Chapter 1056: Disintegration and Reincarnation, Vacuum Gu Insect

Luo Chen didn't know much about the Luo Sect; most of what he knew was hearsay.

But he was quite knowledgeable about some of the major events.

Especially the internal strife of the Luo Sect back then, where one of the left and right envoys, the Right Envoy Nan Yiqi, practiced North Sea demonic arts, wanting to refine the entire sect alive to create a million-soul banner capable of contending with Soul Transformation powerhouses.

From Luo Chen's current knowledge, Nan Yiqi was truly delusional.

A million-soul banner was indeed at the level of a spiritual treasure, but it also depended on who was controlling it and the rank of the main soul within; otherwise, what would it use to contend with a Soul Transformation powerhouse?

Hadn't he, Luo Chen, previously refined a million-soul banner, with the fifth-tier ghost god Kui Niu as the main soul, only for it to be damaged by the deep foundation of the Tianyuan Dao Sect?

The delusional Nan Yiqi ultimately failed and fled to the North Sea.

That internal strife caused the top sect of the Southern Border, the Luo Sect, to suffer a great loss of vitality, and the Supreme Elder Meng Shentong had been healing and in seclusion for many years.

Most importantly, a legacy Gu insect within it was stolen by Nan Yiqi.

At this moment, Old Ghost Nanqi used this as a pretext, which indeed aroused Luo Chen's interest.

The way of Gu insects was eerie and miraculous!

Whether it was the evil of the demonic heart, the pain of a hundred poisons, or the heaven and earth fortune involved in the two great Gu insects of disaster and fortune, they all contained great fortune.

He, Luo Chen, had suffered from them, but had also gained many benefits from them.

This strong physique of his had part of the credit of the Hundred Poison King Gu!

"Hand over that Gu insect!" Luo Chen said directly, without any beating around the bush.

Old Ghost Nanqi was startled. "You know it's a Gu insect?"

Luo Chen smiled slightly. "For Southern Border cultivators, cultivation techniques, secret treasures, talismans, and elixirs are not very important; Gu insects are the foundation. Since you said it was an important item, it must be a Gu insect."

Old Ghost Nanqi's expression changed, and the emotional fluctuations in his heart, without the cover of a physical body, were exceptionally lively, making it obvious at a glance.

He hesitated. "That heavy treasure is indeed a Gu insect, and I can gift it to you, senior. But senior, you must let me go!"

"Must?" Luo Chen asked back, his expression containing a hint of mockery.

Old Ghost Nanqi's heart trembled, and he hurriedly said, "This Gu insect has already been refined with my heart's blood; if I perish, it will also self-destruct along with me. Senior, please do not force it."

Luo Chen's mouth curled up. "I naturally won't force it; it's just an external object. However..."

While saying "however," an item appeared in his hand.

It was a message Gu, which was given to him by Meng Shentong during their brief exchange back then.

The purpose was for him to notify Meng Shentong when he encountered Old Ghost Nanqi.

Upon seeing the message Gu, Old Ghost Nanqi's face changed drastically.

"You say, if I hand you over to Meng Shentong, with the strictness of the Luo Sect's rules, how will he deal with you, a traitor?"

Old Ghost Nanqi couldn't help but tremble.

He was a member of the Luo Sect and understood this top Southern Border sect better than anyone else.

The secret techniques targeting the soul within it were countless, and there was always one suitable for dealing with his current state.

Moreover, judging by the soul-searching mastery Luo Chen displayed when he brutally searched the soul of the Lie Tian Sect Master earlier, it was unlikely he would even be able to get past Luo Chen.

In the silence, Luo Chen's light voice came.

"Be honest. Today you are destined to perish. But even in perishing, there are two kinds: soul flying away and scattering, or returning to reincarnation. If I am in a good mood, perhaps I can let you disintegrate yourself, with the hope of re-cultivating in the next life."

A "perhaps" was clearly not a promise; what Luo Chen would specifically do depended entirely on Old Ghost Nanqi's performance.

Amidst the oppression, Old Ghost Nanqi suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Forget it. Since I have fallen into your hands today, senior, I don't need to resist stubbornly."

"Senior, look at this item."

"Its name—Vacuum Gu!"

Only to see Old Ghost Nanqi's little Nascent Soul figure open his mouth and spit out a streak of black light.

Luo Chen looked closely.

It lay dormant quietly in the air, about the size of a child's thumb, with a mouth but no teeth, and as a whole, it looked like it was cast from pure dark glaze that had been stripped of all reflective ability.

But after his divine sense swept over it, he discovered that its surface was not smooth like glaze, but filled with countless fine folds and gullies to the extreme. Those folds and gullies, seemingly small, gave one the feeling of a state of overlap after ancient ice layers had been crushed layer by layer.

Sensing the foreign divine sense, the Vacuum Gu suddenly became restless.

Ripples, following the folds on its body as it squirmed, slowly spread out.

The entire hall seemed to be about to fall into illusion.

"Quiet!"

Luo Chen shouted softly, his eyes suddenly changing, presenting a state of red eyes and golden pupils.

Looking again, those ripples were clearly a form of expression of distorted space.

Luo Chen's heart stirred, and he murmured, "This item actually contains a trace of the true meaning of spatial laws!"

Old Ghost Nanqi looked at Luo Chen in surprise. "Senior has extraordinary knowledge, actually recognizing the essence of this Gu at a glance. The Vacuum Gu does indeed contain a trace of the true meaning of spatial laws; it is rumored to be born in the boundless void, and when grown to the limit, it can even transform into a heaven and earth. My Luo Sect researched various secret techniques based on this, and there is even the saying of a 'Vacuum Homeland,' but unfortunately, for thousands of years, the Luo Sect has not produced a Soul Transformation powerhouse, unable to nurture this Gu to the fifth-tier level. Otherwise, the reputation of this Vacuum Gu might not be weaker than the three great divine Gu of the Life and Death Gate."

Luo Chen's gaze flashed, falling on Old Ghost Nanqi.

"So, the reason you were able to forcibly break my blockade and escape the battlefield earlier was by relying on the secret technique performed by this Gu?"

Old Ghost Nanqi nodded, then smiled bitterly. "Unfortunately, my skills are not refined, and I cannot fully exert the power of this Gu. If the Supreme Elder of my sect, Meng Shentong, used this Gu, combined with the Space-Breaking Blade, he would be hard to find an opponent at the Nascent Soul stage, and if he faced a Soul Transformation powerhouse, he might even have a chance to escape with his life."

"Space-Breaking Blade, is it?" Luo Chen muttered silently; this item was currently sitting well in his storage ring.

Back during the trip to the Netherworld, Meng Shentong died at the hands of Litian Shi, and his legacy fell to Luo Chen.

At that time, seeing that the Space-Breaking Blade was extraordinary, Luo Chen collected it well.

Yet he didn't expect that this magic treasure was meant to be used in conjunction with the Vacuum Gu.

No!

Perhaps the Space-Breaking Blade relied on the Vacuum Gu, but the Vacuum Gu didn't necessarily have to be used with the Space-Breaking Blade?

Haven't you seen that Old Ghost Nanqi relied on this Gu to luckily escape from Luo Chen's hands once, although he was caught back very quickly.

If he mastered this Gu, in what direction should he use it?

Inexplicably, Luo Chen thought of a divine ability left by Qingshuang—"Heaven and Earth in the Sleeve"!

Seeing Luo Chen fall into deep thought, Old Ghost Nanqi could only wait quietly.

After a while, Luo Chen's voice finally sounded leisurely.

"Remove the mark!"

Old Ghost Nanqi took a deep breath, quite reluctant, and cast various spells at the Vacuum Gu.

Soon, a streak of blood light flew out from the head of the Vacuum Gu.

At the same time, Luo Chen flicked his fingers to cast various restrictions, landing on it, completely sealing it.

Old Ghost Nanqi just looked at it, and his heart tightened.

The restrictions Luo Chen cast were all the most exquisite spatial restrictions; no wonder he was caught back by the other party after escaping earlier.

In the way of space, even though both belonged to the introductory stage, there was still a difference in superiority.

"Senior, the Vacuum Gu has been given to you, so next..."

"No rush!"

Old Ghost Nanqi's expression changed slightly. "Could it be that you are going back on your word, senior?"

Luo Chen smiled slightly and flicked a streak of gray light.

Thud!

Only to hear the sound of a heavy object landing, a small tripod stood on the ground.

The weight of the tripod was such that even the hard floor was pressed with dents.

The most terrifying thing was the hazy light emitted by the gray small tripod; a slight leak was enough to make Old Ghost Nanqi feel restrained, and his entire Nascent Soul crawled on the ground.

He looked at the hazy light in shock. "Meta-Magnetic Divine Light?"

Luo Chen shook his head. "I'm not letting you look at this, but pay attention to the things inside."

While speaking, he added magic power to Old Ghost Nanqi's Nascent Soul, allowing him to temporarily gain the ability to move freely.

Suppressing the shock in his heart, Old Ghost Nanqi's divine sense entered the Hunyuan Tripod, and soon he sensed an unusual yet quite familiar aura.

"Gu insect?"

"No, just the residual aura of a Gu insect."

"Hiss... what kind of Gu insect is this, why does just a residual aura make my heart and mind in chaos, with the feeling that a great disaster is imminent?"

That was a fluttering butterfly.

But it had no physical body, only a phantom, a wisp of aura.

Luo Chen said lightly, "You should be familiar with the name of this item. Its name is the Calamity Gu, also known as the Disaster Gu, one of the three great divine Gu of the Southern Border holy land, the Life and Death Gate. When the Youli God Lord ascended, he took away the Disaster Gu, but left me a wisp of the Disaster Gu's aura. This item has remained on my natal magic treasure for many years, and I have never been able to use it. Since you are proficient in the way of Gu, I wonder if you have any insights?"

Upon hearing this, Old Ghost Nanqi was inexplicably shocked; he didn't expect that the Vacuum Gu he had been complacent about earlier was indeed not an important treasure in the other party's eyes. After all, Luo Chen had once possessed a fifth-tier divine Gu, and it was the famous Disaster Gu. He was even more shocked that Luo Chen actually had a relationship with the legendary Youli God Lord.

At this moment, unable to hide his shock, Old Ghost Nanqi smiled bitterly. "Sorry, with my cultivation, how could I understand the ability of such a divine Gu? But according to rumors, the residual aura of this Gu should be to invite disaster and misfortune, not a good thing."

Luo Chen frowned. "Invite disaster and misfortune? But what the Youli God Lord said back then was that the residual aura of this Gu would allow me to seek another way out in a great tribulation?"

Old Ghost Nanqi was stunned, then helpless. "This I don't know; the ability of a God Lord is definitely not something I can speculate on."

Luo Chen was silent.

The residual aura of the Disaster Gu had remained on his natal magic treasure for a long time.

He remembered very clearly what the Youli God Lord had said before ascending.

In the future, he might encounter a great tribulation unexpectedly, so the other party specifically intercepted a wisp of the Disaster Gu's aura and placed it in the Hunyuan Tripod, which could resist the great tribulation at a critical moment, and even allow him to survive death.

After he left the Southern Border, he indeed encountered constant great tribulations.

Whether it was the battle at Soul-Breaking Cliff, the battle against heroes in the Western Desert, or even the Battle of Heaven and Earth Island, none were great tribulations that ordinary people could escape.

But Luo Chen had relied on his own ability to carry through them one by one.

The only problem was that in these great tribulations, the residual aura of the Disaster Gu had not played any role!

It even gave the feeling that these disasters were brought about by that aura.

Luo Chen believed that the Youli God Lord would not harm him, and had no reason to harm him, but why did the residual aura of the Disaster Gu not play any role in these great tribulations?

Could it be that these didn't count as life-and-death tribulations?

And now, he, Luo Chen, was already at the Soul Transformation realm, enough to walk sideways in the vast Mountain and Sea World, so what danger could threaten his life?

"Forget it!"

Thinking hard without results, Luo Chen put away the Hunyuan Tripod, and then his gaze fell on Old Ghost Nanqi.

Just at this moment, Old Ghost Nanqi also looked over.

Their eyes met, and their intentions were clear.

"Little friend, please!"

Old Ghost Nanqi opened his mouth, and finally said helplessly, "Please."

He didn't want to die, but he didn't want to end up like the Master of the Rending Heaven.

Sanity unclear, soul flying away and scattering, not even a chance to reincarnate and re-cultivate.

By comparison, Luo Chen giving him a chance to disintegrate himself at least retained a glimmer of opportunity for future re-cultivation, provided he could awaken his past wisdom.

"No-birth Parents, Vacuum Homeland, return to bliss, return to dust..."

In the hoarse chanting, the little Nascent Soul figure disintegrated inch by inch, and the soul within also gradually dissipated.

The pure magic power that constituted the Nascent Soul also, in this process, returned to pure spiritual energy, feeding back this heaven and earth.

This was different from the collapse of the Master of the Rending Heaven's Nascent Soul; Old Ghost Nanqi's Nascent Soul disintegration occurred after extracting all the soul power, a collapse due to inability to maintain, and did not have much destructiveness.

Just like snow, one was an avalanche, the other was melting, and the impact brought about was also completely different.

"Amitabha."

Kong Chan, who had been watching for a long time on the side, chanted a low Buddhist name, his expression quite complex.

He had seen Nascent Soul cultivators perish, and had personally killed some Nascent Soul True Persons, but watching a Nascent Soul peer who once had no small strength disintegrate himself, he was still moved.

If he couldn't break through to the Soul Transformation realm in the future, would he also be like this?

Even saying, he couldn't even be this decent, only able to watch his lifespan run out and his soul weaken until he passed away?

"Grieving for one's own kind?" Luo Chen smiled. "Then cultivate well; your soul foundation is almost enough after another hundred years of cultivation. At that time, practice the Buddhist classic 'Moonlight Heart-Clearing Mantra' I passed to you, and perhaps you will have a chance to condense the Primordial Spirit ahead of time and sprint to the Soul Transformation realm. If you succeed, you can be a protector elder of the Luo Heaven Sect and enjoy endless honor."

Kong Chan bowed. "Disciple will remember Master's teachings!"

"Go down; if you have nothing to do, tidy up the surrounding demon race and don't let them disturb the peace here."

"Yes."

After Kong Chan left, Luo Chen reached out and summoned two storage bags.

They were left behind by the Master of the Rending Heaven and Old Ghost Nanqi before they died.

With their abilities, in front of Luo Chen, they couldn't collapse their own storage magic treasures like Lian Cheng before death, so they could only be cheap for Luo Chen.

However, it was just a small cheapness.

Luo Chen swept his divine sense, easily disintegrating the divine sense marks on them, and everything inside was in his eyes.

The Master of the Rending Heaven's storage bag had the most and most miscellaneous things, and the styles were not uniform.

Clearly, most of these things were not his own, but obtained through killing others.

For Core Formation cultivators, they were worth a fortune, and even Nascent Soul True Persons would drool at the sight, but for the current Luo Chen, they were not considered precious.

Only a few books caught Luo Chen's eye.

One was the fourth-tier wind-type cultivation technique "Rending Feather Formula," the Master of the Rending Heaven's natal cultivation technique, focusing on escape speed. The high-tier spell "Rending Heaven Divine Claw" recorded within had some similarities to the "Cloud-Exploring Divine Claw" he was most proficient in his early years.

One was a fragment of the "Blood God Scripture," which should have come from the Blood Sea lineage of the Yuan Demon Sect, recording some methods for refining Blood Gods.

Finally, there was a secret technique, which was the evil method the Master of the Rending Heaven used to ravage the North Sea and capture Core Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators to increase his own cultivation.

Luo Chen had already browsed it in his memory, so he naturally didn't take it, only using it for reference.

Then it was Old Ghost Nanqi's storage bag.

This was quite shabby, completely unworthy of Old Ghost Nanqi's status as a middle-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

But considering he had suffered a great disaster and even his physical body was destroyed, how many good things could he leave behind?

Luo Chen glanced at it and took out a book.

After reading it carefully, a look of realization finally appeared on his face.

This book recorded some secret techniques that went with the Vacuum Gu, as well as techniques and methods for cultivating this Gu.

Gu insects were not just for use, but also for raising.

After all, they were living creatures; without food, how could they survive and grow?

Just like the Hundred Poison King Gu, which needed toxins as food.

And the Vacuum Gu was very special; its food was something called [Empty Bud Crystal], which required long-term supplementation of this item to continuously grow and advance.

For thousands of years, the Luo Sect had been unable to cultivate the Vacuum Gu to the fifth tier, besides the fact that there was no one in the sect who achieved the Soul Transformation realm, it was also related to the lack of Empty Bud Crystals.

In the Mountain and Sea World, Empty Bud Crystals had long been extinct.

"But it doesn't have much impact on me; I don't pray to nurture this Gu to the fifth-tier level, the fourth tier should be enough for me to get started with Qingshuang's divine ability."

Luo Chen smiled slightly, his gaze cast to the next room.

Next, before Cheng Haixin came out of seclusion, he wouldn't be bored.

Refining his natal magic treasure, practicing Heaven and Earth in the Sleeve, there was always something to do.

"Let's have the Vacuum Gu acknowledge its master first!" ===== CHAPTER 1059 =====