"Sawtooth Gold Centipede…" Bai Ningbing extended her slender, jade-like fingers and stroked the dark-gold carapace of this Third Transformation Gu, murmuring under her breath with a complicated expression. w w ..
She and Fang Yuan had fought bitterly, and she had suffered greatly at the hands of this Sawtooth Gold Centipede. She never imagined there would come a day when Fang Yuan would willingly lend it to her.
The way Fang Yuan had wielded the Sawtooth Gold Centipede had left a deep impression on her.
Bai Ningbing immediately followed his example, swinging the Sawtooth Gold Centipede back and forth like a greatsword.
Occasionally, she directed it with her will, and the centipede contracted and extended its body like a whip. The silver-edged serrations spun through the air, tracing eerie, distorted arcs of light.
"Celestial Canopy Gu!" She stored the Celestial Canopy Gu into her Empty Orifice, raised her brow, and quietly poured Silver True Essence into it. Instantly, a white luminescent phantom armor blazed across her entire body.
"Fate is truly mysterious. I never thought there would come a day when I'd be using your Gu Insects," she said, looking at Fang Yuan with a sigh.
Fang Yuan said nothing. Instead, he sat cross-legged beside the warm coal stones and closed his eyes.
He directed his consciousness into his Empty Orifice, and the Grade A Aptitude True Essence Sea, brimming and full, immediately appeared before him.
Ninety percent!
It had been just over forty percent before—now it had more than doubled in an instant.
"Although my cultivation has dropped from Third Transformation to First Transformation, and years of hard work have been wasted, it was all worth it!" Fang Yuan felt deeply satisfied.
Throughout history, Gu Masters who cultivated the Dao focused on three key priorities.
First, aptitude. Second, resources. Third, Gu Insects.
These three aspects were all indispensable—the very foundation of everything!
Previously, Fang Yuan had possessed only Grade C Aptitude, and had to rely on schemes and stratagems, scraping together resources and Gu Insects to compensate for his shortcomings as best he could. His years on Qing Mao Mountain had been extraordinarily difficult and arduous. Although his cultivation progress had been decent, it was entirely the result of exhausting his wits, pushing himself to the limit, and taking every risk he could.
If his aptitude had been Grade A from the start, his life would have been an entirely different spectacle—he would have already reached Third Transformation long ago.
"The workings of heaven are full of irony… Now I have Grade A Aptitude, but the stable, nurturing environment of the stockade is gone. In terms of resources and Gu Insects, I'm worse off than before."
Fang Yuan was now wandering the world on his own, his cultivation far too weak, constantly in mortal danger. It could not compare to the peace and stability of Qing Mao Mountain. And naturally, there was no longer a steady trade network to exchange what he needed.
"Fortunately, I have the Heaven Origin Treasure Lotus. The biggest problem with resources is solved—at least until Third Transformation, I won't need to worry." Fang Yuan's consciousness swept across his sea, and there, rooted in the seabed of his Empty Orifice amid the ninety-percent brimming Bronze True Essence Sea, sat a blue-and-white lotus flower. Its petals were full and plump, radiating an aura of sacred, immortal grace.
This Heaven Origin Treasure Lotus was a Third Transformation Gu, with immense developmental potential. To refine it, Fang Yuan had directly destroyed the Guye Clan's foundation—the Yuan Spring.
It was equivalent to a miniature, portable Yuan Spring. Back when Fang Yuan's cultivation had been at Third Transformation, it had been able to continuously restore his True Essence, giving him a recovery speed on par with Grade B.
Third Transformation cultivation used Silver True Essence. Now Fang Yuan was at Initial Stage of First Transformation, using Bronze True Essence. Within his Empty Orifice, the Heaven Origin Treasure Lotus pushed his True Essence recovery speed to an extraordinary level.
"If I use First Transformation Gu, my True Essence recovery is astonishing—practically inexhaustible. If I use one or two Second Transformation Gu, the surface of my True Essence Sea will drop, but with constant consumption and constant replenishment, the level will remain relatively stable. If I use a single Third Transformation Gu, my True Essence will plummet—consumption far outstripping recovery. I wouldn't last more than moments before my True Essence Sea dries up completely." Fang Yuan calculated silently.
After all, it was Bronze True Essence, and at the initial-stage emerald green quality at that—far too poor.
Aside from the Heaven Origin Treasure Lotus, Fang Yuan still had other Gu Insects.
First was his Life Gu, the Spring Autumn Cicada.
This Sixth Transformation Gu ranked seventh on the world's奇 list. Once it became a Life Gu, it could never be moved outside the Empty Orifice. Now it sat steadily at the very center.
After yet another rebirth, its former majesty was gone. The fierce yellow-green radiance had faded entirely, leaving it wilted, extremely weak.
It concealed its form, and as time flowed on, silently drew upon the waters of the River of Time, beginning yet another cycle of recovery.
Fang Yuan understood clearly: "In the short term, there is absolutely no way to use the Spring Autumn Cicada again. In this dangerous state, using it would mean drowning in the River of Time and wasting my life in a futile self-destruction."
With the pressure of the Spring Autumn Cicada gone, the other Gu Insects had reverted to their natural natures.
The Second Transformation Four Flavor Wine Worm, its chubby body cycling through four different hues of light, played happily on the high surface of the True Essence Sea.
The Hidden Scale Gu, resembling a fossilized carp, lay quietly on the seabed, letting the True Essence currents wash over its scales.
A black beetle with a pair of iron pincers on its head hovered and flew above the sea's surface—this was the Plunder Gu.
Circling and frolicking alongside it was the White Armor Yang Gu, the surviving half of the Yin-Yang Rebirth Gu.
The Fourth Transformation Blood Skull Gu had also sunk to the deepest reaches of the seabed, its surface occasionally flashing a vivid crimson glow.
As for the remaining Gu Insects—there was the Blood Moon Gu, which had transformed into a red crescent mark hidden in the palm of Fang Yuan's hand. The Earth Listening Grass had become one of Fang Yuan's ears, invisible under normal circumstances. The Tushita Flower rested upon the surface of his tongue.
And the Celestial Canopy Gu and Sawtooth Gold Centipede had just been lent to Bai Ningbing.
Counting them up, Fang Yuan currently had a total of twelve Gu Insects in his possession.
That was far too many!
Generally speaking, low-tier Gu Masters commonly held two or three Gu Insects. It was only at the Fourth or Fifth Transformation that the number would rise to four or five. Even the great Divine Hunter, Tie Xue Leng, had only around seven Gu Insects.
Never mind the Guye Clan's past generation, or the Heavenly Crane Elder—those were special cases, both being ancient monsters with centuries of accumulated resources.
The number of Gu Insects Fang Yuan possessed was three to four times that of an ordinary Gu Master. Too many would burden a Gu Master with crushing economic costs and unbearable logistical pressure.