Heaven`s Beloved (RI Fanfic)

It had become harder to use the gu due to him having to battle the semi-wild gu worms every time he wanted to activated them. This had caused him to use the Foreign will. Which worked but also caused the amount of pure primeval essence he had to reduce drastically. Of his 92% filled aperture when he awakened he now had 33% under his control while 29% was filled the Foreign will's Dao marks and 30% was filled with Heaven path Dao marks. His talent had essentially been transformed from A rank to D rank. He knew that if it stayed that way, then he would never be able to advance unless he threw away any path he had wanted to walk and focused on those two.

That was a sacrifice he didn't want to make. "I will try to search for this gu worm, but I want to make another request." Ji Ping looked at him with furrowed brows. "You want the inheritance and something else on top of that?" he asked the question to himself more than Tian Zheng. He didn't seem to wrap his head around idea of him asking for more. Of all the things he had thought would happen throughout their meeting, this wasn't one of them.

He looked confused but with a small smile he shrugged before talking once more. "I can't answer that but if you come with me to the Lotus Monastery the Red Flower monk can answer. They both knew that, Ji Peng didn't have the power to promise anything but the Red Flowered monk did. He was only told to make Tian Zheng come to the monastery and if he went there with greater demands then that was out of his hands. The two men stood up and walked to the counter where Ji Peng paid for the two and they started walking towards the mountain.

The way to the monastery was not through the mountain, since it was now property of the Li clan, the path was through the dark stream forest. This was the usual way but due to the ongoing survival trial for the graduations being in the forest, they were given permission to pass through the clan grounds. The clan grounds were lined with white marble and every building had either gold, silver or purple lining on them. Some of them had all three while others had real gold or silver.

While these metals meant little to gu masters, they held great value to the mortals who lived in these houses. The abodes of gu masters were much deeper in the clan grounds and he could guess that they would even more extravagant. He didn't put the Li clan above making their homes from primeval stones or something as ridiculous as that. Ji Ping saw as his friend's eyes were drawn to the houses they passed and let out a small laugh. He leaned towards his friend and explained. "The Li clan's vital gu was the golden road gu. It's an earth path gu that eats dirt and shits gold. For gu masters, it increases their strength and makes them resilient to heat."

When Tian Zheng heard this he turned to his friend and asked. "Do you think I can get this gu? It isn't for my use, since I don't follow strength path but think of the things I can trade with mortals if I had such a gu worm." This caused Ji Ping to raise an eyebrow at him. He didn't understand why his friend would want to trade with a mortal. However, he produced a golden miniature beetle and held it out to him. "I will give you the golden road gu but only for a thousand primeval stones."

Unlike Tian Zheng who now had a minimum of two million primeval stones, Ji Ping was quite poor. He had just ascended to rank 4 and his reserves had dwindled a lot. He looked towards Tia Zheng. He waited for a few breaths and a small chest shaped gu worm appeared in his arm. "There, a thousand primeval stones. Now give me that gu." Tian Zheng reached for the small beetle and using the mixture of wills in his aperture he pressured the will from Ji Ping out. He held it like a precious treasure, but was forced to put it back as they had reached the old wooden gates of the monastery.

They opened with a small creak and at the other side, a young man appeared. He wore red robes, like Ji Ping but his' were dotted with pictures of blooming flowers. His face was handsome beyond words with his straight and high nose together with his old eyes gave the young man the aura of an elder. His black hair was tied high and a flower hair pin held it in position. His bare feet didn't touch the ground and retained their purity as he slowly walked towards the two men. Ji Ping bent his body in a small greeting before he walked away.

He didn't even look at Tian Zheng. He knew that he wasn't needed anymore. "Welcome to my monastery." The Red Flowered monk greeted with a smile showing his slightly crooked white teeth. The crookedness of his teeth was barely visible but due to his whole body seeming perfect, it stuck out sharply. As weird as it sounded, Tian Zheng felt that this crookedness acted as a way to ground the monk in the eyes of everyone else. If he was truly perfect, then he would seem untouched by the woes of the world and people couldn't have taken any consolation he gave them as something true.

"I heard from Ji Ping that you wanted me to find a gu worm for you." This earned him a nod from the man and he was led to a small courtyard. It was empty of anything and anyone but a large willow tree. The Red Flowered monk sat down and invited him to sit next to him. With a wave of his hand, a small book appeared and started opening by itself. The Red Flowered monk turned to Tian Zheng as the book opened and started to explain.

"As you might know, we follow the teachings of Red Lotus Demon Venerable. He had seen through the world and in his life, he established this monastery for a single objective. He gave us an objective; it was to create a formation that would tear a hole to the river of time. From this hole his arrangements for rebirth would be met but that would take time. The problem is that we need someone who has an understanding of an obscure path. its name is Heaven path and while we haven't been able to cultivate someone like that, we found a gu that would forcefully allow someone to be enlightened on any path they chose."

His voice trailed in Tian Zheng's mind for a second. He was surprised more about the existence of that gu then of the rebirth of Red Lotus Demon Venerable. In his mind, the Venerable were omnipotent and something that was seen as impossible as rebirth was easy for them. He turned to the Red Flowered monk and asked. "What is the name of this gu that I will be searching for?" from the way he talked about the gu, Tian Zheng knew that he would be able to milk them of greater benefits. They seemed to be focused on the resurrection of the Venerable.

The Red Flowered monk pointed towards the book which had stopped on a page near the end. On the page were drawings of some type of gu. It looked like a cicada but it didn't have a head. "This book was written by the Venerable himself and in it are details of the procedures we take to create the formation. It also dictates the gu we would use if a certain method failed, one of them was to use this gu worm if we failed to raise a Heaven path gu master. It is called heavenly veil gu." He pointed to a corner of the page that lit up.

1.2/8: Use the heavenly veil gu to enlighten a mortal who has yet to walk the path of a gu master to the secrets of Heaven path and after the venerable of Heaven dies, construct the formation.

Tian Zheng was impressed and at the same time scared. It took great power to predict the rise of another venerable and the venerable followed Heaven path. a path that he had noticed touched upon the working of Heaven. "How sure are you that the gu you seek is hidden inside the dark stream forest and it hasn't moved?" he asked the Red Flowered monk, to which the monk pointed towards the forest. "While your worries are true, the gu worm couldn't have escaped. It has been hibernating for quite some time. What we need you to do is find the specific rock that it is in and bring it to us." The monk answered with a small smile. "If you do that we shall give you the Qi path inheritance and if you want we can allow you to serve our lord when he awakens."

"Forgive me but I can't join the Lotus Monastery, however, I would like to add another reward." Tian Zheng's words caused the monk's eyes to harden. "What is it that you want?" he asked. Tian Zheng knew that he couldn't ask for anything great from them as they were already giving him a complete inheritance." First, I would like to see the inheritance and confirm if it's true. Second, I would like a Human path inheritance. Whether it is complete or not doesn't matter." This caused the monk to stay silent for a few moments before he smiled. "So you have chosen to follow those two paths. I can show you the Qi path inheritance, as for the Human path inheritance, I can give you the most complete one in history. Even Red Lotus Demon Venerable said so himself." This caused a smile to form on Tian Zheng's lips but it was broken when a book was thrown towards him.

He held a very familiar book in his hands. The legends of Ren Zu. He knew of it but had never read it as he always assumed it was a fairy tale. "What is the use of a fairy tale, are you trying to cheat me monk?" his voice sounded forceful as he tried to hold back his rage. His rage caused a small smile to form on the Red Flowered monk's lips.

"That is the most compete Human path inheritance that exists between Heaven and Earth. I will give you until you find the gu worm and if you haven't glimpsed anything from that book, then you should just give up on this path." he pointed at the book before continuing. "If you aren't able to find the gu worm then come back and I shall give you another inheritance, something that has been derived from the book." Tian Zheng looked at the book in his lap. He had never read it nor had he ever been interested. All his life had been spent following his father's instructions and when he was free from him, he had been working to make sense of the gu world and the two wills. He had never had a moment to himself, to sit back and read the book.

"When do you need the gu worm?" he asked to gauge the time he would have to search for it and also to know if he would be able to read the book. While he didn't believe the monk, he still didn't want to realize that he had been struggling with a path whose inheritance he had once held in his hand. He also had an idea that the problem with his aperture would be solved with Human path methods. Heaven path controlled nature, Rule path gave the guidelines that nature followed, the foreign path was outside nature and its rules so that only left human path.

The monk thought for a moment and slowly answered. "The formation is to be completed in a hundred years, so we need it in twenty years so we can allow the mortal who shall be enlightened to have time to study and get used to the path." His answer astonished Tian Zheng. He thought that he would need to rush finding it but the Red Flowered monk had given him a long time. He wasn't even twenty years old. "However, if you cannot find it be sure to tell us before the twenty years are over. We shall be preparing the third method to gain enlightenment, but it's just polite to tell us ahead of time." Red Flowered monk added as he stood up. Tian Zheng stood up with him and with the Legends of Ren Zu in hand he was led towards the entrance to the dark stream forest.

Tian Zheng was led by the floating monk to a small alcove inside one of the many caves. The monk pointed deep into the cave. "At the other end is the dark stream forest, I do hope that you find the Heaven's veil gu since the third method is troublesome." The statement hung in the air and with the way the monk looked towards the direction of the Li clan, Tian Zheng assumed that the method wasn't kind to them.

Slowly he walked inside and after a few steps he couldn't see anything, the figure of the monk had already been lost. As he continued to walk, the surroundings grew brighter until he could finally see as if it were day. As he was walking a thought came to him. He had realized that while gu worms were important, what truly decided the winner of a battle against gu masters were killer moves. He had two killer moves.

One was formed using Heaven's will, which held the killer move together. The other was the recently formed and while the gu that formed it were powerful on their own, he didn't think that they would harmonize well together and with the addition of the False Seal gu, he was less inclined to use it. This led to him thinking of new, efficient but simple killer moves he could create.

A half hour passed as he continued on his way and when he was about to have been walking for an hour, he saw a bright opening appear before him.

This caused him to pause. He hadn't seen the opening when he was a few steps from it but once he reached this position the opening appeared. To confirm this, he took a small step back and like magic, the bright opening disappeared. He took a step forward and the opening appeared before him like it had always been there.

"The methods of a venerable are truly amazing." When he saw this phenomenal, he promised himself to read up on all the venerables. He truly was ignorant on that subject but just this had caused him to be awed. He didn't think that anyone in the monastery could have the power to do this. As he walked towards the opening he started thinking of where he could find the gu worm. It had been in hibernation for some time and this made it easier since he didn't have to keep thinking that it would just leave the dark stream forest. When he went through the opening he found himself under a large tree that was growing near the bank of the dark stream that the forest was named from.

Its water was a dark path gu refinement material and at times, dark path gu worms would appear inside the stream. No one knew from where it came from, but from what he had read the stream originated from the middle of the forest. The spring that was at the middle of the forest then formed streams of the dark water that spread like veins all over the forest. The closer the stream was to the middle the greater the quality and amount of water they had.

He sat down under the tree, whose leaves had dropped into the stream and he could see how some of the leaves touching the water had streams of darkness on their surface. He didn't know much about the forest but he did know that there were Li clan members undertaking their test here, and they would know where he could find the night sage maple. He knew that while the heaven's veil gu was a special insect it was still an insect. It would mostly be at places where it could feed and the gu enjoyed sap. The night sage maple was a plant that while toxic to most, he didn't think it would be toxic to a Heaven path gu worm.

He wasn't sure but he assumed that the night sage maple was filled with dark path Dao marks and when ingested it would cause these marks to attach themselves to the body. Tian Zheng knew that Heaven path dao marks that would be filling the body of the heaven's veil gu worm can shape themselves into any type of gu marks, except the foreign or Human path dao marks. They could also transform the dark path dao marks that the gu consumed from the sap of the night sage maple tree into heaven path dao marks. This could even cause a mutation or enhancement of the effects of the gu worm.

The ability to be the only being eating anything from the night sage maples would cause it to stick close to them and luckily there was a section of the forest where the night sage maple trees grew all on their own. He didn't know where they were but he could wager that any one of the Li clan members taking the test would have a map or had memorized where they were, since they were also called death sage maples.

He sat near the bank and made a note in his mind to search for a Li clan member if one hadn't found him by the time he was done. He took out the Legends of Ren Zu. he still wasn't sure if the monk had lied to him, so he closed his eyes and opened a random page. He skimmed the pages and noticed an interesting gu that was mentioned. "The rules gu and the regulations gu." His voice was filled with intrigue as he saw them. He had some accomplishments in the rule path and he knew that the core principle was about the rules and regulations that governed the world, the Heavens and the Earth and even the ones that governed humans. He turned his gaze towards the top of the page and started looking for the beginning.

For three hours he stayed reading the endeavor of the Rules gu and Regulations gu. He read as they gave Ren Zu his youth back after capturing the longevity gu, he read of the rules they applied to them and also of the way Ren Zu used the ability to control the very rules and working of the world. he also read and gleamed the meaning of the Wisdom gu asking for the names of the two gu. Ren Zu gave the names to the sentient gu worm and it flew away. When the Rules gu and the Regulations gu started to complain, he felt as if when Ren Zu was realizing his mistake, he had been warned at the same time.

When he had finished the small excerpt he had taken, he repeated the story again and again until he could remember every word without looking at the book. He closed the book as he had started thinking of something else. "The Rules and Regulations gu had captures all gu in the world by covering them in a net, while Ren Zu allowed them to escape since he couldn't control all of them." His mind started wandering to the fire qi gu, wind qi gu, earth qi gu and water qi gu that he had prepared. He had been thinking of creating qi walls to separate the three sections of his aperture but now he was thinking of something else. Just as Ren Zu he had no strength nor knowledge to control most gu. However, he had two wills in his aperture. One that could break the very rules of Heaven and Earth, while the other was said to know everything that happened in Heaven and Earth.

For a day Tian Zheng sat there in silence with his hand clutching his long hair tight. He was thinking of the new killer move he could create due to reading only one excerpt from the book he had disregarded as a fairy tale. With a flex of will, the four elements qi gus appeared before him. He looked at them with glossed over eyes, while he was staring at them, his mind was far away. another gu appeared before them, the void call gu and the five started spinning around and in different shapes. They lasted only for a moment before the shape was changed again.

Hunger was what pulled Tian Zheng from his mind. He felt his stomach growling in complaint. He started at the sun above him and the clump of hair that was in his hand. He let out a sigh before standing and walking towards the stream. He dipped his hair filled hand into it and watched as the small pieces of hair disappeared in the water. A few moments passed by and he started feeling a small pinching feeling on his hand. He pulled it out and found that it was clean. This was another use of the dark stream water. It ate anything that was placed inside it and if his hand had stayed there for long enough it would have eaten that too. He had heard rumors of how the water at the center of the forest could destroy the body of a myriad beast king in a few breaths.

He pulled a storage gu that looked like a small smoking pot that enlarged when he fed it primeval essence. Inside were all kinds of food, from meat, rice to vegetables. This rank 2 gu was called the smoking lunch pot gu. It didn't store anything else but food and whatever was kept in here would always be at the same temperature. It was also an easy gu to raise. It ate every type of food as long as it is cooked. In the middle of the smoking pot was a large mouth filled with many rows of teeth and it was there that you placed food and according to the amount, the gu could eat it for as long as a year. The first time he had bought this gu, he had bought a whole cooked pig and watched as the gu swallowed it whole and since then it hadn't grown hungry or even famished. His leftovers were also placed inside it and from his approximation he had two years until it grew hungry again.

He took out a spread fit for a king and for the next thirty minutes he dined like royalty. As he placed another piece of pork in his mouth and chewed his thoughts had wandered towards the killer move he was preparing. He had the necessary gu worms for it. A net that would cover Heaven and Earth, using the strength of the Foreign will and the knowledge of Heaven's will to subdue the wills of what was caught in the net and bringing towards him.

While the idea was grand, as he had read in the Legends of Ren Zu, he knew that the web wouldn't be that large. The four elements qi gus were merely rank 2 and even the strength of the wills he could call upon wasn't that great, however he would have opportunities to upgrade his gu and in return the killer move would grow stronger. He ate in silence while thinking of ways to make the killer move work. When he was done, and the bones and cores of the fruits he had eaten were fed to the smoking lunch pot gu, he went back to making the killer move.

Before he could even pick up where he left off, he reread the Legends of Ren Zu, to make sure he hadn't forgot or overlooked something. When he was done he sat back down and called for the five gu. The four elements qi gu worms made a circle around the void call gu worm. He also made them start to slowly revolve around the gu in the middle, while the void call gu stayed stationary.

He took a deep breath and steeled himself for the appearance of the Heaven's Vision gu. In a golden splendor, the gu worm appeared close to the void call gu but not touching it. When the two locked eyes, he could feel the once calm wills start to grow chaotic. The pressure he always felt on his shoulders appeared and the dao marks inside his aperture lit up. This caused every gu that was either playing or sleeping wake up and with malice in their eyes. The only ones that were spared were the ones inside the pure primeval essence.

He couldn't let this go on as he could see the four elements qi gu worms starting to distance themselves from the two hostile gu. With a burst of strength, he tried to force the will inside the two gu worms and it looked like it had worked. That was until the two gu worms turned to face him. He was shocked at first but he didn't relent. He needed a killer move that didn't depend on certain conditions to work and these two wills wouldn't be the reason his killer move failed to even form.

He tried to force them to cooperate again and this time he could feel the two wills fight back. It felt like fighting against an unrelenting storm. The two wills were great and he felt as if they could crush him with a thought. The clash lasted for a few minutes but nothing changed. He was stuck in a battle against two raging bulls that could crush him at any moment. A few more minutes passed and it had been twenty minutes since the battle started and he was starting to tire. Like the two predators that they were, he felt their attacks to his will increase. He held up for a few minutes but he knew that he was now the weak one of the three. They would destroy his hold over them and that sliver of will is what he normally used to quell their anger and stop the fights that could have been started.

As his will was losing and being destroyed, he started thinking of the damage the two would deal to his aperture if he didn't fight them. If he gave up now, he knew the two wills had a certain wisdom and showing weakness to them was something he couldn't afford. He used this thought as motivation to continue the battle of wills and to even invest even more of his will inside them. This caused the anger of the two to increase as he assumed they thought he was trying to refine them but he was just trying to survive. "You are not going to cause me to fail. I will not accept such an outcome." A small whisper filled with emotion escaped his mouth and he continued to push. Slowly the two wills gave in and he finally felt they had come to an impasse.

He had control of a quarter of the gu worms. If the two ever fought and he released a portion of his control on one of the gu, then the favored one would win as they had always been equally matched. If he also tried to spread his will to greater portions of the gu worms, his will would weaken by a lot and that would allow it to be broken and discarded or in the situation with the Will of Chaos, it would be consumed. He had learnt its name when their wills clashed and while he seemed to have given it information about the five regions he didn't see how that could be of any effect. From Heaven's will he had learnt of a group called otherworldly demons, they came from other worlds into the gu word and he also learnt of the sheer level of annoyance these beings were to Heaven's will. He didn't learn why they seemed to annoy it that greatly to the point it debated smiting them every time they are born, but he hoped he could find out.

He also had felt his attainment in Chaos path increase a little due to the window into the workings of chaos that he had had when their wills clashed.

With the battle done, the creation of a killer move continued. He instructed the four elements qi gu worms to create the shape they had found was best for this killer move. He didn't create a net but a web. The four gu worms rose a small distance above the now tame Heaven's Vision and void call gu worms. The two also created another shape. Like a circle although it didn't have any portion that was open. The two gu also started spinning in opposite directions while the four elements qi gu worms stayed still.

He took a deep breath and held it. His heart was filled with anticipation as he activated the new killer move. He allowed his primeval essence to cycle through the six gu worms. The four elements qi gu worms were fed pure primeval essence while the void call gu worm was fed the primeval essence filled with Chaos path dao marks and the Heaven's Vision gu fed with primeval essence saturated by Heaven path dao marks. In the middle of the web like formation he had created, the three primeval essence met and spread to create web like patterns. These web like patterns spread through the four elements qi gu worms and disappeared into the horizon.

Killer move- Four Elements Chaotic Web

His voice echoed as the web appeared again. This was the indication that something had been caught and suppressed by the killer move. Like a rubber band snapping back the white webs appeared again and between the gu formation a gu worm appeared, corned in every direction by webs.

Seeing this a smile appeared on Tian Zheng's face.