Three hundred thousand years ago, it was the era of Thievery Path when Dao Tian Demon Venerable shook the heavens and earth and stole the "Nothingness Immortal Gu."
In the land of Central Continent, the Heavenly Court occupied the Nine Heavens, reigning supreme over the world.
The Ten Great Ancient Sects occupied various regions, controlling the lifeline of cultivation, acting imperiously, and oppressing the Loose Cultivators and demonic cultivators of Central Continent.
Throughout the entire territory of Central Continent, Loose Cultivator Gu Immortals found it difficult to move even a single inch.
Within Central Continent, there was a Loose Cultivator Gu Immortal named Wu Cheng.
In his early years, he roamed the wild mountains and forests. By a stroke of luck, he picked up a fragmented Gu Immortal Legacy. He studied it day and night, cultivating hard for decades and overcoming countless difficulties.
Eventually, he shattered his aperture and was Undergoing Tribulation, obtaining an immortal aperture and luckily becoming a true Gu Immortal.
However, in Central Continent, where the Heavenly Court was the sole superpower and the Ten Great Ancient Sects acted tyranically, Wu Cheng had no sect, no backing, and no Foundation. He suffered bullying from the ancient sects' Gu Immortals every day.
From the day he attained Immortal Ascension, he had not spent a single day in peace.
The newly immortalized Wu Cheng was penniless and destitute. His immortal aperture was barren and desolate, without even a single immortal essence stone.
The vital immortal gu he had refined personally during his tribulation, which cost him his lifelong effort, grew weaker by the day because he lacked its specific food and immortal essence to feed it.
Finally, under Wu Cheng's near-collapsing gaze, it slowly lost its vitality and eventually starved to death, its life force dissipating until it became a dead Gu.
"If the immortal gu starves to death, then let it be. It saves me a sum of money anyway..."
Wu Cheng stood with his hands down in his blessed land, muttering to himself in consolation, yet his eyes involuntarily swept over his immortal aperture blessed land.
He probed internally, activating an investigative Killer Move to inspect. He found that the blessed land was densely covered with Star Path dao marks, making it most suitable for cultivating a Mortal material called star dust grass.
In his earlier years of traveling, he had heard that star dust grass was a necessity for Star Path Gu Immortals' cultivation, and the market demand was enormous.
If he could Cultivate it on a large scale, he could exchange it for immortal essence stones and escape his current predicament.
But everything requires capital to start. The newly Immortal, penniless Wu Cheng couldn't produce even half a cent of startup capital; he couldn't even afford to buy the seeds.
After much thought, Wu Cheng gritted his teeth, straightened his robes, and stepped out of his blessed land. He headed to the Immortal Crane Sect, one of the Ten Great Ancient Sects, to request an audience and ask for a loan of immortal essence stones.
The manager Gu Immortal of the Immortal Crane Sect received Wu Cheng. Upon hearing his intent, the manager was very straightforward, producing ten immortal essence stones and pushing them in front of Wu Cheng as startup funds for cultivating star dust grass.
But this straightforwardness came with harsh conditions, establishing a usurious contract. It was agreed that on this day next year, Wu Cheng would have to repay the principal plus interest, totaling one hundred immortal essence stones—the interest had increased tenfold.
Wu Cheng frowned deeply, wanting to refuse.
But the Immortal Crane Sect Gu Immortal stepped forward, talking grandly about ideals and sketching a future. He detailed a beautiful picture of getting rich through star dust grass, escaping the Loose Cultivator's Dilemma, and cultivating peacefully, all to deceive him.
Wu Cheng was silent for a moment.
To survive, to pass his first Earth Tribulation after becoming an Immortal, and even more for that bit of lofty ambition from when he first attained Immortal Ascension, Wu Cheng finally nodded in agreement and established an Information Path alliance.
Wu Cheng reached out his trembling hands and picked up the ten immortal essence stones from the table. The immortal essence stones were heavy and cold to the touch. His hands shook slightly, his eyes turned red, and he barely held back his tears.
In his eyes, these ten immortal essence stones were his future for survival, his hope for cultivation, and his dream of eternal life.
With the immortal essence stones, Wu Cheng dared not delay. He turned and headed to the Heavenly Jealousy Tower, bowing to inquire about and purchase star dust grass seeds.
immortal essence stones were inherently precious, while star dust grass was just an ordinary Mortal material. Since Wu Cheng had just become an Immortal, his knowledge of the value of immortal essence stones and market prices was shallow.
Heavenly Jealousy Tower had a habit of scamming newly ascended Loose Immortals. Taking advantage of the information gap, they asked for an exorbitant price, swindling five immortal essence stones from Wu Cheng for just a small amount of star dust grass seeds.
Having obtained the seeds, Wu Cheng left Heavenly Jealousy Tower, activated a movement Killer Move, and rushed back to his residence. Then, he opened his immortal aperture gateway and entered Wu Cheng Blessed Land.
He activated an Earth Path Killer Move to Cultivate the land in the blessed land—turning the soil, breaking clods, and leveling it. He laid out neat ridges, sowed the seeds evenly into the fields, and covered them with fine soil.
Every day, he regularly activated Killer Moves beneficial for plant growth, watering and nurturing them. He stayed by the fields day and night, figuring out the cultivation methods.
Perhaps it was luck, or perhaps the blessed land was a good fit; the star dust grass grew impressively well.
In just a few years, it filled the entire field, lush and green, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Wu Cheng stood by the field, looking at the vast grassland. His eyebrows arched and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. Filled with joy, he blissfully imagined the beautiful future of selling the seeds and exchanging them for immortal essence stones.
But fortune is fickle. An Earth Tribulation arrived as scheduled, suddenly descending upon the blessed land and nearly destroying everything Wu Cheng had.
This was a Flame Path tribulation. Crimson fires blazed across the sky, and waves of heat rolled, sweeping through the entire star dust grassland.
Wu Cheng's years of hard work and all his efforts were entirely incinerated by the fire, turning into charred black ashes.
"All that effort for nothing..."
Wu Cheng looked up at the scorched earth and whispered in a heavy voice. His heart was full of despair, yet he did not collapse.
Despair was one thing, but one must strive to survive. He remembered the maxim from the legend of the human ancestor: "When facing a Dilemma, give your heart to hope." He clenched his fists, and the light of hope bloomed in his eyes once more.
Wu Cheng bent over to clear the scorched earth and debris, gathering and burying the ashes. He set off for the Immortal Crane Sect again, repeating the loan process to get another ten immortal essence stones.
Then, he entered Heavenly Jealousy Tower again to purchase seeds, returned to his blessed land, and recultivated the land, sowing, nurturing, and growing.
With his previous experience, Wu Cheng worked with ease. After several years, he once again grew the star dust grassland to its original scale, with even better growth than before.
The scale of the star dust grass grew larger and larger. Wu Cheng inspected the grassland every day.
Looking at the endless greenery, Wu Cheng's heart was full of joy. This was his desire for the future and his hope for longevity.
But alongside the joy, unease lingered in his heart. He knew clearly that the second Earth Tribulation would descend in the near future, very likely taking away everything before him once again.
Not long after, the second Earth Tribulation arrived as expected. Wu Cheng's expression darkened as he activated all his Mortal Gu, struggling to resist the tribulation. He put everything into saving the star dust grass, risking his life to protect the core of the grassland, and finally managed to save most of his hard work.
But this tribulation also left Wu Cheng covered in wounds, his Immortal body damaged, and a large number of Mortal Gu lost.
His pockets were empty, and he had no immortal essence stones to hire a healing Gu Immortal. He could only endure the pain, taking out healing Mortal Gu to treat his wounds and silently suffering the torment.
Even though he was seriously injured, Wu Cheng's heart was still full of joy—a joy that could not be explained to outsiders.
He had saved the star dust grass, which he valued as much as his own life.
These star dust grasses might be insignificant in the eyes of Gu Immortals with deep Foundations and great wealth like Yuan Fang, who wouldn't even deign to bend over and pick them up.
But in Wu Cheng's eyes, this was his ideal, his future, and his entire confidence to survive.
Finally, the star dust grass fully matured and reached the selling standard. Wu Cheng harvested the plants, bundled them up, and headed to the Ten Great Ancient Sects' trading post, intending to sell them.
But when he reached the trading site, he found another Gu Immortal selling star dust grass, and its quality far exceeded his, with a much better appearance. His star dust grass was ignored and couldn't be sold at all.
In the world of that time, Daoist Many Treasures was still alive, and Treasure Yellow Heaven, which connected the Five Regions, had not yet appeared. Trading channels were closed off.
Therefore, without the Ten Great Ancient Sects as a trading partner, Wu Cheng had no other choice but to travel around, visiting other Central Continent Gu Immortals and negotiating trades in hushed tones.
He traveled for several days straight, talking until his lips were dry, but he still couldn't find a suitable buyer.
Driven to a dead end, he could only return to Heavenly Jealousy Tower and sell all the star dust grass at an extremely low price, exchanging them for a few immortal essence stones.
Wu Cheng put away the immortal essence stones and walked out of Heavenly Jealousy Tower with heavy steps.
Just as he reached the street corner, he looked up and saw a Rank Six Gu Immortal activating a Mortal Path Killer Move and flying into Heavenly Jealousy Tower. That Immortal immediately bought the star dust grass that Heavenly Jealousy Tower had just acquired from him at a low price, paying several times more...
Wu Cheng stopped in his tracks, looking at the gates of Heavenly Jealousy Tower with a bitter smile in his heart.
His steps became heavier as he turned away, lost in soul. He felt as if the world were upside down; the cruelty of the world was laid bare before him, so real it was suffocating.
Just then, an Information Path Mortal Gu flew through the air, heading straight for Wu Cheng's chest.
Wu Cheng caught it and probed it with his Divine Thought. It turned out to be a debt collection message from the Immortal Crane Sect, demanding he repay his debt of one hundred immortal essence stones.
Wu Cheng counted his immortal essence stones; he only had sixty-eight, which was far from enough, leaving a debt of one hundred and thirty-two immortal essence stones.
According to the contract, the Immortal Crane Sect declared that the debt would accumulate interest upon interest, and he would need to repay one thousand three hundred and twenty immortal essence stones next year.
And Wu Cheng had only borrowed twenty immortal essence stones from the Immortal Crane Sect...
"What exactly am I doing?"
"What exactly am I struggling to endure for?"
"To live like a beast."
"And then die after struggling bitterly."
Wu Cheng was silent, standing on the street, enveloped by emotions of despair, pain, mental exhaustion, indignation, and sorrow, unable to move.
He only felt exhausted to the extreme; he had spent countless days and nights in a daze.
When the fire swept through the grassland, he really wanted to just perish in the sea of flames and end it all;
When Heavenly Jealousy Tower resold his star dust grass at a high price, he felt as if he saw himself being toyed with at will throughout his entire life.
More than three hundred years passed in a flash. Wu Cheng struggled in the cracks, passing Earth Tribulations and Heavenly Tribulations, escaping death countless times. Finally, his cultivation Breakthrough occurred, and he was promoted to a Rank Seven Gu Immortal.
AI Model: gemini-3.1-flash-lite
Although he possessed not a single immortal gu, he relied on the exquisite and peerless Mortal Path Killer Move he had researched day and night to stubbornly survive in Central Continent, which was controlled by the Ten Great Ancient Sects.
At this time, Wu Cheng was no longer the ignorant newly ascended Loose Immortal from years past.
Relying on the trading channels he had groped his way to finding, his income of immortal essence stone stabilized, and as Treasure Yellow Heaven came into existence at this time, he happened to be in the right place at the right time, reaping the benefits of the era.
He used Treasure Yellow Heaven to trade for immortal materials, gathering Gu Refining supplies, accumulating them over many years until he was fully prepared to refine an immortal gu of his own.
Wu Cheng set up a grand Gu Refining formation, sat cross-legged within it, activated his immortal essence, and channeled the Mortal gu and immortal materials, refining Gu day and night.
After countless failures and the expenditure of countless efforts, Wu Cheng finally succeeded in refining a rank six immortal gu.
The immortal gu hovered before him, surrounded by spiritual light, looking magnificent. Wu Cheng stood up, reached out to cradle the immortal gu, his hands trembling and his eyes brimming with hot tears.
This was the hope he had exchanged for three hundred years of struggle; he had grasped hope once again.
Wu Cheng pressed this rank six immortal gu tightly against his chest, against his not-so-sturdy chest.
His heartbeat accelerated rapidly, filled with immense excitement; this feeling was exactly the same as it had been three hundred years ago, when he had first borrowed ten immortal essence stones.
"Immortal Path Killer Move — Forcible Seizure!!!"
A sharp shout rang out suddenly, and a Rank Seven Gu Immortal appeared out of thin air, raising a hand to unleash a Thievery Path Killer Move. The Killer Move tore through the air, heading straight to snatch the immortal gu from before Wu Cheng.
This immortal gu was the most precious treasure on Wu Cheng, the culmination of all the painstaking effort and results of his three hundred years of bitter struggle.
"You!"
Wu Cheng's eyes widened in anger, and he roared, his voice hoarse and dry, his eyes nearly splitting from rage.
After succeeding, that Immortal Crane Sect Gu Immortal did not hesitate, raising a hand to cast an escape Killer Move. His figure flashed, turning into a streak of light, and he quickly fled the scene.
Wu Cheng stepped forward to pursue, using all his immortal essence, but in the end, he could not catch up. He could only watch helplessly as his enemy went away, his heart filled with despair and helplessness.
Wu Cheng stared fixedly at the direction where the escape light had vanished, recognizing at a glance that this person was the very same Immortal Crane Sect Gu Immortal who had lent him ten immortal essence stones all those years ago.
Time passed, and after many more years, Wu Cheng ventured deep into dangerous lands, crossing earth trenches, braving Jianghu, avoiding desolate beasts, and seizing heavy treasures.
Having experienced life-and-death situations, by a stroke of luck, he obtained another rare immortal gu, which was exactly the Rank Six second aperture gu.
This gu had a unique ability that could help a Gu Immortal open a second aperture, doubling their cultivation Foundation.
"This is great; no Thievery Path Gu Immortal will be able to steal it ever again."
Wu Cheng reached out to stroke the immortal gu, secretly happy in his heart. He immediately sat cross-legged to meditate, refined the immortal gu, and successfully opened his second aperture.
From then on, he focused on his cultivation, continuously improving his cultivation level, stabilizing his second aperture, and his strength rose steadily.
Later, Wu Cheng's second aperture also became an immortal aperture, and because of the help of abundant resources, Wu Cheng had a limitless future.
"Immortal Path Killer Move — Thievery Marks!!!"
A familiar sharp shout rang out again; it was still that same Immortal Crane Sect Gu Immortal, who had tracked his aura to find him, raising a hand to activate the Thievery Marks Killer Move.
The Killer Move enveloped Wu Cheng, frantically stealing and stripping away the dao marks within his body.
Wu Cheng had long been prepared. His eyes turned cold as he immediately activated his Mortal Path Killer Move, engaging in a fierce battle with his opponent.
Although Wu Cheng had no immortal gu Killer Moves, his Mortal Path Killer Moves had been tempered a thousand times, being exquisite and ruthless.
Relying on Mortal gu to set up formations and activating them in turns, he honed his superb combat talent in desperate situations, fighting while retreating, luring his enemy step by step until he led the Immortal Crane Sect Gu Immortal into the Central Continent Saint White Boundary Wall.
Subsequently, he utilized the special geographical advantage of the boundary wall, launched a fierce attack, and defeated his opponent in one fell swoop.
The Immortal Crane Sect Gu Immortal collapsed to the ground, heavily injured and on the verge of death. He wore a vicious expression, his eyes crazed, as he shrieked:
"Hmph! Even if I die, I won't let you have it easy!"
As the words fell, the Immortal Crane Sect Gu Immortal gritted his teeth and activated an Immortal Path Killer Move, sacrificing his own immortal aperture, cultivation, and all his dao marks.
A strange power spread out, triggering the terrifying great unity wind. Two great unity winds swirled up simultaneously, appearing in Wu Cheng's two great immortal apertures.
Wu Cheng's expression changed drastically as he activated all his defense Gu, struggling to resist the great unity wind.
But the great unity wind, though appearing gentle, was actually capable of assimilating all things. Even a Rank Eight Gu Immortal would have to avoid its edge; it was definitely not something he, a Rank Seven bottom-tier Loose Immortal, could contend with.
Wu Cheng gritted his teeth and held on for a moment, but knowing he could not resist, he had to painfully cut his losses, abandoning most of his immortal aperture territory to protect his core resources and the Foundation of his blessed land.
After much struggling, all his cultivation was dissipated, and he completely fell into becoming a Mortal, dropping from a Rank Seven Gu Immortal back into the Mortal dust.
Wu Cheng sat paralyzed amidst the fragments of his blessed land, filled with despair, not knowing where the road of his future lay.
Yet he still possessed a glimmer of life; he still had a treasured longevity gu in his possession. He calculated in his heart that perhaps he could rely on his remaining Foundation to re-refine a second aperture gu.
Then, he would restart his Gu Master cultivation, and then become a Gu Immortal.
The part of the immortal aperture he had abandoned transformed into a small fragment of blessed land, its Foundation far inferior to before.
Wu Cheng struggled to stand, took out the remaining red date immortal essence, and while channeling the immortal essence to maintain the operation of the blessed land, he prevented the blessed land from collapsing.
On the other hand, he searched everywhere for Mortal materials and immortal materials, researching day and night, setting about refining the second aperture gu.
Wu Cheng sat in the blessed land, his eyes blank, not knowing where the way out was. He had only one thought, which was to survive.
In his youth, he was determined to become a Gu Master with great divine abilities as recorded in books. Watching those carefree Gu Master masters, his heart was filled with envy, yet he looked down upon their lack of drive.
When he obtained a Gu Immortal Legacy, his horizons broadened, he successfully opened his aperture, his spirits were high, and he was never satisfied.
He knew deeply that the world was vast; even if one cultivated into an Immortal, one was nothing more than a drop in the ocean.
When his life-bound immortal gu starved to death back then, his heart felt like it was being cut by knives.
At that time, he only felt that being able to feed his own Gu, and having a place to stand in this world, was already a tremendous ability.
Time flowed slowly, and the years took away Wu Cheng's youth.
He was already covered in wounds and exhausted. In order to survive in the world, he had exhausted all the energy and painstaking effort of his entire life, falling into a desperate situation, his heart cold and discouraged.
In the moment of despair, in the midst of the unknown, Wu Cheng once again remembered the maxim from the legend of the human ancestor, his eyes suddenly opened wide, and the fire of hope was rekindled.
"Have you not heard, Heaven never blocks all paths!"
Wu Cheng wanted to live, because Heaven never blocks all paths.
He wanted to have immense wealth, never again worrying about cultivation resources, because Heaven never blocks all paths.
He wanted to possess endless lifespan, to be Immortal, and damn it, it was still because Heaven never blocks all paths!
Wu Cheng roared out loud, activating all the strength he had left, channeling the remaining immortal essence and immortal materials of his blessed land. Immortal light suddenly blossomed, dazzling and blinding, impossible to look at directly.
After experiencing countless hardships, the second aperture gu was finally refined once again!
But after Wu Cheng refined the immortal gu, he was stunned to discover that because his original second aperture had already appeared, it was useless unless it was a third aperture gu.
Therefore, this second aperture gu was completely useless to him.
Wu Cheng did not give up his last glimmer of hope, exhausting his entire life's insights, wanting to deduce the third aperture gu.
But just as he had deduced the incomplete recipe for the third aperture gu, not long after, a disaster struck his blessed land.
He was powerless to resist, and ultimately was buried within the disaster, ending a lifetime of struggle.
Three hundred thousand years flowed by, seas changed into mulberry fields, and worldly affairs shifted.
Inside the Western Desert's Mech Grotto-Heaven, Yuan Fang stepped in and ascended the rank eight immortal gu house, the Homecoming List.
Yuan Fang raised his hand to browse the exchange list, seeing Wu Cheng's dream realm on the list at a glance. Immediately, he spent the corresponding contribution points, raised his hand to exchange and buy the dream realm, putting it into his possession.
Yuan Fang found a quiet place, sat cross-legged, activated his Divine Thought to immerse himself in the dream realm, and experienced Wu Cheng's life in its entirety. From it, he absorbed insights into Star Path cultivation, his cultivation level improved, he successfully broke through, and achieved the status of a quasi-Great Grandmaster of Star Path.
At the same time, he also obtained the achievement of Wu Cheng's later life — the incomplete recipe for the third aperture gu.
This dream realm left behind by Wu Cheng had been discovered by chance by Dao Tian Demon Venerable a long time ago. In that era, Dream Path had not yet been created, and dream realms were rare things in the world.
Dao Tian Demon Venerable raised his hand to cast a Space Path Immortal Rank Killer Move, tearing through space, moving and sealing this dream realm, sending it into the Mech Grotto-Heaven, where it had been preserved until today.
"This is the third aperture gu, but unfortunately, there is less than ten percent of the incomplete recipe. I wonder if, by relying on wisdom gu, I can deduce it completely."
"This Wu Cheng was quite a Genius, possessing extremely high cultivation talent. Unfortunately, he was born at the wrong time, specifically in the era of Dao Tian, and was born in Central Continent, where Heavenly Court dominated and the Ten Great Ancient Sects suppressed Loose Cultivators and Demonic Cultivators, ultimately leading to such an ending."
Yuan Fang's gaze was distant, thinking intently. He raised his hand to take out a bookworm, recording the less than ten percent incomplete recipe for the third aperture gu entirely within the bookworm.
Subsequently, he stood up, activated Fixed Immortal Travel, and with a flash of green light, returned directly to Lang Ya Blessed Land.
Yuan Fang utilized the wisdom halo emitted by the wisdom gu, simultaneously activating the Rank Seven Star Thought Immortal Gu and the Rank Seven Sword Intent immortal gu; the three gu moved in unison, assisting the deduction.
He raised his hand to take out half a Rank Eight white lychee immortal essence, injecting it into the two Wisdom Path immortal gu. Spending several days, he focused on the deduction, finally deducing the incomplete third aperture Gu recipe into a complete Gu recipe.
To be continued...
Next Chapter: The Third immortal aperture
Author's Note
How do you all feel about this Rank Six Gu Immortal named Wu Cheng? I thought of this while sleeping a few days ago.