Nurture Buddha Bones, Temper a Gu Body

Inside the Stone Chamber, it was so dark one could not see one's hand before one's face. The lamp oil in the lantern had long since run dry.

A pair of eyes opened in the darkness. The stone table and stone chairs looked exactly as they had to their owner during the day.

His gaze shifted and fell upon his own body. His internal organs, the paths along which Poison Qi flowed—every last detail was laid bare before his eyes.

As the owner of those eyes stirred the qi within his body, neither the night nor the surface of flesh could obstruct his sight.

He saw his skeletal frame. Upon his spine clung a stream of golden Buddha Light, fine as a trickle. Drops of golden radiance flowed over it, nourishing his bones.

The golden light was pure, unstained, free of thought.

There was no hidden scheme, no stray intent. Before turning to ash, the Buddha had merely planted a good cause, hoping that one day he would go to Great Thousand Temple and repay it with a good result.

"Great Thousand Temple! I'll remember it. One day, I will go and settle this karmic debt."

Having awakened from the dream, Liu Feng repeatedly recalled the temple's name. It was likely not within the nearby prefectures; he had never heard of it before. He could only wait until he encountered it in the future.

The seven-colored pebble was no longer in his hand. That pebble had been the Buddha's True Bone Sarira, and it had fused into his spine. The golden Buddha Light upon his spine had come from it.

Besides that strand of Buddha Light, he also learned that all the strange phenomena he had previously seen were related to the Buddhist Five Eye Insights—and all five had now been opened for him.

The Buddhist Five Eye Insights, also known as Buddha Eye Insight: the first eye, Dharma Eye, saw through true forms.

The second eye, Zen Eye, saw the five viscera, six bowels, and the extraordinary eight meridians.

The third eye, Heart Eye, foresaw others' movement techniques. Divine abilities were born from the heart; it could be used whether the physical eyes were open or shut.

The fourth eye, Insight Eye, penetrated deep into the human body, seeing minute meridians and understanding the circulation of inner qi and True Qi.

Last came the fifth Eye Insight, Fate Eye, which could rehearse the future.

"Dharma Eye, Zen Eye, and Heart Eye only consume the qi within my body. Insight Eye and Fate Eye, however, consume this Buddha Light left to me by the Buddha!"

He did not rashly try the most miraculous Fate Eye Insight. To rehearse the future—the farther ahead one looked, the greater the consumption. It was what the Buddha had left him to survive a deadly calamity.

"Only leaving Buddha Light to nourish my bones, yet not teaching me any Buddhist cultivation methods!" Liu Feng could not understand the intent behind it.

"With Buddha Light nourishing my bones on its own, I should focus wholeheartedly on refining Gu for now."

After the sarira dissolved, the Gu insects within his body returned to normal and no longer stirred restlessly.

Liu Feng examined himself, activating the second Buddha Eye Insight, Zen Eye.

Within his sight, his flesh, his blood vessels, even his internal organs, were infested with vast numbers of Gu insects! His internal organs had long since been damaged.

If he remained unaware of how to regulate them and allowed the Gu insects within his body to devour one another at will, not only would his Gu refinement progress be slow, it could very likely endanger the host.

"If I can see them, I can command them in detail." With the aid of Zen Eye, Liu Feng searched for the Gu lying dormant deep within his flesh.

These Gu fed on his body without fighting the other Gu. They were nothing but vermin parasitizing his body.

"It'll be dawn soon. I'll use this little time to devour the useless Gu insects in my limbs first."

Driven by Poison Qi, the powerful Gu insects "occupying" Liu Feng's internal organs became active and swiftly attacked the useless Gu insects hidden deep within the flesh of his limbs.

When daylight fully broke, the new and old batches of Gu Children met within Insect Valley.

Liu Feng and the other Gu Children all had to briefly explain to the newcomers how to do their work, while any shortcomings would be further instructed by the Gu Servants.

The handover between the two batches of Gu Children did not last long. After one hour, more than one hundred and eighty Gu Children arrived beneath the mountain wall from yesterday.

Ordinarily, Gu Children rarely exchanged more than a few words, but now they were unusually animated in discussion.

"This looks like they're making us arrange our last affairs."

"There are one hundred and forty-eight new Gu Children, while we have over one hundred and eighty here."

"If we can't become Gu Masters, being Gu Servants isn't so bad. Right now, we should first get through the Gu Cave!" ...

Many Gu Children believed that however many newcomers arrived, that was how many of them might die this time.

At this moment, before the assembled Gu Servants, Lu Yao wore a fitted red dress today, its exquisite curves enough to make mouths run dry.

She seemed to be giving instructions to the leaders of the Gu Children. Then, including Ma Kun, each leader received Insect Medicine to distribute.

As the Gu Children received their Insect Medicine, Lu Yao turned toward the crowd.

"Planting Exotic Gu can grant Gu arts. I'll let you have a look first."

As soon as she spoke, the Insect Valley Young Miss's full head of black hair turned snow-white in the blink of an eye before everyone's watching eyes.

Before the Gu Children could even express their shock, her willow-leaf brows also turned pure white. With a flick of her slender left hand, she sent out a crystalline, translucent thread.

With a single lash of that thread, a row of shrubs behind her was neatly sheared in half, as though cut by a blade. If that thread struck a Gu Child, injury or death would be inevitable.

Yet this was not the end. As more and more threads appeared in her hand, crossing and interweaving, a web of silk formed in an instant. With one sweep, it effortlessly sliced through the earth and stones on the ground.

Seeing the Gu Children's emotions stirred up, Lu Yao added fuel to the fire. Beckoning, she said, "The Exotic Gu I planted is Cotton Spitter. Third Senior Brother, let the Gu Children witness your Exotic Gu art."

Third Senior Brother wasted no words. He directly activated the Exotic Gu Ox Eater within his body and unleashed a Gu art.

His frame abruptly grew much taller. The muscles of his torso, limbs, and even face bulged all at once, veins coiling over his body like black serpents. His arms, thicker than an adult's waist, were even more terrifying.

Two or three breaths later, dense bluish-black poisonous mist spread over his body. At a glance, he looked like a humanoid Spirit Monster hidden within toxic fog, exceptionally burly.

At the rear of the crowd, the Gu Servant Liu Xing hunched over, his eyes full of venom. He had also planted the Exotic Gu Ox Eater, yet he had ended up in such an ugly, deformed, miserable state.

"Those who have received Insect Medicine, don't waste time. Follow me to the Gu Cave at once." At this point, the Gu Servant responsible for leading the way had already strode off.

After the Gu Children ahead received their medicine and left, Liu Feng walked toward their leader, Ma Kun. It was his turn to receive Insect Medicine.

They were still more than half a zhang apart when Ma Kun gave Liu Feng no chance to approach. With a flip of his large hand, the Insect Medicine meant for Liu Feng dropped to the ground.

Voices clamored everywhere. Let alone Lu Yao and Third Senior Brother, even the other Gu Servants were busy with their own matters. No one paid attention here.

"Without Insect Medicine to supplement him, let's see how he fights us in the Gu Cave." Ma Kun sneered inwardly as he raised a foot, intending to crush the Insect Medicine.

Four other Gu Children stood behind him, all wearing amused expressions. The four had already coordinated with Ma Kun; they were tied to the same rope.

Yet almost at the same instant Ma Kun raised his foot, a stone from Liu Feng's sleeve shot out first, striking Ma Kun squarely on the ankle bone.

With a muffled groan, Ma Kun had yet to understand what was happening when searing pain pierced his heart.

When he looked again, Liu Feng was already standing before him. With a wave of his hand, he swept up the Insect Medicine from the ground.

"Leader Ma, I'll take my leave first. I'll wait for you in the Gu Cave." Liu Feng cast a cold glance over Ma Kun and the four behind him.

Watching Liu Feng's swiftly departing back, Ma Kun's face reddened. Turning his head, he asked, "You four were just standing behind me. Did anyone see what happened?"

The four Gu Children were stunned at his words. From their angle just now, it had seemed as though Ma Kun had voluntarily used his foot to block Liu Feng's stone "sneak attack."

But what the hell—how could Ma Kun possibly be stupid enough to use his ankle bone to block a stone!