"What, Scorpion Bugs? Are you planning to switch to cultivating the Insect-Taming Wonder Art?"
Jin Lu was startled by Fang Qianyuan's request and almost thought he intended to switch to cultivating the Insect-Taming Wonder Art.
"No," Fang Qianyuan said. "I intend to use them as materials for refining Gu Worms."
Jin Lu breathed a sigh of relief. "I see. Still, refining Gu Worms is no simple matter either."
"Do you know something about this as well, Steward Jin?" Fang Qianyuan asked humbly. "Is there anything in particular I should watch out for?"
"Refining Gu Worms could be considered the most primitive of the many methods of Spirit Creature fusion refinement," Jin Lu said. "Ordinary fusion refinement and enhancement use a particular Spirit Creature as the foundation, with heavenly treasures as supplementary materials. Gu Worm refinement, however, mixes many insect-type Spirit Creatures together indiscriminately, making no distinction between foundation and materials. That is why some people classify this refinement method separately and call it 'combined refinement'!"
"Combined refinement has three major difficulties. First, there is no fixed selection of Spirit Creatures required. You must experiment with large numbers of them, and only when chance produces a transformation can the process continue. Generally speaking, large Spirit Creatures cannot undergo this method, because the essence of their True Spirits is stable and extremely difficult to mutate. Tiny insects, on the other hand, possess astonishing potential for mutation and evolution."
After listening, Fang Qianyuan asked, "Does that mean it is restricted to insect-type Spirit Creatures?"
"Correct," Jin Lu said. "Generally, only Bug Masters use this method."
"Second," Jin Lu continued, "Combined refinement requires too many materials. Although the price of a single insect-type Spirit Creature is far lower than that of a beast-type Spirit Creature, the sheer quantity required is not so easy to