002. Obtaining More Gu Worms, Pondering Their Upkeep
Qitian carefully dug away the surrounding moist earth.
After a moment, a dark gold flower bud, buried in the ground, was revealed before him.
Wiping the dirt clean from his hands, he slowly reached out and gently peeled back the large, dark gold petals, retrieving the sleeping Gu worm from within.
This was a very cute ladybug.
Only about the size of a thumbnail.
It was entirely black. Viewed from above, it looked like a circle.
Its head occupied only a small part of the circle; the rest was its plump belly and shiny carapace.
Its six tiny, milky white legs were tucked beneath its belly.
"Black Boar Gu!" A flash of joy flickered in Qitian's eyes and vanished.
The Black Boar Gu could modify a Gu Master's body, fundamentally increasing their strength.
In the market, it sold for as much as six hundred primeval stones, and was often bought immediately upon appearance.
Its value was even higher than the Jade Skin Gu or the Liquor Worm.
Revealing the aura of the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus and expelling primeval essence, he instantly refined it, storing the Black Boar Gu in his aperture.
"This refinement method is really useful! Unfortunately, I can only instantly refine Rank 1 Gu worms."
Next, Qitian used the same method to retrieve the second Gu worm.
This Gu worm resembled a bedbug, flat and wide, with a small head and an oval body.
It was grey all over, like a stone handicraft.
This was a Stone Skin Gu, often chosen by close-combat Gu Masters.
Once activated, the user's body would turn grey, greatly increasing defense.
Among skin-type Gu, the Stone Skin Gu was considered middle-to-lower tier, not particularly valuable.
Then, Qitian took out a Rank 2 Concealed Essence Gu.
Obtaining only these few Gu worms greatly disappointed Qitian. After all, this was the inheritance of a Rank 4 Gu Master! He figured the other Gu worms must have been destroyed in the battle.
Now, Qitian possessed a total of four Gu worms.
Among them, the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus was the most valuable, equivalent to a mobile primeval spring, capable of helping restore primeval essence, and requiring no feeding.
Although the Concealed Essence Gu was Rank 2, it consumed little primeval essence, was easy to feed, could conceal his aura, helped Qitian avoid wild beasts, and could mask his Gu Master identity, allowing for low-key development.
Speaking of the Concealed Essence Gu, it was unique to Purple Nether Mountain, parasitic on Nether Leopards, and only discovered over a hundred years later. This Rank 2 Gu was likely obtained by the Talented Scholar of Many Gu from a hundred-beast king level young leopard; adult Nether Leopards likely hosted Rank 3 versions.
The Black Boar Gu could grant the strength of one boar, increasing close-combat ability. However, the Black Boar Gu had a large appetite, needing a meal every five days, and each meal consisted of the meat of an entire adult boar. This required Qitian to hunt a wild boar every five days. This might have been difficult before, but now that he was a Gu Master, hunting boars was much easier.
Although the Stone Skin Gu's defense was average, it was still quite useful for the Rank 1 Qitian. Most importantly, it was easy to feed, as stones were readily available on the mountain. Even if he had a Jade Skin Gu, Qitian wouldn't have jade stones to feed it. Although he had primeval stones, there was nowhere nearby to buy jade stones.
Over the next few days, Qitian ate wild fruits from the cave and focused entirely on refining the Concealed Essence Gu.
"I don't have a storage Gu, so I can't take away all these remaining primeval stones. The primeval spring was destroyed when I took the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus. The only other thing of value left is the Mountain Drilling Mouse skeleton, which isn't useful for now. It's time to leave."
"I wonder if that wild boar has left. If not, I could test my skills. After all, having just become a Gu Master, my methods are few. The only one I can use is the Stone Skin Gu; I don't know if it's enough to kill a heavily injured wild boar."
When Qitian walked out of the cave, he found the wild boar already on its last breath. He activated the Stone Skin Gu to prevent a final desperate counterattack from the boar, drew the short knife from his waist, and approached it. The boar offered little resistance before being killed.
"Surprisingly smooth!"
Qitian didn't dare delay. Pointing at the fallen boar, the Black Boar Gu residing in his aperture immediately turned into a black light and shot into the boar's body.
Qitian stood alert, nervously watching his surroundings. Although most of the boar's blood had already been lost on the path here, and the wound had stopped bleeding by the time it reached the cave, what if the lingering scent of blood attracted other predators?
After a short while, the Black Boar Gu flew back, wobbling slightly.
The entire boar carcass had shrunk by more than half, leaving only its greyish-black hide and the organs beneath. As for the meat, the vast majority had been consumed by the Black Boar Gu.
"After this meal, I'll come back to kill another pig in five days." Qitian recalled the Black Boar Gu but didn't leave immediately. Instead, he took out his knife, cut off the boar's two tusks, carved off a large chunk from the remaining small portion of meat, sprinkled deodorizing powder on it, and wrapped it in the tattered boar skin.
Although he didn't lack primeval stones, explaining their origin would be difficult. He still needed the hunter identity as a cover.
Relying on the Concealed Essence Gu, Qitian avoided many dangers.
Soon, he found a mountain path.
Man-made mountain paths were much safer than the ordinary mountain forests. Of course, with bad luck, one could still encounter danger.
As a hunter from the foothills, Qitian was very familiar with the mountain paths.
Usually, hunters wouldn't venture too deep into the mountains. Qitian had only stumbled into the depths because he was fleeing for his life.
Following the path downwards, by dusk, he saw wisps of cooking smoke.
In a mountain hollow, a village appeared in his sight.
Low stone walls surrounded the village. Returning farmers, shouldering hoes and other tools, walked into the village in twos and threes. Guards stood watch at several points around the village outskirts.
"Young Brother Tian, you've been up the mountain for so many days! The old village chief was worried sick, afraid something happened to you, making it hard to answer to your late father."
"Yeah! You're still so young, going up the mountain alone is too dangerous!"
"I'm not that young anymore! Besides, I'm a veteran of three years now. Look! Here's my quarry," he said, showing the tusks and the wrapped pork.
"Young Brother Tian is truly amazing! It's a pity the pigskin isn't whole, otherwise it would definitely fetch a good price."
After chatting a bit more with the guards, he reported his safety to the village chief and then returned to his dwelling.
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Time passed; autumn gave way to winter.
During this year, Qitian went up the mountain every few days. Of course, he didn't always bring back prey, often returning empty-handed, as this seemed more like a normal hunter.
As for cultivation, relying on his A grade aptitude and the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, he advanced to Rank 2 in less than a year.
Advancing to Rank 2 in a year was still slow, in Qitian's opinion.
Fang Zheng also took a year to reach Rank 2, but compared to Fang Zheng, Qitian's aptitude was slightly higher, and he had the support of the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus and ample primeval stones; theoretically, he should have been faster.
However, Qitian had only received an inheritance; he had no one to guide him, naturally slowing his cultivation. Fang Zheng, on the other hand, was personally instructed by the Rank 4 Gu Yue clan leader.
In terms of combat strength, relying on the strength of one boar and the defense of the Stone Skin Gu, he could already face and kill an ordinary mountain boar head-on. As for boar kings, he still stayed as far away as possible. The Concealed Essence Gu wasn't suited for direct combat, and relying solely on Rank 1 Gu had limited effect.
In the cave.
Qitian sat on a stone platform. Faint red Red Steel primeval essence rose from his body like smoke, suspending two Stone Skin Gu worms in mid-air.
Like two stars, they revolved around each other, drawing closer and closer.
Suddenly, a burst of grey light erupted.
The two patches of grey light connected, quickly forming a cluster the size of a washbasin.
Qitian took out a primeval stone and tossed it into the light cluster.
After the primeval stone entered, it transformed into a stream of pure, natural primeval essence, completely merging into the light cluster, leaving only some white stone powder drifting down.
Qitian then threw in a second stone, but just then, the grey light abruptly vanished. The two Gu worms seemed to violently repel each other, flying off in opposite directions.
"Sigh, the last chance failed too."
Qitian had tried multiple times before, all ending in failure. The two Gu worms were already extremely weak. After this failure, both Gu worms died together.
"Gu refinement isn't easy! Fang Yuan had five hundred years of experience from his previous life, and Fang Zheng had the personal guidance of the Rank 4 Gu Yue clan leader. Although I have the Gu recipes and insights left by the Talented Scholar of Many Gu, it's still far from enough when it comes to Gu refinement!"
"One of these Stone Skin Gu came from the inheritance, the other I found in the wild. Now both are dead. Replacing them won't be easy."
This failure directly resulted in Qitian having no defensive Gu, greatly reducing his combat power.
Qitian's heart sank, truly experiencing the difficulty of Gu refinement and the hardship of being a demonic path Gu Master.