Soldier Gu

Four "long tongues" studded with canine teeth danced wildly, dragging showers of sparks across the stone walls of the passage.

"Scraape, scraape..."

Ma Kun and the Gong-surnamed Gu Child finally realized that the sounds they had heard earlier had not been Gu Mothers fighting at all, but this monstrous worm wreaking havoc before them.

The two Gu Mothers were dragged away by the tongue-like worm bodies, and the mass of worms blocking the passage scattered apart.

The scene behind them was immediately revealed. As the long tongues danced, there were not four of them, but five.

Moreover, these five long tongues were one whole, branches of a single Gu worm's body!

"Scraape..." The long tongues lashed about, sweeping toward the only two survivors on this side.

Without another word, Ma Kun and the Gong-surnamed Gu Child turned and fled.

In their hurried glance earlier, the two had known that this Gu worm was excellent stock. But no matter how fine the prize, one needed the strength to take it.

"Like blades and swords, yet also like long whips—could it be some rare Exotic Gu?"

"Not an Exotic Gu. It should be the Soldier Gu Third Senior Brother mentioned!"

Though both were leaders, Ma Kun had never heard of it, while the Gong-surnamed Gu Child knew something about it.

He had learned from Third Senior Brother that Gu were divided into seven categories. The Gu worms the Gu Children usually cultivated belonged to only two: Mortal Gu and Intermediate Gu.

Among the remaining five categories were Exotic Gu and Soldier Gu.

Soldier Gu were like the ritual implements in a Daoist's hand, the armor pellets in a martial warrior's hand, or divine weapons. They were the weapons of Gu Masters.

"I never expected a Soldier Gu to be raised in the depths of the Gu Cave."

"Third Senior Brother has long wanted a Soldier Gu, and Second Senior Brother went out in search of one. If we report this news to the two senior brothers, we will surely be rewarded. Why slowly cultivate Gu here?"

The Gong-surnamed Gu Child knew that even if this Soldier Gu had not yet entered a rank, it was likely not far from it. It might even be feeding now in preparation for shedding its skin.

Unfortunately, the light here was dim, making it difficult for them to tell whether the worm was molting.

When the two fled to a fork in the road, they nearly collided with Gu Children coming from the opposite direction.

Ma Kun narrowed his eyes and saw that there were six Gu Children across from them. He hurriedly said, "Brothers, there are two Gu Mothers behind us. The two of us are not strong enough. Could you lend a hand? We can split the gains evenly afterward."

"Gu Mothers?"

The six Gu Children froze upon hearing this, then rushed inside together in equal measures of shock and delight.

The moment the six entered, Ma Kun turned and fled, not even calling out to the Gong-surnamed Gu Child.

The Gong-surnamed Gu Child was stunned, shocked by Ma Kun's ruthlessness. Just to delay that monster for a moment, he used other Gu Children as stepping stones as naturally as eating and drinking.

In less than five breaths, furious howls rang out from within the passage.

"Ma Kun..."

Further inward along the fork, within the middle passage.

The surroundings were silent. A figure sat cross-legged on the ground, with large numbers of Gu worms extending down from his arms and writhing over two Gu Mothers.

At this moment, Liu Feng had yet to completely refine the two Gu Mothers.

"Hmm?" Finishing his Qi Refining, he cocked his ear to listen.

He vaguely heard several utterly furious roars and curses, as though someone were angrily cursing Ma Kun.

Withdrawing his hands, Liu Feng glanced at the few remaining severed limbs of the Gu Mothers on the ground and simply let the Gu worms have them.

Once his Gu worms had thoroughly finished devouring them, a "scraape, scraape" sound suddenly came from the stone walls of the passage, as though some weapon were violently scraping against them.

Immediately afterward, two Gu Children ran toward his passage.

Liu Feng saw that they were covered in wounds, too many large and small to count. The wounds were wildly uneven, as though they had been savagely sawed by an iron saw.

Though the two Gu Children had Gu worms helping to stop the bleeding, blood still poured from their wounds without end.

"Run! A monster is coming!" The Gu Child in front roared at Liu Feng.

As he spoke, his features twisted, his face filled with terror. The other Gu Child fared no better, equally panicked.

The two had not even truly seen the thing clearly, and could only call it a "monster."

Of the six who had gone over, two had died on the spot.

The remaining four had escaped death by the skin of their teeth and scattered in blind panic. These two had fled into this passage, never expecting the monster to follow them here.

"Something's coming!" Liu Feng stood where he was as the sound of a sharp weapon scraping against the wall drew ever nearer.

Seeing that Liu Feng had no intention of moving, the two Gu Children could not be bothered to say more and fled straight toward the depths of the passage.

A short while later, a strangely shaped worm body appeared.

Unlike the other Gu Children, Liu Feng saw it clearly. The strange worm possessed five "long tongues," which were likely its legs.

Viewed as a whole, the monster's main body was not large. Apart from its five worm legs, each seven or eight feet long, its abdominal cavity was about half the size of a washbasin. Behind that was a one-foot-long worm tube, from which poisonous mist poured.

Liu Feng himself was a Gu Child, so the poisonous mist did not affect him much, causing only slight numbness.

The true threat was the worm's five incomparably nimble, long-tongue-like legs, which were covered in sharp teeth.

At this moment, three of its legs were dripping with blood, and the stench of blood was incredibly thick. Clearly, it had not only devoured Gu Mothers, but also consumed the blood essence of many Gu Children. It was starving beyond measure.

Having glimpsed the worm's full form, Liu Feng had the same thought Ma Kun had earlier. "When its five legs come together, they are like knives and swords; when spread apart, they resemble five worm whips."

"Fine Gu!"

A shriek of wind erupted ahead as a tooth-covered worm leg swept toward him. Starving beyond measure, the strange worm had taken Liu Feng for its next meal.

At close range, Liu Feng saw even more clearly and noticed a layer of dead skin peeling up from the worm's body.

"It is at the critical moment of shedding its skin. If I do not strike now, when will I?" Liu Feng acted decisively, intending to refine this Gu.

The Zen Eye Technique caught the weakness within the worm's body, while the Mind Eye Technique foresaw the trajectory of its flailing legs. A mass of Gu worms surged at the monster in one rush as Liu Feng closed in.

Meanwhile, at the entrance and exit of the Gu Cave.

A thick layer of dead worms was piled across the floor of the passage, mixed with large amounts of worm fluid and giving off an incomparably sour, rancid stench.

Beneath the worm pile lay the mutilated remains of Gu Children, some more than half devoured, others disemboweled. Their deaths were too ghastly to behold.

Liu Xing sat cross-legged in their midst, a thick layer of poisonous mist spreading over his body as the Poison Qi within his dantian slowly grew stronger.

"Ma Kun?" He suddenly opened his eyes and saw Ma Kun and a short, fat Gu Child rushing straight toward this place.

The two looked both startled and delighted, and he could not tell what the situation was in the depths of the Gu Cave.

"The Gu Cave will not open for another day. Why have you come here instead of cultivating Gu?"

The Gong-surnamed Gu Child beamed with delight and rushed to say, "Steward Liu, we found a Soldier Gu inside. If we report this good news to the senior brothers and receive their reward, why would we still need to..."

"Soldier Gu? Report it to the senior brothers?"

Before the short, fat Gong-surnamed Gu Child could finish, Liu Xing swept out his right arm and slapped his face hard with his powerful palm.

Then Liu Xing bellowed, "Useless trash, hurry up and lead the way."

With such a fine thing before them, they did not know to seize it for themselves and instead wanted to offer it to the senior brothers. Utter trash.

As long as Liu Xing left the Gu Cave and survived this round of cultivating Exotic Gu, he too would become a Gu Master. He would be no worse than those senior brothers.