Tu Dai closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into his Aperture. Upon its inner wall, a thin membrane, delicate as a cicada's wing, glowed with a faint white light, stubbornly supporting the cavity wall like the most fragile glass, preventing it from collapsing inward. This was the cornerstone of the Aperture's existence; without this membrane, the Primeval Sea would overturn, and the Gu Master would instantly become a cripple.
Within the light membrane lay the Primeval Sea.
Azure true essence, like diluted jade solution, flowed quietly at the bottom of the Aperture, forming a small 'lake'. However, this 'sea' of true essence only occupied about a quarter of the Aperture's bottom space, barely reaching the 26% waterline.
Shallow, barren, like the last trickle in a dried riverbed—this was the cruelty of D-grade Aptitude.
“Hoo…”
Tu Dai silently exhaled in his consciousness. His gaze locked onto the black-purple Little Void Gu in his palm.
“Although it's only a Rank One, with my depleted Primeval Sea, trying to forcibly refine it would be like trying to put out a forest fire with a cup of water… Fortunately.” He keenly noticed that this Gu was unusually weak, and the consciousness within it was like a candle in the wind, so faint it was almost negligible. This saved him from the danger of a will-based confrontation and greatly lowered the threshold for refinement. He only needed to slowly wash it with true essence, bit by bit, like grinding a stone with water.
After an unknown period, the purple mist filling the stone chamber seemed to congeal due to the prolonged silence. Tu Dai’s tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open! Two sharp rays of light flashed from his heterochromatic pupils, carrying a hint of fatigue, but even more, the brilliance of successful refinement! He slowly rose, and as he moved, a fine powder, like bone ash, rustled down from his robes. This was not dust, but the residue left behind after Primeval Stones were completely drained of their energy. He secretly congratulated himself on his almost stingy frugality in daily life; of the ten Primeval Stones he carried, two were now consumed, leaving only eight.
Little Void Gu!
Tu Dai’s thoughts stirred slightly.
The next moment.
Tu Dai’s figure flickered eerily in the still stone chamber! It wasn't an afterimage from high-speed movement, but rather his entire presence becoming incredibly thin and transparent for that instant, as if he had merged into the surrounding spatial background, only to instantly solidify as before! It was so fast it seemed like an illusion.
“Voidification… duration less than one breath.” Tu Dai instantly perceived the limits of the ability. At the same time, the already scarce azure true essence in his Aperture visibly decreased by one tenth.
“Very good.” The ethereal figure’s voice remained calm and devoid of emotion, as if stating an established fact.
“You have passed the first trial.”
The blurry, luminous arm lifted again, and another Gu was thrown out.
This time, Tu Dai’s movements were even faster; he instinctively snatched it! What astonished him even more was that the refinement process was incredibly smooth! The Gu seemed to have already had all its resistance wiped away; as soon as it was in his hand, a slight guidance of true essence completed the imprint as naturally as water flowing into a channel, and it entered his Aperture!
He spread his palm, examining this new power.
This was a strangely shaped Gu, only the size of a thumb, entirely a deep, cold, eerie blue. Its form was strikingly similar to a curled-up infant! Its features were indistinct, its limbs clasped together, exuding a disturbing and bizarre sensation. Most notably, a purple glow, like vines, wrapped around this “infant Gu” from head to toe, almost completely covering it. Only the very top of the “infant’s” head retained a small patch of eerie blue untouched by the purple radiance.
“No need to worry.”
The figure’s voice sounded at the opportune moment, carrying the implication of knowing all, “You have already refined the Little Void Gu and become a Void Path Gu Master. This ‘Purple Void’ corrosive power is harmless to you.”
The ethereal figure flickered even more violently, its edges glowing like a candle in the wind, as if it would completely dissipate into the purple mist the next second.
“This Gu is called Stealth Attack Gu.”
The figure’s speech quickened, with a hint of urgency due to time constraints, “This Gu is my unique creation! A Rank Two, its effect is as its name suggests—when attacking, it is soundless! Breathless! Shadowless! Formless! Its true essence consumption is also minimal, making it a Peerless Grade Sharp Weapon for covert assassinations! However, for certain reasons, it can only be used once. After one use, the Gu will completely disintegrate and perish.”
“Fortunately,” the figure’s tone shifted, with a hint of relief, “though the Materials for its refinement are not rare. Once you collect them all in the future, my lingering will here can refine another one for you! With this Gu by your side, it will be enough to give you the power to protect yourself!”
“Stealth Dao Gu.” Tu Dai gazed at the eerie blue “infant” in his palm, murmuring softly. Stealth attack was one of the most direct manifestations of the true meaning of “Stealth” in combat! This Gu finally bore the imprint of Dao Tian Demon Venerable’s innate Great Dao!
“How do I leave this place?” Tu Dai looked up, his gaze burning as he stared at the fading figure, “And how… do I return in the future?”
“To enter and exit…” The figure’s voice became ethereal, as if coming from a distant sky, its form so faint it had almost merged with the purple mist… “It is only a thought away. The medium remains…” Before the words finished, the figure suddenly waved its almost indiscernible “arm”!
Tu Dai felt a familiar yet irresistible spatial distortion once again envelop his entire body! His vision was completely submerged in a hazy purple glow!
The next second.
Cold! Damp! A pungent smell of mold!
All his senses were instantly pulled back to reality!
Tu Dai stumbled a step.
He was back.
Back in the despair-filled refuge—the basement of the Bone China Mountain hut.
In his palm, the cold, eerie blue, purple-glowing touch of the Stealth Attack Gu was incredibly real. In his Aperture, the Little Void Gu lay dormant, like tiny sparks ignited in the darkness.
The cold touch of the stone wall was still at his back, and the musty smell of the basement had not yet dissipated. Tu Dai took a deep breath, forcing down the complex emotions swirling within him—the strange encounter in the stone chamber, the profound mystery of the Void Gu, the Weird of the Stealth Attack Gu, and the faint hope of a way home.
Without hesitation, he pulled out one of the eight remaining Primeval Stones from his Pregnant, its cold edges pressing into his palm. His consciousness sank into his Aperture, and his depleted azure true essence was forcibly stirred, climbing with difficulty to the Peak his crippled body could bear, like a faint breeze stirring at the bottom of a dry riverbed.
Never had he desired power as he did now.
Having adjusted, Tu Dai’s gaze became completely indifferent. He no longer hesitated, reaching out to slowly push open the basement’s secret door.
Instantly, a scent of burnt blood and gore, like a searing branding iron, violently assaulted his nostrils! His vision was filled with a burning inferno!
The night sky had long been torn apart and stained red by the soaring flames! The once tranquil courtyard was now a graveyard of broken walls and ruins. Carefully cultivated flowers and plants writhed in agony in the fierce flames, turning into charcoal.
However, all this clamor and destruction instantly faded and blurred in Tu Dai’s eyes.
His gaze, as if pulled by invisible chains, was fixed firmly on a spot not far away—that corner, illuminated by firelight, like a Shura slaughterhouse!
A burly man, covered in blood, like a demon just pulled from a pool of blood, leaned on a large saber with a chipped and dulled edge, panting heavily. His exposed chest was covered in hideous wounds.
And lying at his feet, like a completely crushed, blood-soaked white flower, was Bai Zhan Rou.
Her body lay limp on the ground in a twisted, lifeless posture. Her beautiful eyes, once filled with tenderness and worry, were now wide and vacant, staring blankly at the crimson night sky obscured by thick smoke.
She died with her eyes open!
Her once clean clothes were torn and tattered, her exposed skin covered in purplish bruises, deep knife cuts, and charred burns. Blood silently spread from beneath her, forming a viscous, dark red pool.
“Damn it! You damned bitch!”
The man spat out a mouthful of bloody froth mixed with bits of flesh, his voice hoarse like a broken gong, his jowly face twisted with pain and rage.
“She’s a pampered woman, but she dared to play the game of trading injuries for lives with me! Bah! If I hadn’t crawled through piles of dead bodies for decades…” He cursed, but a hint of lingering fear remained in his eyes.
Immediately, that fear was quickly replaced by a greedy, lecherous sneer. He licked his cracked, bloodstained lips, his gaze, like dirty maggots, roamed over Bai Zhan Rou’s broken body, finally settling on the torn opening of her clothes.
“Heheheh… What a waste of such a good body…”
He grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellowed, black teeth. His rough, dirty hand, stained with blood and mud, reached slowly towards Bai Zhan Rou’s cold chest with a suffocating, desecrating slowness.
Just as his fingertips were about to touch the lifeless fabric of her clothes, just as the lecherous light in the man’s eyes was at its brightest.
A cold warning from the deepest part of his Soul, like an ice-sharp awl, plunged fiercely and without warning into the man’s heart! It was the ultimate fear born of life’s instinct, of being locked onto by a powerful enemy!
“Who?!” the man roared, his muscles instantly tensing like iron under the threat of death! Relying on instincts honed through countless brushes with death, he violently turned his head with a speed and force that almost snapped his neck!
His pupils suddenly contracted in extreme horror!
What met his eyes was not the anticipated human figure or blade.
But a… an infant?… exuding a deep, cold, ominous aura?
The infant was entirely eerie blue, its features indistinct. It was silent and swift, too fast for vision to capture! It seemed to appear out of thin air, already pouncing towards his face!
Stealth Attack Gu!
Time, in the man’s terrified pupils, seemed to stretch infinitely. He could even see the faint, blurred corners of the eerie blue infant’s mouth, seemingly curled into an inhuman, cold sneer.
The next moment—
Eerie blue and demonic purple light completely swallowed his last sliver of vision!