Exotic Gu "Evolution Pupil"

Under the stimulation of searing pain, Ma Kun and the remaining Gu Child both regained consciousness, immediately driving the Gu insects within them to stop the bleeding.

Seeing Liu Feng's bloodshot eyes as he continued closing in after killing three Gu Children from their side, the two were so frightened that they retreated again and again.

Above them, the sparse Strip Worms on the cave ceiling emitted a faint glow.

What the two still did not know was that they could only vaguely catch Liu Feng's movements, while Liu Feng saw them as clearly as if they were outside.

"Liu Xing was right. He had been hiding his strength all along. Let's retreat first!" The Gu Child curled his hands into claws and tore open the malformed flesh sacs on his shoulders.

Inside those malformed flesh sacs were the rare Flying Wing Gu Insects. With a beat of their wings, dense swarms of Gu insects enveloped Liu Feng.

Beside him, Ma Kun forced out a smile. "Right, let's go back and get that Liu fellow to help."

As he spoke, he and the Gu Child turned to leave at the same time. But the instant he lifted his foot, he spun around and struck the Gu Child's chest with his palm, sending him flying backward.

"Ma Kun, you beast..."

Before the Gu Child could finish cursing, his head tilted aside. Liu Feng, having burst through the Flying Wing Gu Insects, snapped his neck with one hand.

His death did nothing more than slow Liu Feng's steps slightly, but to Ma Kun, this shield had died well.

Two figures raced through the passage, one before the other.

No sooner had Liu Feng and Ma Kun left than the four corpses drew in vast numbers of Gu insects, which slowly gathered into four enormous heaps.

Anyone who died in the Gu Cave was destined to leave no corpse behind. Liu Feng was in a hurry to kill Ma Kun, so the four men's essence and blood went cheaply to these Gu insects.

"What a sinister dog. I'd screwed him over so badly before, yet he never revealed his strength. Only now did he suddenly erupt and start killing." Ma Kun endured the pain from his abdomen and fled madly.

He thought this only because Liu Feng's change before and after was too abrupt. But he had indeed misunderstood Liu Feng. The Liu Feng of the past had never bothered hiding his strength; he had simply been a somewhat more outstanding Gu Child by nature.

The Strip Worms on the cave ceiling ahead grew more numerous, and the light brightened with them. The fork in the road was not far away.

"Once I survive this calamity, whoever can implant an Exotic Gu Egg without dying after getting out will have the last laugh."

With this thought, Ma Kun was about to step back onto the passage through which he had entered. But in the next instant, an accident abruptly struck, and Liu Feng showed him what true treachery was.

Buzz... A massive swarm of Gu insects dropped from the stone wall at the fork, crashing down over Ma Kun's face.

It turned out that when Liu Feng had passed by this place earlier, he had already placed his Gu insects there. His plan to eliminate the five had begun brewing the moment he entered the Gu Cave.

Whoosh, whoosh. Two stones came hurtling in from behind.

The Gu insects gnawed Ma Kun's face until it was split and mangled, and one of the stones struck the back of his neck. He instinctively twisted aside, narrowly avoiding the other stone.

By then, it was too late to flee toward the exit. He gritted his teeth and plunged into another branch passage that led deeper into the Gu Cave.

"Liu Feng, if you want me dead, then come after me if you have the guts. We'll both feed the Gu!"

Liu Feng's figure appeared shortly afterward. He swept up the Gu insects from the ground and pursued without much hesitation...

At this moment, outside the Gu Cave in Insect Valley.

With newly arrived Gu Children filling the vacancies, planting herbs, gathering herbs, hauling goods, and all other work continued as usual.

As for the remaining Gu Servants who had not entered the Gu Cave, they were far busier than the Gu Children. Fewer than twenty Gu Servants hurried back and forth, throwing Insect Medicine into a Gu Rearing Pool that had long gone unused.

This Gu Rearing Pool stood beneath dense shade. Unlike the pools where newcomers implanted Gu, it was not large.

Yet the Insect Medicine the Gu Servants threw into it was all rare treasure that was seldom seen in ordinary times.

The new Gu Children did not understand the purpose, but even from far away, they could smell the rich medicinal fragrance. A few breaths of it were enough to greatly invigorate their spirits.

While the Gu Servants busied themselves, Lu Yao stood outside a stone cave halfway up the eastern slope, her wanton manner gone as she stood there obediently.

"Father, your daughter has instructed the Gu Servants to prepare the medicine. We only need wait for the Gu Cave to produce Gu Children with sufficiently strong bodies before we can conduct the trial implantation of the Exotic Gu."

"Mm."

The master of the stone cave answered faintly, followed by a dissatisfied snort. It was not directed at Lu Yao outside; apparently, someone else was inside the cave.

"Not one of those pieces of trash held on. Drag them all out."

"Yes, Master."

After a while, a tall, burly figure emerged. He carried a corpse over each shoulder and dragged two more mangled corpses in his left and right hands.

"Third Senior Brother, Father, he...?" Lu Yao blinked and asked in a lowered voice.

Third Senior Brother Zhu Li did not answer. He motioned for Lu Yao to follow, then carried the four corpses away from the stone cave.

Once the two reached the foot of the mountain, Zhu Li casually tossed the four corpses onto the ground. Amid Lu Yao's feigned cries of alarm, he tore open the upper garments of all four corpses in succession.

"See for yourself. Master was in a hurry to trial-implant the newly acquired Exotic Gu Egg, so these four unlucky fellows were sent on their way first!"

Lu Yao fidgeted and put on a show of modest embarrassment, but her beautiful eyes soon fell upon the corpses on the ground.

Judging by the skeletons and muscles of the four bodies, all four had been martial artists, most likely captured from outside in recent days. But based on how far they had tempered their sinews and bones, they were probably not formidable fighters.

As Lu Yao watched, she suddenly let out a genuine cry of surprise.

The four corpses had long since lost all life, yet living things still moved beneath their flesh. As those creatures burrowed through the skin, one after another, flesh balls resembling eyeballs burst out.

But the instant they touched the outside air, they all dried up and shriveled in the blink of an eye, becoming clumps of gray-black rotten flesh.

Only after every eyeball-like flesh ball had withered did the corpses on the ground truly cease moving, showing that the failed specimens within them had finally died from being too weak.

"This is the Exotic Gu Father newly captured? It has clearly already hatched..." Lu Yao asked, puzzled.

Third Senior Brother Zhu Li shook his head and interrupted, "What you see are not the Exotic Gu, merely this Gu's Compound Eyes."

"Compound Eyes?"

"The predecessor of this Exotic Gu was an exotic insect capable of splitting its Compound Eyes. After Master refined it into an Exotic Gu, he named it Exotic Gu 'Evolution Pupil.'"

"Exotic Gu 'Evolution Pupil'? It merely grows a few extra eyes! It doesn't seem like an Exotic Gu suited for fighting people! Why is Father in such a hurry to use it?"

Seeing Lu Yao's puzzled expression, Third Senior Brother Zhu Li did not explain further. He knew that even if he did, she would not understand.

He and Lu Yao were both Gu Masters, but Lu Yao was the Insect Valley Young Miss and had never gone out to fight powerful enemies. He, however, was completely different.

Only cultivators who had experienced battles of life and death truly understood that those Daoist arts and Gu arts which seemed ill-suited for combat—such as techniques that interfered from the side or offered support—became terrifying weapons of mass destruction in the hands of clever people.

Moreover, Exotic Gu "Evolution Pupil" was far more than merely growing a few extra eyes!