Part 10 & 11: Not knowing one’s limits

In The Legends of Ren Zu, Divine Travel Gu’s earliest appearance was beside Verdant Great Sun. Verdant Great Sun drank four different top-tier wines in the world; the dense liquor aura in his body congealed into Divine Travel Gu.

Divine Travel Gu had the power to send the Gu Master to any place in the world. But its activation required the Gu Master to be in a drunken state, and its destination also could not be controlled. Verdant Great Sun was transported to many dangerous places and suffered a lot due to Divine Travel Gu, his life on the line several times. In this world, there is a thing that is more precious than life. That is glory. Eons ago, Ren Zu's eldest son, Verdant Great Sun, gave up his life while chasing for glory. The sunlight of the Immemorial Antiquity Era shone on all living beings. Cicadas made noises, giving off the clamour of life. Dense green trees formed a large area of shade as they swayed with the wind. A large vat of delicious wine was in front of Verdant Great Sun, but he frowned, having no desire to drink. “Divine Travel Gu, oh Divine Travel Gu, you have harmed me so deeply. Right now, I do not even dare to drink wine. I am afraid of getting drunk and end up transported to a dangerous land by you,” Verdant Great Sun sighed in anguish. The previous two times, he was sent into the Ordinary Abyss by Divine Travel Gu, as well as the cauldron of the Hairy Men. Thankfully, he was lucky and made it out of both incidents alive. Divine Travel Gu said, “Prince of Humans, I was not intentionally harming you. In fact, every time you got drunk, you were the one who used my power. I am innocent. In fact, I even saved your life once, didn't I?” Divine Travel Gu had, in fact, saved Verdant Great Sun's life from the Tiger-Striped Honey Bees before. Verdant Great Sun's expression was dejected, “Sigh... don't mention the past. Now because of you, I do not dare to drink wine. My life has become meaningless and boring.” Hearing this, Divine Travel Gu felt ashamed, “In that case, let me teach you a method. Go up into the sky, and in the Azure Heaven among the nine heavens, there is a bamboo forest. Inside the bamboo forest, pluck a Jade Bamboo that is sky blue in colour. Next, go to Blue Heaven, and during the nighttime, collect the Eight-Sided Diamonds Inside the Star Fragments. Next, when it is dawn, fly into the sky and use the light of glory of the rising sun to turn me into Fixed Immortal Travel Gu. Once I become that Gu, I will no longer send you to random places when you are drunk.” Above Blessed Lands were Grotto-Heavens.

The most famous Grotto-Heaven was recorded within The Legends of Ren Zu; it was the famous Immemorial Nine Heavens. Verdant Great Sun refined the Fixed Immortal Travel Gu and flew up to the nine heavens. In Azure Heaven, he obtained a segment of the jade green Jade Bamboo. In Blue Heaven, he collected the Eight-Sided Diamonds Inside the Star Fragments. The Immemorial Nine Heavens consisted of White Heaven, Red Heaven, Orange Heaven, Yellow Heaven, Green Heaven, Azure Heaven, Blue Heaven, Purple Heaven, and Black Heaven. But later, when Ren Zu’s children caused havoc in heaven and earth, red, orange, yellow, green, azure, blue, and purple, the seven heavens were destroyed consecutively, and all that remained were White and Black Heavens, with the two alternating between day and night. Verdant Great Sun heard this and he was overjoyed. But he thought about it and felt that hope was slim, “Oh Gu, I have stepped on the earth since I was born, I am not as light as clouds, nor do I have wings like birds. How can I fly into the Azure Heaven and pluck the Jade Bamboo? How can I collect the Eight-Sided Diamonds in The Star Fragments? Not to mention flying towards the rising sun.” Divine Travel Gu said, “That is right, humans cannot fly. But it is not a problem. We can ask Wisdom Gu. It has the greatest wisdom in this world, there has to be a way.” Verdant Great Sun and Wisdom Gu were old acquaintances; the reason Verdant Great Sun started drinking was because of Wisdom Gu's teachings. But Wisdom Gu taught him to drink merely because it did not want to be disturbed. Sensing that Verdant Great Sun was going to find it again, Wisdom Gu quickly went into hiding. Verdant Great Sun did not find Wisdom Gu and felt dejected. But Divine Travel Gu said again, “If we can't find Wisdom Gu, we can find Cognition Gu; it is the mother of Wisdom Gu.” Verdant Great Sun quickly found Cognition Gu and requested the methods of flying. Cognition Gu answered, “You found the right person because cognition is the wings of freedom. But everyone's thoughts are different; what wings you have depends on yourself.” Saying so, Cognition Gu turned into a warm light and shone on Verdant Great Sun.

In the light, a pair of white pure-feathered wings appeared behind Verdant Great Sun's back. This pair of wings was very beautiful, white and pure like snow, without a trace of impurity; it was like the wings of a white crane. Cognition Gu took a look and said, “Mm, this pair of wings is called ‘self,’ everyone has their own 'self-cognition', this pair of wings has a high degree of flexibility and freedom. But you must be careful, do not overly bask in sunlight; otherwise, your sense of ‘self,’ will either expand or shrink. Young man, you must remember my words. The higher you fly, the harder you fall.” Cognition Gu thought and said the last sentence with deep meaning. Obtaining the cognition wings named 'self,' Verdant Great Sun was very happy and flew into the sky. He flew and flew, going higher and higher. Humans were not born to fly, like birds soaring in the sky. This brought Verdant Great Sun great curiosity. He played around freely in the sky, extremely happy. At the same time, he remembered Cognition Gu's warning and did not overly expose himself to sunlight. When it was sunny, he would hide in the clouds. Like this, Verdant Great Sun flew higher and higher, finally reaching the limits of heaven, the end of Azure Heaven. There, Jade Bamboos grew in the air, having lustrous green leaves. These Jade Bamboos were rooted in the void, and their tips also extended into the unknown void. Looking from outside, one could only see their thin long stem. Verdant Great Sun retrieved one segment of the bamboo casually. This dark green bamboo stem was like jade, palm-sized, and hollow in the middle, giving off a cold feeling. Verdant Great Sun obtained the Jade Bamboo and was very happy; he continued flying upwards. The sky of the Immemorial Antiquity Era had nine levels: White Heaven, Red Heaven, Orange Heaven, Yellow Heaven, Green Heaven, Azure Heaven, Blue Heaven, Purple Heaven, and Black Heaven. Verdant Great Sun plucked the Jade Bamboo in Azure Heaven; a few days later, he flew to the higher Blue Heaven. It was nighttime, and stars were shining in the sky. The stars flew around happily, raining down stardust. These stardust gathered into a sea, a beautiful river of light made of silver stars, flowing across the entire Blue Heaven. Verdant Great Sun willed his wings and plunged into the star river to swim. He searched painstakingly in the endless stardust; he did not want those seven-sided or sixteen-sided fragments, he only wanted the Eight-Sided ones. These Star Fragments were like diamonds, crystal clear and flawless. He searched for a long time before finding one.

On the second day, Verdant Great Sun flew towards the rising sun at the break of dawn. The sunrise was like a large red lantern, emitting a warm light. This sunlight was not ordinary; it was the light of glory; it could shine on all living beings and penetrate the River of Time. Verdant Great Sun's left hand was holding onto the Jade Bamboo, his right hand was holding the Eight-Sided Diamond, as he flew towards the sun and summoned Divine Travel Gu. Basking under the light of glory, Divine Travel Gu swallowed the Star Fragment and entered the Jade Bamboo. “Oh Verdant Great Sun, I need time to metamorphosize and become Fixed Immortal Travel Gu. During this period, you have to fly towards the sun, and do not leave the light of glory. But you have to be more careful, Cognition Gu had said, pay attention to the ‘self wings’ on your back. Once my transformation ends, you should fly towards the cloud cover immediately. Do remember, remember.” Divine Travel Gu reminded. Verdant Great Sun laughed heartily, “Oh Gu, rest assured. I have even survived the Ordinary Abyss and lived after the Hairy Men, I have the Reputation Gu, and have transcended vanity, the light of glory can do nothing to me.” “Then I can stop worrying.” Divine Travel Gu's voice weakened as the sunlight turned into threads, forming a cocoon, and wrapping Divine Travel Gu and the Jade Bamboo. Verdant Great Sun moved his pure white wings, flying towards the sun. During this process, the light cocoon became thicker and heavier. A moment later, the cocoon was burst open, and a butterfly glowing in green light flew out, “I succeeded, from today onwards, I am not Divine Travel Gu, but Fixed Immortal Travel Gu. Hahaha!” Fixed Immortal Travel Gu flew around Verdant Great Sun, happily dancing, but suddenly shouted, “Ah, oh no! Verdant Great Sun, look at your wings!” Under the light of the sun, Verdant Great Sun's wings had expanded to three times of its original size. “Do not fluster, I noticed it long ago, but so what? The larger my wings, the stronger they are, and the higher and faster I can fly.” Verdant Great Sun laughed loudly. “Quickly hide in the clouds, stop flying.” Fixed Immortal Travel Gu said worriedly. “Don't worry, don't worry.” Verdant Great Sun was not worried at all. The ‘self wings’ on his back grew larger and larger, becoming even larger than

his body. Verdant Great Sun's speed also became faster and faster. “Fixed Immortal Travel Gu, what do you think is above the nine heavens?” He shot up towards greater altitudes. “Stop flying, stop flying. If you fall down, I cannot save you.” Fixed Immortal Travel Gu was very worried. “What's the problem, how could I fall down? Look at my wings, how strong are they, how powerful are they!” Verdant Great Sun was just rebuking, when suddenly, his wings expanded to their limits, and exploded. Losing his wings, Verdant Great Sun fell towards the ground immediately. Eventually, he landed on the ground, as an unrecognizable grotesque corpse. Ren Zu’s eldest son met his end. Divine Travel Gu was very mysterious and also legendary. Its earliest appearance was in The Legends of Ren Zu. The Legends of Ren Zu was the first classic of Gu. It appeared to be a story when one first read it but actually held profound messages, recording the secrets of the ancient times and all kinds of Gu. Some Gu were directly described like Wisdom Gu, Strength Gu and so on. And some Gu were hidden; their descriptions were very vague, requiring the readers to dig through it and study carefully. Divine Travel Gu might be one of the four great movement Gu and is very powerful at that, but its flaw is extremely big; who would dare to use it? Even Verdant Great Sun had no choice but to refine Divine Travel Gu into Fixed Immortal Travel Gu in the end. Divine Travel Gu might be at the noble rank six, but its every use carried extremely high risk and had low worth in using. Thus, Verdant Great Sun refined it into Fixed Immortal Travel Gu. How can flying-type Gu be easy to control? By nature, humans walk on the ground. If they want to fly and soar freely, they need a lot of painstaking practice! And to battle while flying? It needs even more bitter training! Even Verdant Great Sun, son of the great Ren Zu, died while flying. Humans were creatures that walked on the ground and did not have wings. Even Ren Zu did not have the ability to fly. Being able to fly by itself was a miracle in defiance of heaven.