The Pig Iron Gu was a Second Transformation Gu, shaped like a coal ball, fist-sized, pitch black, with countless tiny pores across its surface.
Fang Yuan poured Silver True Essence into it. The Pig Iron Gu hovered into the air, slowly rotating on its own, as dark, mist-like iron energy burst forth from its pores.
The Serrated Gold Centipede coiled at Fang Yuan's feet. Its dark golden carapace was covered in scars, and its two rows of silver-edged serrated teeth were badly damaged.
But as the iron energy surged over and blanketed those wounds, it gradually erased them.
The dark mist of iron energy was continuously consumed, and the Serrated Gold Centipede's two rows of teeth grew back at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Healing Gu were divided into categories. Some healed Gu Masters, some specifically treated various injuries, and some targeted Gu Insects.
For the Serrated Gold Centipede, the Pig Iron Gu was its healing Gu.
Half an hour later, the Pig Iron Gu grew smaller and smaller, shrinking from a fist-sized coal ball down to the size of a marble before finally dissipating completely.
It was a consumable Gu.
But its sacrifice brought about the Serrated Gold Centipede's full recovery.
The Serrated Gold Centipede now appeared completely renewed. Its two rows of silver-edged teeth gleamed as if brand new, radiating a sharp, cold light. Most of the scars on its dark golden carapace had healed. Only five or six shallow marks remained.
But this was of little consequence. Within a few weeks, these remaining marks would vanish as well, thanks to the Serrated Gold Centipede's own recovery ability.
However, without the Pig Iron Gu, relying solely on the centipede's natural recovery, it would have taken at least half a year for all the teeth to fully regrow.
The Serrated Gold Centipede was tough but lacked flexibility. While it had advantages such as low True Essence consumption and powerful offensive strikes, excessive rigidity led to brittleness—its recovery was a notable deficiency.
All things in the world were balanced. There was no Gu that was perfectly powerful in every regard. Where there were strengths, there had to be weaknesses. Even Sixth Transformation, Seventh Transformation, and higher Gu all followed this natural law.
"With this, the Serrated Gold Centipede's combat strength should be fully restored..." Fang Yuan reached out and gently stroked the centipede's cold carapace, his face somewhat pale.
Cold sweat glistened faintly on his pallid skin.
"Damn it, not now..." Fang Yuan gritted his teeth, his left hand instinctively pressing against his abdomen.
He directed his mind into his Empty Orifice and found the sea of Silver True Essence lying deathly still. The entire Empty Orifice was saturated with oppressive force.
All his other Gu had been brutally suppressed to the side. Only the Spring Autumn Cicada, hovering above the sea's surface at the center of his Empty Orifice, blazed with a magnificent radiance that shifted between yellow and green.
The Spring Autumn Cicada had not only fully restored both wings but had also gained a newfound luster across its main body.
Like an object falling from a great height—the closer it got to the ground, the faster it fell. The Spring Autumn Cicada's recovery speed followed the same principle. Having pushed past the initial slow and difficult phase, the more time passed, the faster it recovered.
And so, trouble arrived.
The Spring Autumn Cicada was a Sixth Transformation Gu, while Fang Yuan was merely a Third Transformation Gu Master. His Empty Orifice was increasingly unable to contain it.
Before, the Spring Autumn Cicada had been extremely weak, and the burden on his Empty Orifice had been light. But now, as the cicada gradually recovered and revealed the overwhelming power of a Sixth Transformation Gu, Fang Yuan's Empty Orifice was like a tiny temple that could not house a great deity!
"If this continues, the Spring Autumn Cicada might tear open my Empty Orifice and kill me before the Iron father and daughter uncover the truth! It truly never rains but it pours..."
The real solution was to advance his cultivation as quickly as possible. Once he became a Sixth Transformation Gu Master, his Empty Orifice would be capable of containing the Spring Autumn Cicada.
But this method was far too slow. In his previous life spanning five hundred years, it had taken Fang Yuan over four hundred years to cultivate to the Sixth Transformation.
He currently possessed Grade C Aptitude. Advancing from the Third Transformation to the Sixth Transformation would leave him severely lacking in time.
Besides this, there was one temporary solution.
That was to remove the Spring Autumn Cicada from his Empty Orifice and let it roam freely outside his body.
But this approach also carried enormous drawbacks.
First, the Spring Autumn Cicada was not a combat Gu and had no means of self-preservation—keeping it hidden inside the Empty Orifice was far safer. Second, whenever a Sixth Transformation Gu appeared, it disturbed the natural laws, causing extraordinary celestial phenomena within a certain radius. If it lingered in any location for too long, powerful Gu Masters would flock to investigate.
Fang Yuan was currently inside the stockade, surrounded by many prying ears, and watched closely by the Iron father and daughter. If the Spring Autumn Cicada were released outside his body, it would almost certainly be detected immediately.
Under these circumstances, he could only grit his teeth and endure.
"The Spring Autumn Cicada's recovery speed is accelerating. At this rate, I probably don't have much time left. Once I receive the forty thousand Yuan Stones from Gu Yue Mochen, I'll pluck the Heavenly Origin Lotus and leave this place. As for the Iron father and daughter... I can only take it one step at a time."
Fang Yuan sighed inwardly.
The matter of the Iron father and daughter could only be stalling tactics. But the Spring Autumn Cicada was no longer giving him time to stall.