The Grand Tutor of the Court, Famous in the Martial World

January 9th, the 211th year of the Nanxun era.

The Chen Manor was currently a scene of bustling activity, yet it lacked any sense of chaotic disorder. Amidst the melodic strains of strings and bamboo flutes, the faint sound of laughter drifted through the air. The guests frequenting the Chen Manor were either wealthy or noble, all of them refined gentlemen.

At this very moment, there was no shortage of high-ranking officials and dignitaries waiting outside the gates, all lining up to present their congratulatory gifts, a testament to the formidable influence of the Chen Manor.

Yet, as the protagonist of these celebrations, the head of the Chen family, Chen Dengming, had grown somewhat weary of such worldly social obligations. The long-buried impulse in his heart grew increasingly restless as the date on that invitation drew near.

As the eighth martial artist in the Nanxun Kingdom to step into the Xiantian realm, Chen Dengming had traversed the Martial World for decades, his name long since renowned throughout Nanxun.

However, the experience that brought him even greater fame was when the Sovereign of Nanxun personally invited Chen Dengming over a decade ago to serve as the Crown Prince's tutor, tasking him with teaching the prince martial arts within the Imperial Palace.

Though the title of Crown Prince's tutor was merely an honorary one, it caused the status of the Chen Manor to rise with the tide, leaping from a mere martial arts family to a prestigious household of officialdom.

Among these rumors, the one most talked about was how Chen Dengming had chanced upon an immortal in his youth and was gifted a Youth Preserving Pill. As a result, even though Old Chen was now over eighty years of age, his appearance remained youthful, his bearing handsome and refined, and his demeanor mature and steady—the dream lover of many women in the Martial World.

Recently, due to his adept instruction of the Crown Prince, the Sovereign of Nanxun personally inscribed a golden plaque reading "Nanxun Saber King" and bestowed it upon Chen Dengming.

For a time, Chen Dengming's reputation seemed poised to eclipse that of the other Xiantian Grandmasters.

These days, the guests coming to congratulate the Chen Manor had nearly worn down its threshold, all just to catch a glimpse of the "Nanxun Saber King" plaque and witness the demeanor of the Saber King himself.

Yet, ironically, Chen Dengming's most formidable martial art was not his saber technique, but the sorcery he had obtained from that immortal years ago.

"Eighty-two years have passed since I transmigrated. If not for my Golden Finger helping me practice and extend my life, I would likely be dead by now. It is a pity that ever since I reached the pinnacle of martial arts twenty years ago, ordinary martial arts—even supreme techniques—could no longer help me extend my life. The only hope remaining is the sorcery I obtained from that immortal back then."

Chen Dengming stood with his hands behind his back atop a high tower, looking down at the exceptionally lively and bustling banquet below. His face was expressionless, as if he had seen through the vanity of the mortal world and was unwilling to waste even a shred of energy on it anymore.

Behind him stood a four-paneled screen engraved with the Eighteen Scenes of Nanxun. Behind the screen, the floor was already filled with kneeling Chen family death-sworn guards—top-tier experts he had personally cultivated, all about to carry out a task for him.

Chen Dengming sighed inwardly, "It is a pity. Even with the help of my Golden Finger, I can no longer advance the sorcery I obtained from the immortal due to a lack of cultivation resources.

With only fifty years of lifespan remaining, if I continue to cling to the glory and wealth of this mortal world, I will eventually finish my life like an ordinary person and die just like that."

If he had not known of the existence of immortals, it would have been fine; Chen Dengming could have simply assumed he had transmigrated into a martial arts world.

He had worked hard to reach this point, able to drink and laugh with the Sovereign, teach the Crown Prince, serve as a tutor, and become famous throughout the land. He had lived a life of luxury and indulgence, surrounded by countless beauties, and had even taken seven wives and concubines. It could be said that he had enjoyed all the wealth, beauty, and power one could desire; he had no regrets in this life.

In the next fifty years, he was confident he could reach the pinnacle of the Martial World and truly become the number one martial artist.

But, since he had known of the existence of immortals from a very early age, his ambitions had undergone a subtle change long ago.

Ever since he received the immortal's sorcery inheritance, he had practiced without ceasing, yet he had been unable to make any progress due to the limited resources of the mortal world.

His lifespan had also completely stalled at the limit of 132 years fifteen years ago, and it could no longer be increased in the slightest by practicing martial arts.

Therefore, fifteen years ago, he had high-profilely taken wives and concubines and expanded his family, a final act of madness in preparation for the worst-case scenario, to experience a perfect life without regrets.

However, he had never sired any children. This was mainly related to the Indestructible Vajra Zen Skill he had learned in his youth, and he still held onto a final shred of hope in his heart, for along with the sorcery inheritance, he had also received an invitation.

The invitation stated that every hundred years, immortals from other realms would descend to hold an Ascension Convention on the Misty Cliff in the Ice Wind Forest, north of the Nanxun Kingdom.

Anyone holding an invitation, regardless of their background, was qualified to go to the Misty Cliff to test their Immortal Destiny.

If they possessed the aptitude for cultivation, they would be taken in by an Immortal Sect, step into the Cultivation World, and seek the path to longevity.

It was the existence of this invitation that had kept Chen Dengming's ambition to cultivate immortality alive for so many years.

Now, with only half a year left before the Ascension Convention officially began, Chen Dengming had decided to abandon the Chen family and set off.

He took one last look at the bustling family banquet before turning his gaze from another window toward the backyard area.

His seven wives and concubines were chatting and laughing with the female relatives of various dignitaries.

It was evident that his wives were very much enjoying their current life of luxury.

These wives had been taken fifteen years ago when he was at the height of his wealth and power; they were all daughters of noble families with excellent backgrounds. They had come for the wealth from the very beginning, and naturally, they were enjoying what they had gained.

But it was a pity that not one of them understood his heart.

At this moment, he suddenly gained some insight into the emotionally numb state of Tang Bohu when he looked at his many wives in the movie Flirting Scholar—it was so similar to his own state now.

When he didn't understand it back then, he was just a high school senior; now that he understood, he was an old man with "three highs."

He turned and left, instructing the butler who guarded his side like a shadow to summon his sixth and third wives.

Fifteen years had passed, and many of the seven wives he had taken were now aging and withered. He, however, had maintained the appearance of a thirty-year-old due to the Youth Preserving Pill he had taken in his youth.

Among the seven, only the sixth and third wives remained young and beautiful, their skin smoother than a young girl's, and their temperament beyond compare.

More than three months ago, his Indestructible Vajra Zen Skill had reached perfection, with no more obstacles.

Before departing, Chen Dengming wanted one last moment of madness to leave behind heirs, ensuring his mortal life would be completely without regrets.

Otherwise, if he failed in his pursuit of Immortal Destiny and met with some danger, wouldn't he have walked through this world in vain, leaving behind no trace, with no one to inherit the vast family business he had built?

"Chen Zhong."

Chen Dengming said calmly.

"This old servant is here!"

The butler, Chen Zhong, was withered, tall, and thin, with an honest face, but his eyes flashed with a sharp light that made one feel he was firm, unyielding, and not simple. He bowed, waiting for Chen Dengming's orders.

Chen Dengming said calmly, "If the third and sixth wives become pregnant, regardless of whether it is a boy or a girl, I want you to protect the children as they grow up and pass the family business to them. They don't need to be extraordinary; I only hope they can be healthy and safe."

"This old servant will not fail the Master's trust!"

Chen Zhong knelt on the ground, moved, his hands raised high to receive the token and the instructions Chen Dengming handed over, his eyes already reddened.

He understood that this was Chen Dengming's immense trust in him.

After being bestowed the surname Chen and renamed Chen Zhong, he had dedicated his entire life to the Chen family and his master.

Having spent so many years scraping by in the Martial World, Chen Dengming would never rely on just one contingency. However, Chen Zhong, whose strength had reached the peak of the Houtian realm and who possessed unwavering loyalty, was his first choice to guard the family after his departure.

Additionally, he had selected other candidates from among his death soldiers to ensure that nothing would go wrong.

That night.

In the family head's chambers in the Chen estate, an eighty-year-old groom took a young bride, their white hair contrasting against the red wedding attire. In the mandarin duck quilt, they became a pair for the night, like a pear tree pressing down on a begonia.

Also that night, fireworks and firecrackers echoed throughout the sky around the Chen estate; outside the courtyard, the east wind blew, scattering flowers across a thousand trees, while inside, a thousand pear trees bloomed.

The third and sixth wives wept with joy, feeling that after waiting so many years, the master had finally opened his heart to produce an heir. Little did they know, Chen Dengming was about to depart to pursue the path of immortality.

The next day.

The first batch of Chen family death soldiers departed, heading straight for the Misty Cliff in the Ice Wind Forest, north of the Nanxun Kingdom.

For decades, Chen Dengming had searched bitterly for his Immortal Destiny, yet he had never found any trace of immortals or divine miracles.

As for the Ice Wind Forest, he had sent people to investigate it multiple times, but they had found no clues.

Now, as the Ascension Convention drew closer, he became increasingly calm. He did not let excitement drive him to rush over and investigate personally; instead, he planned before acting, sending death soldiers first so that any dangers could be avoided in advance.

After all, the inheritance of the Gu Immortal he had obtained years ago had come from a mere corpse.

Why the immortal died, and whether the Ascension Convention was a scam—these were all unknowns.

As a transmigrator, Chen Dengming's thinking and perspective were incomparable to the natives of this world.

When immortals were mentioned, the natives' reaction might be one of extreme reverence, even to the point of blind obedience and fear of defiance.

But Chen Dengming's reaction was more like, 'An immortal might just be a cultivator, a practitioner of the Dao, who is also a strong individual who attained power through cultivation.' He had seen this too many times in the novels of his past life.

Of course, he had yet to truly see a so-called 'immortal,' and he did not know if the cultivators of this world would differ from his imagination. Everything was indeed still unknown.

One week after the first batch of death soldiers set out.

Outside the Blood Centipede Cave, a notorious danger zone in the Martial World, a man in luxurious clothing suddenly appeared.

The Blood Centipede Cave was famous for the countless venomous blood centipedes within. In the dim light, numerous caves flickered with phosphorescence, eerie as ghost fire.

Every day at the hour of the Rat and the Horse, the cave would spew out pale green miasma—the excrement of the blood centipedes—ejected from skull-like holes in the cave ceiling. If a person were to accidentally inhale it, they would surely die of poisoning.

Years ago, some in the Martial World mistakenly believed the cave contained treasures or the tomb of a former dynasty's royalty, drawing many greedy martial artists who wanted to enter and seize the loot.

Who would have known that this Blood Centipede Cave was merely a place for Chen Dengming to refine his Gu.

At that time, Chen Dengming had not yet reached the Xiantian realm, but he was already a well-known hero in the Martial World. Facing the greedy martial artists, he had sternly warned them of the dangers within the cave, but no one was willing to listen, even suspecting that he was trying to scare them off to claim the treasures for himself.

Helpless, Chen Dengming could only let them be, secretly doing his best to control the blood centipedes to avoid harming anyone.

However, the greedy martial artists swarmed in, searching the caves extensively, eventually disturbing the blood centipedes and leading to many casualties.

For many years afterward, people still entered the cave, either unwilling to give up on the rumored treasures or coveting the manuals and weapons of those who had died there. It was only after more people died with little to show for it that the Blood Centipede Cave gradually became a forbidden zone, and no one dared to venture in rashly again.

"Without experiencing the lessons of blood, without hitting the southern wall, human greed will never cease."

The man in the fine robes sighed. Listening to the rustling sounds of centipedes crawling in the cave ahead, he walked to a nearby patch of low forest. Timing it perfectly, he bent down and began to dig a pit with a small hoe, extracting the poisonous fungi from within.

"Hiss--"

A colorful snake head suddenly lunged from the pit, flicking its red tongue.

He casually grabbed the snake head and pressed it back into the pit, while his other hand calmly began to collect the white-green poisonous fungi growing on the edges of the pit, placing them into the Gu pouch at his waist.

The pit was filled with a writhing mass of tangled venomous snakes—green, patterned, red, and more. Their cold eyes, scales, and flicking tongues were enough to strike fear into anyone.

Yet he was already accustomed to it, for he was an expert in Gu manipulation; cultivating the Madness Gu was merely a routine task.

He was, of course, the head of the Chen family, Chen Dengming, a legendary figure in the Nanxun Kingdom.

According to the Gu Dao classics left behind by the ancient Gu Immortal, this cultivated Madness Gu was the most common mortal Gu, possessing no rank.

However, even so, according to the Gu Refining Art, it still posed a certain threat to lower-level cultivators, making it one of the trump cards he had prepared before heading to the Ascension Convention.

Refining this Gu required burying venomous snakes in the soil to cultivate the snake venom fungi, then using the fungi to harm others or feed the blood centipedes to refine the Gu.

After collecting the Madness Gu, Chen Dengming went to a nearby bamboo forest to retrieve the Bamboo Slice Gu, which had been soaking in a special medicinal liquid inside bamboo tubes for over a decade.

Afterward, he went to a nearby pond to retrieve the Loach Gu, made by mixing loaches with his own hair and special poisonous mud.

Only after collecting all the various Gu poisons did Chen Dengming enter the infamous Blood Centipede Cave.

After lighting a fire starter, one could see deep within the Blood Centipede Cave a dense, writhing mass of blood-colored centipedes, enough to make anyone with trypophobia suffocate at the sight.

The sound of thousands of limbs crawling on the ground, or venomous pincers snapping at each other, was like countless popping candies crackling in one's ears.

Refining one Gu from ten thousand blood centipedes—that was the cruelty of Gu refining.

In this cave, only one blood centipede would eventually survive. That centipede would become the primary material for refining the Blood Gu, as the saying goes: "Take a hundred insects and put them in a jar; after a year, open it, and one insect will have eaten all the others. This is called Gu."

After taking off his clothes, Chen Dengming folded them neatly inside the cave.

Even at over eighty years old, his body remained robust and strong, his muscles layered and defined, marked by knife scars and sword wounds—the hallmarks of years of martial arts practice and battles in the Martial World.

He applied a special medicine to his body before stepping into the Blood Centipede Cave.

Countless ferocious Blood Centipede Gu caught his scent, instantly surging toward him like a tidal wave.

Chen Dengming felt no fear; he drew a blade to slice open the skin of his wrist, sprinkling his blood in a circle around his body.

Immediately, the swarming Blood Centipede Gu halted outside the circle he had drawn with his blood, viciously slaughtering one another as they vied to consume the droplets.

This was the so-called "Gu Refining via Human," a process both eerie and mysterious.

Blood Centipede Gu are inherently savage and unruly, making them difficult to command; once refined into a Blood Centipede Gu, they are even harder to control and prone to backlashing against their master.

However, through the "Gu Refining via Human" method, the Blood Centipede is forced to consume the refiner's blood mixed with medicinal liquids, ensuring the final Blood Centipede Gu obeys commands as if connected by blood and shared intent.

Chen Dengming had spent forty long years cultivating this Blood Centipede Gu.

Before heading to the Ascension Convention, this would be the final trump card he prepared for himself.

Once successfully refined, this Blood Centipede Gu would become a true Spirit Gu, posing a lethal threat even to cultivators.

Should anything go awry at the Ascension Convention, this would be the ace up Chen Dengming's sleeve to ensure his survival.

Furthermore, the Blood Centipede Gu would be the key to a further breakthrough in his Gu Refining Art, which would in turn extend his lifespan once more.

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