NOVEL NEXT Chapter 174: The Sacred Gu
Translator: Cinder Translations
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The next day, early in the morning.
Song Wen disguised himself and went to the market. He had finished refining the Blood Qi Pills and needed to buy some materials.
After collecting the required spirit herbs for the Blood Qi Pills from several stalls, Song Wen went to a secluded spot, removed his disguise, and returned to his courtyard.
While walking along the busiest main street of the market, Song Wen suddenly noticed a ten-story building ahead, adorned with dragon and phoenix carvings, with flying pavilions and a dazzling, golden brilliance.
A large sign hung over the building, with a single prominent character:
Heavenly Spring Courtyard!
The area in front of the building was bustling with people, all male cultivators.
In front of the gate stood several tall and beautiful young women in elegant and uniform attire, with smiling faces, welcoming and sending off the guests.
Ai Kun, whose temples were already graying, was supported by two young girls, about seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed in revealing clothes. They helped him out of the building, which seemed to be making him tremble.
After sending Ai Kun to the street outside the gate, the two girls turned back.
As they walked away, one of them spoke with clear disdain.
"An old man who has seriously depleted his essence actually wants us two sisters to serve him together. He must really want to live long."
Seeing Ai Kun's shaky figure, Song Wen glanced up at the Heavenly Spring Courtyard.
This place was not a place for leisure and relaxation; it was practically a den for replenishing vitality through shady practices.
Song Wen quickly stepped forward and supported Ai Kun's right hand.
"Is this the Heavenly Spring Courtyard you've been longing for?"
Startled by the sudden assistance, Ai Kun looked up and, upon seeing Song Wen, his expression turned awkward. His current state was far from the grandiose "sweeping the courtyard" he usually boasted about.
Ai Kun looked back at the Heavenly Spring Courtyard with a wistful look and nodded.
"To have come here once is worth it in this lifetime. Not in vain for practicing immortality."
"You should take it easy. If you come here too often, you might have to crawl back."
"Under the peony flower, death is still charming. The pleasure, you don’t understand. It’s truly delicious, a feast of bone and marrow."
"Better save yourself a coffin."
Ai Kun chuckled and held up a finger.
"One spirit stone!"
Song Wen was surprised. Ordinary brothels charged three spirit stones, but the Heavenly Spring Courtyard only required one spirit stone.
"So cheap?"
Ai Kun explained, "It is a bit cheap. My essence is severely depleted, so I only need one spirit stone."
Song Wen looked puzzled, as if he didn’t understand Ai Kun’s meaning.
Noticing Song Wen’s confusion, Ai Kun continued.
"One time! Customers pay one spirit stone."
A refund!
Song Wen's eyes widened, and he looked back at the Heavenly Spring Courtyard with newfound respect.
The Heavenly Spring Sect truly lived up to its reputation as a righteous sect, offering a refund after letting people relax.
Could this be compensation for depleted essence?
The demonic sects also have methods for replenishing vitality, but they never refund money. Demonic sects are all about squeezing out every bit of value.
......
After more than ten days.
The cocooned Black Armor Gu emerged from its cocoon.
A tiny insect, the size of a sesame seed, completely black, and matching the description in "Blood Insect Art," appeared before Song Wen.
Song Wen's face showed joy as he held the Sacred Gu in his palm and observed it closely.
The Sacred Gu’s aura was very subtle; even with his late-stage Foundation Establishment spiritual sense, Song Wen could barely perceive its presence.
However, through the faint spiritual connection with the Sacred Gu, Song Wen could clearly sense its location and strength.
The Sacred Gu was a first-stage tier-2 insect, with strength comparable to that of a Foundation Establishment early-stage cultivator.
The Sacred Gu, resting on Song Wen’s palm, suddenly began to bare its fangs and grow agitated.
Song Wen smiled faintly, understanding that this was due to the insect’s recent advancement and its current lack of spiritual energy.
He took out a Beast Refining Pill and placed it in front of the Sacred Gu.
In an instant, a blurred shadow flashed by!
The size of the Beast Refining Pill, which was about the size of a finger, disappeared without a trace.
Song Wen immediately suspected he had seen incorrectly; he had just watched the Sacred Gu suddenly grow to the size of an egg and devour the pill in one bite.
The Sacred Gu could change its size!
This was something not mentioned in the "Blood Gu Art."
Song Wen tried to communicate mentally with the Sacred Gu, asking it to enlarge again.
However, the only response he received from the insect was a simple, "Hungry, eat essence blood."
Feeling somewhat helpless, Song Wen took out a jade bottle, tilted it, and let a drop of essence blood fall.
Once again, a shadow flashed by.
This time, Song Wen saw clearly.
Only the Sacred Gu’s tiny head had enlarged, while its body remained unchanged.
As the essence blood continued to drip, after consuming more than forty drops, nearly half a bottle, the Sacred Gu finally seemed satisfied. It flapped its wings, flew into Song Wen’s mouth, and went into his stomach to refine the pill and essence blood.
Since the Sacred Gu had just advanced, its realm was not yet stable and required time to solidify.
Seven days later, the Sacred Gu’s aura stabilized, and it crawled out of Song Wen’s body, conveying its "hunger" message.
Song Wen took out a shiny silver stone and placed it in front of it. The Bright Silver Stone was recorded in the "Blood Gu Art" as the best food for the Sacred Gu.
However, the Sacred Gu seemed a bit displeased. It preferred the Beast Refining Pills it had consumed previously.
Song Wen raised an eyebrow. It seemed that the Beast Refining Pills were more effective for the Sacred Gu’s advancement than the silver stone.
Unfortunately, Song Wen didn’t have many Beast Refining Pills left, only about forty. It would not be enough for long-term feeding.
Moreover, the Beastmaster Sect controlled the sale of tier-2 and above spirit beasts’ food, making it difficult for Song Wen to obtain Beast Refining Pills.
After feeding the Sacred Gu one of the Beast Refining Pills, Song Wen started preparing to breed the Sacred Gu with the Black Armor Gu to see if he could directly cultivate more Sacred Gus.
Another half-month passed. After numerous attempts, Song Wen discovered:
There seemed to be a reproductive isolation between the Sacred Gu and the Black Armor Gu. Not only was breeding the next generation of insects impossible, but even mating was unfeasible.
This made Song Wen realize that to cultivate more Sacred Gus, he would at least need to evolve a female Sacred Gu to mate with the current male Sacred Gu.
But he only had two Silver Horn Grasses left, which were insufficient for the Black Armor Gu’s evolution.
"I need to get more Silver Horn Grasses."
Song Wen stood up, left the secret chamber, and headed to the market.
After spending most of the day and visiting almost all spirit herb shops and stalls in the market, he found no Silver Horn Grass for sale.
This greatly surprised Song Wen.
While he could understand the Beastmaster Sect controlling tier-2 and above materials, given that they were produced by them, it was unexpected that they could control a single herb as well.
Even if the Beastmaster Sect controlled their own planted Silver Horn Grass, preventing it from being sold in the market, wild-grown Silver Horn Grass should be available for purchase.
Unwilling to give up, Song Wen made another trip to the mountain stream ghost market, but still found no Silver Horn Grass.
However, he learned from a shopkeeper in the ghost market that only the Beastmaster Sect had Silver Horn Grass.
(End of the Chapter)
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