Gu Insect Reversal

Ten days later, the black-dotted larva finally began to spin silk and form a cocoon.

This larva's growth period lasted a full month, ten days longer than the others, and its aura was dozens of times stronger than when the normal larvae had cocooned.

Another half-month passed, and it finally broke out of its cocoon, maturing into a true Beetle Gu.

However, it did not directly grow into a Holy Armor Gu as Song Wen had hoped.

According to the records in the Blood Gu Technique, ordinary Beetle Gu were gray, while a true Holy Armor Gu was ink-black.

This particular Beetle Gu only had a black abdomen; its back carapace and head remained gray.

"What went wrong?"

Song Wen frowned deeply. He lacked experience in raising Gu insects and had no fellow cultivators to consult, relying entirely on the Blood Gu Technique and the old woman's insights. Seeing the Beetle Gu develop this way, he could not tell if it was a good sign or a bad omen.

Right then, a sudden change occurred.

The Beetle Gu, which had been resting calmly in Song Wen's palm, suddenly grew violent.

A powerful aura erupted from its body, clearly reaching the mid-stage of Qi Refining-roughly around the fourth layer. It was far beyond what Song Wen, who was only at the late second layer of Qi Refining, could withstand.

Song Wen's expression warped as a dark premonition surged in his heart.

"Is the Gu rebelling?"

Having been utterly absorbed in nurturing the insects, Song Wen suddenly recalled a crucial detail: when using a Gu cauldron, if a Gu insect's strength far surpassed its master's, it would grow unwilling to be controlled and could turn on its creator.

"Ah!"

A sharp, agonizing pain pierced Song Wen's Sea of Consciousness, as if countless steel needles were repeatedly stabbing into his brain. Caught completely off guard, he cried out, clutching his head as he began to writhe in agony.

The backlash came too fast, leaving him virtually no time to think or devise a proper response.

Yet, even in this crisis, Song Wen did not lose his head.

According to the Blood Gu Technique, he had only two choices.

First, he could forcibly sever his spiritual connection to the Gu, granting it freedom.

Second, he could use his own fleshly body as a Gu cauldron, refining the insect with an abundant amount of his essence blood until it submitted completely.

Without a moment's hesitation, Song Wen chose the second option.

The first path carried immense danger. A freed Gu insect, no longer under his control, might immediately turn around and kill him. At that point, it wouldn't be a master-servant backlash, but an attack by a hostile beast.

If he succeeded with the second path, he would gain a powerful combat asset-one that would leave him with few equals among early-stage Qi Refining cultivators.

Having cultivated the Divine Restriction Technique, Song Wen's spiritual power already surpassed the vast majority of early-stage Qi Refining cultivators, rivaling someone at the peak of the third layer.

Relying on this powerful spiritual force, Song Wen suppressed the splitting headache, opened his mouth, and swallowed the Gu insect whole.

Once inside his stomach, the Beetle Gu did not remain passive; it immediately began burrowing into his internal organs.

Fortunately, Song Wen's basic connection to the Beetle Gu remained intact. He restricted its movements while executing the refinement methods detailed in the Blood Gu Technique.

Under his command, a massive amount of essence blood gathered, flooding the area to submerge the Beetle Gu.

Essence blood, thick with human vitality, was precisely the nourishment a Gu insect craved. The Beetle Gu instinctively began to devour it.

As the insect consumed the vital blood, Song Wen's refinement speed accelerated.

By the time the Beetle Gu had gorged itself on an amount equal to roughly twice the volume of Song Wen's own natural reserves, he finally completed the refinement.

The Beetle Gu quieted down, nesting motionlessly within his abdomen.

Because it had consumed so much essence blood at once, the insect was sluggish with indigestion and needed time to assimilate the energy.

Song Wen let out a long, ragged breath. The refinement process just now had been fraught with extreme peril. Had his spirit wavered for even a fraction of a second, the Beetle Gu would have slipped his control entirely. If it had run rampant inside his body, his only end would have been death and the destruction of his cultivation path.

"It seems I must remain absolute in my caution, even during normal cultivation. The path of cultivation is truly a minefield of crises; the slightest oversight leads straight to the abyss."

Looking at the seven ordinary Beetle Gu remaining in the Gu cauldron, Song Wen hardened his heart and chose to refine them all into his body as well.

At the same time, a bold idea took root in his mind.

He wanted to mass-produce these Black-bellied Beetle Gu!

For a long time to come, the Black-bellied Beetle Gu would serve as his primary source of martial strength.

Once Beetle Gu reached maturity, they could mate and reproduce.

However, ordinary Gu masters strictly regulated breeding. Reproduction drained a massive amount of an insect's innate essence Qi. If this essence Qi was not replenished promptly, the insect could perish or suffer a severe drop in strength.

To replenish it in time required a massive toll on the master's own essence blood and resources.

Furthermore, nurturing the next generation demanded an equally staggering amount of blood and materials.

These limitations severely bottlenecked the size of any Gu master's swarm.

But essence blood was the one thing Song Wen did not lack. At worst, he could simply steal more blood from the Corpse Dismemberment Cave to feed them.

The resources needed to sustain them, however, were slightly more troublesome.

From his previous sale of essence blood, Song Wen had earned over four hundred Spirit Stones. After deducting his daily cultivation expenses, he had about 230 Spirit Stones left.

Currently, he had another five bottles of essence blood prepared for sale.

Selling essence blood required absolute discretion. If he drew unwanted attention, or if a familiar disciple of the Corpse Demon Sect recognized the goods, he would find it impossible to explain their origin.

Yet, despite the risks, the essence blood had to be sold. It was currently his fastest method for securing Spirit Stones and resources.

The Black-bellied Beetle Gu was male, while four of the seven ordinary insects were female.

To ensure a stronger lineage for the next generation, Song Wen restricted the breeding rights of the three ordinary males, allowing the Black-bellied Beetle Gu to claim all four females.

In truth, even without Song Wen's intervention, the three ordinary males stood little chance of mating; the power gap between them and the Black-bellied Beetle Gu was simply too vast.

One month later.

The four female insects began to lay eggs, producing a total of twelve-three from each female.

It was also worth noting that, backed by ample resources, Song Wen's cultivation smoothly advanced to the third layer of Qi Refining.

By now, Song Wen had been at the Corpse Demon Sect for six months. To keep from drawing suspicion, he deliberately suppressed his aura to the second layer of Qi Refining.

This perfectly matched the expected progress for someone with a grade-six medium spiritual root.

Seven days later, the eggs began to hatch inside his body.

Perhaps because he was using his own fleshly body as a cauldron, the hatching process went incredibly fast. In just a single day, nine of the twelve eggs hatched into larvae-all of them ordinary.

However, the remaining three eggs showed no signs of movement.

This brought a surge of anticipation to Song Wen's heart. Perhaps these three laggards would develop into the special variants he so desired.

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