Immortality begins with Becoming an Alchemy Grandmaster

The path of Gu insects originated from the South Border.

In the Immortal Cultivation World, it is said to inspire fear and dread.

But this only applies to rogue cultivators with little knowledge.

For someone like Luo Chen, with profound cultivation and vast experience, it’s clear that all things in the world are neither inherently good nor evil, only deemed useful or not.

At least, based on what he knew, many Gu insects could provide significant assistance to normal cultivators.

For example, a First Order Gu insect called Moonlight Gu.

Though of low order, its effects are extremely magical, capable of Channel Opening Qi Guide.

Some individuals with Spirit Root, but born with blocked meridians, could refine this Gu and break through their shackles, beginning normal Qi Refinement cultivation.

Even those naturally with unblocked meridians wouldn’t hesitate to refine a Moonlight Gu when possible to assist in Qi Refinement.

Over in Zhongzhou, the Tianyuan Daoist Sect once made extensive purchases of Moonlight Gu from the South Border, until the South Border gradually became more isolated, causing these transactions to slow down.

It’s said that the widespread availability of Moonlight Gu contributed significantly to the large number of cultivators in Zhongzhou.

And Moonlight Gu is just one among many Strange Gu.

The Spirit Beetle planted on both Luo Chen and Sima Huiniang is another, and with even more significant origins.

It is rumored to be a simplified version of the Fifth Order Life and Death Gu from ancient times!

That extreme Gu insect could bind a Divine Transformation Great Power and a Qi Refinement Cultivator together, sharing life and death.

Yet over time, the name of the Life and Death Gu became less known, while another evolutionary path of the Spirit Beetle once stirred great turmoil in the Southern Border Cultivation World.

A Third Order Demon Gu, Demonic Mind Gu!

There were those mad enough to refine large quantities of Demonic Mind Gu, planting them in lower-order cultivators, and when mature, using the Gu’s wonders to devour their cultivation realm!

It was precisely because of this event that Demonic Mind Gu was thoroughly suppressed, and the Spirit Beetle also became less common.

Back then, when Luo Chen was about to embark on a distant journey, he planted the Spirit Beetle in Sima Huiniang after carefully ensuring there were no issues.

It turned out that the ”heart-linked connection” ability of the Spirit Beetle indeed brought many benefits.

Whether it was Luo Chen’s years trapped in the Accumulation Thunder Mountain battlefield in Bai Ye Cave Mansion, or as a lower-order prisoner in Cangwu Mountain, or during the hundred years adrift in the North Sea, the presence of the Spirit Beetle gave Sima Huiniang enough confidence.

Waiting for his return!

Without that confidence, the Luo Tian Sect might have already crumbled. A few cultivators not sheltered by the sect might be absorbed by Great Sects for their talents, but most might gradually disappear into the vast Immortal Cultivation World.

Not everyone can thrive like Luo Chen, a wandering rogue cultivator, still managing to do better and better.

Later, after Luo Chen’s journey to the Land of Fallen Demons, his Physical Nirvana, with the disappearance of the Spirit Beetle and his entire Qi Power, he was quite worried about Sima Huiniang’s situation.

Therefore, in Myriad Aspects Tower in Divine Yuan City of the North Sea, he purchased a batch of low-level Gu Worms for research.

After going to Zhongzhou and the end of the Cave Heaven Competition, the Tianshan True Master from the South Border also chatted with him, giving him the opportunity to ask about the Spirit Beetle.

Whether it was personal research results or evaluations from experts in Gu Dao, there seemed to be no significant problems with the Spirit Beetle.

This was why Luo Chen previously believed resolving Sima Huiniang’s injuries wouldn’t be too troublesome.

But now!

There was an anomaly!

Under Luo Chen’s observation, the Golden Core condensed by the Spirit Beetle within Hui Niang was like a living being, connected to the heart and even linked to the Sea of Consciousness Divine Soul!

This is why Luo Chen uttered the phrase ”heart-linked wisdom also connects the divine.”

Due to these connections, Luo Chen dared not forcibly eradicate it.

If he did, the heart would rupture, not to mention the simultaneous annihilation of the Divine Soul.

”No wonder Caiyi previously mentioned changes in Hui Niang’s body, caused by the Spirit Beetle absorbing her blood essence. The pain that even a Golden Core cultivator couldn’t suppress was significantly reduced after practicing the ’Ming God’s Divine Cleanse,’ evidently enhancing her Divine Soul’s endurance.”

”But how did such a situation come about?”

Luo Chen considered asking Chu Kui if there were any other hidden dangers when he gifted these Gu insects years ago.

But the thought was immediately dismissed.

Judging by Chu Kui’s character, he would have mentioned any potential issues long ago.

Moreover, for the past two hundred years, whether through his own research or the Tianshan True Master’s insights, it was stated that the Spirit Beetle posed no problems.

”Then the issue has to be with Hui Niang and... myself.”

Luo Chen squinted slightly, as a drop of blood inexplicably appeared on his fingertip.

The Spirit Beetle was refined with blood essence and fed on the daily circulating qi-blood power, not affecting normal cultivation except during the refinement process.

But Luo Chen’s qi-blood...

From his fingertip, blood that was crystal clear and exuded an extremely vigorous life force emerged.

Even without mastering Qi Blood Change, this drop of blood from Luo Chen was in no way inferior to the blood that Wang Yuan had refined hundreds or thousands of times.

The Spirit Beetle absorbed such things every day and night, gradually growing from First Order to Third Order.

”My blood...”

”Blood Nightmare Mo Luo once said the Yuan Tu Sword favored my blood.”

”The Black King also mentioned liking to linger on me, as my surging qi-blood would make him very comfortable.”

”The Spirit Beetle soaked in my qi-blood day after day, such that I grew accustomed to it, ignored it, and forgot how much it had grown. When I underwent Nirvana, the Spirit Beetle shattered but revived within Hui Niang with my Qi Power, and condensed into a Golden Core.”