Gu Hidden Within the Body

One point, two points, three points...

Li Qingyun counted with delight.

That seated shadow was cultivating, producing roughly one point of mana per second!

These scattered specks of mana, strewn across his meridians, multiplied and spread like stars in the sky, somewhat chaotic and disordered.

In the blink of an eye, a hundred points of "faint light" lit up!

Then, they drew toward each other, like raindrops gathering into a trickle, suddenly coalescing into a thread of mana that slithered like silk!

This thread of mana, following the circulation path of the "Precious Furnace Qi Absorption Art," moved with spirit through his meridians.

Wherever it passed, his barren inner world and frail body began to benefit, nourished and repaired...

Just as the Precious Furnace Qi Absorption Art described, the three treasures—essence, qi, and spirit—were being nurtured.

"A hundred seconds for a hundred points, a hundred points gather into one thread... How many threads make up one furnace of mana in Lu Nanling's terms?"

"At this rate, I might enter the Dao in half a day, stepping into Qi Refining Layer One, no worse than those so-called geniuses and prodigies..."

Yet, he had no time to rejoice.

No sooner had the first thread of mana formed within him than a sharp pain stabbed at his heart.

He felt something lurking deep in his heart, awakened by the mana's stimulation, now devouring, tearing, and tossing about.

In particular, that freshly cultivated thread of mana vanished like mud into the sea, swallowed whole by whatever was in his heart.

"What's going on? How is there such a bizarre Gu worm in my heart?"

Using a trace of newly born mana for inner vision, he saw a horrifying sight!

Deep within his heart coiled a strange, pale-white worm!

Its body resembled a white silkworm, but it exuded a ferocious aura, ravenous and greedy, vicious in appearance!

He shuddered with cold, his body trembling.

He had no idea when he'd been ensnared, secretly implanted with a Gu worm by someone's spell, and in such a vital place as his heart.

His thoughts raced, memories of life in the marquis's mansion flashing before his eyes like a lantern show.

Then, it all clicked.

"Fine, the Cui family of Hejian, fine, my heir of a big brother, what a venomous scheme!"

"No wonder they were so at ease letting me join the temple. I thought they just deemed me a mortal clay body, that cultivation would be futile. But I never imagined that mother and son had secretly placed this insidious shackle on me!"

"This must be the legendary Spirit Devouring Gu! They say when it lodges in a cultivator's body, it constantly devours mana. Once it's fed enough to grow, it goes further, consuming the soul and blood essence, eventually turning from a silkworm into a butterfly, cracking its shell and bursting out. And the original host it parasitized naturally meets his end..."

Li Qingyun felt a storm surge within him, hard to calm.

He wasn't ignorant of Gu worms and other heretical arts; in fact, he'd gathered and studied quite a bit.

He just never imagined that the primary wife, Cui, and the heir would go so far as to utterly destroy him!

Once it came down to real competition for benefits, these "natives" like Cui turned out to be this ruthless and cold-blooded!

Whether it was Li Jiuling's "Yang Sha Refining" or Cui's covert Gu technique, both were heretical arts, at the very bottom of this world's supernatural hierarchy.

But to mortals, they were still an unbreakable force of suppression.

Li Qingyun had thought leaving the marquis's mansion meant escaping the cage. How could he have known that even at Lingbao Temple, he'd still be under the shadow of the Cui family of Hejian, controlled from afar?

Recalling Yin Xunshan's insufferable face on the way to Lingbao Temple, he finally understood why that old servant had been so brazen and unafraid...

At that moment, the Spirit Devouring Silkworm coiled deep in his heart, having tasted mana, grew excited, constantly shaking its head and wagging its tail, unceremoniously devouring every bit of mana his body produced.

Its feeding was ugly, like an insatiable glutton.

"Let this Daoist Master see just how much you can eat. I hope you don't choke to death!"

Li Qingyun watched the plump, white Spirit Devouring Silkworm. After swallowing a few threads of mana, its body visibly swelled, and his mind stirred.

He steeled himself, maintaining his seated posture, letting mana flow endlessly.

Allowing it to feast freely.

"Everything has its limits. The Spirit Devouring Silkworm can't be an exception. After all, it's still a heretical art, and just a larva..."

With the mysterious Daoist shadow in his mind as his foundation, Li Qingyun had confidence.

An hour passed.

Nearly two hours passed.

One poured in relentlessly, the other devoured with all its might. Li Qingyun endured bitterly, bearing the torment.

Unknowingly, dusk had nearly fallen.

Outside the bamboo hut, the last rays of sunset faded from the sky. The maple leaves covering the mountain glowed dark red, beautiful yet tinged with a blood-dyed eeriness.

"Junior Brother Qingyun, have you been meditating this whole time? Diligent, I'll give you that! But just sitting won't cut it—you need to follow the qi-gathering postures from the technique manual!"

He Xiao had finally woken up, the room thick with the smell of wine.

He got up to wash up and saw Li Qingyun sitting there with a stern face, stubbornly grinding away at meditation like he was locked in a contest. He couldn't help shaking his head and letting out a laugh.

In his view, this was just blind practice without the right method.

No talent, no insight, and dumb to boot—this roommate of his was really pitiful!

"Practicing the technique without any sense of qi, and you think sitting there like an idiot will let you gather it? Sure enough, stupidity is the biggest obstacle on the path of cultivation..."

Under the contrast of his pig-like roommate, He Xiao's sense of superiority swelled naturally.

"Take a break. I'll take you to the dining hall. If we're late, we won't be able to get the good stuff..."

He Xiao's smile grew even brighter as he walked over to pull Li Qingyun off the bed.

"Then I'll trouble Brother He to lead the way. I'd like to see what the dining hall has to offer!"

Li Qingyun stood up, stretching his numb and aching limbs. His smile was a bit forced, which in He Xiao's eyes came off as a look of chagrin.

Of course Li Qingyun was a bit annoyed.

Nearly two whole hours!

If it weren't for that Spirit Devouring Silkworm coiled around his heart, he felt he should have already made progress in cultivation, at least possessing one furnace of mana!

That was the entry standard Lu Nanling had mentioned, also known as Qi Refining Layer One in the Precious Furnace Qi Absorption Art!

But this Spirit Devouring Silkworm had devoured all his mana cleanly.

Though the silkworm's body was now bloated, more than twice its size since awakening, it hadn't burst. Instead, its aura grew even stronger.

It was in high spirits.

"At this rate, I might just be fattening up this bug for nothing..."

Just then, He Xiao woke up and invited him, so Li Qingyun stopped meditating.

Leaving the bamboo hut, he walked side by side with He Xiao, chatting and laughing.

In the hazy dusk, night began to shroud the mountain forest. He saw cultivators emerging from the nearby bamboo huts, hurrying toward the dining hall.

They were all disciples of the temple, much like him. At least half of them had no trace of mana fluctuation on their bodies, meaning they hadn't truly entered the gate—that is, they hadn't condensed a single furnace of mana.