The visceral organs of Gu Xichen had absorbed far too much energy, gradually transforming into a state that Gu Xichen temporarily could not comprehend. Five streams of multicolored airflow, each as thick as a human arm, burst forth from his five viscera, piercing through the Twelvefold Towers with a loud hissing sound, rushing directly into the Purple Mansion, ceaselessly pouring into the pagoda and the Soul’s original courtyard.

Time crawled by day after day; the Primordial Warship was propelled forward by a curtain of black light for a full two months.

Gu Wuchen’s soul origin had entirely transformed into a five-colored radiance. The massive, cloud-like mass of this five-colored soul origin surged and receded within the azure pagoda, displaying infinite mysteries.

A colossal amount of spiritual energy continued to flood his body, and suddenly, Gu Wuchen felt an overwhelming itch throughout.

It was as if trillions of ants were drilling out from his pores, as if hundreds of trillions of fine hairs were scratching his skin, as if countless mischievous little hands were clawing at his body. From hair to skin, from skin to flesh, from flesh to meridians, from meridians to blood vessels, from blood vessels to muscle, from muscle to fascia, from fascia to bone, from bone to marrow, from marrow to nerve, from nerve to the five viscera and all the organs of his body—every tissue composing Gu Wuchen’s physical form was tormented by an itch that nearly drove him mad.

The itch, an unbearable itch, felt like every single cell was about to tear apart.

Before this bizarre itch subsided, an utterly devastating numbness surged up from the core of his being. Numbness, an unbearable numbness, as if every single pore had been stuffed with the numbing spice of a Chongqing hotpot—it made Gu Xichen’s vision blur, so much so that he even forgot the preceding itch, so much so that tears and saliva simultaneously erupted from him.

The numbness had not yet passed when a thick, bitter taste rushed forth. Bitterness, a bitterness that nearly brought Gu Xichen to tears, instantly sweeping away the preceding numbness—a bitterness that made Gu Wuchen almost howl in anguish, a bitterness that caused thick, viscous pale-yellow fluid to seep from every pore of his body, a bitterness as if he had swallowed thirty thousand jin of wild Coptis root in one gulp!

Next came the sourness, a sourness that equally threatened to collapse Gu Xichen. It emerged from every minute tissue and cell of his body—a sourness that made his entire body collapse onto the ground like a pile of soft mud, a sourness that caused thin, white mucus to constantly ooze from his pores, a sourness that made his vision briefly go black.

Finally, there was the sweetness, like a nuclear warhead packed with tens of thousands of tons of saccharine, which suddenly detonated on the taste buds. A sweetness that turned the heart bitter, a pervasive sweetness with the aroma of strong sugar permeating his entire body, a sweetness that caused Gu Xichen to writhe and cry out in agony on the ground, a sweetness so intense that even the hairs on his head and body fell away.

These five flavors converged at once, nearly shattering Gu Wuchen’s spirit. The boundless suffering made his soul origin roll wildly; gradually, his soul origin began to compress inward, compressing frantically, as if squeezed by a ten-thousand-ton hydraulic press. The once vast expanse of his soul origin rapidly compressed down to the size of a meter squared, then to the size of a foot squared, then to the size of a fist, finally condensing into a soul treasure pearl the size of a mung bean, brilliantly radiant with five-colored light that illuminated ten thousand li.

Amidst the sound of roaring winds, the five-colored airflow, resembling a Pacific tsunami, surged out from the soul treasure pearl, sweeping downward over Gu Wuchen’s entire body. The same five-colored airflow erupted from his five viscera, from his energy acupoints, from his Dantian, and from every corner of his body. The dense, continuous five-colored airflow churned and swirled within him, gradually allowing wisps of five-colored mist to seep out through his pores, condensing on his surface into a cloud of five-colored haze.

A gentle cool breeze rose from the soles of his feet, slowly circulating throughout his body.

A gentle cool breeze emerged from the palms of both hands, similarly flowing slowly over his entire body.

A gentle cool breeze trickled out from within his navel, gently sweeping along his meridians.

A gentle cool breeze jetted out from every pore on his body, instantly washing over Gu Wuchen.

Whoosh—a large mass of turbid energy was expelled from Gu Wuchen’s body by the cool wind, instantly rendering his physical form nearly translucent. The five-colored airflow rapidly poured into his body, slowly filling the voids left behind after the impurities were purged. Immediately following this was another gust of wind, expelling another large mass of turbid energy, as the five-colored energy continued to replenish his body, repairing his battered frame.

The Primordial Dao Fetus within his heart suddenly disintegrated, releasing a massive amount of energy that transformed into a deluge of Grand Yin Merman Flame, surging throughout his body.

The pure and turbid energies of the external world, like flies drawn to the scent of blood, buzzed and swarmed towards Gu Xichen, quickly drilling into his body to continuously rebuild his physique.

Gusts of cool wind blew out from within him again and again; each gust carried away large amounts of turbid energy, and also carried away the five painful flavors that had caused Gu Xichen such agony. Gradually, Gu Xichen felt weightless, as if he had returned to the womb, enveloped by an unprecedented feeling of warmth and satisfaction.

Even his Innate Vajra Qi, which he had cultivated painstakingly for over twenty years, was regarded as turbid energy by the cool wind and blown away without a trace, leaving behind a body composed entirely of Primordial Chaos Qi and five-colored energy, scrubbed clean of any grime. Every single strand of hair on this brand-new body was glowing, emitting a brilliant radiance that could illuminate ten thousand li. If a Great Divine Power were to observe Gu Xichen with a Celestial Eye, all they would see would be a pure, human-shaped sphere of light constituted purely of Innate Qi!

Body transformed, marrow cleansed—truly shedding the acquired shell and entering the Innate Realm!

The Innate Realm here was not the Innate Realm spoken of in the martial arts of the Earth Federation, but the Innate Realm spoken of in cultivation circles—the state before the opening of Heaven and Earth!

Dong, dong, dong—the heart that Gu Xichen had reconstructed beat powerfully, but there was no longer any Primordial Dao Fetus within it. Every beat of his heart caused a great surge of pure wind within Gu Xichen’s body, making him completely transparent, refreshing, and utterly free of any dust.

An Innate Body, a true Innate Body, an Innate Body without the slightest impurity.

Compared to Gu Xichen’s current physique, even the Innate Earth Body of the Wolf or the Innate Green Wood Dao Body of Lily were nothing more than a joke!

A body this pure, constituted of Primordial Chaos Qi, was something only the Great Divine Powers of antiquity possessed, such as the progenitor of Daoism, Tai Shang Lao Jun, the founder of the Kunlun Dao Sect, Yuanshi Tianzun, the legendary leader of the Jie Sect, Tongtian Daoren, or the renowned Twelve Golden Immortals of Kunlun... these beings and objects that formed at the time of the Primordial Chaos were the true Innate Bodies.

With a great whoosh of wind, the five-colored airflow from Gu Wuchen’s five viscera surged upward, transforming into a billowing purple energy that shot over a zhang high from the top of his head, resembling a purple Lingzhi mushroom growing above him.

Five Qi Converging at the Origin—Gu Xichen had finally cultivated the highest chapter of the Primordial True Canon: Five Qi Converging at the Origin!

If it weren't for this miraculous encounter in subspace, where he encountered a small-scale creation event enacted by that black hole and star, it’s hard to say how many years it would have taken Gu Xichen alone to truly complete the Primordial True Canon!

The Qilin Seal was still frantically drawing in the pure and turbid energies from the outside, constantly converting them into the most refined spiritual energy to fill Gu Xichen’s body. At this time, Gu Xichen’s body was like a bottomless pit; every one of his cells could accommodate a huge amount of spiritual energy. Although this spiritual energy could not yet be absorbed and used for his cultivation, storing it purely was extremely easy.

Slightly opening his eyes, Gu Xichen was overjoyed to find his five senses had become acutely sensitive. With just a slight concentration of sunlight, he could see the molecular structure on the cross-section of the fractured alloy table and chairs on the floor; with the slightest movement of his ears, he could hear the nearly solidified sound of blood flow within the life-support pod containing Lin Hua; as for touch, smell, and taste, they were more sensitive than ever before.

This marvelous sensation almost made Gu Xichen throw his head back and laugh a few times, but he quickly suppressed his fluctuating emotions. While cooperating with the Qilin Seal to stuff as much spiritual energy as possible into every cell of his body, he murmured to himself, "Strange. Father said that once I cultivate to the realm of Five Qi Converging at the Origin, I can openly share the Primordial True Canon, and there will be subsequent cultivation methods for me... But where are the subsequent methods?"

Before the words faded, a powerful wave of mental fluctuation surged into Gu Wuchen’s Sea of Consciousness, and the phantom image of Gu Yitong appeared within it.

Gu Wuchen froze, and all his attention immediately focused on his Sea of Consciousness.

This was a wisp of mental consciousness left behind by Gu Yitong in the Primordial Dao Fetus—it possessed no self-awareness, merely pure mental power used as a tool to record certain things. However, since he appeared in the likeness of Gu Yitong, Gu Wuchen was still so moved that he almost shed tears.

Gu Yitong, mighty as a demon god, stood with his hands behind his back, gazing faintly at some extremely distant point ahead, a faint smile on his lips.

"Xichen, my good boy, you have completely absorbed the Primordial Dao Fetus, so you must have mastered the chapter on Five Qi Converging at the Origin! Heh heh, now you realize what a good thing Father left you, don't you?"

"Let Father guess how many years it took you to master Five Qi Converging at the Origin? Hmm, at least three hundred years! With your aptitude, achieving success in martial arts, living three hundred years is easy. Plus, Father killed that Vampire Prince and integrated its heart core into the Primordial Dao Fetus, so your lifespan should be at least several thousand years. Heh heh, although it was a bit opportunistic and a bit unfair to that unlucky Prince... well, who told you to be my good boy?"

"With several thousand years of life, you have more than enough time to cultivate the Primordial True Canon. Now Father should explain the origin of this scripture!"

"Good boy, Father is sorry to have lied to you. The martial arts accompanying the Primordial True Canon were calculated by Father using a supercomputer cluster, but the Primordial True Canon itself was a spoil of war brought back by an exploration team under my command from an ancient ruin on the Twelfth Planet of the Solar System."

"The Twelfth Planet of the Solar System, ha! That’s a very, very distant place, but it still orbits the sun, even though you can’t see any sunlight there."

"Well, enough small talk. The Primordial True Canon is that exploration team's spoil of war. He is! Look, such a powerful Primordial True Canon is only the foundational part of an ancient cultivation scripture; you can imagine how mighty the Great Desolate Scripture must be."

"According to the preface of the Great Desolate Scripture, this is a cultivation technique left by the Ancient Remnant Tribe, but it must be cultivated by one with an Innate Body, or at least possess genetic inheritance from an Innate Body in their bloodline. The Primordial True Canon doesn't cultivate any profound magical powers or divine abilities, but it can transform an Acquired Body into an Innate Body."

"Hmm, Father doesn't know if you completely achieved the Complete Dao True Canon through your own power, or if you merely triggered the lowest restriction of the Primordial Dao Fetus, causing it to transform you into a half-Innate Body. Hmm, no matter what, you can now cultivate the Great Desolate Scripture, can’t you? Of course, you must forgive Father one more time; although that Primordial Dao Fetus indeed condensed the cultivation of Father's entire life, its main body was an ancient treasure obtained from that ruin."

Hehe—Gu Yitong chuckled a few times, mischievously tugging his beard with smug satisfaction.

"You see, in order to let you cultivate peacefully without worrying you prematurely, Father was forced to lie twice. Of course, Father has told no less than eighty thousand lies in his life, but deceiving my good boy still makes me very happy... Hahaha, the Primordial Dao Fetus, there is only one in the entire universe, and Father couldn't bear to part with it, so naturally, I left it for my good boy. Alas!"

"Alright, enough chatter. Remember what Father taught you: this is a dog-eat-dog world, a wolf world. You must learn to be strong, you must learn to be ruthless, and you must live well!"

"If your elder brother does anything to wrong you... hmm, don't give me any face, just slap him hard! The old man married his mother back then—it was a blatant political marriage; I had no feelings for his mother whatsoever! Heh heh, don't give me any face, slap him hard! But considering he is my son after all..."

"Uh, just leave him enough food to eat!"

"Alright, that's all for now... Good boy, the Great Desolate Scripture, you must work hard to cultivate it! You must cultivate it well! Transcendence, entering the Sage Realm—all your future fortune, your entire future prospects, lie within this! Heh heh, if what was recorded in that ruin is true, our Gu family might produce an immortal in the future!"

Boom—before Gu Xichen could utter a few words of longing to Gu Yitong, Gu Yitong's figure violently disintegrated.

A massive data stream rushed over, instantly pouring into Gu Wuchen’s soul treasure pearl. This data stream carried no malice; rather, it was imbued with faint warmth and tenderness. Gu Wuchen’s soul treasure pearl easily fused and absorbed it.

The vast Great Desolate Scripture, spanning millions of words, slowly flowed through Gu Xichen's mind.

All sorts of marvelous spells, all kinds of wondrous cultivation methods, body forging, qi forging, alchemy, artifact refining, minor divination, shamanic curses, toxicology, beast taming, ghost refinement, raising—all manner of ancient and strange techniques captivated Gu Xichen, leaving him immersed. Compared to the Great Desolate Scripture, the Nine Nether Dao Secret Method that the Corpse Emperor had passed to Gu Xichen was like a firefly competing with the sun—completely outmatched.

"Truly a peerless method!" Gu Wuchen skimmed through the Great Desolate Scripture, sighing in rapt admiration.

Just as Gu Yitong had said, cultivating the Great Desolate Scripture opened the gate to becoming an immortal. In this age, this age lacking the Dao arts—who else dared claim they could cultivate into an immortal? Even a Grandmaster like the Corpse Emperor probably wouldn't have such courage!

Suddenly, a mocking sound echoed in Gu Wuchen’s mind, a sharp and icy voice sneered loudly: "This Great Desolate Scripture does have some flavor; its various esoteric arts are barely worthy of this Immortal's discerning eye. But when it comes to cultivating the True Dao, polishing one's foundation, nurturing the Nascent Spirit, and cultivating the Dao lineage, this Immortal's methods are superior!"

"Tee hee, this Immortal originally only intended to quietly recover some essence and then seize this child's body. I never expected this child to possess such great destiny, actually cultivating into an Innate Body!"

"Heh heh, with an Innate Body, it will be effortless for this Immortal to recover my former magical powers and divine abilities! Less than sixty years, and this Immortal will surely ascend!"

"Hahaha, once I return to this Immortal's former cave residence, all the elixirs and immortal artifacts will be readily available. Within a hundred years, all my magical powers and divine abilities will be restored to their former glory! Wonderful, wonderful!"

Gu Xichen asked in horror, "Who are you? Where are you?"

That sharp voice burst into wild laughter: "Gu Wuchen, do you still remember that Grand Yin Profound Pearl that nearly froze you to death? Hee hee, the fact that you can command the Grand Yin Merman Flame—that was this Immortal helping you!"

"Be good, and offer up your body!"

A massive surge of mental fluctuation shot out from the region of Gu Wuchen’s heart, surging into Gu Xichen’s Purple Mansion, instantly transforming into a vast, overwhelming cloud that covered Gu Xichen’s Sea of Consciousness.

But in the blink of an eye, the sharp voice let out a cry of utter astonishment.

"Heavens! How can there be such a vast Purple Mansion and Sea of Consciousness? You... Where is your soul origin?!"