Zhua Yun began recounting a long-buried past in a low, solemn tone.
"My master, when his mind was still clear, once told me that his surname was Gu. But as for his exact name..."
"Even he himself, after the long years and torment of his mind, could no longer remember it."
"He once followed the Body Sect's previous previous Sect Master. In those days, when the sect was still struggling to establish itself and expand its territory, he rendered tremendous service. He was a true elder and benefactor of the sect."
"In middle age, Master became obsessed with researching Martial Souls, especially the deeper essence of our Body Martial Souls."
"He and several like-minded fellow disciples devoted themselves to the vast undertaking of exploring the 'Secret of the Body.'"
"They poured countless efforts into it and endured innumerable failures and attempts..." Reverence entered Zhua Yun's voice. "In the end, they succeeded."
"One of the most fundamental and greatest achievements they developed was the 'Body Martial Soul Secondary Awakening'—now an undisclosed secret of our Body Sect, one that inspires awe in countless Spirit Masters!"
Long Zhanye was deeply shaken.
The Body Martial Soul Secondary Awakening was the supreme realm every Body Sect disciple dreamed of attaining, one of the foundations that allowed the sect to stand above its peers!
Who would have thought that one of its original developers was actually the "Mad Old Man" in that Underground Secret Chamber?
Zhua Yun's voice sank, tinged with sorrow and indignation. "But at the same time, throughout that long and profound research..."
"With astonishing talent and an almost obsessive spirit of inquiry, my master also proposed many other bold ideas and theories regarding Body Martial Souls."
"He built a vast theoretical framework that he called the 'Nine Body Secrets.' Unfortunately..."
"Those even more advanced, even shockingly unconventional theories were firmly rejected and suppressed by the Sect Master of that time and the next two generations of Sect Masters for various reasons."
"They believed Master had gone mad, that his ideas were absurd, even... heretical."
His fists clenched involuntarily. "Apart from the 'Second Awakening,' which was accepted, all of Master's life's work was regarded as dross."
"Faced with the increasingly distant gazes of his fellow disciples, and the Sect Master's merciless doubts and rejection, amid long years of repression, loneliness, and misunderstanding..."
"Master's mind finally broke. Sometimes he was lucid, sometimes insane, until he became what he is now!"
"He could only hide away in that sunless underground place, keeping company with his research and those... samples."
"He may look emaciated and withered, but do you know that his true age has already exceeded... two hundred years?"
Zhua Yun dropped an even more astonishing piece of information.
"Two hundred years?!" Long Zhanye truly cried out this time, no longer able to maintain his composure.
"That's impossible! Even an ordinary Titled Douluo only lives two or three hundred years!"
"Only a legendary Limit Douluo might possibly reach the threshold of a thousand years!!"
"But when I sensed his Soul Power aura last time, he absolutely hadn't reached the Titled Douluo realm. He might not even be a Soul Douluo!"
"With his cultivation, living past a hundred would already be rare. How could he have lived more than two hundred years?! This... this is simply unheard of!"
"That's right. It does sound unbelievable." Zhua Yun had expected this reaction, and he nodded.
Then he offered an even more chilling explanation. "But do you know why?"
"Do you remember... when my master caught you last time and said he wanted to take some of your blood?"
Long Zhanye recalled the icy dagger and the old man's crazed words, and he could not help shuddering.
"It may sound cruel, but... according to my master, it truly has miraculous life-extending effects."
Zhua Yun's voice was calm, yet what he said made one's scalp tingle.
"One of the Nine Body Secrets contains a method of using the blood of young Spirit Masters, combined with various precious medicinal ingredients, to refine special life-extending elixirs."
"By consuming these elixirs, refined with human blood as an important medicinal catalyst, he was able to break through the limits imposed by his cultivation and live for such an extended span."
"For all these years, he has... consumed the blood of an unknown number of people."
Long Zhanye was dumbstruck, a chill shooting from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.
Even though he had long considered him a "Mad Old Man," he had never imagined that the man had truly entered such a sinister, bloody field!
Using human blood to make medicine and extend one's life? That sounded like something only those evil Spirit Masters from legends would do!
But after his shock subsided, a strange thought surfaced: If... if one only had to give some blood without losing one's life in exchange for a long lifespan...
"To those old monsters trapped at a bottleneck with their lifespans nearing their end, that would probably be an irresistible temptation, wouldn't it?"
"This method may be wicked, but in a sense, it could still be considered a... 'solution'?"
He forcibly suppressed the turmoil within him and asked another, more crucial question—one that frightened him even more:
"Then... what about all those human organs displayed in jars in that secret chamber? Could they also be...?"
Zhua Yun's expression grew even more solemn, and he nodded.
He then gave an explanation that Long Zhanye found even harder to believe. "Those are indeed real human organs."
"But their significance goes far beyond that. The vast majority of them correspond to... Body Martial Souls."
"What?!" Long Zhanye nearly thought he had misheard.
"These organs were not obtained through indiscriminate slaughter of innocents." Zhua Yun's tone carried a heavy reverence.
"The vast majority came from elders, stewards, and fellow disciples who had died fighting for the sect or fallen for other reasons."
"My master, after obtaining their consent before death or permission from their closest relatives..."
"Carefully preserved the organs that possessed Body Martial Souls after their deaths, using them as the most precious research samples."
He paused. "After so many years of accumulation, there are already hundreds, even thousands, of such samples."
"That secret chamber could be said to be the unique 'Body Martial Soul Sample Repository' Master built by exhausting his life's work."
Long Zhanye's heart surged with emotion, yet he also felt an indescribable shock.
If what Zhua Yun said was true, then that elderly man surnamed Gu had devoted his entire life to exploring the ultimate mysteries of Body Martial Souls.
The price of his persistence and dedication was moving, but also terrifying.
"Then... did your master discover anything from those samples?"
Long Zhanye could not help pressing further. He vaguely sensed that the answer might concern whether he could be "cured."
"Good question!" Zhua Yun's eyes lit up. He knew the most crucial part had arrived.
"This is exactly why I called you here today! I mentioned earlier that Master proposed the theory of the 'Nine Body Secrets.'"
"Besides the already public 'Second Awakening,' while studying under Master, I was fortunate enough to learn part of the seventh secret among the other secrets."
"Master called it—the 'Body Martial Soul Grafting Technique'!"
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