Protect Our Patriarch

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"That's my great aunt, so of course, there's no problem inviting her over," Wang Anye quickly interjected, surprised by the unexpected turn of events. "But Sister Holy Gu, please don't get too excited. Let's clarify things first. After all, this Blood Dawn Sanctuary has been sealed for a hundred thousand years and should have nothing to do with the Sacred Gu Clan."

"Let me explain," the Blood Spirit Artifact took over the conversation, explaining, "Back then, when Lord Blood Venerable decided to go to the front lines to support that old dog, the Holy Emperor, he left a personal disciple to guard the Holy Gu Codex and some of his legacy just in case."

"But as time passed, Lord Blood Venerable never returned. Eventually, that personal disciple, knowing her lifespan was running out, sealed herself in a nutrient solution."

"Later, due to geological changes, the pillar sealing the Yuan Shui Azure Dragon shattered, leading to its revival. In its quest to find a way out, it caused havoc in the laboratory, breaking many crystal sealing pillars, and eventually found a teleportation array to escape."

"The commotion in the laboratory awakened the self-sealed personal disciple. After discovering the Yuan Shui Azure Dragon had escaped, she took the cocooned Heavenly Silkworm and pursued it. But after she left, there was no news of her, and she has yet to return..."

Wang Anye suddenly understood, "So that's how it is. I heard that the Sacred Gu Clan was once a struggling wilderness tribe until one day the Gu God descended and taught them the Holy Gu True Method and the way of nurturing Gu, which gradually improved their lives."

"I always thought it was just a legend, but it turns out to be true."

Wang Zongchang also sighed with emotion, "I never expected that the Holy Gu True Method that Fifth Aunt cultivated also originated from the Blood Dawn Sanctuary. It seems our family indeed has deep ties with Blood Venerable."

"It's mainly because the Blood Dawn Sanctuary is relatively close to our Wang Clan's territory," Wang Anye said calmly, summarizing, "As long as our Wang Clan continues to grow and develop, we will inevitably become entangled with this matter."

But speaking of which, Blood Venerable was indeed bold.

Calculating the location of this Blood Dawn Sanctuary during the Shenwu Royal Dynasty, it should have been in the heart of the dynasty, with a Shenwu Army training camp just ten thousand miles away. Back then, there might have been other military camps nearby, or even bustling human cities. It was practically building his lair right under the Holy Emperor's nose.

Truly, both confident and arrogant.

"Now that you've heard the story, aren't you going to quickly find my successor and the Holy Gu?" Seeing the group getting emotional, the Holy Gu Codex couldn't help but urge, "As long as she can help me refine and perfect during her ascension to True Immortal, I might truly advance to an Immortal Scripture."

"She's already considered a successor?" Wang Zongchang sighed, a bit helpless, "I haven't even received the true method inheritance, and Fifth Aunt is already about to obtain a half-step Immortal Scripture. The gap between people is truly vast."

"Sister Holy Gu Codex, please don't rush. After waiting so many years, a little longer won't hurt," Wang Anye advised, "Didn't you mention that Blood Venerable left behind a legacy? Why don't we take stock of it first?"

"What do you intend to do?" The little winged girl on the Holy Gu Codex looked at Wang Anye warily, "I'm warning you~~ don't mess around, these are all meant for the successor."

"Look at what you're saying." Wang Anxin chuckled mischievously, "Even if we mess around, what can you do to us?"

"You brat, I'll beat you to death!"

Hearing this, the ancient codex immediately flew over Wang Anxin's head and started smacking him.

While hitting, she scolded, "Brat, how dare you tease me? Back in the day, I was a famous [Evil Classic], one of the top ten banned 'forbidden books'!"

"Stop, I was wrong, I was wrong."

Wang Anxin fled in embarrassment from the beating.

He wanted to fight back, but he was afraid of damaging the codex that was within reach. This was a half-step Immortal Scripture level codex; if it got damaged, his great-grandfather would surely punish him severely.

"Since it's an evil classic forbidden book, we should call great-grandfather to oversee it first," Wang Anye said hesitantly after hearing the Holy Gu Codex's words, not daring to make a decision on his own. "After all, this concerns great aunt's future, and it wouldn't be good if something went wrong during cultivation."

With Wang Anye's decisive words, no matter how much the Holy Gu Codex tried to persuade them, the group retreated like a tide.

In less than a month, Wang Shouzhe, Wang Ningxi, Emperor Longchang, and Wang Luojing, who had been cultivating at Longzuo Academy, all arrived one after another.

Once everyone was gathered.

The group re-entered the Blood Dawn Sanctuary.

But this time, they first went to take a distant look at the Red Enchantress Demon Envoy.

The Blood Nest Warriors, lacking intelligence, acted purely on instinct without anyone to command them. Even after a month, they were still banging on the sanctuary door, showing no signs of leaving.

Over a hundred Blood Nest Warriors crowded at the sanctuary entrance, creating an extremely impressive scene, especially the three Lingxu Realm Blood Nest Warriors, whose aura was terrifying.

Emperor Longchang felt a chill run down his spine as he sensed them from afar, sweat dripping from his forehead. "As expected of the infamous Blood Venerable, to have cultivated such terrifying creatures. At most, I can only hold off one of the three strongest ones, and even then, it's hard to say who would win."

"However, if I were to wield the Canglong Sword, I should have an eighty to ninety percent chance of defeating one. But to annihilate all these Blood Nest Warriors, we'd probably need to call for reinforcements from the Immortal Dynasty."

Wang Shouzhe pondered for a moment and said, "If that's the case, let's not rush. If we call for reinforcements, we'll have to share a lot of benefits. That Jiang Qingxue fairy hiding in the Blood Sanctuary shouldn't be in any danger for now."

"Haha~ Staying inside is quite nice, saves us the trouble of keeping an eye on her," Emperor Longchang chuckled, then looked up, "Miss Blood Spirit Artifact, could you pass a message to Fairy Jiang for me? Tell her she's done a great service for the Wang Clan and the Great Qian, and she should stay inside peacefully. Once she comes out, we'll arrange a game of mahjong."

Sigh~

The Blood Spirit Artifact sighed deeply in its heart.

Indeed, without strength, there's no voice. In these times, even being a spirit artifact isn't easy~

It obediently relayed Emperor Longchang's message.

Inside the Blood Sanctuary.

The Red Enchantress Demon Envoy's face darkened upon hearing the spirit artifact's message.

Longchang, that old man, was too much.

She had thought that since her identity hadn't been exposed, they might try to rescue her. Who would have thought that the camaraderie between mahjong friends was as fragile as paper?

She really wanted to rush out and lead the Blood Nest Warriors right to his face.

Let him gloat!

Unfortunately, with those ferocious monsters blocking the door, she figured that if she rushed out, she wouldn't last five breaths before being smashed into a pulp!

After inspecting the situation at the Blood Sanctuary, Wang Anye led the group to Blood Venerable's laboratory.

His familiarity with the place was akin to hosting guests in his own home, leaving the Blood Spirit Artifact speechless. They were treating it too much like their own place.

The Holy Gu Codex, however, was delighted.

It had waited for so long, day after day, hoping for a successor to appear, almost to the point of despair. Now that the time had finally come, how could it not be happy?

Even with a large group from the Wang Clan, it immediately noticed Wang Luojing.

Since officially becoming the Saintess of the Sacred Gu Clan and starting to cultivate the Holy Gu True Method, with the energy feedback from her life spirit Gu, the Heavenly Silkworm, Wang Luojing's cultivation progress had been rapid.

A few years ago, she had successfully advanced to the Purple Mansion Realm.

At this moment, Wang Luojing, dressed in a dark Gu Master skirt, walked quietly among the group.

The mysterious symbols embroidered on her skirt glowed faintly under the blood-red hue, as if some unknown power flowed within, adding a touch of mystery to her already unique aura.

Compared to before, her demeanor was more mature and composed, clearly indicating the significant growth she had experienced over the years as a Saintess.

However, with the Wang Clan's support, the entire Southern Border Sacred Gu Clan was undergoing rapid changes, and the living conditions of the Sacred Gu Clan members were improving. As a result, Wang Luojing's prestige was steadily increasing, and she had completely replaced the former Saintess Dai, becoming the most revered figure within the Sacred Gu Clan.

On Wang Luojing's shoulder lay a plump Heavenly Silkworm, curiously observing its surroundings.

This was the Heavenly Silkworm inherited from the Sacred Gu Clan.

Through generations of cultivation by the Sacred Gu Clan, this Heavenly Silkworm had long reached the ninth rank, but due to the limitations of its previous masters' strength, it had been unable to break through, transform, or reach the level of power mentioned by the Holy Gu Codex.

"So you're Wang Luojing~~ Not bad, not bad, you look quite good, worthy of being the successor of the Holy Gu True Method," the Holy Gu Codex happily circled Wang Luojing several times before remembering another crucial question, "What is your bloodline aptitude?"

"I'm a great prodigy of the upper B-grade," Wang Luojing replied calmly, showing no signs of losing composure even though she might inherit a half-step Immortal Scripture, maintaining the demeanor of a seasoned expert.

"What is a 'great prodigy'?" The Holy Gu Codex looked puzzled.

In the Shenwu era, there was no such term as "great prodigy."

"It's roughly equivalent to the middle to upper levels of innate third rank," Wang Shouzhe explained, "Currently, she is in the early stages of the Purple Mansion Realm, with her bloodline awakened to the sixth rank."

"The bloodline level is a bit low," the Holy Gu Codex frowned, showing some dissatisfaction, "Not even reaching the innate spiritual body. Even though I've accumulated a lot of heaven and earth origin energy over the years, which can help you cleanse and refine your body once, at most, it will elevate you to slightly above a standard innate spiritual body."

"With just this level of bloodline aptitude, it would be challenging to inherit the codex, let alone reach the late stages of the Lingxu Realm, and even more so to aspire to True Immortal."

Wang Luojing frowned slightly but said nothing.

To be honest, it had been a long time since she had tasted the feeling of being looked down upon. However, she understood that the Holy Gu Codex was speaking the truth.

If reaching the True Immortal Realm were easy, there wouldn't be so few True Immortal Realm experts in the world.

"Miss Holy Gu, after the fall of the Shenwu Royal Dynasty, our civilization experienced a gap, and many things were lost, resulting in the overall bloodline aptitude of humans being much weaker than during the Shenwu era," Wang Shouzhe had anticipated its response and calmly explained, "However, if you can provide a high-grade Marrying Blood Gu, Luojing should be able to elevate her aptitude to the innate spiritual body before receiving the inheritance."

The Marrying Blood Gu, effective only the first time at the same level, still retained its efficacy if a higher-level Marrying Blood Gu was used.

Therefore, even though Luojing had already used a Marrying Blood Gu King, she could still use a higher-level Marrying Blood Gu.

"A standard innate spiritual body isn't much use~ At least it should be close to an innate dao body, and then, with the heaven and earth origin energy I've accumulated, she might have a chance to reach an innate dao body," the Holy Gu Codex argued, "Only then would she have a chance at True Immortal."

"Miss Holy Gu, times have changed," Wang Shouzhe advised, "In our current world, all known True Immortal Realm experts combined number only four! Those who are innate dao bodies before inheriting an Immortal Scripture are unheard of."

"That's right," Emperor Longchang chimed in, "Nowadays, even True Immortal Seeds typically have innate spiritual body B-grade or A-grade aptitude, and must rely on the cleansing and refining during the inheritance of an Immortal Scripture to barely enter the ranks of innate dao bodies."

"If someone were an innate dao body, wouldn't it be better to go to the Immortal Dynasty and compete with True Immortal Seeds for an Immortal Scripture? Why settle for a mere wild codex like you?"

"You old Void Realm geezer! I'm not just any wild codex! Haven't you heard of a half-step Immortal Scripture? Haven't you?" The Holy Gu Codex was so angry that its face turned red, its wings flapping wildly, feeling like smoke was about to come out of its head.

If it weren't for the fact that Emperor Longchang was relatively strong, it probably would have hit him.

"I've heard of it," Emperor Longchang said leisurely, "We have half-step Immortal Scriptures in the Immortal Dynasty too. The fundamental difference between them and proper Immortal Scriptures is... With an Immortal Scripture, as long as a True Immortal Seed inherits it and their aptitude reaches an innate dao body, they have a high chance of advancing to True Immortal if resources are not lacking."

"But with a half-step Immortal Scripture, even if the inheritor's aptitude has reached an innate dao body, they can easily get stuck at the peak of the Lingxu Realm. They need opportunities, comprehension, and extraordinary perseverance to possibly advance further. Why did Blood Venerable create the Marrying Blood Gu? Wasn't it because the original path of the codex couldn't reach True Immortal, so he sought to forge his own path to True Immortal?"

"Your Majesty, are you saying that the positioning of this half-step Immortal Scripture is somewhat awkward?" Wang Shouzhe cooperated seamlessly, "In today's world, geniuses are already extremely rare, and it's challenging enough to meet the demands of existing Immortal Scriptures. It's unlikely they would settle for a half-step Immortal Scripture."

"Exactly. Half-step Immortal Scriptures find the True Immortal Seeds they fancy, but the True Immortal Seeds don't fancy them. Yet, half-step Immortal Scriptures look down on ordinary peerless prodigies, feeling they're settling. It's tough~" Emperor Longchang sighed, "However, the half-step Immortal Scriptures in the Immortal Dynasty have at least abandoned unrealistic expectations and lowered their inheritance requirements."

"If it really doesn't work out, Luojing can try her luck in the Immortal Dynasty," Wang Shouzhe sighed as if giving up, "As long as I can elevate her bloodline level to an innate spiritual body, she should be able to secure a general codex, right? After all, our goal isn't high; reaching the Lingxu Realm would already be satisfying."

"Absolutely," Emperor Longchang assured, patting his chest.

"Hey, hey, hey!" The Holy Gu Codex panicked, "Who said I don't want her? Since the times have changed, adapting to them is only right. With my wise guidance, who knows, she might even reach True Immortal? After all, I have a successful case, and I know Blood Venerable's cultivation path inside out, which is particularly suitable for spirit insect master bloodlines. It's definitely better than those miscellaneous codices, right?"

Success!

Wang Shouzhe exchanged a "pleasant cooperation" glance with Emperor Longchang.

"Hmph!"

Emperor Longchang turned his head away, not giving him a good look.

This Wang Shouzhe, from the start, had been making all sorts of comments about him as the Emperor, and now he was increasingly disregarding him as the semi-retired Emperor.

Especially since this brat would occasionally boast in front of him, claiming that under his influence, the Great Qian's economy and national strength had been growing day by day.

That was clearly an insult to him!

According to his logic, if he, Longchang, had been in power for over three thousand years, wasn't he just messing around?

With the contrast becoming more apparent, Emperor Longchang naturally wouldn't give him a good look.

If it weren't for helping Luojing obtain this half-step Immortal Scripture, indirectly boosting the Great Qian's national strength and fortune, Emperor Longchang wouldn't bother dealing with this increasingly audacious Wang Shouzhe.

Thus, despite some twists and turns, Luojing finally confirmed her relationship with the Holy Gu Codex.

She could continue cultivating the Holy Gu True Method and actively enhance her bloodline aptitude. Once her aptitude reached the innate spiritual body (peerless prodigy), she could undergo a bloodline baptism during the codex inheritance to maximize the effect.

After confirming her status, the Holy Gu Codex immediately regarded Wang Luojing as one of its own.

With her little hands behind her back, wings flapping, she flew beside Luojing with an air of authority, "Luojing, here's a list of gifts left by Blood Venerable for the successor. You can check the legacy gifts in the hidden room of the laboratory—[Blood Venerable's Secret Treasury]."

"Unfortunately, Blood Venerable's final research, the phased bloodline essence extracted from that twelfth-rank peak Yuan Shui Azure Dragon, doesn't match your spirit insect master bloodline. Otherwise, just relying on that would significantly elevate your bloodline level. Of course, there are risks involved."

Seeing the Holy Gu Codex whispering in Luojing's ear, Wang Shouzhe interjected, "If it's not suitable for Luojing, it should be suitable for our Lirong, right? Lirong is a descendant of that Yuan Shui Azure Dragon."

"Why should we give Luojing's inheritance to you?" The Holy Gu Codex, not in a good mood, rolled its eyes while flapping its wings, "Even if we don't use it, selling it could earn Luojing a fortune..."

However, before she could finish, Wang Luojing had already calmly handed the list to Wang Shouzhe, "Fourth Brother~~ this list is all yours."

"You, you, you..." The Holy Gu Codex's voice abruptly stopped, glaring at Wang Luojing in frustration, "You foolish girl, such a spendthrift~!"

"What do you know?" Wang Luojing glanced at her, "Our Wang Clan is a whole. I've reached where I am today thanks to the family's support. This Blood Dawn Sanctuary was opened by the family, and I had no part in it, so all the gains should naturally be distributed by the family."

"Luojing is right," Wang Shouzhe smiled, "This Blood Dawn Sanctuary is an unowned relic, and everything obtained from here belongs to our Wang Clan, including you."

"I'm Luojing's! No, no, I'm my own! I have the right to decide my own fate!" The Holy Gu Codex protested, screaming.

"No, you don't. From now on, you're part of our Wang Clan's property," Wang Shouzhe turned to Wang Zongchang, "Zongchang, lead the clan members to clean up the Blood Dawn Sanctuary and bring back anything useful."

"Yes, Fourth Uncle."

Wang Zongchang was thrilled.

He had long wanted to do this, but due to the special nature of the Blood Dawn Sanctuary and the fact that Anye, who was in charge, wasn't a forceful person, he had been holding back until Fourth Uncle arrived.

Now that Fourth Uncle had spoken, he could finally unleash his potential.

"These crystal fragments are nice; they can be polished into many good things."

"These metal racks, although broken, are still relics of a True Immortal. Take them down and bring them back to see if they can be reforged."

"This floor... Goodness, is this metal or stone? After over ten thousand years, it's still shiny with just a little wipe. Good stuff, good stuff~ Someone, note this down, and we'll pry them up and take them back."

"These everlasting lamps, good stuff, good stuff, take them all back, whether they work or not. If they can be repaired, repair them; if not, dismantle them for research."

"Those Blood Nest Warrior corpses..."

"Second Grandpa... isn't this a bit much?" Wang Anye and Wang Anxin, along with the younger generation, felt their scalps tingle at Wang Zongchang's gaze and quickly tried to dissuade him, "After all, they're humanoid creatures, please take it easy."

"You kids grew up in the best of times, with no lack of food, resources, or cultivation materials, so you don't realize how valuable these things are," Wang Zongchang sighed, "Back when I was young, our family was so poor that even a small Peiyuan Pill was passed around. Eating a meal of spiritual meat was like a festival, unlike now where spiritual meat is eaten freely."

Although Wang Zongchang was of the "Zong" generation, he was the second in his generation, only five or six years younger than Wang Shouzhe. When Wang Shouzhe became the clan leader, he was already a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy, and he remembered those difficult times vividly.

Even today, recalling those days filled him with emotion.

He pointed to the Blood Nest Warrior corpses on the ground, explaining, "These Blood Nest Warrior corpses aren't poisonous and can be buried under some spiritual trees as nutrients, which is better than letting them rot."

With that, he directed the clan members and family guards he brought to start scavenging everything they could, not even sparing a piece of paper, a crystal fragment, some half-rotten wood, or the floors and wall tiles.

The Blood Spirit Artifact and the Holy Gu Codex watched in shock, trembling.

This new Wang Shouzhe was too ruthless! He... he... he was going to dismantle their home!

The Blood Spirit Artifact was so aggrieved it almost burst into tears.

The Blood Dawn Sanctuary, where it had stayed for so many years, was it really going to be gone just like that?

Fortunately, Wang Anye was soft-hearted and gently comforted, "Miss Spirit Artifact, don't be sad. This underwater mansion is so eerie and gloomy, living here isn't fun. I can build you a new home next to my mansion."

……