Several days passed since the rebirth of Zao Li and Alessandra. Twelve days, a blink of an eye, passed within this world, enough for them to discover they no longer had absolute authority within this world. They were merely of Low Outerverse rank, capable of controlling only an ordinary world. As for a world like the fantasy world they created, it was impossible, like a demon and an angel living under the same roof. What worsened matters was that they were still severely injured, preventing them from using their full powers. This caused their inability to manipulate concepts and laws. Zao Li originally controlled the laws and concepts of destruction and annihilation, and Alessandra controlled life. However, they shared some things, as both were capable of manipulating time, probability, causality, luck, and destiny when they were in good condition, unlike their current state. They were extremely weak, having lost more than 99% of their power. Their power levels were sealed due to the Yang and Yin bodies, which was done to protect Ji Yao Li from the attack of the holy protectors of the tree of existence, lest they sense their power.
Ji Yao Li had split into three parts: Zao Li, known as Annihilation, Alessandra, known as Creation, and their spirit, whose origin was unknown. All of Ji Yao Li's power was sealed within it. Initially, Zao Li and Alessandra were of Trans-Omnipotent rank when they were first found, but through repeated battles, their power was gradually drained from them with each reincarnation, eventually becoming Low Outerverse entities. Therefore, they decided not to fight in this era until they recovered significantly.
In the northern Yun Gai Mountains, Zao Li wandered. While wandering, he sensed strange entities, but he felt great power hidden within them. Zao Li had lost all his memories, so he did not know about the Gu creatures that he was responsible for creating in this fantasy world. He picked one up. It was an insect resembling a firefly, emitting a faint silver light similar to moonlight.
His gaze scanned the entity when a lightning bolt struck his mind, making him hear a quiet voice full of reverence, but it was so beautiful that he forgot his pain because of it.
"Infuse energy into the entity or Gu."
It was a faint voice carrying a hint of mystery, but Zao Li, with his long experience, even with his memory loss, his trained senses from Ji Yao Li were still within him, allowing him to regain his senses in less than a second.
He spread his spiritual energy towards the firefly-like insect.
Some traces of shock appeared as he felt a connection between him and the entity, which began to enter his arm, forming a crescent moon shape. As the firefly turned into a tattoo on Zao Li's hand, he was surprised when a childish voice sounded in his ear, resembling that of a little girl.
"How are you? I am Ade Gu Moon Blade. Pleased to meet you."
Zao Li sighed a deep sigh, then replied to Gu Moon Blade.
"My name is Zao Li. Pleased to meet you."
A light, childish laughter erupted in Zao Li's ear, belonging to Gu Moon Blade, who then spoke in a calm tone filled with slight happiness.
"Listen, Zao Li, from today onwards, you will not hear my voice, nor will your descendants hear it. But remember my words well. I will be subservient to whoever refines me among your descendants until the end of existence."
The voice of Gu Moon Blade disappeared. Zao Li sighed deeply, then directed the primordial Qi in his primordial sea towards Gu Moon Blade. A three-meter-long blade appeared in the air, resembling a crescent moon, as if it were him. He threw it towards the trees. The sound of cutting air emanated between them as it flew through the sky, leaving behind a faint silver trail like a meteor in the sky.
*Whoosh*
Several trees were cleanly cut. A slight smile appeared on Zao Li's face as he looked at the damage caused by Gu Moon Blade. What increased his joy was that the amount of energy in his spiritual sea was still infinite, so he was not afraid of running out as long as he did not face an entity with the same advantage. He was worried about Alessandra, who also had infinite energy. However, they had a pact that in this life, each would go their own way, so his worry lessened somewhat.
Finding these entities called Gu was a way to reduce his effort, allowing him to heal his power faster. Luck was with him this time, but how long would it last?
While Zao Li was wandering in the northern Yun Gai Mountains, he discovered a spring inside a mountain called Yan Shi Mountain. However, he found no benefit from it when he first entered it. He discovered that it produced orbs containing great energy, but he had a feeling that these stones had another purpose besides increasing the Qi in his primordial sea. He brought two Gu Moon Blades that he had found while wandering.
After a few seconds, that mysterious voice reappeared.
"Focus your consciousness on the Gu Moon Blade you possess and throw a spirit stone at them. You must not lose focus during the process, or the Gu will be destroyed, and you will suffer spiritual injuries in the places where spiritual energy exists. Also, you must..."
Zao Li's expression turned slightly shocked. He was already suffering from spiritual energy injuries, which was the reason for their gradual disappearance. He sighed a deep sigh, releasing an ethereal wave that disappeared a few seconds later. His ability to manipulate probability was still present, but only at a high level. It was no longer what it was when Ji Yao Li was above all, but he was satisfied with his current state and did not regret it. He believed he was right.
He then spoke in a calm tone full of determination and strength.
"Let's start refining this Gu and see what happens."
Zao Li let out a deep sigh and then muttered in a calm, reverent voice.
"Refine."
As soon as he said the word, the first and second Gu Moon Blades set off, forming a giant ball the size of a palm with a faint silver color resembling the light of a full moon. He then threw spirit stones one after another. Each stone disappeared as soon as it touched the glowing ball. Zao Li's expression was calm, showing no emotion other than satisfaction and admiration for these beings. After throwing nearly 200 spirit stones, a firefly larger than before appeared. This Gu was the size of an adult man's palm, several times larger than a normal firefly. Zao Li then refined it. Zao Li's ability to refine it was because he possessed an imposing presence left from Ji Yao Li within him, making the process of refining Gu extremely easy. This was not the case for ordinary Gu Masters, who did not possess high-level Gu. A Gu Master would use a rank 5 or 4 Gu to refine a lower-ranked Gu, yet they would spend days and years refining a rank 1 or 2 Gu, and so on. The higher the rank of the Gu, the more difficult it was to refine, becoming impossible without two conditions: the Gu Master must have a Gu of a higher rank than the one they want to refine, or they must have fulfilled the refining conditions, if any. Thus, Zao Li was considered very unique.
As soon as the refined Gu appeared, a child's voice of two years old sounded in his ear, "How are you, Zao Li? My name is Gu Moon Blade Master. I am born when two Gu Moon Blades are merged together."
Zao Li inferred that Gu Moon Blade Master was stronger than Gu Moon Blade. What increased his confidence was that Gu Moon Blade's voice sounded like that of a one-year-old child, while Gu Moon Blade Master's voice was that of a two-year-old. Therefore, he decided to assign ranks to Gu, meaning that upon refining a Gu of level one, one obtains level two, and so on.
"So you are the Gu that came from the fusion of Gu Moon Blades. That's good. I hope you will be very useful."
A light laugh emanated from Zao Li's ear. Gu Moon Blade Master repeated the same words as Gu Moon Blade.
After several years, Zao Li had discovered more than fifty types of Gu and more than 400 Gu recipes. The number of Gu types and their varieties during this period included offensive, defensive, concealment, speed, healing, refining, and storage Gu. The highest level Gu Zao Li reached in 15 full years of uninterrupted study of Gu was level 6, the highest level found in the northern Yun Gai Mountains, where he found the Gu of Wisdom wandering in one of the Yun Gai Mountains.
The rarest was the Gu of the Holy Flower of Life, which lived in the springs of life from which the spirit stones came. It was their source of nourishment, feeding on the spirit stones that the spring produced. It consumed 50,000 spirit stones. After many hypotheses and studies, he discovered that the method to fuse this Gu was by draining the energy of the spring of life.
However, he did not do so because this spring of life would be useful for generations of his descendants when he decided to have children. Zao Li was a being above races; he was neither male nor female. Therefore, he could only reproduce by releasing his energy into his body, transforming it into a tree, and thus giving birth to children without sexual relations. So he was not afraid. The reason for his study was his desire to study Gu, write fusion recipes, combine elixirs and energy pills, and how to feed Gu for the future generation of children, one of whom he would be when he was reborn again upon reaching a thousand years. However, he felt that studying Gu was not enough, so he decided to move to the eastern mountains called the eastern Yun Wu Li Mountains, which had a tropical climate, allowing for the existence of diverse creature species.
During Zao Li's journey through the northern Yun Gai Mountains and the eastern Yun Wu Li Mountains, he encountered various races and monsters, including natural and somewhat fantastical ones like Moon Wolves, which could release moon blades from their bodies, Orc barbarians, goblins, and many other races capable of living in the cold conditions of the Yun Gai Mountains and the eastern Yun Wu Li Mountains.
The northern Yun Gai Mountains were close to the Arctic Ocean and a continent hundreds of kilometers away. This was the reason for the longer winter in the Yun Gai Mountains, which started from August to February, lasting six months. Summer lasted three months, spring two months, and autumn one month. The eastern Yun Wu Li Mountains had a tropical climate, making them rich in many rare, high-level Gu plants. Rainfall was continuous and heavy, making them possess 80% of the vegetation cover on the 5 continents and emit 65% of the world's oxygen. They resembled the Amazon rainforest a lot, making them one of the 7 most dangerous continents and ranking 3rd as the most dangerous continent after the northern and southern continents. They possessed 55% of the world's Gu and 78% of rare medicinal herbs.
88% of global production of fruits and wood, and 43% of gold.
They contained more than 55 types of rare creatures protected by empires, clans, and major human and non-human sects. The reason for this was the fear of a war erupting between them and the elves of sleep, darkness, and angels, who outnumbered humans and were more experienced in exploiting forest lands because they were older than humans and more knowledgeable and advanced in medicine. Animals did not fight them because they were protectors of the forest's spirit trees, so they were loved by the entities living on the 5 continents, except for some races like orcs.
While Zao Li was on the Yellow Dragon River, which passed through several mountains in the northern Yun Gai Mountains, it passed by Mount Hua Yu, Mount Yan Shi, Mount Jian Yu, Mount Qin Li, Mount Bai Lin Yi, Mount Yao Li Fu, Mount Ji Yi Ping, and many other mountains. Their number was in the tens, and their height reached kilometers above sea level, allowing creatures to live and thrive on them.
During Zao Li's travels, which spanned an entire planet, he discovered all types of Gu and countless recipes and complex combinations for making elixirs, energy pills, etc.
However, there was something he had not yet completed. The elixirs and pills for increasing strength, evolution, and healing were not for Gu Masters.
It was for refining the Dantian. Refining Gu and Dantian were different. Dantian refiners did not have a primordial sea, so it was impossible to refine and store Gu. This also applied to Gu Masters, who were unable to refine Dantian roots because they did not have them. Heaven had granted Gu Masters the ability to benefit from Gu entities and granted immortals or Dantian refiners the ability to directly use and fight with primordial Qi, unlike Gu Masters who did not have the ability to fight directly with it.
At the summit of the highest mountain on this planet, known as Sky-Crossing Mountain, because it reached over 20,000 kilometers above sea level, Zao Li was sitting next to it.