Chapter 56: Hunyuan Refining Gu

After returning to the Treasure Seeking Pavilion, Song Changsheng resumed his routine life. During this period, he kept his promise by treating Zhu Yiqun to a meal at the Jade Food Workshop; otherwise, he remained in the weapon refining room, silently improving his refining skills.

Because he lacked a sufficient amount of second-tier materials for practice, his progress was slow, and he was still a short distance away from reaching the lower grade of the second tier.

One day, just as Song Changsheng finished a batch of orders and went downstairs for some fresh air, he felt a sudden premonition and looked out toward the main street.

His gaze pierced through the passing crowds and instantly landed on a person wearing a silver mask. Song Changsheng's pupils shrank violently.

"Feng Wuming?"

A sudden shock gripped his heart. He looked back, but the spot was already empty.

"So he really has come. But why did he deliberately appear before me? Is this a warning, or..." Song Changsheng felt a sense of confusion and doubt.

"Such a fellow is truly dangerous. It seems I must find a way to eliminate him."

He had originally thought about retreating to his clan to lie low and only deal with this karma once his strength had increased, but he hadn't expected the opponent to come knocking so soon. In that case, he wouldn't blame anyone if he called for reinforcements.

After returning to his room, Song Changsheng took out the communication flying sword left to him by Song Luyao. He forced out a drop of essence blood to awaken the sword and whispered a few words into it. The flying sword instantly transformed into a streak of light and sped toward Cangmang Peak...

Since it would take time for help to arrive, he decided to stay in his room and cultivate for his own safety.

As night fell, Song Changsheng approached the window, facing the silver moon, and began to absorb the essence of the moonlight.

Half an hour into his cultivation, he felt an inexplicable heat rising within him. At first, he didn't pay it much mind, but to his surprise, it grew more intense, as if a ball of fire were burning inside his dantian.

Thinking something had gone wrong with his cultivation, he hurriedly recited the [Heart Cleansing Incantation] in his mind, but no matter how many times he recited it, there was no improvement.

The intense pain nearly forced a scream from his throat.

A silver mask he had seen during the day flashed through his mind, and he realized instantly that he might have been afflicted by a Gu worm.

"The methods of a Gu Master are truly hard to guard against. To fall into his trap in a single glance... but don't get too cocky, I am no easy target!"

Song Changsheng struggled to sit cross-legged. His hands formed a hand seal as he began to circulate the *Yin-Yang Profound Radiance Scripture*. The Primordial Qi he had stored in his dantian for many years was immediately mobilized.

This Primordial Qi was gathered from the essence of the sun and moon he absorbed daily. It possessed many miraculous uses, but over the past dozen years, he had only managed to accumulate about one and a half strands. It was extremely precious, and he had always been reluctant to use it.

However, his current situation left him no choice but to stop holding back.

All of his Primordial Qi was mobilized to suppress the increasingly turbulent sea of Qi in his dantian.

Simultaneously, his divine sense rapidly traversed his body, finally discovering a worm, looking like a living maggot, in an inconspicuous corner of his dantian.

It was blood-red throughout. One part was deeply rooted in Song Changsheng's dantian, while the other part was spraying an unknown gas outward.

It was this very gas that was causing Song Changsheng's excruciating pain.

"It really is a Gu worm. To dare root itself in my dantian... see if I don't refine you today!"

Song Changsheng's face was contorted with pain. He rapidly circulated his mental cultivation technique, and the Primordial Qi in his dantian immediately began to differentiate, reverting into pure Solar Essence and Lunar Radiance.

He transformed the Yin-attribute Lunar Radiance into a protective film to shield his fragile meridians and acupoints.

The Yang-attribute Solar Essence transformed into a raging fire within his dantian. For a moment, Song Changsheng's dantian became a massive furnace, beginning to refine everything within it.

It was an extremely painful process, like being burned alive, but Song Changsheng gritted his teeth and endured.

Gu worms are fragile; they cannot survive in such an environment. Before its death, the worm attempted to burst through Song Changsheng's dantian sea of Qi, but the Solar Essence was supreme Yang and incredibly domineering, refining it instantly.

This method of breaking a Gu worm was simple and crude; it would have been impossible for anyone else to achieve.

To dare introduce Solar Essence into one's own dantian was practically a death wish—once the Gu worm died, the host would turn to ash as well.

It was only because Song Changsheng practiced a special mental technique and had the Lunar Radiance to protect his body that he remained unharmed.

"Whew..."

Song Changsheng let out a long breath and then collapsed onto the floor like a heap of mud. In that single moment, the spiritual power in his body had been almost entirely refined away. He was now more exhausted than ever before...

At the exact moment the Gu worm died, a blood-curdling scream erupted from an inn not far from the Treasure Seeking Pavilion.

Feng Wuming clutched his chest, his eyes filled with disbelief. In a mix of shock and rage, he cried out, "My Fire-Poison Gu is dead? How could he possibly have killed my Fire-Poison Gu?"

The Fire-Poison Gu was one of the five life-bound Gu worms he had cultivated. Although it was only first-tier, it was enough to give many Foundation Establishment cultivators a headache. He had originally intended to use it to control Song Changsheng, but instead, Song Changsheng had forcibly refined it to death.

This was not merely the loss of a single Gu worm; it caused him a very severe backlash.

Feng Wuming could not understand how Song Changsheng could have killed his Fire-Poison Gu so quickly. This was something a Qi Refinement cultivator simply should not be able to do!

"Cough, cough... I must tend to my injuries immediately." Feng Wuming hurriedly took out medicinal pills and began to heal.

While he was healing, Song Luyao and the others, having received Song Changsheng's message, arrived at the Liuyun Market.

Given the danger posed by a Gu Master, in addition to Song Luyao, the Great Elder Song Xianyun personally brought treasures down the mountain, striving to resolve this hidden threat directly.

Upon their arrival, they contacted the several guardians stationed in the market to coordinate their actions.

Wang Wanzhou and the Li clan were already allies of the Song clan; upon receiving the news, they immediately agreed to cooperate.

Du Huating had recently had a falling out with Song Changsheng and Song Luyao and originally had no intention of cooperating, but as soon as he heard a Gu Master had arrived in the market, he lost his composure and immediately agreed to the collaboration.

The reputation—or rather, the infamy—of Gu Masters had spread throughout the entire human cultivation world. Faced with a Gu Master who dared to show himself publicly, everyone would join forces to attack him.

Five great Foundation Establishment experts jointly laid a massive net, beginning a large-scale search throughout the market.

Using Gu worms, Feng Wuming had controlled several puppets, such as shop assistants, within the market, and he received news as soon as the search began.

Although the opposition was coming on strong and his injuries were not yet healed, Feng Wuming did not panic. This was not the first time he had faced such treatment, and he was confident he could break through the blockade.

He awakened his remaining life-bound Gu worms one by one and then waited quietly for an opportunity.

At this time, Song Xianyun also searched near the inn. His divine sense spread out, searching for any suspicious aura.

Suddenly, the roof of the inn exploded. Feng Wuming shot out like a bolt of lightning. With a wave of his sleeve, a Gu worm silently lunged toward Song Xianyun's heart...