C2 Devouring Spirit Sect

Gu Xiaoxing gripped the firewood knife with both hands, taking a defensive posture. His face hardened as he scanned his surroundings with intense nervousness, yet no one was in sight.

"Who's there? Who's speaking?"

"Look up."

The ethereal voice returned, prompting Gu Xiaoxing to abruptly lift his gaze. There, he saw a man standing aloft, hands clasped behind him, his white garments billowing as if he were a celestial sage.

It seemed to confirm the old adage: a deity resides three feet above one's head.

"A deity... a celestial being!"

The knife clattered to the ground as Gu Xiaoxing's excitement surged beyond words. He fell to his knees in worship.

"Divine one, please save me!"

"I am Taoist Bai of the Devouring Spirit Sect." Drawn by the roc, Taoist Bai hadn't expected to encounter such an intriguing youth. "Explain to me, how might I save you?"

As Gu Xiaoxing looked up, he saw the immortal descend gracefully to earth, his heart pounding with renewed fervor. Surely, such an ability to soar was the hallmark of a celestial!

With earnest devotion, he bowed deeply once more.

"My name is Gu Xiaoxing..."

"Over half a year ago, an insect burrowed into my forehead. This peculiar creature cannot be removed, and it feasts on my flesh and blood..."

"I fear... I fear it will drain me completely, and I dread death!"

"So, after a grueling search for a sage in Blessing Village, at long last, I have found you. I implore you, save me and extract this insect!"

"More than half a year?" Taoist Bai's gaze sharpened.

"The insect in your brow is known as the Devouring Spirit Insect. Typically, it would consume a person's flesh within three months. How have you survived for so long?"

Once again, Gu Xiaoxing looked up, a flash of defiance crossing his brow before he remembered whom he was addressing and quickly adopted a more modest tone.

"I was once considered quite the catch in Blessing Village... Heh, Little Fatty, Little Fatty..."

Taoist Bai cast a sidelong glance at Gu Xiaoxing.

Gu Xiaoxing was well aware of Blessing Village, nestled within the secluded mountains of Dreamwood Mountain. The villagers there had their quirks, prizing plumpness as a standard of beauty.

"Once the Devouring Spirit Insect has entered the body, it shares the host's fate. To remove it forcibly would mean death for both you and the insect."

Stunned, Gu Xiaoxing kowtowed again, his voice trembling on the verge of tears. "Please, find a way to save me, Immortal. With your divine powers, there must be something you can do!"

"I don't want to die! I still have dreams. I've yet to become the most handsome man in Blessing Village, to marry a beautiful wife, I still have so much to do..."

"Enough!" Taoist Bai, losing patience, waved his hand dismissively. "What seems like a disaster may actually be a blessing. The Devouring Spirit Insect within you is not entirely bad; it means you're now eligible for cultivation."

"If you're willing, I will take you into the Devouring Spirit Sect as my disciple."

Gu Xiaoxing looked up, his voice feeble with hope. "Through cultivation, can I really stay alive? Can it make me... plump?"

Even Taoist Bai, with all his spiritual prowess, was taken aback by such a straightforward question, a flicker of annoyance crossing his eyes. "Yes, you can stay alive!"

With a grand gesture, Gu Xiaoxing suddenly felt himself soaring, his soul seemingly in pursuit. His vision blurred amidst the eerie wails echoing through the sky.

"My firewood knife!"

It took a while for Gu Xiaoxing to acclimate to the dizzying heights. He soon realized he was flying high above the ground, trailing behind Taoist Bai at breakneck speed.

"It's too fast! Immortal, it's too fast!" Gu Xiaoxing cried out, reaching desperately for Taoist Bai's robe but falling short. Fear gripped him at the thought of plummeting to a bone-shattering demise.

After what felt like an eternity, they had covered an unimaginable distance. A towering peak emerged, dwarfing every mountain Gu Xiaoxing had ever seen, with what appeared to be a palace perched at its summit.

Next to this majestic peak was a smaller one. The landscape whizzed by in a blur, and before long, Gu Xiaoxing and Taoist Bai had arrived at the base of the lesser peak.

"Come with me," Taoist Bai said in a calm voice.

Gu Xiaoxing's legs shook as he trailed closely behind Taoist Bai, silently vowing never to venture beyond the sect's boundaries once he was admitted. The outside world was far too frightening! On their journey, he had encountered a menagerie of bizarre and fearsome creatures. A colossal ape as tall as a mountain... A grotesque being with two mismatched heads, each as large as a mountain... An ancient turtle sprawled across an ice lake, its size beyond belief... And then there was the giant eagle, its body crackling with lightning, whose menacing presence made Gu Xiaoxing's skin crawl before Taoist Bai swiftly dispatched it with a single sword strike. Yet, the most terrifying of all was the enormous roc that eclipsed the sun.

The wild boars he had seen over the previous month, even the largest among them, paled in comparison. Taoist Bai had informed him that these boars were known as Meng Huai, a type of demonic beast. These creatures could cultivate and had intelligence, but they were inherently vicious. The Ethereal Land was teeming with such demonic beasts. Gu Xiaoxing etched Taoist Bai's words into his memory, reaffirming his oath: he must never leave the sect.

Before long, a stone tablet emerged before them, inscribed with the words "Spirit Peak." Beside it sat a young man in gray, unremarkable in appearance, dozing off. Roused by the sound of footsteps and recognizing Taoist Bai, he quickly perked up and approached with a respectful bow.

"Greetings, Taoist Bai!"

With a slight nod, Taoist Bai instructed, "Take this one to his quarters. And... since he seemed attached to that fallen hatchet, assign him the task of chopping wood."

Without awaiting a response, Taoist Bai transformed into a streak of light and vanished.

"Yes, farewell, Taoist Bai!" The young man bowed in the direction Taoist Bai had departed, then turned his attention to Gu Xiaoxing.

Gu Xiaoxing was brimming with excitement, for he noticed the Devouring Spirit Insect perched on the young man's forehead!

Despite his condition, there was no sense of frailty about him; on the contrary, he exuded a peculiar aura of otherworldly strength.

This confirmed Taoist Bai's words: cultivation could indeed be life-saving. There was still hope for him!

"I'm Cui Yan, the deacon of Spirit Peak. Just call me Senior Brother Cui."

The young man nodded, his gaze on Gu Xiaoxing contemplative. In all his years as a deacon, it was the first time he'd seen the sect's Great Elder personally escort someone to Spirit Peak.

Common sense dictated he should extend some care, but the task Taoist Bai had assigned left him puzzled.

"My name is Gu Xiaoxing, pleased to meet you, Senior Brother Cui!"

Gu Xiaoxing's face radiated earnestness. Naturally fair and handsome, his current frailty and innocent eyes made him resemble a youth who, though inexperienced, had faced considerable hardship—easily disarming others and stirring deep-seated sympathy.

Cui Yan's expression softened. "Ah, you must be Junior Brother Gu. The torment of a Devouring Spirit Insect infestation is unbearable; you've surely endured much these past days."

"I remember when I first became host to the Devouring Spirit Insects, I lost over twenty kilograms within a month. It wasn't as severe as your case, but I lived in constant fear, suffering greatly."

"Thankfully, a guide from our sect found me and brought me in. Otherwise, I might well have ended up as nothing but bones on a mountain."

Gu Xiaoxing's eyes blazed with recognition upon hearing this. "You speak the truth, Senior Brother Cui!"

"Ever since the Devouring Spirit Insect took hold, no amount of eating or drinking could stave off my relentless weight loss."

"Three hundred kilograms! I've shed an entire three hundred kilograms!"

"The pain in my heart is indescribable..."

Three hundred kilograms?

Cui Yan was momentarily taken aback. Observing the now gaunt Gu Xiaoxing, he couldn't help but wonder what adding three hundred kilograms of flesh back on him would look like.

Gu Xiaoxing was visibly moved, perhaps because he had heard a story that echoed his own, stirring a deep emotional resonance within him. His eyes darted about, betraying a sense of understood grievance.

"Thank goodness! Just when I was on the brink of being drained by the Devouring Spirit Insect, Uncle Bai showed up! He rescued me and took me back to the Devouring Spirit Sect!"

"Uncle Bai? You mean Taoist Bai?" Cui Yan asked, his voice tinged with astonishment.

Gu Xiaoxing's expression suddenly shifted, as if he'd misspoken. After a brief pause and ensuring they were alone, he leaned in and confided in a hushed tone, "My father and Uncle Bai were old friends, as close as brothers, truly inseparable..."

"Sadly, the Ethereal Land is fraught with peril, and only someone with Uncle Bai's formidable powers could navigate it with ease, visiting my father every few years."

"Alas, my father passed away the year before last. If not for Uncle Bai's remembrance of his old friend, finding me after I'd been parasitized by the Devouring Spirit Insect and bringing me into the sect..."

"To me, Uncle Bai has been nothing short of a second set of parents!"

"But Senior Brother Cui, this information should stay between us. Uncle Bai has expressly instructed me to keep these matters confidential."

Cui Yan might have been skeptical if Gu Xiaoxing had readily admitted to everything. But seeing his cautious demeanor, even amidst his doubts, Cui Yan found himself somewhat convinced.

He had never heard any mention of Taoist Bai having old friends, and Elder Bai's stature within the Devouring Spirit Sect was nearly unparalleled, shrouded in rumors with little known for certain.

Moreover, Gu Xiaoxing had indeed been brought into the fold by Taoist Bai himself. Given that, it stood to reason that Taoist Bai would keep an eye on the situation here.

Cui Yan couldn't fathom anyone bold enough to fabricate stories under Taoist Bai's watchful eye.

Yet at that moment, Gu Xiaoxing was a bundle of nerves. Raised on the wisdom of many, he had learned to read people and leverage situations to his advantage.

Who wouldn't seek a patron upon first arriving at the Devouring Spirit Sect? Even as a newcomer, he recognized the magnitude of Taoist Bai's influence within the sect.

"He's been gone for quite a while now; surely he can't hear us. And as such an important figure, he wouldn't concern himself with such petty issues, right?" Gu Xiaoxing mused, though certainty eluded him.

Atop the main peak of the Devouring Spirit Sect, a muscle in Taoist Bai's cheek spasmed with the impulse to turn back and return Gu Xiaoxing to the safety of the mountains. Despite his disdain, Taoist Bai's esteemed position held him back from offering any real explanation. It was merely a child's ploy, after all.

In the Cultivation World, those lacking in cunning and strategy are doomed to a short-lived existence.