Ch 42 – Undying Demon’s Inheritance

Kaleido shook his head and discarded his unneeded emotions. He still had other matters to attend to, matters that were more pressing than uselessly thinking about his family and wishing to return back home to meet them again.

He planted his feet on the hard wooden ground and pushed himself off the couch. Rubbing his hair, he stretched his body around to warm himself up after straining his mind, body, and soul with the previous refinement session.

In the world of Gu, talent still prevails. But even talented individuals would be overtaken by those who worked hard if they aren't careful and slacked off. Kaleido knew that clearly and busied himself every single day, building up his discipline and forging his will, all in the hopes to get stronger and find a way back home.

Finding his body sufficiently readied and prepared, Kaleido moved out of his house and walked towards the sandy shores in front of him.

Soft gusts of wind brushed against his white robe and face, fluttering his clothes and hair in a sporadic manner. Upon arriving at the sandy shores of the island, the smell of salt greeted him as he breathed in deeply.

He waved his arm and activated Space Edge Gu in tandem. The space around his hand converged and coalesced into a long black blade similar to a katana, but in the next moment, it became a greatsword, and in the next, a rapier.

'Mmm.' Kaleido nodded with a pleasant smile on his face as he returned the blade back to its first form, a katana, and pointed it forward toward the sea.

Black gas was then emitted from the blade of the sword, and the air around it hummed with invisible power. Restricting his dao marks, he swung the blade forward, and Kaleido watched as a black crescent slash pierced through the void and shoot forward tens of meters away.

'At this level, my Rank 3 Gu are as strong as Rank 4, giving me an overall edge against anyone from the same rank even without having to use my dao marks. Paired that with my nigh-infinite primeval essence, then I'm nigh undefeatable in the mortal realm by just using Rank 3 Gu without my dao marks.' Kaleido gazed coldly at the air in front of him, trying to estimate the current strength of his blade.

He then lifted his other hand and summoned a boulder to the side, and turned his body towards it, swinging his blade in quick succession as another crescent beam shot out.

Watching it cut through the large boulder like it was paper, Kaleido then thrust the sword forward and a piercing black dart shot forward. Poking through the thick and wide boulder like it was paper, Kaleido nodded his head, satisfied at the absurd strength of his long-range attacks.

Confirming the strength of his long-range attacks, Kaleido next summoned a chunk of iron from his storage space and had it float in the air ahead of him.

He then caressed the blade of his sword atop the chunk of iron, and without even exerting a noticeable amount of strength, the blade cleaved through the iron like it was passing through butter.

'Hmm, this should be enough using my own insights as a quasi-Grandmaster in space path, but I need to do more tests to be on the safe side.' Kaleido changed the form of his blade, transforming it into a rapier as he went on and did more tests.

A short while later.

'Different sword types have their different strengths. Some would have more potent long-range attacks but weaker close-quarter capabilities, while others are the exact opposite. But in general, the blade can cut through iron like butter, and any form of long-range attack, whether it be a crescent slash, bullet, or beam, can exert enough force to destroy metal like paper.' Kaleido stared at the black katana in his hand with an ominous light.

But the deranged madness in his eyes quickly vanished as he muttered, "Heh, if I were to use this Gu amplified by my dao marks, then it might as well be activating a weak nuke to slash at the sea. Imagine if I still had Displace Domain Gu, I wonder how terrifying a Displaced Slash would be, not to mention my only killer move in space path remaining, Void Slash."

As a quasi-Grandmaster in space path, Kaleido knew just how absurdly strong he is right now. If he were to fight Lo Bai once again, then the outcome would be akin to him crushing someone from a lower realm already.

The sheer difference between Rank 2 and Rank 3 was so large that Kaleido felt his blood boil at the thought of reaching Rank 4, and perhaps even Rank 5!

If he was strong enough to decimate an experienced Rank 6 Gu Immortal without Immortal Gu as a Rank 3, then how about when he reaches Rank 5? Would he be able to defeat Rank 7 Gu Immortals, and perhaps even content with Rank 8 experts?!

The battle strength of a Gu Master or a Gu Immortal doesn't solely rely on their rank. It is determined by a lot of factors, ranging from Gu, attainment, dao marks, combat experience, intellect, and so much more.

If he already has dao marks akin to a quasi-Rank 9, then perhaps by the time he enters the realm of immortals, he'd be undefeated in the world of Gu!

Holding back his absurd thoughts, Kaleido pressed his hand forward and the space around him seemed to turn more solid and tangible, like an ethereal black honey.

Feeling the space around him flow freely throughout his entire body, Kaleido started his testing session on his other Rank 3 Gu, Formless Space Gu.

'Hmm…' Kaleido squinted his eyes and used his experience and quasi-Grandmaster attainment in space path to see the new changes the Gu had.

'The one thing that was mostly enhanced is the defensive properties of the Gu, alleviating it to another level altogether. And because it's as strong as a Rank 4 Gu, the space inside has also expanded a lot more compared to before. Maybe one day, I'll be able to store a literal mountain inside it and use it as a surprise attack.' Kaleido chuckled and went ahead to focus his gaze on his last newly gained Rank 3 Gu.

'Rank 3 Swift Movement Gu. Normally speaking, it should make me move four times faster than normal, but because of the amplification brought by my extreme physique, it's slightly stronger than what it normally would be at Rank 4 and should alleviate my speed to ten times the usual already.'

'Then adding into the fact that I have dao marks, and factoring in my average running speed of 5 meters per second, I would be moving at…' Kaleido rubbed his chin as he calculated inside his mind.

'I would be moving at around 15,000 meters per second at the bare minimum!' Kaleido couldn't help but laugh abruptly at how absurdly fast that was.

'Imagine if I used this Gu in tandem with Void Slash! I can spam mini-nukes at Mach 50 already! Sadly…' Kaleido sighed, 'The two types of dao marks on my body would conflict with each other if I use them in tandem, so combining space path and time path wouldn't work…'

'For now.' Kaleido's eyes glinted with a strange light as if it was concealing a hidden madness within.

But as fast as the madness came, it disappeared just as quickly as if it was never there in the first place. If one didn't have confidence in their own memory, they would even think that they were hallucinating at what they just saw.

As he spun on the heels of his feet, he activated Quick Movement Gu and ran forward at absurd speeds, arriving at his farm in a few seconds, appearing like a blur to the naked eye.

'With my quasi-Grandmaster attainment in space and time path, I can crudely control how strong the amplification brought by my dao marks would be. Maybe once I become a Grandmaster, I can accurately control the multiplier down to the decimals, but I would be more than satisfied to control it by at least in the single digits.' Kaleido paused as the dilated time around his body returned to normal.

Staring at the wooden barricade surrounding the mysterious Gu formation that may lead to the inheritance of an expert, potentially even a Rank 5 expert, Kaleido took a step forward and warily approached it.

He has prepared as much as he could before he would undergo this tiny little adventure. From raising his rank to Rank 3, becoming as strong as a clan's elder in the process, and even alleviating the ranks of his Gu Worms.

Compared to before, he was many magnitudes stronger! If he were to attain Displace Domain Gu, his battle strength would skyrocket through the roof as he'll gain access to many of his killer moves and reach another level of power.

Sadly, for Kaleido, he has lost access to Space Cave as it would alert "It" of his existence, a thing that he wouldn't like to happen at all cause. For now, he would rather not be targeted by "It" and dampen his progress in space path than face an onslaught of desolate beasts.

'I have already done all that I can to raise my strength to the very top in as little time as possible. Maybe I could have pushed it and tried to reach Rank 3 peak stage, but that would take too much time while not increasing my battle strength all that much. Although it might be different considering every small stage increased the amplification brought by extreme physiques before, so maybe the amplification is larger now in Rank 3.'

Thinking about all kinds of possibilities was already useless, so Kaleido dismissed his erratic thoughts and pushed open the gate of the barricade. Through the opened gate, a mystical white Gu formation was plastered on the soft soil, glowing dimly like diffused light.

In the encroaching darkness, the glow of the Gu formation looked brighter than ever before, illuminating the area around it with its soft white light.

Feeling that the wooden barricade wouldn't be enough to defend against stronger wild beasts that might notice the Gu formation's presence, he took out chunks of iron sheets from his storage space and mended them using brute force to reinforce the barricade.

With formless space in hand, bending space was as easy as breaking wooden twigs.

Finding his preparations were all complete, Kaleido resolutely took a step forward and entered the Gu formation.

Just like he expected, the Gu formation suddenly glowed brightly as if detecting an intruder's presence, and space around him warped and connected to a distant formation below the island.

As the bright white light receded, Kaleido found himself inside a large hollow cavern with all kinds of colorful crystals hanging on the walls, illuminating the cavern with their dim glow.

The cavern seemed to have been hidden for decades already as there were no signs of activities anywhere, not even a single beast's footprint can be found on the dusty ground.

Just as Kaleido was about to look around, his eyes suddenly landed on an altar in the distance that captured his gaze.

Without a hint of doubt in his mind, he knew that it was something important. Solidifying the formless space barrier around his body to the point that one can see a translucent black barrier around his body, he approached the altar with wary steps, looking around for any sudden danger that might appear.

But as he was carefully inspecting the area around the altar, the air above the altar suddenly changed as a projection appeared.

The projection showed an old man with long white hair and a gorgeous white beard. He wore a classical white robe that was more luxurious and fancier compared to the one Kaleido was currently wearing.

Even though he looked like he was in his 70s, his eyes still held a fierce glow to them, showing his experience and cruel nature that was hidden by the passing of time. He also had a scholarly air to him that was tainted by a demonic flair.

"If you have found this, then congratulations, for you have found the inheritance of the Undying Demon—Long Liv."

AN: This chapter has 2078 words.

(February 12, 2023 – 444th day of writing)