9 The wisdom path is rare and difficult yet needed

It was late at night the moon shone brightly on the clear sky filled with countless stars.

Even this late at night the city just outside of the Soul Toad Sect was never quiet, countless people moved in and out tired merchants and travelers arrived for their own private reasons and the majority of the businesses remained open.

"Is this the place brother Yi? At this moment 2 youngsters that each attracted attention in their own way arrived at a 5 story-tall green bamboo building beautifully decorated with plants and beautiful female musicians playing their instruments and singing on each floor.

"The lively meal?" Liang Lu looked at a jade plaque with the name of the restaurant.

"Yes, brother Liang. Who doesn't feel lively when they eat while listening to beautiful music played by beautiful women and food served by beautiful women." Yi Fang spoke softly, hiding a little mischievous smile.

"This isn't a brothel right?"

"Of course not brother Liang, this is a reputable establishment. Do you know the huge fine I would have to pay if I dared to open a brothel outside the red light district?" Yi Fang immediately defended himself but soon added "Of course the women here can follow you home or invite you to theirs if you show them how charming you are. Or show how charming you are by leaving a tip. A tip that the restaurant takes a part of."

Yi Fang winked at Liang Lu "Do you want to be invited to the home of one of the women here?"

Liang Lu quickly realized Yi Fang had managed to find a loophole in the system. Almost instantly Liang Lu's evaluation of Yi Fang increased several times.

"Does brother Liang perhaps not like women?" Seeing that Liang Lu remained quiet Yi Fang made a joke as they walked to the restaurant.

"There are a few beautiful men there but they all only attend to women but brother Liang is beautiful with a dress and makeup he will be indistinguishable from a woman I'm sure he will get invited to their homes."

"Oh young master, welcome back, is she with you?" The restaurant clerk an elderly man in his eighties with rank 2 gu master aura, bowed with respect.

"Yes yes prepare the best there is we have a special guest. Oh, and brother Liang Lu is a man." Yi Fang waved his hand quickly dismissing him as if the restaurant clerk was an obstacle.

'To be called brother by the young master just who is he?' the restaurant clerk thought for a moment before realizing he wasn't paid enough to care.

"Please forgive me, young master, my sight isn't what it used to be." The restaurant clerk cupped his fists as he walked to the side and started bossing the employees around.

"Brother Liang, have you been to a restaurant that serves gu masters?" Yi Fang curiously asked.

"To be honest it is my first time coming to a restaurant." Liang Lu spoke the truth when he was on earth he frequented restaurants but since coming to the Gu world he had never visited one as there was none in the mortal village he was born in or had money to waste.

"Then I will quickly tell you how things work. The first floor is for mortals and rank 1 Gu Masters. They pay the full price and the menu is a bit limited. The second floor is for rank 2 gu masters there is a twenty percent discount and half of the menu is available. The third floor is for well… isn't it obvious? For rank 3 gu masters starting from that floor, the full menu is available and they have a 30 percent discount although they can freely move to the fourth floor they won't get the discount. The fourth floor is for rank 4 gu masters and has a 50 percent discount as for the last floor the fifth floor is for rank 5 gu masters they eat for free. Of course, as it isn't used frequently, rank 4 gu masters or those with a high reputation or background can eat there for a small fee."

Liang Lu suddenly remembered something similar being mentioned in the novel but still asked.

"Why is that?"

As they both went to the fifth floor Yi Fang answered.

"The sect orders all businesses about 2 li outside the sect to give these discounts. It is some kind of incentive and reminder."

Liang Lu started to guess what it was about but continued asking. "Incentive and reminder?"

"Yes brother Liang it might be different in other places but we are close to the soul toad sect… well although this city is technically part of the soul toad sect it isn't strictly controlled as nonmembers can freely move in and out. Anyway, the point is that it is about hierarchy and strength just like how mortals need to be mindful of not offending gu masters the gu masters have to be mindful of not offending gu masters of higher ranks. This restaurant is just the same, it is basically telling the rank 1 gu masters that they are too weak and don't have the same rights and privileges as a stronger gu master. To have those luxuries they need to cultivate and get stronger."

Yi Fang pointed to the now third floor, where the chairs had comfortable leather support, and the tables had beautiful engravings. On each table, a beautiful woman wearing a white veil and a white silk robe was assigned to attend to the clients, playing music at their request.

"On the first floor, the tables and chairs were plain and simple, they were unattractive and there was only a musician playing for the whole floor. Brother Liang, I'm sure you noticed as we go up everything gets even better."

Finally, they reached the fifth floor, and just like Yi Fang had mentioned it was incomparable to the lower floors. Although it was smaller than any of the other floors the quality made up for it. On every corner, there was fine art and sculptures. The furniture was cozy and luxurious with wooden furniture having encrusted gems and other precious jewels.

Of course like the other floors there were beautiful women ready to serve except that these women were more alluring although they wore the same white robes as those of lower floors they were purposely loosely tied to expose the upper part of their plump bosoms.

But what attracted the attention of Liang Lu was the ceiling that was different from all the others he had in this world subconsciously he remembered the ceiling art of the Palace of Versailles or the Vatican.

On the ceiling, a beautiful realistic painting of a handsome young man with long black hair, lively sharp white eyes, white slashes on the cheeks, and dressed in a black silk robe with embroidered silver danced with a beautiful woman with long black hair dressed in a purple robe.

Noticing what Liang Lu was looking at, Yi Fang spoke about the painting. "Brother Liang, I forgot to mention that this restaurant is about 5 centuries old although I fully renovated the other floors. The sect strictly prohibited me from changing the ceiling of the fifth floor. Apparently, that man in the painting was the founder of the soul toad sect Lin Hao and it is rumored he left behind the clues to his inheritance there."

Liang Lu was surprised the painting looked fresh as if the paint was still drying. He didn't expect it to be so ancient and had such a history. Filled with curiosity, he asked.

"Has someone given it maintenance?"

The response was a simple no. Liang Lu didn't ask further as he wanted to get into the main topic.

They both sat at the table talking about the extreme physiques, and how to nurture the aperture.

"So I need the help of an immortal to ascend?" Although Liang Lu already knew that part he still pretended to not know.

"Yes, brother Liang, although I don't know the specifics they say extreme physiques climb through the ranks as easily as drinking water due to their extreme primeval essence recovery but it is also the cause of their doom as their aperture can't handle the pressure." Yi Fang told everything he knew hoping to win Liang Lu's trust while shortly afterwards pointing out how fortunate he was to have joined the soul toad sect.

"If the soul toad sect wasn't a super force you would have been killed as soon as your extreme physique was revealed as once the aperture of an extreme physique blows up they will create a huge explosion that will take everything with them to the next life the higher the rank the bigger and stronger the explosion it isn't rare for their explosions to be able to cover a whole mountain."

"Oh but don't worry you are now a member of the sect and my father has a bit of authority being only below the sect leader and the supreme elders. If you have problems don't hesitate to tell me. We are friends and friends should take care of one another." Yi Fang reassured Liang Lu.

Liang Lu silently nodded, acting as if he was moved. He easily understood Yi Fang's intentions.

"By the way have you seen your aperture? Have you tried nurturing the aperture walls?" Yi Fang curiously asked wanting to learn more about the extreme physiques, especially about the so-called extreme primeval essence recovery.

"Yes, brother Yi, since the moment you told me how to, I have been nurturing my aperture walls." Liang Lu found no reason to lie.

"Don't you need to concentrate to nurture them?" Yi Fang was shocked thinking 'Is this why extreme physiques can quickly climb the ranks?'

Yi Fang recalled that even his Father Lao Fang who was experienced in cultivation couldn't move and could barely talk when he was cultivating to climb minor realms as almost all his concentration was on his aperture yet Liang Lu who had just awakened his aperture was talking casually and moving his hands around while nurturing his aperture!

Overtaken with curiosity Yi Fang asked, "How fast is your primeval essence recovery?"

"I don't know, my aperture sea keeps dropping by a few drops and immediately refills to the top." Liang Lu answered honestly.

Yi Fang wasn't sure what to think of that recovery speed. His father told him no matter what aptitude the gu master had or what rank they had, their primeval sea would be completely refilled in about 11 hours.

If someone had 88 percent aptitude each hour 8 percent would be recovered. If someone had 99 percent aptitude each hour 9 percent would be recovered.

If primeval stones were used the whole primeval sea would be recovered in about an hour, an experienced gu master could take 30 minutes or even less.

As for the primeval essence recovery of an extreme physique, Yi Fang had no idea.

"By the way, it's been a while and no one has come to take our order." Liang Lu interrupted Yi Fang's thoughts.

"Brother Liang, you are new to the restaurants and you have just joined the soul toad sect. It is a motive to celebrate. I ordered the whole menu so you can judge and say how good my restaurant is… Oh just when we were talking about food."

A group of beautiful women dressed in practical robes carried tens of trays to the table they both sat at.

Once the trays were placed on the table and the lids were lifted the fragrant aroma of the food assaulted Liang Lu's nostrils.

'This… how long has it been since I've seen such delicious food? 15 years?' Liang Lu was speechless, the mortal village he was born in was rarely visited by outsiders, the only ones being the soul sect disciples that collected the yearly tributes.

Although that had its advantages like not having to worry about being killed by a gu master in a bad mood there was also the problem of getting resources not just for gu cultivation but also the basic spices such as pepper, chilies, nutmeg, etc.

Although the village had a salt mine, getting it out safely was dangerous and thus raised its price. Except for a few villagers, everyone else used it sparingly, mostly only to preserve food in preparation for winter. As such Liang Lu many times had to eat food without salt making him slowly forget about the complex flavors of modern food.

Thinking about all this and finally having a tray of good food in front of him Liang Lu unknowingly teared up.

"Is something wrong?" Yi Fang asked confused as to why Liang Lu suddenly shed tears.

"It's nothing brother Yi I just… I just have never smelled something so delicious." Liang Lu smiled as he wiped his tears without even waiting for Yi Fang. Liang Lu grabbed the food with his bare hands not caring about dirtying his hands as he ate like a person who had been starving for days finally eating his favorite meal.

"..."

Yi Fang remained quiet the elegant and awe-inspiring image of Liang Lu instantly broke to pieces as he watched Liang Lu eating without manners shoving everything he could into his mouth, tears fell everywhere, and he was making weird expressions and noises as if he was having multiple orgasms, and his long silky hair touched all places as he moved around on the table with the juices of meats and liquid of the soups making a mess of the once beautiful hair.

If Yi Fang had to describe Liang Lu with an animal before he saw him eat, it would be an elegant, mysterious, and crafty crow. But after seeing him eat, the image of a pig suddenly sprang up in Yi Fang's mind. Weirdly enough, he felt more relaxed and even found Liang Lu cute. At least Yi Fang thought he wouldn't have to worry about Liang Lu scheming something against him.

"Bring me everything on the menu again." Yi Fang quickly ordered more food as Liang Lu was like a bottomless well shoving dish after dish into his stomach.

Sometime later…

Liang Lu burped in satisfaction as he reclined on the chair and patted his bloated belly beside him was a huge pile of empty plates, bowls, and jars.

The beautiful women who at first enthusiastically wanted to serve Liang Lu and constantly approached grinding their breasts against him were now keeping their distance not wanting to stain their white robes with the grease covering Liang Lu's hands, mouth, hair, and clothes.

"Brother Yi, your restaurant is amazing. The food was the best I have ever eaten in my life. Invite me to eat more often if you can." Liang Lu wasn't stingy on praises as he shamelessly asked to be invited once again.

"Thank you, brother Liang." Yi Fang was all smiles but inwardly screamed 'You bottomless well! Just how much food does it fit there!?'

Yi Fang quickly made the calculations even when the discount of 50 percent was applied. Liang Lu had ended up devouring about 200 primeval stones in wines, food, and desserts.

What could 200 primeval stones buy? They could pay for the entrance examination of the soul toad sect for 20 people. Those focused on cultivation could buy a rank 1 gu, a decent amount of gu refinement materials to increase their proficiency, or directly use them to aid in their cultivation.

If the gu master wanted to expend it on entertainment they could buy 5 top-tier mortal slave girls with beautiful bodies and trained to tend to their masters every need.

Although Yi Fang was rich and could easily afford the expenses, he was raised as a merchant and knew the value of money and how hard it was to earn it. Even when he promised to give a loan to Dou Wei, one of his closest friends, he still charged him interest.

While Yi Fang had all kinds of thoughts, Liang Lu analyzed his current situation as the aftertaste of the food still lingered in his mouth.

'In forty to fifty years when the venerables fight among themselves would this place still be here? Would I be able to enjoy such food again?' Liang Lu wanted to enjoy the small things in life such as food but then he remembered just how little time he had left about the average lifespan of the average person on earth.

Another thought invaded his mind.

'Could I live forever?'

On Earth, there was no choice but to accept death since there was no way to live forever. Humans could only delay the inevitable, treasuring the little things in life as they approached the coffin day by day, trying to divert their minds from their own inevitable end. But was it the same in the Gu world?

Liang Lu remembered Limitless said there is no eternal life but was he right?

If there was no way to obtain eternal life in the Gu world could there be a way outside of it?

Liang Lu connected some dots with the information he had at hand. On one hand, Star Constellation warned Limitless about the dangers outside of the Gu world and Limitless didn't deny that she was right.

On the other hand, Liang Lu remembered how he was thrown into the Gu world by an alien.

'I know my place. I'm still too weak to have such grand ambitions. I need to focus on the important matters at hand. Reach rank 6 in 3 years and inherit Hu immortal blessed land when Hu immortal dies in her earthly calamity the requirement to inherit it is simple as long as someone gets to the top of Dang Hu Mountain they will get it. If I manage to obtain dang hu mountain I'm set. I will increase my soul foundation while I hide inside to spawn camp Fang Yuan after I steal his fixed immortal travel I will go on a treasure hunt first to lang ya blessed land to make sure no one gets the 3 refinement chances, going to southern border and try to get Tao Zhu's rule path true meaning among others. I'm confident in dealing with Fang Yuan. According to the novel at this time, Fang Yuan didn't know how accurate the information about hu immortal blessed land was as it came from an autobiography he wouldn't ask why there was no one competing for it if the land spirit was present he also didn't know how to counter wisdom path methods. It was clearly shown by how Mo Yao fucked him up in the imperial court blessed land later on in the novel.'

While Liang Lu was reviewing his plans, a problem once again emerged in his mind. The variable that could change everything. Heaven's will.

'Right now, heaven's will shouldn't know what I'm planning or know the information I have. It also can't strike me down immediately. If it could do that, then none of Spectral Souls' clones would have been able to grow, and Shadow Sect wouldn't exist.'

'I will deal with Fang Yuan depending on the situation. Soon I will know if my memories are unaffected by the spring autumn cicada Fang Yuan used the spring autumn cicada just before he got out of Qing Mao Mountain about 2 years from now. If I have the advantage of being unaffected as it was mentioned in the Reddit post I will try to imprison and turn Fang Yuan into a zombie and seal his spring autumn cicada.

I will grow as much as possible in the meantime I will try to get divine concealment that is currently in Spirit Affinity House if I do get it I will kidnap Feng Jin Huang to extort resources from her parents and take her dream wings gu quickly raising my attainments with dream realms while I stay completely hidden even from heaven's will when I'm in a tough spot where I have no way out or my lifespan is running out I will perform an act as if something went wrong giving Fang Yuan or heaven's will the chance to activate spring autumn cicada even if Fang Yuan has doubts he would have no choice but use spring autumn cicada as a mortal zombie he would have no hope of advancing to rank 6 and lose the opportunity to pursue eternal life even if Fang Yuan decides to not do it to try and fuck me up heaven's will would do as the only reason it is helping Fang Yuan is to disrupt the revival plan of Spectral Soul as so much time would have passed Spectral Soul might have revived with the sovereign immortal fetus gu forcing heaven's will to try again.'

While Liang Lu schemed, Yi Fang interrupted him.

"Brother Yi, you asked about gu worms from the wisdom path right?" Yi Fang handed a bookworm to Liang Lu. "While we were eating I asked a clerk of mine to bring me a bookworm. It is a type of storage gu worm that stores given information. That one has information about all the wisdom path gu worms I currently have as well as their prices."

Yi Fang next proceeded to explain how to use it.

After following Yi Fang's instructions and seeing the information inside the bookworm Liang Lu was surprised wisdom path was a rare path but Yi Fang had hundreds of different wisdom path gu worms but what surprised him even more were the prices.

From what Liang Lu knew a rank 1 gu worms would cost between 100 to 500 primeval stones depending on demand and rarity but the price of wisdom path gu worms were either doubled or tripled.

As if knowing what Liang Lu was thinking Yi Fang saw it was time to pull Liang Lu into his faction. "Brother Liang, the wisdom path is extremely rare. There are barely Gu Masters that cultivate that path, not to mention the price. It is a miracle if there are even wisdom path gu worms in the market as they are quickly bought by the sects and clans for various reasons."

After pausing for a moment he continued.

"The gu worms I'm showing you are the ones in the treasury of my father's faction. I'm already giving you a big discount and risk getting into trouble with my father. I wish I could do more Brother Liang but if I give away such precious gu worms for free to someone outside of my Lao faction I would be severely punished."

Liang Lu already knew where Yi Fang was getting at after talking back and forth. Liang Lu avoided Yi Fang's advances and excused himself to sleep in the dormitories provided by the soul toad sect.

…

Old loveless grotto heaven.

On a gloomy vast dark forest that seemed to always be illuminated by a blue glow a group of gu immortals discussed inside an imposing palace floating on top of the forest.

10 gu immortals sat at a round table although the discussion didn't rise to the point in which screams were used everyone could feel the tension in the air only the 3 gu immortals with the highest authority spoke the rest remained quiet.

"First supreme elder I admit that a wisdom path gu immortal is what we urgently need but please reconsider don't raise that carefree wisdom heart physique." The second supreme elder an elderly man with long green hair, spoke with a serious expression.

"I agree with the second supreme elder. We know that extreme physiques are geniuses that in the case of ascending will easily increase their attainments and gain strength that surpasses those of the same rank but what no one mentions is how risky and expensive it is to nurture them." The third supreme elder, a middle-aged woman dressed in a yellow dress supported the second supreme elder, a rare sight as both usually fought like cats and dogs trying to rip each other apart.

Without waiting for a response she continued "Extreme physiques need immortal gu of their respective paths as their vital gu to ascend and it is not guaranteed they will succeed. In our sect only 1 of every 10 immortal seeds succeed if they die their vital gu will also die. An immortal gu is already so rare and precious but to lose a wisdom path immortal gu is sim-"

"Enough." The first supreme elder casually spoke as he leisurely sat on a cloud although he didn't raise his voice it carried great authority as it instantly quietened the third supreme elder.

A middle-aged man with long black hair, and a black silk robe embroidered with silver, slowly opened his eyelids revealing a pair of sharp white eyes that shone with a tired and cold aura on his cheeks 2 white slashes complemented his appearance making him stand out as if he had 4 eyes. He was Lin Hao the founder of the soul toad sect, a peak rank 7 gu immortal close to advance to rank 8.

"I wasn't asking for permission. I was just informing you of my decision. I will fully nurture Liang Lu. After I'm sure about his loyalty, I will help him ascend to rank 6. As for your little schemes, I hope you have realized you need to direct them toward our enemies instead of squabbling among yourselves like some clucking chickens. For as soon as I die, the sect will be without a rank 7, and your greed will throw my sect into the trash." Lin Hao spoke with an oppressive aura not giving face to others, talking about the sect as if it was solely his property but he wasn't completely wrong as he built it from scratch.

The supreme elders remained quiet although they felt offended there was nothing they could do. They were only at rank 6 except for the second supreme elder, the strongest among them but he had just become a rank 7 gu immortal. Their standing was naturally lower than Lin Hao's.

But the real reason that they didn't want to acknowledge was that Lin Hao was like a cornered tiger he was strong and simply had nothing left to lose. In four years, his aperture will go through its third grand tribulation. He barely survived the second, which had not only affected him but also the future of the sect. Four Gu Immortals died the strongest ones of the sect at that time along with Lin Hao's only son, his only successor whom Lin Hao had personally taught and expended countless resources on.

'Without me, this sect is doomed. These fools are blinded by greed… Sigh, I shouldn't have brought others into my affairs… no I shouldn't have been so reckless and greedy in my younger years.' old memories buried in Lin Hao's long life of 600 years once again resurfaced.

Lin Hao had originally been a clan member with C-grade aptitude of a small clan that eventually fell apart causing him to be thrown into the cruel world of the central continent with most resources controlled by the sects and the high requirements to join them eventually led to Lin Hao becoming a demonic gu master he lived on edge not being able to relax for even a single moment wary of someone trying to kill him.

Eventually, his life turned around for the best as he stumbled upon the inheritance of a rank 8 gu immortal, the immortal inheritance of a demonic soul path cultivator that died 8000 years after the era of Spectral Soul Demon Venerable. Old Loveless Xie a quasi-venerable who cultivated soul path as his main path and wisdom path as his side path.

Old Loveless Xie freely roamed the world never paying for his crimes he stole and killed as he pleased he especially loved to kill humans who were in love thus gaining his title as their souls complemented his method to strengthen and refine the soul he lived a long fulfilling life almost living 4 thousand years when he was on his final days he kept a low profile setting up his inheritances before devouring a fragment of the immemorial blue heaven to preserve his grotto heaven.

Old Loveless Xie peacefully passed away in his sleep with only two regrets: not being able to love someone other than himself and not being able to have descendants as his main method to obtain wisdom path dao marks required him to be impotent permanently.

When Old Loveless Xie died the land spirit had 2 requirements to accept a master; they were either impossible or extremely simple even mortals could fulfill them.

Genuinely love someone and have children with that person.

At that time Lin Hao fulfilled both, gaining Old Loveless grotto heaven that contained Old Loveless Xie's soul path true inheritance.

Lin Hao absorbed the true meaning of soul path Old Loveless Xie left behind instantly making Lin Hao a great grandmaster in soul path and gained clues to the locations of Old Loveless Xie's 4 remaining true inheritances.

A wisdom path true inheritance split into 2 parts that like the soul path true inheritance had true meaning of wisdom path at the great grandmaster level in one of the parts.

A refinement path true inheritance that also had true meaning of refinement path at the great grandmaster level.

Lastly, a food path true inheritance that also had true meaning but this time at the grandmaster level.

After Lin Hao came to know how valuable his soul path inheritance was and how jealous and furious gu immortals would be if they found out a mortal had such wealth he wisely chose to seclude himself with his son and wife.

After many years Lin Hao became a gu immortal and quickly founded the soul toad sect on the territory surrounding the grotto heaven. Lin Hao even found and claimed the true wisdom path inheritance of Old Loveless Xie that contained true meaning but as he already had his hands full trying to build his own foundation in soul path he gave the inheritance and true meaning to his son.

Everything was fine for a while until his grotto heaven was discovered. It was bound to happen after all he appeared too abruptly and established a sect out of nowhere.

Many righteous gu immortals pounced at him trying to steal his grotto heaven by all means possible as he was still a rank 6 gu immortal who had never shown his full strength everyone underestimated him and thought it was like taking candy from a baby but his soul path inheritance simply had an extremely powerful soul path combat system that was almost perfected by a quasi-venerable that was born in one of the darkest and most violent times the Gu world had ever seen the world Spectral Soul left behind with the soul path running rampant and killing being in every corner.

Although Lin Hao expended terrifying amounts of primeval essence as almost all the immortal gu in the soul path inheritance were at rank 7 the killer moves were all prolific in killing when Lin Hao killed a demonic rank 7 gu immortal as a rank 6 in a single move Lin Hao's standing increased no one bothered him only the 10 great ancient sects continued probing as they became interested in the inheritance he had but as they were still from the righteous path they needed to restrain themselves which gave Lin Hao time to reach rank 7.

When that happened his strength was simply terrifying something that couldn't be measured with common sense thinking that he was invincible in the rank 7 he challenged the ten great ancient sects in duels betting the information of his soul path inheritance to gain riches and riches he gained.

Lin Hao won 10 duels one against each sect gaining more than 20 immortal gu, information of inheritances, resources, and territory with those riches he built up his sect to what it is today. He became famous overnight and gained the title of the soaring duelist but like many good things in life, everything has to come to an end.

Lin Hao over-relied in his inheritance combat system as it was near perfect and he won in a few moves he barely modified it. It would be okay against normal enemies but against super forces such as the 10 great ancient sects, it was simply foolish.

After 30 duels Lin Hao had revealed much of his soul path combat system but greed blinded him he still believed he was invincible as no one had managed to bypass his defense but at the same time had to raise the bet as the ten great ancient sects started to be reluctant of accepting duels they basically gave away resources and on top of that lost the duels putting the 10 great ancient sects to shame their reputation falling to the ground as they couldn't deal with a rank 7 gu immortal that was from a background incomparable to theirs.

Although some sects could dispatch a rank 8 gu immortal that would be even worse their reputation would fall even lower rank 8 were overlords at the peak of the world when venerables were not present if a rank 8 challenged a rank 7 it would simply be ridiculous it would be like an immaculate king wanting to fight a peasant in a fist fight not only would the reputation of the rank 8 fall Lin Hao could refuse the duel and his reputation won't fall instead it will increase as it showed his wisdom and how important he was by being challenged by a rank 8. As for the sect, it would basically tell the world that the younger generation of the ten great ancient sects was so pathetic and incompetent that they needed a senior to take care of them.

But they also couldn't refuse the duels. It was one thing to lose the duels as everyone lost it was only natural but if they refused to duel wouldn't that mark them as cowards? Where would their reputation go if the ten great ancient sects super forces with countless years of accumulation cowered in fear against a rank 7 gu immortal that just appeared a few hundred years ago?

Due to that reason, the ten great ancient sects continued accepting the duels.

A hundred years ago in the fortieth duel, Lin Hao was defeated by a rank 7 gu immortal of the ancient soul sect with the help of various wisdom path experts who had deduced the weaknesses of Lin Hao's combat system.

There were no invincible gu only invincible gu masters, this duel once again demonstrated that.

Lin Hao gave the information of his soul path inheritance and lost 8 immortal gu originally Lin Hao had only bet 4 immortal gu but like he had done before to maximize benefits the victor took his vital gu hostage if a vital gu was destroyed or forcibly taken away there was the chance of dying thus Lin Hao had to comply.

The immortal gu that were taken away were all of the soul path and they were the most important immortal gu of the combat system they were all unique and extremely hard to be replaced without them the combat system became deficient seriously reducing Lin Hao's combat strength essentially cutting off his wings.

Lin Hao's tribulations were difficult even with his complete combat system he had to put in all his effort to survive. Once his combat system became incomplete the tribulations became almost impossible to pass with each becoming stronger than the last slowly reducing Lin Hao's soul path dao marks until leaving Lin Hao in the current state the rank 7 gu immortals that he used to easily defeat now could give him a good fight and it was uncertain who would win.

The rest was history the second grand tribulation approached it was extremely strong almost exceeding the limits of a grand tribulation the four strongest supreme elders who were extremely loyal to Lin Hao fought valiantly but they too perished as well as Lin Hao's son wasting the wisdom path true meaning and his vital gu a rank 7 immortal gu of the wisdom path.

"Sigh." Lin Hao sighed he knew he had reached this far due to his luck and the accumulation of a predecessor. He was just like a prodigal son who spent the hard-earned money of his parents leaving them almost bankrupt.

'The wisdom path is too hard. Not only an inheritance is needed but also talent. Even with such a great inheritance left behind by a great expert. After 200 years of painstakingly increasing my attainment, I only managed to reach quasi-grandmaster in the wisdom path. The sect urgently needs a wisdom path immortal to defend from the schemes of outsiders who want to steal my wealth. Inside the sect, everyone wants to steal my wealth once I die. It would be okay if I at least had good relations with them or trusted their judgment but I know them too well they are going to end up fighting and end up splitting my wealth making the inheritances incomplete.'

Lin Hao inwardly sighed he had no motivation to keep moving forward those he loved were dead, he would die without fame his name was quickly swept under the rug when he lost his last duel once he died he would be completely forgotten, and those who remained in the soul toad sect only wanted to take his wealth but for some strange reason Lin Hao continued persevering not wanting to give up to at least do something significant with the few years he had left.

'The extreme physiques are all geniuses of their paths, they are so perfect that heaven doesn't tolerate their existence making them die at a young age this Liang Lu… I really want to take him as my inheritor to see for myself how monstrous a fully grown extreme physique is but I can't be rash. I need to carefully evaluate him. If I were to nurture a demon just how dangerous would he be? What kind of chaos would he bring upon the world?' As countless thoughts and emotions moved inside Lin Hao's head his face remained expressionless causing the onlookers to be unable to guess what he was thinking.

'I have four years. If I take a year to make my decision I will have 3 years left… just how much can I teach Liang Lu with that time?' Lin Hao thought as he browsed through the contents of his will that had been secretly following Liang Lu.

Lin Hao had sent a will to keep an eye on Liang Lu the moment he had been informed of his existence. The will had been following Liang Lu since he got out of the sect. It saw him eat at a restaurant along with Yi Fang and how Liang Lu avoided being recruited without offending the other party after getting information.

With this Lin Hao knew that although Liang Lu appeared boorish and ignorant he was wise enough to not take sides without understanding the full picture if Lin Hao were to give him the benefit of the doubt Liang Lu purposely acted like a brute lowering his pride to make the other party lower their evaluation of him.

By ignoring the distraction of lust Lin Hao knew Liang Lu knew how to restrain himself. When Liang Lu got into the dormitory he didn't immediately go to sleep instead he sat and concentrated on nurturing his aperture for an hour before going to sleep. This proved how diligent he was.

After evaluating what he knew, Lin Hao understood the character of Liang Lu.

Liang Lu was talented, wise, crafty, restrained, and hard-working; those were all great qualities a member of the righteous path should possess but Lin Hao still wasn't fully convinced he wanted to know more and confirm the origins of Liang Lu and test him further after all Lin Hao was putting his inheritance on the line he knew how easy it was for a person to be corrupted if he made the mistake of giving his inheritance to the wrong person his long life of 600 years would have been for nothing he would be an idiot if he were to make such mistake.

'Hmm if his soul wasn't so weak I would have immediately soul-searched him.' Lin Hao had many methods of the soul path and wisdom path to read the memories of Liang Lu.

But Lin Hao had to restrain himself. Liang Lu's soul foundation was extremely low being only at a man's soul although the chances of Lin Hao making a mistake were low there was the risk of injuring Liang Lu's soul and turning him into a vegetable. Lin Hao was not willing to take that risk.

Although Lin Hao had methods to search Liang Lu's mind with wisdom path methods the risk of making a mistake was even higher as his attainment and experience with the wisdom path was lower than the soul path.

'I will raise Liang Lu's soul foundation to avoid any risk. I will raise it until he has a thousand man soul.'

Lin Hao knew he couldn't be too forceful or search Liang Lu's soul without any reason as it could cause Liang Lu to resent him and the sect for that reason Lin Hao planned to go with the soft approach saying that he would soul search Liang Lu to check his progress at the same time once Liang Lu had a thousand man soul Lin Hao would use that excuse to skip many steps and take him as his inheritor fully nurturing him with all available resources although many gu masters also had a thousand man soul Lin Hao could simply say he wanted to nurture an extreme physique that had proved his worth by raising his soul to a thousand man soul with his 'own' resources that way the other supreme elders wouldn't have a reason to complain and Liang Lu's reputation won't be tainted.

'I will let you rest tonight. Tomorrow morning my will shall recruit you.'

Lin Hao created a will and gave it 5 red date immortal essence beads along with many gu worms.

After Lin Hao had sent off the other supreme elders a small blue ball of light flew out of Old Heartless Grotto heaven.