The five men who had fallen to the ground calmed down a little. Their ear flaps twitched, and judging by the sounds, Liu Xing was clearly right in front of them.
But when they looked, the scene before their eyes was like the Compound Eyes of an insect, pieced together from hundreds of tiny images. It was utterly chaotic.
In their fragmented vision, one saw Liu Xing on the left, another saw him behind and to the right, while to Ma Kun, Liu Xing was simply floating in midair.
Only someone with exceptional eyesight, or a Daoist well-versed in calculation, might have been able to pick out Liu Xing's true position from those hundreds of disordered images.
"Close your eyes. He's only just hatched an Exotic Gu. There's no need to fear him..."
Unwilling to give up, the five shut their eyes and tried to locate Liu Xing by sound.
The next moment, from the perspective of the Gu Children watching nearby, five ugly madmen stood with their eyes closed, surrounding Liu Xing. Dense swarms of Gu insects, like black smoke, rose from their bodies.
"Bzzzz..."
Crawling on the ground, flying through the air, coming from every direction—Gu insects of every bizarre shape filled the scene.
The yellow mud and the fine rain hanging in midair seemed to turn black all at once.
Liu Xing's smile faded. As he released his own Gu insects, he grabbed the sleeves of his robe with both hands and yanked.
With two sharp rips, his sleeves came off, revealing six more eyes on each arm.
As his arms moved, the twelve eyes formed Motion Vision, swiftly tracking the movements of the five men and their Gu insects.
A sharp-eyed Gu Servant noticed that Liu Xing had another vertical eye hidden among the hair at the back of his head.
Counting them up, he had seven extra eyes on his face, six on each arm, and one at the back of his head. Liu Xing had grown a full twenty extra eyes.
Though surrounded, Liu Xing dodged with ease, occasionally blocking the five men's attacks.
The swarms of Gu insects could only chase him in circles. Only when he failed to dodge in time did Liu Xing use his own Gu insects to wear down theirs.
"From what I can tell, this Exotic Gu gives me three advantages: first, expanded vision; second, Motion Vision; third, the ability to disrupt other people's vision." Liu Xing had deliberately used the five men for practice.
But before ten exchanges had passed, he lost interest in continuing.
He needed to fight Gu Masters at his own level to gain experience. Fighting these five would do little to reveal his own weaknesses.
"That's enough."
Liu Xing's arms suddenly swelled several times over, returning to their grotesquely thick and misshapen state. With sweeping blows and crushing strikes, aided by his expanded vision and Motion Vision, every attack landed.
Ma Kun pounced from behind. Liu Xing didn't even turn around—a fist as big as a head smashed into his face.
In the blink of an eye, all five men lay sprawled in the mud.
Liu Xing strode over to Ma Kun and stared straight into the Dead Eye on his face. He smiled. "The Dead Eyes on you five are useless against me. They might work on other people, though. You could call them half-finished."
As he spoke, Liu Xing's expression turned strange. He glanced at several Gu Children seated on the ground nearby.
When those children looked at the Dead Eyes on Ma Kun and the others, their vision blurred. If they stared for too long, they grew dizzy and light-headed, unable to control themselves.
"I'd rather not have them," Ma Kun cried hysterically, clawing at his face again.
"That's not up to you. Unless you're willing to cut away your flesh and bones along with them!"
Liu Xing scoffed and paid the five no more attention.
"Liu, you're celebrating too soon. You won't be the only one going to see the Valley Master. We'll see if you make it out alive."
"We've been reduced to Gu Servants, but you may not make it out with your life."
"That Liu Feng is treacherous and ruthless. You can't beat him. He'll take your worthless life for sure..."
The five were more rational than before. After cursing Liu Xing, they exchanged bitter smiles.
At their words, Liu Xing's face darkened as he turned to leave.
As Ma Kun and the others had said, judging by the situation before they left the Medicine Garden, Liu Feng was all but certain to hatch an Exotic Gu.
Liu Xing had fought Liu Feng before. With his Soldier Gu, Split-Tooth, and that strange technique that made Liu Xing miss with every attack, Liu Xing might truly be no match for him.
"I've suffered every hardship to make it this far. How could I die at the hands of some greenhorn? I need to make arrangements soon."
"But I wonder, now that I've hatched an Exotic Gu, why hasn't Liu Feng shown himself..."
The Compound Eyes Liu Xing had yet to put away blinked. The scenery around him, along with the faces of more than a hundred Gu Children, all fell into his sight.
"Hm? The man beside Third Senior Brother... is Second Senior Brother!"
He had meant to see how many of the others who had received Exotic Gu had hatched theirs, just as he had. He hadn't expected to spot Second Senior Brother Shen Yushu.
At that moment, beneath a stone overhang about twenty zhang inside the entrance to Insect Valley,
two young men stood side by side. One was burly, the other tall and slender.
They watched Liu Xing's back from afar and exchanged a glance. Zhu Li said in a low voice, "This Exotic Gu is called 'Evolution Pupil.' From what Liu Xing just showed us, it seems to have some useful tricks."
Beside him stood Second Senior Brother Shen Yushu, who had just returned. He was handsome, with the appearance of a scholar.
"It does have its uses. But if Liu... what was his name again? If that fellow tried it against you, Third Junior Brother, a few punches from your brute strength would turn him into a lump of mangled flesh."
Hearing Shen Yushu's assessment, Zhu Li gave a noncommittal nod.
It wasn't arrogance on his part. That was simply the truth.
Many Gu techniques that supported or hindered others were less effective than those built for killing.
Take his Exotic Gu, Ox Eater: simple and direct. Its host had the domineering physique of a martial fighter. Once he struck, he kept going until his opponent was dead or crippled.
"I returned on important business to report to Master. I'll go see him first."
As Shen Yushu spoke, he beckoned behind him. Two Spirit Monsters were crouched there: an Ape Spirit and a Black Wolf Spirit.
The two Spirit Monsters wore cloaks, and their beastly eyes were remarkably clear-minded, without a trace of an animal's usual dullness.
Their minds weren't influenced by Shen Yushu's Mountain God Gu technique, as the minds of plant spirits were. He had subdued them by planting Gu in them.
Zhu Li followed for a couple of steps and casually asked, "Oh, you didn't come back for the Soldier Gu, Split-Tooth?"
"Of course not. Something happened to Eldest Senior Brother. Someone's hunting him, and who knows where he's fled to these past few days."
"Eldest Senior Brother is about to shed his mortal shell and attain a Two-Life Body. Master even summoned him back, and now something happens at such a critical moment!"
The two walked and talked, while Zhu Li listened to Shen Yushu's account.
It turned out that a band of sinister Daoists had appeared from who knew where. They called themselves the White Sun Sect. Once Shen Yushu learned that the sect's wicked Daoists were hunting Eldest Senior Brother, he naturally kept well away.
Shen Yushu hadn't dared to step in and fight. He had only gathered some information.
The White Sun Sect's Daoists were skilled at wielding Nether Fire and drawing talismans on human skin. Eldest Senior Brother had fallen out with them over some object they were fighting to claim.
"I'll report it to Master first and see what he decides. There's nothing I can do about it anyway." Shen Yushu spread his hands and spoke coolly.
As the two walked, two Gu Servants hurried toward them from the opposite direction.
One was a man and the other a woman. Both were missing an arm! They dropped to their knees before Shen Yushu.
"Second Senior Brother, if you'd come back any later, my sibling and I might not have lived to see you."
"Some villain stole our medicine and then hacked us into cripples. Please, Senior Brother, do us justice..."
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