Sacred Beetle Gu Advancement
After returning to Fangzhu City, Xing Yixuan waited for several days before finally meeting Xing Wenyao, who had broken through his seclusion, at the summit of Cloud Sky Peak.
"Greetings, Ancestor." Xing Yixuan bowed and greeted him.
Xing Wenyao replied, "Was the trip successful?"
Xing Yixuan took a spirit beast pouch from her waist and held it in her hands.
"Reporting to the Ancestor, everything went smoothly. I captured a peak second-tier Nether Fox."
Xing Wenyao raised his hand and summoned the spirit beast pouch, which flew up and landed in his hand.
The spirit beast pouch was opened, and a two-tailed Nether Fox appeared.
The Nether Fox bared its teeth, looking ferocious.
But after sensing a trace of Xing Wenyao's aura, the Nether Fox immediately became docile, curling up at Xing Wenyao's feet like a well-behaved pet.
Xing Wenyao nodded in satisfaction and said to Xing Yixuan.
"Thank you for your hard work. The Ghost Mist Domain is fraught with danger; capturing a peak second-tier Nether Fox is truly no easy feat."
Xing Yixuan said, "It is thanks to the cultivation I received from the Ancestor in the past that I am where I am today. It is my honor to be able to do my part for the Ancestor. If there is nothing else, I will take my leave now."
Xing Wenyao said, "Wait a moment."
Xing Yixuan asked, "Ancestor, is there anything else you require?"
Xing Wenyao said, "Xing Liren plans to take advantage of the Spell Arts Tournament to gather nine Qi Refining Stage Soul Source Body cultivators to refine the Heavenly Spirit Pill."
Upon hearing this, Xing Yixuan's expression was a mixture of surprise and confusion.
"Xing Liren wants to refine the Heavenly Spirit Pill? How could he possibly gather nine third-tier Alchemist?"
Xing Wenyao said, "Don't forget, his mother is from the Jing Family. With the Jing Family's help, what are a few third-level Alchemist?"
Xing Yixuan said, "The Jing Family wouldn't be so kind as to help him for no reason."
Xing Wenyao said, "You guessed right, Xing Liren did indeed betray the interests of our Xing Family. He used the first two levels of the <Soul-Concentrating Spike> Cultivation Method as a price to gain the Jing Family's assistance."
"Xing Liren is utterly inhuman! The Soul-Concentrating Spike a closely guarded secret of my Xing Family. How can we hand it over to someone else for our own selfish gain?"
Xing Yixuan's tone carried a hint of anger.
Then, she suddenly thought of something and asked with a puzzled look.
"Since you, Ancestor, are already aware of this matter, why don't you step in to stop Xing Liren?"
Xing Wenyao said, "Why should I stop you? You haven't even cultivated the second level of <Soul-Concentrating Spike> yet, have you?"
Xing Yixuan's eyes lit up. "Ancestor, you mean..."
Xing Wenyao said, "This matter is best kept to yourself; do not spread it. Alchemy Liren has chosen Treasure Peak as the location for Xing Liren. I cannot participate in this matter; you will decide how to proceed."
Xing Yixuan's face lit up with joy as she said, "Yes, ancestor."
There is less than a year until the Spell Arts Tournament.
While diligently cultivating to improve his strength, Song Wen also kept an eye on the movements of Fangzhu City and Treasure Peak.
He obtained a lot of highly poisonous items in the Poison Old Ghost's Poison Grotto, which were perfect for him to cultivate the <Myriad Poisons Primordial Body>.
As Song Wen's Cultivation Method improved, he became increasingly aware of the extraordinary nature of this Cultivation Method.
His main cultivation technique, the <Corpse King Reincarnation Art>, is a peerless Cultivation Method that combines Law Power and physical body training.
This made his physical body extremely powerful, far surpassing that of other cultivators of the same level.
However, the <Myriad Poisons Primordial Body> can further strengthen his physical body, enhancing his defense and strength once again. Furthermore, it grants Song Wen immunity to numerous highly poisonous substances.
To Song Wen's slight regret, he was only one step away from mastering the <Myriad Poisons Primordial Body>.
At that time, there will be no more room for improvement in this Cultivation Method.
"If the <Myriad Poisons Primordial Body> has a follow-up Cultivation Method, that would be a fortunate thing," Song Wen thought to himself.
While he was diligently cultivating, he also did not forget to try to advance the Sacred Beetle Gu.
The fifty Dragon-Pattern Grass I bought earlier have all ended up in the stomach of the same Sacred Beetle Gu.
The aura of this Sacred Beetle Gu has noticeably strengthened, but there are no signs of it advancing in rank yet.
So Song Wen went to Hundred Herbs Tower again and bought fifty Dragon-Pattern Grass, all of which were five hundred years old.
Two months later, the fifty Dragon-Pattern Grass I bought a second time were all eaten by that Sacred Beetle Gu.
The Dragon-Pattern Grass consumed by this Sacred Beetle Gu has already cost Song Wen 200,000 Spirit Stone, yet there is still no sign of it advancing in rank.
Unwilling to give up after investing without seeing any return, Song Wen gritted his teeth and bought another fifty Dragon-Pattern Grass.
When the Sacred Beetle Gu consumed the seventieth Dragon-Pattern Grass, a significant change finally occurred.
Nine silver lines appeared on the originally jet-black carapace, resembling ancient runes and exuding a mysterious aura.
When the patterns first appear, they appear extremely dull and inconspicuous.
After consuming ten more Dragon-Pattern Grass, the silver patterns seemed to come alive, beginning to flow slowly, like tiny silver worms meandering across the black carapace.
As a result, the Sacred Beetle Gu fell into a deep sleep and stopped eating.
Song Wen knew that the Sacred Beetle Gu was showing signs of advancing.
He activated the Spirit Gathering Formation and simultaneously crushed thousands of low-grade Spirit Stone to provide ample Spiritual Qi for the Sacred Beetle Gu's advancement.
However, the Sacred Beetle Gu remained dormant for a full six months, during which time it devoured Spiritual Qi three times.
That day.
On the shell of the Sacred Beetle Gu, the nine silver lines seemed to be lit up, emitting a dazzling light.
As the light from the patterns grew stronger, the body of the Sacred Beetle Gu began to undergo tremendous changes.
Its body expanded rapidly at a visible speed, soon becoming the size of a washbasin.
Its jaws snapped shut, and its eyes looked hopefully at Song Wen, appearing extremely hungry.
Song Wen's face lit up with surprise. He could clearly sense that this Sacred Beetle Gu had advanced to the Early Third Rank.
He took out the corpse of a second-tier sea beast and placed it in front of the Sacred Beetle Gu.
This is a giant sea serpent several meters long.
The Sacred Beetle Gu pounced on the sea serpent's corpse and began to devour it greedily.
In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the sea serpent's corpse was completely inside the Sacred Beetle Gu.
However, it still looked extremely hungry.
Song Wen then took out two more sea beast corpses and threw them to the Sacred Beetle Gu.
A little over fifteen minutes later, the Sacred Beetle Gu, having eaten and drunk its fill, shrank back to the size of a grain of rice and flew into Song Wen's stomach.
Song Wen roughly calculated that the advancement of this Sacred Beetle Gu had cost approximately 350,000 low-grade Spirit Stone, most of which were used to purchase Dragon-Pattern Grass.
If all six Sacred Beetle Gu were to advance to the next level, it would mean that a total of more than two million Spirit Stone would be needed.
Song Wen had a total of 150 Superior Spirit Stones and approximately 300,000 mid-grade and low-grade Spirit Stone.
Considering the 50% premium for exchanging Superior Spirit Stones for low-grade spirit Spirit Stone, these Spirit Stones are sufficient for all the Sacred Beetle Gu to advance.
However, this would leave him with very few Spirit Stone.
"Alas! Wealth, methods, companions, and land! Indeed, whether in the secular world or the Cultivation World, money is always the most important thing!"
"If we can acquire a batch of Dragon-Pattern Grass at a low price, the matter of advancing the remaining five Sacred Beetle Gu will be easily resolved."