2 The Difficulty of Raising Gu Insects and the Repeated Failures in Gu Refining

Qitian carefully dug around in the damp soil.

After a while, a dark golden flower bud buried deep in the ground appeared before him.

He wiped his hands clean of the dirt, then slowly reached out and gently opened the large dark golden petals, revealing the sleeping Gu insect inside.

It was a very cute ladybug, about the size of a thumbnail.

Its body was entirely black, and from a top-down view, it looked like a circle.

Its head was just a small portion of the circle, with the rest being its plump abdomen and shiny shell.

Its six delicate legs were pale white, hidden underneath its body.

"Black Swine Gu!" A fleeting look of joy appeared in Qitian's eyes.

The Black Swine Gu could transform the body of a Gu Master, fundamentally increasing their strength.

It was worth as much as 600 yuan stones in the market, and as soon as it appeared, it was often snapped up by people.

Its value surpassed even that of the Jade Skin Gu or the Wine Bug.

Qitian released the aura of the Heavenly Origin Lotus, exhaled his true essence, and instantly refined it, absorbing the Black Swine Gu into his dantian.

"This method of refining is really useful! Unfortunately, I can only instantly refine first-grade Gu insects."

Next, Qitian used the same method to extract the second Gu insect.

This one resembled a stink bug—flat and wide, with a small head and an oval body. It was entirely gray, like a stone sculpture.

This was a Stone Skin Gu, often chosen by close-combat Gu Masters. Once activated, it would turn the user's body completely gray, greatly enhancing their defense.

The Stone Skin Gu was only of mid-to-lower tier quality among the skin Gu and wasn't worth much.

Then, Qitian took out a second-grade Concealment Gu.

Getting only these few Gu insects made Qitian quite disappointed. After all, these were the remains of a fourth-grade Gu Master's collection! Most of the other Gu insects must have been destroyed in battle.

Now, Qitian's Gu insect count had reached four.

Among them, the Heavenly Origin Lotus was the most valuable, equivalent to a portable Yuan Spring, which could also help restore true essence without needing to be fed.

Though the Concealment Gu was only second-grade, it consumed little true essence, was easy to feed, and could conceal one's aura, helping Qitian avoid wild beasts and disguise his identity as a Gu Master, allowing him to keep a low profile. The Concealment Gu was unique to the Purple Ghost Mountain, originally parasitic on the Ghost Leopard. It had only been discovered after over a century. This second-grade Gu was likely acquired by a talented Gu Master from the young Beast King-level Ghost Leopard, with the adult Ghost Leopard being home to a third-grade parasite.

The Black Swine Gu could be nurtured to possess the strength of a pig, enhancing close combat abilities, but it had a large appetite—needing to consume an entire adult wild pig every five days. Qitian would need to hunt a wild pig every five days. If it had been before, this would have been difficult, but now that he was a Gu Master, hunting wild pigs was considerably easier.

While the Stone Skin Gu's defense was average, it still had some use for a first-grade Gu Master like Qitian, and most importantly, it was easy to feed, since there were stones everywhere on the mountain. Even if he had a Jade Skin Gu, Qitian wouldn't have the jade to feed it, and though he had Yuan Stones, he had no place to buy jade.

Over the next few days, Qitian ate wild fruits from the cave and focused on refining the Concealment Gu.

"With so many Yuan Stones left, I don't have a storage Gu to carry them. The Yuan Spring was destroyed when I took the Heavenly Origin Lotus out, and the only remaining valuable item is the Mountain Mouse skeleton, which I can't use for now. It's time to leave."

"I wonder if the wild boar has left. If not, I could test my skills. After all, I've just become a Gu Master and my methods are limited; I only have the Stone Skin Gu. I wonder if it can kill the severely injured wild boar."

When Qitian exited the cave, he found that the wild boar was already on its last legs. He activated the Stone Skin Gu to prevent the boar from fighting back in its death throes, then drew out his short knife, approached the boar, and killed it with little resistance.

"Unexpectedly smooth!"

Not daring to waste time, Qitian pointed at the fallen boar. The Black Swine Gu, which had been residing in his dantian, immediately transformed into a black light and shot into the wild boar's body.

Qitian stood in place, nervously watching. Although most of the boar's blood had already flowed out on the way here, by the time he reached it, the boar's wounds had stopped bleeding. But what if a wild beast was attracted by the scent of the blood?

After a while, the Black Swine Gu wobbled back.

The boar was now emaciated, with most of its meat consumed by the Black Swine Gu, leaving only its gray-black fur and internal organs.

"After this meal, I'll have to hunt a pig again in five days," Qitian collected the Black Swine Gu, but didn't leave immediately. Instead, he took out a knife and removed the boar's tusks, then sliced off a large piece of the remaining meat, sprinkled it with stinking powder, and wrapped it up in the remaining boar skin.

Though he wasn't lacking Yuan Stones, it would be hard to explain the origin of the boar meat. He still needed the identity of a hunter to cover it up.

Using the Concealment Gu, Qitian avoided many dangers.

Soon, he found a mountain path.

The path, carved by humans, was much safer than the ordinary mountain forest. Of course, with bad luck, one could still encounter danger.

As a hunter from the base of the mountain, Qitian was very familiar with the path.

Hunters usually didn't go too deep into the mountain, and Qitian had only accidentally ventured deep due to fleeing.

Following the mountain path, he saw wisps of cooking smoke in the evening.

At a mountain bend, a village appeared in his view.

The village was surrounded by low stone walls, with farmers returning home in twos and threes, carrying hoes and other tools. A few guards stood around the village.

"Brother Tian, you've been gone for so many days, the old village head was so worried, afraid something happened to you and it would be hard to explain to your late father."

"Yeah! It's too dangerous to go alone up the mountain!"

"I'm fine now, I'm a veteran of three years. Look! This is my catch." He displayed the tusks, boar skin, and meat proudly.

"Brother Tian is amazing! It's a shame the boar skin isn't intact, otherwise, it would fetch a good price."

After chatting with the guards for a while, he reported his safety to the village head, then went back to his dwelling.

---

Time passed, autumn turned to winter.

In this year, Qitian went up the mountain every few days. Of course, not every time did he bring back game; often, he returned empty-handed, as that was more like a normal hunter's routine.

As for cultivation, relying on his top-tier talent and the Heavenly Origin Lotus, he advanced to the second-grade Gu Master level in less than a year.

Advancing to second-grade in a year was still slow for Qitian.

Fang Zheng also took a year to reach second-grade, but compared to Fang Zheng, Qitian's talent was two points higher, and with the Heavenly Origin Lotus and ample Yuan Stones, he should have advanced faster.

However, Qitian only received the inheritance without anyone to guide him, so his progress was naturally slower. On the other hand, Fang Zheng had the direct guidance of the fourth-grade Ancient Moon Clan leader.

In terms of battle strength, relying on the strength of a pig and the defense of the Stone Skin Gu, Qitian was already able to kill an ordinary wild boar head-on. As for the Mountain Boar King, he still avoided it as much as possible, and the Concealment Gu wasn't suited for direct combat, having limited effect with just a first-grade Gu.

In the cave.

Qitian sat on the stone platform, a faint reddish Iron Essence true essence rising like smoke, lifting two Stone Skin Gu in mid-air.

They rotated like two stars, drawing closer and closer.

Suddenly, a burst of gray light erupted.

The two pieces of gray light linked together and quickly formed a lump the size of a basin.

Qitian took out a Yuan Stone and threw it into the light group.

Once the Yuan Stone entered, it turned into a pure stream of natural true essence and completely fused into the light group. Only some white stone powder remained, gently falling to the ground.

Qitian threw in the second Yuan Stone, but at that moment, the gray light suddenly vanished. The two Gu insects seemed to have been forcefully pushed away from each other, flying in opposite directions.

"Sigh, the last chance also failed."

Qitian had tried many times before, all of which ended in failure. The two Gu insects were already on their last breath, and after this failure, both died together.

"Refining Gu isn't easy! Fang Yuan had 500 years of experience from his previous life, and Fang Zheng had direct guidance from the fourth-grade Ancient Moon Clan leader. Although I have the Gu recipes and insights left by the multi-talented Gu Master, I'm still far from skilled in refining Gu."

"One of these Stone Skin Gu came from the inheritance, and the other was one I found in the wild. Now both are dead. It's not easy to replenish them."

This failure left Qitian without any defensive Gu, significantly weakening his battle strength.

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