Record of a Demon's Cultivation

Chapter 44: Counterattack of the Gu Worm

Translator: Cinder Translations

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Ten days later, the black dot larvae finally began to spin silk and form a cocoon.

The growth period of this larva lasted for a whole month, ten days longer than other larvae, and its aura was dozens of times stronger than the other larvae when they cocooned.

After half a month, it finally broke out of the cocoon and grew into a real beetle Gu.

This beetle Gu did not directly grow into a Sacred Beetle Gu as Song Wen expected.

According to the "Blood Gu Technique" records, the beetle Gu's body is gray, while the Sacred Beetle Gu is jet black.

However, this beetle Gu only had a black abdomen, and its back shell and head were still gray.

"What is going on?"

Song Wen frowned. He lacked experience in raising Gu worms and did not have fellow practitioners to communicate with. He had been nurturing them according to the "Blood Gu Technique" and the old woman's insights, so he wasn't sure if this situation with the beetle Gu was good or bad.

Just at that moment, a sudden change occurred.

The originally calm beetle Gu on Song Wen's palm suddenly became violent.

A strong aura emanated from the Gu worm, indicating it had reached the mid-stage of Qi Refining, around the fourth level, far beyond what Song Wen, who was only at the late stage of the second level of Qi Refining, could resist.

Song Wen's face changed drastically, a bad premonition rising in his heart.

"Is this the Gu worm's counterattack on its master?"

Having been focused on nurturing the Gu worm, Song Wen suddenly remembered that using a Gu cauldron to raise Gu worms could lead to the Gu worm rebelling if its strength surpassed the master's significantly.

"Ah!"

A sharp pain hit Song Wen's sea of consciousness, as if countless steel needles were being continuously stabbed into his brain. The unprepared Song Wen couldn't help but cry out, clutching his head and starting to wail in pain.

The speed of the Gu worm's counterattack was so fast that Song Wen had almost no time to think or respond.

In this critical moment, Song Wen did not lose his composure.

According to the "Blood Gu Technique," he had only two ways to handle the situation.

One was to forcibly break the mental control over the Gu worm, allowing it to gain freedom.

The other was for Song Wen to use his own body as the Gu cauldron, refining the Gu worm with ample blood essence, making it fully obedient.

Without much thought, Song Wen directly chose the second option.

The first option had a huge hidden danger. A freed Gu worm, no longer under Song Wen's control, could turn around and attack him. It would no longer be a counterattack on its master but an attack on a stranger.

Choosing the second option, if successful, Song Wen would gain a powerful combat force, making him almost unbeatable against early-stage Qi Refining cultivators.

Having practiced the "Divine Restriction Technique," Song Wen's mental power was already stronger than most early-stage Qi Refining cultivators, comparable to the peak of the third level of Qi Refining.

Relying on his strong mental power, Song Wen suppressed the intense pain in his brain and opened his mouth to swallow the Gu worm.

The beetle Gu, now in his stomach, did not stay quiet; it directly burrowed into Song Wen's internal organs.

Fortunately, Song Wen still had some control over the beetle Gu. While restricting its movements, he began the refining process according to the "Blood Gu Technique."

Under Song Wen's control, a large amount of blood essence gathered around the beetle Gu, surrounding it.

The blood essence, containing the essence of the human body, was exactly what the Gu worm needed for growth. The beetle Gu began to devour the blood essence.

As the beetle Gu devoured more blood essence, Song Wen's refining speed increased.

When the beetle Gu had consumed about twice the amount of Song Wen's blood essence, he finally completed its refinement.

The beetle Gu quieted down, attaching itself inside Song Wen's abdomen, motionless.

Due to suddenly devouring a large amount of blood essence, the beetle Gu had some difficulty digesting it and needed time to process this energy.

Song Wen let out a long sigh of relief. The process of refining the beetle Gu had been extremely dangerous; if his mind had wavered slightly, the beetle Gu could have completely escaped his control. If the beetle Gu went berserk inside his body, his only fate would be death and the end of his path.

"It seems that even while cultivating, I must be extremely careful. The path of cultivating immortality is indeed filled with dangers everywhere; a slight misstep can bring one close to peril."

Looking at the seven ordinary beetle Gu in the Gu cauldron, Song Wen made a decisive decision and decided to refine them all into his body as well.

At the same time, a bold idea emerged in his mind.

He wanted to cultivate a large number of black-bellied beetle Gu!

The black-bellied beetle Gu would significantly enhance his combat power for a long time to come.

Once beetle Gu reach adulthood, they can begin to mate and reproduce.

Typically, Gu masters would restrict the indiscriminate breeding of Gu worms. Breeding consumes a lot of the Gu worm's energy, and if not replenished in time, the Gu worm could die or significantly weaken.

To replenish the Gu worm's energy, a large amount of the Gu master's blood essence and resources is needed.

Additionally, nurturing the next generation of Gu worms also requires a significant amount of the Gu master's blood essence and resources.

These factors constrain the number of Gu worms a master can cultivate.

However, Song Wen was not lacking in blood essence; he could always steal more blood essence from the Corpse Cave to feed the Gu worms.

The resources needed to cultivate the Gu worms, however, were somewhat troublesome.

From his last sale of blood essence, Song Wen had earned over four hundred spirit stones. After accounting for his daily cultivation expenses, he had about 230 spirit stones left.

He also had five more bottles of blood essence ready for sale.

Selling blood essence had to be done cautiously; if he was targeted or recognized by fellow disciples of the Corpse Demon Sect, he would have difficulty explaining the source of the blood essence.

Despite the risks, he had to sell the blood essence as it was the fastest way for him to obtain spirit stones and resources.

The black-bellied beetle Gu was a male Gu worm, while among the remaining seven Gu worms, four were females.

To breed stronger next-generation Gu worms, Song Wen restricted the mating rights of the three ordinary male worms, allowing the black-bellied beetle Gu to mate with the four female worms exclusively.

In reality, even without Song Wen's restriction, the three ordinary male beetle Gu would likely not have had the chance to mate, given the significant strength difference between them and the black-bellied beetle Gu.

A month later.

The four female worms began laying eggs, producing a total of 12 eggs, with each female laying three eggs.

It is worth noting that with sufficient resources, Song Wen's cultivation level had smoothly advanced to the third level of Qi Refining.

At this time, Song Wen had been in the Corpse Demon Sect for six months. To avoid arousing suspicion, he masked his cultivation aura to appear at the second level of Qi Refining.

This aligned with the cultivation progress of someone with a mid-tier sixth-grade spiritual root.

Seven days later, the eggs began to hatch inside Song Wen's body.

Perhaps due to using his flesh as the cauldron, the incubation speed of the Gu worms was astonishingly fast. In just one day, nine of the 12 eggs hatched into larvae, all of which were ordinary larvae.

The remaining three eggs, however, showed no signs of hatching.

This made Song Wen feel somewhat hopeful; perhaps these three eggs would develop in the way he expected.

(End of the Chapter)