Elder Kuzhu, a thousand years ago, was one in the company of the Cosmic Six Strange, along with Xin Ruyu and Shi Pi the Elder.

Due to his side-branch cultivation technique, he was always unable to comprehend the Great Dao and progress further. His mental flaws also prevented him from purifying his Primordial Spirit to Pure Yang, to become a Heavenly Immortal.

Thus, he turned to Buddhist cultivation techniques, practicing the withered Chan meditation, and every sixty years he would reincarnate in Central Earth to experience the Great Dao amid the mortal dust and accumulate merit and virtue.

The last time he was reborn into a beggar's body, he took it upon himself to help people of the Emei Sect to seek revenge on Shi Feiyang, this "Evil Dragon," at the Outer Heaven Divine Mountain. Not only was his body destroyed, but his state of mind was also ruined by Shi Feiyang, leading to Deviation. His entire body stiffened and turned as stone-like.

His fate harbored a nemesis, Qi Shuming, and a savior, Qi Jincan.

Therefore, whether in the original work or in this world, he took the initiative to show good will towards the Emei Sect, but in fact, he had been acquainted with Master Changmei and Jile Perfected a thousand years ago.

After the establishment of the Emei Sect, Qi Shuming specifically rushed to the Wuzhong Ridge on the East Pole Great Wilderness Mountain.

At that time, Elder Kuzhu was completely stiff, unable to move, and his Primordial Spirit was dried up and ashen, unable to make the slightest move, lest he immediately disintegrate into dust and smoke.

Qi Shuming, who had received the True Decree of the Emperor Mansion's Celestial Characters by then, had a qualitative improvement in his Daoist power and Technique Divine Power. He cast a spell that bypassed the Array formed by Elder Kuzhu with Taiqing Green Spirit Bamboo from the outside.

He came straight before Elder Kuzhu and took out the Nine Revolutions of True Essence Rebirth Divine Pill he brought, opened it with Immortal Energy, and transferred it into Elder Kuzhu's body to help him repair his physical body.

Next, he used a Taiqing Mysterious Sect secret technique and entered Elder Kuzhu's Nirvana State with the righteous thoughts of ten lifetimes of hard cultivation, igniting the ash-like remnants with Pure Yang True Intent, and making them come alive again.

Elder Kuzhu truly sprouted from "ashes" like a bamboo, reborn amid the ash, not only healing his deviation but also breaking through his original realm and undergoing a new transformation.

Elder Kuzhu opened his eyes and was very grateful to see Qi Shuming.

Qi Shuming was exceedingly humble and said that the calamity Elder Kuzhu suffered was all because of the ignorant juniors from the Emei Sect, to whom he owed much: "I should have come earlier to help my senior free himself from this adversity, but firstly after my teacher's Ascension, we brothers were limited in Daoist power, and the realm my senior had entered was extremely stable. We could not reach it. One misstep could lead us both to ruin, turning us completely into ash, which is why only now, with a surefire assurance, have I come. Secondly, although the cultivation of withered Chan my senior delved into is boundless in power, it leans toward annihilation and cannot generate life, life without death, death without life,

After going through it, there were also benefits. If I had come earlier and only awakened my senior, it would have been futile to go through this tribulation. Now, having broken through the original shackles, my senior's Technique Divine Power has reached a new level. It's a blessing in disguise, and the many years of suffering were not in vain."

That year, Shi Feiyang used the Demon Realm to stimulate Elder Kuzhu, creating illusions of Qi Shuming and his son Qi Jincan, which targeted Elder Kuzhu's prideful and fiery nature. When he wanted to ask for help but couldn't lower his face, with just one stray thought, he deviated. Now, having worn off much of his fiery temper, Elder Kuzhu no longer allowed Qi Shuming to call him 'senior,' addressing each other as Daoist friends instead.

After Elder Kuzhu recovered, he prepared to seek revenge on Shi Feiyang to cleanse his humiliation. However, upon calculating, he found that Shi Feiyang's fortunes were incredibly strong, and going as he was would only bring him disgrace.

Hence, he restrained himself and used the years to gather many Treasures, amass vast resources, upgrade and refine his past Treasures, and also crafted some specifically against Shi Feiyang.

He had been waiting for the right opportunity, and now, he had calculated a slight chance. He hurried to Red Wood Ridge Heavenly Dog Cliff to find the Red-haired Ancestor.

Elder Kuzhu also had a history with the Red-haired Ancestor.

Back when he was reincarnated in a fortress in the Southern Border, he was born with a head of red hair, strong-bodied, with excellent innate talent.

At that time, the ancestor who would later be known as the Red-haired Ancestor had not yet assumed such a title, his surname was Lan, and having cultivated for many years without yet establishing a sect or taking disciples, he came across Elder Kuzhu and initiated a friendship upon seeing his not weak mana.

Later, when the Red-haired Ancestor faced tribulation and only his Primordial Spirit escaped, he saw Elder Kuzhu in deep meditation and, acting on an impulse, he captured Elder Kuzhu's Primordial Spirit with a spell and laid down Prohibitions, forcibly seizing the latter's physical body.

Elder Kuzhu's Primordial Spirit declared his identity and said he had originally calculated this tribulation and intended to facilitate it, but he never expected the other to harbor malicious intent and attack him in secret. Thus, he would withdraw the favor, demanding the return of his body and the extermination of the other's Primordial Spirit for revenge.

The Red-haired Ancestor, upon learning that his counterpart was one of the two elders from the Great Wilderness, was terrified out of his wits and, being the initial aggressor with his logic failing him, fled in a panic to seek help from Wei Bagong.

Wei Bagong was a cultivator who had been practicing in the Southern Border for many years and was a respected elder of the Red-haired Ancestor. He pleaded on his behalf, remarking on how the physical bodies Elder Kuzhu left behind each time were wasted if not used. It would be a pity, so just leave one for the Red-haired Ancestor, he suggested.

Elder Kuzhu insisted that he originally planned to give it away, but since the other party wanted to harm him, besides, the body he sealed away would have a significant use in future tribulations or disasters, and he had to insist on his right to retaliate.

When Wei Bagong pleaded sincerely, time and again,

Elder Kuzhu set a condition: within a cycle of sixty years, the Red-haired Ancestor must level all the perilous shoals in the Three Gorges of his hometown. Otherwise, Wei Bagong would have to punish him on his behalf.

Without further ado, Elder Kuzhu cast a spell and controlled the Red-haired Ancestor from afar, transmitted a spell to Wei Bagong, and instructed him to, after the cycle, execute the Red-haired Ancestor and sever his soul if the work was not done.

Wei Bagong and the Red-haired Ancestor both agreed, and only then did Elder Kuzhu leave.

The Red-haired Ancestor, of course, failed to succeed. In the Three Gorges, there were a bunch of cultivators from both the righteous and evil factions, several of whom had mana not inferior to his. With the complex terrain of the gorges, full of rapids and rocky pillars, he, a practitioner of unorthodox methods, would find it impossible even without interference.

When a cycle of sixty years elapsed, fearing that Wei Bagong would kill him, he decided to strike first by attempting to assassinate Wei in secret inside his cave. Coincidentally, Wei Bagong was not there, so he stole his elixirs and magical treasures.

At the time, Wei Bagong was dueling an enemy and was caught off guard by a treacherous assault from Lie Baduo. In a panic, he rushed back to retrieve his elixirs and magical treasures, only to find them all gone. In the end, he experienced Soldier Disintegration and underwent several lifetimes of tribulations before this lifetime, when he came under the tutelage of Bai Mei Zen Master as the little monk Atong.

Elder Kuzhu had originally been holding back a strong desire to take revenge on the Red-haired Ancestor. However, this time there was a use for him: to set a trap for Shi Feiyang and his disciples. Even if he couldn't kill them outright, the plan was to inflict severe damage and sap their primordial qi, leaving the door open for another attempt later on.

The Cosmic Six Strange were all individuals of intense temperament and powerful mana. In battle, if they truly developed a deep-seated hatred, they would be both ruthless and vicious.

Years ago, Xin Ruyu had an epiphany and converted to Buddhism, becoming the Xin Ru Nun. Despite a thousand years, she still retained her fiery nature and had not yet attained true serenity and clarity.

The meditation practiced by Elder Kuzhu was not an orthodox Buddhist method. Having undergone a calamity on the Outer Heaven Divine Mountain, he had come to terms with many things, but those were only about Qi Shuming and Qi Jincan. When it came to Shi Feiyang, he was determined to seek revenge and redeem his honor!

He wanted not only to eliminate Shi Feiyang but also to kill all his disciples and followers.

Then he would go to the Outer Heaven Divine Mountain, cast spells to provoke earth fire, and completely explode and burn the land that fell from the Spiritual Space Immortal Realm into the human world, along with the millions of monsters atop it, turning them all to ash and smoke!

When the Red-haired Ancestor heard that Elder Kuzhu had come to find him, he almost wet himself on the spot, his first instinct being to run away at once.

However, he immediately heard Elder Kuzhu's telepathic message—the old man was standing three hundred miles away at the main gate, locking on to him with divine sense, and he casually asked, "Where do you think you could run to?"

With no other options, the Red-haired Ancestor trembled as he went out to meet Elder Kuzhu.

Elder Kuzhu did not use his reincarnated identity for this vendetta against Shi Feiyang; he came in his true form, holding the Taiyin Green Spirit Bamboo.

Among the Cosmic Six Strange, his true level also ranked at the top, even surpassing that of Shi Pi the Elder, while Xuanyuan Dharma King and Grandmaster Ha Ha were no match for him.

The Red-haired Ancestor, by comparison, was on a completely different level; once targeted by Elder Kuzhu, he couldn't even think of escaping.

Nevertheless, the Red-haired Ancestor did not plan to sit and wait for death; after all, he was a sect leader-level figure of unorthodox methods, still possessing the Heavenly Demon Blood Transformation Divine Saber and ready to make a fight to the death with Elder Kuzhu.

Little did he know that Elder Kuzhu had no intention of attacking him immediately; instead, he asked, "I've come a long way to see you, a barbarian from the south, and you're not inviting me in for a sit?"

The Red-haired Ancestor, not knowing what he was planning, could only grit his teeth and invite him in, ordering his disciples to bring out the best tea and snacks.

Elder Kuzhu, leaning on his green bamboo staff, gave him a scolding first.

The Red-haired Ancestor admitted to his past wrongdoing, but what was done was done, and there was nothing he could do about it. The Three Gorges was a massive undertaking with many obstacles; he was powerless to fulfill his past promise and said that it was Elder Kuzhu's choice to kill or carve him as he saw fit.

Elder Kuzhu, however, changed the subject, "I know you haven't succeeded, and you've even harmed Wei Bagong. You should have been beheaded and your soul refined, your body and soul destroyed, but, currently, I have need of you. If you can do this task for me, all your past transgressions will be wiped clean."

The Red-haired Ancestor was surprised, and a glimmer of hope sparkled. Although he knew the task mentioned would be incredibly difficult, at least it was a way out.

"Elder Kuzhu said, "I have a sworn enemy named Shi Feiyang. You help me get rid of him, and we will call it even with our past."

"Ah? Me?" the Red-haired Ancestor was stunned, quickly confirming, "This Shi Feiyang, isn't he the ancestor of the thousands of demons of Little Antarctic's Outer Heaven Divine Mountain, the one who killed the One Light Master in the west, who forged the Nine Heavenly Demon Slaying Immortal Swords in the Star Constellations Sea?"

"Yes, that's him!" Elder Kuzhu nodded, "What, are you scared?"

The Red-haired Ancestor wore a bitter expression: "Although I also consider myself exceptional with hundreds of years of Daoist power, I am not stronger than the One Light Master, let alone the fact that I heard he fought the Xin Ru Nun in the Emperor Xuanyuan's Mausoleum. Elder,

I think you are more aware of Xin Ru Nun's level than I am. She once stood among the Cosmic Six Strange right alongside you, and even she suffered heavily at Shi Feiyang's hands. How can my modest Daoist power ever contend with him?"

"Hmph," Elder Kuzhu snorted coldly, "I didn't expect you to be such a coward. Think back to your past—daring to steal my body, imprison my primordial spirit, and even daring to ambush Wei Bagong. There was nothing you feared to do back then."

The Red-haired Ancestor said with a pained face, "I was compelled back then. After I experienced Soldier Disintegration, I had to quickly find a new body, and besides, I didn't know it was you. If I had known it was you, I would have rather let the gang wind dissipate me,

I would never dare to seize your body. If you want to kill me, please do it now. Just don't make me seek out Shi Feiyang to die before him. It's a loss of face anyway—I'd rather just lose face once before you than embarrass myself in front of someone else all over again."

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