# Chapter 939: Blood God Gu
Lan Ye led Zhang Ruochen into the Dharma King's Great Hall, appearing beneath Hai Ming Dharma King's sacred soul avatar.
"Greetings, Master."
"Greetings, Grandmaster."
The two simultaneously paid their respects to Hai Ming Dharma King.
Hai Ming Dharma King stroked his beard and let out a hearty laugh: "Lin Feng, your talent in palm techniques truly surprises me, your grandmaster. Not bad, not bad, really quite good."
Zhang Ruochen said: "It's just that your disciple-grandson can only open five apertures. No matter how hard I try, I cannot break through the sixth."
Hai Ming Dharma King spoke unhurriedly: "The Seven-Aperture Blood Nether Palm has a great origin. It is said that the Nether King, after reviewing tens of millions of palm technique manuals from across the world, ultimately created this palm art. Its power may not be unmatched under heaven, but once the palm's apertures are opened, it brings boundless benefits to cultivators who practice palm techniques. Even when executing other palm arts, they can unleash even greater power."
"However, the Nether King is of the Undying Blood Clan, possessing powerful blood energy within his body, allowing him to break through the seven apertures of the palm. For human cultivators practicing the Seven-Aperture Blood Nether Palm, breaking through the fifth aperture is already the limit. I have never heard of anyone breaking through the sixth."
"Therefore, for you to break through the fifth aperture in ten days is already the limit a human can achieve. Even these five apertures alone will bring you considerable benefits in the future."
Zhang Ruochen pretended to understand, nodding his head.
Hai Ming Dharma King continued: "Do you know why your grandmaster called you to the Dharma King's Great Hall?"
"Your disciple-grandson does not know," Zhang Ruochen said.
Hai Ming Dharma King explained: "The Blood God Sect is an ancient sect passed down from the Middle Ages. Apart from the supreme Sect Leader, it has established Divine Sons, Holy Maidens, Four Great Dharma Kings, an Elder Council, and Ten Heavenly Palaces."
"Among them, the Ten Heavenly Palaces are personally managed by the Sect Leader. They are: Nether, Desolate, Underworld, Departure, Sorrow, Qian, Chaos, Hong, Kun, and Disorder."
"Tomorrow, the Netherworld Heavenly Palace, which is the first of the Ten Heavenly Palaces, will recruit three Banner Lords. I hope you will participate and must do everything in your power to become one of them."
Zhang Ruochen looked into Hai Ming Dharma King's eyes and found that those aged eyes contained a very domineering will, faintly using sacred might to pressure him.
Clearly, Hai Ming Dharma King was not discussing this with him but giving an order.
Zhang Ruochen immediately clasped his hands and said: "Your disciple-grandson will certainly not disappoint Grandmaster's expectations. Tomorrow, I will definitely secure one of the three Banner Lord positions."
Hai Ming Dharma King nodded with satisfaction and added: "If you can secure one of the positions, I will reward you with a third-grade sacred essence pill to help you break through to the third-order Half-Saint realm."
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen was somewhat moved.
For Hai Ming Dharma King to offer a third-grade sacred essence pill as a reward showed that this "Banner Lord" position was certainly very important.
"Before that, you must first take something."
Between Hai Ming Dharma King's two fingers, a blood-red light appeared. He shot it out, and it flew into Zhang Ruochen's palm.
A grain-of-rice-sized blood-red pill.
Zhang Ruochen separated a strand of spiritual power to secretly examine the pill and discovered that inside it was a faint trace of life energy.
This discovery shocked Zhang Ruochen greatly, making him realize that he was about to face a tremendous crisis.
Zhang Ruochen was not ignorant. Naturally, he knew this was a Gu pill.
Maintaining a calm demeanor as if unaware, Zhang Ruochen asked: "Grandmaster, what is this?"
"This is a pill that will bring you great benefits. Once you take it, your chances of passing tomorrow's assessment will increase significantly," Hai Ming Dharma King said with a smile.
Standing on the left side of the Dharma King's Great Hall, Lan Ye looked at the blood pill in Zhang Ruochen's hand, a flicker of fear passing through his eyes.
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen hesitated to take the blood pill, Hai Ming Dharma King's gaze turned somewhat cold and fierce. Though still smiling, it gave a rather sinister feeling. He said: "What? You don't trust your grandmaster's words?"
"How could your disciple-grandson possibly not trust Grandmaster?"
Zhang Ruochen hesitated no longer, placed the blood pill into his mouth, and swallowed it.
The current situation left Zhang Ruochen no other path. Only by taking the blood pill could he continue to stay in the Blood God Sect.
If he defied Hai Ming Dharma King's command, he might not even be able to keep his life today.
The next moment, a piercing pain spread from his abdomen, as if thousands of knives were cutting through his meridians.
That pain spread along the meridians, circulating once through Zhang Ruochen's body, and finally entered his Qi Sea.
It was a centipede-shaped Gu insect, with a hundred sharp tiny legs. Its head somewhat resembled a human skull.
Back when Zhang Ruochen had broken through the tenth transformation of the Fish-Dragon realm, the pain he endured was even greater than this, and he had persevered.
But now, he was not Zhang Ruochen; he was Blood Dragon Young Master Gu Lin Feng.
How could Gu Lin Feng withstand the pain of a Gu insect gnawing at him?
Thus, Zhang Ruochen immediately fell to the ground, rolling and screaming: "Grandmaster... save me... it hurts... ah..."
After enduring half an hour of torment, the Gu insect finally settled down.
Zhang Ruochen's body was covered in blood-red sweat beads. Trembling all over, he struggled to get up from the ground and asked: "Grandmaster, what... what did you make me take?"
Hai Ming Dharma King squinted his aged eyes and smiled: "The Blood God Gu. This type of Gu is refined from the corpse insects of the Blood God's divine corpse. The entire Blood God Sect can only refine one Gu insect per year. It is extremely precious, and ordinary people have no chance to take it."
"It really is the Blood God Gu," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
In fact, when he took the blood pill, he had already suspected as much.
However, Zhang Ruochen never expected that someone of Hai Ming Dharma King's status would actually use the Blood God Gu to control him.
Legend had it that the Blood God Sect's Blood God Gu was only used to control Saint-level existences or important heirs of ancient clans.
What did Hai Ming Dharma King mean by using the Blood God Gu to control his own disciple-grandson?
Hai Ming Dharma King continued: "Don't resent your grandmaster. Your grandmaster is truly helping you. Consider this: the Blood God Gu you just took has already reached the fifth-order Half-Saint level. By borrowing its power, you too can unleash combat power at the fifth-order Half-Saint level."
"Moreover, the Blood God Gu can continue to grow by absorbing divine blood, reaching the Saint realm or even stronger. Think about it—what a wonderful treasure the Blood God Gu is."
Zhang Ruochen said: "But... what if the Blood God Gu gnaws at my Qi Sea and meridians again? Wouldn't your disciple-grandson be eaten by it?"
Hai Ming Dharma King laughed: "Don't worry. As long as you feed it a drop of the Blood God's divine blood every month, it will only devour the divine blood and certainly won't eat you."
"The Blood God's divine blood?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Hai Ming Dharma King took out a fist-sized crystal. Sealed at the center of the crystal was a drop of divine blood, emitting a dazzling red light.
Holding the divine blood aloft, Hai Ming Dharma King said calmly: "As long as you secure one of the Banner Lord positions tomorrow, your grandmaster will reward you with this drop of divine blood, allowing you to survive until next month."
"And if your disciple-grandson fails to become a Banner Lord of the Netherworld Heavenly Palace?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Hai Ming Dharma King put the divine blood away and said earnestly: "Only the Banner Lords of the Netherworld Heavenly Palace are qualified to take the Blood God's divine blood. I have passed on to you the Seven-Aperture Blood Nether Palm and the Blood God Gu, yet you cannot win a Banner Lord position. What meaning is there in living?"
"Lan Ye, Ji Shui, you two elders must properly explain to Lin Feng the survival rules of the Blood God Sect. Also, tell him what he should pay attention to in tomorrow's assessment of the Netherworld Heavenly Palace."
Having said this, Hai Ming Dharma King's sacred soul avatar gradually dissipated, becoming formless.
In the Dharma King's Great Hall, only Zhang Ruochen, Lan Ye, and Ji Shui remained.
Lan Ye looked at Zhang Ruochen with pity in his eyes and said: "To survive in the Blood God Sect, you must have value. Those who lose their value have only one path—death."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes were bloodshot. Clenching his hands tightly, he appeared very angry and said: "Thank you for the guidance, Uncle-Master Lan."
At this moment, although Zhang Ruochen's emotions were feigned, there was indeed three-tenths genuine anger.
In the Kunlun Realm, perhaps some did not know the name of the Blood God Sect's Sect Leader, but they certainly knew the terror of the Blood God Gu.
It was a Gu insect that even Saints greatly feared. Once infected, only a Great Saint personally taking action and paying some price could refine it.
This showed how powerful the Blood God Gu's vitality was.
Of course, Zhang Ruochen's Qi Sea wall was protected by the marks of the gods. It was not entirely impossible to resist the Blood God Gu.
However, the Blood God Gu was refined from the corpse insects of the Blood God's divine corpse. It could gnaw at a god's physical body, so naturally, it could also gnaw at the marks of the gods.
Therefore, for Zhang Ruochen to resist the Blood God Gu was no easy task.
Ji Shui's voice came from within the blood robe, surprisingly a woman's voice. She said: "If you still want to live, you'd best put away your anger immediately. From now on, you can only be loyal to the Dharma King to obtain the Blood God's divine blood and extend your life. Before that, you must first pass tomorrow's trial."
"Even with the Seven-Aperture Blood Nether Palm and the Blood God Gu as your two trump cards, becoming a Banner Lord of the Netherworld Heavenly Palace is no easy matter. Because among those competing with you tomorrow, there are several quite formidable figures."
Zhang Ruochen put away the anger on his face and asked: "Which formidable figures?"
Ji Shui said: "Tian Ji Dharma King's disciple-grandson, Yan Kongming."
"Cheng Xu Dharma King's disciple-grandson, Bai Yu."
"Di Yuan Dharma King's disciple-grandson, Ning Gui Hai."
"Yan Kongming, known as the Thousand Calculation Arithmancer, has reached the peak of the third-order Half-Saint realm. Not only has he cultivated an extremely advanced blade technique, but his spiritual power has also reached the Half-Saint realm."
"Bai Yu is also at the peak of the third-order Half-Saint realm. He possesses the Flying Immortal Sacred Body and has cultivated two types of ultimate sword techniques. He has never met an opponent at the same level."
"Ning Gui Hai is relatively mysterious. Few records of his deeds exist. It is only said that he once assassinated a fifth-order Half-Saint and escaped unscathed. For a third-order Half-Saint to assassinate a fifth-order Half-Saint, you should understand what that signifies."
"Most importantly, all three of them have certainly taken the Blood God Gu as well and can borrow the Gu insect's power. When you encounter them, you have no advantage at all. On the contrary, you are at an absolute disadvantage."