Removing Hidden Dangers

Taking the opportunity to clarify things for Li Qingyun, these people also enthusiastically pushed their businesses:

"Junior Brother Li, if you need Minor Grass Pills in the future, you can come find me. I have connections and can get them for two fen cheaper than the inner alchemy room!"

"Qingyun, your senior brother here also has some resources. For those common cultivation techniques and essentials from the Scripture Depository, I have cheaper channels!"

"High-quality talisman paper, peach wood, even iron essence – I have plenty of stock here and guarantee the most favorable prices for you, junior brother!"

"Qingyun, if you have a source for Qingyang Fish, why not sell it to us first..."

Every one of them was sharp as a tack, with their own ways of making a living. No wonder they could afford the high prices at the mess hall without batting an eye!

Li Qingyun chatted and ate with He Xiao, Yin Huan, Ge Xiaohong, and others, quickly becoming much more familiar with them.

As the third young master of Marquis Qinghe's Estate, he was also a key target for He Xiao and the others to befriend.

They had no idea that Li Qingyun was actually a "deposed" individual, unable to leverage his family's influence, let alone anything like Qingyang Fish.

Otherwise, these senior brothers would surely have a different attitude.

After eating, everyone left the mess hall.

Halfway there, He Xiao and Ge Xiaohong were arm in arm, heading to some sort of Dharma discussion meeting that night.

Li Qingyun, however, called out to Yin Huan, with whom he had had a good conversation earlier.

"Brother Yin, you mentioned earlier that you have ways to acquire spells. I was wondering if you could get me a method for expelling and eliminating Gu worms, or any other method?"

A Spirit Devouring Gu was coiled in his heart, greedily devouring everything. He naturally wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible.

"Expelling Gu? Of course, there are spells for that. But I see you haven't cultivated any Mana yet. Even if you had the method, you wouldn't be able to cast it."

Under the lamplight of the night, Yin Huan looked at Li Qingyun's pale face and became a bit more serious. After a moment of thought, he offered his suggestion.

"Qingyun, I know an uncle-master in the monastery. If it's for expelling your Gu, I can ask him to act. It's just a minor side-path technique; it certainly won't leave any hidden dangers! But the cost is a bit high, at least ten spirit stones, and the final price will depend on the difficulty!"

At least ten spirit stones!

Li Qingyun was momentarily speechless and sighed inwardly.

"Brother Yin, I'll have to see. Actually, it's for a friend who was afflicted with Gu. I was hoping to see if the monastery had any solutions..." He could only politely decline.

Li Qingyun knew the importance of spirit stones; they were the currency and cultivation resources for true cultivators.

One spirit stone was worth at least ten taels of gold, but no amount of gold could necessarily buy spirit stones.

In this world, the line between mortals and cultivators wasn't clearly defined; they were mixed together. Many unorthodox forces, transcendent aristocratic families, and rogue cultivators dominated various regions in the mortal world.

Because of the rampant demons and the emergence of strange occurrences, mortals couldn't survive or reproduce without the protection of transcendent cultivators.

The so-called You Kingdom's royal family itself was the largest transcendent aristocratic family in the mortal realm, reportedly backed by a very powerful sect.

Thus, over the years, spirit stones and even magical artifacts inevitably trickled down to mortals.

A few years ago, Li Qingyun, relying on the background of the Marquis's Estate and his foresight and intellect from his previous life, managed the region and engaged in large-scale industries, even accumulating dozens of spirit stones. However, they had all fallen into the hands of the Cui family and others by now.

Maple leaves danced, red like blood, as the two parted at a mountain path fork.

Li Qingyun had no desire to wander and returned directly to his bamboo hut.

I don't believe you can absorb it all, no matter how much Mana I produce...

He thought to himself and continued to meditate.

The Daoist effigy phantom in his mind immediately appeared. "He" sat cross-legged with a serene expression, a phantom version of the Precious Furnace Qi Absorption Art booklet floating before him.

The Daoist effigy phantom's eyes were downcast, sitting motionless like a stone sculpture. However, wisps of clear Qi began to emerge from the top of its head.

And within Li Qingyun's body, in the meridians and acupoints crisscrossing like water channels, faint lights of Mana began to sprout, here and there, with no particular pattern.

These faint Mana lights illuminated the dark void within his body.

This internal dark void couldn't be measured by external space; just like meridians and acupoints, how large could the spatial capacity be if measured by external scales?

Yet, for cultivators with profound cultivation, their acupoints were like the creation of heaven and earth, capable of holding surging Mana and containing magical treasures and artifacts. It was truly profound and mysterious.

The dark void within a cultivator's body was often characterized in this world's Daoist scriptures and texts using concepts like Inner Scenery, Divine Treasury, and Heart-like.

The Precious Furnace Qi Absorption Art also mentioned the dark void within the body:

"Once the Refining the Three Treasures is accomplished, one can observe the inner Divine Treasury and tap into greater potential..."

It didn't elaborate further.

As Li Qingyun looked inward, he found the seemingly boundless dark void within his body to be incredibly mysterious and wondrous, even inspiring a sense of awe and trepidation towards the unknown.

Perhaps he would understand more if he read more profound scriptures and Daoist texts in the future.

But for now, he could only hold onto this doubt.

Soon.

Within Li Qingyun's body, the scattered faint Mana lights, drawn to each other, converged again into a thin stream of Mana.

Then, the increasingly plump Spirit Devouring Silkworm deep within his heart wriggled its body, opened its mouth, and absorbed this stream of Mana.

This appetite seems bottomless!

He was inwardly alarmed, not knowing where the limit of this Spirit Devouring Silkworm's consumption lay.

You see, before it even went to the mess hall, it had already ruined one or two furnaces of his mana!

But, let's just keep going then!

Mana continuously surged forth, and the Spirit Devouring Silkworm didn't stop eating, devouring it all.

Its pale white silkworm body continued to expand outwards, becoming more and more plump and chubby.

After an unknown amount of time, faint wisps of yellow light began to crackle and scatter from the surface of the Gu worm.

Li Qingyun's heart lifted, finally seeing hope.

"This Gu worm, after continuously devouring, has finally become somewhat saturated."

Under his observation, this chubby silkworm was about to burst, yet it couldn't control its mouth and continued to devour voraciously, greedily consuming every wisp of his mana.

"This Gu worm must have been enchanted; it can only keep devouring!"

"The Cui family can't tolerate me cultivating mana, but how could they have predicted that now, as long as I meditate, mana will be generated endlessly..."

Time flowed by, and it was already late at night, the moon casting its glow over the crimson Maple Mountain.

Finally, he joyfully discovered that after its body had expanded several times, the speed at which the Spirit Devouring Silkworm devoured mana finally began to slow down.

It even started to resist the absorption of mana.

But due to its orders, it could only continue to devour with anxiety.

It instinctively began to save itself, its plump silkworm body curling its head and tail together, forming a fat ring flashing with yellow light, preparing to enter a state of metamorphosis.

Li Qingyun saw this and felt an increasing sense of urgency, knowing he couldn't give it a chance to breathe.

Otherwise, he might fail at the last step!

He had a premonition that once this Gu silkworm transformed, its devouring ability would surely increase significantly, and he would be even more passive.

"Tonight, you will be stuffed to death..."

Two hours passed.

Li Qingyun maintained his meditative posture for a long time, once again feeling his muscles go numb, his limbs tingling, his meridians throbbing with pain, and even stars appearing before his eyes.

Even after being nourished by mana for a short while, his physical body was still trash, unable to withstand the prolonged stimulation of mana.

But for the sake of his own path, he had to grit his teeth and persist.

Tonight, either the Spirit Devouring Gu or he would remain!

"Buzz!"

Suddenly, as if from the depths of the void, a muffled thunder-like sound echoed.

The entire bamboo hut instantly trembled, and dust rained down from the roof.