Stone Gu

"Don't believe me?" Long Xuan shot him a sidelong glance and laughed. "Whether I exaggerated or not, why not try it and see?"

"My Cockroach Gu can regenerate severed limbs. Chop off a hand right here, and see whether I can reattach it."

Old Daoist Li naturally would not agree to chop off his hand. What if the Cockroach Gu could not regenerate severed limbs? Wouldn't chopping off his own hand make him a complete idiot?

"Why would I need to chop off a hand to verify the Cockroach Gu's abilities? One test will tell me."

Old Daoist Li had been successfully provoked. Whether it was real or fake, he decided to trade for it and test its abilities on the spot.

If Long Xuan's words proved false, he could settle the score right then and there. Could the boy possibly run away beneath his very nose?

Old Daoist Li walked straight to Long Xuan's stall, casually grabbed a Gu jar, opened it, and without even looking inside, formed a blood contract with the Cockroach Gu within.

Once a blood contract was formed with a Gu insect, its master could clearly understand its abilities.

As information flowed through his soul, Old Daoist Li's expression quickly froze. His face changed again and again before disbelief gradually appeared in his eyes.

"How is that possible? It's clearly such a weak insect. How could it possess such a terrifying ability?" Old Daoist Li murmured.

"Alright, since you've already formed the blood contract, hurry up and pay the Spirit Stones. For the sake of being neighbors, I'll only charge you two hundred and ninety-nine Spirit Stones." Long Xuan yawned and kept urging him.

Old Daoist Li looked at Long Xuan. The way he regarded him was now entirely different. Anyone capable of creating such a Gu Recipe was no ordinary fish trapped in a pond. He had already developed the intention of befriending him.

"Hehe, this old man was blind indeed. I never expected even weak little cockroaches could be used to refine Gu. My horizons have truly been broadened. One truly cannot look down on any insect beneath heaven."

"Still, it was fortunate that I didn't listen to you and chop off my hand. Although this Cockroach Gu really can regenerate severed limbs, it is nowhere near as exaggerated as instant recovery."

"Regenerating a severed limb is an extremely slow process. It may take years. If I had truly listened to you and chopped off my hand, I would have been in serious trouble. In the Gu World, people cannot act entirely as they wish. Who doesn't have a few enemies?"

Old Daoist Li likewise tossed three Mid-Grade Spirit Stones onto Long Xuan's stall and spoke with a smile.

Having made another sale so quickly, a delighted smile appeared on Long Xuan's face.

Seeing that Long Xuan did not continue speaking, Old Daoist Li, who wished to befriend him, continued, "I did business with you. Courtesy demands reciprocity. Shouldn't you support my business as well?"

"Though my Gu insects are not exclusive Gu insects, they are absolutely the fiercest Gu insects in this market. I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

Hearing this, Long Xuan became interested as well and turned to look at his stall.

Compared with the pitiful single-digit number of goods on his own stall, Old Daoist Li's stall was far more abundant, nearly filled to the brim with jars and bottles containing all sorts of insects.

However, each of his jars and bottles was smaller than the last, and the insects inside were smaller than the last as well. They were all Internal Gu used for parasitism.

His Internal Gu offered their hosts no benefits whatsoever. They were all meant to parasitize enemies' bodies and harm people.

Precisely because they were not used on oneself, they did not take up slots. One could raise as many as one wished, and they were considered consumables.

It was worth mentioning that the number of Gu insects a Gu cultivator could use was limited by slots. Every Gu cultivator had a different number of slots, depending on their soul talent, though Gu cultivators in the Spirit Gathering Stage averaged around four slots.

Of course, Long Xuan had lived two lives. The number of Gu insects he could form blood contracts with at once might exceed that of ordinary people, perhaps even by more than double.

Most Gu cultivators had an extremely limited number of Gu insects bound by blood contract and had to calculate every move carefully. Internal Gu used to harm others were the only type of Gu that did not take up slots, so nearly every Gu cultivator raised some.

For this Old Daoist Li to enjoy refining such Gu insects, he was definitely a scheming old bastard. Long Xuan immediately became wary of him.

When he looked at the descriptions on the insect bottles, Long Xuan instantly felt his scalp go numb.

Stone Gu: Resembled a pebble and was often placed on roads covered in gravel. When someone passed by, the Stone Gu would leap into their body. The victim's lower abdomen would become as hard as rock, their bowels would be blocked, and they would grow thinner and thinner. Death was certain within half a year.

Rice Grain Gu: Resembled a grain of rice and was often placed in an enemy's meal. The victim's appetite would soar and they would never feel full, their mind would become unbalanced, and without a method to remove the Gu, death was certain within a month.

Wart Gu: Often hid in the gaps beneath fingernails. Through close contact with a target—whether a pat on the shoulder or a handshake—it could be planted in their body. Once the Gu infected the blood, it would devour every internal organ in the target's body. Victims often could not last a single day.

Looking at one death more brutal than the last, Long Xuan's expression changed slightly.

This was the first time he had understood just how sinister Gu in this world could be. Take this Stone Gu, for instance—it looked exactly like a pebble and was impossible to distinguish.

The road back to his village was covered in pebbles everywhere. What if someone placed a few Stone Gu along the road he took home? Wouldn't that be disastrous?

Thinking of that possible scene, Long Xuan could not help shuddering.

He simply could not tell which were pebbles and which were Stone Gu. No amount of caution would help.

And this was only the most ordinary Stone Gu. There was a sea of Gu insects even more concealed than Stone Gu, with countless strange and varied methods of planting Gu. They were impossible to guard against. How was he supposed to defend himself?

He had to know that he still could not see the progress of bacteria and viruses, which meant his golden finger was useless against things that were too small.

For many insects only a few millimeters long, he could not see their progress from a distance. Only when he was very close could he see it.

Even his golden finger could not help him guard against methods of planting Gu.

Long Xuan was truly afraid now. These were things that could take his life, yet he currently had no means to counter them. If someone secretly planted Gu in him, he truly had no confidence that he could escape disaster.

No, research into the Microscope Gu had to be put on the agenda. No—the second Gu insect he refined should be the Microscope Gu.

Without the Microscope Gu, those tiny insects used for underhanded attacks were impossible to guard against. Once the Microscope Gu was created, no one would ever be able to plant Gu in him again.

Long Xuan had already made up his mind. His second research subject would focus entirely on the Microscope Gu.

Having lived another life, he truly feared death. Any factor that could threaten his personal safety had to be taken seriously.

After casting another wary glance at those Gu insects, Long Xuan said to Old Daoist Li, "No. I'm not interested in this type of Gu insect."

His funds had other uses now, and he did not intend to waste them on unimportant matters.

Besides, even if he wanted this sort of Gu insect, he intended to obtain them through his own creations.

Once the Microscope Gu was created, he could develop microbial-type Gu insects. Microbial-type Gu insects were so small they could not be seen with the naked eye. They could openly fly straight into an enemy's mouth without being noticed. Then he could harm whoever he wanted—who could possibly counter them?

In terms of concealment, what Gu insect in the world could be more impossible to guard against than microbial Gu? Before microbial Gu, Stone Gu was nothing but a little brother.