He unleashed tens of thousands of investigative Gu worms, searching for his target.
Thousand Blades Valley, this place, though not rich in resources, was the Cultivation ground of the Northern Plains Loose Cultivator, Pan Ping.
As a Loose Cultivator with no backing, it was truly difficult for Pan Ping to Cultivate to the Four-Turn Realm here. The reason he achieved such success was due to his past entry into the Royal Court Blessed Land with the Liu Family, where he obtained many Opportunities.
Now, Pan Ping planned to use the Opportunity of this Hero Assembly to join another Golden Family, seeking a chance to Breakthrough to Rank Five. If he was lucky, he might even become an external Elder of a Golden Family based on his military achievements, which would truly be a meteoric rise.
However, for Pan Ping, who had just Broken through to Four-Turn Cultivation, choosing which Golden Family to join was not an easy matter.
After all, although his Cultivation had improved, it was still insignificant compared to those great Families. Last time, he was only Third Rank Cultivation, merely a slightly Advanced cannon fodder, with no right to choose.
But this time was different; his Cultivation had Broken through to Four-Turn, giving him some leverage. Therefore, when choosing which Golden Family to join, he had to be more cautious and not blindly follow the crowd as he did last time.
In the very center of Thousand Blades Valley, there was an extremely luxurious mushroom Gu House. On the plaque under the eaves of this Gu House, a huge character "Pan" was boldly written, as if proclaiming the ownership of this valley to the world.
However, in this quiet night, a dark Sword Qi streaked across the night sky like lightning. It silently slashed towards the mushroom Gu House with astonishing speed.
In an instant, with a "swish," the Sword Qi struck the Gu House fiercely. Immediately after, several powerful Sword Qi erupted like a volcanic explosion, instantly destroying the entire mushroom Gu House beyond recognition.
"Damn it! Who dares to be so bold as to ambush your grandpa Pan Ping!" With an angry roar, Pan Ping's figure shot out from the ruins like a cannonball. His face was filled with rage, and he still had a few minor wounds, but this clearly could not quell his fury.
This Gu House was originally just an ordinary house, but after Pan Ping's modifications, it had become a defensive fortress. This modification was undoubtedly the key to Pan Ping's survival from the attack.
Although he spoke fiercely, deep down, the thought of escaping had already arisen. After all, his combat strength was not particularly high, and facing a powerful enemy head-on was clearly not a wise move.
However, Pan Ping did not completely give up resistance. His hand tightly gripped a curved blade at his waist, ready to draw it at a critical moment. Although this curved blade was an ordinary weapon, a Single Blade Gu resided on its body, possessing the characteristic of ignoring defense.
Pan Ping planned to use this characteristic to launch a surprise attack on the enemy, catching them off guard. However, activating this Gu worm was not easy, and the success rate was not 100%. Otherwise, with Pan Ping's ability, he would probably have been famous long ago, instead of being obscure as he was now.
"So you're Pan Ping? Then it's fine. Who told you you're still a Loose Cultivator?" Liu Chen's lips curled into a playful smile.
His voice was cold and merciless, as if Pan Ping's life and death were insignificant to him.
The next moment, Liu Chen's figure appeared behind Pan Ping like a ghost.
Pan Ping didn't even have time to react, only feeling a chill from behind, followed by a sharp pain in his neck.
Before he could even let out a scream, his head was already separated from his body, and the blood gushing from his neck was like a red fountain, splashing onto the ground.
Pan Ping's corpse fell to the ground powerlessly, as if losing its support, his eyes slowly changing from anger to emptiness, as if life had left him at that moment.
Meanwhile, Liu Chen's movements did not stop in the slightest.
He quickly reached out and took a Single Blade Gu from the treasure chest on Pan Ping's body.
Moreover, because Liu Chen killed Pan Ping so quickly, Pan Ping didn't even have time to destroy the Gu worms he possessed, allowing them to remain intact.
However, Liu Chen wasn't too interested in Pan Ping's other Gu worms.
After all, Pan Ping was just a Loose Cultivator; although he had many Gu worms, their quality was generally mediocre, and they didn't even form a complete set of blade Dao Gu worms.
In comparison, only the Four-Turn Single Blade Gu was considered the most outstanding among them, worthy of Liu Chen's attention.
Liu Chen took a deep breath, then carefully reached out and slowly grasped the curved blade that housed the Single Blade Gu.
Liu Chen composed himself and began to strip Pan Ping of his clothes, arranging Pan Ping's head and body neatly, and activating the healing Gu worms in his body. The healing Gu worms quickly moved over Pan Ping's corpse, repairing his wounds and damaged areas.
Liu Chen, of course, did not intend to revive Pan Ping. His purpose in doing so was to obtain a complete corpse to refine a special Gu worm.
He quickly took out various gu materials from his Pocket Gu and began to refine the Human Skin Gu. Pan Ping's entire skin was completely peeled off by this curved blade, and then it fused with those gu materials.
After a difficult refinement, a Human Skin Gu was finally born. This Gu worm looked like a layer of living human skin, with Pan Ping's face and body outline faintly visible on it.
This Human Skin Gu is a very special Gu worm; it can perfectly disguise itself as anyone. This is an Advanced Gu worm that would only be developed during the future Five Regions chaotic war period. Even Gu Immortals would find it difficult to discover its flaws without personally and carefully investigating it.
However, using this Human Skin Gu was not easy, as it required complete Fusion with the user's flesh and blood, a process that would bring extremely intense pain.
Liu Chen unhesitatingly took off his clothes, then activated a Gu worm, allowing it to peel off all the skin from his body. This was an extremely cruel process; the ground beneath Liu Chen's feet was stained with blood, but his expression remained unchanged, as if none of this concerned him.
Immediately after, Liu Chen activated the Human Skin Gu, allowing it to fuse with his flesh and blood. In an instant, a heart-wrenching pain swept over him, and Liu Chen's body trembled uncontrollably.
But he gritted his teeth, enduring the severe pain, not allowing himself to make a sound. This kind of pain might be unbearable for ordinary people, but Liu Chen had long been accustomed to it.
Time passed minute by minute, Liu Chen's body gradually stopped trembling, and his breathing slowly stabilized. Finally, the Human Skin Gu completely fused with his flesh and blood, and Liu Chen's external aura also completely changed to Pan Ping's appearance.