"I do not know what else Young Master might require, but here at the Eight Treasures Shop, we pride ourselves on having everything a cultivator could need." The beautiful manager smiled warmly, her eyes flickering with keen business acumen. "As a token of our new partnership, I shall grant you a ten percent discount on any Gu insects you purchase today."
She was well aware that securing the Wood Path recipes from Liu Chen was a massive achievement for her career, but she was not content to stop there. Striking while the iron was hot, she aimed to further empty his pockets.
With a graceful wave of her jade like hand, a spinning Bookworm materialized before Liu Chen like a magician's trick.
Liu Chen's interest was piqued. He reached out, his fingers brushing the Gu, and injected a strand of White Silver Primeval Essence. The Bookworm trembled slightly, then spread its wings and took flight. As it ascended, its back slowly unfolded, revealing a miniature scroll packed with dense, detailed information about various Gu insects, their characteristics, and their market prices.
Liu Chen sighed inwardly. The Eight Treasures Shop truly lived up to its reputation. He scanned the scroll and found that even for a relatively niche school like the Sword Path , their inventory of Rank 3 Gu was surprisingly complete. This was exactly what he needed to build a cohesive system around his inheritance.
However, his eyes eventually landed on a Rank 4 Multiple Sword Shadow Gu. He couldn't help but gasp at the list price: 600,000 Primeval Stones. Such a staggering cost was clearly beyond his current need. Liu Chen shook his head helplessly and excluded the high tier Gu from his considerations.
"Very well," Liu Chen said after a moment of deliberation. "I want a set: one Sword Qi Gu at each rank from one to three, one Flying Sword Gu, and one Imperial Sword Gu. Additionally, I require a Broken Sword Reforged Gu, a Sword Walk Gu, a Sword Shield Gu, and a Triple Strength Gu. Throw in a Phantom Gu and a Pocket Gu as well."
He paused, then added, "And I'll need eight Liquor Worms."
Liu Chen's selection was surgical. These Gu covered every essential aspect of combat: attack, movement, defense, and healing.
The Sword Qi Gu was the cornerstone of the Sword Path, allowing the user to release sharp, ranged blasts of energy. The Flying Sword and Imperial Sword Gu would grant him the ability to maneuver through the air and control his blades with fluid precision. The Broken Sword Reforged Gu was a unique healing insect that repaired damage based on the user's sword path marks, the more severe the injury, the more effective the treatment. For movement, the Sword Walk Gu allowed him to cross twenty paces in a single step, while the Sword Shield Gu formed a defensive barrier of blades that would explode with a counter attack once shattered.
The Triple Strength Gu would enhance the power of his offensive insects three times over, and the Phantom Gu would create illusions to confuse and mask his true position.
As for the Liquor Worms, they were extremely rare in small villages like Gu Yue, but in a metropolis like Shang Clan City, they were nothing more than commodities for those with enough wealth. Liu Chen didn't plan to use them for battle; they were materials. Following the Flower Wine Monk's legacy, he intended to fuse them into the Rank 3 Seven Fragrance Liquor Worm. With that Gu, his cultivation speed would accelerate massively, potentially allowing him to reach Rank 5 before the main plot began.
The manager's fingers moved rapidly as she calculated the total. "The eight Liquor Worms are 4,800 stones, the Rank 2 Sword Qi is 3,000, the Rank 3 version is 35,000..."
After a moment, she looked up with a bright smile. "After your discount, the total comes to 240,000 Primeval Stones. What do you think of this price, sir?"
Liu Chen nodded, his face showing no emotion. "Very good. The price is fair."
The manager was overjoyed. She quickly placed an exquisite box containing the refined Gu in front of him. Liu Chen didn't waste any time; he summoned the Primeval Elder Gu from his aperture and withdrew 240,000 stones, handing them over to the manager.
"We're settled, sir," the manager said as she confirmed the payment. "These Gu are now yours."
Liu Chen smiled, reached for the box, and turned to leave the Eight Treasures Shop.
"Young Master, take care on your way out!" the manager called after him. "If you need anything in the future, please feel free to come to me, I'll keep an eye out for you."
After leaving the shop, Liu Chen didn't return to his lodgings immediately. He visited several other stores to continue purchasing specific Gu materials. He was meticulous, selecting only those that met his extremely high requirements to ensure his Sword Path set would be perfectly maintained. Finally, he stowed the remaining food and supplies into his Pocket Gu.
After completing his purchases, Liu Chen left the Third Inner City without hesitation and headed straight for the Fifth Inner City. There, he selected a high end restaurant to serve as his temporary residence, paying off a full month's room expenses in a single sitting. He then acquired a massive quantity of various alcoholic beverages. He wasn't doing this for pleasure; his goal was to refine the Seven Fragrance Liquor Worm.
Back in the privacy of his room, Liu Chen took a short rest before retrieving the two Rank 1 Liquor Worms he had carefully cultivated. He then prepared four jars of fine wine: sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy. While collecting these specific varieties had required significant effort back in Gu Yue Village, they were easily obtained in the bustling markets of Shang Clan City.
With everything prepared, Liu Chen took a deep breath and began the refinement of the Four Flavor Liquor Worm. He skillfully placed the worms into the jar of sour wine and, without hesitation, threw in a hundred Primeval Stones. He then mobilized his White Silver Primeval Essence, sending it surging like a silver tide to drown the mixture.
Under the powerful pressure of the Rank 3 essence, the sour wine and the primeval energy underwent a strange chemical reaction. Liu Chen did not stop; he continued the process methodically, pouring in the sweet, bitter, and spicy wines in turn, adding another hundred stones with each jar.
As time passed, the contents of the wine altar fused under the wrapping of the White Silver essence. Finally, as the last drop of wine and the final stone were consumed, a dazzling white light erupted from the jar. This radiance, like the first light of dawn, illuminated the entire room. A slightly larger Gu worm flew out from the wine, its body flickering with four distinct colors: red, yellow, blue, and green.
"Success!" Liu Chen looked at the Four Flavor Liquor Worm with a surge of joy. To his surprise, the refinement had succeeded on the very first try.
However, refining the Seven Fragrance variant required two Four Flavor Liquor Worms, a much more complex endeavor. Liu Chen stabilized his mind and began the process again to create the second worm. But this time, the refinement did not go smoothly. Despite his care, the energy fluctuated at the final stage, and both Liquor Worms died. He sighed helplessly; he had expected this, for refining Gu was never an easy task and failure was a common companion on the path.
Liu Chen did not let the failure discourage him. He quickly adjusted his mentality, retrieved another pair of worms from his storage, and tried again. This time, he was even more focused. After a period of painstaking work, he successfully produced the second Four Flavor Liquor Worm. He was now one step closer to his goal.
Taking a moment to breathe, Liu Chen prepared for the final refinement. He laid out seven carefully selected spices he had purchased from the market: sandalwood, wood, patchouli, rosin, agarwood, frankincense, and cloves. Using his White Silver Primeval Essence, he refined and kneaded the spices until they were reduced to a fine, aromatic powder.
He placed the spice powders into seven small incense burners and activated a Rotating Flame Gu to light them. In an instant, wisps of blue smoke curled upward, resembling seven blue dragons dancing and circling in the air.
Liu Chen concentrated his mind, mobilizing his essence to gather the smoke together. Under his control, the blue vapor merged into a huge, rotating green smoke balloon, which he held firmly between his palms. At that moment, he withdrew 10,000 Primeval Stones from the Primeval Elder Gu and threw them into the smoke mass one by one.
The smoke mass trembled as it greedily devoured the energy of the stones. Liu Chen watched with absolute focus, daring not to relax as the 10,000th stone was finally fused. He then carefully guided the two Four Flavor Liquor Worms into the center of the green smoke.
As soon as they entered, the two worms were pulled together by an invisible force. In the blink of an eye, they fit together tightly and began the fusion. The green smoke gradually became transparent as the Liquor Worms extracted every ounce of the spicy aroma. The two fused into one, eventually manifesting as a single, brand new Gu.
The newly born worm was half the size of a palm, with seven distinct lines running across its body, representing the flavors of the seven spices.
"Success. Refined Rank 3 Gu:."
This Gu were extremely rare; if put up for auction in Shang Clan City, it could easily fetch 600,000 to 700,000 Primeval Stones.
"Whew..." Liu Chen breathed a long sigh of relief, a massive weight lifting from his heart. He looked at the Seven Fragrance Liquor Worm in his hand, his eyes gleaming with excitement. With this Gu to purify his essence, his cultivation speed would usher in a new wave of improvement. The day he broke through to Rank 4 was no longer a distant dream.
After obtaining the Seven Fragrance Liquor Worm and possessing an ample supply of Primeval Stones, Liu Chen's cultivation journey became exceptionally smooth. In a mere two months, he successfully elevated his cultivation to the absolute peak of the Rank 3 realm.
However, despite this rapid progress, breaking through to Rank 4 was no simple matter. Every advancement in the higher ranks brought greater challenges and higher thresholds for breakthrough. After a long period of peaceful training in seclusion, Liu Chen realized that he needed practical combat experience to further refine his strength and consolidate his foundation.
He decided to head to the Fifth Inner City Martial Arts Field. It was a place centered around battle stages and competition rings, attracting countless Gu Masters from all over to exchange skills and settle disputes. For Liu Chen, this was an unparalleled opportunity. Although he had obtained the True Meanings and memory inheritances of multiple Gu Master experts, he understood that there was still a significant gap between inherited memories and the reality of life and death combat.
The Fifth Inner City Martial Arts Field was teeming with people. Looking around, one could see more than a dozen rings of various sizes scattered across the arena, each hosting two Gu Masters locked in fierce combat. Near every ring, large crowds had gathered, their voices rising in thunderous cheers for their favorites or venomous curses at the losers.
This was not only a venue for combat but also a primary location for gambling. Some of the more intense high level matches even required a spectators' fee of several primeval stones.
Liu Chen cast a cursory glance over the spectacle, then navigated through the bustling throng toward the registration office of the martial arts arena. The atmosphere there was equally chaotic and noisy. Gu Masters wishing to become official duelists formed a queue that stretched for one or two hundred meters, winding so far that one couldn't see the end of the line at a single glance.