Chapter 609 - Better to die than not be free

At the center of the scene, the three qi were fusing.

With the help of Giant Sun’s will, the thick qi flows had almost formed a cocoon around Tai Bai Yun Sheng!

All his injuries were long gone without any trace, his body, soul and consciousness were all being refined to a higher level.

He looked back on his life, the scenes of the past quickly flashing through his mind.

The mysteries of the Great Dao circulated in his mind, inspirations came to him without pause, he was obtaining perfect solutions for the difficult problems in cultivation that had restrained him in the past.

At this moment, heaven and earth were like selfless teachers, imparting all their knowledge to Tai Bai Yun Sheng.

However, the mysteries of heaven and earth were too vast and profound, the more Tai Bai Yun Sheng knew, the more he realized his minuteness.

He had no choice but to focus on his time path, refining and developing his knowledge.

His understanding towards time path reached the peak of his lifetime!

Inspiration from nature!

Man is the spirit of all livings beings, Gu is the essence of heaven and earth. Gu Masters used Gu, refined Gu and raised Gu; this was actually an unending process of learning, exploring and studying the world.

In the process of advancing to a Gu Immortal, a Gu Master need not use Gu worms to indirectly understand the world, instead it was a direct interaction with heaven and earth.

This was probably the only chance in one’s whole life before becoming a Gu Immortal to have such a precious opportunity.

Rank five peak stage was the finishing line of mortal Gu Masters. But rank six Gu Immortals were beyond mortal, becoming a Gu Immortal was only a new starting point.

At this crucial starting point, every Gu Immortal’s future achievements would be different depending on the potential they accumulated.

“Such a beautiful experience, but my human qi is not sufficient…” Tai Bai Yun Sheng wished to continue immersing himself in this feeling but could not do so, a regretful expression appearing on his face.

His human qi was already nearly exhausted, and this was after obtaining the help of human qi Immortal Gu, otherwise the time would have been even shorter.

The qi cocoon dispersed and Tai Bai Yun Sheng’s silhouette was revealed again.

The three qi had merged and shrunk down to a mass of tri-colored primordial qi, condensed into where Tai Bai Yun Sheng’s aperture had originally been.

This step signified the completion of the second step in advancing to a Gu Immortal, receiving qi.

Next was the final step of becoming a Gu Immortal — releasing Gu!

Tai Bai Yun Sheng was being extremely serious, as he took out river as before, mountain as before and man as before Gu.

These three Gu were his core Gu worms and he was exceedingly familiar with them. Moreover, man as before Gu was even his vital Gu.

“Finally, the most crucial moment…” Tai Bai Yun Sheng first sent his vital Gu to the mass of tri-colored primordial qi in his body.

BOOM!

All of a sudden, a mystical sound like that of thunder storm echoed in Tai Bai Yun Sheng’s ears, causing his whole body to intensely shake.

The tri-colored mass of qi was originally merged together and constantly flowing in circulation. But after Man As Before intruded in, it was like it had ignited an explosive; the primordial qi mass immediately exploded loudly.

There can be no creation without destruction, in death there is new life!

This moment was when a mortal could ascend to a Gu Immortal!

The explosive sound was truly mystical, exploding out the marvels of life, exploding out a whole new world!

The mortal aperture was broken, an immortal aperture was being formed!

The immortal aperture was like a small world; the sky was azure like crystals and the ground was a desolate wilderness filled with yellow stones.

It was like a newborn baby and intensely demanded nourishment, erupting at the outside world with an extremely strong force of suction and absorption.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh….

Heaven qi and earth qi madly poured into Tai Bai Yun Sheng, flowing non-stop into the immortal aperture.

In the immortal aperture, the ground quickly expanded; two thirds of a thousand square kilometres, four thirds of a thousand, two thousand square kilometres…

And time flow also rose from the one to one ratio to one to ten, one to twenty….

The immortal aperture was gradually starting to become unstable from the mad flow of qi.

Tai Bai Yun Sheng then sent in River As Before and Mountain As Before, stabilizing the situation.

The immortal aperture was expanding continually, and a tributary of the river of time flowed in the darkness, causing the time flow to increase steadily.

Time passed, Tai Bai Yun Sheng kept on placing Gu worms to maintain the stability of the immortal aperture.

Three and one third thousand square kilometres, four thousand, four and two thirds of a thousand!

One to thirty, one to thirty-one, one to thirty-two, one to thirty three!

The immortal aperture had reached its extreme at this point, as if it had drunk and eaten to its fill, abruptly stopping its growth.

But the clear heaven qi was still pouring in from the sky, and golden earth qi was still surging up from the ground.

At this moment, the immortal aperture absorbed heaven qi and earth qi much slower than before. At first, it was drinking in big gulps, while now it was taking slow sips.

Heaven and earth qi converged into the immortal aperture, green and golden mists and clouds filled the whole immortal aperture.

The dense qi flow was brewing beads of immortal essence within.

They were precisely the green grape immortal essence of a rank six Gu Immortal, thirty six of them in total.

The tribulation clouds in the sky and the calamity dust in the ground, began to gradually dissipate.

The mist like heaven qi and earth qi in the immortal aperture, however, had yet to dissipate.

They condensed around Man As Before, River As Before, Mountain As Before and other Gu worms, causing a dense qi cocoon to form over these Gu worms.

The two qi mixed; heaven and earth interacted.

Within the qi cocoons, each Gu worm was beginning to ferment mysterious changes.

“It is time.” A Gu recipe flashed in Tai Bai Yun Sheng’s mind.

This Gu recipe was only a theoretical Gu recipe of an Immortal Gu, it was from the old beggar’s Gu Immortal inheritance.

Tai Bai Yun Sheng could not guarantee whether this theoretical Gu recipe could succeed.

But he no longer had another option.

His lifespan was near its end, about to exhaust completely. After advancing to a Gu Immortal, his senses reached a whole new level, especially the sense regarding time had heightened the most, it was precise to within a single breath.

This novel sensation did not put him in a cheerful mood for long before he fell into silence, feeling oppressed and even afraid.

Because he could sense that the time he had was truly not much, just like a small puddle under strong sunshine, with his lifespan being the thin layer of water left in the puddle.

He had planned to get lifespan Gu but it failed because of Fang Yuan’s secret manipulations. The bloody road he had experienced in reaching the great hall even became a knot in his heart.

Now, his only hope was in man as before Gu.

According to what the theoretical Gu recipe showed, when man as before Gu was advanced to rank six, it could be used on oneself.

“Refine!” Tai Bai Yun Sheng gave a soft shout, countless thoughts emerging in his mind.

These thoughts formed the theoretical Gu recipe which directly poured into the immortal aperture and then into the thick cocoon covering the man as before Gu.

These heaven and earth qi were the source of all living beings. As the two interacted, they evolved into all things in heaven and earth.

These two qi were the origin of all living beings and could replace any Gu refinement materials.

Tai Bai Yun Sheng’s thoughts were like keys that directed the heaven and earth qi in the proper direction.

The thoughts entered the cocoon and immediately brought upon a violent change.

Although it could not be compared to the explosion of the three qi in the first step of releasing Gu, its effect was not small either.

The qi cocoon erupted with devouring force, swallowing the remaining heaven and earth qi in the immortal aperture without pause.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh….

The qi flow surged non-stop, forming a screaming gale.

Man as before Gu turned into the eye of the storm, large amounts of heaven and earth qi poured into it, turning into Gu refinement resources.

“This it it, this is it….” Tai Bai Yun Sheng mumbled softly in the air, his tone carried gratification and also expectation.

After so much effort and risk, he was now finally seeing the hope of success.

Although the process had been filled with inconceivable events.

If True Yang Building had not made a move, Tai Bai Yun Sheng was sure to fall in the second step.

As he thought of this, he glanced at the True Yang Building.

He was not of Giant Sun’s bloodline, but True Yang Building had actually helped him; this was a fact.

“Did Giant Sun’s will wake up?” Tai Bai Yun Sheng inwardly guessed. He had a Gu Immortal inheritance, his experience and knowledge were not lacking compared to people like Hei Lou Lan and Ye Lui Sang.

“Giant Sun Immortal Venerable prohibits the entry of Gu Immortals, I have already violated this taboo by advancing into a Gu Immortal here. So, why would Giant Sun’s will still help me?” Tai Bai Yun Sheng was puzzled.

Even with his plentiful experience, he could not anticipate the things occurring in the True Yang Building.

Within the True Yang Building, Frost Jade Peacock gave shrill cries, the green paste on its body kept on shaking and bouncing, the iron chains also shook, producing clanking sounds when they collided with each other.

The powers sealing it were melting down from the corrosion of Gruel Mud.

But Frost Jade Peacock showed no signs of joy, instead it was filled with fear and anxiety.

Giant sun’s will, however, laughed brightly: “Little sparrow, your struggle is of no use.”

Through Tai Bai Yun Sheng, Giant Sun’s will was able to exploit some methods to ingeniously strike the Imperial Court land spirit, weakening its strength at its foundation.

Despite the powers binding Frost Jade Peacock weakening constantly, Giant Sun’s will had already bought some time.

He had already seen through most of the special will Gu formation that had besieged him.

How could an Immortal Venerable’s arrangement be so simple?

As long as Giant Sun’s will was completely free, he naturally had large numbers of methods to choose from like metal path, water path, fire path and so on, to seal the land spirit again.

“I have slept for too long, but it doesn’t matter. I will first put this disobedient land spirit in its place, then I shall completely eliminate the minute loopholes in True Yang Building; at that time, Eighty-Eight True Yang Building will once again be like an iron bucket, standing tall for hundreds of thousands of years longer!” Giant Sun’s will’s tone was deep and profound.

“I won’t let you have your way even if I die!!!” After hearing ‘standing tall for hundreds of thousands of years’, all the hairs on Frost Jade Peacock stood on their ends.

A land spirit was formed from an obsession and the matter of recognizing the master was not a flexible one. Frost Jade Peacock was distinct in this even from other land spirits; it was incomparably proud and would not yield even a little.

But Frost Jade Peacock did not struggle anymore, instead it strangely lay down dispiritedly. However, its gaze was still sharp as a knife, filled with hatred completely.

Giant Sun’s will was stupefied before suddenly realizing something as he shouted in rage: “Little sparrow, you dare to do this!”

Outside the True Yang Building.

“The tribulation clouds and calamity dust are gradually dispersing, has Lord Tai Bai Yun Sheng succeeded in advancing to a Gu Immortal?” Those who did not know the truth felt excited at this sight.

“I had never expected Tai Bai Yun Sheng to actually reach the third step! Looking at his appearance, the immortal aperture has already formed. I wonder what grade of blessed land he has formed?” Ye Lui Sang mumbled.

In advancing to a Gu Immortal, after passing the second step, the Gu Master could form an immortal aperture.

Immortal apertures of rank six and rank seven Gu Immortals were blessed lands; rank eight and rank nine Gu Immortal apertures were grotto-heavens!

“Blessed lands are divided into three grades, corresponding to large, medium, and small in size; the more heaven, earth and human qi are fused, the higher the grade of the blessed land. Small blessed lands have an area of up to two thousand square kilometres, they can draw in a small tributary of the river of time, and form over ten beads of immortal essence; there are few resources. Medium grade blessed lands can range from two and two thirds to four thousand square kilometres, they can draw in a slightly bigger tributary of the river of time, and form over twenty beads of immortal essence; they have plentiful resources. High grade blessed lands can range from four and two thirds to six thousand square kilometres, and draw in a large tributary of the river of time, the quantity of immortal essence formed surpasses thirty, and there will be plenty of heaven and earth qi remaining which can mutually interact and refine a mortal Gu into an Immortal Gu!”

Hei Lou Lan’s gaze was fixed directly ahead, the relevant information flashing in his mind.

His brows slightly furrowed, Tai Bai Yun Sheng was able to pass the second step with True Yang Building’s help, reaching the third step. And now, it looked like there was a great chance for him to succeed in becoming a Gu Immortal.

‘If Tai Bai Yun Sheng becomes a Gu Immortal, then what stance should I take, how should I treat him?’ Hei Lou Lan pondered over this issue.

‘If nothing unexpected happens, Tai Bai Yun Sheng will no doubt obtain a high grade blessed land. However, refining an Immortal Gu carries risk, forming calamities and tribulations in the immortal aperture.’ Fang Yuan’s gaze continuously flickered.

For a mortal to advance to a Gu Immortal, there naturally were special risks.

Gu Masters were like this, it applied to Gu worms too.

Humans took in heaven and earth qi, fusing with human qi, the fusion of the three qi would lead to heavenly tribulations and earthly calamities. Gu worms took in heaven and earth qi, and also would induce calamities and tribulations.

It was hard for outsiders to interfere in the calamities and tribulations within one’s own blessed land.

True Yang Building could influence Tai Bai Yun Sheng, but it could not influence the blessed land, the immortal aperture in his body.

In another words, Tai Bai Yun Sheng could only rely on himself.

“Huh?” Fang Yuan suddenly looked at the sky.

Regarding the sky of Imperial Court blessed land, in daytime, golden light glittered, while at night, warm silver radiance shone down.

But right now, pitch-black scars appeared in the golden sky from which specks of starlight shone down.

This was the night sky of the outside world of northern plains.

The whole of Imperial Court blessed land began to tremble.

Everyone started crying out in surprise and shock.

The tribulation clouds and calamity dust which had almost dissipated condensed again. Large amounts of heaven and earth qi poured into Tai Bai Yun Sheng’s body non-stop, directly entering his immortal aperture like moths to a fire.

“What’s going on?!” Hei Lou Lan was dumbstruck.

“What the hell happened!” Ye Lui Sang held his head, shouting involuntarily.

“Too much heaven and earth qi were absorbed from Imperial Court blessed land, its foundation was injured, thus it is revealing the outside world, in linking up with northern plains!” Fang Yuan’s mind shook, his gaze moved from Tai Bai Yun Sheng to Eighty-Eight True Yang Building.

He had guessed the truth.

Frost Jade Peacock was actually so proud, it would rather die than be suppressed by Giant Sun’s will any longer.

It lived up to its words!