Chapter 124: Ambushing the Spirit Venerable

It had been five days since leaving the Great Qin.

Ahead lay a mountain range so towering that its peaks were lost in the clouds, stretching out in a vast, boundless expanse. In the center of this range sat a canyon—not particularly wide, only enough for five people to walk abreast, yet it extended so far that its end remained invisible.

This was the canyon Long Xue’er had mentioned. Upon seeing it, Gu Feng was deeply shaken. It was clear that some supreme being had cleaved this immense mountain in two with a single strike of a sword.

On the system interface, hundreds of purple dots appeared over the mountain, one of which was so dark it was almost black. It was evident that this narrow canyon was the only path forward. Gu Feng had to admit, this was indeed the perfect place for an ambush.

Gu Feng smiled and said, "Wait for me here; I need to set a few things up. It’s been nearly a week, and the Du family should be arriving soon. I must prepare a grand gift for them."

Gu Feng walked into the canyon alone and suddenly accelerated, dashing forward. He discovered that the canyon’s length exceeded thirty kilometers. Thinking of someone splitting a thirty-kilometer-long mountain with a single sword strike left him stunned again. It was sheer insanity—simply too powerful. Gu Feng wondered if reaching level 100 would make such a feat possible.

Ten kilometers deep into the canyon, Gu Feng began planting spiritual energy bombs. The existence of this canyon was practically tailor-made for an ambush. After installing fifty bombs along the length of the passage, he retreated, waiting for the enemy to walk right into the trap.

"Master, what did you do? You look so happy."

"Haha! You’ll see when the enemy arrives. We have some downtime now—Hanhan, come here, let me give you some guidance."

Recalling that he still had a thousand points of mentor-disciple experience to bestow, he beckoned her. Hanhan happily left Long Xue’er and ran toward Gu Feng. "Master, what spell are you going to teach me this time?"

"If you want to learn spells, Hanhan, you must work hard to increase your cultivation. Your current level is too low to master powerful techniques."

"Ah! But I’m already a level seven warrior! Is that still too low?"

"Of course, it’s very low. A level seven warrior hasn't even entered the true path of martial arts. Only by mastering spiritual energy can you learn and cast powerful spells."

"Alright, Master will now transmit power to you to help boost your cultivation."

"Okay, Master! Come on!" Hanhan leaned forward.

Gu Feng placed a finger on her forehead and silently commanded, "Bestow mentor-disciple experience." Instantly, one thousand points of experience flowed into her.

As Hanhan received the experience, her level surged—level eight warrior, then level nine, then level ten.

Seeing this, Long Xue’er and Gu Dongliu were dumbfounded, and Gu Feng himself was startled. She had jumped three levels in an instant. Gu Dongliu felt a sense of imbalance; could cultivation really be increased like this? He looked at Gu Feng with burning eyes and said, "Boss, help me level up too! Even just one level would be great!" Gu Dongliu was currently at the peak of the Spirit Practitioner realm; one more level would make him a Spirit Master.

Gu Feng rolled his eyes at him and tossed him ten Essence-Boosting Pills. "Go cultivate on your own."

Essence-Boosting Pills were high-quality items, so Gu Dongliu took them and rushed off to train. Long Xue’er reached out her hand and asked, "What about mine?" Gu Feng gave her five pills.

"Master, Hanhan has become stronger! This is so amazing!"

"Yes, yes, Hanhan is amazing. Come, Master will reward you with a spell."

"Wow! What spell, Master?"

"Water Python Roar. It’s a spell usually reserved for Spirit Practitioners, but I’ll teach it to you early."

"Yay! Master, teach me quickly!"

Gu Feng transmitted the knowledge of the Water Python Roar to her. The influx of information was substantial, and Hanhan immediately set to work digesting it.

With everyone busy cultivating, Gu Feng felt bored. He remembered he hadn't yet chosen a cultivation method for himself and began browsing the system. The billions of techniques available made his head spin, yet each one was marked with a note stating it was unsuitable for the host.

He began searching for a technique tailored to him. The Heaven-Swallowing Art was among them, but the cost was one hundred million Chaos Origin Crystals plus one trillion system points. The Primordial Chaos Art was cheaper, at eighty billion crystals and eight hundred billion points. The most expensive was the Book of Origin, costing one hundred billion crystals and one quadrillion points. Yet, ironically, it was also the cheapest—because it allowed for free comprehension, provided he spent the points to access it.

Legend had it that the Primordial Chaos Art and the Heaven-Swallowing Art were both derived from the Origin by supreme beings. The Book of Origin was essentially a key to that very source—a gateway. Once Gu Feng redeemed it, he could theoretically comprehend anything for free, forever. It was the gateway to all things; he just had to open the door and take what he needed.

"Ten thousand points for one minute of comprehension from the Book of Origin."

"Damn it!" Gu Feng gave up immediately. Ten thousand points for one minute? He’d barely open the door before time ran out.

However, curiosity gnawed at him. He wondered what one could actually comprehend from the Book of Origin. Having sold many useless treasures and the three million points gained from the corpses, he still had nearly a million points left. He could afford an hour or so.

Ultimately, Gu Feng chose to proceed. His soul was drawn into the Book of Origin, and his physical body faded until it seemed to vanish—a safety mechanism. He felt as though he had traveled through endless dimensions until he reached an absolute end. All was darkness; he could feel his own existence but could not see himself.

Time passed, and the sensation remained unchanged. Surrounded by nothing but darkness, he cursed, "Damn it, this is the precious Book of Origin? What am I supposed to learn here?"

When a massive suction force pulled his soul back into his body, Gu Feng woke up instantly, fuming. "The so-called Book of Origin is just a void of darkness! There’s nothing there!"

He checked his points; over seven thousand remained. "System, I want to know what the deal is with the Book of Origin."

"Ding! You do not have enough points for the system to answer this question."

"How many points to answer it?"

"Ding! To unlock the secret of the Book of Origin requires one hundred million points."

"What? One hundred million? Why don't you just rob me!"

Gu Feng was deeply frustrated. He had spent hundreds of thousands of points and gained nothing. That was enough to buy a set of high-grade low-tier armor! Yet, after cooling down, he stopped complaining. He realized he simply hadn't found the method to use it properly. The fact that the system demanded such a massive sum to reveal the secret only confirmed the extraordinary nature of the Book of Origin.