Arriving at the soul toad sect

Liang Lu kept traveling since his first obstacle, his journey to the soul toad sect had been smooth.

During the night Liang Lu rested and read the books he had taken as his loot the small one as he had guessed was Yan Wei's dairy from it he learned about her background and personality he felt pity for her after getting lucky and encountering such an inheritance instead of living without worries she lived like a fugitive running from place to place not getting a single second of peace until eventually meeting her end at his hands.

Although Liang Lu felt pity for her, it somehow reminded him of his own situation if his identity was exposed not to mention heaven's will that would make a move against him gu masters and even gu immortals might want to capture him the value of his otherworldly knowledge was simply too tempting and would end up marking him as a fugitive with an even higher bounty than her and he wasn't confident of standing his ground until he became a rank 6 gu immortal at the very least.

The big book was an unexpected gain. It was the wisdom path inheritance although it no longer had gu the knowledge was extremely valuable to him not only did it have gu refinement recipes of wisdom path gu worms from rank 1 to rank 5 it also had the information of a gu worm set from rank 1 to rank 5 that excelled in support but sucked in everything else but that was only from rank 1 to rank 3. The rank 4 and rank 5 gu sets had a qualitative change that covered all aspects only being weak at healing.

Although all that was valuable, what Liang Lu found invaluable were the pointers and cultivation experiences written by the previous owners of the inheritance.

Thanks to them coupled with his quasi-supreme talent in the wisdom path and the support of his master attainments in refinement, human, and dream path.

His wisdom path attainment which wasn't even at the quasi-master level had a qualitative change and reached the quasi-master attainment level and his understanding speed that previously was at a snail's pace now moved extremely fast as if he was moving at lightning speed.

"Amazing, truly amazing. Now I can truly see how amazing having an inheritance is." Liang Lu inwardly thought, feeling as if he was enlightened.

"Before I had talent but I couldn't increase my attainment after so long. It was as if I was walking on a pitch-dark road that had scattered blades on them, unable to see anything. I constantly stepped on the blades and slowed down my progress. But with the inheritance it is like I have a flashlight and can clearly see the road easily, avoiding the scattered blades on the road and quickening my steps." Liang Lu described the best he could.

The last of his loot was the gourd with water that was currently the most important to him and the 2 gu worms that he got after dissecting Yan Wei's aperture.

Although Liang Lu couldn't use the gu worms he still kept them. They were harmless as they were not wild gu worms and couldn't unleash their abilities without gu master primeval essence.

Liang Lu kept them in the bag that used to hold his dried meat, planning to sell them if he needed primeval stones.

Hunger instinct gu was easy to feed as it fed on the thoughts of hunger of the nearby humans Yan Wei was starving almost all the time naturally the gu worm ate to its fill

As for self harm gu, it could be considered a demonic gu worm as it needed the flesh of humans that had killed themselves. According to what was written in the inheritance the flesh would still work even if the human didn't commit suicide voluntarily although it wouldn't be as nutritious to the gu worm and would need to eat more to be satisfied.

"I guess Yan Wei was still a demonic gu master after all." Liang Lu told himself trying to justify himself killing Yan Wei but even after knowing what she did to feed self harm gu, he still felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing his heart.

"Damn conscience, is this what a peaceful environment does to people? If I want to survive I need to get used to killing." Liang Lu thought to himself as he got himself comfortable on the top of a tree.

Since the moment he left the mortal village he had been sleeping on top of the trees although it still wasn't completely safe this was the risk he had to take to travel to the soul toad sect.

"This is truly a dog-eat-dog world at first I had only 10 primeval stones I was a pauper but after killing a gu master I got another 5 primeval stones the gu worms can sell for hundreds or even thousands of primeval stones considering their rarity and the wisdom path inheritance can sell for hundreds of thousands I'm loaded at the moment with such resources I would not have to worry in the short run about my mortal cultivation if I don't get the resources of a sect."

Liang Lu inwardly thought pausing for a moment.

"I'm still too weak just like how I killed Yan Wei and took her fortune, others can do the same even more easily as I'm not even a gu master. My now inheritance is complete and even Gu immortals will be interested and would send those under them to pressure me into selling or straight up taking it from me." Liang Lu planned to reveal his inheritance only if he could get benefits out of it or if the situation required it.

"Hmm now that I think about it obtaining a wisdom path inheritance and a complete one at that seems like too much of a coincidence." Liang Lu thought as he stared at the cloudless night filled with countless stars.

"Obtaining the inheritance had its risks but compared to the rewards the risk was almost negligible." Liang Lu was suspicious.

A complete wisdom path inheritance basically delivered itself to him if it was from a different path he might not think too much about it but it was of the path he had quasi-supreme talent on and the wisdom path was already much rarer than other paths only being surpassed by food path, heaven path, and the secret paths of the venerables.

Liang Lu could only think of 2 explanations: either he had extremely good luck or he was being nurtured as a chess piece by heaven's will.

If it was the former Liang Lu would celebrate as more opportunities would be opened to him. Unlike Ma Hong Yun he wasn't an idiot he had a brain and would try to grasp the opportunities as much as he could.

If it was the latter Liang Lu was helpless against it he could only hope heaven's will wouldn't send a tribulation before he became a gu immortal.

"Sigh in the end I'm still too weak. Not only do I have to worry about my extreme physique and becoming a gu immortal in 3 years but now I also have to worry about heaven's will." Liang Lu sighed as he put the big book in his bag.

"I need to sleep to have enough energy for tomorrow. Soon I will reach the soul toad sect. I can only hope they are a super force. If not I will have to travel to one of the closest 10 great ancient sects. As for where they are and how far they are from here I don't know. As for when their entrance examination will open I also don't know."

Liang Lu slowly closed his eyes amidst his thoughts he eventually fell asleep.

…

"Cabbage! Fresh cabbages, buy your fresh cabbages!"

"Our inn is having a discount for those new disciples of the soul toad sect there is a twenty percent discount on lodging!"

"Celebrate the chance of a new life! Come eat at our inn, fill your belly before taking the entrance examination!"

Liang Lu arrived 3 days after his encounter with Yan Wei in this bustling city that extended far beyond the eye could see countless street stands and open businesses lined up on the side of the roads with merchants or employees shouting to attract customers.

Liang Lu was speechless based on the location of the soul toad sect, he expected to see a desolate sect, something like a ghost town filled with soul path and enslavement path cultivators riding toads but the reality in front of him far surpassed his imagination.

Countless groups of people filled the stone streets of the city. The sheer quantity somehow reminded him of a modern city, kids were laughing and playing around, men drinking with their friends, people buying and selling, musicians playing instruments, etc. The atmosphere was chaotic and lively, completely different from the gloomy and still atmosphere he expected.

"Big brother, do you need guidance? For a primeval stone, I will be your guide." A boy of about ten years old approached Liang Lu after observing the latter looking in all directions with an amazed face that screamed he was a country bumpkin.

"A primeval stone?!" Liang Lu couldn't help but scream. The price indeed was too expensive.

Seeing Liang Lu shocked, the boy knew the time was ripe and continued with his scheme. "Handsome big brother I like you. I normally don't do this but for your beautiful face that brightened my day I will give you a special discount for being you only half a primeval stone."

Liang Lu looked the boy straight in the eye. He wasn't stupid back on earth he had encountered such guides that exaggerated their prices but even if he knew the boy was overcharging him Liang Lu could only grit his teeth and allow to be overcharged.

If he were to go look for a guide he might get lost in the swarm of people and lose time. Right now time was what he needed the most. If he is late by even a day he might never be able to get into hu immortal blessed land and forever be left behind in the dust by Fang Yuan after that his survival probability will be extremely low.

"Lead the way straight to the sect entrance examination. Once we reach it this whole primeval stone will be yours." Liang Lu showed the boy a primeval stone "I'm in a hurry please don't waste my time by guiding me to businesses that will give you a commission."

"Eh? Ah yes, big brother no… great generous mister!" The boy was excited. Usually, he would spend almost all day guiding the people around for half a primeval stone and sometimes for a whole primeval stone if he managed to fool them but getting a primeval stone by expending about half an hour was simply too good to be true.

Maybe he found a rich young master? The boy thought immediately eliminating that possibility if Liang Lu was a young master he would have at least a rank 2 gu master protecting him.

The boy gestured to Liang Lu to follow him after walking for twenty minutes talking about the surroundings along the way. Both finally reached the gigantic open gates of the Soul Toad Sect.

Tens of tents were placed beside the wall that surrounded the open gate of the sect. In front of each tent, long lines of people waiting for their turn extended to a considerable distance, maybe hundreds of people or almost a thousand waited.

"Well you are going to be there for a long while thankfully for you they are open even during the night and the examinations finish every 2 hours after each examination is finished new gu masters exit and new mortals enter only to exit as gu masters and the cycle repeats with the next batch." the boy explained to Liang Lu. "By the way, you need to pay ten primeval stones to take the examination. If you don't have money, don't even bother waiting in line."

"Alright." Liang Lu noticed the boy looking at him with expectant eyes. "As promised, here is your primeval stone."

"Many thanks." The boy quickly grabbed the primeval stone hiding it inside his robe.

"If you need company tonight to celebrate or drown your sorrows go to Enchanting Whispering House and ask for Xiong Die. She has a nice body, a sweet voice, and a pretty face. If you say I sent you, she will give you a discount." The boy shamelessly promoted a brothel.

"Just in how many places do they give you commissions?" Liang Lu asked curiously.

"About half of the businesses as long as you say Dong Yue Ye sent you I will get a decent commission. Anyway, I have to keep working. See you around." like how he appeared the boy disappeared among the crowd in seconds.

"What an interesting kid." Liang Lu thought before looking at the long lines. "Well, time to wait."

Liang Lu felt like he had returned to the most boring and frustrating place on earth, the DMV.