Centipede Gu, Black Charcoal!

Seeing the number on Yu Linglong's jade token, Bai Yu understood. She must have been newly assigned here and had inherited the jade token of his previous roommate.

Sensing someone entering the stone chamber, Yu Linglong abruptly sprang to her feet and pulled a dagger from beneath her pillow. She stared at Bai Yu in terror, her face full of vigilance.

Hadn't the person who brought her here said that she would be the only one living here for the time being?

How could someone else still use a token to open this stone room?!

Because of that, she had even removed her disguise.

At this moment, Yu Linglong's face was filled with fear. As the daughter of a merchant guild, she knew very well just how sought-after a face like hers was within the Demon Sect!

Bai Yu noticed that this woman named Yu Linglong possessed natural seductive bones. Every movement she made brimmed with allure. Someone like her should have been sent to Joyous Union Peak when she was brought here.

Perhaps with that beauty, she could have caught the eye of someone above and cast off her status as a laborer.

Yet such a woman had appeared here instead. It seemed this girl had secrets.

Ignoring Yu Linglong's reaction, Bai Yu merely nodded before returning to his own bed.

Seeing Bai Yu like this, Yu Linglong did not relax her guard at once. She held the dagger in both hands, like a startled kitten with every hair standing on end.

"You're holding that dagger with far too many openings. If I were you, I'd grip it in reverse and use your hair tie to bind the blade to your hand. That would greatly reduce the chance of someone snatching it away when you aren't paying attention."

Watching the girl's movements, Bai Yu smiled faintly. He did not know why such a beauty had ended up here rather than at Joyous Union Peak, which suited her far better.

It would have been a lie to say he was not tempted by Yu Linglong's appearance in such a high-pressure environment.

But Bai Yu knew his strength was still insufficient. Now that they shared a room, he had no desire to gain another enemy. Otherwise, he would not even be able to sleep in peace.

Hearing Bai Yu's words, Yu Linglong froze, as though she could not believe her ears.

Was this man reminding her?

Would anyone in the Demon Sect be so kindhearted?

Seeing that Yu Linglong remained on guard, Bai Yu did not mind. He raised a hand and motioned for her to listen outside the window.

Because the stone chamber was built so crudely, the noisy sounds from outside made one's ears ring. The occasional jeers and sounds of people fighting over things were even more irritating.

Looking through the small window beside the bed, they saw several people not far away gathered around a fairly pretty young girl, jeering at her.

"Are you today's newcomer?"

"You look pretty good. Why don't you live in the same room as me? Then we can cultivate together at night and improve even faster."

"Yeah, yeah. Everyone here knows Brother Niu will soon become an ordinary disciple. If you follow Brother Niu, won't it be easy to shake off your laborer status when the time comes?"

As the crowd jeered, Yu Linglong listened to everything in terror.

Seeing the girl's expression, Bai Yu shook his head. He had long grown accustomed to such things.

Pulling the curtain shut, Bai Yu took a pitch-black jar from beneath his bed.

After opening the jar, two black twin ponytails slowly poked out, seeming to cautiously guard against everything around them.

After Bai Yu took out a porcelain bottle filled with venom, a completely black centipede the size of a baby's arm slowly emerged.

"Eee, eee, eee..."

The centipede greeted him affectionately. Its cherry-sized eyes stared greedily at the porcelain bottle in Bai Yu's hand as it made that strange sound.

Seeing this, Bai Yu smiled and directly opened the bottle, pouring the dark green venom into the centipede's mouth. At once, its "eee, eee, eee" cries became even louder.

After feeding it five bottles of venom, Bai Yu bit his finger and fed the faint spiritual power within his body into the centipede's mouth through his blood. Only when his face had turned somewhat pale did he stop.

Seeing a faint crack already appearing on the centipede's back, with two translucent flesh wings slowly growing within it, excitement flashed through Bai Yu's eyes.

Even a menial disciple could cultivate before awakening a Spirit Root.

Every disciple who entered the sect could receive the introductory cultivation method, the Qi Drawing Art. They could pass through the early stages of the Body Forging Realm, and only upon reaching Body Tempering Perfection and entering the Qi Refining Realm would they need a Spirit Root's assistance.

After three months of intensive cultivation, Bai Yu himself had already reached the Sixth Level of the Body Forging Realm.

As a disciple of Gu Refining Peak, although the casualty rate was extremely high, there was an additional benefit: even menial disciples could refine gu.

Though the materials for refining gu were limited to the Five Poisons and certain poisonous herbs, it still gave them more means of protecting themselves than disciples from the other peaks.

Even so, menial disciples generally would not choose to refine gu at this stage.

After all, menial disciples received scarce resources to begin with. Being able to exchange for Body Forging Pills and cultivation methods was already quite good; where would they find spare resources to refine gu insects?

Besides, with their strength, rash refinement could easily lead to backlash. It would be a terrible bargain if they did not die at work, only to die at the hands of their own gu insects instead.

But Bai Yu had no such concerns. The resources he ground out every day were not only enough to exchange for basic cultivation pills, but also enough for him to go to Joyous Union Peak and enjoy himself.

And Black Charcoal was the product of his efforts over the past three months.

Black Charcoal, which had survived after fighting its way out from among dozens of Five Poisons, was already a "Centipede Gu." From birth, it possessed the strength of the Eighth Level of the Body Forging Realm.

Recently, Bai Yu had been feeding it the venom of the Tiger-Striped Green Snake. Combined with his own spiritual power, Black Charcoal was still constantly changing.

This made Bai Yu feel increasingly at ease.

In the Demon Sect, only sufficient strength gave one more say in matters. Therefore, Bai Yu would not let go of any opportunity to improve himself.

Seeing Bai Yu's actions and that enormous centipede, a trace of shock flashed through Yu Linglong's previously wary eyes.

"You actually raised a gu?"

Yu Linglong looked at Bai Yu and spoke seriously.

"I've been in the sect for quite some time. If I couldn't even make something like this, I'd have died long ago."

"Ordinary menial disciples wouldn't spend their resources raising gu insects so early."

Yu Linglong seemed somewhat curious and spoke without thinking.

But she quickly felt that her words had been inappropriate. After all, the two had only met today; she had said too much.

Hearing Yu Linglong's words, Bai Yu gave her a once-over.

"Looks like you're very familiar with this place?"

Bai Yu knew that ordinary people would have been scared witless the moment they were abducted into the Heavenly Demon Sect. Yet Yu Linglong seemed like an old hand here, thoroughly familiar with everything.

"I'm the daughter of a merchant beneath the Silver Moon Dynasty, which is under the Heavenly Demon Sect. Naturally, I had access to more information than others. If my family's merchant caravan hadn't been wiped out, I wouldn't have come here."

Yu Linglong smiled and took the initiative to explain.

If she had not still possessed some savings while fleeing, she would have been assigned to Joyous Union Peak the moment she entered the Heavenly Demon Sect.

For someone like her, with little talent for cultivation, entering Joyous Union Peak would mean eternal damnation.

Fortunately, the one who abducted her had been a female disciple...

Hearing this, Bai Yu nodded. He could not determine whether she was telling the truth, but they were roommates after all. If Yu Linglong did not die during the Cutting process, they would be living together for a long time.

Therefore, they had to talk.

After asking a few simple questions, Bai Yu roughly understood Yu Linglong's situation. Unexpectedly, this woman was even a renowned auctioneer within the Silver Moon Dynasty.

When Black Charcoal had completely fallen silent, Bai Yu put the lid back on the jar and shoved it beneath the bed. He nodded to Yu Linglong, swallowed a Body Forging Pill, and circulated his cultivation method as he entered a state of cultivation.

After circulating the Qi Drawing Art through ten cycles, Bai Yu felt brimming with energy. When he looked up again, it was already light outside. Beneath the thin mist, many menial disciples had risen and begun making preparations.

[Technique: Qi Drawing Art (Minor Success) 920/3500]

[Skill: Cutting (Beginner)]

[Progress: (699/1000]

[Yin-Yang Mystic Dragon Gu (Life-Bound Gu) (Unformed)]

[Dragon Qi Progress: 26/500]

[Yin-Yang Qi: 52/500]

Looking at the progress on the panel, Bai Yu felt that his future was bright. As long as the Qi Drawing Art reached Great Success, he could devote more resources to the Yin-Yang Mystic Dragon Gu and prepare to awaken his Spirit Root and break through into the Qi Refining Realm.