Gu Yuan straightened his body, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Using this long saber and the Shenxiao Imperial Thunder Nine Slashes had taken a toll.
He lowered his head to look at the black-sheathed long saber in his hand. This long saber was named Hei Kun!
It was forged from the Profound Gold of the Earth's Apertures and contained the saber intent of past saber masters. Each burst of power consumed a great deal of true qi, which was why Gu Yuan kept it as a trump card.
He slowly turned around and approached the flesh and blood giant, now a pile of charcoal. Gu Yuan snapped his fingers, and a wisp of flame appeared at his fingertip. He flicked it, and it landed on the remains of the flesh and blood giant, igniting spontaneously.
Wu Gui watched Gu Yuan's fluid movements, muttering, "Elegant, so elegant."
He hurried to Gu Yuan's side. Gu Yuan's face was illuminated by the firelight, flickering with shadows. He had already used the illusion array to record the remains of the flesh and blood giant as proof of mission completion.
"Gu Yuan, bah, Brother Yuan! Teach me!" Wu Gui's boisterous voice sounded in his ear. Gu Yuan looked at him, utterly bewildered.
"Teach you what?"
"How to be as elegant as you?" Wu Gui's eyes sparkled. To him, elegance was paramount. Now, seeing Gu Yuan's elegant movements was as passionate as seeing a beauty he admired.
Gu Yuan felt a chill crawl up his spine under Wu Gui's intense gaze. In a moment of inspiration, he quickly said, "Elegance is simple, it's about being natural! Yes, it's about being natural!"
As expected, these words plunged Wu Gui into deep thought, and he muttered, "Being natural, how can one be natural?"
Gu Yuan let out a long sigh. Wu Gui's gaze had made his scalp tingle. He was glad he had managed to get away with it.
Qin Erlang came to Gu Yuan's side. He glanced at the burning corpse and then at the slightly frantic Wu Gui, asking Gu Yuan curiously, "What's wrong with him?"
Gu Yuan shook his head, indicating he didn't know either.
Qin Erlang said no more and quietly watched the corpse burn, while Gu Yuan occasionally added fuel to the fire.
Ten minutes later, all the flesh and blood had been burned to ashes. Gu Yuan then summoned lightning and thoroughly churned through the ashes before he felt at ease.
Qin Erlang, watching from the side, twitched his eyelids and inwardly rejoiced that he had not become Gu Yuan's enemy. Otherwise, he would have been reduced to ashes by lightning.
Gu Yuan collected the ashes in a special box, intending to hand them directly to Wang Lei.
[Merit +100!]
The prompt from the Dao Fortune Heavenly Scroll appeared in his mind. Gu Yuan froze for a moment but quickly returned to normal. Now was not the time.
He looked at Wu Gui, who was still muttering to himself, and shrugged helplessly before heading towards the building that had just been blasted open.
Gu Yuan and Qin Erlang arrived at the opening that had been blasted open. Gu Yuan peered down, and a sigh escaped his lips.
As expected.
Seeing the altar that materialized before him, Gu Yuan moved his fingers, and another wisp of flame landed upon it, igniting with a fierce blaze.
The two were unusually silent, watching the burning pyre below. These were once living beings, now sacrificed by the Demon God Sect to an evil god from beyond the domain.
Gu Yuan's flames were extremely hot, and soon only a pile of ashes remained. Gu Yuan did not choose to take them away. With a movement of his foot, the earth churned, filling the area until it formed a pointed grave.
He found a wooden board from his storage space and used his true qi to smooth it. On it, he carved several large characters with lightning:
Tomb of Human Compatriots!
He inserted it deeply into the ground in front of the grave. The Kun Spirit activated, hardening the soil to a degree comparable to rock, capable of lasting a long time.
Stepping back two paces, Qin Erlang and Gu Yuan bowed slightly before turning and leaving the secret realm with the somewhat deranged Wu Gui.
Upon leaving the secret realm, Wu Gui had also returned to normal. The three once again transformed into Stealthy Youths and safely snuck back to Great Dragon Pass.
In the same room, Gu Yuan held Wu Tan's ashes in his hand and handed them to Wang Lei. Wang Lei was both amused and speechless by Gu Yuan's actions, never expecting him to bring back the ashes of their enemy.
He handed the illusion array to Wang Lei. After verification, Wang Lei presented the rewards for this mission to the three of them.
Such a dangerous mission could only yield extraordinary rewards, a special reward unique to the Nine Passes of Tianxia.
The Myriad Beast Pool!
After each beast tide impacted the border, it left behind a battlefield of beast corpses. The army would have specialized personnel to utilize these corpses fully. Some alchemists would extract the essence and blood contained within the beast corpses and pour it into a pool.
Combined with some spiritual herbs that had body-tempering effects, each Myriad Beast Pool represented the accumulation of several centuries of a border pass. It could only be accessed by completing special missions or by exchanging with battle merits. Each entry, upon exiting, would increase the body's strength by one level, with effects comparable to rare heavenly treasures.
Gu Yuan was also slightly excited. After all, among all forms of cultivation, external body training was the slowest to improve because the human body could not be rushed. His current physical strength was among the top tier for his level, thanks to various fortunate encounters and the constant tempering of energy within the space opened by the Eight Elephants Calamity Body.
Returning to their lodging, Gu Yuan and the other two discussed and decided to rest for one night before accepting their reward the next day, which was to undergo tempering in the Myriad Beast Pool, followed by accepting new missions.
After eating the meal prepared by Gu Yuan, the three retired to their respective rooms. Gu Yuan immediately locked his door and activated the defensive array upon returning to his own room.
He sank his consciousness into the Dao Fortune Heavenly Scroll to review the information transmitted by the elimination of the flesh and blood giant.
His vision was filled with a golden mist, exuding an aura of boundless sanctity.
This was the legendary merit?!
Gu Yuan was somewhat surprised and asked the Dao Fortune Heavenly Scroll about the function of merit, only to be told that it was also unclear.
It seemed that the Dao Fortune Heavenly Scroll needed further unlocking to understand the purpose of merit.
Gu Yuan returned to the outside world and began circulating his qi and blood to continue cleansing his physique. He simultaneously cultivated his visualization technique. He had already visualized a portion of the fur of the Chaos Demonic Ape, each strand incredibly clear. Gu Yuan had dedicated a significant amount of time to this, which had replaced his rest time.
The night passed without incident.
The next day.
Gu Yuan prepared a simple breakfast of small dishes and porridge and called the other two to eat before heading to the City Lord's mansion to receive their reward.
They arrived safely at the City Lord's mansion and were personally received by Jiang Qingyuan. After praising their successful completion of the mission, he handed them three tokens, and the three then left the City Lord's mansion for the Myriad Beast Pool.
The Myriad Beast Pool was a heavily guarded strategic location and a very secretive place within Great Dragon Pass. It required the use of the military's teleportation array to reach.
There were layers of inspections along the way before they were allowed to proceed, as the Myriad Beast Pool was one of the most precious things in the entire Great Dragon Pass.
Gu Yuan and the other two finally arrived at the Myriad Beast Pool. On the surface, it appeared to be ten separate small pools. The true Myriad Beast Pool was hidden beneath the land. When used, the quantity was strictly controlled and injected into the small pools above.
Gu Yuan and the other two stripped off their clothes, leaving only their underwear, and sat in the small pool. With a soft hum, a liquid that resembled blood slowly seeped from beneath the pool. However, it was far more viscous than blood and exuded a pleasant fragrance. Upon contact with the scent, the physical body instinctively felt a desire to devour and absorb it.
Gu Yuan held his mind steady, controlling the Myriad Beast Liquid to be directly introduced into his body.
Instantly, an unimaginable pain engulfed Gu Yuan's body.
Ah! Three pained roars echoed as the three began to temper their bodies.