Gou's Liver Experience in the World of Demons and Demons

"Judging from its aura, it is at least a fifth-grade spiritual medicine, which will greatly benefit your breakthrough to the fifth level of the Body Tempering Realm."

A glint flashed in Gu Sheng's eyes. The fifth level of physical strength is a watershed moment; once broken through, the strength of the physical body will undergo a qualitative change.

Without further hesitation, he leaped forward, ready to pluck the spiritual herb.

Just as his toes left the ground, a deafening cry of a monkey suddenly rang out!

"Roar--"

A sense of foreboding washed over Gu Sheng, and he forcefully twisted his body in mid-air. A massive black shadow swooped down from the cliff face, accompanied by a fierce gust of wind, hurtling straight towards him!

"boom!"

Gu Sheng hastily threw a punch to meet the attack, and the two powerful forces collided, producing a deafening explosion.

Gu Sheng felt a tingling sensation in his arm, and was so shaken that he staggered back several steps, each step leaving a deep footprint on the hard rock.

The dark figure revealed its true form upon landing—a giant ape as tall as three people! Its fur stood on end like steel needles, its scarlet eyes were filled with murderous intent, and its thick arms were bulging with muscles, exuding a suffocating sense of oppression.

"Guardian spirit beast?"

Gu Sheng's expression turned serious. This giant ape's strength was at least equivalent to a human martial artist at the sixth level of the Physical Realm. Moreover, demonic beasts were born with powerful physiques, and humans were often no match for them at the same level.

A golden light flashed between Gu Sheng's brows, and the spiritual power in his sea of ​​consciousness condensed into an invisible spike.

"God-Slaying Thorn!"

He gave a low shout in his heart, and a semi-transparent ripple shot out from between his eyebrows, heading straight for the giant ape's head three zhang away.

The giant ape was over two zhang tall, its black fur standing on end like steel needles, and it was pounding its chest, letting out a deafening roar.

When the God-Slaying Thorn pierced its brow, the giant ape's movements suddenly froze, and a moment of blankness appeared in its copper bell-like eyes.

"good chance!"

Gu Sheng touched the ground with his toes and flashed behind the giant ape like lightning.

The ancient sword in his hand, Broken Wind, emitted a blue light, drawing a graceful arc in the air.

"Pfft-"

The sound of a sword piercing flesh rang out, and the giant ape's enormous head was thrown high into the air, black blood gushing out like a fountain.

Its massive body swayed twice before crashing to the ground, causing the earth to tremble slightly.

"call"

Gu Sheng let out a long sigh, his chest rising and falling slightly. The suppressive power in this secret realm was indeed formidable, forcibly suppressing his strength as a ninth-level Spirit Martial Realm cultivator to the peak of the Spirit Martial Realm, and even causing his physical strength to drop from the sixth level of the Body Realm to the peak of the third level.

But the gains are also huge.

With a thought, Gu Sheng's phantom image of the Nine Dragons Universe Cauldron appeared on his chest, with nine golden dragon patterns running across its surface.

A beam of golden light shot out, enveloping the giant ape's corpse and instantly storing it inside the cauldron.

"This giant ape has rich blood essence and hard bones, making it a good material for refining pills and weapons."

Gu Sheng muttered to himself, his gaze turning to the lush, verdant herb on the stone platform.

The herb is entirely emerald green, with natural silver veins on its leaves, and emits a faint fragrance.

Gu Sheng carefully took it off, sat cross-legged, and began to circulate his cultivation technique to refine it.

The Nine Dragons Universe Cauldron floated above his head, wisps of golden energy dripping down to aid the refining process.

Two hours later, a series of popping sounds suddenly came from Gu Sheng's body, and his muscles and bones underwent a qualitative change under the cleansing power of the spiritual herbs.

"Fifth Heaven of Physical Fitness!"

Gu Sheng opened his eyes.

He clenched his fist, feeling the surging power within him. Although the suppression from the secret realm remained, the improvement brought about by the physical breakthrough was real and tangible.

His five senses and six perceptions became exceptionally sharp; he could even hear ants crawling a hundred feet away. His body was as light as a swallow, and he had adapted much better to the omnipresent suppressive power within the secret realm.

Just then, a faint sound of conversation drifted on the wind.

"Young Master Shen said that whoever takes Gu Sheng's head will be rewarded with a thousand spirit stones."

The compass indicates it's nearby.

"Be careful, that guy is tough to deal with."

Gu Sheng's eyes turned cold.

Shen Qingyun! It really was the pursuer he sent. It seems that during their last encounter, the other party managed to capture a wisp of his energy when he wasn't looking, and is now tracking him with a special compass.

He concealed his aura and, like a ghost, pressed himself against the mountain wall, silently approaching the source of the sound.

Turning past a rock wall, they saw a dozen or so martial artists dressed in different styles walking in a group. The leader held a bronze compass, on which floated a familiar aura—it belonged to Gu Sheng.

"A temporary alliance?"

Gu Sheng's lips curled into a cold smile.

He flashed and stealthily approached the last warrior in the group.

"Well"

The martial artist felt a chill in his chest and looked down to see a blood-stained sword tip protruding from his skin.

He tried to shout, but a hand like an iron clamp covered his mouth, and he was dragged behind the boulder. The whole process was incredibly fast, taking less than a breath.

Gu Sheng gently set the body down and locked his gaze on the next target. It wasn't until the third martial artist fell silently that anyone noticed anything amiss.

"Where's Lao Liu? He's nowhere to be found."

"Brother Zhang is also missing!"

The group immediately stirred, and the remaining people quickly formed a line, surrounding the compass holder and warily looking around.

"Come out! What kind of hero sneaks around like that!"

A burly man with a thick beard shouted sharply, his long knife gleaming coldly.

Gu Sheng stopped hiding and stepped out of the shadows, his Broken Wind Ancient Sword pointing diagonally at the ground.

"Did Shen Qingyun send you here to die?"

"It's Gu Sheng! Kill him!"

The person holding the compass shouted.

Without another word, Gu Sheng moved swiftly, unleashing the "Splitting Light and Shadow Sword Technique." In an instant, nine afterimages split off from his body, rushing towards the crowd from different directions.

"Be careful! Don't be fooled!"

The martial artists shouted and unleashed their skills at the phantom.

"Boom boom boom"

Nine illusory figures exploded one after another, but they were all illusions. Meanwhile, the real Gu Sheng had taken advantage of the chaos to infiltrate deep into the encirclement.

"puff--"

The Broken Wind Ancient Sword, like a venomous snake spitting its tongue, precisely pierced the compass holder's throat.

"Uh"

The man's eyes widened, a gurgling sound came from his throat, and the compass in his hand clattered to the ground. Only then did everyone realize they had been tricked and hurriedly turned around.

Gu Sheng drew his sword and turned around, the blood dripping from the tip of the sword gleaming eerily red in the sunlight.

"Now, it's your turn."

The remaining warriors were both shocked and enraged, and rushed forward with their weapons.

Gu Sheng moved like lightning, displaying the physical advantages of a fifth-level physique.

He dodged a martial artist's horizontal slash, and with a backhand stroke, slashed the opponent's abdomen; at the same time, he bent his elbow and struck, denting another person's sternum; he leaped up, his ancient sword piercing through the third person's skull from above.

The battle lasted less than a quarter of an hour, and more than ten people were already lying on the ground. The last three warriors were pale-faced, and one of them turned and fled.

"Want to go?"

Gu Sheng sneered and casually picked up a pebble and threw it.

"what!"

The man was struck in the back of the knee and collapsed to his knees, wailing in pain.

The remaining two exchanged a glance and suddenly fled in opposite directions.

Gu Sheng did not pursue them, but instead walked to the body of the person who held the compass and picked up the compass that was still turning slightly.

The compass needle pointed directly at him, clearly indicating that it had locked onto the aura emanating from him.

"Humph!"

Gu Sheng squeezed the compass to pieces with all his might.

After confirming that there were no more pursuers around, Gu Sheng headed deeper into the mountain stream. At this moment, the tender voice of the innate spiritual embryo echoed in his mind.

“Master, there’s an even stronger aura of rare and precious herbs three miles to the east, more than ten times stronger than that green grass we just saw!”

Gu Sheng's eyes lit up. "Lead the way."

He used his Shrinking Earth Technique to speed towards the direction indicated by the spiritual embryo. Along the way, the sky above the secret realm turned an eerie dark red, the spiritual energy in the air grew increasingly dense, and the sounds of fighting and the roars of demonic beasts could be heard from afar.

Upon reaching the entrance to a canyon, Gu Sheng suddenly stopped.

"There are fluctuations in the formation."

He focused his gaze and discovered that the ground was engraved with incomplete ancient runes, vaguely forming a maze.

"Ancient Demon Clan's Formation"

Gu Sheng frowned, pondering a way to break the formation. Just as he was searching for the key to the formation, a sharp whooshing sound suddenly came from behind him!
Instinctively, Gu Sheng dodged to the side, a poisoned dart grazing his cheek before embedding itself in the stone wall beside him.

The black liquid on the concealed weapon ignites upon contact with stone, releasing billowing poisonous smoke.

Gu Sheng's spiritual incarnation blended into the crowd, its aura indistinguishable from that of the surrounding martial artists.

His gaze locked onto the tall, thin man holding a bronze compass—the head of the tracking team, whose pointer was flashing an eerie red light.

"Strange, why has the aura dispersed again?"

The tall, thin man frowned as he fiddled with the compass, when suddenly he felt a chill on his neck.

The sword, emanating from the spirit fetus, had already slashed across his throat, leaving a trail of blood that drew a tragic arc in the air.

The compass fell to the ground, the needle spun wildly, and finally cracked in two with a "crack".

"It's a scam!"

The moment the burly man with the thick beard roared, his throat was pierced by sword energy.

The real killing blow is about to be unleashed.

Gu Sheng himself emerged from the shadows of the rock wall, his hands forming a mudra like butterflies flitting among flowers, his inner energy surging along the special route described in the Nirvana Sutra.

"The Three Transformations of Nirvana - The First Transformation!"

Golden patterns instantly covered his face, and his aura surged threefold. When the iron sword at his waist was drawn, it emitted a dragon's roar, and the true energy gathered on the sword's edge transformed into a dazzling golden light three zhang long.

"Heaven-Shattering Sword Technique - Sweeping Through a Thousand Armies!"

Golden light spread like a wave, and the seven warriors in the front row were cut in half before they could even complete a blocking action.

Severed limbs and internal organs were splattered on the rock wall. The pupils of the people behind them suddenly contracted, and some even forgot to breathe.

Gu Sheng spun around and changed his move, his sword energy shifting from a horizontal sweep to a diagonal slash. Five heads flew into the air, one of them still bearing an expression of utter horror.

When the third sword strike cleaved through the iron shields of the three shield-wielding warriors, someone finally broke down and screamed.

"It's a Xuan-rank martial skill! Run!"

But it's too late.

Gu Shengjian's sword strikes are like a raging storm; wherever his golden sword energy passes, rocks crumble and trees snap. More than twenty mutilated corpses lie scattered across the mountain stream, thick blood pooling into streams between the rocks.

"cough"

Gu Sheng suddenly knelt on one knee, his iron sword embedded in the ground to support his body. The backlash from the Nirvana Three Transformations was fierce, his dantian feeling like a deep well that had been hollowed out.

He quickly disappeared into the crevice, trembling as he took out the jade bottle and swallowed three Qi-restoring pills.

The pills transformed into a warm current upon entering the abdomen, but the recovery speed was far slower than expected.

"The meridians of a Spirit Martial Realm cultivator are still too fragile."

Gu Sheng smiled bitterly, when suddenly he heard the sound of gravel rolling down his side.

"At this!"

The young martial artist, his face covered in freckles, pointed at the crevice in the rock, his voice trembling with excitement.

"He's exhausted!"

More than thirty people surrounded them from all directions, their swords gleaming coldly. The scarred man at the head of the group licked the blade and grinned maliciously.

"Young Master Gu, you used to be so arrogant, but now you look like a dead dog."

Gu Sheng slowly raised his head, and a strange smile suddenly appeared on his lips.

"You might want to look behind you."

"Pretend to be a ghost!"

Just as the scarred man chuckled, a chilling, burning sensation suddenly erupted from behind him.

The avatar of the spirit embryo had somehow appeared on the path of retreat, its body engulfed in golden flames. The same hand seals, the same sword techniques, only this time the sword light carried an eerie crimson hue.

"Nirvana's Three Mysterious Transformations: The Setting Sun Like Blood!"

The sword energy was no longer pure gold, but rather like molten iron.

The three closest people instantly vaporized without even uttering a scream. Wherever the aftershocks swept, rocks melted into a crimson liquid, instant death upon contact.

"It's a clone! He has clones."

The person who shouted was pierced through the chest by a sword aura, and his body flew backward, smashing through three rocks.

The survivors were terrified; some even dropped their weapons and knelt down to beg for mercy.

The spirit incarnation showed no mercy, its sword strikes as precise as the Grim Reaper's scythe. When the thirteenth fell, someone finally noticed something amiss.

"The clone's movements have slowed down!"

Indeed, the flames of the spiritual embryo incarnation are weakening.

Gu Sheng suddenly burst forth, his Qi-restoring pill having recovered 30% of his true energy, and his iron sword brought forth seven cyan whirlwinds.

"Seven Killing Swords of the Gale!"

The sight of fleeing martial artists being swept up by whirlwinds and having their limbs shredded by sword energy was nauseating.

A short man had just climbed up the rocky hill when he was pierced through the back of the head by a flying sword sheath.

The last female warrior retreated to the edge of the waterfall, trembling as she raised her short bow.

"My brother is still alive."

Gu Sheng's sword flashed, and the bowstring and throat snapped simultaneously. As the female warrior fell into the deep pool, she heard a cold voice from above.

"Once you're caught in a deadly trap, you should be prepared to die."

After a short while, the mountain stream returned to silence.

Gu Sheng flicked the blood off his sword, and suddenly his pupils contracted slightly—the blood flowing from all the corpses was strangely writhing in the same direction.

"Wonderful."

Applause came from the woods as Shen Qingyun walked through the pool of blood, his six-foot-long sword at his waist radiating a chilling aura even before it was drawn.

"With the cultivation of the Spirit Martial Realm, you have killed forty-nine people in a row. Brother Gu is indeed a person who can escape from the encirclement and suppression of my Shen family."

Gu Sheng's sword tip dipped to the ground, seemingly relaxed but actually surging with true energy.

"Young Master Shen has come personally to collect the body?"

"Collecting bodies?"

Shen Qingyun chuckled, and the moment his right hand touched the hilt of the knife, the surrounding temperature plummeted.

"We've come to catch you, the one who slipped through the net."

He suddenly squinted.

"Strange, you actually have two streams of true energy circulating within your body?"

Gu Sheng's heart trembled violently.

This is the greatest secret of the Nirvana Sutra: the spiritual embryo incarnation is not an ordinary clone, but a second source of true energy cultivated by splitting the dantian in two. On the surface, however, he remains calm and composed.

"Did the Shen family's intelligence network also have loopholes?"

"It doesn't matter."

Shen Qingyun slowly drew his longsword from its sheath; the blade was transparent, like ice crystals.

"No matter what tricks you have up your sleeve, today..."

The blade suddenly reflected sunlight, and in the blinding white light came his final pronouncement.

"Death is certain!"

Before the blade even arrived, blood had already burst open on Gu Sheng's left shoulder.

He retreated in shock, only to find that Shen Qingyun was still standing ten feet away, yet his attack seemed to have traversed space.

"The 'momentum' of the Heavenly Martial Realm? No, the secret realm clearly suppressed cultivation levels."

"Gu Sheng, today I'll show you the difference between an ant and a true dragon!"

A cruel smile curled at the corners of Shen Qingyun's lips. (End of Chapter)