Shushan: Extinction

Chapter 129 Thank you for the gift from my junior brother

Even if a cultivator wants to survive in the Bitter Abyss for a long time, he must stay in some specific areas of it: the hot zones of the earth veins for a long time.

Only the temperature and environment there are suitable for human survival for a long time. The rest of the places are absolutely dangerous, which is somewhat similar to the polar climate.

There is also a creature called centipede in the Bitter Abyss, which is similar to a combination of centipede and beetle. It is very ferocious and extremely aggressive.

Once you are hurt by its venom, the pain is unbearable and makes you want to die.

When ordinary disciples heard the word "Ku Yuan", they were immediately frightened. Only when they reached the foundation building stage did they know that although the environment there was bitter, it could keep them away from the worldly affairs and cleanse their minds of distractions.

After hearing what Gong Tianwu said, the steward snorted coldly:

"Do you think the judgment of Xiezhi Hall is like selling cabbage? You still want to bargain?"

Gong Tianwu shrugged and said:
"Ok."

Then the manager of Xiezhi Hall threw a black punishment card over:
"Go and accept your punishment. Remember, if you violate the sect rules again during the punishment period, your crime will be increased!"

Gong Tianwu nodded and said:
"Got it. Can I go to the Bitter Abyss first?"

The steward said:
"This doesn't stipulate where you go first."

***
After leaving Xiezhi Hall, Gong Tianwu suddenly had an idea, and then Kang's hint suddenly appeared in front of him:
"You severely injured Junior Brother Li Zhen before. Your actions had a significant impact on his future life."

"Li Zhen's original destiny was to climb up the sect step by step. After thirty-eight years, he successfully cultivated to the second level of foundation building. Unfortunately, he died while exploring a ruin."

"After you caused him to be seriously injured, Li Zhen happened to be noticed by an elder while he was receiving treatment, and his fate changed because of this."

"This elder will pass on his life's learning to Li Zhen. The fate of the two happens to form a trend of mutual assistance between gold and water. Li Zhen will have a chance to achieve the golden elixir, but his future will be shrouded in a fog."

"So, you successfully obtained a causal bodhi seed from it."

Seeing this, Gong Tianwu was stunned!
He beat Li Zhen up severely, but still helped him achieve his goal?
Of course, what was even more exciting was that I got a Karma Bodhi seed from him for free! ?
This really made him feel sincerely the variability of fate, and the gift from his junior fellow apprentice, this is really a typical fate! It's wonderful!
Gong Tianwu sighed as he hurried on his way, and soon he stood at the entrance of the Bitter Abyss.

This place is located at the bottom of the valley. There is an archway in front of it with the two big words "Kuyuan" written on it, as red as blood, as if warning of something.

Behind the archway is a huge entrance, spewing a lot of cold air out.

The valley was originally full of lush vegetation, but this area was affected by the bitter cold air, so no grass grew.

Gong Tianwu handed the punishment sign to the steward who was guarding the place. The steward first made a mark on the sign and then threw a package over:
"It contains the food, water, and torches you need for the next ten days."

"The key point is that there is also a booklet that contains many key points."

Gong Tianwu nodded:

"understood."

The steward continued:
"You are still in the Qi Refining Stage, so every three days you stay down there, you can come up and rest for a day before going down again. Remember, you can't make up for the rest days that are missed."

"To put it simply, even if you stay down there for six days, you will only be given one day of rest when you come up."

After hearing this, Gong Tianwu said:

"no problem."

So he counted the new packages he had received and turned around to go in.

Then the steward called him:

"Hey, hey, hey, young man, don't be impatient. You might encounter a centipede down there."

"The shell of this thing is an important material for refining Qi, and there is a chance that it can breed Earth Fire Yuanzhu inside."

"If you can hunt down a centipede and turn it in, you can greatly reduce the time you spend in there. I have detailed information about the centipede here."

Hearing this, Gong Tianwu suddenly turned around, gave him a brilliant smile and said:
"I came here just to practice in seclusion. I think this time is not enough. How can it be reduced?"

The manager was so stunned that he even forgot to add the following sentence: "One spirit stone per portion".

After entering the Bitter Abyss, Gong Tianwu quickly felt that this place was indeed very harsh. Not only was it cold, but the wind was also very strong.

When I was tired and wanted to sit down to rest, the rocks I touched were cold as ice! And the coldness would soon spread from my buttocks upwards, then to my thighs and lower abdomen.

Fortunately, at regular intervals on the walls of the cave, there are giant red-painted arrows up to five or six meters long marking the direction. If you follow these arrows, you will reach the geothermal hot zone.

This place is called the geothermal zone, which is actually where the underground magma river flows. Therefore, the coldness will be driven away here, allowing people to rest comfortably.

However, the warm and humid environment has led to the growth of some cave plants nearby, such as cave moss, blind grass, bitter tribulus, etc., thus forming a small biological community.

These things will attract centipedes for hunting. They don't care what kind of monks they are, they will eat as long as there is meat.

After walking for about two hours, Gong Tianwu arrived at the first geomagnetic point and found that there were already several people staying there.

This group of people all looked like punished disciples. They were all lying listlessly on the rocks beside them, leaning against each other. They didn't seem to care about anything and just wanted to lie down and waste their time.

When they saw newcomers like Gong Tianwu, they just glanced at them lazily and then turned their heads away indifferently.

The underground passage here is divided into three directions. Gong Tianwu looked at the wall and found a red painted arrow pointing the way in one of the passages, indicating that there is a geomagnetic hot zone if you go in this direction.

So Gong Tianwu walked down without hesitation, only to feel that it was really uncomfortable to leave the hot zone of the earth veins. The coldness seemed to penetrate directly into his bones.

Fortunately, Gong Tianwu himself is a martial saint with his own true energy that can drive away the cold. Otherwise, he would probably be unable to endure the bitter cold like other disciples.

But despite this, Gong Tianwu felt extremely tired due to the rapid consumption of his true energy, as if he was fighting the enemy all the time, so he had to frequently look for hot spots in the earth veins to stop and rest.

It took us more than ten hours to walk this way, and we probably went at least several thousand meters underground. We finally found an uninhabited hot spring area and stopped.

It is worth mentioning that as the underground depth increases, the frequency of geothermal hot spots has increased significantly.

When you first enter the Bitter Abyss, it often takes about two hours to encounter a geothermal hot spot, but at this depth, you can basically find it in thirty to forty minutes.

As for why he had to go to such a deep place in the Bitter Abyss, it was because Gong Tianwu was a veteran who had been in the sect for more than 20 years and had heard some rumors:
The deeper the abyss of suffering, the higher the chance of enlightenment.

Originally, Gong Tianwu thought this was complete nonsense, but he soon discovered that there was more than one person spreading this rumor, and they were all well-known figures in the sect.

So this time he came here with the attitude of giving it a try, and deliberately came to such a deep place.

Then Gong Tianwu began to sit down and regulate his breathing, silently practicing the profound skills.

After about ten minutes, Gong Tianwu opened his eyes in surprise:
"The legend is actually true?!"

It turned out that after some movement and breathing exercises, Gong Tianwu suddenly discovered that the suffix of "understanding" on his basic attribute column actually showed a +5 (temporary) description.

This is a real data bonus!

No wonder so many people say that this place can lead to enlightenment. As for the reason, Gong Tianwu has no idea.

After confirming this, Gong Tianwu immediately took action. If he wanted to retreat here, he would definitely have to solve the safety problem. If it was before, this matter would be a bit tricky, but now that Gong Tianwu has his seventh sister, he doesn't have to spend too much time thinking about it.

He pulled out a small bottle from his bosom and found that it contained four or five jade-white balls that looked like pearls.

Gong Tianwu took out one of them, then dug a small hole at the bottom of the cave wall next to it, buried the thing again, and poured some milky white viscous liquid on it.

After a while, the buried soil was seen rustling, and then a small jade-white spider crawled out from it.

The little spider circled around and then jumped directly onto Gong Tianwu's body and stuck to him, obviously being very attached to him.

This thing is an external body that the Seventh Sister made when she had nothing to do, so her loyalty and favorability towards Gong Tianwu must be at its highest.

Then Gong Tianwu began to feed it a vermilion pill, and then began to take out supplies to cook.

By the time Gong Tianwu had eaten and drunk his fill, this originally cute little spider had grown to the size of a calf. It then began to crawl around nearby, weaving a web as it went.

With its protection, it is like a dragnet. Maybe its combat effectiveness is not strong, but it is true that not even a mosquito can sneak through.

So Gong Tianwu closed his eyes and began to practice. What he was practicing at this time was neither the True Feather Heart Sutra nor the sect's exercises, but a completely new magical power!
Ten Thousand Spirits Thunder Method!!
In his previous life, Gong Tianwu spent five causal points to get this thing.

Although the jade slip that recorded it had been destroyed, Gong Tianwu remembered every word in his heart.

Gong Tianwu has already experienced the power of this magical power. It can be said that apart from being difficult to practice, there is nothing wrong with it.

Even with the qualifications from the previous life, he could only barely get into the door, but it played a huge role later on.

In this life, Gong Tianwu himself has the blood of a dragon and the Heavenly Dragon Pearl in his hand, so he decided to try to practice the Wanling Thunder Technique again.

You know, creatures like dragons are born with the potential to control clouds and rain and lightning!
At this moment, Gong Tianwu took a deep breath and decisively activated a new talent:

Heavenly Dragon Transformation!!

This talent is a mutation of the previous dragon-killing technique.

The previous description of the Jiao-killing Technique was to activate the blood potential hidden in the body and cause temporary local mutations.

When displayed in actual combat, Gong Tianwu's one hand temporarily turns into a dragon's claw, causing terrible damage to the enemy when attacking.

However, once the Jiao-killing Technique is performed, regardless of whether or not it successfully attacks the enemy, it will only last for five seconds.

After he absorbed the Heavenly Dragon Pearl into his body, the Dragon Killing Technique underwent a drastic change and was directly promoted to the Heavenly Dragon Transformation!
At this time, Gong Tianwu had transformed into a humanoid creature at least three meters tall, with a dragon head and a human body, covered with a large number of smooth light blue crystal scales.

If you look closely, you can see that it has short horns on its head, half-foot long whiskers on its lower jaw, its pupils are erect, and it has a long tail!
Theoretically, the duration of Tianjiao Transformation can reach more than ten hours, but the prerequisite is that you have to sit still in the same place.

Any action, including walking, attacking, and talking, will shorten the duration of Tianjiao Transformation.

According to Gong Tianwu's estimation, if he fought with all his strength, the Tianjiao Transformation could only last for ten minutes.

Seeing Gong Tianwu suddenly become like this, the Seventh Sister's body was stunned. It hurriedly crawled over and started chirping and squeaking. Gong Tianwu tried to calm it down for a long time before he went back to stand guard.

Soon after, Gong Tianwu discovered that the progress of practicing the Wanling Thunder Technique with this dragon man's body was astonishingly fast. It took only three hours for him to reach the level of "getting a glimpse of the basics".

At this time, the duration of the dragon man's body had expired. Gong Tianwu, who had regained his human form, felt fatigue and exhaustion surging in his heart. He fell on the wolfskin mattress next to him and fell into a deep sleep.

It was unknown how long he slept before Gong Tianwu slowly woke up. Anyway, there was no sunlight in the cave, so as long as he could get rid of his fatigue, it would be fine.

Then he would release the liquids and solids before starting to cook for a good meal.

Seeing Gong Tianwu wake up at this time, the body outside the Seventh Sister quickly crawled over, raised her head and "squeaked" towards Gong Tianwu, as if saying "Praise me quickly" and "Say I'm great".

Gong Tianwu was a little stunned, and then he saw this guy crawling quickly, then he picked up a few silk sacs from the darkness and brought them to Gong Tianwu.

The size of these silk sacs is as large as a water tank, while the small ones can support a kimchi jar. There seem to be living things wriggling inside.

Gong Tianwu took a closer look and discovered that what was wrapped tightly in spider silk were actually strange beetles with a large number of clawed legs.

He had an idea and immediately took out a booklet from the package next to him, which recorded the appearance characteristics of the centipede beetle, a local specialty.

After taking two glances, Gong Tianwu decisively confirmed that what the Seventh Sister's body had grabbed was indeed the centipede armor that is a specialty of this place!

As the saying goes, every thing has its own nemesis, and brine can be used to make tofu.

The shell of this centipede is very hard and smooth, which can greatly reduce the damage of enemy attacks. It moves extremely fast and has amazing strength. It is especially good at surviving in such dark cave environments.

They also have a natural sense of danger. For example, if a powerful foundation-building expert from the Great Snow Mountain comes to the Bitter Abyss, it is guaranteed that he will not be able to encounter any of them.

Therefore, it is actually very difficult for these punished disciples to hunt down the centipede.

However, for the Seventh Sister's outer body, what it is least afraid of is this kind of prey with great strength, fast speed and hard shell.

The spider web's hunting method is the most typical way of using softness to overcome hardness. Every spider that comes along is caught.

Gong Tianwu did not expect such an unexpected harvest, so he caught the centipedes in the silk sac one by one and killed them, taking only the outer shells and possible Earth Fire Yuan Pearls, and feeding the rest directly to the spiders.

***
While practicing in this dark place, I have no concept of time at all.
The key is that the realm of Wanling Thunder Method is improving at an unstoppable rate. It is so exciting that people can't stop.

Therefore, Gong Tianwu was also focused and sprinted towards a higher level with all his strength!
Until one day, he suddenly realized that all the food and water he brought with him were gone. Then he suddenly realized that he seemed to have stayed down there for too long and it was time to return.

On the way, Gong Tianwu took stock of his gains and found that in human form, his Wanling Thunder Method had reached the level of being familiar with it, and it was still at the top level of the third order.

This has already surpassed Shi Gong back then. This guy's Wanling Thunder Method is only at the initial third level, and he has only comprehended a derivative magical power of the thunder whip.

While Gong Tianwu, in human form, although also at the third level, has already mastered three derived magical powers!
When in the state of Heavenly Dragon Transformation, the Ten Thousand Spirits Thunder Method can even reach the level of shocking the ancient and modern times, and master up to five magical powers! Among them, there is also an ultimate magical power! !

When Gong Tianwu arrived at the gate of the Abyss, he realized that he had been in the Abyss for a full twenty days.

This also made the manager at the door twitch his lips, and he looked at him with a strange look.

To be honest, this manager has been here for a long time, but there are not many people like Gong Tianwu who are willing to endure hardships.

Everyone who comes to be punished comes to rest at the three-day mark, just like prisoners in prison waiting for their chance to get some fresh air.

Only this one seemed to be enjoying it, and it looked like he could stay there for another twenty days if the food and water did not run out.

However, although the manager was surprised, he still showed Gong Tianwu the relevant certificates in accordance with the rules, proving that he had served his sentence and had stayed in the Bitter Abyss for twenty days.

At this time, Gong Tianwu returned to Xiezhi Hall with his punishment sign, and handed it to the manager here again. Coincidentally, it was the same person who received him last time.

The steward took a look at the punishment sign, then compared it with the certificate given by Ku Yuan, and said to Gong Tianwu:

"Okay, you can go to the medicine garden to do labor now. Wait, you actually stayed in the Bitter Abyss for twenty days?"

Gong Tianwu nodded and said:
"Yes, I know that I will be punished if I stay in there for less time, but if I stay in there for ten days longer, the sect rules shouldn't say that I will be punished, right?"

(End of this chapter)