Xiuxian: I studied abroad in modern times

Chapter 565 The Bottle Collects Ten Thousand Insects, Ancient Tortoise Shell

The word "master" greatly shocked the disciples of the Lu Clan and the rogue cultivators.

But the expression on the Gu God's face was more like the sky had fallen.

She pursed her lips, her face ashen, and her gaze toward Zheng Fa was one of utter defiance—in a sense, Zheng Fa, who had cracked the secrets of her Gu Dao, was now an enemy of her Dao.

What good fortune, what bones, at this moment, none of them can compare to the threat Zheng Fa poses to her.

Zheng Fa observed the change in the Gu God's expression and became secretly wary. The reason their move was so effective was actually twofold:

First, there is the inherent flaw of the Gu Dao. While the Gu Dao is powerful because of the insect swarm, it is also vulnerable because of the insect swarm.

In essence, the more complex a system is, the more prone it is to problems, especially with the presence of three traitors like Zheng and Fa.

The second reason is actually more important: Zheng Fa and his team caught the Gu God off guard.

In any case, the Gu God is an outstanding figure among true immortals. It is difficult for the Nine Mountains Sect to figure out his methods in a short time, so they have to be careful.

The Gu Goddess's gaze swept across the chaotic swarm of insects, her expression growing increasingly grim. Her long, green hair danced wildly behind her, revealing her flawless, even extremely alluring, body.

But Zheng Fa felt no temptation whatsoever!
Behind the Gu God's long, straight, jade-like legs, six more spider legs grew out, their hairs black and hard as nails, radiating a cold light.

Its belly was white and soft, yet it was covered with countless compound eyes.

Her chest was undulating and proudly curved, but the mountains had turned a ghastly green, resembling two poison sacs.

Behind her, two hard wings, the size of door panels, grew out, resembling the wings of a cockroach.

Her cherry lips transformed into mouthparts with sharp teeth, and her long hair turned into countless ferocious tentacles.

Zheng Fa considered himself to be quite knowledgeable, but at this moment, he couldn't help but take a half step back.

Is this something that humans can cultivate?
But the swarm of insects in the Insect Valley seemed to have encountered the most beautiful and supreme kind of their own.

For a moment, they all stopped fighting, raised their heads, and cried out to the Gu God.

"careful!"

Zheng Fa shouted, his body transforming into a rainbow, and he retreated explosively with Senior Sister Zhang and the other two women.

A cracking sound came from where he had just stood; the Gu God's mouthful of sharp teeth collided and bit into nothing.

Only then did the phantom of the Gu God on the mountaintop slowly disappear.

Looking at the trembling wings on the back of the Gu God, Zheng Fa couldn't help but sigh in his heart, "This Gu God is so fast!"

The Gu God seemed to hate Zheng Fa intensely and relentlessly pursued the three of them.

But if it's just about escaping... no, about speed, Zheng Fa has never been inferior to anyone in his entire life!

He led Senior Sister Zhang and the Gu God through the valley, chasing each other in an exhilarating off-road race.

Logically speaking, the two are far apart in strength, especially in terms of magical power, which is not even in the same league. Zheng Fa is currently only at the Mahayana stage, while Gu Shen is already a True Immortal.

If it comes down to attrition, Zheng Fa has no chance against the Gu God.

However, after the chase, the Gu God's movements became slower and slower, as if he was running out of energy.

She hovered in mid-air, emitting two low, buzzing sounds:
"mean!"

Zheng Fa glanced at Xie Qingxue. She's cursing at you!

Xie Qingxue put her hand back into her sleeve and looked up at the sky as if nothing had happened, though there was still a hint of shyness in her eyes.

During the chase, Xie Qingxue was also busy scattering medicine.

Her predicament was partly due to this fighting style, which was contrary to the way of sword cultivators.

On the other hand, the medication used was too aggressive.

Zheng Fasheng was a little cautious by nature. Compared to the Gu God, the Nine Mountains Sect was just a small workshop. Their overall strategy could be summed up in one word: fierce!

Just now, Xie Qingxue scattered substances that could induce most of the Gu worms to mate.

At this moment, the behavior of the insect swarm in the valley was utterly shameless.

This thing is useless to humans, but the Gu Goddess doesn't look human at all right now.

Although he was reluctant to admit it, Zheng Fa could indeed see a hint of... seduction in his ferocious face.

The Gu God seemed to have noticed its own abnormality, panting heavily, but it stopped chasing Zheng Fa and the other two.

She turned and fell into the valley, her eight legs on the ground, when suddenly she let out a sharp scream.

The entire valley shook violently, and a simple, heavy bronze cauldron, large enough to contain the entire valley, flew straight out from the bottom of the valley.

She used the cauldron to carry the swarm of insects and flew towards Haori Mountain.

She's going to run!
No one expected that the Gu God would be so decisive, running away as fast as he could when he sensed the danger.

Outside the mountain, several Lu Clan disciples had one sentence written on their faces: I haven't even reached the cauldron yet!
They could also see that the Gu Goddess's escape this time was not so much because she was afraid of Zheng Fa and the other two, but rather because she felt that Zheng Fa's methods were too strange and despicable. In this struggle, she was restrained at every turn, so it was better to retreat first and then get revenge later.

The problem is, isn't this just setting them up for failure?
The Gu God has escaped, what will happen to these deliverymen?
But the next moment, the group stopped worrying, because no one could escape!
Zheng Fali stood atop the mountain, holding a jade bottle high in his hand, the mouth of the bottle facing the Gu God, his entire body surging with magical power.

After a few breaths, he coldly shouted:
"receive!"

The Gu God suddenly turned around and shrieked, "It's it!"

She finally understood what it was about Zheng Fa that made her so wary and even vaguely afraid of him—the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle!

"Why didn't you use it before? No, you've been waiting for me to run away all this time?"

Her tone was full of hatred, regret, and even fear.

Zheng Fa smiled slightly but did not answer.

But the Gu God is right.

The Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle was obtained from the Golden-Winged Roc. Zheng Fa pondered it for a long time before finally figuring out its function.

The function of this treasure bottle can be summed up in three words:
Collect, trap, refine.

"Collect" means locking onto the enemy at the bottle opening, allowing you to collect them into the bottle.

The "trapping" part is the space inherent in the jade bottle, while the "refining" part uses the yin and yang energies to dissolve the enemy's flesh and bones.

This thing is incredibly powerful. When the Golden-Winged Roc lost this treasure, it was as if his father had died.

Zheng Fa has quite a few treasures, and this jade bottle isn't even the strongest one, but it's a perfect match for dealing with the Gu God.

The yin and yang energies at the mouth of the jade bottle rotate, forming a small vortex.

The Gu God and the swarm of insects in the cauldron seemed to be pulled by an irresistible force, flying backwards towards Zheng Fa and the others.

The Gu Goddess was alright, after all, she was a true immortal, but those Gu worms were different; they had all entered the jade bottle.

Every time a Gu worm flies into the bottle opening, the power of this Gu God diminishes slightly. Everyone can see that, in time, she will inevitably be absorbed into the bottle.

The hundreds of compound eyes on the Gu God's abdomen stared intently at the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle, revealing a deep fear.

At this moment, even the disciples of the Lu Clan had to admit that the Gu God was truly like a nemesis in front of this treasure bottle!
Both the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle and Zheng Fa's "Sleeve Universe Divine Power" can be used to capture enemies.

However, the two are also very different.

Zheng Fa's "Sleeve Universe Divine Power" relies on the power of magnetic field to capture people. To put it bluntly, it's the same as the "great strength makes bricks fly" approach. When it's refined to the end, it's no different from a black hole. As long as the enemy is within the range of divine sense, everything will be sucked into it.

As for the Yin-Yang Two-Qi Bottle, based on Zheng Fa's previous experiments, it was found to be quite ingenious:
It's a targeted attack, only targeting one person.

Zheng Fa deduced that the jade bottle seemed to identify targets based on the cultivator's cultivation method or even the inheritance of Dao fruits.

To use an inappropriate analogy:

The "Hidden Universe in the Sleeve" technique is like an antibiotic; it kills everything, good or bad, without discrimination.

This Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle is somewhat like a gene-targeted drug; it has high precision and doesn't consume much mana, but its range and power aren't as strong.

For Zheng Fa, the "Sleeve Universe Divine Power" is more useful. Firstly, it allows Zheng Fa to manipulate the Yuan Magnetic Field and establish the Thick Earth Yuan Magnetic Array.

Secondly, this is his innate ability, which doesn't require any pre-cast animation.

But dealing with the Gu God is different. The Gu God is essentially a swarm of insects, and there are so many of them that Zheng Fa's divine sense cannot find them all. On the other hand, these things are poisonous!

He tucked it into his sleeve; it was too heavy to carry.

The Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle is different—in essence, these countless Gu worms and the Gu God are the same person. The swarm of worms is the Gu God, and the Gu God is the swarm of worms. It is difficult to wipe them all out in one fell swoop, but they are completely and precisely targeted by the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle.

Previously, the only problem for Zheng Fa was:

He wants to use this treasure bottle, but he needs some time to prepare.

He had neither fully refined this jade bottle nor used it as his innate divine power, so it would take some time to circulate his magical energy before he could use it.

At this point, the rogue cultivators also saw through Zheng Fa's scheme.

"If Zheng Fa had taken out this treasure from the beginning, he probably wouldn't have had a chance to use it..."

"The only chance is when the Gu God escapes."

"No wonder the Gu God was so afraid before."

The Lu clan members were even more terrified—the Gu God had already fallen, what chance did they have?

But at this moment, the God of Gu revealed the decisiveness of a demon ancestor.

She glanced at the precious cauldron beneath her, seemingly reluctant to part with it. Then, her body stiffened, and she plummeted from the sky, her face devoid of any life.

Not only her, but countless Gu worms in the cauldron all collapsed and died at the bottom of the cauldron, turning into corpses.

The ancient and simple cauldron, having lost the control of the Gu God, crashed to the ground.

"died?"

Xie Qingxue asked, puzzled.

Zheng Fa cautiously stepped forward, carefully examined the Gu God, and then shook his head: "This thing... looks a bit like a cicada's molt."

Senior Sister Zhang and her companion were taken aback, and then they took a closer look.

The body of the Gu God appeared intact, but it was hollow inside, and it even had a somewhat transparent texture under the sunlight.

"But the Gu worms in the cauldron are all really dead."

"That Gu God..."

"I don't think she will commit suicide."

Xie Qingxue nodded slowly, somewhat regretfully: "Next time, it probably won't be so easy."

“According to our investigation, these Gu worms should be the essence of the Gu God's swarm. I think the Gu God must be saddened by their loss.” Zheng Fa smiled, then looked at the treasure cauldron in front of him and asked in confusion, “Why do I feel that she cares more about this cauldron than her own life and the swarm of worms?”

Senior Sister Zhang carefully recalled the previous situation and nodded, saying, "Yes, I thought she was reluctant to part with the insect swarm, but now I realize that the bronze cauldron was what she was even more reluctant to part with."

Zheng Fa carefully examined the bronze cauldron in front of him. The cauldron's belly was engraved with some mysterious runes and patterns.

"Fairy Xie, do you recognize these patterns?"

Xie Qingxue shook her head: "There is nothing similar in the Tianhe Sect."

Zheng Fa nodded, and then he heard a series of kowtows coming from outside the valley.

He looked out over the mountain and saw that at the foot of the mountain, all sorts of rogue cultivators were kneeling on the ground, kowtowing to him and muttering about how they had saved his life.

Those few members of the Lu clan stood stiffly on the ground, their faces showing a mixture of wanting to kneel but not daring to.

Zheng Fa paid no attention to them and simply led them towards the territory of the Nine Mountains Sect.

Along the way, he and Senior Sister Zhang were still somewhat unwilling to give up, searching everywhere for traces of the Gu God and Gu worms.

“Hiding from us…” Zheng Fa frowned slightly as he looked at the several Gu worms that hurriedly burrowed into the ground, and shook his head, saying, “So, the Gu God probably really isn’t dead.”

Senior Sister Zhang agreed, saying, "She probably gave up those Gu worms because she was afraid we could influence her..."

Zheng Fa also had this conjecture. If the Gu God had other swarms of insects, then abandoning those swarms in the valley would be understandable.

This is equivalent to the main system being infected with a virus; it prompts you to initiate a backup.

“There are hardly any Gu worms left in this area.” Zheng Fa straightened up and looked around. “Or rather, it seems there aren’t many Gu worms left in the entire Haori Mountain.”

"She's... scared?"

"Either they're afraid of us, or they're looking for a place to recover."

"Nine Luminaries Heaven?"

“It’s hard to say…” Zheng Fa shook his head and said, “From what she said before, she seemed to be quite wary of the Creation Demon Ancestor and the White Bone Demon Ancestor. If she is seriously injured, she may not dare to return to the Nine Luminaries Heaven.”

After some speculation, the group couldn't be certain. Since they couldn't find any trace of the Gu God, they simply returned to the Nine Mountains Realm.

After ordering the rogue cultivators and Lu Clan prisoners to be taken back and settled, Zheng Facai gathered everyone together and spoke about the battle in the valley.

"So, the Gu God escaped?" Uncle Pang frowned.

“No, she should be seriously injured.” Zheng Fa shook his head and said, “Those Gu worms should be her foundation. Without them, the Gu God’s physical body is probably incomplete, otherwise she wouldn’t have had to hide.”

Uncle Pang thought for a moment and nodded slightly.

The Gu God doesn't seem to be a tolerant or magnanimous person; if he hadn't been injured, he might have retaliated.

To be fair, Zheng, Fa, and the other two were caught off guard this time. In terms of true strength, without the Thick Earth Magnetic Array and the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Array, they would have a hard time defeating the Gu God if the battle were to happen again.

The fact that the Gu God dared not show herself at this moment could only mean one thing—Zheng Fa had severely injured her, forcing her to find a place to recover.

"At least the insect swarm has disappeared." Uncle Pang thought for a moment and said, "If it goes on for a few more days, I don't know if the disciples can hold on."

Indeed, although the great formation can stop the insect swarm, it also needs people—the Divine Firmament Legion has hardly rested for so many days. Even those who are truly cultivating immortality cannot endure such overtime.

This battle also relieved the Divine Firmament Legion from its predicament.

After sharing some speculations about the state of the Gu God, Zheng Fa thought of the spoils of war again.

"Fairy Xiao, take a look at this cauldron." He took out the bronze cauldron and asked the Jiushan history expert, "Do you recognize the patterns on it?"

Xiao Yuying also became interested and stood in front of the bronze cauldron, examining it intently.

After a long pause, she said somewhat uncertainly, "I... I think I've seen this style of pattern before."

"like?"

"Yes, very rarely. I've only seen it once in all these years. Look."

She pulled several tortoise shells from her sleeve and pointed to the patterns on them, saying, "Don't they look a bit like them?"

The tortoise shell was entirely black like jade, with crack-like patterns on its back. Next to the patterns were several patterns that looked like both words and pictures.

A group of people stared at the tortoise shell for a long time, then looked back at the bronze cauldron for a long time, and all thought it looked similar.

"Fairy Xiao, where did you get this tortoise shell?"

"It was also a coincidence that a ruin, apart from this tortoise shell, had nothing else." Xiao Yuying paused, then continued, "But... I've always suspected that the ruin is very old."

"Very early? How early?"

“It’s older than any other cave dwelling I know of, at least from the Second Era, or even earlier.”

Zheng Fa was somewhat surprised: "How did you determine that there was only one tortoise shell?"

“I was actually searching in a cave dwelling, which was the residence of a cultivator in the late Second Era. The style of the magical artifacts and the architectural style were consistent with the style of that time,” Xiao Yuying explained. “But as I searched, I discovered that the cave dwelling was actually built on top of another cave dwelling. In other words, there was one ruin and two cave dwellings, one on top of the other.”

Uncle Pang suddenly realized: "So that makes sense. After all, there are only so many spiritual veins, and someone will always build their cave dwelling on top of someone else's."

"Therefore, I speculate that the previous ruins were even earlier, but unfortunately, there were only these unremarkable tortoise shells inside. Out of curiosity, I kept them as well."

"Them? How many pieces are there?"

"There are more than 560 pieces in total, but not every piece has writing on it. I still have some."

Zheng Fa looked down at the tortoise shell in Xiao Yuying's hand. Why did this thing sound so familiar?

(End of this chapter)