Chapter 591: Sacrifice (Double Chapter) Translator: ChibiGeneral Editor: ChibiGeneral It had been so long since Fang Yuan had come to Imperial Court blessed land, and he had entered Eighty-Eight True Yang Building so many times, but he had never forgotten his original intention in coming to northern plains. That was to save Dang Hun mountain. He needed landscape as before Gu to save Dang Hun mountain. There were many difficulties and challenges to obtain this Gu, the main thing was it was with a person. This person was Tai Bai Yun Sheng. Ever since Tai Bai Yun Sheng joined Hei tribe army, Fang Yuan had been placing his attention on him. Several months ago, Fang Yuan uncovered some information: When Hei Lou Lan obtained the one-edge owner token, he was able to explore the rewards of every round; Tai Bai Yun Sheng had gone to visit him and inquired about the existence of lifespan Gu. But at that time, Eighty-Eight True Yang Building did not yet have lifespan Gu. When the fifty-fifth floor had condensed, Hei Lou Lan informed Tai Bai Yun Sheng he had discovered a fifteen year lifespan Gu. After the fifty-fifth floor completely formed into shape, Hei Lou Lan investigated the location of the lifespan Gu and could precisely tell it was the reward for clearing the eighty-fifth round. From then on, Tai Bai Yun Sheng had put all his energy in the fifty-fifth floor. He called up many Gu Masters, forming an enormous group and forcibly crashed through the rounds. Relying on his might, prestige and enormous rewards, along with repeatedly requesting Hei Lou Lan and other experts, he was actually making fast progress. Hard work paid off, Tai Bai Yun Sheng spent all his wealth and finally was able to reach the eighty-fifth round. Fang Yuan naturally did not wish to see Tai Bai Yun Sheng obtaining what he desired. Tai Bai Yun Sheng was old, and did not have much lifespan left; it was natural behavior for him to increase his lifespan with lifespan Gu. But if he really obtained this lifespan Gu, he was definitely not going to risk advancing into an immortal. If he did not risk advancing to an immortal, there would not be the inspiration from heaven and earth that would form the Immortal Gu Landscape As Before. If there was no landscape as before Gu, how would Fang Yuan save Dang Hun mountain which was about to completely wither away? Especially the past few days, he had learned more information: Tai Bai Yun Sheng had attempted many times to pass the round and he had already found hope. He did not stint on borrowing from Hei Lou Lan and even agreed to Hei Lou Lan’s condition of becoming an external elder of Hei tribe. Tai Bai Yun Sheng was then able to use Hei tribe’s resources to recruit large numbers of experts and form a powerful lineup, charging into the fifty-fifth floor to make the final attack. Despite Tai Bai Yun Sheng taking the risk to advance to an immortal in the memories of his previous life, Fang Yuan was cautious and did not dare to take the risk, deciding to personally intervene. Time waits for no man. Fang Yuan had intended to get rid of Mo Yao’s will first, dealing with the internal problem before attacking the external problems. But this matter had not made any progress, so now, he used his owner token to secretly infiltrate into the fifty-fifth floor. The situation of the fifty-fifth floor had already been probed out by Tai Bai Yun Sheng. There was a majestic and grand blood river flowing here, and in the depths of the river, there was a legendary and mythical blood palace erected. The blood palace had three great halls and sixty-nine auxiliary halls. Every hall contained large numbers of blood path Gu worms as well as blood beast guards. The large groups of blood path Gu worms were of huge strength, but as long as they were killed one by one over a period of time, there would be a point when they are all slaughtered. The problem was the blood beasts. Even after these blood beasts were killed, they would absorb blood and resurrect within a short moment. One could say that they could be killed but not killed, there was no way of reducing their numbers. Tai Bai Yun Sheng’s several attempts at passing the round had all been thwarted by these blood beasts. But at the last attempt, he had unintentionally discovered a pleasant surprise: as long as they keep on charging forward to the depths of the great hall and take out the command token hanging on the main beam, they could make the blood beasts dissipate. This discovery birthed a strong confidence in Tai Bai Yun Sheng. He was thoroughly poor now, and did not hesitate to sell himself to Hei tribe, borrowing funds and forming a Gu Master group to charge through this round. When Fang Yuan secretly entered this floor, Tai Bai Yun Sheng’s group had already charged through thirty-three side halls and were presently in a fierce battle to reach a towering main hall. Fang Yuan took out the six-edge owner token, and with a thought, immediately had complete control over this floor. The six-edge owner token could let Fang Yuan control up to six floors of Eighty-Eight True Yang Building. Fang Yuan had already used it once to control the seventh floor. Now, he was using it a second time to control this fifty-fifth floor. Hei Lou Lan had a one-edge owner token and the floor he controlled was the fifth floor. With a shift of thought, Fang Yuan’s figure disappeared on the spot and appeared on the main beam of the great hall. He leisurely sat on the main beam, and not far from him was that crucial command token. With a bit of concentration, the battle scene of Tai Bai Yun Sheng and his group appeared in Fang Yuan’s mind. The deeper they went towards the great hall, the more blood beast guards there were, and the battles that occurred were extremely intense. This group of Tai Bai Yun Sheng did not even have fifty people now. They had been charging forward the whole way, suffering disastrous casualties which left behind a trail of corpses along the way. Two great rank five Gu Master experts Zhu Zai and Gao Yang took turns as the front vanguard of the group. Meanwhile Tai Bai Yun Sheng, as the number one healing Gu Master of northern plains of this generation, was protected in the center of the formation. He continually used man as before Gu; rays of light shooting forward and shining upon the corpses, resurrecting the Gu Masters, or shone upon live Gu Masters, healing their injuries and recovering their primeval essence in an instant. But even Tai Bai Yun Sheng, a rank five peak stage Gu Master, was in a very sorry state. Gu Masters were falling down time and again, and although he used all his strength, he truly could not save everyone. The countless blood beasts surged out of every corridor near the great hall and every room, blocking the group’s way with very dense numbers. The closer they got to the main command token, the stronger the blood beasts became. And blood beasts could absorb blood to quickly recover and resurrect. By the time Tai Bai Yun Sheng and the group charged to this place, the blood beasts they had killed on their way had once again resurrected and chased them, blocking their way back. The situation was getting very dangerous. "No wonder Tai Bai Yun Sheng risked advancing to immortal in my previous life. This round’s difficulty is rather high, unless a blood path Gu Master works with them." Fang Yuan was in control of this place and could see the actions that Tai Bai Yun Sheng took as easily as reading the lines of his palm. To a blood path Gu Master, this round was no less than a paradise. With so many blood path wild Gu to subdue and blood beasts to devour, their blood path cultivation would strengthen rapidly. It was a pity blood path could not be easily revealed. Because of Blood Sea Ancestor, a blood path Gu Master would be hunted persistently by the righteous path the moment they appeared. And because blood path Gu Masters could quickly increase their battle strength, even demonic Gu Masters widely feared it. Often, when a blood path Gu Master was discovered, not only would they be hunted down by the righteous path, they would also suffer sneak attacks from demonic path Gu Masters. There was not even one blood path Gu Master among Hei tribe army. Even if they existed, they were hidden deeply and would not appear for Tai Bai Yun Sheng’s use. Fang Yuan ascertained for a moment and knew clearly that the chance of Tai Bai Yun Sheng succeeding was extremely minute. The worry in his heart immediately dissipated by more than half. Fang Yuan laid back on the beam and took out <>, passing the time while paying attention to Tai Bai Yun Sheng’s progress. Death was possible when advancing through Eighty-Eight True Yang Building. Fang Yuan was scheming for landscape as before Gu, and could not allow Tai Bai Yun Sheng to die at the moment. "Kill, we must break through this siege! Otherwise, we are all going to die!" Tai Bai Yun Sheng’s face was filled with blood stains, roaring loudly to raise the morale. Waves of blood beasts roared and snarled, before pouncing on the group like a blood colored giant wave. ... The great hall was a scene of tranquility. Fang Yuan leisurely flipped through the pages while adjusting his posture to make himself more comfortable. ... Grrr! A blood beast with the head of a tiger and body of a horse madly snarled while rampaging in the group of Gu Masters. Two Gu Masters met its attack; one died while the other was heavily injured. "Man As Before!" Tai Bai Yun Sheng shouted and raised his palm; a white light immediately shot out and shone upon that injured Gu Master. The Gu Master immediately recovered his previous uninjured state. The terrifying injuries from the blood beast’s attacks disappeared without a trace. The Gu Master panted roughly, he was still frightened, retreating back behind the frontlines. The defensive gap he left behind was immediately filled up by another Gu Master. But that dead Gu Master’s corpse was swarmed by the blood beasts and roughly dragged away. Tai Bai Yun Sheng did not make a move. Without advancing to an immortal, even a rank five Gu Master would have limited primeval essence and have to use it cautiously. Moreover, that dead Gu Master’s Gu worms were severely damaged, his defensive Gu worm was even pierced and destroyed. Even if he was resurrected, he would be killed again. The remaining Gu Masters grieved and cursed, but they could only look as their companion’s corpse was madly torn apart by over ten blood beasts. Blood beasts were extremely sensitive to blood and even a bit of bloody odor could make them go crazy. By swallowing stronger organism’s blood, they could strengthen themselves. Soon, the dead Gu Master’s blood was completely absorbed by the blood beasts. The whole corpse became a dried up mummy, creating a wretched spectacle. The beasts that had absorbed his blood started to grow human like forms. Some grew human like eyes; some grew several human ears; and some grew agile human arms. But when they were spending time in absorbing the corpse, the pressure on Tai Bai Yun Sheng and the group greatly reduced and they took this valuable opportunity to break through and moved forward tens of steps. ... Fang Yuan flipped through <> to chapter three, section fourteen. Northern Dark Ice Soul awakened his elder sister Desolate Ancient Moon, and the two again asked for advice from cognition Gu on how to save their father. Cognition Gu said: "Humans, Cheng Bai mountain has disappeared, who knows when it will form again. I am also not clear on other ways to bring your father back to life. But no need to be dejected, you can try asking wisdom Gu. I am its mother, wisdom is the crystallization of cognition." The student surpasses the master; the things cognition Gu did not know, wisdom Gu might not necessarily be unknowing of. Under cognition Gu’s directions, Northern Dark Ice Soul and Desolate Ancient Moon found wisdom Gu. Wisdom Gu had somewhat of a connection with Ren Zu, back then Ren Zu had used rules and regulations Gu to capture it. But it was able to escape in the end. At first, wisdom Gu was not willing to help Northern Dark Ice Soul and Desolate Ancient Moon. But seeing that they were introduced by its mother cognition Gu, it reluctantly said: "Oh humans, I can show you the right path. But I need remuneration, one of you need to hand over your middle age to me." "I will give my middle age to you." Desolate Ancient Moon immediately replied with no hesitation. She was awakened by her little brother Northern Dark Ice Soul and had been bestowed with the meaning of her life which was to bring her father, Ren Zu, back to life. Thus, she replied immediately without the intention of passing it to others. Northern Dark Ice Soul was not able to argue with his sister and could only let her offer her middle age. This meant, once Desolate Ancient Moon’s youth had passed, she would directly skip middle age to reach old age. But to save her father, she did not have many misgivings. Wisdom Gu obtained Desolate Ancient Moon’s middle age and gave her directions: "In the center of the golden desert in the west, there is a still blue sea with no ripples, as flat as a mirror. That is the source of all living beings, all lives in the world originates from there. And in the depths of the blue sea lie many life Gu shining upon all living beings. You need to infiltrate the sea, catch a human shaped life Gu and bring it to shore. This human shaped life Gu can bestow your father a new life. But remember, you cannot spend over fifteen minutes in the sea, otherwise you will be assimilated by the sea. Wisdom Gu added another sentence in the end: "It is extremely difficult to find human shaped life Gu. Only a person who has truly comprehended the truth of life can do it. If you are not able to do it, don’t blame my solution for not being easy to use." Desolate Ancient Moon wanted to ask something, but Wisdom Gu quickly flew away and did not give the siblings any chance to make inquiries. ... The clamorous shouts and cries resounded everywhere. The blood beasts surged forward like sea tides. Tai Bai Yun Sheng and the group were like a reef, resisting the attacks of the blood beasts time and again, while also moving forward step by step with difficulty. "Almost there, we are only three hundred steps away from the great hall door!" Someone shouted, boosting the morale. "Careful!" Suddenly, a Gu Master at the side warned. That Gu Master who had tried to boost morale was dazed and the very next moment, a blood beast with the head of a dragon and body of a bear fiercely smashed into him. Crack. The Gu Master’s ribs instantly shattered from the crash, and the blood he puffed out contained pieces of internal organs. His body was sent flying from the smash, the Gu Masters behind tried to stop him with all their strength; in an instant, the formation turned chaotic and there was a crisis of it collapsing apart! "Hold on, continue to hold on!!" Tai Bai Yun Sheng, his face stained with blood, shouted furiously with extreme anxiety. In such a battle situation, if the Gu Masters scattered, they would immediately be torn to pieces by the surrounding countless blood beasts. Only with the Gu Masters working in a tight formation, could they have a chance at survival! But the Gu Masters were retreating step by step, large numbers of blood beasts broke the defense line and fiercely pounced upon them. Miserable screams started rising continuously. Many Gu Masters were still recovering their primeval essence as much as possible. Being caught unawares, they were immediately torn to pieces by the blood beasts. A mantis-like blood beast brandished its sickle arms and charged in the very front. Swish! A Gu Master’s head was slashed apart; blood started spurting out of the Gu Master’s neck and the head flew high, but before it fell down, it was grabbed by a blood beast flying in the air and with a ’gulp, was swallowed down. But the red hot blood fell down, splashing right at Tai Bai Yun Sheng’s face. Tai Bai Yun Sheng quickly wiped away the blood and was barely able to open his eyes; the dense bloody stench assailed his nose, and agitated a group of blood beasts. "Finished!" Tai Bai Yun Sheng’s heart sank to the bottom, but right at this time, a figure pounced down like a tiger getting off the mountain. BOOM BOOM BOOM. After several rounds, the figure killed the mantis blood beast and finally stabilized the formation at this final juncture. It was Zhu Zai! A rank five Gu Master, a famous expert of the demonic path!! Everyone was saved, feeling like they were dragged back from the cliff. But Zhu Zai also paid a price, there were three new wounds on his body, all of them so deep one could see his bones. Tai Bai Yun Sheng quickly activated man as before Gu to heal him. Zhu Zai recovered his previous state and the new injuries completely vanished. At the same time, his intensely depleted primeval essence recovered back. It was only that the several expendable Gu he had used to gain a burst in his battle strength earlier could not be restored. Man As Before could only target human bodies and had no effect on Gu worms. ... "This Man As Before has marvellous effect, but unfortunately, it cannot be used on one’s own body." Fang Yuan sighed before gazing back to the book in his hand once again. Desolate Ancient Moon and Northern Dark Ice Soul travelled an arduous journey through the golden desert and arrived at the center of the desert where they saw the blue sea. The blue sea was so beautiful that nothing more beautiful than it could be imagined. Just like wisdom Gu said, even strong winds could not cause the slightest of a ripple on the blue sea. With the soft golden sand surrounding it, it looked like a deep blue gemstone embedded on this golden cloth. The siblings infiltrated into the depths of the sea and sure enough found large numbers of life Gu packed together in the sea depths. These life Gu were like blue gems. But they were of different sizes and shapes. Some looked like a colt; some like a tiger or leopard; some like an eagle or dove; while some like a snake or flood dragon. The siblings were dazzled from the sight. They saw all kinds of life Gu from flowers, birds, fishes, insects, beasts, snowmen, hairy men and all other shapes, except the human shaped life Gu. Helplessly, the siblings could only get out of the sea and back to the shore. The moment they had left the blue sea, a deer shaped life Gu Northern Dark Ice Soul had been holding, let out a soft light before jumping on the sand and turning into a fawn. This was the birth of a life! The siblings looked at this sight in wonder, with their eyes wide open. Only when the fawn had hopped far away, the elder sister Desolate Ancient Moon suddenly comprehended: "No wonder wisdom Gu flew away immediately after speaking and did not let us question it. I have understood the truth of life." "The truth of life, what exactly is it?" Northern Dark Ice Soul quickly asked. Desolate Ancient Moon pointed at this blue sea in front of them and asked in return: "Tell me, if we were to really find a life Gu, a human shaped blue gem, and we bring it back, what will it transform into?" Northern Dark Ice Soul thought for a moment and replied: "It should be like that fawn and turn into a real active life form, right?" He suddenly looked distracted. Desolate Ancient Moon looked at him with a smile: "It seems you have also understood. We are these life forms. We were formed from life Gu! We, ourselves, are human shaped blue gems!" Northern Dark Ice Soul completely understood, where did humans come from? Wisdom Gu had already made it clear before: This blue sea is the source of all living beings, all lives in the world originate from here. Humans, naturally also originated from here. Their father Ren Zu was once a blue gem in the depths of this sea. By some opportunity and coincidence, it was able to come out from the sea and form a zestful life form that roamed the world, surviving with difficulty and reaching this stage. But humans were the spirit of all living beings, so how many human shaped gems could there be in such a large sea? It was definitely extremely few, and it was very possible Ren Zu was the only one. Searching for a small blue gem in such a vast sea, how big of a project was this! This was innumerable times more difficult than Desolate Ancient Moon looking for the only success Gu in Cheng Bai mountain. "I know a method which can get us a human shaped life Gu quickly." Desolate Ancient Moon suddenly said. "What method?" Northern Dark Ice Soul had a bad feeling. Desolate Ancient Moon smiled: "That is... I will go into the bottom of the sea and assimilate with this blue sea, returning back to a life Gu." Although Desolate Ancient Moon had transformed into a monster, she was intrinsically a human. The essence of her life had not changed. Since she was a human, once she was assimilated, she would form a human shaped blue gem like life Gu. This speculation was not wrong. No wonder wisdom Gu said: But remember, you cannot spend over fifteen minutes in the sea, otherwise you will be assimilated by the sea. Wisdom Gu’s words did not have any superfluous words. Wisdom Gu had also said: If you are not able to do it, don’t blame my solution for not being easy to use. One could analyze from this sentence — it was extremely likely there were no human shaped blue gems in the blue sea. If the siblings were not willing to sacrifice themselves, they would not be able to obtain human shaped life Gu. As such, don’t blame me, the wisdom Gu, if you are not able to do it. "No, you can’t sacrifice yourself like this, elder sister." Northern Dark Ice Soul immediately dissuaded. Although he wanted to bring his father back to life, he did not want to sacrifice his own sister. "I need to do it, the meaning of my life is to bring father back to life." Desolate Ancient Moon replied tranquilly. Northern Dark Ice Soul suddenly could not say anything. It was him who gave this meaning to Desolate Ancient Moon’s life, and Desolate Ancient Moon was living for this. In other words, if her father could not be brought back to life, there would be no meaning in her life. Then what would be the use in continuing to live? As long as she sacrificed herself, she could bring her father back to life; this was the greatest meaning of Desolate Ancient Moon’s life! "Humans originally were gems of the world. It is only that whether the gems are bright or not require us to polish them. Every effort we make, every choice we take, are all polishing each of our gems." "And humans can only obtain life by sacrificing life." Desolate Ancient Moon leisurely spoke before sinking into the blue sea. Northern Dark Ice Soul tried his best to stop her, but he was not able to. Desolate Ancient Moon had become a monster with incomparable strength, and he was not her match. After fifteen minutes of time, Desolate Ancient Moon was assimilated by the blue sea and turned into a human shaped blue gem. But this blue gem was not of a healthy human shape but a badly damaged, less than half a proper human shape. This was because Desolate Ancient Moon had given her ’middle age’ to wisdom Gu. Humans, in the process of understanding what life was, would often have already used up half of their lives. Northern Dark Ice Soul held this blue gem with tears in his eyes, and left the golden desert. He did not have any of the happiness of success, but instead sank down into extreme remorse. From a certain perspective, it was him who had killed his elder sister. ... "There are still fifty steps left!" Tai Bai Yun Sheng shouted with all his strength. They pushed forward with difficulty with a companion falling down every short moment, the intense and bitter battle had left them with only five people now! But success was right in front of their eyes! "Just a little more of a push..." "I will tear these blood beasts into pieces!!" Zhu Zai and Gao Yang protected Tai Bai Yun Sheng from left and right; they also shouted to raise the morale. Thirty steps! Two more fell down, leaving behind Tai Bai Yun Sheng, Zhu and Gao. The surrounding blood beasts brandished their claws and fangs, looking extremely malevolent. They advanced wave upon wave in their endless numbers. Ten steps! Zhu Zai and Gao Yang used all their strength, suffering disastrous losses to their Gu worms because of excessive use, and their primeval essence was also almost depleted. "This old man owes both of you a favor, I swear I will definitely reward you heavily sometime in the future!" Tai Bai Yun Sheng’s eyes shone brightly, his tone extremely earnest and sincere. "Old sir, what are you saying! We were saved by you back then, without old sir, we would not be alive today!" "Old sir’s life saving favor is as heavy as a mountain! Even if we die today, it can be considered repaying your favor." Gao Yang and Zhu Zai replied, full of emotions. There existed two-faced hypocrites in the righteous path, and demonic path likewise was not without true heroes! Five steps! "Save me!" Zhu Zai shouted and without caring for defense, pounced on the blood beasts blocking the way forward, perishing together with them. Tai Bai Yun Sheng stretched out his palm but the white light did not come out. He shouted out involuntarily: "Not good, my primeval essence is finished!" This bad news immediately made Gao Yang’s expression turn pale white. All along, Tai Bai Yun Sheng had served as the core of the group. Only with man as before Gu’s continuous support, everyone was able to push forward this deep. "It doesn’t matter, no blood beasts will enter the great hall. As long as I can enter the great hall, I can recover my primeval essence quickly and save Zhu Zai!" Tai Bai Yun Sheng shouted. Gao Yang’s spirits rose. Tai Bai Yun Sheng was right, blood beasts might tear apart the corpse, but their main priority was absorbing the blood. As long as most of the corpse was intact, there was hope of saving Zhu Zai. Snarl! Next moment, a strong blood beast that looked like a giant python suddenly moved in from behind and swallowed Gao Yang in one bite! Two steps! The great hall’s door was very close; with a body filled with injuries, Tai Bai Yun Sheng staggered forward through a small gap among the blood beasts. At the crucial moment, he used up his final precious bit of primeval essence to summon a golden armor which resisted the blood beasts’ attacks. He reached! "Humans can only obtain life by sacrificing life. Gao Yang, Zhu Zai, I will remember your sacrifices!" Tai Bai Yun Sheng exerted all his remaining strength to push open the door. He fell down inside the great hall, the blood beasts behind him roared, snarled and brandished their claws, but did not dare to enter the great hall. It was just like what Tai Bai Yun Sheng had investigated before. Tai Bai Yun Sheng lay down on the ground with no strength left in his body. The injuries all over his body were continually transmitting intense pain. He took a few strong gasps of breath, and suddenly started laughing heartily, but his laughter contained a sobbing tone. Tears were overflowing on his face. "This round has three great halls and sixty-nine side halls! If one crosses the round completely within a certain time period, they can obtain high grade evaluation. Passing two great halls and forty-six side halls will be considered middle grade evaluation. I surpassed twenty-three side halls and one great hall, I can only obtain low grade evaluation. But regardless, I have obtained lifespan Gu!" "Fifteen year lifespan Gu can increase my lifespan by fifteen years. A whole fifteen years..." Tai Bai Yun Sheng was exclaiming with deep and boundless emotion, when suddenly, his eyes blacked out and he fainted.