Honghuang: My understanding is against the sky, I use the Gu Dao to prove the origin of the universe
Chapter 3 -  Innate Spiritual Treasure – The Three Yin Pearl

Chapter 3  Innate Spiritual Treasure – The Three Yin Pearl

“A newly ascended Golden Immortal? Flashy tricks. Before absolute power, all of it is meaningless!”

As the words fell, the speaker suddenly opened his mouth and spewed a stream of blazing divine fire. It roared like a fire dragon, charging at Chu Yuan. This was the innate divine ability of the true Zhu Yan: the True Flame of Zhu Yan!

Though not quite as potent as the Phoenix Clan’s innate flame, it was still terrifyingly powerful—capable of incinerating metal and refining stone. Yet in the face of this roaring flame, Chu Yuan didn’t dodge or flinch.

He simply raised his hand gently. His mana surged, and the myriad of Gu shadows within his body trembled ever so slightly. An invisible force rippled outward.

That seemingly unstoppable Zhu Yan True Flame, the moment it came within three feet of Chu Yuan, suddenly twisted and flickered—as if encountering an unseen barrier. Then… it rapidly dimmed and weakened, as if silently devoured or assimilated by something unknown.

In the end, the flame—powerful enough to destroy a Golden Immortal—was completely extinguished before Chu Yuan, without even a single spark remaining. This was the power of the Heavenly Gu Scripture of Primordial Origin!

Though he appeared to be only at the early stage of Golden Immortal, Chu Yuan had already begun to nurture the embryonic form of Law.

In terms of true combat strength, he far surpassed a mere early-stage Golden Immortal.

“What?”

Zhu Yan’s eyes bulged in disbelief—he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

His Zhu Yan True Flame had been neutralized so effortlessly?

He hadn’t even seen how the opponent acted!

This creature is strange!

A strong sense of alarm surged within Zhu Yan. He no longer dared underestimate his opponent, and for the first time, regarded Chu Yuan as a true adversary.

“So you’ve been hiding some bizarre tricks,” Zhu Yan growled lowly, mana surging around him.

“But today—you die!”

With a thunderous roar, his body expanded rapidly, manifesting his true form—like a towering mountain, hundreds of feet tall. Muscles bulged, fangs jutted out, and a terrifying aura of bloodlust and savagery surged out, crashing toward Chu Yuan like a tidal wave.

He unleashed the full might of a late-stage Golden Immortal!

Chu Yuan’s robes fluttered wildly in the pressure, yet his stance remained unshaken—like a stone pillar in a storm. He gazed calmly at the mountain-like Zhu Yan, his eyes unfazed.

“Bizarre tricks?”

A faint, inexplicable smile tugged at his lips. “Fellow Daoist, you’ll soon come to understand—this is no trick. This… is the Dao of Gu!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Yuan’s figure blurred once again. As his mana surged, the very void around them rippled—countless tiny, nearly invisible shadows began to spread silently.

Formless and intangible, yet carrying a chilling aura of death and dread. Zhu Yan’s colossal body suddenly shuddered. He felt an exceedingly strange power trying to burrow into his body—corroding his mana and even interfering with his divine soul!

“What the hell is this?”

Zhu Yan was both furious and alarmed. He frantically channeled his mana, trying to drive out the foreign force.

But those invisible “Gu shadows” were everywhere, like maggots on rotting flesh—unrelenting, penetrating him from every angle. This battle was completely overturning Zhu Yan’s expectations.

Though he possessed overwhelming strength and powerful innate abilities, he felt utterly constrained—unable to use his power freely. Chu Yuan’s attacks seemed effortless, yet they always struck where it hurt most—gradually sapping his strength and eroding his vitality. It was like a mighty elephant falling into a swamp of venomous insects. The more it struggled, the deeper it sank—and the more heavily it was poisoned.

He wanted to escape, but it was already too late. Trapped within Chu Yuan’s magical power, he was completely unable to break free, and could only let out a furious and helpless roar.

“Damn it! I am a general of the Beast Tribe! If you dare kill me, the Qilin Clan will never let you go!”

“Beast Tribe General?”

“Qilin Clan?”

“Then there’s no need for you to worry, my friend. Allow me to send you on your way!”

Chu Yuan’s expression remained unchanged. Since enmity had already been formed, there was no reason to let a tiger return to the mountain just because he feared the backing behind him.

With a surge of magical power, countless phantom poisonous insects manifested. Illusory and real, their killing intent was even more ruthless.

Pfft!

Moments later, Zhu Yan suddenly spewed a large mouthful of black, filthy blood, mixed with fragments of his soul. His massive body could no longer support itself and collapsed to the ground with a thunderous crash, his life force fading rapidly like a receding tide.

The fierce light once present in his enormous eyes had vanished, leaving only endless emptiness and deathly silence. In just a few breaths’ time, a powerful mid-to-late-stage being, a fierce general of the Beast Tribe—Zhu Yan—had fallen completely under Chu Yuan’s Gu Path!

Although his body and soul were not entirely annihilated, his primordial spirit was utterly extinguished, leaving behind only Zhu Yan’s massive true form.

Chu Yuan let out a light breath of turbid air. This was his first battle since creating the Primordial Heaven Gu Scripture and breaking through to Golden Immortal!

With early-stage Golden Immortal cultivation, he had directly cursed and killed Zhu Yan, a late-stage Golden Immortal—perfectly demonstrating the terrifying power of the Gu Path!

…

After adjusting his breath for a moment, Chu Yuan stepped forward, carefully inspecting Zhu Yan’s massive, lifeless corpse. The body of a Golden Immortal, tempered over millennia, contained immense essence and vitality. Even though the life force was gone, it remained a rare and precious “treasure.”

“A Golden Immortal body… perfect for refining into a powerful Gu Servant…”

A gleam flashed in Chu Yuan’s eyes as a bold plan took shape in his mind. Using living beings to refine Gu was, after all, a core method recorded in the Primordial Heaven Gu Scripture.

If he could refine this late-stage Golden Immortal corpse into a Gu Corpse, it would undoubtedly become a major asset for him as he roamed the vast wilderness in the future!

However, refining a Gu Corpse was not something that could be done overnight—it required careful preparation. The urgent task at hand was to inventory the spoils of war.

Chu Yuan swept his divine sense over Zhu Yan’s body and quickly made a discovery. On Zhu Yan’s now cold and rigid claw was a nondescript black bone ring. Clearly, it was a storage-type magical artifact.

With a small exertion of magical power, Chu Yuan easily erased the remaining imprint of Zhu Yan’s soul and probed it with his divine sense. The space within the bone ring was quite large, containing a mix of miscellaneous items.

Most were materials for artifact refining, along with some spirit fruits and celestial herbs—not of much use to Chu Yuan.

“Hm?”

Suddenly, Chu Yuan’s expression shifted as he retrieved a pigeon-egg-sized, pitch-black bead from a corner. The bead was ice-cold to the touch, as if it could freeze one’s soul. Its surface faintly glowed with three wisps of mysterious yin energy that formed strange patterns, radiating a corrupting power that could erode the primordial spirit.

“This is… an innate spiritual treasure!”

A hint of delight appeared in Chu Yuan’s eyes.