Soldier Gu "Intestine Fish"

Chen Xiaocui died a gruesome death on the spot, and in the blink of an eye, the Gu swarm covered her.

"Quick, close your eyes." Liu Xing and Niu Yuanshan spoke in unison, each shutting his eyes.

The black-and-white maze vanished abruptly. Once free of the illusion, the two held their breath and focused, hoping to pinpoint Liu Feng by sound.

But what kind of place was this? The Gu shrieked in swarms, and they couldn't hear a thing.

"I won't accept this!"

With his eyes closed, Liu Xing swung the Ghost-Head Broadsword wildly in every direction, terrified that Liu Feng would come for him.

Niu Yuanshan was much the same. He picked up the enormous shield he had thrown aside and kept changing position behind it.

They had clearly obtained Exotic Gu and gained such Gu arts, yet now they had no choice but to close their eyes.

At that moment, though, closing their eyes was obviously useless.

When their eyes were open, their vision expanded as they used their Gu arts—the Motion Vision Technique—and even then they had been no match for Liu Feng.

With their eyes closed, they lacked the Spirit Monsters' terrifying sense of smell and hearing. They would die without a doubt!

"Pfft."

Liu Feng appeared at Niu Yuanshan's side. The Canine-Tooth Greatsword swept across, cutting him in two with a single stroke.

"Glug, glug..." The Soldier Gu Split-Tooth gulped.

In the corner, Yan Hongda kept his eyes shut. He heard only Niu Yuanshan's screams and Liu Xing's frenzied howls.

The Ghost-Head Broadsword clattered to the ground. Liu Xing threw it aside, dropped to his knees, and howled, "The Valley Master said at most two of us could get out. Kill Yan, and I'll live. Please, let me live... Senior Brother Liu."

The Soldier Gu Split-Tooth continued gulping. Even without seeing it, Liu Xing knew how horrible Niu Yuanshan's fate had been.

Liu Xing cried out hoarsely, "Yan's useless. I've undergone a second planting of Exotic Gu. From now on, I'll follow Senior Brother Liu's lead."

"Ma Kun set you up before, Senior Brother Liu. Once I get out, I'll tear him limb from limb for you."

Liu Feng yanked the gluttonously feeding Soldier Gu Split-Tooth, spraying blood into the air, and looked coldly at Liu Xing.

"Ma Kun? I'm going out as the Fourth Senior Brother. I won't need to waste a single word before killing him."

As he closed in on Liu Xing, the Soldier Gu in his hand acted like a beast that had caught the scent of prey. Countless interlocking canine teeth ground together, making a dense, grating sound.

Hearing it, Liu Xing went completely mad.

He had struggled so hard to reach this point, endured a second planting of Exotic Gu, and now he was about to die miserably here.

"I'll fight you to the death!"

With a sudden roar, Liu Xing grabbed the Ghost-Head Broadsword with one hand and struck his own chest hard with the other.

As his blood and qi reversed course, he shattered the blood essence in his chest, offering himself as food for the Gu.

In the blink of an eye, every Gu inside and outside his body went berserk, turning around to devour their host.

"Bzzzz..."

In a final counterattack, Liu Xing charged forward like a madman, carrying the Ghost-Head Broadsword. The Gu also poured out under his command, driven by Poison Qi.

Liu Feng had not muffled his footsteps, giving Liu Xing a chance to strike back.

Facing the Gu that had just devoured Liu Xing's blood essence, Liu Feng left half of his own Gu to protect him, while the other half rose like black smoke.

In midair and across the ground, the Gu belonging to the two collided. Countless black specks devoured one another.

Just as Liu Xing was no match for Liu Feng, his Gu were equally doomed.

When the two swarms met, one side went up like lamp oil set alight, turning in swathes into nourishment.

Liu Feng glanced at the Gu and said coolly, "Your Exotic Gu can't compare, and even the Intermediate Gu you raised inside your body are inferior to mine."

With that, he sidestepped Liu Xing's descending Ghost-Head Broadsword. The famished Split-Tooth almost flew out of his hand, its hunting instincts driving it to attack.

"Pfft, pfft!" Five savage insect legs pierced Liu Xing's body.

His five viscera shattered. Split-Tooth's paralyzing venom entered him, and Liu Xing collapsed helplessly.

At last, he opened his eyes, and Liu Feng naturally no longer used Gu arts against him.

Meeting Liu Feng's gaze, those eyes as cold and numb as his own, Liu Xing finally understood as he lay dying: no one in Insect Valley was normal!

Neither he nor Liu Feng!

The world had expanded, and in the chaotic times beyond Insect Valley, demons and evil spirits ran rampant. How many people could possibly be normal?

"Liu Feng, no one from Insect Valley will meet a good end. I'll go on ahead and wait for you on the road to the Yellow Springs..."

In the corner of the Stone Chamber, Yan Hongda opened his eyes and saw Liu Feng searching the three mangled corpses for something.

Split-Tooth worked away, and before long, three half-inch-long Gu lay in Liu Feng's palm.

When he saw the strange star-like spots on the Gu, Yan Hongda's heart turned cold. "Those are the Exotic Gu we'd only hatched a few days ago. He dug them out. He really intends to use them as nourishment, just as the Valley Master said."

"We're going to see the Valley Master. This ends here." Liu Feng put away the Soldier Gu and headed for the exit, carrying the three Exotic Gu.

Yan Hongda took one last look at the three mangled corpses covered by the swarm, then hurried after him.

Inside the natural cave, on the raised stone platform.

A hint of surprise appeared on Valley Master Lu Huai's face as he looked down at the two boys.

He didn't need to look closely to fix his gaze on Liu Feng.

Compared with Yan Hongda, Liu Feng was far stronger, both in his abundant blood and qi and in the Gu he had raised.

"Only one of you can live," Lu Huai said calmly.

The two kneeling on one knee both changed expression, especially Yan Hongda, whose face turned paper-white in an instant.

Then Lu Huai looked at Liu Feng and said, "Third Elder told me your name is Liu Feng. From now on, you'll be Insect Valley's Fourth Disciple."

The meaning was clear: only Liu Feng would live!

Yan Hongda summoned his courage, raised his head, and stammered, "Valley Master, didn't you say at most two of us could survive? I can serve Insect Valley, too."

Lu Huai looked down coldly at the terrified boy and said, "I need a live specimen with the hatched Exotic Gu Evolution Pupil, so I can study it. Otherwise, why would I have you Gu Children undergo the planting trials?"

"I, I... Then..."

Yan Hongda stumbled over his words. He wanted to ask why the five of them had been made to fight if the Valley Master only needed one survivor.

But then he understood. That was the rule of Insect Valley: raise the strongest "Gu," and all the rest became nourishment.

"Valley... Master, if you need a live Exotic Gu Evolution Pupil, the three I have are still alive." Liu Feng now knew the name of this Gu as well.

His meaning was clear: he wanted to trade one Exotic Gu Evolution Pupil for Yan Hongda's life.

Liu Feng had no close friends in Insect Valley. Yan Hongda was openhearted and forthright; if Liu Feng saved his life here, he would have another Gu Master to rely on in the future.

But rules were rules!

"They're for you to consume and nourish yourself. Newly hatched Exotic Gu are too weak; they need Gu of the same kind as nourishment to grow stronger."

As the words fell, Liu Feng had no chance to speak again.

"Uwoo..." A strange sound rang out abruptly.

With his sharp eyes, Liu Feng caught a shadow sweeping over them. Its target was Yan Hongda at his side.

The shadow came fast and hard. Yan Hongda had no Buddha Eye Insight and didn't have the slightest chance to react.

"Bang." The shadow slammed into the ground, swallowing Yan Hongda whole.

Liu Feng's body stiffened. The corner of his eye twitched violently as he struggled to turn his head.

A length of intestine-like flesh, over half a zhang thick, stretched through the air. One end emerged from beneath Lu Huai's red robe; the other had swallowed Yan Hongda whole!

It was a two-zhang-long Intestine-like Strange Fish, its gaping mouth nearly a zhang wide.

Where its mouth touched the ground, it sizzled. The stone floor had been corroded by Gu poison, pitted and uneven.

If nothing unexpected had happened, this was Valley Master Lu Huai's Soldier Gu!