Beginning Gu Refining

"Who cares! I'll find out if I give it a try, won't I?"

To refine Gu, he first had to feed all the Primordial Gu until they reached level five.

So Jiang Yiming first went out and bought a domestically made phone for a little over a thousand yuan.

He could have splurged on a domestic flagship phone costing several thousand yuan, but raising Gu was simply too expensive. He figured he should spend every penny on it, so in the end, he saved wherever he could.

It didn't matter if his phone was cheaper. Raising Gu was what mattered.

After switching his old SIM card over, he immediately called Boss Rou and ordered 2,000 jin of chicken carcasses in one go!

Once the chicken carcasses had been brought inside, Jiang Yiming sent the deliveryman on his way, then hurriedly shut the door and began raising his Gu.

A dark mass of Gu insects was released in an instant. Every one of them was ravenous, circling the chicken carcasses.

"Eat!"

At his command, several level-four Spider Gu were the first to leap forward, swinging their claws to tear open the bags.

Not to be outdone, the Centipede Gu rammed into the bags headfirst. With a slash of their two fangs, they easily burrowed inside and began eating from within.

The crunching and gnawing continued for more than two hours. By the time it stopped, nothing remained of the chicken carcasses but a few bone fragments, and all the Primordial Gu had reached level five!

Because the spiders he had caught belonged to different species, their sizes varied once they reached level five. The largest were as big as dinner plates, while the smallest were only the size of fists.

The centipedes were better off. He had caught mostly the same species, so after reaching level five, they were all about half a meter long and as thick as a child's arm.

"How am I supposed to refine them when they're so different in size?"

Seeing such a huge difference in their sizes, Jiang Yiming worried it would be unfair.

But once he put five Primordial Gu into the Gu Refining Plate, his concern vanished completely.

The five Gu insects appeared in five separate corners of the Gu Refining Plate.

The Centipede Gu, originally half a meter long, had shrunk considerably to around thirty centimeters. The Spider Gu, originally the size of a fist, had grown a size larger.

"The Gu Refining Plate can actually balance the Gu insects' strength too!!"

Come to think of it, if the Gu insects' strength differed too greatly, it wouldn't be Gu refining, but a slaughter. A Gu refined that way would inevitably be a little weaker.

Now that their strength had been balanced, the Centipede Gu still had the advantage of length, but it was much less pronounced. The Spider Gu could also put up a fight thanks to their jumping ability.

Besides balancing their strength, the Gu Refining Plate had another feature—it stirred up their fighting spirit!

The five Gu insects had originally been quite peaceful. Even when crowded together, they wouldn't touch a single hair on one another's legs.

But the moment they entered the Gu Refining Plate, they lost their minds. They charged from the five corners toward the center together and became locked in a fight!

A Centipede Gu opened its venomous fangs and bit a Spider Gu's leg, snapping it off in an instant. It was about to continue attacking when the Centipede Gu beside it bit its tail, forcing it to turn around and attack behind itself.

A Spider Gu leaped onto another Spider Gu's back, but just as it was about to bite, the spider beneath it spat out a web and wrapped it up.

After a fierce struggle, the final victor was a Primordial Centipede Gu.

Once the Centipede Gu won, the other Gu insects turned into points of light and drifted into its body.

The Centipede Gu couldn't withstand the power it had gained and writhed and struggled on the ground in pain. Moments later, it suddenly stiffened and lay still, then burst apart on the spot, turning into a cluster of light...

The points of light didn't disappear. Instead, they flew out of the Gu Refining Plate and entered Jiang Yiming's dantian!

"What's going on?"

As he wondered, a system notification arrived.

[Gu refining failed. Obtained 5 Gu Refining Points.]

Those few words left Jiang Yiming dumbstruck.

He had seen the Gu insect burst apart and die with his own eyes, but deep down, he had still mistakenly believed that Gu refining was guaranteed to succeed.

Just then, another system notification sounded.

[Congratulations, host. You have absorbed Gu Essential Essence, successfully opened your dantian's sea of qi, and embarked on the path of Gu cultivation.]

Gu Essential Essence... Were those points of light just now? And what does Gu cultivation mean?

As he wondered, a great deal of information appeared in his mind. Once he had digested it, he understood at once.

"After Gu refining fails, all the Gu insects' power, including their bodies, turns into Gu Essential Essence and enters the sea of qi."

"Gu Essential Essence is like the spirit stone crystals in novels. It only stays in the sea of qi temporarily. It can't be used until it's refined into Gu Essence."

At that thought, Jiang Yiming understood that he now needed to further refine the Gu Essential Essence into his own Gu Essence.

But he had no idea how!

"Without a secret manual for refining essential essence, all I can do now is stare helplessly," he said with a wry smile. "Right now, I'm like a mortal in a novel who's obtained spirit stones. I only know they can increase spiritual energy, but I don't know how to use them."

"Sigh... Even if I can't use it now, I'll be able to someday."

That was the only way he could comfort himself for now. Then he continued refining Gu.

Another five Primordial Gu were placed in the Gu Refining Plate. A little while later, one Gu insect emerged as the final winner, but unfortunately, it too failed to make it through the final fusion stage. Its body burst apart as well, turning into a cluster of light that entered Jiang Yiming's sea of qi.

After that, he persisted through more than ten attempts without successfully refining a single Gu insect. Instead, the Gu Essential Essence in his own sea of qi increased considerably.

"With a success rate this low, how is this Gu refining? It's clearly refining me!"

He had already started refining Gu, so there was no reason to stop, no matter how difficult it was. After complaining, he continued.

Failure after failure followed, until he couldn't bear to watch.

In the end, after putting five Primordial Gu into the Gu Refining Plate, he paid them no mind and didn't look, waiting outside with his eyes closed for the result.

When points of light flew out and entered his sea of qi, he knew the refining had failed and put more Gu inside.

The Gu Refining Plate had become like a slaughterhouse, endlessly reaping the lives of Gu insects.

After putting in another five Primordial Gu, Jiang Yiming waited once more. After a long while, the cluster of light still hadn't floated out. Instead, a system notification sounded!

[Congratulations, host. Gu refining succeeded. Obtained Yellow Rank Gu insect: Red Tail Centipede Gu.]

The wonderful notification instantly made him jump for joy.

"I finally got one!"

He hurried to look at the Gu Refining Plate and saw a Centipede Gu lying in the center. It was over twenty centimeters long and glossy black all over, except for its crimson tail.

Excited, Jiang Yiming took out the Red Tail Centipede Gu and played with it for quite a while. Only then did he reluctantly put it on the ground and continue refining Gu.

When good luck came, nothing could stop it. After only a few more attempts, he actually succeeded again!

This time, it was a Yellow Rank Ghost Face Spider Gu. It was the size of a palm, and its round back was covered in wrinkles that made it look like a ghost's face!