Black-Bellied Beetle Gu

Two days later.

Bing-97 Cave Abode.

Eight tiny Beetle Gu flew about inside the cave abode. Song Wen had released them to stretch their wings.

Inside the Gu Cauldron, nine milky-white larvae lay sprawled across Azure Spirit Grass leaves, feeding.

Although Song Wen had raised all the Gu Worms within his body, that did not mean they had to remain there at all times.

Things like feeding larvae and adult insects could still be done outside his body with the aid of the Gu Cauldron.

Suddenly.

Song Wen's mind stirred.

He sensed that two of the three remaining insect eggs within his body had begun to hatch as well.

Two larvae with black spots on their backs broke through their eggs and crawled out.

Song Wen was delighted. The experiment had succeeded: using Black-Bellied Beetle Gu to breed larvae gave a greater chance of producing black-spotted larvae.

To prevent the Gu Worms from backlashing against him again, Song Wen had refined them according to the Blood Gu Art while they were still eggs.

For some unknown reason, the remaining egg ultimately failed to hatch and became a dead egg.

Song Wen drew the dead egg and the two black-spotted larvae out of his body and tossed them into the Gu Cauldron.

The dead egg became nourishment for the other larvae.

While he was at it, he directly killed the nine ordinary larvae and fed them to the black-spotted larvae.

Since the black-spotted larvae had hatched successfully, there was no longer any need to raise more ordinary Beetle Gu.

Looking at the newly hatched black-spotted larvae in the Gu Cauldron, Song Wen knew it was time to go out and buy more Azure Spirit Grass.

Before leaving, Song Wen first disguised himself a little.

He first concealed his aura down to Qi Refining Level One, then circulated the Corpse King Blood Refinement Art, turning his face an iron-blue. He looked as though something had gone wrong in his cultivation, with corpse qi throughout his body running out of control and leaking in every direction.

Then he draped himself in a black cloak that covered his entire body.

At that moment, Song Wen gave others the impression of a newly initiated novice who did not know his own limits, forcibly absorbing excessive corpse qi to cultivate, resulting in an overabundance of corpse qi in his flesh and insufficient vitality—a man who looked as if he might drop dead at any moment.

In short, he looked cornered and desperate, as though he might go mad at any time, rise up in a frenzy, and take revenge on society.

After leaving, Song Wen headed straight for the marketplace.

He sold the eight bottles of essence blood he had accumulated across four different shops, receiving 1,100 spirit stones.

For Song Wen's current cultivation level, such a large number of spirit stones was undoubtedly an enormous fortune.

Then came the purchase of spiritual herbs needed for the Beetle Gu, as well as resources for his own cultivation.

He did not choose to buy Azure Spirit Grass from Chen Yi again. Buying large quantities of Azure Spirit Grass from the same person would inevitably arouse suspicion.

Even if Chen Yi harbored no ill intent toward Song Wen, he still did not dare be careless.

In this perilous Cultivation World, the current Song Wen trusted no one but himself.

One must always guard against others!

He found a large spiritual medicine shop and bought a batch of Azure Spirit Grass and Purple Moonflowers.

When everyone encountered advertisements such as "Are you a True Person?", there was no need to pay attention. Simply close them; do not scan codes or send text messages!

Purple Moonflowers were food for adult insects. Long-term, large-scale consumption could help increase the strength of Beetle Gu.

Different kinds of Gu Worms preferred different foods.

Some Gu Worms increased their strength by devouring all kinds of ores; some devoured human corpses, some ate demonic beast corpses, while others favored all manner of foul and filthy qi.

Beetle Gu, however, devoured spiritual herbs. This was truly rare among Gu Worms. Compared to the nauseating foods of other Gu Worms, Beetle Gu food was a refreshing clear stream in the world of Gu Worms.

Purple Moonflowers were first-grade mid-quality spiritual herbs and were not expensive. Roughly two or three flowers cost one spirit stone.

After feeding them Purple Moonflowers for over a month, Song Wen discovered that the seven ordinary Beetle Gu had all improved to some extent, yet the cultivation of the Black-Bellied Beetle Gu had not increased in the slightest.

Moreover, for ordinary Beetle Gu, one Purple Moonflower was enough to feed all seven Gu Worms for an entire day—economical and affordable to the extreme.

The Black-Bellied Beetle Gu, however, consumed at least four Purple Moonflowers every day. It nearly used up two spirit stones per day, and the Black-Bellied Beetle Gu's expenditure of spirit stones had already surpassed what Song Wen spent on his own cultivation.

Yet the Black-Bellied Beetle Gu's cultivation did not grow at all. This forced Song Wen to suspect that Purple Moonflowers were not the most suitable food for the Black-Bellied Beetle Gu.

According to the Blood Gu Art, Purple Moonflowers were merely food for ordinary adult Beetle Gu. There was no record at all of the Black-Bellied Beetle Gu, which ought to be an intermediate form between Beetle Gu and Sacred Beetle Gu, much less any mention of its best food.

The best food for Sacred Beetle Gu was an ore called Silver-Shining Stone, a second-grade ore.

Song Wen had asked around. A thumb-sized piece of Silver-Shining Stone sold for around fifty spirit stones, making it exceedingly expensive. But Sacred Beetle Gu were second-grade Gu Worms comparable to Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators, so it was only natural that their dietary demands would be somewhat higher.

Song Wen had originally wanted to save a little and test the effects of Purple Moonflowers on the Black-Bellied Beetle Gu. Now, it seemed he could only buy Silver-Shining Stone.

After purchasing Silver-Shining Stone, Corpse-Baleful Qi, Qi-Gathering Pills, and Fasting Pills, Song Wen entered a cultivator gambling house.

To prevent cultivators from cheating with powerful mental power, the gambling house had all kinds of formations that restricted mental power and even the Divine Sense of Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.

Song Wen passed through the gambling house's main hall and headed directly into the latrine in the rear courtyard.

If Qi Refining Stage cultivators did not constantly take Fasting Pills, they still needed to eat. Thus, the existence of latrines in the world of cultivators was hardly strange.

Once inside the latrine, Song Wen completely changed his appearance. He first removed his disguise, then used a Disguise Art he had picked up from a street stall to make a simple alteration, turning himself into a bearded, burly man before leaving the gambling house.

In the Cultivation World, identifying someone did not rely solely on appearance and build, but also on the aura emitted by a cultivator.

Appearance and build could be moderately altered through the control of spiritual power. But one's aura could not be changed. The commonly seen Qi-Concealing Art in the Cultivation World could only alter the strength of one's aura, not the characteristics of its spiritual-power aura.

As a result, secret arts like the Disguise Art were not popular in the Cultivation World.

But for Song Wen, changing the aura of his spiritual power was instead the easiest thing of all.

After wandering around the marketplace for several rounds, Song Wen returned to his cave abode only after repeatedly confirming that no one was following him.

His strength was weak, yet he carried a large number of spirit stones on him. Song Wen had no choice but to be extraordinarily cautious.

With Silver-Shining Stone, the Black-Bellied Beetle Gu's growth went much more smoothly. However, Silver-Shining Stone was evidently slightly too high-grade for it and somewhat difficult to digest.

Each time, the Black-Bellied Beetle Gu ate one-twentieth of a piece of Silver-Shining Stone. After every meal, it needed two to three days to digest it before it could eat again. During that period, it ate some Purple Moonflowers as supplementary food.

More than thirty days later, over half the Silver-Shining Stone had been consumed, and the Black-Bellied Beetle Gu's aura had noticeably grown stronger.

At this time, the two black-spotted larvae successfully transformed into adult insects, and both were female. This greatly thrilled Song Wen, and he began a new round of his grand insect-breeding plan.

He had the three Black-Bellied Beetle Gu mate and reproduce. This would give a higher chance of producing black-spotted larvae, perhaps even stronger Beetle Gu, or even genuine Sacred Beetles.

Song Wen, meanwhile, continued dissecting corpses and cultivating step by step as before.