Devour You All

Inside Liu Feng's stone chamber, he did not light a lamp, as was his custom.

Days had passed, and he, immersed in the Buddhist Guidance Technique, suddenly opened his eyes.

"Zen Eye Technique." Liu Feng focused his gaze inward, looking at the skeleton within his body.

On the very last vertebra of his spine, a faint trace of golden light had emerged.

This wisp of golden light was dim; compared to the Buddha light left upon his spine by the White Bone Buddha, it was like a single blade of tender grass mixed into a golden river.

Liu Feng could not help but feel a twinge of disappointment, muttering to himself, "I need to sprout a Buddha Root, but this is at most just a few root hairs... It seems it will take some time to truly enter the gate."

He sighed here, unaware that it had taken the Ape Spirit three years to comprehend the Buddha power, and another half a year just to sprout those "root hairs."

Liu Feng possessed the Buddha light left behind by the Buddha, bypassing the need to comprehend the power, and had sprouted root hairs on his bones in a mere few days—he was entirely oblivious to the hardships of this path!

"Still, they are tough-lived; worthy of being wild spirits and monsters." Collecting his thoughts, Liu Feng turned his attention to the two creatures.

These two fellows had been reduced to their final breaths, yet they stubbornly refused to die.

He raised his hand in a beckoning gesture, and the Soldier Gu "Split-Tooth" crawled back onto his back, while the swarms of Gu insects across the floor were recalled like bees returning to a hive.

Checking his own injuries, the six flesh wounds were no longer a concern, though his two broken ribs would require some time to heal; however, they would not significantly hinder his movements.

Just as he was about to rise, two steady sets of footsteps echoed from the corridor.

Looking toward the entrance of the stone chamber, the figure of Third Senior Brother Zhu Li appeared.

Beside him stood a handsome youth whom Liu Feng had never seen before, but judging by his cold, sinister gaze, Liu Feng knew exactly who he was.

"Liu Feng greets the two Senior Brothers." Liu Feng bowed his hands in a calm, unhurried manner.

Zhu Li ignored the two creatures on the floor and said in a deep voice, "Five people have become Gu Masters through this batch of Exotic Gu. Master has ordered the five of you to come over immediately."

Liu Feng's expression turned grave; he nodded, his fists tightening involuntarily.

He did not spare another glance at the two monsters on the ground, nor did he pay heed to the Second Senior Brother's cold, sinister gaze, following closely behind Zhu Li as he walked away at a brisk pace.

"Master, save us..."

The Black Wolf Spirit and the Ape Spirit, their essence and blood drained dry, lay sprawled on the ground like livestock, rubbing their heads against Shen Yushu's feet.

Shen Yushu looked down at the two monsters and said coldly, "The Gu Servants will come by later to help you be laid to rest in the medicinal fields."

His "laid to rest" naturally meant being sent to the medicinal fields as fertilizer!

As he spoke, two green vines shot from Shen Yushu's sleeves, piercing into the eye sockets of the two monsters like spears.

With two "squelch" sounds, the vines traveled through the eye sockets straight into their skulls, draining their essence and completely squeezing the last of their value dry!

Within the Insect Valley, Gu children scurried about, all transporting medicinal mud and insect medicine toward the mountain wall in the east.

Among those coming and going were five youths dressed in the robes of Gu Servants; beneath their masks, their eyes were clustered into terrifying, bulging masses.

At this moment, their gazes, along with those of all the other Gu children present, were fixed upon the five people ascending the eastern mountain peak.

Those five were the newly born Gu Masters of the Insect Valley, and in the eyes of those below, they were as dazzling as the rising sun.

Before the stone cave on the mountainside, the five new Gu Masters stood in respectful postures.

Besides Liu Feng, the other four were Liu Xing, Yan Hongda, and a man and a woman named Chen Xiaocui and Niu Yuanshan, respectively.

Liu Feng glanced at the other four; aside from Yan Hongda, the remaining three made no effort to hide their hostility toward him.

This must be to counter my "Split-Tooth"!

In his line of sight, Liu Xing carried a Ghost-Head Broadsword on his back, Niu Yuanshan shouldered a giant shield, and the young girl named Chen Xiaocui had a long chain tied around her waist.

Yan Hongda stood by Liu Feng's side and whispered a warning: "Those three have brought Red Refining Medicinal Gu; they intend to fight you to the death."

Hearing the words "Red Refining Medicinal Gu," Liu Feng understood.

This Gu was a rare type within the Insect Valley; it was both a Gu and a medicine, used to temporarily stimulate blood and qi to enhance one's physical body.

"It is highly likely that the five of us will have to fight to the death, with only one surviving. Why not join forces with them?" Liu Feng said, glancing sideways.

A smile appeared on Yan Hongda's face, his expression indifferent.

"Join forces to kill you? The deathmatch is merely a rumor among the Gu Servants; it could also be a test of each person's own ability to endure."

"Furthermore, the companions who entered the Insect Valley with me are all gone. If I cannot pass this trial, perhaps dying sooner will allow me to catch up with them..."

Liu Feng was stunned into silence, knowing that the other man no longer had any attachments to this world.

But he was different; no matter what, he had to survive. He still had people he cared for!

While each was lost in their own thoughts, an indifferent voice drifted out from the stone cave.

"Come in."

Liu Xing and his two companions tensed up upon hearing this.

Liu Xing, in particular, saw the madness he had managed to restrain after his rebirth flare up once more, his eyes filled with incomparable resentment.

Liu Feng and Yan Hongda, however, did not hesitate; they had to face this trial regardless of whether they lived or died, so the two stepped inside one after the other.

The passage was not long, and at its end lay a spacious, natural mountain cave.

Using this natural cave as the main structure, dozens of stone chambers had been excavated, yet none of the five had the heart to examine their surroundings.

"Greetings, Valley Master!" Whether sincere or feigned, all five knelt on one knee in unison.

Inside the cave, an old man sat cross-legged upon a raised stone platform.

He wore an exceptionally wide red robe, and the arms exposed to the air were covered in tiny, greenish-black nodules.

Behind him, in a medicinal pool, blood-red vines coiled in circles, resembling dozens or even hundreds of crimson serpents slithering about.

Liu Feng kept his head bowed and remained silent, relying on the fleeting glance he had caught upon entering to capture the outward appearance of the Valley Master, Lu Huai.

The Exotic Gu 'Ox Eater', the Exotic Gu 'Mountain God'! He has implanted two types of Exotic Gu, and it is highly likely he possesses a large-scale Soldier Gu... Liu Feng's eyes flickered behind his lowered face.

It was not just Liu Feng; the other four had also noticed that something living seemed to be moving beneath the Valley Master's voluminous red robe.

As the five of them bowed in greeting, Lu Huai's gaze fell upon them, his expression indifferent, as if he were looking at five Gu insects.

Without wasting a single word on them, the rumor they had heard was confirmed the very next moment.

Lu Huai raised his right index finger, pointed toward a stone chamber on the right, and said wearily, "Both humans and Exotic Gu are but nourishment. The five of you shall enter; at most, two will come out."

"You have the time it takes for one incense stick to burn. If you exceed it, this old man will enter and devour you all."

Including Liu Feng, the five felt a chill run down their spines, their pupils contracting violently.

Even someone as crazed as Liu Xing, who would extract the life essence of others in front of his fellow Gu Children, found his hands and feet trembling at this moment.

Compared to the Valley Master, what were his own methods? He refined human essence, but the Valley Master, Lu Huai, spoke without reservation—he did not refine; he ate!

"We will certainly decide the victor within the time of one incense stick," the five spoke in a low, unanimous voice.

On the stone platform, the Valley Master, Lu Huai, closed his eyes, the weariness in his expression becoming even more pronounced.

The five new Gu Masters exchanged glances, their eyes shifting toward the direction the Valley Master had indicated.

The entrance to that stone chamber was strangely small, no larger than a dog hole, yet the space inside was not small, and a dense, shrill screeching sound emanated from within.

The Valley Master did not view them as humans at all, but rather as mere Gu insects.