32: Breakthrough, someone from the Su family is coming.
A Gu Inner Core?
It can help him Breakthrough to the Ban Xue Realm!
Li Yan controlled the Golden Body Avatar, making it lift its foot.
Old Ghost Xuanwang had already been crushed into a meat paste by the Golden Body Avatar, and countless bloodline Gu were crawling among the scattered fragments on the ground.
These were the Gu that had been parasitic in Old Daoist Xuanwang's body…
The sight made Li Yan feel a little nauseous.
If the price of Immortality was to be parasitic, then what was the meaning of Immortality?
Wouldn't that Physical Body become a slave to the Gu?
However, now that Old Daoist Xuanwang had been killed, his Inner Core could help him Breakthrough, and Li Yan would not be polite.
"Killing this old ghost and taking his Gu Inner Core evens the score."
Li Yan raised his hand, and his shadow immediately retrieved the Gu Inner Core and brought it to him.
Looking at this Inner Core, which was riddled with holes and worm-eaten on the surface, a faint blue light flashed in Li Yan's eyes.
[Gu Inner Core: The Dantian of a Cultivator parasitized by a large number of Yin Gu.]
[Side effect: After consumption, you will be parasitized by Yin Gu and Possessed by the Dantian's owner.]
[Side effect corrected: After consumption, you can absorb its essence, help the host Breakthrough to the Ban Xue Realm, and simultaneously absorb the Dantian owner's memories.]
Seeing this, Li Yan swallowed it without hesitation.
As he swallowed the Inner Core, Old Ghost Xuanwang's laughter came from his throat.
"Kid, I've succeeded!"
"It was all effortless, your body is mine…"
"Wait? What's going on? No… No, no, no!"
Soon, Old Daoist Xuanwang's screams came from Li Yan's stomach; with the side effect corrected, his incomplete Soul was directly erased, becoming nourishment for Li Yan.
The old ghost had just been mocking Li Yan for daring to eat anything.
But the next moment, he was erased of everything by the side effect System, leaving only a fragment of memory.
As a powerful energy injected into Li Yan's Dantian, he began to impact the Ban Xue Realm.
At the same time, a large number of memory fragments flooded into his mind.
Like a fleeting glimpse before death, Old Daoist Xuanwang's tragic life flashed through Li Yan's mind.
[My name is Zhao Chongjiu, my Daoist name is Old Daoist Xuanwang, and my nickname is Medicine Fool. I was once a famous barefoot doctor in the surrounding villages.]
[From the age of ten, I followed my father to learn medicine. My father and I traversed mountains and valleys, gathered medicinal herbs, and treated villagers in various mountain villages, earning a few copper coins to supplement our household income.]
[If nothing unexpected happened, my life's trajectory would be to marry and have children, passing down my skills to the next generation, just as my father taught me to practice medicine.]
[But one day, my father came back in a panic and told me that a beast transformation disease had appeared in the village. The neighbor's little sister and the old woman at the village entrance had both turned into bloodthirsty mad beasts. My father, to cover for me, was bitten by my infected mother and also contracted the beast transformation disease.]
[Before my father died, he told me to go to Jingxu Sect in the mountains to apprentice. That Taoist might take me in.]
[That day, I fled for my life in the mountains like a stray dog. The beast transformation disease spread throughout the entire mountain, and all the villagers became bloodthirsty beasts, until I met Quiet Void Taoist and was rescued by him to the Daoist temple.]
[I told Quiet Void Taoist that I wanted to go back and take revenge! I wanted to Cultivate Immortality and prevent the tragedy of beast transformation disease from happening again.]
[My Master told me that my Aptitude was very poor, and I might not even be able to enter the second Realm and become a Moving Blood Cultivator even after Cultivating for a hundred years, unless…]
[For Immortal Ascension, I listened to my Master and ate the Gu. Is this the price of Immortal Ascension? Using my Physical Body to raise Gu to gain Blood Qi… Is this truly the right way?]
[After eating the Gu, my Cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, surpassing most of my Senior Brothers from the same period, except for that Senior Brother named Xuan Sha. All other Senior Brothers were inferior to me! Eating Gu might be the only option for Mortals to Cultivate Immortality!]
[A month after gaining Cultivation, I returned to the mountain village alone, slaying demons and eliminating evil, saving the surviving villagers. They were all very grateful to me. This was the first time I felt the meaning of the word Xianxia!]
[In my first year at Jingxu Sect, my strength began to reach a Bottleneck. A voice suddenly appeared in my mind, telling me that Cultivation alone was not enough, and I also needed nourishment, needed Alchemy…]
[I held onto my Dao Heart, ignoring that voice. I absolutely could not use my fellow villagers for Alchemy! My fellow villagers were kind to me. Every cold winter, it was their firewood and food that allowed our Family to survive the days when heavy snow sealed the mountains.]
[In the fifth year, my Cultivation had completely fallen behind all my Senior Brothers from the same period, even losing to the newly arrived Junior Brothers. I began to doubt if the Dao Heart I was holding onto was truly worth it? Fortunately, Senior Sister Xuanye always comforted me and stayed by my side, willing to become my Dao Companion. No matter how difficult the days were, we could endure them.]
[That day, I caught Senior Sister Xuanye and Xuan Sha secretly Dual Cultivating… Was the Dao Heart I insisted on truly correct? Without strength, I couldn't even protect my Dao Companion!]
[One day, the villagers came to Jingxu Sect to find me, asking me to go down the mountain to treat an old man. At that moment, I had an evil thought. I told the villagers that the old man wouldn't last more than a few days. Although I had a way to extend his life for a few months, I… I still secretly refined the old man into a Medicinal Pill, hiding it from the villagers. Anyway, the old man wouldn't live much longer, right?]
[The deliciousness of that Medicinal Pill finally allowed me to Breakthrough a small Realm. After tasting the Medicinal Pill, that kind of pleasure was unparalleled, penetrating deep into my bones and Soul. I… I want to become stronger, I want Immortality!]
[A few days ago, I picked up a little baby at the foot of the mountain. His name is Li Yan, and his Aptitude is good. I can let him be my backup body. Once I fail to Breakthrough to the Blood Core Realm and my Physical Body dissipates, I'll Possess Li Yan's body.]
Old Ghost Xuanwang's short and tragic life quickly flashed through Li Yan's mind.
A large amount of Alchemy knowledge, including information about Quiet Void Taoist and the situation within Bugui Mountain, flooded into Li Yan's mind.
Along with that, he also officially stepped into the second Realm—the Ban Xue Realm.
Only then did he let out a long sigh.
"Once the Gu was planted, Old Daoist Xuanwang's brain was slowly taken over by the worms, and he lost himself on the path of pursuing strength."
Li Yan savored the memory; the incomparable and addictive pleasure of swallowing the Medicinal Pill after refining people into it.
"If Old Daoist Xuanwang had held onto his Dao Heart, he would have reached his Peak at the Blood Condensation Realm."
"But because that Senior Sister betrayed him, Old Daoist Xuanwang's Dao Heart shattered, and he began to pursue strength… Misfortune truly picks on the unfortunate."
Li Yan, stroking his chin, looked at Corpse Puppet Su Mo beside him.
Fortunately, what was by his side was a Corpse Puppet bound to him, who would never betray him.
If Li Yan died, the Corpse Puppet would also turn to ashes and be buried with him.
Moreover, the Corpse Puppet was personally refined by him, and Li Yan could dissolve the contract with a single thought, at which point the Corpse Puppet would turn to dust.
"Corpse Puppets are still the best. They will never defy me, right, Su Mo."
Li Yan reached out and placed his hand on Su Mo's head.
She looked bewildered and didn't understand overly complex matters; the things between men and women, the Corpse Puppet couldn't comprehend.
Seeing her as pure as a blank slate, Li Yan chuckled softly.
"One can only say that old man Old Daoist Xuanwang was too naive when he was young, played by his Senior Sister. If he had sealed his heart and locked away love, how would his Dao Heart have shattered?"
Corpse Puppet Su Mo's clear eyes showed confusion: "Seal heart? Lock away love?"
Just as Li Yan was hiding deep within Broken Sword Valley, chatting leisurely with Su Mo.
Xuan Sha in the distance shouted, "People from the Su Family!? How did they get here!"
The Su Family?
Li Yan frowned, the Su Family suddenly appearing outside Broken Sword Valley… could it be Su Mo's Family?