached the dam of his reason!
Home!
His longed-for path home!
The appearance of this Legacy was no longer merely a timely help, but a heaven-reaching rope lowered into the abyss of despair! He did not doubt the truthfulness of the other party's words in the slightest—an existence capable of instantly moving him here and leaving behind such a terrifying Legacy, his Realm was beyond what "powerful" could describe; he would not bother to deceive an "ant" like him!
"What do I need to do?" Tu Dai's voice was dry and hoarse, every word carrying a burning desire. His previous detachment and calmness were gone; at this moment, he was merely a drowning man clutching at his only straw.
"Your Aptitude..."
The figure's voice returned to calm, with a hint of clear understanding.
"D-grade, your primeval sea is almost depleted, it is indeed very low."
"But, do not despair." The ethereal outline seemed to lean forward slightly, with a condescending air of one who had been through it all.
"When I started, I was also a D-grade waste! Low Aptitude is but dust! But the Gu World is far vaster than you imagine, and there are not a few methods to improve one's Aptitude."
The figure's voice suddenly became powerful and firm, carrying an undeniable resolve.
"I understand your current predicament. Don't worry, I can immediately grant you the power to protect yourself, using my method!"
Before he finished speaking, the figure's blurry arm lifted slightly, and he tossed something out.
Tu Dai instinctively reached out and grabbed it, and a strange sensation immediately came from his palm. He opened his hand. A Gu worm lay quietly, shaped like a miniature ladybug, only the size of a fingernail. Its entire body was a deep black-purple. Most unsettling was that in the center of its smooth carapace, instead of compound eyes, there was a solitary eye that occupied most of its back, and that pupil was not flesh and blood, but composed of pure black and white.
"This Gu is called Little Void Gu, a Rank One Void Path Gu worm. I want you to refine this Gu and make it your vital Gu!"
"Little Void Gu, huh?"
Tu Dai murmured.
This was the first time he had seen such a Gu worm with his own eyes. Although the Baijia Village's library had many books recording Gu worms, the content mostly covered common or slightly famous Gu worms. This Little Void Gu, even if it was only Rank One, definitely belonged to the category of very rare Gu worms.
Void Path... Tu Dai's thoughts raced. He was not entirely ignorant of this Dao. Void Path Gu worms' core lay in manipulating the boundary of "reality and illusion," turning solid into void, and void into solid, always catching enemies off guard in battle.
To be honest... this style deeply resonated with Tu Dai! A nearly instinctive sense of compatibility emerged in Tu Dai's heart. In his previous life as the Spirit Continent's Law God, he had deeply studied similar magic—and it was also his personal favorite combat style.
Only... a clear question flashed through Tu Dai's mind.
Dao Tian Demonic Venerable, who was renowned in the world for the "Stealing Dao," stealing from heaven and earth, taking Laws from the formless! Why was the first test of his Legacy, the one he bestowed upon me, a... Void Path Gu worm?
Was there a hidden meaning in this? Or was it a trap in the trial?
Countless thoughts collided and deduced in Tu Dai's mind like lightning. However, the stone chamber was silent, only the cold touch of the Little Void Gu in his palm reminded him of the urgency of reality.
Bai Zhan Rou's fate was unknown, Bone China Mountain was engulfed in blood and fire. Outside was a desperate situation surrounded by wolves, and this place was the only hope that could lead to power, and it also carried the ultimate temptation of the method of returning home!
Time was the most luxurious thing at this moment. He could not afford to unravel and meticulously explore the profound meaning of the Rank Nine Demonic Venerable's scheme.
"So be it!"
Tu Dai's last trace of doubt was cut off by a sharp resolve. He violently shook his head, casting aside all distracting thoughts, all considerations, all "whys"!
At this moment, only power mattered!
Whether this Void Path Gu worm was a key, a bridge, or a poison, he had no other choice! This was the trial set by Dao Tian Demonic Venerable, the first cornerstone he must step on to reach his path home!
Tu Dai no longer hesitated; he immediately sat cross-legged on the icy, jade-like ground. His heterochromatic eyes slowly closed, and he immersed his entire mind into the primeval sea, which was as depleted as a desert.
Refine!
Refine this Little Void Gu!
Turn it into his vital Gu!