"Spirit Sea Realm cultivation method?!"
Gu Cheng's heart raced, and he could barely suppress his joy.
The importance of cultivation methods to martial artists went without saying. A cultivation legacy from the Spirit Sea Realm was an invaluable treasure, one that could only be chanced upon, never sought.
If word of it got out, it would surely unleash a storm of blood and slaughter across Tianshui Prefecture!
"No wonder the people at headquarters insisted that Blood Lady be escorted back to Tianshui City alive back then. They must have wanted this Spirit Sea Realm cultivation method."
"Too bad it's only a fragment..."
Gu Cheng sighed, his voice tinged with regret.
Fragmentary cultivation methods—especially demonic heretical arts of unknown origin like this one—often concealed enormous risks. They were like thorny roses, beautiful yet deadly.
One careless step could lead to deviation and madness at best, or instant death at worst.
With the Life-Spending System at his disposal, Gu Cheng had no reason to fear the risks of cultivation. He could rely on his endless lifespan to plow straight through every obstacle.
But unless he had no better choice, he still didn't want to waste his lifespan on a fragmentary cultivation method.
Once he had calmed his excitement,
Gu Cheng began sorting through the other information he had obtained from the ghost-faced jade pendant, trying to piece together the full outline of this Spirit Sea demonic art.
According to the records in the pendant, this demonic cultivation method, known as the "Heavenly Demon Blood Transformation Great Law," came from a demonic faction beyond Yunzhou called the Blood God Sect.
The sect was so secretive that it had vanished without a trace for nearly a century. There was almost no information about it in the martial world, as if it had never existed.
More than five hundred years ago, the first sect master of the Blood Blade Sect had somehow acquired a fragment of this cultivation method.
Using it as a foundation, he had deduced the three famed volumes of the "Blood Blade Scripture," laying the groundwork for the Blood Blade Sect's centuries-long legacy!
"I never would've guessed that the infamous Blood Blade Sect originated from this..."
Gu Cheng marveled to himself. That first sect master must have been a martial arts prodigy rarely seen in a thousand years!
With nothing but a fragment of a Spirit Sea Realm demonic art, he had deduced such a powerful and wicked demonic technique, leaving a century of calamity in Tianshui Prefecture.
If he had gotten his hands on the complete "Heavenly Demon Blood Transformation Great Law" back then, he might have turned all twelve prefectures of Yunzhou into a filthy mess!
"I remember that when I was heading to Tianshui City, Brother Zhao told me about many of Tianshui Prefecture's secrets.
"Apparently, the Blood Blade Sect's previous sect master before the last was a Spirit Sea Venerable. I imagine he was the one who cultivated this incomplete demonic art, right?
"If so, that fellow was unbelievably lucky. He cultivated a fragment and still managed to avoid deviation and madness..."
Gu Cheng steadied himself, then looked again at the "Heavenly Demon Blood Transformation Great Law" in his hands.
Everyone knew that whether one pursued Qi Refinement, Body Refinement, or spiritual refinement, the more profound the cultivation method, the stricter its requirements.
The "Heavenly Demon Blood Transformation Great Law" was no exception.
After studying it carefully, Gu Cheng discovered that to cultivate this Spirit Sea demonic art, one not only needed to master the third volume of the "Blood Blade Scripture," but also absolutely required a precious magical artifact called a Blood Soul Bead as an aid.
"Blood Soul Bead? What's that?"
Gu Cheng furrowed his brow, puzzled.
In theory, the "Heavenly Demon Blood Transformation Great Law" should have included instructions for crafting Blood Soul Beads.
But this was only a fragment. Many crucial details, such as the method for crafting Blood Soul Beads, were missing, leaving almost no chance of using it to break through to the Spirit Sea Realm.
"But if that's the case, how did the previous sect master before the last manage to cultivate it?"
Burdened by questions, Gu Cheng turned his gaze to the final booklet.
It was unusually thick, with no writing on its cover. Its pages were badly worn, clearly from being read over and over by its owner.
Gu Cheng slowly opened it, and dense lines of writing filled his view.
After reading a few pages, he realized it was the diary of that Blood Blade Sect elder.
"What kind of respectable person keeps a diary..."
Gu Cheng wore a strange expression and couldn't help muttering a complaint.
But then he thought it over. This Demonic Grandmaster of the Blood Blade Sect had slaughtered countless people and was ruthless and black-hearted, so it wasn't as if he could be called respectable. Gu Cheng quickly came to terms with it.
By the dim, yellow light of the oil lamp on the stone wall, Gu Cheng began carefully reading the diary.
Its contents covered all manner of things: cultivation insights, everyday trivialities, and all sorts of strange thoughts and reflections.
But most of all, it was filled with reviews of delicacies and dining experiences at the various restaurants.
"Qingfeng Tower's Drunken Immortal Duck melts in your mouth, rich but not greasy. Too bad the sauce is a little salty. Bad review!"
"Drunken Immortal Tower's Eight-Treasure Rice is soft, sweet, and leaves you wanting more. Truly a delicacy fit for the mortal world. Good review!"
"Wangyue House's Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is expensive and disgusting! The ingredients aren't even fresh! Damn it! I'm burning this dump down tonight!"
Gu Cheng skimmed through the diary. This Blood Blade Sect elder had eaten at nearly every restaurant, big and small, in Tianshui Prefecture. He reviewed each establishment's signature dishes in such detail that his diary was practically a restaurant-review site.
With this diary in hand, even a visitor from out of town could eat their way across Tianshui without worrying about getting ripped off.
After all, this gluttonous master had burned down most of the shady establishments...
"Heh. Who would've thought that this Blood Blade Sect elder, who slaughtered people by the dozen in his daily life, was a bona fide glutton in private? No wonder Blood Lady's cooking won him over so easily..."
Gu Cheng couldn't help laughing. While grumbling to himself about the diary's author and his trivial daily life, he skimmed through the pages, searching for useful information.
Before long, the name Lin Xueyi leaped into view, and Gu Cheng's spirits immediately lifted.
The diary recorded that Lin Xueyi had indeed been the Blood Blade Sect's previous sect master before the last.
More than two hundred years ago, by a stroke of luck, Lin Xueyi had found two Blood Soul Beads in the storage pouch of an Innate Corpse King from the Rebirth Sect.
He used one to cultivate the "Heavenly Demon Blood Transformation Great Law" and, with the aid of the Willow God, successfully broke through his bottleneck and entered the Spirit Sea Realm!
After his breakthrough, Lin Xueyi gave himself the title Blood Ghost Venerable.
He ran rampant through Tianshui Prefecture, leaving a trail of bloodshed wherever he went. Countless martial arts experts perished beneath his Blood Blade.
The Demon Suppression Bureau in Tianshui City naturally couldn't stand by and let such a brutal fiend run wild. It sent two Spirit Sea Venerables to hunt him down.
The two sides fought an earth-shaking battle. In the end, Lin Xueyi vanished without a trace, leaving only rumors to circulate through the martial world.
As for the unused Blood Soul Bead, Lin Xueyi hid it deep in the Blood Blade Sect's treasury, to be passed on to the next sect master.
The latter half of the diary also recorded the gluttonous elder's plan to usurp the sect master's position and seize the Blood Soul Bead.
Unfortunately, before he could put his plan into action, the Demon Suppression Bureau launched a purge.
The Blood Blade Sect was uprooted, and the gluttonous elder's ambition turned to dust along with his life.
"Strange. Why would an Innate Corpse King from the Rebirth Sect possess a precious artifact from the Blood God Sect? What kind of relationship did these two demonic factions have?"
"And the Blood Blade Sect and the Willow God... So they'd been in cahoots as far back as two hundred years ago?"
Gu Cheng set the diary down, his thoughts swirling.
The Demon Suppression Bureau had crushed the Blood Blade Sect with overwhelming force, leaving almost none of its upper ranks alive.
Now this infamous demonic faction had risen from the ashes and even established a secret base in the Willow God's territory.
Clearly, they planned to follow the path of the Blood Ghost Venerable from two hundred years ago, relying on the tree demon's abilities to break through to the Spirit Sea Realm!
If that was the case... the priceless Blood Soul Bead had most likely fallen into the hands of the new sect master?
At that thought,
a cold glint flashed in Gu Cheng's eyes, and his resolve to wipe out the Blood Blade Sect grew firmer.
"But before that, I need to boost my strength first..."
Gu Cheng drew a deep breath and took the blood-skull jade pendant out of his storage pouch once more, then focused and opened the system panel.
Remaining Lifespan: 2,710 years
"With this much lifespan, and all those demon cores and pills to help me, it should be enough to break through to the Innate Realm and awaken an Innate Divine Ability, right?"
Gu Cheng murmured to himself. Without further hesitation, he sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion in the secret chamber and slowly poured his lifespan into the "Blood Blade Scripture."
The number beside his remaining lifespan began dropping rapidly...
Before you continue