"How did I find you? Hahaha!" The white-browed elder laughed heartily, his voice brimming with elation while his gaze revealed a savage edge. He spread open his palm, revealing a Gu Insect.
It was the Blood Kin Gu.
The Blood Kin Gu was crystal clear, resembling red agate. It looked like a cicada, and at this moment it pulsed with waves of light, its cicada-head pointing straight at Gu Yue Yidai.
"Senior Brother, even though you stole my fortune, plotted against me, and took all my Gu Insects, I also mastered a secret technique. So I refined this Blood Kin Gu. Do you know how I refined it? Heh heh heh — with the heart blood of your two biological sons. Your two sons were only five or six years old, far too young. Their heart blood was insufficient, so I had to raise them as medicine people, drawing their heart blood every other month. This took me several decades. Once I had accumulated enough heart blood, I was finally able to refine this Gu." The white-browed elder spoke with great composure, his tone dripping with smugness.
"Oh, right — both of your sons died not long after. Hahaha! After refining the Blood Kin Gu, I used it to search for you for many years. But this world is far too vast, and you left no trace. Although the Blood Kin Gu was Fifth Transformation, its range was always limited. In the end, I grew old and feeble. I had no choice but to use the Jade Burial Preservation Gu, sealing myself in a state between life and death. Not long ago, I had no option but to break free from the ice for one final attempt. And as it happened, I stumbled upon you! Senior Brother, do you have any idea how ecstatic I was?!"
"As for that Tie Xue Leng — heh heh heh — yes, I was the one who lured him here with a letter. Seeing him reminds me of what we used to be like. It really is nostalgic... Back in the day, the two of us as fellow disciples hunted down Demonic Path scum together. We were known as the Twin Cranes of the Righteous Path, unmatched in prestige." As the white-browed elder spoke, a wistful expression settled over his features.
His expression was serene, his tone gentle, but the more he reminisced, the more intense and chilling the killing intent in his eyes became.
This white-browed elder hailed from the Central Continent and went by the name Celestial Crane Master.
In years past, he had risen to fame using his Fifth Transformation Crane Taming Gu to command the Crane King at the Myriad Beast King level. To command a Myriad Beast King meant to hold dominion over a massive beast horde numbering in the tens of thousands.
Such power was enough for him to single-handedly level an entire stockade.
Celestial Crane Master and Gu Yue Yidai had both studied under the Central Continent's Immortal Crane Sect. Centuries ago, they had been fellow disciples, inseparable from one another. They slew Demonic Path Gu Masters together, advancing side by side with perfect synchronicity.
During one pursuit of a Demonic Path Gu Master, they discovered a legacy.
This legacy was one of the many left behind by Blood Sea Ancestor. Had it been an ordinary legacy, it would not have mattered — it would not have been enough to turn fellow disciples against each other.
However, the treasure within this legacy location was extraordinarily precious — it could grant one the Dao and elevate one to immortality! It could transform a mortal into an immortal! There was no way the two fellow disciples could resist its allure.
Legend held that Blood Sea Ancestor had left behind hundreds of thousands of legacies scattered across the world. But his true purpose was to conceal several genuine treasures among them. These genuine treasures contained his signature Gu Insects — his true means of power.
The legacy that the two fellow disciples encountered was precisely one of Blood Sea Ancestor's genuine treasure legacies.
Celestial Crane Master reached it first and obtained the legacy. Blinded by greed, Gu Yue Yidai plotted against him, seizing all the Gu Insects and attempting to kill Celestial Crane Master — but he failed, and his Senior Brother escaped.
Once his treachery was exposed, Gu Yue Yidai had no choice but to live under an assumed name, fleeing from place to place to avoid pursuit by their sect. After wandering for decades without finding a Life Extending Gu, he had no option but to settle in his twilight years on Qing Mao Mountain in the Southern Border. He changed his identity, took the surname Gu Yue, and established the Guye Stockade.
Celestial Crane Master never found his quarry, his heart filled with hatred. The Immortal Crane Sect also harbored great interest in the Blood Sea true legacy. With the sect's help, Celestial Crane Master was forced to use the Jade Burial Preservation Gu, placing himself in self-induced slumber to cling to a thread of life.
The method of the Jade Burial Preservation Gu naturally belonged to heterodox techniques. It was extremely similar to Gu Yue Yidai's transformation into a zombie — both fell under unorthodox methods, mere desperate measures to cling to existence.
Transforming into a zombie was substituting death for life. The Jade Burial Preservation Gu merely sustained one's vitality — it did not truly extend one's lifespan.
In this world, there was only one method to truly increase one's lifespan. It was the way Fang Yuan had done it in his previous life — consuming Life Gu to fundamentally augment one's own longevity. That was the Righteous Path. All other methods had their drawbacks, were not recognized by Heaven and Earth, and were nothing more than last resorts.
"Senior Brother! You shameless scoundrel, despicable wretch! Back then you plotted against me — did you ever think this day would come? Haha, Heaven does not abandon those who persist! I have finally found you! Today I will not only make your bloodline extinct and render your thousand years of scheming void — I will also reclaim the fortune that rightfully belongs to me! I have waited far too long for this day!!"
Celestial Crane Master's reminiscence ended. He raised his head and let out a long sigh, his killing intent piercingly cold.
But before he could truly strike, Gu Yue Yidai moved first!
The blood on the ground suddenly surged like a raging torrent, wolf-like waves crashing upward, and in an instant it rose with terrifying, sky-filling momentum.
The foul stench of blood rushed toward them. From the thick blood, tens of thousands of Blood Droplet Gu buzzed and shot outward in dense swarms.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
Amid the sound of countless wings beating, innumerable Blade-Wing Blood Bat Gu also soared into the sky, blanketing the heavens as they charged toward the crane flock mid-air.
The crane flock descended into chaos.
Both the Blood Droplet Gu and the Blade-Wing Blood Bat Gu were far smaller than the Iron Beak Flying Cranes, giving them an overwhelming advantage in close combat.
Celestial Crane Master flew into a rage, letting out a thunderous roar as he urged on the Flying Crane King beneath him, plunging directly toward Gu Yue Yidai.
"Fall back!" a Gu Master cried out in alarm.
The wind howled. The charge of a Myriad Beast King carried truly terrifying momentum — like a meteorite striking the earth, it filled one's heart with dread and awe.