Starting Out with the God-Devouring Physique
Great Qian Dynasty, Guangyang City.
Though the little city was remote, its proximity to the Black Forest, teeming with demonic beasts, brought frequent traffic from merchant caravans and mercenary groups, making it quite prosperous.
At that moment, outside a luxurious auction house in the city.
A dilapidated carriage rolled unsteadily toward it with shrill creaks.
Inside the carriage, a pale-faced young man sat up with a hand against his forehead, bewilderment crossing his face as he surveyed his surroundings.
"I... transmigrated?"
Gu Fan lowered his head. He was now wearing a moon-white robe, with a jade pendant glimmering faintly at his waist-the unmistakable attire of a young nobleman from ancient times.
However.
Looking at his withered hands, like those of an old man, he felt something was strange.
The antique mirror before him clearly reflected a youth of only seventeen or eighteen. Though his face was sickly pale, surely his hands should not have been so withered?
And when he lifted his clothes.
The skin on this body's arms, and even across its entire body, was covered in decrepit wrinkles, like someone dying whose allotted time was nearly up!
"What is going on?"
The instant this question arose in Gu Fan's mind, a vast jumble of memories flooded into it.
Mysterious Heaven Continent... Azure Yang Domain...
Great Qian Dynasty... the royal capital's Gu Lineage...
Patriarch... elders... the main branch's only scion... a cripple...
Memory after memory flickered through Gu Fan's mind like a fleeting dream of glory.
They also gradually revealed to him just what sort of world he now inhabited!
The Mysterious Heaven Continent!
This was a fantasy world where the strong reigned supreme and countless races stood tall!
The mightiest could hold up the heavens above and suppress the Nine Netherworlds below. Even a minor cultivator could move mountains, split rocks, and sever rivers!
Moreover, the Mysterious Heaven Continent was boundless, spanning untold hundreds of millions upon hundreds of millions of miles.
Just one of its domains was larger than the Earth he had inhabited in his previous life!
As for Gu Fan.
He was now within the Great Qian Dynasty in the Azure Yang Domain.
His identity was that of a main-branch descendant of the Gu Lineage-one of the royal capital's seven great Lineages.
And he was the main branch's only scion!
Among the younger generation, he alone belonged to the main branch.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, once the now-aged patriarch passed away, he would be the most legitimate heir to the entire Gu Lineage!
"Unforeseen circumstances?"
Gu Fan's gaze grew distant as he recalled the depths of those memories.
Ever since this body had formed in his mother's womb, its appetite had been enormous.
But a large appetite was a good thing. It proved that this newborn life was sure to possess extraordinary talent in this world!
So much so that the entire Gu Lineage pinned its hopes on this tiny life, hoping he would possess outstanding aptitude and lead the Gu Lineage to continue standing supreme in the Great Qian Dynasty!
And the day he was born truly shook not only the Gu Lineage, but the entire royal capital!
That day, strange phenomena descended from the heavens.
Thunder flashed in broad daylight, lotuses sprang from the earth, and even a qilin appeared in the sky to bestow its blessing!
Such phenomena undoubtedly proved that Gu Fan was extraordinary from birth, with a great future ahead!
From then on, the entire Gu Lineage placed its hopes on him.
Precious pills, natural treasures, and other valuables were all used to nourish his body, in the hope that Gu Fan would give them a pleasant surprise when he turned twelve.
But.
When the time for his awakening at twelve truly approached.
All the Gu Lineage received was surprise... with nothing pleasant about it!
The God-Devouring Physique!
That was the constitution the testing stele identified in Gu Fan.
Though this constitution had a domineering name, claiming it could devour even gods!
Everyone in the Great Qian Dynasty knew just what a terrible constitution the God-Devouring Physique was!
Because the God-Devouring Physique could not awaken, and being unable to awaken meant being unable to cultivate-a cripple!
And worse still.
The God-Devouring Physique would continuously devour its host's essence, Qi, and spirit, never stopping until it had devoured the host completely!
In other words.
Not only could Gu Fan not cultivate, but he would eventually die from the God-Devouring Physique's backlash!
Twelve years of high hopes, only to end in such an absurd result?
The entire Gu Lineage was utterly disappointed.
Moreover, over those dozen-odd years, the Gu Lineage had invested so many treasures in Gu Fan.
Now that it had all come to nothing, like drawing water with a bamboo basket, some members of the Gu Lineage naturally felt furious.
And so.
From that day onward.
Cold shoulders and suppression from the elders and younger generation came at Gu Fan one after another.
Though the aged patriarch said little, Gu Fan still sensed the profound disappointment in his eyes.
From the pinnacle to desolation.
Despite experiencing the full warmth and coldness of human relations, Gu Fan did not lose heart.
Utterly unwilling to accept his fate, he spent six years poring over collections and reading every ancient text he could, hoping to uncover the God-Devouring Physique's secrets.
But time and again, all he found was no solution, no solution, no solution!
And without natural treasures to nourish it, the God-Devouring Physique began devouring his essence, Qi, and spirit.
Over six years, his body had been devoured until it was like a candle flickering in the wind, its oil spent and its wick burned dry.
However.
It was under precisely these circumstances.
That Gu Fan uncovered the truth about the God-Devouring Physique in an ancient book held by an old beggar!
From that ancient book, he learned that this constitution lived up to its name and was extraordinarily domineering!
Everything in the world lay within the scope of its devouring power. Anything swept up by that power would be devoured and turned into nourishment.
As for Gu Fan.
Because he had no supply of natural treasures.
He was undoubtedly in the very situation of being swept up by that devouring power!
Without external sustenance, Gu Fan, who had yet to awaken the God-Devouring Physique... would die from the backlash of its devouring power!
The only way to reverse this was to use an extremely powerful treasure to awaken the God-Devouring Physique and become its master!
Learning the reason left Gu Fan immensely excited.
But immediately afterward, a basin of cold water was poured over his head.
No sooner had he returned to the Gu Lineage than he received orders banishing him to the remote little city of Guangyang City.
This was a unanimous decision by the elders. Though the patriarch did everything he could to stop it, he could not withstand the elders, whose influence had long since grown immense.
As for why the elders unanimously targeted Gu Fan.
It was because... the Lineage tournament would take place in one month!
In other words... the day when the Gu Lineage's young patriarch would be chosen!
Though Gu Fan could not cultivate, as the main branch's only scion, he was a nail in their eyes, a thorn in their flesh.
The best solution was to drive him out of the royal capital and send him to a remote little city to await death!
And that.
Was why Gu Fan had found himself in Guangyang City upon waking.
Thinking of all this.
Gu Fan could not help letting out a long sigh. "What... am I supposed to do?"
Awakening the God-Devouring Physique required powerful objects imbued with spirituality-precious pills and natural treasures.
And these had to be fourth-tier treasures at the very least.
Fourth-tier treasures... there had never been any even in the royal capital, let alone remote Guangyang City!
Though the God-Devouring Physique was a divine physique, immensely powerful.
If he could not awaken it, he would die from the backlash of its devouring power!
He had only just died once, and now he had to die again right after transmigrating?
As these thoughts ran through his mind.
The carriage gave a slight jolt and stopped.
They had reached... the auction house.