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As she continued training, Maria observed the entire sect. Everyone was practicing diligently, from the youngest disciples to the newest mbers, including her own family.
She and the other cultivators had helped Wu Lieng by extracting a "Bloodline-Devouring Gu," a mystical, insect-like spiritual creature that cultivators often used to parasitize their bodies for special abilities or cultivation boosts.
Gu abilities and powers varied trendously from one to another, but they all required constant feeding to survive and grow. So could even be bred together to create entirely new varieties.
Apparently, entire sects specialized in Gu breeding and sold them primarily on the black market, as these practices were strictly forbidden by the orthodox factions.
Of course, not all Gu were beneficial. So were designed to weaken or cripple their hosts. The Bloodline-Eating Gu, a long red worm with razor-sharp teeth, was one such example. Maria had caught it with Vesperine’s Blood Arts and imdiately sealed it inside a stasis bubble.
The White Mist Sect did not practice Gu breeding or cultivation, but the White Mist Immortal had kept a few Gu in stasis jars, either to sell later or to use personally.
Once a Gu bonded with a host, removing it was extrely difficult and painful. Wu Lieng had insisted on the extraction despite the agony. Miraculously, the creature had grown large and resilient enough to survive the process and now rested safely inside Maria’s Soul Realm.
The White Mist Immortal had gifted her his two remaining Gu. One was a Golden Thunder Centipede, a small creature with a shimring golden exoskeleton that allowed its host to unleash thunderbolts using Ki channeled through the palms. The other was a Black Dantian Scarab, specialized in accelerating Dantian cultivation.
The Immortal had used both to grow much stronger in the past, though he eventually removed them and stored them in jars because they demanded too many Ki Beads to maintain.
Maria, however, was wealthy enough to feed them without issue. She decided to let them breed using the thods taught by the captured Darkwood Sect mber, who had connections to Gu cultivation sects.
While the two Gu bred inside a massive cauldron, Wu Lieng recovered remarkably fast. In just one day, his Heavenly Demon Bloodline began pumping its unique power through his veins again. His aura grew deeper red, tinged with shadowy undertones.
The Heavenly Demon Bloodline was truly formidable. Though his ridians remained partially crippled, Wu Lieng could gradually heal them through continued cultivation.
"Everyone is adding their own style to the techniques. This really makes happy."
She checked on Wu Lieng after overseeing the training. Despite his age, he was regaining his forrly muscular physique with each day of intense practice, along with a hint of lost youth—though he still retained his long white beard.
Lucifer trained under the guidance of the Iron Fist martial artists he had befriended, rapidly mastering techniques from the Iron Fist Sect. He even learned cultivation thods that allowed him to harden his scales and reshape their form and power, much like the sect mbers controlled their Iron Physiques.
Partner absorbed new techniques and blood magic from Vesperine, draining the duchess of all her knowledge while claiming her Sanguine Relics and Immortal Artifacts. Maria let her keep them; she had no personal use for such items.
As for the Phoenix Immortal Soul, Maria released him and allowed him to exist as an independent ghost. Though he retained few mories of his past life, he swore eternal loyalty after being freed from the golden box.
Eraldine proved most compatible with the cultivation thods of the White Mist, Darkwood, and Sunlight Mountain Sects. She studied all three simultaneously and advanced at an astonishing pace. Maria could only smile in amazent at how talented her adorable elf wife had beco.
Arthur, however, surpassed every other talent. He devoured techniques and cultivation thods alike while keeping perfect pace with Maria’s personal teachings. His Heavenly Yin Yang Physique truly was the greatest advantage in Murim, and Maria quickly understood why it was so coveted.
No elental affinity restricted him. No thod was incompatible. Everything worked, and the techniques even rged as he learned them. Where he once struggled to keep up with the children, Arthur now grew at an explosive rate. By combining over a dozen cultivation thods, he had already reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm.
Simply standing near him revealed a trendous aura ford from the condensation of dozens of different types of Ki. He was an unparalleled genius—the complete opposite of his sister in that regard.
Yet that was exactly what made Maria happiest. She had given him such a powerful physique precisely so he could beco this strong.
Now he could finally catch up with her properly.
Nyx also mastered her mother’s teachings second only to Arthur. Unlike Maria, she was compatible with cultivation thods, which relieved Maria imnsely. She would have hated herself if her daughter had inherited her own lack of talent. Nyx focused on the White Mist Cultivation thod and martial arts while also training in Iron Fist techniques alongside her father.
Celes and Alma were compatible only with the Glacial Mountain Sect thods. The captured Immortal had happily shared dozens of books and manuals from his Immortal Domain, which Maria promptly absorbed. She discovered many treasures within and added the frozen landscape to her Soul Realm—a refreshing new sight. She also placed his Gu, a beautiful Snowveil Moth that accelerated Ice Ki cultivation and enhanced related techniques, into the breeding cauldron.
Nia showed surprising talent for the White Mist Sect’s Yellow Cloud and Thunderbolt advanced thods, mastering them rapidly.
Jonathan easily grasped the Sunlight Mountain Sect’s Blazing Ki Sword Arts and their unique cultivation thods, further boosting his already impressive strength and reinforcing his great sword and shield martial arts.
Arachne remained rather lazy and showed little interest in the various thods, preferring to learn directly from Maria while befriending the Gu, which she found "cute."
Ferleen and lianna had already grown stronger during their ti here, yet they continued cultivating and practicing martial arts while studying under Maria, further strengthening their Dream Weapons.
When night finally arrived, Maria began gathering inspiration for new techniques while preparing for the next day. Suddenly, a thunderous explosion shook the heavens.
"Huh? Arthur?!"
She rushed outside and saw her little brother floating high in the sky. The elders from the various sects who had been guiding him stared in awe as he faced—and overca—a Heavenly Tribulation.
His body ascended from Nascent Soul...
To Immortal!
"No way! He actually did it?!"
Arthur’s entire form changed in an instant. He aged rapidly to match his soul’s true age, no longer appearing childlike. Now a young adult in his early twenties, he possessed long blonde hair, glowing rainbow eyes, and a lean yet powerfully muscled physique.
A radiant Yin-Yang symbol was etched into his chest, pulsing with bright Yang and dark Yin Ki.
Heavenly Ki surged from his body, materializing a magnificent Martial Soul. The Phantasmal Specter Maria had given him as a guardian fused perfectly with it, manifesting as a gigantic, armored knight—half golden, half black—wielding twin swords of light and darkness.
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