Time passed.

It's unclear how long it has been.

The two true dragons of water and fire above the horizon had also shrunk significantly. Finally, the true dragons stopped moving. Ning Qi gestured with his hand, and the true dragons transformed into spiritual power, entering the Yu King Pearl and the Great Sun Compass.

At this moment in the void, there was no trace of the Gu God's figure.

There was only a skeleton, faintly glowing with golden light, floating up and down, without a trace of flesh or organs, as if it were a perfect piece of art.

Joy rose in Ning Qi's eyes.

This was an unexpected delight.

Originally, he thought that this journey would at most allow him to see the famed Blood Emperor Gu and its wonders, but he didn't expect to obtain such a gold-attribute spiritual remains. The Gu God's meticulous scheming ultimately served as a wedding dress for Ning Qi.

Ning Qi casually pointed a stream of sword qi at the spiritual remains, instantly producing a crisp clang.

"The hardness of this spiritual remains surpasses any divine weapon I have ever seen. In the future, it could be used to forge a secret treasure," Ning Qi smiled.

However.

What attracted him most about this spiritual remains was its rich gold-attribute power.

In this way, he would gain another foundation.

During this period.

He had been deducing the path to advance to the Martial Saint.

He had ambition.

Not merely wanting to step into the Martial Saint Realm, but hoping to break through several realms with the opportunity of spiritual awakening.

According to Taoist Baishan, on the day of spiritual awakening, as spiritual qi is reborn, it would have unprecedented activity, greatly beneficial for a Martial Saint breaking realm. The Ancient Saints planned to use this chance to regain their peak in one swoop.

Ning Qi did not have such past foundations, so he could only find another way.

Martial Saints cultivate the five elements magical power. He can only forcibly supplement his foundation with five-element external objects, striving to soar to the sky with this opportunity; otherwise, if he missed this chance, even if he had spiritual objects later, he would have to progress slowly.

Now he has obtained three treasures: the Yu King Pearl, the Great Sun Compass, and the Geng Metal Spirit Remains, corresponding to water, fire, and gold attributes, respectively. If used properly, at the time of spiritual awakening, he could step into the Third Realm Martial Saint in one go!

By then.

With his foundation, he would be fearless even if those Ancient Saints returned to their peak, and could even easily suppress them!

Even more easily than now.

With this thought, his heart burned a bit.

It's a pity, these spiritual objects are too rare, otherwise, if he could gather five-element spiritual objects, he might reach the Fifth Realm Martial Saint in one go!

Immediately.

Ning Qi shook his head and laughed, feeling he was a bit too greedy. Gaining three of them was already extremely fortunate, and he didn't dare to expect the rest too much.

Clearing away many distracting thoughts.

Ning Qi waved his hand, placing the Geng Metal Spirit Remains into the Yu King Pearl.

Everything was peaceful and calm.

Qin Yun and Lan Yiyi walked over, looking at the Southern Border ancestral land that had completely turned into powder. Qin Yun's eyes were full of amazement. Only now did he realize how abnormally powerful his Ninth Martial Brother had become. He shook his head with a bitter smile, realizing how ridiculous his past attempts to catch up with his Ninth Martial Brother had been.

Lan Yiyi was also a bit in a daze. The scene of being trapped on the altar, ready to be sacrificed, was just like yesterday, but now it had turned into nothingness.

The Gu God, who controlled her life, had also completely perished.

Finally.

She lifted her head, a newfound vitality overflowing in her eyes, even her breathing seemed lighter.

She was free!

Lan Yiyi stepped back and solemnly bowed to Ning Qi:

"Many thanks to the Ancient Saint Tianjian! This grace cannot be forgotten!"

Ning Qi waved his hand and smiled:

"It was just a favor for a favor, Miss Lan. You used half your lifespan to save my Eighth Martial Brother. Otherwise, who knows when he would wake up. Now that I've slain the Gu God in return, we owe each other nothing."

Saying this, he teasingly added:

"After all, the title of Ancient Saint Tianjian is a bit too formal. Perhaps it won't be long before Miss Lan must call me Ninth Martial Brother."

He quietly delivered an assist.

Upon hearing this.

Lan Yiyi's face instantly flushed red.

Qin Yun also coughed lightly, his eyes shifting around, and their previously held hands unclasped as if electrocuted.

Ning Qi couldn't help but laugh heartily.

Then, he was grabbed by Qin Yun and led to the other side.

The previously tense atmosphere following the battle instantly dissipated.

After laughing.

Ning Qi began to carefully examine the Southern Border ancestral land, now devastated by the battle's aftermath. Unveiling layers of ruined debris with the power of heaven and earth, as expected, yielded nothing.

It didn't surprise him; he merely searched instinctively.

In battles of this level, it's almost impossible for anything useful to be left intact, even divine soldiers in the eyes of Celestial Human Realm martial artists would be blasted to pieces.

"Miss Lan, may I ask where your Southern Border Gu insects are inherited from?" Ning Qi asked with some curiosity.

Compared to the universally shared martial path system, Southern Border Gu insects were indeed intriguing. They could be compatible with martial arts and had various marvelous uses; for example, the Shared Destiny Gu that Lan Yiyi used earlier saved Qin Yun's life.

The Blood King Gu and the Blood Emperor Gu can be used for breaking realms.

And now the Gu God's Gold-devouring Gu almost allowed him to form a Geng Metal Spirit Body, which was truly extraordinary.

This naturally made him somewhat inquisitive.

Lan Yiyi thought for a moment and said:

"Where the inheritance came from is no longer ascertainable. According to the unanimous account from the Southern Border tribes, it seems our bloodlines differ from those of Great Yan people, allowing us to awaken a lifebound Gu insect through Southern Border Secret Techniques."

"In the Southern Border, everyone has only one lifebound Gu, awakened through a secret technique during coming of age, and it stays with them for life. My lifebound Gu is the Shared Destiny Gu, while the Gu God's lifebound Gu is the Gold-devouring Gu."

Ning Qi asked:

"Where do these lifebound Gu come from? Why haven't such miraculous creatures been heard of before?"

Lan Yiyi shook her head and replied:

"To be precise, before I awakened, the Shared Destiny Gu didn't exist. During my coming-of-age ceremony, the power of bloodline and sacrifice descends upon the prepared primal Gu, causing its mutation."

"Primal Gu, in essence, is just a chosen creature based on personal preference, such as cicadas, snakes, centipedes, toads, serving as vessels. Before mutating into various lifebound Gu, they are the most ordinary creatures."

Ning Qi suddenly realized:

"So, the power source is actually your bloodline and that mystical ceremony?"

Lan Yiyi nodded and said:

"Exactly, tribes have performed experiments with Great Yan people, and even with the ceremony, they cannot awaken a lifebound Gu. Even mixed marriage, with half Southern Border bloodline, doesn't work. Only pure Southern Border people can, hence, Southern Border people never intermarry with outsiders."

Qin Yun's expression was slightly stunned.

Ning Qi was even more curious.

He had a feeling that the ceremony seemed like a prayer for a powerful existence's blessing of power.

Lan Yiyi continued:

"However, in recent years, it's unknown why the lifebound Gu appearing in the Southern Border tribes has become increasingly weak, with fewer strong lifebound Gu emerging. Especially as martial artists advance to later stages, the role of lifebound Gu diminishes, most serving auxiliary purposes."

"By comparison, I believe the martial path is truly the heaven-reaching great way."

"If you're interested, I can give you the Southern Border's baptism secret techniques."

For Lan Yiyi, these things didn't matter anymore. Almost all top experts of the Southern Border died in internal strife or at Ning Qi's hands, and those remaining couldn't cause any trouble. She had little interest in dealing with the remnants.

Ning Qi nodded with a smile.

He indeed held interest and planned to study them when he had time.

In his view, the Southern Border tribes' bloodline was merely a medium to initiate the baptism ceremony, perhaps replaceable by other means.

Subsequently, Ning Qi asked another question on his mind:

"Do you know where the secret techniques taught by the Gu God came from?"

According to his intuition, with the Gu God's background, he shouldn't be aware of such secret techniques capable of completing a Geng Metal Spirit Body through bloodline inheritance; moreover, the Gu God apparently knew much about the Ancient Saints.

He always felt there was more to this than met the eye.

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