Chapter 394 - 391: Origin

Shen Changchuan was somewhat surprised.

The one who appeared before him wasn't the True Cultivator of Soul Emergence he had been expecting.

Instead, it was merely a Cultivator from the Qi Introduction Realm.

Moreover, it was an acquaintance.

Guo Cheng!

Ten years ago, not long after Shen Changchuan had first arrived in Dawan Village, this man had been the leader of a village under its jurisdiction.

Later,

chaos erupted, and he disappeared without a trace.

Later still,

several years passed.

Shen Changchuan unexpectedly rescued him from a Demon Cultivator deep within the Demon Beast Forest.

And afterward, he had been repaid for his deed.

The reward was the Jade Slip that recorded the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu!

"Greetings, Immortal Master. Congratulations on achieving even greater heights in your Cultivation!"

Upon seeing Shen Changchuan,

Guo Cheng hurriedly bowed his head and clasped his hands in a salute.

He didn't even dare to use the title "Young Master" as he had three years ago, switching instead to the respectful address of "Immortal Master."

He couldn't help it.

The gap between them was just too vast!

Three years ago, Shen Changchuan had only just entered the Soul Emergence Realm. Back then, Guo Cheng could still rely on their former superior-subordinate relationship to feel a little closer to him.

But now,

the man had already advanced to the Soul Emergence Middle Stage.

In the Tian Nan Domain, this was a Cultivation Realm that countless Elder Ancestors and Sect Leaders of Soul Emergence Clans and Sect Influences could only dream of reaching!

To Guo Cheng,

that was practically the Realm of a legendary figure!

He naturally didn't dare to show the slightest disrespect.

"There's no need for such formality. We are old acquaintances, after all. It seems you've also grown quite a bit over the years."

Shen Changchuan scanned him from head to toe, nodding as he spoke.

After not seeing him for several years, the man's Cultivation had already reached the Qi Introduction Ninth Layer Peak.

He was just half a step away from crossing the threshold into Soul Emergence.

'It seems that these past few years,'

'he's had some fortuitous encounters of his own.'

However,

Shen Changchuan wasn't particularly concerned about it.

"It is all thanks to Immortal Master's guidance that this humble one is where he is today!"

After a brief conversation,

Shen Changchuan didn't waste any more words.

He got straight to the point and asked about the Gold-Devouring Spirit Butterfly.

Not daring to be slow,

Guo Cheng explained the entire situation.

It was a long story.

Six or seven years ago,

the affair with the Cyan Essence Water Grass in the Wu Family Collection had attracted the covetous eyes of various powers.

Guo Cheng, who had spent some time navigating the Immortal Cultivation Realm, sensed the immense hidden danger in advance, so he immediately closed his Lao Mountain Temple.

He packed up his things and fled ahead of time.

Unfortunately, he was ultimately too slow. He ran into Tribulation Cultivators along the way and was forced to flee for his life.

Afterward,

due to some unforeseen circumstances,

he fled all the way to the Nanyue Kingdom.

While in the Nanyue Kingdom,

during an expedition,

he stumbled upon a battle between powerful experts.

The explosions from the great battle spread for several miles.

Panicked, he scrambled to escape and didn't have the presence of mind to investigate.

Perhaps it was a case of his luck turning around.

After fleeing for ten or twenty miles, he encountered a grievously wounded, dying youth from a tribe. The youth was dressed in lavish clothing and was at the Qi Introduction Ninth Layer Peak.

The tribal youth attacked him on sight.

But because his injuries were too severe,

he ended up being killed by Guo Cheng instead.

After killing the man, Guo Cheng didn't dare to linger. He hastily dealt with the body and the scene of the battle before hurriedly leaving.

It wasn't until he returned to his base and took stock of his loot that he realized he might have killed someone of great importance!

The Jade Slip that recorded the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu,

had come from that tribal youth's Storage Bag!

And from other identifying items in the Storage Bag,

Guo Cheng easily deduced that the youth he had killed was likely the Young Master of the Witch Clan—one of the Spirit Race's Four Major Clans!

This undoubtedly sent Guo Cheng into a panic.

He guarded the secret with his life, not daring to tell a soul.

Not long after,

he heard a piece of news from the black market:

the Clan Leader of the Witch Clan had issued a kill order for his son's murderer and posted a bounty of one thousand Middle Grade Spirit Stones!

One thousand Middle Grade Spirit Stones—that was one hundred thousand Lower Grade Spirit Stones!

Without a doubt,

for a powerless Junior Loose Cultivator like him in the Qi Introduction Realm, this was an absolute death warrant!

Fortunately, no one else had seen him kill the man.

No one knew that the Young Master of the Witch Clan had died at his hands.

But because of this,

Guo Cheng didn't dare to sell the Jade Slip with the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu, or anything else from the Storage Bag.

He was afraid that if word got out, his head would one day be taken to be exchanged for one hundred thousand Spirit Stones!

Terrified,

he spent all the Spirit Stones he had to board a Flying Ship from the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion Commerce Association and flee back to the Tian Nan Domain.

But his bad luck continued. Not long after returning to the Tian Nan Domain, he saw that peace had been restored with the establishment of the Dragon Cloud Sect. Lacking Spirit Stones and Cultivation Resources, he went out on an expedition to gather supplies.

As a result, a moment of carelessness led him straight into the hands of a Demon Cultivator.

That was, until he was rescued by Shen Changchuan.

After this series of twists and turns,

Guo Cheng learned from his painful experience. He decided he wanted to trade everything he had for Cultivation Resources so that he would have some ability to defend himself against future threats.

And so,

Guo Cheng, holding the Jade Slip for the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu, set his sights on his savior, Shen Changchuan.

One reason was that he felt he couldn't possibly repay the life-saving debt,

and another was that he recalled Shen Changchuan's good character and generous nature, which meant he would surely receive a handsome reward.

The outcome was indeed just as he had hoped.

Using the tens of thousands of Spirit Stones and priceless Elixirs gifted by Shen Changchuan as capital, combined with some of his own fortuitous encounters later on,

he advanced by leaps and bounds over three years, breaking through to the Qi Introduction Ninth Layer Peak Realm.

At this point,

he naturally began to covet the True Cultivator of Soul Emergence Realm, something he wouldn't have dared to dream of before.

But Guo Cheng also knew very well

that his Cultivation was mostly built upon a pile of Elixirs and Heavenly and Earthly Treasures.

The foundation of his strength was extremely unstable.

Even with the help of a Soul Emergence Pill, his chances of a successful breakthrough would be low.

Thus,

the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu entered his sights.

Of course,

he also knew that a Divine Object like this wasn't something he was qualified to covet.

Even if he managed to gather all the materials, refining the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu would be a huge problem.

But,

a man can always dream.

How could you be sure there wouldn't be a way forward when the time came?

A Cultivator,

is someone who fights against the heavens for their destiny.

Even if there's only a slim chance, one has to try.

Therefore,

he turned his attention to the Witch Clan within the Spirit Race.

Since the Witch Clan possessed this Technique, and they specialized in the cultivation of Gu Techniques, it was impossible that they wouldn't attempt to refine it.

For the better part of the year since he'd advanced to the Qi Introduction Ninth Layer Peak, he had returned to the Nanyue Kingdom,

and had been running around mostly for this purpose.

And,

he had actually managed to gather some intelligence!

As early as twenty-odd years ago,

the Witch Clan had publicly posted a bounty for the purchase of a Gold-Devouring Spirit Butterfly.

However, because the Gold-Devouring Spirit Butterfly had extremely harsh growth requirements and possessed other wondrous uses, it was quite rare in the Immortal Cultivation Realm.

It seemed the Witch Clan had never managed to buy one.

But half a year ago,

they actually managed to buy one at a market held by the Four Major Clans of the Nanyue Kingdom. It was said that this even caused a significant conflict, causing the news to spread far and wide.

Of course, none of that was important.

What was important was that even if Guo Cheng knew the whereabouts of the Gold-Devouring Spirit Butterfly, it was meaningless. After all, he was merely at the Qi Introduction Ninth Layer Peak and was incapable of pulling a tooth from a tiger's mouth.

Until,

not long after returning to Barbaric City,

he heard the news of Shen Changchuan's great display of power and discovered the task Shen Changchuan had posted on the City Lord's Mansion's quest list...