**Chapter 39: New Life, New Me**

1. What are some cool path combos you like? For example, information/wisdom paths that would be cool to cultivate together.

2. What do you think the death rate at immortal ascension is?

3. What path do you think FY would have become a Venerable in, if not refinement?

Discord: 5efZtawZKC

------------

*POV: Gao Ya*

'More than half an hour has passed... The little one should have done its job already...'

"It seems that I have won."

With a smile on my face, I watch as he falls into a panic and turns in my direction, followed by an expression of agonizing pain on his face.

*Thud*

As his dead body drops to the ground, I hold my breath, knowing the next few seconds will decide if I survive or not.

A second after he dies, I hear a shrill, almost painful sound coming from the direction of his body.

*Boom*

After the explosion, I frantically pat my body up and down, confirming that yes, I am indeed still alive.

Everyone who killed a participant in the Inheritance would be killed by a killer move embedded in the tattoo each participant had. But I did not die because this young man was killed not by me, but by the parasite that entered through his eye.

Now, that parasite may have been bred and controlled by me, but the killer move did not seem to have a method to figure that out.

"Huhhh... Finally free... "

'No, I still need to...'

Before I could calm down completely, my mind wanders to my Aperture. There were a lot of gu in there, but I only care about one...

'Please... Please... just be dead...'

And there it was, at the bottom of my Aperture, the Roaring Promise Gu, shattered into hundreds of pieces, dead.

"Yes!"

"Huuu..." At the moment, it felt as if the biggest weight in the whole world was lifted off my shoulders.

This led to a conflict of my emotions, as I was happy that most of my troubles had disappeared, but disgusted with myself for the murder I had committed.

I need to leave the Archipelago, because... where do I even start??

'Another rank 4 might catch and force me to use a contract-type gu to get me to kill one of those contestants again...'

'The Fei Yu clan will undoubtedly hunt me down for killing an important member of their clan's future generation...'

'And worst of all, there will be a bloodbath on Fei Yu Island when all the clans learn that enslaved beasts can be used to circumvent the Inheritance's punishment...'

'No, I have to leave...' Looking at the cloud of poison, which would probably take hours to disperse, I decide against going in to retrieve any gu...

'With the killer move from the explosion and all the poison, I think it's unlikely that any would be alive in the first place.'

*Crawl*

*Buzz*

*Crawl*

*Buzz*

Having earned my freedom, I turn around, taking my insects with me, to a new life....

…

*POV: Zhen Wei*

'Death! I cannot say that it feels good...'

'Not that this is true death, as I know that I can be revived whenever I want...'

I was currently in a form that people from my past life would call a soul or ghost. I knew this was not true, though, as I was just watching. I currently had no hands, feet, or body that I could see, which would happen if this was my soul.

Not to mention that my soul is not nearly strong enough to survive in this world.

I saw and heard how my murderer stood there and talked to herself, as well as my dead, headless body.

'Are you just going to keep standing there?'

My perspective shifted to this third-person perspective, looking at my dead body the moment I died. At the same moment, the Second Life Gu activated, leaving a load of information in my mind.

The most important thing my body told me is that the enslavement path can go around the backlash of killing an inheritor.

'This is gold... Should I tell the clan? No, this would endanger my own life... still very valuable information...'

If I want, I can revive at any moment, but I can also delay it for a while to get out of a dangerous situation.

'The only problem being that the gu is trying to force me to reincarnate as soon as possible, causing me increased pain the longer I delay.'

This was also why I was so impatient for this woman to go away, or at least come near me to inspect my Aperture, so that I could ambush her.

So here I was waiting, while the pain increased ever so slightly every second.

In the meantime, I was mainly observing the woman that killed me. She was what I would generally call stunningly beautiful.

'But what did she mean by: finally free?'

'No matter, I will beat the information out of her... if I can even do that... seeing as she has rank 3 initial stage cultivation.'

*Crawl*

*Buzz*

*Crawl*

*Buzz*

As she turned around, I thought:

'Now!'

And activated the revival method of the Second Life Gu. I notice everything going black again...

A feeling of pure ecstasy enveloped my whole body as I felt all the insect bites, the poison, and my missing head regenerate very fast.

After 5 seconds, the feeling stopped and I opened my eyes, but only one of them worked...

'My father said that if this gu was used at rank 2, it would revive the user with light injuries... but I still feel as if I got a bit unlucky...'

The wound in my eye closed, but it left a blind eye behind...

'It is what it is, better alive with one eye than dead with one eye...'

Inspecting my Aperture, I quickly notice that the Root Healing Gu and Acid Armor Gu both had slight damages to them, but none of my gu died...

'I guess it's because I used them while I died...'

The good thing was that my Aperture was filled to the maximum 70% again...

'Hehehehehe....'

Not caring about its damage, I instantly activate the Acid Armor Gu and Poison Muscle Gu. Jumping up from the ground, I sprint in the direction I saw the female assassin leave in.

*Woosh*

*Woosh*

The wind was blowing against my face, but there were barely any other sounds, as I was very careful not to alert my enemy.

After a short 30-second sprint, I saw her, with her back turned to me and thousands of insects spread in a 20-meter radius around her.

It took me a bit less than a second to cover the distance between us and swing at her with the claws that covered my hand.

*Rip*

*Splash*

Her robe was ripped off her body, leaving her naked. Which would have been important to her if the claws had not also ripped through a layer of her skin and flesh.

"Ahhh…"

'Her insects alerted her of me... or she would be dead right now...

*Swoosh*

With a very strong kick from my right leg, her legs get swept from the ground, causing her to fall on her ass.

*Crash*

I followed this up with a kick to her face and a handful of poisonous powder, which had a rank 3 paralyzing effect, albeit with a very low range.

And if I say rank 3, I mean that it would work on rank 3 beasts and rank 3 gu masters that cultivated paths like strength and transformation, not to mention an enslavement path one.

With my foot firmly on her neck and a stretched-out hand with a poison bullet ready to be shot pointed at her face, I ask:

*Grasp*

"Let the insects retreat, or I will kill you," I say as the poison bullet around my index finger spins faster and faster, ironically pointed at her left eye…

Fortunately for both of us, she follows my command.

*Grasp*

"I have poisoned you with a Rank 3 Phantom Stingray's Poison. I am sure you notice how you find it difficult to move right now... if I don't give you the antidote within the hour, the poison will paralyze your lungs, causing you to suffer a slow and agonizing death..."

"Who are you?"

*Grasp* She began to frantically tap my leg, looking at me with pleading eyes, obviously not getting enough air...

'Should have thought about that before killing me...'

"And who sent you?"

*Grasp*

*Grasp*

While I did so, my face had no expression. Although she looked pitiful and had her bare breasts exposed, these things meant nothing to me. At least not in comparison to my life.

I lift my foot just a slight bit, enough for her to breathe, but also enough for me to pin her down instantly at the slightest sign of disobedience.

"Please don't kill me! Please, no… please..."

"That will depend on how you answer my questions…."

Lifting one of my eyebrows up, I say:

"And how fast you do that!"

Her naturally pale face became a bit paler at that again, but soon she started stuttering.

"My na-name is G-Gao Ya..."

"What's your clan?"

Seemingly becoming more confident, she answered me without stuttering:

"I don't have a clan, I was raised as a mortal. I was only able to become a gu master after finding a secret inheritance..."

"Rank?"

"I reached the third rank a month ago, but if you are asking about the inheritance, it was also rank 3..."

"So why did you kill me?"

"It's a long story, but about a month and a half ago, when I was trying to break through to rank 3, a rank 4 gu master ambushed me and forced me to make a vow with a gu that I would either enslave or kill one of the top 10 competitors for the inheritance..."

"How were you supposed to enslave them? And why didn't you do this to me?"

"I was given a rank 4 Roaring Promise Gu. As the name says, if someone uses it and roars a promise, breaking this promise will result in death. This was the same gu he used to get me to try an assassination on you…"

"Why didn't you use it on me?"

"Because of this poisonous cloud. I don't have a method to get through it…"

"Are you still under the effect of the Roaring Promise Gu?"

"No, the gu destroyed itself after I killed you…"

"So who gave you that mission?"

"I don't know his name, but it was on the Suri clan's territory. He was a man, about 50 years old, bald, and with rank 4 middle-stage cultivation…"

"Was his left arm scarred as if it was burned there?"

"Yes!!! Exactly... how do you know??"

'Suri Sheng Liu… the Suri clan leader's right hand and loyal dog... He would not do this without an order…'

'But using rank 4 gu on lone cultivators, just to weaken the other clans…'

'If one clan thinks the situation with the inheritance is this severe, the others are unlikely to be far off… So a new threat to my life...'

'The only upside is that it's likely still a secret that they can use enslaved beasts for this... so at least no rank 4 to 5 enemies to worry about…'

"So, do you have any last words?"

"No… nonono… Please don't kill me…"

And then, as if a light bulb went off in her mind, and before I had the chance to shoot off my water bullet, she shouted at the top of her lungs:

"I promise that I will always be absolutely loyal to you, and that my life is yours!!!"

'Hehehehe… some things just can't be forced... But with her thinking it was her idea… that's doable...'

"I used the rank 4 Roaring Promise Gu, my life is yours, please don't kill me..." she said with tears in her eyes…

"Give me your gu, one by one..."

And so she did, without hesitation, as I refined them one by one. Her face slowly morphed into one of absolute despair…

'She must be thinking that I will take all the gu before killing her… hehehe not a bad strategy... but not what I have planned...'

Inspecting her Aperture, to make sure she did not hide anything, I was pleased to find nothing.

"You can take them back now," I said after having refined each one of them...

'I now have the ability to destroy every gu of hers at a whim… I just have to make sure that I deactivate my cheat ability for those gu, and I am mostly fine...'

'If she were to betray me and she could only use the insects she had permanently enslaved… giving me a small amount of peace…'

"This will be done with every gu you gain in the future, do you understand?"

"Yes, Master!"

2121 words