"Bastard!" Old Man Wang was furious. He glared, his face full of rage, and roared at his youngest daughter, "Are you trying to anger me to death? Your elder brother is already dead, what nonsense are you still spouting here!"
Before he finished speaking, Old Man Wang raised his hand and slapped his youngest daughter hard. The slap was extremely heavy; she stumbled, almost falling to the ground. She covered her face, looking at her father in shock, tears gushing out like a broken dam, and she burst into loud sobs.
Old Man Wang's daughter was completely stunned by the sudden slap. Her face stung, and her heart was filled with grievance and confusion. She didn't understand why her father treated her this way; she had only spoken her true thoughts.
Old Man Wang looked at his crying daughter, feeling a pang of reluctance, but he still suppressed his inner pain and continued, "Girl, don't blame me for being heartless. That Gu Yue Clan has many Gu Masters, unfathomable and unpredictable. We Mortals simply have no ability to resist. Even if your elder brother became a Gu Master, he would absolutely be no match for the Gu Yue Clan. So, as long as you can live safely, that's enough. Don't think about those unrealistic things anymore."
As Old Man Wang spoke, his voice gradually lowered, almost inaudible by the end. He slowly turned his head, his gaze directed towards the distant Qing Mao Mountain, thinking of his eldest son in the mountain, then looked down at his still unconscious second son beside him and sighed... After obtaining Old Man Wang's beast hide map, Liu Chen's hunting life became much easier. The map clearly marked the distribution of various beast herds, allowing him to find his targets more accurately.
However, three red circles on the map caught Liu Chen's particular attention. He stared at these three red circles, pondering to himself, "This must be where Wang Da is hiding. I hope you don't provoke me, otherwise don't blame me for being impolite."
These three red circles were all located on the outskirts of the three Mountain Villages, in relatively remote areas that ordinary Gu Masters couldn't reach in a single day.
Time flew by, and half a year had quietly passed. During this period, Liu Chen had been Cultivating steadily, without attracting anyone's attention. His cultivation had unknowingly Breakthrough to First Rank high-tier, and he had even cultivated the strength of one hog within his body, thanks to the White Hog Gu.
Despite the increase in his strength, Liu Chen remained low-key. During every competition and examination, he deliberately controlled his scores, keeping them at a mediocre level to avoid drawing attention. This way, he could continue to Cultivate in peace, undisturbed by external interference.
In the Flower Wine Inheritance cave, the light was dim, with only a faint red glow emanating from the cave walls. Liu Chen sat cross-legged on the cold ground, surrounded by various strange gu materials.
Liu Chen took a deep breath, concentrated, and activated a stream of dark green bronze true essence within his body. This true essence swirled in his hand like a dark green whirlwind. He carefully placed the now useless White Hog Gu into the true essence, then quickly threw in a few primeval stones.
As the primeval stones melted in, the White Hog Gu suddenly emitted a dazzling white light, then gradually melted under the true essence's embrace, finally turning into a ball of white liquid. This liquid, as if alive, circled around the White Hog Gu, seemingly communicating with it.
Just then, Liu Chen unhesitatingly took out the Jade Skin Gu and threw it into the bronze true essence as well. Instantly, the two Gu, enveloped by the true essence, seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, slowly merging together.
Liu Chen nervously watched this scene, not daring to relax in the slightest. He then quickly added several auxiliary gu materials, which also rapidly merged with the combining Gu under the effect of the true essence.
Time passed by minute by minute; sweat gradually beaded on Liu Chen's forehead, but his gaze never left the merging Gu.
Finally, after a long wait, all the Gu and gu materials perfectly merged together, transforming into a ball of light. As the light ball shattered, a brand new Gu flew out from within and landed in his palm.
The Gu's appearance still resembled a white jade ladybug, but the patterns on its body had become more complex, shimmering with a faint white jade glow. Liu Chen gazed at this newly born Gu, an indescribable joy welling up in his heart.
This was the first Gu he had personally refined to Second Rank, deepening his understanding of Gu Master cultivation.
After a long period of effort, Liu Chen finally succeeded in refining this Second Rank Gu. However, despite the joy in his heart, he also felt an unprecedented exhaustion.
This was not Liu Chen's first time refining a Gu, but each time it caused a significant drain on his mind. This time, in particular, the refining process was exceptionally difficult, requiring his full concentration without the slightest lapse.
However, this exhaustion was minor compared to the backlash that would result from a refining failure. If the refining failed, Liu Chen would not only lose the Gu but also suffer a much stronger backlash, which would cause severe damage to his body and spirit.
Besides the Gu awarded by the System, he had also managed to refine a Sword Embryo Gu on his own. To refine this Sword Embryo Gu, Liu Chen had failed once, suffering severe injuries and taking half a month to recover, leaving him still with lingering fear.
Liu Chen had plans for both Sword Embryo Gu.
By feeding his innate Sword Embryo Gu with primeval stones, Liu Chen intended to refine a Gu to assist in Cultivation. Through continuous feeding of primeval stones, Liu Chen believed this Sword Embryo Gu could be successfully refined into a Second Rank Primeval Sword Embryo Gu, becoming a powerful helper on his cultivation path.
At the same time, he planned to feed the other Sword Embryo Gu with his own blood, refining it into a Blood Pool Sword Embryo Gu for offensive combat. This way, this Sword Embryo Gu would exert even greater power in battle.
To help this Blood Pool Sword Embryo Gu grow quickly, Liu Chen would feed it all the blood from wild boars after each hunt, which was very beneficial for the refining of the Sword Embryo Gu.
As time passed, this Blood Pool Sword Embryo Gu gradually grew stronger, its attack and lethality continuously increasing.
Fortunately, there were daily updated wooden treasure chests, otherwise the two thousand primeval stones Liu Chen initially received would have likely been used up.
Most of the wooden treasure chests contained rewards of one or two primeval stones each. Although not a lot, it was a considerable gain, enough to allow him to Cultivate steadily.