Chapter 1007 - 731: Chen Hua

Divine Land Continent.

Southwest corner, Celestial Ridge Immortal Stronghold!

This place is surrounded by mountains, shrouded in mist all year round, with extremely lush vegetation.

It’s late spring, the forest is vibrant, and the scent of herbs permeates the air.

In the stronghold, seven or eight young men and women, dressed in coarse cloth shirts, carry bamboo herbal baskets, following behind a middle-aged man in a yellow robe.

The leading man in the yellow robe is Uncle Chen Si, an elder in the stronghold, calm in demeanor, and the person these young ones trust the most.

He looks solemn, his eyes scanning the group, occasionally speaking, urging everyone to always be cautious of the poisonous insects and unknown dangers lurking in the forest.

The entire forest is tranquil and serene, only the rustling of the wind and the soft sound of leaves can be heard.

But just then!

A young boy at the end of the group suddenly froze.

The next moment, his face turned pale as paper, cold sweat instantaneously covered his forehead, and he clenched his abdomen tightly as if countless sharp blades were crazily tearing and gnawing his insides.

"Ah—!!"

A shrill scream shattered the forest’s silence, the boy’s legs buckled, he heavily knelt onto the damp soil, his body convulsing violently, rolling and struggling on the ground, his expression twisted and hideous, enduring excruciating pain as if living through death, his breathing becoming erratic and broken.

Just a few breaths later, his eyes suddenly rolled back, his body stiffened, all struggles abruptly ceased, he completely lost consciousness and collapsed on the ground.

"Brother!!"

"What’s wrong with you? Don’t scare us!"

The young ones instantly panicked, all dropping their herbs, quickly gathering around to look at their unconscious companion with a face turning bluish, their eyes filled with terror and confusion.

"Uncle! Come quickly! Something’s wrong with Brother!" someone urgently shouted.

Upon hearing, Uncle Chen Si quickly stepped forward, bent down to open the boy’s eyelids, his fingertips resting on the boy’s pulse for a moment before furrowing his brows tightly, his expression steady as water, speaking slowly and seriously:

"The Gu insects have activated."

These brief five words, like thunder in winter, exploded in everyone’s ears.

All the surrounding young men and women instantly felt a chill, their faces drained of color, each youthful face as pale as paper.

They were all born and raised in the Celestial Ridge Immortal Stronghold, having grown up witnessing the terrifying consequences of Gu poison activation.

In the stronghold, anyone who angers the high and mysterious Immortal Master would be locked in an iron cage as punishment.

Everyone has seen, the tiny Gu insects, jet-black as ink, crawling out alive from beneath people’s skin inside the chest and abdomen, densely swarming, gnawing blood and flesh, tearing organs, ultimately gnawing a person down to bones, leaving no remains.

That bloody and mysterious scene is fear engraved into the bones of every clan member.

Uncle Chen Si looked at the boy who was unconscious, sighed softly, knowing the situation was dangerous and dared not delay.

He turned quickly, stepping into the deep shrubbery, weaving between the grass and trees, returning after just a few breaths.

At this moment, he held a long worm, entirely crimson, shining scales bright, in his palm, its tongue flitting, the stench of poison rushing towards you, causing one’s scalp to tingle.

"It’s a Red Stripe!"

The crowd immediately retreated in fear, avoiding even a tiny bit of closeness.

Uncle Chen Si’s expression remained unchanged, his palm turned black, forcibly extracting venom from the snake’s mouth.

Then, he formed a sword finger, sharply slashing with his fingertip.

With a sound of tearing!

The boy’s upper arm instantly cracked open with a thin, blood-red wound, slowly oozing blood.

Under the startled, heart-pounding gazes of the young ones, Uncle Chen Si applied a slight amount of venom gently on the fresh wound without hesitation.

After doing all this, he straightened up, looked at the crowd’s confused and frightened expressions, and slowly explained:

"The Gu insects inside us inherently love poison; the stronger the venom, the more it can suppress their agitation."

"On usual days, the antidotes distributed in the stronghold use special methods to make the Gu insects dormant."

"Now Brother’s Gu poison has erupted suddenly, and we don’t have the antidote, so we can only fight poison with poison, perhaps there is a slim chance of survival."

His gaze swept across the crowd:

"In the future, when you are gathering herbs outside or walking through forests, should the Gu poison suddenly erupt, you can also try this method."

"But this method is ultimately a struggle for life in danger, a desperate fight; whether one can endure it depends on their own fate, and I am powerless."

Once done speaking, a brave boy couldn’t help but step forward, asking with doubt:

"Uncle, we just took the antidote distributed by the Immortal Master a few days ago, which should stabilize us for more than a month; why did Brother’s Gu poison suddenly activate?"

Uncle Chen Si shook his head gently, full of helplessness in his eyes:

"The nature of Gu is mysterious, varying from person to person."

"For most people, one pill is sufficient to stabilize them for a month, but there are always a few..."

He shook his head, looking at the unconscious, weakly breathing boy on the ground, sighed deeply:

"This time, Er Ya Zi can only rely on fate."

"You all keep guard over him for a quarter of an hour. As soon as a Gu insect emerges, we’ll leave immediately."

Everyone, upon hearing this, stared intently at the boy’s body, filled with anxiety.

A long and oppressive quarter-hour quietly passed.

The terrifying scene of black Gu insects emerging from the body did not occur as expected.

Uncle Chen Si’s tense expression finally relaxed slightly, nodding slowly:

"A quarter-hour without a Gu insect emerging, this calamity can be considered endured."

"Er Ya Zi’s luck isn’t bad, he’s gotten back his life. After resting for a while, he should wake up on his own."

Upon hearing this, all the boys and girls collectively breathed a sigh of relief, their hearts no longer suspended at their throats.

A moment passed.

The boy on the ground lightly fluttered his eyelashes and slowly opened his eyes. Bewilderment, daze, suspicion, and many other emotions instantly filled his eyes.

Before his eyes were verdant mountains and forests shrouded in mist.

Beside his ears were the low whispers and concerns of unfamiliar youths, and at the tip of his nose was the rich aroma of grass and herbs—everything felt entirely unfamiliar.

Countless unfamiliar fragments of memories surged into his mind like a tide.

A total of two sets of memories.

One set belonged to the previous life, as an ordinary person on Earth, a diligent low-level office worker working hard for half a life, ultimately striking it lucky.

The other set belonged to this world, a boy without parents at the Celestial Ridge Immortal Stronghold, barely surviving day by day in the fortress.

Chen Hua’s eyes gleamed with realization, murmuring to himself:

"Did I... transmigrate?"

"It seems this world allows for cultivation?"

Quickly sorting through all the memories, a cold chill surged through his heart.

This is not some carefree, celestial fantasy world but a living, dark cultivation world!

The entire Celestial Ridge Immortal Stronghold, from the elderly to the infants, were uniformly planted with Gu insects by that Immortal Master.

The power of life and death lay with a single thought; all could only become puppets, manipulated at will!

"This start is so horrible!"

Chen Hua chuckled bitterly inside, burdened with lethal Gu poison from the start, fate out of his control, pitch-black was the road ahead.

In this desperate situation, he instinctively felt the typical longing of all transmigrators:

"Where’s my cheat power?"

As soon as the thought fell.

Buzz—

His consciousness instantly broke free from the shackles of the physical body, suddenly plunging into a vast, boundless, chaotic, and misty gray space.

The entire space was deathly silent, except for the flowing gray mist swirling about.

As his consciousness descended, the former widespread gray mist rapidly converged, receded, and dispersed.

At the center of space, an ancient, solemn, majestic palace slowly revealed its true form.

Chen Hua’s heart spirit trembled, eyes full of shock:

"Isn’t this the replica antique palace I casually bought at the antique market in my previous life?"

"It actually transmigrated with me? This is my cheat power?"

He focused his gaze on the ancient palace, eyes full of anticipation:

"I must study it well, to see what kind of wondrous use this opportunity truly has!"

...

Above the gray mist.

Chen Sheng’s gaze descended here quietly, his eyes indifferent, murmuring inwardly:

"Exploring outer dimensions is indeed even more intricate and arduous than I anticipated."

"No wonder the former Taiyin Fuwei Yingkui Immortal Monarch was so delighted and eager upon first seeing me."

Fortunately, he holds the Hundred Generations Book, capable of tracing origins across bloodlines, crossing many obstacles, and finally accurately locking onto this hidden outer dimension.

Now, his gaze rested on Chen Hua.

Chen Sheng nodded slightly:

"Relying on bloodline tracing, this child is of Old Fourth’s bloodline. Without my intervention, with the outbreak of Gu poison, he would surely die."

"I even took special care to weave him a complete transmigration memory from the other world and gifted him a cheat power to pave his way. I hope he doesn’t disappoint me."