**Chapter 42: Trouble brewing*

On a small unnamed island, in the middle of the Xuan Feng Bao Archipelago, thousands of gu masters of all ranks and ages had gathered.

The waves and wind were violent, more so than usual, as if sending a message from the heavens themselves that chaos and violence were coming to this unassuming land.

If an outsider were to observe the island, they would undoubtedly wonder why thousands of gu masters had gathered here. There was no spirit spring, nor was the island a resource point or the home base of a strong clan. Truly puzzling.

This was, of course, for anyone who had not lived in the Xuan Feng Bao Archipelago over the last few months, as those who did knew exactly why this ordinary island was filled to the brim... the immortals' inheritance.

"Brother Qin, what do you think? How long will it take for the inheritance to open again?" asked a young man in yellow robes.

"Be patient, Ru Wen. From what I have seen from the trial takers, it will only be a few more hours," reassured the middle-aged man, who seemed to be the leader of their small group. "At most, it will take a day or two."

"I know, but I just advanced and can't wait to have my first rank 2 gu. It's just so expensive…."

"Don't worry about that. Those clans are riled up right now, outbidding each other with unreasonable prices, and the greedy merchants are taking full advantage of this. But once the trial takers leave, the market will plummet, and you will have a bargain."

"I know, Brother Qin. I am still impatient…" From their tone of voice, it could be inferred that they had this same discussion a few times while scouring the market for any gu that had a somewhat reasonable price.

All to no avail, as rank 1 and 2 gu were marked up by half, in the best-case scenario.

"Brother Ru, if you really can't wait, we can go to a few friends of mine and see if any of them are willing to sell some of their gu… but no promises."

"Really? Thank you, Brother Qin!"

The older man with the surname Qin did not have any hope about his friends selling their gu, especially with the market so riled up, but he did not want to hear his young companion complain any longer, especially since his estimation could be wrong regarding when the inheritance would open again.

"Calm down and follow me… I will see what I can d—"

*Hummmm*

What would have normally been a quiet and even pleasant sound continued to become louder and louder with each passing moment, being generated from every direction, bouncing off each other and creating an unbearably loud environment on the whole island.

"DO YOU THINK THAT THE INHERITANCE STARTED AFTER THIS ONE???" the younger of the two men screamed, holding his hands over his ears.

"WHAT???" answered the older one, who, like everyone on the street, also had his hands over his ears.

"WHAT???" responded the young man again, obviously not understanding anything either.

Apart from being extremely loud, the sound that symbolized another participant passing the barrier to rank 2 did not cause any panic, as this was something that happened every few hours over the last two days.

And every time it happened, it got louder and louder. Whether that was because more participants arrived on the island or because the second opening of the inheritance was getting closer and closer, nobody knew.

…

…

…

"Pfff… I am getting too old for these loud noises…" said a random bystander of advanced age.

"Hehehe… I guess you were not here two days ago when one of those guys was killed the last time?" answered one of the merchants standing at the side of the road, peddling his gu materials.

"Oh. How do you know that, young man?"

"Well, it is no secret anyway. When one of those participants dies, the tattoo on the hand of all others gives off a sound, much like when one breaks through."

"Hmmm… interesting. And why is that worse?"

"The sound is just terrible, and ten times louder than what happened just now." A third bystander could not help but interject.

"That must have been terrible…" muttered the old man, who had originally started the conversation before slowly making his way down the road.

With all kinds of people slowly regaining their hearing fully, the market ironically started to become loud and chaotic again.

"Mint Colored Snails, for the low price of 1/5 of a primeval stone!!!"

"The cheapest you will find!!!"

"Water Bomb Gu!!! From rank 1-3, whatever your heart desires!!!!"

"… only 1 left!!!"

"… the freshest…"

The young man named Ru Wen rubbed his ears, but the pain did not seem to affect his mood, as a big smile could be seen on his face.

"What do you think? Will they finally be gone? Can I finally buy a gu?"

"I don't know… Let's go look. But you really have to work on your patience… even if they are gone, it will take a few hours for the prices to go back to normal."

"Yes! Of course, let's go…" said the young man, miserably failing at keeping his overflowing excitement a secret.

…

…

…

"Just one primeval stone to see the tattoo created by an immortal himself!!!"

"Just one primeval stone!" a mortal servant was loudly advertising.

"Brother Qin, it seems that the inheritance has not started yet," said the freshly advanced rank 2 gu master with a sad expression.

But as fast as the sad expression entered his face, it left again as he seemed to have gained an idea.

"How about we go and take a look at the tattoo? We might be able to see how much of it is filled up…"

"Junior… this is a scam, likely some rank 1 gu master with no background or hope who was forced into the inheritance and wants to make a quick buck before being killed or eliminated from the inheritance."

"Just think about what a primeval stone could buy you! A few weeks of food for one of your gu, and that is if you want to spend it on cultivation… if you spend it in a mortal tavern, you can eat and sleep there for a month or two… just to name two."

"Or even have the body of a young beauty for a night, but no, you want to spend it to see the hand, arm, or body of some low-level gu master. Who, obviously, will be a man… but whatever gets you going…"

"When you say it like this…." And this fast the dejected expression returned to his face.

"Don't be sad. Last night I heard a friend of mine say that he saw a tattoo and could barely make out the small part that was not filled out. Meaning that…"

"The inheritance is very close to opening!!! Yes!!!"

At this point, the older gu master was used to the ever-changing emotions of his younger companion, just shaking his head at his impatience, while they continued window shopping, looking for any rank 2 gu that was not overpriced.

…

*POV: Fei Yu Zhen Li*

*Huff*

*Huff*

*Huff*

The sky-blue lotus, that anyone worth their salt could identify as the rank 3 Poisonous Ocean Thought, was stained with the blood dripping from the wound on my torso. Nonetheless, I did not let go of it, as I knew that this would not affect its potency when used as a refinement material.

Why was I so severely injured, you ask?

It all began a few weeks ago when I realized that my son had somehow gotten his hands on relic gu and advanced to rank 2 peak stage. He hid it very well, with a rank 3 gu, I presume, but it did not prevent my vital gu from sensing something wrong.

A passive one that rarely acts up, but I have come to trust it when it does, as it usually means something is very, very wrong. It served me well too, being the main reason for my success in refinement.

When I found out about it, I did not feel betrayed, sad, or any other negative emotion. Only pride…

'I have not failed in raising that young man…'

In this world, the cautious people live the longest.

"Hehehe… if only I had lived by my own advice…."

After my pride wore down, I realized that my son was about to catch up to me, a rank 3 middle stage gu master… with his talent, I would not be surprised if he is already at rank 3 by now...

Absolutely unacceptable, I had not even helped him that much in his cultivation journey. Only giving him a stipend of primeval essence stones and a few rank 1 gu… and that too after talking big about how I would do everything to support him...

So the plan was to refine him a set of rank 3 gu for after he came out of the inheritance again. Because honestly, I doubt he would be in much danger with a rank 2 peak stage cultivation, not to mention as a rank 3.

"And that's where I made a mistake…."

I went out to gather some rank 3 materials at locations I had either scouted out myself or knew about from the clan, which have their dangers, but nothing that could do this to me…

After I defeated the small family of dragonflies, that had mere rank 2 peak stage strength, I picked up the Poisonous Ocean Thought and was about to go my way.

"Third Elder, he is this way!"

'Speaking of the devil….'

I was attacked by a hunting group of gu masters.

*Huff*

*Huff*

They ganged up on me, with no chance to retaliate, as there were five rank 2 gu masters led by a rank 3 elder.

And not only did they attack and try to kill me on sight, but the worst thing is that they have been on my tail for the last three days…

*Huff*

*Rank 2 Killer Move: Ferocious Water Dragon*

Dodging that attack, but not without the use of my gu, I grit my teeth as the level of my primeval essence sinks by another 2%.

'This cannot go on like this… They can rest and recuperate, sleep and regenerate, while I am being hunted like a dog.' With that thought running through my mind, I decisively stop, turn around, and mentally prepare myself for a fight to the death.

"Hehehe… are you tired? Just give up and we might let you live as a slave!"

"Hahahahaha…."

"Hahahaha…."

"That's very nice of you, I will just take you up on that offer."

Instantly all the laughter and the mocking voices stopped, as the group of attackers could not believe their ears.

"Boss, is he serious?"

"Of course he is no—"

*Rank 3 Killer Move: Corrupting Water Jet*

A fast jet of water left Zhen Li's finger, hitting one of the rank 2 gu masters straight in the face before he could even react.

But it had seemingly no effect, causing the young gu master to laugh out loud at the realization that he had just survived by luck.

"Hahahaha…."

"Hahaha…."

*Cough*

*Cough*

But his smirk was wiped off his face as he rapidly felt the loss of control of his body. He did not have time to contemplate the bodily horror that was happening to him, as 10 seconds after the killer move hit him, his face melted off, killing him instantly.

"For the slow ones among you, my giving up was a lie…. Now come and die, you maggots."