Reverend Insanitys Biography of Qitiab

On this day, Shang Clan City welcomed the Prosperity Festival.

This was a traditional Shang Clan celebration, commemorating the moment their ancestor first set up a street stall and laid the foundation for their family's dominance in trade.

During the festival, the young masters would hold grand banquets, rewarding meritorious individuals and inviting guests from all over.

Given Qi Tian's current status, he naturally received invitations from all ten young masters. Although his breakthrough to Fourth Rank had not been publicly announced, the fact that he had defeated Yan Tu, a well-established Fourth Rank Gu Master while still at the peak of Third Rank, was enough to place him on equal footing with veteran Fourth Rank experts.

However, Qi Tian had little interest in these social gatherings, nor did he intend to get involved in the power struggles between the three major factions of the young masters.

Ultimately, he chose to accept the invitation from Shang Chiwen.

For one, Shang Chiwen had no ambitions for power. Secondly, she managed the Martial Arena, making Qi Tian's visit a logical choice. By attending her banquet, he subtly signaled his neutrality in the young masters' conflicts.

After the feast, Qi Tian returned to Nanqiu Courtyard and began refining Gu worms.

This time, his target was none other than the Wine Bug!

The Refinement of the Nine-Eyed Wine Bug

A First Rank Wine Bug could refine Bronze True Essence by one grade.

A Second Rank Four-Flavored Wine Bug could refine Red Iron True Essence by one grade.

A Third Rank Seven-Fragrance Wine Bug could refine Silver True Essence by one grade.

And the Fourth Rank Nine-Eyed Wine Bug could refine Golden True Essence by one grade!

However, there was no Fifth Rank Wine Bug.

The original creator of the Wine Bug formula had been a genius alchemist, but his life was cut short before he could complete the research.

Genius is only potential—until it is fully realized, it can be extinguished.

Many promising talents had met an early demise before reaching their peak.

But now, Qi Tian had already grown strong. To eliminate him would not be easy.

Back when he was traveling with the merchant caravan, Qi Tian had already refined a Seven-Fragrance Wine Bug. Upon reaching Peak Third Rank, he had deliberately refrained from using it, instead keeping it nurtured within his aperture.

Now, as a Fourth Rank Gu Master, he needed a Nine-Eyed Wine Bug.

To refine a Four-Flavored Wine Bug, he needed two First Rank Wine Bugs and four types of fine wine: sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy.

To refine a Seven-Fragrance Wine Bug, he needed two Four-Flavored Wine Bugs and seven types of fragrant herbs.

And to refine a Nine-Eyed Wine Bug, he needed two Seven-Fragrance Wine Bugs and the eyes of nine king-class beasts.

A Costly Refinement Process

Thanks to Shang Clan City's vast resources, gathering the materials was relatively easy—unlike in the wilderness, where such a feat would be nearly impossible.

Qi Tian already had one Seven-Fragrance Wine Bug.

He bought four additional Wine Bugs, refining them into two Four-Flavored Wine Bugs, then merging those into a second Seven-Fragrance Wine Bug.

So far, everything went smoothly.

However, when he attempted to fuse the two Seven-Fragrance Wine Bugs into a Nine-Eyed Wine Bug, he failed on the first attempt.

The loss was considerable—his primeval stones were wasted, and the supplementary materials were completely consumed. He had no choice but to start over from scratch.

Fortunately, his second attempt succeeded.

Three days later, the Nine-Eyed Wine Bug was finally born.

It resembled a silkworm, its body as white and smooth as a pearl. Unlike its predecessors, it had no eyes on its head, but instead, nine colorful gemstone-like eyes embedded along its body—each shining in a different hue: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, and beyond.

This Nine-Eyed Wine Bug could refine Golden True Essence by one grade!

Qi Tian had spent a small fortune—nearly 200,000 primeval stones—to obtain it.

The Risks of Refining Gu

Failure was something no Gu Master could avoid.

Even though Qi Tian had failed multiple times, he still considered himself fortunate.

Most of his failures occurred early in the process, when the cost of failure was relatively low. Had he failed at the final fusion step, his losses would have been catastrophic.

After ensuring his new Nine-Eyed Wine Bug was stable, Qi Tian carefully stored it within his aperture, his face filled with satisfaction.

"With this bug, my Pale Gold True Essence will be refined into Bright Gold True Essence—making it even denser and more durable."

A Year in Shang Clan City

Time flew by, and another month passed.

By now, Qi Tian had been in Shang Clan City for a full year.

During this time, he had successfully broken through to Fourth Rank and accumulated a solid foundation. His Gu arsenal was also more refined than ever.

Notably, after his breakthrough, Qi Tian had challenged Ju Kaibei.

While victory was certain, Qi Tian deliberately chose a different approach—engaging in close combat instead of relying on ranged attacks.

Using his Qi Armor Gu and Explosive Qi Gu, he engaged Ju Kaibei at melee range, treating the battle as a training exercise to refine his techniques.

The fight was brutal, pushing Qi Tian to his limits. But as it progressed, he grew increasingly adept at controlling his Qi Armor.

However, when Ju Kaibei activated his killer move—Giant Spirit Transformation, Qi Tian was forced to switch to ranged attacks, ultimately securing victory with Qi Yuan Slash.

An Unexpected Development

To Qi Tian's surprise, Ju Kaibei had a Hard Qi Gu, which provided powerful defensive capabilities.

This was unexpected.

In the original timeline, Ju Kaibei only obtained this Gu several years later, before challenging Fang Yuan.

Qi Tian speculated that Shang Clan had provided him with this early—likely due to his rapid rise in power.

But that no longer mattered.

As the victor, Qi Tian claimed the Hard Qi Gu as his prize.

While Hard Qi Gu had formidable defenses, it had a major drawback—it could only be activated while stationary.

For most Gu Masters, this was a severe limitation.

But not for Qi Tian.

Because he had Same Qi Linked Branch Gu!

After upgrading it to Fourth Rank, this Gu could merge with other Qi-based Gu, allowing him to integrate Hard Qi Gu into his Qi Armor.

Thus, his new killer move—Hard Qi Armor—was born.

This armor had higher defense than Hard Qi Gu, did not restrict movement, and offered superior durability.

Its only downside?

It consumed a massive amount of True Essence.

The Cost of Strength

Since breaking through to Fourth Rank, Qi Tian had only upgraded two Gu worms:

1. Nine-Eyed Wine Bug

2. Same Qi Linked Branch Gu

Upgrading Fourth Rank Gu was insanely expensive.

Even a basic Fourth Rank Gu cost over 10,000 primeval stones. More advanced ones could easily exceed 100,000.

On top of that, the failure rate was much higher than with Third Rank Gu.

Each failure wasted primeval stones, materials, and Gu worms, while also damaging the Gu Master's spirit.

No wonder many Fourth Rank demonic cultivators sought to join righteous factions—not for morality, but for survival.

Because at Fourth Rank, the hunger for resources became overwhelming.

And at Fifth Rank, it only got worse.

This was why Qi Tian was determined to inherit the Blessed Land.

For a Fourth Rank Gu Master, securing a stable resource supply was no longer optional it was a necessity.