Chapter 441: The Origin of the Heavenly Corpse Gu

The young man feared that Yunhe, having obtained the follow-up technique of the Thousand Gu Myriad Insects Secret, would turn and flee.

But Yunhe also had his own ideas.

The young man before him could very well be the Heavenly Gu Patriarch that the Heavenly Insect Sect once had, but it is hard to believe that he could still be alive now.

Another possibility is that the young man before him is in fact another Heavenly Corpse Gu he had anticipated, meant to make him release it.

But regardless of whether the other party is the Heavenly Gu Patriarch or a Heavenly Corpse Gu, for Yunhe the most important thing is still to obtain the follow-up technique of the Thousand Gu Myriad Insects Secret.

Now that he has obtained the fifth layer, he also has some confidence.

At least it won't leave the Thousand Gu Myriad Insects Secret completely without a direction for further cultivation.

At the same time.

There is also a more important point.

Yunhe gradually realized that although the other party has lived a long time, they may not have a very high cultivation base.

He then voiced some of his doubts: "Was the Heavenly Insect Sect really destroyed by the Heavenly Corpse Gu back then?"

A Yuan Ying Cultivator has a lifespan of a thousand years, a Spirit Transformation Cultivator two thousand years—this is the common understanding.

They always have some astonishing, even hair-raising methods to circumvent the shackles of lifespan.

Now, the one who truly needs help is the other party, so the eager one should be them; they are the one holding the initiative.

Therefore, the Heart Demon Oath still has strong binding power over a Yuan Ying Cultivator.

As for knowledge of the Heavenly Corpse Gu, perhaps no one in the entire Eastern Border Cultivation World can compare to him.

Yunhe also laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

A flash of resentment crossed the Heavenly Gu Patriarch's face, yet he still solemnly uttered a perfectly standard Heart Demon Oath.

Now it's just a matter of who can hold on better, who can stay calmer—anyway, he isn't in a hurry.

The higher a cultivator's cultivation base, the more they dread the Heart Demon Oath, and the less likely they are to swear by their own heart demon; even if breaking the oath incurs no immediate penalty, in the days to come they will inevitably be shrouded by the heart demon—lightly becoming a heart demon puppet, severely perishing under the heart demon.

His smile mixed with a certain anger: "You are still the first person daring to negotiate terms with me like this."

However, after a brief hesitation, he asked: "Senior, are you really the Heavenly Gu Patriarch?"

To make Yunhe believe, he even added: "I can swear by my heart demon; my answer will certainly be truthful."

In the current Eastern Border Cultivation World, what Yunhe fears most is the Heavenly Corpse Gu.

Huh?

Yunhe raised his eyebrows.

So, the other party has no choice.

Easy to deal with?

To be frank.

The Heavenly Gu Patriarch laughed.

He continued: "Forget it; since your mind is full of doubts, go ahead and voice them all—I will answer each one."

Saying it amounts to saying nothing.

But he still didn't speak; he merely raised his hand slightly, gesturing for the other to swear first.

Such an answer obviously cannot satisfy Yunhe, though the specific details are surely a complicated matter that cannot be explained quickly.

"Not entirely?"

At least, through their earlier simple exchange, Yunhe gained confidence in his self-defense.

"Yes, it is indeed me." The Heavenly Gu Patriarch nodded candidly.

Either he hands over the follow-up technique of the Thousand Gu Myriad Insects Secret, or he will leave this place.

Seeing that the other party truly swore by their heart demon, Yunhe relaxed on the surface, but inwardly he remained vigilant.

For non-cultivators, taking an oath is merely a formality; their attitude toward oaths depends on how much they value it in their heart.

Moreover, he has another more important question; if the other party also tries to brush off the answer, then there is no need to continue this exchange.

For example, turning oneself into a refined corpse, cultivating oneself into a demon beast, and so on.

Thus he asked: "What is the origin of the Heavenly Corpse Gu? Is it truly something you, senior, cultivated?"

However, for some extraordinarily talented eccentrics or even monsters, this is not absolute.

The other party's words contain a certain loophole.

The Heavenly Gu Patriarch stared deeply at Yunhe for a long time before slowly saying: "You have dealt with the Heavenly Corpse Gu before, so you should know it's not an easy opponent, right?"

But cultivators are different.

Indeed it is.

Yunhe silently sighed.

As for how the Heavenly Gu Patriarch achieved that, Yunhe didn't ask, but he already had a certain guess in his heart.

"He can only say that it has a huge connection with it, and that is also the main reason."

How could something like that possibly be easy to deal with?

The Heavenly Gu Patriarch, having formed some guesses about Yunhe's relationship with the Heavenly Corpse Gu, did not think, because of Yunhe's bland expression, that their relationship would be very harmonious.

In fact.

"Not entirely." This time's answer, the Heavenly Gu Patriarch hesitated slightly.

As soon as this question was raised, the atmosphere inside the stone chamber once again became stagnant.

The Heavenly Gu Patriarch stared at Yunhe, his complexion shifting.

And Yunhe's body also tensed slightly, preparing to respond.

However, the thing that made him a little disappointed was that the Heavenly Gu Patriarch actually gave an answer.

The Heavenly Gu Patriarch also seemed to realize that this answer cannot be perfunctory, otherwise Yunhe would likely not accept it.

"Heavenly Corpse Gu, it is indeed something this ancestor cultivated."

Heavenly Gu Old Ancestor's expression became somewhat complicated, "But."

"But the foundation of this Gu was something this ancestor accidentally obtained in a secret realm of the Immortal Descendant clan."

"Immortal Descendant clan?"

Yunhe was startled.

The Immortal Descendant clan, in ancient times, was an alien race that stood on equal footing with the Abyss clan, Sea clan, and other such alien races.

No, it should be said that the Immortal Descendant clan was one of the most powerful races among all alien races at that time.

It is said that the Immortal Descendant clan are descendants of immortals; although they appear almost identical to humans, the blood flowing in their bodies differs from that of humans, and each individual possesses extraordinarily high cultivation talent, having once nearly ruled the ancient cultivation world.

And in the era when human cultivators rose in ancient times, while for other alien races human cultivators might let some branches flee due to lack of manpower, for the Immortal Descendant clan it was absolute: upon seeing one, they would kill it, vowing to utterly annihilate the entire Immortal Descendant clan.

Because once, the Immortal Descendant clan was the existence that ruled over humanity; to them at that time, humans were merely a kind of 'livestock' they kept, so the conflict between humans and the Immortal Descendant clan was also the greatest.

At the same time, Yunhe had also learned that, according to legend, during the unstable period of the ancient cultivation world's space, the Immortal Descendant clan could contact the upper realm, and even powerful cultivators could be sent down from the upper realm to aid the Immortal Descendant clan, which is why the clan could be so dominant in the ancient cultivation world.

Now, among some ancient legacies, the reason certain cultivation techniques and secret arts can be cultivated to the Divine Transformation stage or even higher is largely because these techniques mostly originated from the Immortal Descendant clan of that time, or were discovered by some human cultivators when the Immortal Descendant clan was wiped out and then passed down.

Of course, this is only part of it.

And the reason the Immortal Descendant clan was eventually wiped out is also because the ancient cultivation world's space gradually stabilized, the aid from the upper realm dwindled, and at the same time the reproduction and growth rates of human cultivators far exceeded the clan's expectations, ultimately leading to their extermination by human cultivators.

Who would have thought that the Heavenly Gu Old Ancestor could actually find a secret realm left behind by the Immortal Descendant clan?

Wait!

Yunhe suddenly seemed to think of something, a hint of surprise appearing on his face.

"That is to say,"

Heavenly Gu Old Ancestor obviously knew what he was thinking, nodding and saying, "Not wrong, the original Gu used to cultivate the Heavenly Corpse Gu has a high probability of originating from the upper realm."

After a pause, he added, "No, to be precise, its original Gu comes from the upper realm."

Upper realm

Who would have thought that the origins of the Heavenly Corpse Gu would actually be this significant?

Although I had already formed some speculation in my heart, upon truly learning the answer I still couldn't help feeling surprised.

At the same time.

Also marveling at the Heavenly Gu Old Ancestor's boldness.

From his words, it's not hard to hear that although the Heavenly Gu Old Ancestor knew the Heavenly Corpse Gu's original Gu came from the upper realm, he didn't even know what kind of Gu worm it was, yet dared to cultivate it; using secret arts he nurtured the Heavenly Corpse Gu, ultimately leading to the destruction of the Heavenly Insect Sect.

But the Heavenly Gu Old Ancestor's following words truly surprised Yunhe.

"The original Gu is a child Gu."

"!!"

Yunhe looked at the Heavenly Gu Old Ancestor in astonishment.

Child Gu?

If that's truly the case, doesn't that mean the Heavenly Corpse Gu might actually have a mother Gu existing in the upper realm?

Cultivating a child Gu into a mother Gu is not uncommon for Gu cultivators.

But no matter how the child Gu is cultivated, unless its level and cultivation base far exceed that of the mother Gu, encountering the mother Gu will inevitably result in restraint.

This is the survival law of Gu worms, an extremely strict hierarchy.

Using a simpler analogy.

For example, Yunhe's Soul Gu can produce many child Gu; Yunhe can choose to pour abundant resources into one of those child Gu to nurture it into a new mother Gu, but as long as this new mother Gu's level and strength cannot greatly surpass the mother gu of the Soul Gu, it will always be under the influence of that mother gu.

And since the original Gu of the Heavenly Corpse Gu comes from the upper realm, if the mother Gu in the upper realm has not died and the other party's ability is strong enough, it could even influence the Soul Gu to some extent.

But for the new mother Gu, there are also many benefits.

For example, it can to some extent inherit the mother Gu's abilities, secret arts, and even divine powers.

This also explains the origin of the mysterious 'Gu pattern' ability displayed by the Soul Gu in the Cang Demon Mountain secret realm.

At the same time.

Originally Yunhe didn't think a newly born Gu worm could destroy such a large sect as the Heavenly Insect Sect, but given that the original Gu of the Heavenly Corpse Gu is a child Gu originating from the upper realm, that changes things.

Perhaps at the moment of the Heavenly Corpse Gu's birth, it already possessed considerable ability.

After a long while.

Yunhe opened his mouth, and finally sighed, "Senior, you really are bold."

The Heavenly Gu Old Ancestor gave a light chuckle.

Bold?

There's something even bolder.

But before he could say anything, Yunhe seemed to guess something and suddenly asked, "So senior, did you refine the Heavenly Corpse Gu into your life Gu?"

"Huh?"

Heavenly Gu Old Ancestor narrowed his eyes, his fingers lightly rubbing the Gu furnace in his hand.

Refining a Gu worm into a life Gu is quite normal for a Gu cultivator.

Yunhe has already refined his Soul Gu into his life Gu, which is for easier control of the Gu worm and also to better unleash its abilities.

"Afterward, senior, did you again use secret arts to attempt to possess the Soul Gu?"

But Yunhe's probing remark is not something an ordinary Gu cultivator would do.

Even if the Heavenly Gu Old Ancestor feigned composure, Yunhe's remark caused him to lose his composure.

At the same time, due to his loss of composure, this further confirmed Yunhe's speculation.

How could a late-stage Yuan Ying cultivator live for thousands of years?

From Yunhe's perspective, this is impossible; if not for his Demon Beast Body, the thousand-year lifespan of a Yuan Ying cultivator would be his limit.

If he switched places.

He is Tian Gu Lao Zu, a late Nascent Soul great cultivator who, by a fortunate coincidence, obtained an insect worm from the Upper Realm and successfully cultivated a new mother insect—an immensely powerful insect worm with almost limitless potential.

It so happens that his lifespan is nearly exhausted at this point—what will he choose?

Take this insect worm as one of the great legacies of the Heavenly Insect Sect, pass it down, and then obediently accept sitting in meditation as the outcome?

No.

What is a cultivator?

Cultivating the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, seizing the heavenly Dao's opportunities, plundering all things of the myriad heavens, and gathering them into one's body—this is what a cultivator is.

Since a human cultivator's lifespan has already reached its limit, the identity of an insect worm is also not unacceptable.

The Heavenly Corpse Insect will become his new beginning.

That is a reasonable guess.

Tian Gu Lao Zu's reaction also further confirmed his guess.

Only in this way can one explain why Tian Gu Lao Zu can live so long, why he cannot leave this place, why he cannot enter the insect rearing chamber—because he himself is a Heavenly Corpse Insect!

At the same time, it also explains why Yunhe's divine sense cannot detect Tian Gu Lao Zu's presence, for his true body resides within that insect furnace, and his current appearance is merely an illusory image formed from the white smoke drifting out of the furnace.

This also explained why he had guessed there were two heavenly corpse gu, yet had not seen them for a long time.

It is simply because the Heavenly Gu Old Ancestor is trapped here and cannot escape.

But he also could not understand: if the Heavenly Gu Old Ancestor had taken over a heavenly corpse gu, why would there be one outside and one here, making two heavenly corpse gu?

Moreover, why could the heavenly corpse gu leave, but the Heavenly Gu Old Ancestor could not?

More importantly, why did a single heavenly corpse gu split into two?

Could it be that the Heavenly Gu Old Ancestor cultivated two mother gu?

But he clearly said he had obtained only one child gu.

Because he had sworn a heart‑demon oath, although the Heavenly Gu Old Ancestor could evade the answer with wording and exploit linguistic loopholes to avoid the oath's punishment, he indeed said there was only one child gu, so that is not false.

Having answered one doubt, Yunhe's heart instead gave rise to even more doubts.

Faced with Yunhe's scrutiny, the gentle expression the Heavenly Gu Old Ancestor had maintained finally vanished completely, and even his appearance underwent a tremendous change.

In an instant, he changed from a sunny‑looking youth into a gaunt old man exuding a gloomy, cold aura, even mixed with strong death qi and corpse qi.

Staring fixedly at Yunhe, he hoarsely asked, "How did you guess that?"

(End of chapter)