Longevity: Starting from Refining Gu

"Taichu?"

Hearing Chen Qing's words, the two of them were slightly stunned and somewhat cautious.

Chen Qing began to speak whimsically but seriously, "As our first meeting since I awoke from my slumber, I can offer you a gift."

Chen Qing looked at the female cultivator, "You were just asking about cultivating the Power Gu, right?"

The female cultivator nodded, "My Power Gu is about to undergo the Butterfly Transformation. I was discussing with the scholar what materials might be needed for its promotion."

Chen Qing leaned back slightly, "Ask me anything else, I might not know, but if you ask about this, then I'm all ears."

"Can I take a look?"

The female cultivator didn't mind revealing her Gu here since no one recognized each other anyway.

She opened her hand, and a strong red Gu slowly raised its head in her palm.

Chen Qing looked at the Gu,

[Mortal Power Gu]

Quality: Ninth Transformation

Life Span: 24/81

Effect: Nine Oxen Power

Growth Requirements: None

Growth Progress: 100/100 (Awaiting Promotion)

Promotion Requirements: Three drops of Flood Dragon Blood

"You can try Flood Dragon Blood, just three drops will do."

The female cultivator looked at Chen Qing in surprise, "So precise?"

Chen Qing smiled and didn't speak.

He turned to look at the extremely strong 'scholar,' "And you?"

The scholar couldn't quite figure out Chen Qing's background, but the term Taichu felt incredibly mysterious to him.

He had never heard of it before; it made one feel inexplicably grand.

Since he was just listening, he opened his hand to reveal a light blue Spirit Butterfly, no longer the size of a soybean, but as large as a cherry.

[Mortal Thunder Butterfly]

Quality: Third Transformation

Life Span: 56/130

Effect: Call Lightning, converting spiritual energy into electricity

[Trait]: Lightning Control, with a certain degree of immunity to lightning, and a certain degree of control over it

Growth Requirements: Water Spirit Essence

Growth Progress: 0/100

Promotion Requirements: Unable to advance further

Chen Qing stroked his chin, "Water Spirit Essence."

After saying this, he leaned back in his chair and said no more.

Seeing that he remained silent, the two resumed their conversation.

The female cultivator said, "The leader mentioned he might not return for another two months. I'm not sure if other members will appear here in the meantime."

The scholar said, "Red Lotus, can you get me a Sword Gu? I'm willing to pay a high price."

The female cultivator was a bit puzzled, "You don't have any Sword Gu there?"

The scholar nodded, "I suppose it doesn't hurt to tell you. We are so far apart that we might never meet in this lifetime."

"Where we are, there are many Five Elements Gu insects, but no Sword Gu."

Chen Qing thought that the people at this ghost mask gathering really wouldn't be able to know who anyone else was. Judging by their words, they seemed to be very far apart.

This scholar might not even be on the same continent.

This woman's name is Red Lotus.

Red Lotus said, "A Sword Gu is not easy to acquire from our side either."

While saying this, she glanced at Chen Qing and found him still sitting there, uninterested in their conversation, so she continued speaking.

"In general, Sword Gu are monopolized by major sects. The ones with better quality might cost one hundred and sixty Spirit Stones each."

Chen Qing remained motionless, but in his mind, he was quite surprised.

A Sword Gu, good quality, a hundred sixty Spirit Stones each?

Seriously?

Where on earth is this Red Lotus from, with such outrageous prices?

The scholar paused for a moment. He astutely noticed Red Lotus glance at Chen Qing, seemingly afraid he would expose her lie.

This meant that the Sword Gu surely weren't priced as she claimed; however, that mysterious Taichu had not spoken a word since mentioning the materials needed for their Gu insects, seemingly uninterested in anything else.

The scholar picked up his folding fan and lightly tapped his hand. There was surely a markup in Red Lotus's quoted price, but on their continent, Sword Gu were indeed hard to come by.

Compared to unknown external dangers, he preferred to spend a little more Spirit Stones.

"Get me one."

Red Lotus, seeing the deal was done, said, "Okay, I'll keep an eye out for you. This will require some insider connections in the sects and might take some time."

The scholar stood with a hand gesture of cupped fists, "Then let us meet again on the first of the month?"

Chen Qing, seeing their conversation was finished, didn't hesitate any longer and directly exited the gathering.

"Today is the fifteenth; when I arrived, they were having a meeting."

"It seems they hold gatherings twice a month."

"Based on their conversation, that space seems to allow transactions of Gu insects and Spirit Stones."

"I hope that Wild Dog Daoist they mentioned dies, so no one knows I took this mask. Then I can join the next gathering and see their reactions."

"In any case, it was dark then, so no one saw who I was. My senior brother from Wuyou Mountain and that Wild Dog Daoist only knew I'm a disciple of Wuyou Mountain."

"If it works out, next time, I might be able to start making money."

"Charging a fee for Gu insect cultivation consultation shouldn't be excessive, right?"

"But their price discussions are really worrying."

Suppressing other thoughts, Chen Qing hid the bronze ghost mask deep in his cave dwelling and then lay down on his bed and fell asleep.

Feiyun Creek, in the Qinglian Sword Sect domain of the West Desert.

In a cave on a cliff, the red-clothed woman removed the ghost mask from her face and swallowed the bronze ghost mask whole.

Outside, heavy rain poured down, and a black eagle with a wingspan of ten feet flew amidst the deluge, hearing the woman's call as it swooped down.

"Flood Dragon Blood, huh?"

"It seems the Demon Mansion also has that for exchange."

"I'll give it a shot; after all, I don't know what's truly needed."

Leaping onto the back of the black eagle, she rode through the storm to distant lands. After two hours of flight, a thick concentration of demon energy gathered in the sky before her, forming a cloud that blocked the sky and covered the earth.

On the ground, there were countless heaps of white bones, among which a massive dragon skeleton sprawled over the mountain peaks.

Rugged palaces stood majestically upon the giant dragon bones, inhabited by bone-winged creatures flying through the sky.

The red-clothed woman landed at the mountain's base on the black eagle and made her way toward a pavilion.

The pavilion had a doorframe but no door, was white in color, merely two stories tall, with a white fox tail over three feet long swaying gently at the back.

Seeing the red-clothed woman approach, the doorframe grew two giant teeth, with tables inside trembling.

A hollow voice echoed from within, "I was wondering why the magpies were chattering, and it turns out Hu Yao was coming."

"Down the mountain has been quite restless recently; those little tigers of yours are increasingly dissatisfied with you."

The red-clothed woman didn't say much, "Do you have any Flood Dragon Blood here?"

The doorframe opened and closed, "That stuff isn't cheap. What do you plan to trade for it?"

Hu Yao pointed to the black eagle beside her, "How about this?"

Upon hearing Hu Yao's proposal, the black eagle visibly began to panic, but before it could react and take flight to escape, the enormous house leaped in a single bound, swallowing it whole through its open portal.

"Mmm, this flavor is excellent, excellent."

The doorframe opened again, but the black eagle was no longer visible.

The portal ejected three tear drop-like red crystals, which, upon hitting the ground, caused the surrounding dry grass to start smoking, clearly signifying a high temperature.

Hu Yao collected the three Flood Dragon Blood drops and took them down the mountain.

Perched on the vertebrae of the flood dragon tail was a massive, black and yellow striped palace, its lanterns resembling two eyes.

In the courtyard outside the palace, three tigers, each over ten feet in length, roared, "Father, sister remains an outsider, and she shouldn't be allowed to enjoy your treasures anymore!"

"Yes, let sister marry off!"

"The bull demon's son is quite fond of sister and is willing to pay a hefty sum for her!"

The monstrous palace came to life, "Silence, get back inside!"

Hearing this command, the three tigers begrudgingly returned inside the palace.

"How did you fare this time?"

Hu Yao replied, "Caught a black eagle and traded it for three drops of Flood Dragon Blood."

Father and daughter fell silent for a moment, until the father spoke first, "Don't worry, I'll at least raise you until you come of age."

"Until you're of age, no one can force you into marriage."

Hu Yao asked, "And after I'm of age?"

The palace was silent for a while before answering, "Here, without a Butterfly Transformation Gu, you cannot freely roam the skies."

Hu Yao entered through the portal to return to her room. Here, inside her father's belly in the demon lands of the West Desert, only within her parent's belly was it truly safe.

Butterfly Transformation, it's not that easy.

Her own savings were dwindling, but fortunately, she could make some money through trading with the scholar.

She spewed out three drops of Flood Dragon Blood for the Power Gu to consume.

As the Power Gu devoured each of the three drops of Flood Dragon Blood, she suddenly noticed her Gu was becoming motionless.

This is...

Could it really be true?

Three hours slowly passed; the bright red Power Gu suddenly stirred, spewing silk from its mouth, wrapping itself tightly to form a red cocoon.

Is it undergoing Butterfly Transformation?

It really was just three drops of Flood Dragon Blood!

Though she had fed it many materials before, there was no way to deduce what the remaining materials were!

And that mysterious Taichu didn't even know what she had previously fed it!

Out of the dozens or hundreds of possible materials, how could he instantly deduce what her Power Gu needed?

Who was he, really?

He wasn't just knowledgeable about Power Gu; he also knew a lot about the scholar's Thunder Butterfly, a Gu he had never seen before.

The next day, when she displayed the transformed Power Butterfly to her father and three brothers, the brothers no longer mentioned marrying her off, but instead circled around her, affectionately calling her sister.

The colossal palace's portal opened and closed, "You are different now."

Hu Yao leaned against one of the brothers and thought of that silent, mystically speaking Taichu, "Yes, from now on, everything is different."

In the Spiritual Treasure Land, Thunder Pure Land,

Black clouds filled the sky; this place never saw sunlight, only continuous thunderbolts descending from the heavens, exploding on the ground, creating numerous black craters.

The earth had been shattered by the thunder into black obsidian; among these obsidian-covered mountains sat a bronze tower.

Inside the tower, rows of countless bookshelves held volumes written on metal pages.

A scholar-like figure set down an ancient book he was reading, "Couldn't find any description related to the name Taichu."

"This appears to be a Dao title never before seen."

"Anyhow, Water Spirit Essence isn't expensive and falls within the possible material list; I'll just request more under the pretext of studying ancient methods."