"You self-righteous old thing, tell me now — what matters here, planting or stealing?"
Chu Feng looked toward the old monster beside Jie Tianran.
The old monster did not answer, but the sinister look in his eyes made his hatred toward Chu Feng unmistakable.
Yet years of experience had taught him restraint. Despite his fury reaching its peak, he did not let out an enraged roar. Instead, he let out a series of eerie, cold laughs.
"Hehehehe..."
"Jie Tianran, oh Jie Tianran. Who would have thought that after all your efforts, you'd still be played by your own grandson?"
"That grandson of yours tampered with the Gu worms, and you didn't even notice. And here I passed down the Ancient Gu Technique to you in vain."
But Jie Tianran replied, "There is nothing wrong with the Gu worms. So it wasn't the Gu worms — it was the power used to nourish them."
At this, Jie Tianran looked at Chu Feng. "You deliberately let me use the red beast to devour the power inside your giant tree. In truth, you had hidden a Gu technique within that power."
"You're a bit smarter than that old monster," Chu Feng said.
"Junior Brother Chu Feng, so you did it on purpose?"
"Your acting was so convincing, I was completely fooled."
Wen Xuemei's eyes widened in surprise.
"And your assistance was key, Senior Sister," Chu Feng said with a smile.
"Oh, of course. That's just our chemistry," Wen Xuemei replied with a grin.
She scratched her head in embarrassment, however, because at the time she had no idea Chu Feng was acting. She had genuinely believed he was furious and truly willing to stake his life in a fight. So her heartfelt attempts to dissuade him had, unbeknownst to her, only made his performance all the more convincing.
"Even earlier, when you triggered those Gu worm armies to launch an assault on my Gu worms — that was deliberate as well."
"You used my Gu worms to trigger their metamorphosis."
"And the reason your consciousness never dissipated was not luck. You possessed a method to preserve your life."
"I am curious — how did you accomplish it?" Jie Tianran asked.
Chu Feng did not answer directly. Instead, with a mere thought, a vast wave of Mental Power surged forth from him.
Though it fell short of his true body's capacity, it far exceeded the Mental Power he had displayed before.
"Mental Power??"
"Was it when you chose your bloodline?" Jie Tianran asked.
"Correct."
"Had you chosen the Barrier bloodline, it would have been of some help and granted you a modest amount of Mental Power."
"But by choosing the Martial bloodline, you were able to obtain far more Mental Power," Chu Feng said.
"So that was hidden as well. I truly overlooked it."
"But your Gu technique must also be connected to this place, correct?"
"If not for this place's protection, there is no way you could have seamlessly woven the Gu technique into the power and seized control of my Gu worms."
Jie Tianran continued.
Hearing this, Chu Feng couldn't help but feel a twinge of admiration. No matter how terrible a person Jie Tianran might be, his mind was extraordinarily sharp.
He had guessed everything correctly.
Chu Feng's Gu technique had indeed been obtained from this place — from within the stone world.
The reason Chu Feng had spent so long observing earlier was that he had not only discovered how to separate his consciousness from his body.
He had also discovered the Gu technique.
That Gu technique was exceedingly refined, and it had been created by Qin Jiu. It was called the "Hundred Methods of Gu Technique."
Of these hundred methods, the majority dealt with how to dismantle and counter Gu techniques.
But there were also a small number of methods for crafting and planting Gu.
At the time, Chu Feng had speculated that this "Hundred Methods of Gu Technique" was the true inheritance of this place. If one could discover it, there would be a chance to obtain it.
If one failed to discover it, then even after fulfilling every subsequent requirement, the best one could hope for was a key fragment — nothing more.