The Spirit Insect Black Sheath
Entrusted by the Jimo Household, Gu Xiu had spent his early years in Qing Zhou with Sang Ying.
Originally just acquaintances, the two developed a deep friendship through years of companionship.
Sang Ying directly addressed the other party as "uncle," and the Gu cultivator was equally generous in his kindness towards Sang Ying.
So even after Sang Ying returned to the Twin Orchid Realm, the two never lost contact. Every time Sang Ying returned to the Immortal Spirit Realm and stayed with Ten Thousand Daos Born for a while, the Gu cultivator would always spend a few days with her.
So when Sang Ying discovered something was wrong with the food on the first day, she thought of asking a Gu cultivator for help.
They certainly didn't touch the dishes; they carefully left them behind.
Sure enough, within a few days, the small black spots in the vegetables slowly grew into small black worms.
Watching Sang Ying carefully pick up the small black worm, the Gu cultivator deliberately moved closer to the communication talisman, his eyes under the wide hood fixed on the black worm, a look of excitement seemingly in his eyes.
"Great, my dear niece! You've really helped your uncle a lot!" The Gu cultivator was so excited he almost jumped up. "You're in the Cloud Mulberry Realm, right? I'm coming to find you right now! Oh, and before I get there, you absolutely must take good care of these little cuties for me, and don't let them die!"
The Gu cultivator's tone was extremely urgent, as if he couldn't wait to jump out of the communication talisman and into the Cloud Mulberry Realm to carefully observe the black Gu worm in Sang Ying's hand.
Although the small black Gu worm was tiny, it seemed to have a terrible temper. Even when Sang Ying held it with chopsticks, it was still very arrogant and aggressive.
It was entirely black, but had twelve legs and two small wings on its back. Sang Ying could tell that these wings were quite strong, and she estimated that once the Gu worm was fully grown, it would be able to support her and allow her to fly.
Flying Gu worms—the very name is terrifying.
"Uncle, don't rush over yet. Tell me what this thing is for first. Someone deliberately put it in my food. I need to know its purpose so I can turn the tables on them." Sang Ying quickly stopped the Gu cultivator's actions.
The Gu cultivator was helpless, but he knew that his niece's matter was of utmost importance and he couldn't delay it.
After examining the Gu worm in Sang Ying's hand again, the Gu cultivator spoke, "I don't know if you've ever heard the saying, 'There are countless kinds of Gu worms, green, white, red, black, and purple.' The green one is the Return to Life Gu, which can prolong life and make people young again, while the white one is the Shared Fate Gu one life."
Upon hearing about the Shared Fate Gu, Sang Ying's expression became slightly uneasy, but Jiang Zhuoxue almost burst out laughing.
"The black one is called Black Sheath. Your uncle has been studying Gu worms for many years, but I have not been able to cultivate the legendary Black Sheath, which has supposedly disappeared. And the description of Black Sheath in the book is very similar to the one in your hand."
Sang Ying frowned slightly. Just by looking at the Return to Life Gu and the Shared Fate Gu, one should know that anything comparable to these two types must be no simple Gu worm.
Could this little gadget used by the Listening Tide Sect to control cultivators really be that powerful?
"The Black Sheath are formidable creatures. They survive by absorbing Spiritual Qi. Once they enter a cultivator's body, they will continuously absorb the cultivator's Spiritual Qi. No matter how powerful a cultivator is, once parasitized by them, not a single trace of Spiritual Qi can be extracted from their entire body," the Gu cultivator continued.
Sang Ying became even more worried. "Isn't that just like Spirit-Devouring Insect?"
"Of course they're different! How can you compare them?" The Gu cultivator immediately became anxious. After so many years of getting along, he had long since transformed from a taciturn man into a chatterbox. "The Spirit-Devouring Insect are harmful to cultivators, but the Black Sheath is a treasure! Although it absorbs a cultivator's Spiritual Power, once it's satiated, it will automatically detach from the cultivator's body and form Spirit Crystal. This Spirit Crystal not only shares the same element as the cultivator's Spiritual Power but also belongs exclusively to that cultivator. Even if someone else steals it, they cannot utilize the Spiritual Qi within."
"Moreover, the Spiritual Qi within the Black Sheath multiplies after transforming into Spirit Crystal, accumulating to resemble an entire spirit pool! When these cultivators are about to undergo tribulation, the Spirit Crystal formed from the Black Sheath will be more than enough to supply them with all the Spiritual Power they need!"
The way Sang Ying and the other two looked at the little black Gu worm changed immediately after the Gu cultivator uttered the word "spiritual pool".
The Gu cultivator continued, "However, the Black Sheath have another problem: during the period they are inside a cultivator's body, they desperately want to find a dark and quiet place to slowly absorb Spiritual Power. During this time, they are also attracted to places with abundant Spiritual Qi outside. This seemingly instinctive behavior also affects the cultivator they inhabit, causing the cultivator to do some strange things. But what exactly these strange things are, the book doesn't record."
But the Gu cultivator was unaware of this; the three people present, however, were fully aware of it.
"Uncle, is there any way to remove the Black Sheath from the cultivator's body before it emerges on its own?" Sang Ying felt that Red Lotus and the others probably wouldn't be able to wait for the Black Sheath Gu Worm to grow on its own.
The Gu cultivator was stunned. "So, this little insect really is the Black Sheath?!"
Seeing that the other party had become agitated again, Sang Ying nodded helplessly.
The Gu cultivator was immediately overjoyed and began packing his luggage at lightning speed.
Sang Ying pleaded with him helplessly, "Uncle, please help me."
The Gu cultivator chuckled a few times, "The conditions required for the Black Sheath to grow are extremely demanding. If they don't absorb enough Spiritual Qi along the way, they will die, returning the Spiritual Qi to the cultivator and helping to nourish the cultivator's body. Apart from growing and dying, they have no other way to leave the cultivator's body, at least that's what the books say."
After hearing this, Sang Ying felt a little relieved. Given the environment of the dark room, it was almost impossible for the Black Sheath to grow. She estimated that the Gu worms in the bodies of those foreign cultivators were already slowly dying.
However, Sang Ying hoped they could die even faster, at least before the ritual began. This would increase their chances of rescuing the foreign cultivators.
A few days later, after Sang Ying received news from her junior brothers and sisters that they had arrived at the Beast Soul Sect and successfully obtained the sect leader's help, Zhao Ting and the others were also preparing to officially begin reaping the "fruits of their labor."
As a quiet night fell, Sang Ying and her two companions, who had been prepared, sensed the sudden surge of Spiritual Qi within the Listening Tide Sect. With expressionless faces, they slowly pushed open the courtyard gate and walked out.
Inside the dark chamber, the cultivators who also sensed the rich Spiritual Qi all turned their gazes to the spirit pool that had been reopened, their eyes filled with longing.
A note from the author:
That's all for today! Thank you everyone for liking it, love you all!