"What kind of gu insect is this? It actually dies on contact with spiritual energy."
Fang Shu studied the hairlike things on the stone gate, deeply intrigued.
He immediately sent out the Scarlet Gold Divine Light again and scored the gate several times. As before, whenever a cut opened on the gate's inner face, slender things stirred within it, then quickly vanished.
After several tests, Fang Shu began to suspect that these strange gu insects were the reason the gate could absorb an immortal's spiritual energy and true qi.
That only piqued his interest further. He had never heard of gu insects that could devour spiritual energy yet died so easily upon contact with it.
Could these insects be the exact opposite of spiritual energy in nature, one yin and one yang, so that they cancel each other out? He immediately wanted to collect some and try raising them.
But no matter what spell he used, the moment his power touched those slender insects, either it was devoured or the insects dropped dead. The two could not coexist.
Talismans, jade bottles, jade boxes—none of them could preserve the insects safely either.
Fang Shu began to consider dismantling the entire gate, sealing the insects inside its stone, and taking it back for careful study.
But he soon realized that once the gate was damaged, it was like a water jar with a hole: everything stored inside would inevitably leak away.
And if he dismantled it now, he would hand the Golden Core immortal outside a perfect chance to enter.
An idea struck Fang Shu, and he summoned the Dragon Qi within his mind.
He wove it into a net and cast it toward the break in the gate, hoping to seal the tiny insects within it.
It worked. When the Dragon