Revenge?
Gu Xinchao felt a stir in his heart upon hearing those words.
These two words reminded him of his current self.
He was born in the Cold Palace; his biological mother died in difficult childbirth, and someone wanted him dead. If not for his Formless Heavenly Demon Wondrous Transformation body, he would already be done for.
Who was that person?
Pity that Xiao Guizi held a lowly position and only knew how to take orders.
He had no idea who the mastermind was.
Wu Dafu most likely knew who it was.
He needed a Demon Seed.
His hope lay in Wei Xiaobao, this tool person. The higher Wei Xiaobao's cultivation, the more energy he could harvest. As long as this body could step into the Qi Refining Realm, he would be able to cut out another Demon Seed. When that time came, he would find a chance to drop it on Wu Dafu.
Then he would know who his enemy was!
"Master, I..."
Wei Xiaobao raised his head, his eyes filled with grief and indignation.
"Master, please rest assured. Before I have my revenge, I will never suffer a cultivation deviation, nor will I die in vain!"
"Practicing the Seven Kill Monument inevitably leads to a habit of slaughter, but I can control myself!"
"Those I kill all deserve to die, and moreover, my methods are very cautious; I will certainly make no mistakes!"
"Perhaps there are formidable fellows who can practice the Seven Kill Monument and still control the killing intent in their hearts, but I cannot do it!"
"If I don't rely on killing to relieve it, this path simply cannot be walked to the end!"
Wei Xiaobao's eyes were bloodshot as he clenched his fists.
"Enough!"
The old man waved his hand, cutting him off.
He glanced at Wei Xiaobao and let out a long sigh.
"If you insist on being this way, then so be it!"
"The Seven Kill Monument is a demonic art of rapid success. I have never practiced it, so naturally I don't feel it as deeply as you do. Perhaps you are right..."
With that, he covered his mouth and began to cough.
"Master."
Wei Xiaobao looked somewhat worried.
The old man smiled bitterly.
"Xiaobao, this is the price of deviation. What I cultivate is not a demonic art like the Seven Kill Monument, but an orthodox technique. Yet even with the slightest carelessness, I have ended up in this state, and I don't know how many years I have left to live..."
"If not for still worrying about you, and having a great revenge yet unavenged, I would have long since..."
"Therefore, you must never be careless, and do not let the slaughter control you!"
The old man said earnestly.
"Master, I understand."
Wei Xiaobao lowered his head.
"By the way, any progress with Wu Dafu?"
The old man asked.
Wei Xiaobao shook his head.
"Master, Wu Dafu is extremely cautious. The tasks he arranges for me are all dirty and exhausting chores, and he won't have me handle confidential matters. However, things have taken a turn for the better recently; a young eunuch who ran errands for him died, and in all likelihood I will step up to fill his place..."
He gave a bitter smile.
"After all, I am a fellow with a few screws loose, easy to use, and very easy to cast aside when no longer needed."
"That's good!"
The old man nodded.
"I entered the palace nine years ago, and I only know that the enemy is a head banner officer of the Inner Bureau. With dozens of banner officers in the Inner Bureau, exactly which one is it? It's hard to investigate... But I did find a family heirloom over at Wu Dafu's place..."
"This rascal must be connected to the enemy!"
"He is our only clue, Xiaobao, you must seize it!"
The old man said with indignation.
"Mn!"
Wei Xiaobao nodded.
Through the peeping of the Demon Seed and combining their conversation, Gu Xinchao gained a rough understanding of Wei Xiaobao's life.
The furnishings on the tea table.
The tea set.
His family background had been quite good.
Before the age of seven, he had lived a carefree life. When he turned seven, a massive catastrophe struck: his entire family was imprisoned and perished one by one. Knowing nothing, he was sold several times over, and finally dragged to the House of Castration, where his root of desires was sliced off with a single blade, and he entered the palace to become a little eunuch.
When he was eight years old, Li Guozhong found him.
Li Guozhong's original surname was Wei.
He was Wei Xiaobao's paternal uncle.
He had left home in his youth to wander the pugilistic world, later suffering a deviation during cultivation and being gravely injured by someone. In despair, he prepared to return home to recuperate in quiet seclusion and have his fallen leaves return to their roots.
Yet the home was gone!
After that, the pursuit of the murderers naturally followed.
The clues vaguely pointed toward the deep imperial palace, and rumor had it that the mastermind came from a banner officer of the Inner Bureau. Knowing that his nephew had been castrated and sent into the imperial city, he gritted his teeth, had his own root of desires severed, and spent money to enter the palace.
He became a sweeping eunuch in the Bureau of Ceremonial Fuel.
For nine years he had never been promoted, always keeping an assumed name.
Not long after entering the palace, he found Wei Xiaobao. After their reunion, he imparted the demonic art of the Seven Kill Monument to Wei Xiaobao.
Had he practiced orthodox techniques, given Wei Xiaobao's natural aptitude and bone structure, it would have been impossible for him to step into the Qi Refining Realm at seventeen.
Across the entire realm, there were not many seventeen-year-old Qi Refining martial artists.
In the imperial court, they mostly came from aristocratic clans and noble families.
In the pugilistic world, they came from renowned sects and major factions.
Back then, Li Guozhong had placed his own heritage and the Seven Kill Monument before Wei Xiaobao, laying out the pros and cons in crystal-clear detail, and letting Wei Xiaobao make his own choice.
Wei Xiaobao chose the Seven Kill Monument.
Without his manhood, life held far fewer pleasures.
Revenge was his obsession for staying alive, so he naturally chose the Seven Kill Monument, which could rapidly enhance his strength in a short time.
Though it was a demonic art and difficult to cultivate,
it was nonetheless a technique that pointed straight toward the Xiantian Great Dao.
"You are currently in the Qi Sea Realm?"
Li Guozhong asked.
"Mn!"
Wei Xiaobao nodded.
"Have you reached Great Perfection?"
The Qi Refining Realm was divided into the early and later stages. The early stage was the Qi Sea Realm, which tempered inner qi and stored it within the dantian qi sea.
The larger the qi sea, the more inner qi it could store.
Once it could no longer store any more inner qi, that was Great Perfection, and one needed to enter the second step, which was circulating the inner qi to run the heavenly circuit.
The circulation of inner qi within the body was called the lesser heavenly circuit.
The lesser heavenly circuit was also divided into three steps.
The circulation of the Ren and Du meridians formed the first step.
The complete circulation of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians formed the second step.
The grand circulation of the Twelve Regular Meridians formed the third step.
Finally, the three circulations combined to form a complete lesser heavenly circuit, which was the Qi Refining Realm (Great Perfection).
At that time, one could break through the realm and undergo Aperture Opening.
"Almost..."
Wei Xiaobao nodded.
"Since you are almost there, you can first pre-familiarize yourself with the fourth monument of the Seven Kill Monument. The fourth monument is the technique for circulating inner qi to force the barrier and run the heavenly circuit. This stage is extremely perilous; you must never be reckless, as many martial artists suffer meridian damage at this very juncture, making it difficult to advance."
Li Guozhong said with a solemn expression.
"Mn."
Wei Xiaobao nodded vigorously.
"Give it a try."
"With me here guarding the Dharma for you, it will be easier to handle if something goes wrong."
Li Guozhong said.
The cultivation was finally about to begin!
Gu Xinchao was filled with a sense of anticipation.
Though immersive experiences of Wei Xiaobao's life were interesting, Gu Xinchao had not forgotten what he truly needed.
The other party was merely a tool person.
A tool person to enhance his own strength.
Now, the tool person's working time had arrived.
The Seven Kill Monument.
What kind of technique was it precisely?
Gu Xinchao was somewhat curious.
Wei Xiaobao stood in the middle of the courtyard, closed his eyes, and concentrated his mind. Before long, seven stone monuments emerged within his Consciousness Sea.
Three stone monuments emitted a glow.
The characters upon them shone like starlight, crystal-clear.
The remaining four were obscure and lightless, hidden within the clouds and mist.
Soon, one of them broke away from the clouds, drifted out, and stood side by side with the other three glowing stone monuments.
Pitches of starlight generated from the surface of the monument,
flickering as if trying to escape.
Wei Xiaobao wore a nervous expression.
Only by contemplating the stone monument, guiding the starlight, and causing all the characters to emit radiance could he lead the technique into his soul and accommodate it within his body.
This hurdle.
Was extremely difficult!
For the first three monuments, every first attempt had ended in failure.
The time spent to succeed had been 11 days, 15 days, and 18 days respectively...
This time, he held no real hopes.
Just as Li Guozhong had said, he was merely giving it a try.