Chapter 292: Gu Sorcery

Following the method on the animal hide, Yan Buji set up a simple formation to attract yin nether qi, using the formation to absorb the incoming yin nether qi and operate the method to break the seal; the seal before the cave gradually disappeared.

Yan Buji walked into the darkness, feeling his way, and even while holding the wall he still staggered a bit.

But precisely because of that, Yan Buji dared not relax, fearing he might encounter a monster of the Netherworld.

"What exactly is this place?"

Yan Buji felt a bit strange; leaning against the wall as he walked, he discovered many skeletons inside, most of them humanoid.

"How could this skull have no sutures? Without a Baihui point, how could one develop wisdom?"

Could it be a savage?

Other parts of the skeletons were similar to humans, but every skull viewed had no sutures, which struck Yan Buji as very strange.

In other words, this place might be a humanoid tribe of the Netherworld.

Looking at these skeletons, some lay scattered on the ground, while others remained intact and sat against the wall, appearing as if they had been sealed here, despairingly awaiting death.

But surely not?

That seal I could break myself; if these people were cultivators who had transcended the mundane, they surely could not fail to undo it.

Yan Buji's face darkened; could it be that this animal-hide map is utterly useless, merely a map for imprisoning a humanoid tribe?

Sigh.

Let's keep looking.

Yan Buji held little hope; in his current state, hardship was all he could expect, and he merely wished he could soon find a way to restore his body, feeling only slightly disappointed.

I originally thought this animal-hide map was a good thing, but it turned out to be a prison map—who could bear that?

Going deeper into the cave, Yan Buji suddenly saw a crystal-clear skeleton, its bones like jade, containing flashing golden light, which shocked him somewhat.

"Golden Jade Bone? This... this should be the appearance attained only when body refinement reaches the utmost level, right?" Yan Buji felt a bit strange.

Like the high-quality imitation of the Ming Body Jade Bone I cultivated and the Ice Skin Jade Bone I saw earlier, these are merely physical aptitudes that can aid cultivation.

But this Golden Jade Bone is more like a change that appears when body refinement is trained to a great degree; Yan Buji recalled that there were also cultivators in the cultivation world who specialized in body refinement, which, although similar to Martial Dao, did not focus on Martial Dao will but solely on tempering the flesh.

The skeleton before him was quite peculiar; Yan Buji staggered over and squatted on the ground to observe it.

"Huh?"

"This is it!"

Yan Buji grabbed a rib and pulled it out; with just a slight force in his palm, it crushed to powder!

It was not as hard as he had imagined, indicating that this skeleton had long lost all its strength due to the passage of time.

After crushing the rib, Yan Buji found inside a plump, white little worm, its body wrapped, resembling a silkworm with many legs; however, its mouthparts were biting its own tail, as if it had fallen into a dormant state.

"This looks like a Gu worm?!"

Yan Buji's eyes lit up; this kind of Gu worm is truly rare, actually residing in a person's bone marrow?

Could this person's Golden Jade Bone also have been cultivated with the help of this Gu worm?

Yan Buji glanced around; as the skeleton he had disturbed scattered everywhere, near the leg bone he also saw a yellowed scroll.

Unfolding the scroll, Yan Buji examined it carefully for a while, then said blankly:

"This is... Sanskrit?"

Wait a moment.

Yan Buji had made preparations beforehand, knowing he would later travel back and forth between the Netherworld and the Yang realm, so he had deliberately gathered much information about the Netherworld.

Regarding the texts, besides the Buddhist Sutras in Sanskrit, Yan Buji also found ancient Daoist and Mysterious Sect books for reference.

The writing on this scroll at present is not Sanskrit, so he took out other materials and began to browse and search, translating the text above.

Combining the ancient classics of the Daoist and Mysterious Sects, as well as the explanations of those obscure characters, Yan Buji translated the scroll's content roughly.

"Gu Sorcery?"

Yan Buji looked dubiously at the text he had translated, thinking it sounded somewhat preposterous.

This scroll entitled Gu Sorcery is actually a product of the Primeval Wasteland era, even more ancient than the age of martial artists. Why say that? Because the Gu technique mentioned therein is a method that relies on witchcraft and Gu worms to link heaven and earth to obtain power; simply put, it is knowledge akin to sacrifice and offering.

Furthermore, the scroll states that the Gu technique worships a great existence called the 'Lord of the Starry Sky'; of course, whether such a being exists is unclear to Yan Buji.

As long as sufficient offerings are made, or one dedicates one's loyalty and wisdom for Its use, one can obtain the power of the Lord of the Starry Sky.

"No wonder people of the Primeval Wasteland died so quickly; sacrificing to obtain power from some unknown entity—is that really a good idea?"

Yan Buji pondered for a moment and gave a helpless, wry laugh.

"But I have no choice either."

Dedicating one's loyalty and strength is impossible; who knows what these great beings want with your loyalty and wisdom—if others disdain it, that's fine, but if they treat you as a backup sacrifice, you're completely done for.

This Gu worm seems to be a kind of Gu Sorcery used specifically for sacrifice, called the Star Gu.

Yan Buji took a deep breath, gritting his teeth as he agonized for a long time.

"In my condition, my strength will fade even faster over time; if I do not prepare offerings in advance, or find a way to regenerate lost limbs during this period, then I can only choose to sacrifice to the Lord of the Starry Sky."

Preparing the sacrificial offerings is actually not difficult; judging from the text, beast corpses will do.

But the problem is, if we are to perform the sacrifice, we must also place this Star Gu worm inside the body—a huge hidden danger.

Yan Buji is not without options; unless he falls into dire straits, he is not keen to resort to this method.

"Let's look first."

Immediately afterward, Yan Buji turned the cave inside out, searching for a long time; aside from finding a few pottery jars, there was nothing else.

On the contrary, the cave walls bore carvings made by those who had died; Yan Buji analyzed them for a while.

The content of the murals is actually simple: scenes of ancient Primeval Wasteland peoples hunting and offering sacrifices.

However, on another mural, the sky suddenly split and the earth vanished, as if this tribe consequently fell into the Netherworld.

After living and reproducing in the Netherworld for a period, they realized they could not adapt to this environment at all, and could only pray for the aid of the Lord of the Starry Sky.

Then, for unknown reasons, they were sealed here; a person wearing a bearskin coat, resembling a high priest, sat on a high platform facing the tribespeople's kneeling worship and silently shook his head.

"Huh?"

Yan Buji stared at the final scene on the mural, as if this high priest had actively sealed this place, not that it had been sealed by outsiders, right?

"Knowing they couldn't survive in the Youming Jie, they thus cut off their retreat here?"

It's unlikely, right; even if the people of the Wasteland lack spiritual awareness, the spirit of resistance and struggle can still be passed down in human bloodlines.

Unless they knew their own future, or perhaps it was an omen from the Lord of the Starry Sky?

Interesting.