Chapter 368: Innate Spirit Gu, Wisdom Gu

369. Chapter 368: Innate Spirit Gu, Wisdom Gu

At this moment, in a hidden Shandong, Duan Tianwu sat cross-legged on the ground, eyes tightly closed, attempting to force the Evil-Dispelling Divine Thunder within his body out bit by bit.

"Who exactly is that woman? How could she make you lose your composure so? The mistake you made this time was truly too low-level." At this moment, a voice rang out in Duan Tianwu's mind.

"She is Qin Yuyou, the woman I love most." Duan Tianwu revealed an expression of pain, and after a moment of silence, slowly said: "Actually, I knew from the very beginning that she was not the real Qin Yuyou; it's just that seeing her appearance ultimately causes me to lose my reason."

"You clearly knew she was fake, yet you could still be hurt by her? You are truly stupid enough; women are stumbling blocks on the path of cultivation, yet you could be so bewitched by a woman that your soul is overturned; truly hopeless."

The voice in his mind spoke again with disdain.

"I am you, and you are me; when you say I am stupid, you are saying you yourself are stupid; my stupidity is your stupidity."

Duan Tianwu snorted coldly.

Little Medicine Boy remained silent for a long time before finally saying: "Can you tell me about her? When I saw her, I inexplicably felt a pang of heartache."

Duan Tianwu fell silent for a moment, then sighed lightly and said: "Very well, we are one body to begin with; there are some things you should know, lest you remain as simple as a blank sheet of paper."

As soon as Duan Tianwu finished speaking, he transmitted a portion of his memories into Little Medicine Boy's soul.

Little Medicine Boy soon perceived a vast flood of seemingly familiar memories surging into his mind, and he quickly froze in shock...

In a temple courtyard, a group of monks gazed at a fair-faced monk with delicate features, whispering among themselves, their eyes filled with admiration.

"Senior Brother Hui Zeng is so powerful; the Great Buddha Sword Technique he created has been rated as a Heaven Tier Upper Grade sword technique; even Sword Washing Pavilion does not possess a Heaven Tier Upper Grade sword technique; Heaven Tier Upper Grade inheritances exist only in small numbers in that place called Central Region, and not many at that; I never thought that in my lifetime I would actually witness a Heaven Tier Upper Grade inheritance."

"Hui Zeng began cultivation at three, reached Qi Refining at seven, Spirit Sea at ten, broke through to King at twenty, and created the Asking Buddha Gu at twenty-five; since then, he has defeated all opponents in Central Earth, becoming the number one powerhouse of Central Earth; truly a heaven-sent genius."

"And this is not even the most terrifying part; throughout his cultivation career, he has created countless unique spells, Cultivation Methods, Gu Formulas, Pill Formulas, Buddhist sutras... there is nothing he cannot create; thanks to these inheritances, Great Buddha Temple is far stronger than before; his Dharma name, Hui Zeng, is truly worthy, for this wisdom is indeed invincible."

Ignoring the murmurs of the crowd, this fair-faced, handsome monk walked into the Abbot's room and sat down opposite him.

The old monk opened his cloudy eyes to look at him, revealing an expression of relief, and smiled as he said: "Hui Zeng, you have actually created another Heaven Tier Late Stage sword technique; I am very relieved; Heaven Tier Late Stage inheritances are few and far between across the entire world; you have already made a name for yourself in the Gu World."

Hui Zeng sat upon the rush mat, and upon hearing this, showed no trace of pride or arrogance, his expression unchanged, as he calmly stated:

"This is not my achievement; how could I, Hui Zeng, possess the virtue or ability to create a Heaven Tier Upper Grade sword technique on my own? This is all the credit of the Wisdom Gu; I merely offered some of my own ideas."

Hearing this, the old monk smiled and shook his head, laughing: "You need not belittle yourself; it was precisely because I saw that you possessed one of the Ten Great Innate Spirit Gu, the Wisdom Gu, that I picked you up and took you in as my Closing Disciple; how could I not understand the Wisdom Gu?"

"Although the Wisdom Gu can create myriad methods based on certain ideas provided by its host, this is subject to limitations."

"The simpler the inheritance the Wisdom Gu deduces, the higher the success rate; the more complex the inheritance it deduces, the lower the success rate; furthermore, every time the Wisdom Gu uses its ability, it requires a long cooldown period."

"The possibility of the Wisdom Gu deducing a Heaven Tier Late Stage inheritance is infinitely close to zero; otherwise, throughout history, many geniuses parasitized by the Wisdom Gu would have appeared, and Heaven Tier Late Stage inheritances would have long been flooding the world."

"But you are different from those previous geniuses who obtained the Wisdom Gu; your comprehension is very high, your imagination is very high, many of your ideas are unconstrained and bold; even without borrowing the power of the Wisdom Gu, you possess the ability to create inheritances on your own."

"Each time you intend to create an inheritance, you do not merely offer ideas; you also propose the principles for realizing these ideas, supplementing them with extensive details and theories."

"Only after an idea has formed a complete framework do you hand it over to the Wisdom Gu for deduction; in this way, the success rate of the Wisdom Gu deducing Heaven-defying inheritances in your hands naturally increases greatly."

"The strength of the Wisdom Gu varies according to the wisdom of its host; your wisdom is very high, so the Wisdom Gu is like a tiger with wings added when in your hands; at least half the credit for your creation of the Great Buddha Sword Technique lies with yourself; do not be overly modest."

After praising Hui Zeng, the old monk suddenly sighed, put away his smile, and changed the subject:

"However, after discussing with the other head monks, we have determined that the Great Buddha Sword Technique carries excessive killing intent, with every move targeting vital points; those injured by it either die or are crippled; such a cruel sword technique does not align with Great Buddha Temple's principle of compassion; therefore, this sword technique will not be promoted throughout Great Buddha Temple."

"Monks hold compassion in their hearts; a monk's weapons are mostly staffs and canes that leave room for the enemy, rarely fierce weapons like swords; you should study staff techniques and cane techniques rather than blindly pursuing lethality; you are attached to appearances."

"What?" Hui Zeng suddenly widened his eyes, looking at the Abbot in disbelief; on his previously calm face, a rare change now appeared.

"Cruelty lies with the user of power, not with the power itself; if a staff technique falls into the hands of a vicious person, does that mean a staff cannot kill? If a fierce sword falls into the hands of a compassionate person, does that make this person a vicious individual? What kind of logic is this!"

"The reason I pursue the lethality of power is not to kill people, but to protect myself; if in the future I encounter a powerful enemy capable of killing me, am I supposed to use a Buddhist staff technique that leaves room everywhere to spare his life?"

"Mercy toward enemies is what constitutes true cruelty; this is the supreme truth of the Gu World."

Disappointment appeared in Hui Zeng's eyes; this scene had occurred countless times before, and he had debated Buddhist doctrine with the Abbot and the head monks countless times.

Although every debate ended with him rendering the head monks speechless, human thought is the most difficult thing to change.

Now that the Buddhist temple had rejected his Great Buddha Sword Technique, he felt only deep disappointment, once again lamenting the pedantry of the Great Buddha Temple monks.

"Hui Zeng! Speak no more of your fallacious arguments; I do not wish to debate doctrine with you today; your thinking is simply too extreme."

The old monk sighed; Hui Zeng was good in every way except that his thinking was simply too extreme; his conviction that evil must be eradicated completely was incompatible with Buddhist thought.

He truly did not know whether someone with such extreme ideas would commit a grave mistake in the future, and he sighed heavily in his heart once more.

"Your Asking Buddha Gu Formula has also been sealed; the entire temple is forbidden from refining the Asking Buddha Gu ever again."

"The tenet of the Buddhist Sect is to refrain from killing living beings; Gu Refining must only allow the Main Insect to devour non-living materials."

"Yet your Asking Buddha Gu Formula contains many live insects, which violates the principle of not killing; refining this Gu is destined to leave the refiner with endless sinful karma."

"What?" Hui Zeng widened his eyes again, revealing an expression of disbelief, finally unable to restrain himself as he rose from the rush mat and shouted excitedly: "You are being pedantic!"

"Let me ask you: Did the Buddha not say, 'A monk observes forty-eight thousand insects in a single bowl of water'?"

"He clearly knew there were countless tiny insects in the water invisible to the naked eye, yet he still drank the water."

"So, refining Gu and killing insects is called killing, but drinking water and killing insects is not called killing? Are you being double-standard or not!"

"Old Abbot, how much water have you drunk in this life, and how many insects have you killed! Your sinful karma is truly too heavy; simply unforgivable!"

"You... you..." The old monk widened his eyes, rendered speechless by this question, his finger pointing at Hui Zeng trembling incessantly.

Thinking of how many times he had drunk water, killing countless insects, indeed creating endless slaughter, he could not help but turn pale, nearly falling into Qi Deviation.

Damn it, this boy has damaged his Dao Heart; once these words are spoken, who knows how many high monks' beliefs will collapse.

"Shut your mouth! Do not speak these words outside again; this is fallacious reasoning! Fallacious reasoning!"

The Old Abbot's face became somewhat ferocious; daring not to debate Buddhist doctrine with him any longer, he rushed out the door and ran toward the Scripture Pavilion.

'A monk observes forty-eight thousand insects in a single bowl of water' has seemingly become a loophole in Buddhist doctrine; he must quickly go to the Scripture Pavilion to find an argument to refute this statement, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable.

Watching his departing back, Hui Zeng curled the corners of his mouth, revealing a cold smile; wanting to debate doctrine with him, he was still too young; who in all of Great Buddha Temple possessed greater wisdom than himself?

The words of the person with the highest wisdom are the truth of this world; yet this group of old monks, who pride themselves on compassion, remain unaware of this; truly pitiable, truly lamentable.

He sighed deeply, revealing an expression of contemplation.

It was precisely the earlier phrase, "A Buddha observes forty-eight thousand worms in a single bowl of water," that gave him inspiration.

He suddenly began to wonder: if the Buddha once said this world contains many tinier worms, then by that logic, might the human body also possess even smaller structures?

A look of deep contemplation settled on his face; if these smaller structures could also form Spirit Seas, and every tiniest structure within the human body formed one, then how many Spirit Seas would a single person possess?

With so many Spirit Seas, just how immense would that person's quantity of Spiritual Power become?

In this world where Spiritual Power is thin, the amount held by a Gu King Peak cultivator already represents the absolute upper limit the human body can contain, yet he perhaps could break through this ceiling.

If so, he would effectively transcend the Gu King Peak realm; possessing such power, he might truly have the strength to pierce the Space Rift and finally reach that place known as the Spirit Realm.

Hui Zeng's eyes grew ever brighter, his breathing gradually becoming rapid.

He immediately resolved to research and develop a Cultivation Method based on this idea; it would surely be a Heaven-defying technique far surpassing Heaven Tier Upper Grade, and since this method involved endless Spirit Seas, he would name it the Endless War Canon.

The Endless War Canon would become the foremost Cultivation Method in the Gu World, and he, who cultivated it, would inevitably gain power unmatched under heaven.

Hui Zeng clenched his fists tightly, ambition blazing forth from his pupils.

"However, every Cultivation Method has both benefits and drawbacks; a Heaven-defying method must certainly have limitations."

"The greatest flaw of the Endless War Canon is likely that it requires cultivating vast amounts of Spiritual Power to fill those countless Spirit Seas, which will inevitably slow down Cultivation Speed to an extreme degree."

"Moreover, it is likely that it won't be merely a matter of slowing down; if the tiniest structures within the human body are too numerous to count, then the Cultivation of anyone practicing this method might come to a complete standstill."

Hui Zeng's smile vanished, his brows knitting deeply; this was undeniably a fatal flaw, one sufficient to dissuade anyone from attempting to cultivate this method, himself included.

His eyes shifted slightly, suddenly brightening before quickly dimming again, revealing a look of profound inner conflict.

His wisdom was great; he had quickly conceived a solution to this flaw, namely to refine the Devouring Demon Gu, which ranks ninth among the Ten Great Forbidden Gu.

The Devouring Demon Gu can absorb others' Spiritual Power for one's own use, yet another person's Spiritual Power differs from one's own; to one's own power, it constitutes impurities that cannot fuse together.

Therefore, although those possessing the Devouring Demon Gu cultivate with extreme speed, the utilization rate of the absorbed Spiritual Power is low; only a small portion of the essence proves useful, while the majority must be expelled from the body, meaning the truly usable amount falls far short of one percent.

This limitation ensures that even if someone with the Devouring Demon Gu absorbs all the Spiritual Power of one hundred Gu King Peak cultivators in a single day, they still cannot attain the Gu King Peak realm within that same day.

Yet his own Cultivation Method seemed perfectly compatible with the Devouring Demon Gu; he need only ensure the Spirit Sea at his dantian remains pure, storing all the Spiritual Power absorbed by the Devouring Demon Gu within the body's smaller structures, thereby wasting not a single drop.

If the Spiritual Power absorbed by the Devouring Demon Gu could be fully utilized, he would instantly accumulate a massive quantity of power; what difficulty would there then in cultivating a method possessing endless Spirit Seas?

This approach was entirely feasible; the only thing giving him pause was that the Devouring Demon Gu is a Forbidden Gu, belonging to the most evil of all Gu Worms under heaven.

Those who refine Forbidden Gu invite the Demon Slaying Order, becoming hunted by powerful experts across the entire world; how then would he dare to casually refine such a Gu?

His expression twisted in conflict; after hesitating for a long time, he finally clenched his fist and resolved to employ the power of the Wisdom Gu to create a high-quality imitation of the legendary Devouring Demon Gu.

For he had always firmly believed in one principle: there is no evil power under heaven, only evil people.

Those who wield the power of the Righteous Path are not necessarily good people, nor are those who wield the power of the Evil Path necessarily bad people.

So what if the power of the Devouring Demon Gu is extremely evil? He would absolutely never use its power to absorb the Spiritual Power of good people, employing it solely against those who are greatly treacherous and wicked.

Those greatly treacherous and wicked individuals deserve death anyway; since their Spiritual Power would go to waste upon their demise, what harm is there in using their corpses to practice cultivation?

Hui Zeng immediately made up his mind; he was determined to research the Devouring Demon Gu.

Two years later, after consulting vast amounts of records, he finally created the Endless War Canon; on that day, thunder rolled endlessly, and an infinite Thunder Tribulation descended; he laughed loudly toward the heavens, swinging his fist at the oncoming Thunder Tribulation...

That year, he was twenty-seven years old...

Three years later, after combing through countless classics, he successfully forged a replica of the Devouring Demon Gu, one of the Ten Great Forbidden Gu; to refine this Forbidden Gu, he traveled everywhere, bathing the world's Evil Path in blood, slaughtering until no one in the Western Regions dared claim the title of Demon anymore.

At some unknown point, he acquired the title Qi Tian Lao Zu, his fame echoing throughout the entire Gu World, causing every Demon Cultivator to turn pale at the mere mention of his name.

On this day, his Endless War Canon reached completion under the power of the Devouring Demon Gu; his power had reached its Peak, and he laughed loudly toward the heavens...

This year, he was thirty-five years old... (End of Chapter)