"Jiang Zhenchuan, we're so familiar now, so please don't call me Gu Zhenchuan anymore. Just call me Gu Yuan," Gu Yuan suggested to Jiang Muqing, feeling awkward whenever she addressed him as Gu Zhenchuan.
Jiang Muqing was taken aback for a moment, then a smile bloomed on her face. Covering her lips with her hand, she chuckled and said, "Then I'll gladly accept. In that case, you don't have to call me Jiang Zhenchuan either. You can call me Muqing or Jiang Muqing."
"Alright," Gu Yuan replied with a smile.
As they chatted and laughed, the dishes were consumed, and a significant portion of the wine Gu Yuan had brewed was also finished. Jiang Muqing took the remaining wine with her.
Afterward, Gu Yuan helped with the cleanup before bidding farewell to Jiang Muqing and returning to his cave dwelling.
For the next few days, Gu Yuan had nothing specific to do. He either spent his time in the Scripture Pavilion or cultivating in his cave dwelling.
One day.
Gu Yuan sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion. His eyes suddenly snapped open. The sense of being watched from afar had vanished, indicating that the Zhen Tian Sect had temporarily ceased their surveillance of him.
"This is a good opportunity," Gu Yuan thought to himself.
He then mentally summoned the system.
"System, enter the next mission world. Choose soul transmigration. I will transmigrate for ten years, and only one minute will pass in reality."
Gu Yuan's expression was solemn, yet tinged with anticipation. He wondered what kind of world awaited him.
A world where blood qi was the exclusive cultivation method – truly something to look forward to.
[Ding, establishing spacetime channel. Please wait patiently, host.]
Origin energy burned rapidly, as brilliant as burning purple qi.
Thirty thousand points of origin energy were consumed at an alarming rate. Gu Yuan frowned, puzzled by the unusually high expenditure.
He felt his soul power enveloped by the origin energy, transforming into a purple speck of light that instantly tore through the void, heading for another unknown world.
The process was entirely unnoticed by anyone.
...
The Tian Yang Realm. Martial arts reigned supreme. The strong could shatter mountains and divert rivers, while the weak were less than ants, their lives beyond their control.
The year was 585 of the Great Qian Dynasty!
Outer demons ran rampant, causing widespread suffering among the populace. In the shadows, demonic cults were also vying for territory.
Emperor Qian Yuan, a man of ambition and military prowess, vigorously promoted martial arts. He established Demon Suppression Bureaus across the land to monitor local demons and prevent them from harming the human world.
Young individuals were recruited from all regions and sent to the Demon Suppression Bureaus for training. Those who passed would become members of the bureaus.
Such news was a godsend for many impoverished children who struggled to find food.
Some poor families, unable to afford to raise their children, tearfully sent them to the Demon Suppression Bureaus.
Everyone knew that while the Demon Suppression Bureaus offered a promising path, their casualty rate was terrifyingly high. However, for those who persevered, a bright future awaited, filled with honor, wealth, and secret martial arts techniques.
Gu Yuan's soul had now possessed a young man undergoing training in a Demon Suppression Bureau camp.
This young man was an orphan. Fortunately, he had encountered kind people and grew up by the charity of many. When the village elder learned of the recruitment for the Demon Suppression Bureau, he brought Gu Yuan to join.
Unexpectedly, this body possessed exceptional martial arts talent and was directly accepted into the Demon Suppression Bureau.
From then on, Gu Yuan became a probationary member of the Demon Suppression Bureau. He only needed to break through to the first realm of martial arts: the Blood Transformation Realm!
This realm involved mastering the flow of blood qi within the body, gradually replacing the old blood with new. Upon successful blood transformation, one could awaken blood qi and gain the strength to fight demons.
Without blood qi, a martial artist could not harm demons.
Far Mountain City!
It was the largest city within a hundred-mile radius, and its Demon Suppression Bureau was the most powerful force.
Within Far Mountain City, in a sprawling complex of buildings.
In a dark room, Gu Yuan's eyes suddenly opened, emitting a sharp gleam that seemed to momentarily illuminate the entire space.
Gu Yuan absorbed the memories in his mind and exhaled softly.
He got out of bed in the dark, lit an oil lamp, and an orange glow illuminated a portion of the room.
Looking at the familiar yet strange surroundings, Gu Yuan recalled the memories in his mind.
He opened a small hidden compartment, where a book lay silently.
Gu Yuan took it out, his palm gently stroking the cover, brushing away the dust.
Several large characters appeared before Gu Yuan's eyes.
"Sun Meridian Art!"
This was the name of the cultivation technique Gu Yuan would practice. It drew upon the essence of the great sun in heaven and earth, refining the blood qi throughout the body with an extremely yang energy. Its blood qi was incredibly potent, burning like the fierce sun.
However, this cultivation method did not belong to the Demon Suppression Bureau. It was a fortuitous encounter for him. Gu Yuan had previously wondered why his origin energy had been so heavily depleted; it turned out it was all for this. This body had an extraordinary talent and some luck. This beginning was exponentially better than his previous one.
Although the current realm of Gu Yuan's body was not high, only around the first stage of blood transformation, having just awakened his blood qi a few days prior. Being able to participate in the assessment after awakening blood qi, and killing a demon to pass the assessment, would allow him to truly join the Demon Suppression Bureau!
He would then enjoy superior status and access to countless precious resources. The Demon Suppression Bureau would undoubtedly not be easy to join, and thus the assessment would not be a simple one.
The original owner of this body had intended to wait a few more days, to let his blood qi settle, before reporting his successful blood transformation and readiness for the assessment.
Gu Yuan, using the oil lamp's light, began to read the Sun Meridian Art. With Gu Yuan's soul strength, comprehending this cultivation technique was effortlessly achievable.
Closing the book, Gu Yuan exhaled a breath of turbid air. The blood qi martial arts in this world had clearly ventured down a different path.
It was commonly known that cultivation was about the comprehensive enhancement of the three essences: essence, qi, and spirit, ultimately reaching a limit. The unification of these three would lead to becoming a congenital being, truly immortal and indestructible.
However, in this world, cultivation focused on qi and essence, with very little on the cultivation of the spirit. Gu Yuan surmised that only those with exceptional talent might discover ways to use blood qi to nourish their spiritual energy.
This world's martial arts, therefore, emphasized the path of essence!
The path of qi served as an auxiliary function.
Essence referred to the physical body. This world focused on cultivating the physical body, thereby generating more blood qi. Blood qi was a different form of qi. However, blood qi and the physical body were intrinsically linked. Individually, their power was moderate, but when fused, they formed a combination greater than the sum of their parts.
This was precisely what Gu Yuan lacked the most. He lacked techniques for circulating blood qi and cultivating the physical body, and even martial arts knowledge. These things were not present in the Martial Ancestor's inheritance.
This left Gu Yuan pondering, did he expect him to comprehend them himself?
Gu Yuan recalled the previous system mission, which had compensated for his lack of deep understanding in physical body development.
This time, it was blood qi. Gu Yuan couldn't help but nod. This was the "Ancestor of Paths," something to be immensely yearned for!