Chapter 1058: Soldier-Dissolving Reincarnation, Vacuum Gu Insect

Luo Chen did not 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, when the Right Envoy Nan Yiqi, one of the two envoys, cultivated North Sea demonic arts and wanted to refine the entire sect alive to create a Million-Slay Soul Banner that could contend with a Soul Transformation powerhouse.

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

The Million-Slay Soul Banner was indeed at the level of a spirit treasure, but it also depended on who was controlling it and the tier of the main soul within it. Otherwise, what would one use to contend with a Soul Transformation powerhouse?

Hadn't he, Luo Chen, previously refined a Million-Slay 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 Heaven-Origin Dao Sect?

The wishful-thinking Nan Yiqi ultimately failed and fled to the North Sea.

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

Most importantly, one of the sect's inherited Gu insects was stolen by Nan Yiqi on his way out.

At this moment, Old Ghost Nan Qi used this as a lure, which indeed piqued Luo Chen's interest.

The way of Gu insects was treacherous and miraculous!

Whether it was the evil of the Demonic Heart, the pain of a hundred poisons, or the heaven-and-earth fortune involved with the two great divine Gu of disaster and fortune, all contained great fortune.

He, Luo Chen, had suffered greatly from them, but had also gained quite a few benefits.

This strong physical body of his was partly due to the Hundred-Poison King Gu!

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

Old Ghost Nan Qi was stunned. "You know it's a Gu insect?"

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

Old Ghost Nan Qi's expression changed, and the emotions within his heart were unusually lively without the cover of a physical body, making them obvious to anyone who saw.

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

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

Old Ghost Nan Qi's heart trembled, and he said hurriedly, "This Gu insect has already been refined with my heart blood. If I perish, it will also self-detonate. Senior, do not force it."

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

While he said "however," an object appeared in his hand.

It was a letter Gu, which Meng Shentong had casually given him during a brief exchange back then.

The purpose was for him to notify Meng Shentong if he encountered Old Ghost Nan Qi.

Upon seeing the letter Gu, Old Ghost Nan Qi's expression 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 Nan Qi couldn't help but tremble.

He was a member of the Luo Sect and understood this top-tier great sect of the Southern Frontier better than anyone else.

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

Moreover, judging from the soul-refining attainments Luo Chen had shown when forcibly searching the Lord of the Heaven-Splitting Stream's soul, he feared he wouldn't even be able to get past Luo Chen's hurdle.

In the oppressive silence came Luo Chen's indifferent voice.

"Be honest. Today, you are destined to perish. But just as there is death, there is also the difference between soul flying away and scattering, and returning to reincarnation. If I am in a good mood, perhaps I can let you dissolve your own body and soul, with a hope of re-cultivating in the next life."

A "perhaps" was clearly not a promise; how Luo Chen would act depended entirely on Old Ghost Nan Qi's own performance.

Amidst the suppression, Old Ghost Nan Qi suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Forget it. Since I have fallen into the senior's hands today, I need not struggle in vain."

"Senior, look at this object."

"Its name—Vacuum Gu!"

Old Ghost Nan Qi's Nascent Soul figure opened his mouth and spat out a black light.

Luo Chen stared intently.

It lay quietly in the air, its body about the size of a child's thumb, with a mouth but no teeth, overall like 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. Those folds and gullies, while seemingly small, gave one the feeling of a layer of ancient ice being crushed layer by layer into an overlapping state.

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

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

The entire great hall seemed about to fall into illusion.

"Quiet!"

Luo Chen gave a low shout, his eyes changing suddenly, presenting the appearance of red eyes and golden pupils.

Looking again, those ripples were clearly a manifestation of space distortion.

Luo Chen's heart stirred, and he muttered, "This object actually contains a trace of spatial law true meaning!"

Old Ghost Nan Qi looked at Luo Chen in surprise. "Senior's knowledge is extraordinary; you actually identified the essence of this Gu at a glance. The Vacuum Gu does indeed contain a trace of spatial law true meaning. It is rumored to be born in the boundless void, and if it grows to its limit, it can even transform into a world of its own. My Luo Sect developed various secret techniques and divine abilities based on this, and even has the saying of a 'Vacuum Hometown,' but unfortunately, for thousands of years, the Luo Sect has not produced a Soul Transformation powerhouse, and we have been unable to nurture this Gu to the fifth tier. Otherwise, the name of this Vacuum Gu might not be weaker than the three great divine Gu of the Life-Death Gate."

Luo Chen's gaze flashed and fell on Old Ghost Nan Qi.

"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 Nan Qi nodded, then smiled bitterly. "Unfortunately, my skills are not refined enough, and I cannot fully exert the power of this Gu. If our sect's Supreme Elder Meng Shentong used this Gu, combined with the Space-Severing Blade, he would have no rivals at the Nascent Soul stage, and might even have a chance of escaping when facing a Soul Transformation powerhouse."

"Space-Severing Blade, is it?" Luo Chen muttered silently; that object was currently sitting safely in his storage ring.

Back then, during the trip to the Netherworld, Meng Shentong died at the hands of Li Tian Shi, and his belongings fell to Luo Chen.

At that time, seeing that the Space-Severing Blade was extraordinary, Luo Chen had collected it carefully.

He never expected that that magic treasure was meant to be used in conjunction with the Vacuum Gu.

No!

Perhaps it was the Space-Severing Blade that relied on the Vacuum Gu, but the Vacuum Gu didn't necessarily have to be paired with the Space-Severing Blade?

Didn't one see that Old Ghost Nan Qi had relied on this Gu to luckily escape from Luo Chen's hands once, although he was quickly caught back?

If he mastered this Gu, how should he utilize it?

Inexplicably, Luo Chen thought of a divine ability left behind by Qing Shuang—"Universe in the Sleeve!"

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

Half an hour later, Luo Chen's voice finally rang out leisurely.

"Remove the mark!"

Old Ghost Nan Qi took a deep breath, quite reluctantly performing various hand seals toward the Vacuum Gu.

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

At the same time, Luo Chen flicked his fingers, casting various restrictions onto it, completely sealing it.

Old Ghost Nan Qi felt a chill in his heart at just one glance.

The restrictions Luo Chen cast were all the most exquisite spatial restrictions; no wonder he had been caught back 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 Nan Qi's expression changed slightly. "Could it be that senior wants to go back on your word?"

Luo Chen smiled slightly and flicked his finger, casting a gray light.

Clang!

The sound of a heavy object hitting the ground echoed through the great hall, and a small tripod stood on the ground.

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

Most terrifying was the hazy light emitted by the gray tripod; a slight leakage was enough to make Old Ghost Nan Qi feel as if he were being restrained, and his entire Nascent Soul prostrated 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 rather the things inside it."

While speaking, he added a bit of magic power to Old Ghost Nan Qi's Nascent Soul, allowing him to temporarily gain the ability to move freely.

Suppressing the shock in his heart, Old Ghost Nan Qi's divine sense entered the Hunyuan Tripod, and he quickly sensed a strange yet quite familiar aura.

"Gu insect?"

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

"Hiss... what kind of Gu insect is this, why does just a lingering aura make my heart and soul chaotic, with a feeling that a great disaster is imminent?"

It was a fluttering butterfly.

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

Luo Chen said indifferently, "You should be familiar with the name of this object. Its name is the Disaster Gu, also known as the Calamity Gu, one of the three great divine Gu of the Southern Frontier's holy land, the Life-Death Gate. Before the Youli God-Monarch ascended, he took away the Calamity Gu, but left me a wisp of the Calamity Gu's aura. This object has remained in my natal magic treasure for many years, but 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 Nan Qi was inexplicably shocked. He never expected that the Vacuum Gu he had been proud of earlier was indeed not an important treasure in the other's eyes. After all, Luo Chen had once possessed a fifth-tier divine Gu, and it was the famous Calamity Gu. He was even more shocked that Luo Chen actually had a connection with the legendary Youli God-Monarch.

Unable to hide his shock, Old Ghost Nan Qi smiled bitterly. "Apologies, with my realm, how could I understand the abilities of such divine Gu? But according to rumors, the lingering aura of this Gu should be to invite disaster and misfortune, which is not a good thing."

Luo Chen frowned. "Invite disaster and misfortune? But back then, what the Youli God-Monarch said was that this lingering aura of the Calamity Gu would allow me to seek a way out in the midst of a great tribulation?"

Old Ghost Nan Qi was stunned, then helpless. "This I do not know; the abilities of a God-Monarch are by no means something I can speculate on."

Luo Chen remained silent.

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

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

In the future, he might encounter a great tribulation unexpectedly, so the other party specifically intercepted a wisp of the Calamity 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 escape death.

After he left the Southern Frontier, he did indeed encounter constant tribulations.

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

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

The only problem was that in these tribulations, the lingering aura of the Calamity Gu had not played any role!

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

Luo Chen believed that the Youli God-Monarch would not harm him, and had no reason to harm him, but why did the lingering aura of the Calamity Gu not play any role in these 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 across the Mountain-Sea World, so what other dangers could threaten his life?

"Forget it!"

With no answer after deep thought, Luo Chen put away the Hunyuan Tripod, and his gaze fell on Old Ghost Nan Qi.

Just at this moment, Old Ghost Nan Qi also looked over.

Their eyes met, and their intentions were clear.

"Little friend, please!"

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

He didn't want to die, but he wanted even less to end up like the Lord of the Heaven-Splitting Stream.

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

By comparison, Luo Chen giving him a chance to dissolve his own body and soul at least preserved a glimmer of a chance for future re-cultivation, provided he could awaken his past wisdom.

"Birthless Mother, Vacuum Hometown, should return to bliss, should return to dust..."

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

The pure magic power that constituted the Nascent Soul also returned to pure spiritual energy during this process, feeding back into this world.

This was different from the collapse of the Lord of the Heaven-Splitting Stream's Nascent Soul; Old Ghost Nan Qi's Nascent Soul disintegration was a collapse due to the inability to maintain itself after extracting all the soul power, and it did not have much destructiveness.

Just like snow, one was an avalanche, and the other was melting; 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 extraordinary strength dissolve himself, he was still touched.

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

He might not even be able to be this decent, only able to watch as his lifespan reached its end and his soul weakened until he passed away?

"Grieving for one's own kind?" Luo Chen smiled. "Then cultivate well. Your soul foundation will be enough after another hundred years of nourishment. At that time, if you cultivate the Buddhist classic 'Moonlight Clear Heart Mantra' I passed to you, you might still have a chance to condense your Primordial Spirit early and charge toward the Soul Transformation realm. If you succeed, you can be a Dharma-Protecting Elder of the Luo Heaven Sect and enjoy endless glory."

Kong Chan bowed. "This humble monk will keep Master's teachings in mind!"

"Go down. If you have nothing to do, tidy up the surrounding demon tribes and don't let them disturb the peace of this place."

"Yes."

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

They were left behind by the Lord of the Heaven-Splitting Stream and Old Ghost Nan Qi before they died.

With their abilities, in front of Luo Chen, they couldn't collapse their own storage magic treasures before death, so they could only benefit Luo Chen.

However, it was only a small benefit.

Luo Chen swept his divine sense, easily dissolving the divine sense marks on them, and everything inside came into view.

The Lord of the Heaven-Splitting Stream's storage bag had the most and most miscellaneous items.

Clearly, most of these things were not his own, but were seized by killing others.

For Core Formation cultivators, they were worth a fortune, and even Nascent Soul True Persons would drool over them, 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-attribute cultivation technique "Splitting Feather Art," the Lord of the Heaven-Splitting Stream's natal technique, which focused on escape speed. The high-tier spell "Heaven-Splitting Divine Claw" recorded within it had some similarities to the "Cloud-Exploring Divine Claw" he was most proficient in during his early years.

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

Finally, there was a set of secret techniques, which was the evil method the Lord of the Heaven-Splitting Stream used to ravage the North Sea and capture and kill Core Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators to increase his own cultivation.

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

Then there was Old Ghost Nan Qi's storage bag.

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

But considering he had suffered a great disaster and even his physical body had been destroyed, how many good things could he have left?

Luo Chen glanced at it and took out a book.

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

This book recorded some secret techniques that complemented 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 things; how could they survive and grow without food?

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

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

For thousands of years, the Luo Sect had been unable to nurture the Vacuum Gu to the fifth tier, apart from having no one in the sect achieve the Soul Transformation realm, it was also related to the lack of Empty Bud Crystals.

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

"However, it doesn't have much impact on me. I'm not praying to nurture this Gu to the fifth tier; the fourth tier should be enough for me to get started with Qing Shuang's divine ability."

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

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

Refining his natal magic treasure, cultivating "Universe in the Sleeve"—there was always something to do.

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