CHAPTER 56: CHAPTER 55: USING ONESELF AS BAIT

"Oh, you don’t believe I can solve the case?"

Gao Sheng was very dissatisfied with the Beast Taming Sect disciple’s underestimation of him.

"Since you’re also here to investigate this matter, let’s see who can get results first!"

With that, he turned and left, leaving Lin Jing bewildered.

"He seems genuinely interested in investigating, but I feel he’s not suited for this," Lin Jing commented.

Divine Pine: "Young human cubs still need to grow. But having the heart to exterminate demons and uphold the path is already commendable, even though I’m a demon cultivator."

"Elder Shen Song, could you spare us the hell jokes?"

Just then, based on the information gathered, Lin Jing deduced: "So, Senior Brother Ouyang’s poisoning and the disappearance of spirit beasts in Snow Moon City were not man-made?"

"It’s likely that there’s a masterless Gu worm active in Snow Moon City."

"The mysterious disappearance of ice-attributed spirit beasts is due to the Gu worm feeding."

"The reason I deduced it’s a masterless Gu is that if a Gu Master were feeding the Gu worm, there would be no need to cause a disturbance in Snow Moon City. There are masterless ice beasts all over the snowy plains; why provoke the Beast Taming Sect and Snow Moon City, unless you have a death wish?"

"Senior Brother Ouyang was likely injured by the Gu worm by accident... maybe his abundant yang energy displeased the ice Gu. Yang and yin counterbalance~"

"It’s also possible that since ice-cold is yin, the ice Gu wanted to gather yang to complement yin, which injured them!"

Divine Pine Dao: "You are evenly matched with Gao Sheng."

Lin Jing: "I’m still a bit stronger, aren’t I?"

"In any case, if it’s a masterless Gu, then it’s much easier to handle; worms or Gu worms supposedly aren’t very intelligent," Lin Jing said. "Elder Shen Song, can you locate it?"

"If I can’t find it, I’ll take action."

Divine Pine Dao: "Indeed, seeking in your way is faster than mine."

Before long, a snow-white rabbit with blue eyes hopped around in the snow.

This was Lin Jing after a myriad of transformations.

The snow hares raised in the Beast Valley are mostly only at the first level of Qi Cultivation, without awakened intelligence. Such hares can attract ice Gu, so Lin Jing used even stronger bait.

Though he only transformed into a Qi-cultivated snow hare... this hare’s leg had a wound, exuding a faint aura of longevity blood!

The Longevity Body is an irresistible lure for demon beasts, and naturally for Gu worms as well.

"Coo~ Coo~"

"Coo~ Coo~"

Lin Jing sang and hopped.

A night of wind and snow.

Lin Jing’s face turned purplish with cold.

He glanced into the Beast Space and saw the pine leaf mouse was rejuvenating and wiping the mechanical bamboo spear, preparing leisurely for the upcoming battle.

Seeing this, Lin Jing dragged out the pine leaf mouse, masquerading it in illusions so it could serve as bait with him.

"With Elder Shen Song here, there’s no chance you’ll need to act, so join me in doing some real work."

The pine leaf mouse emerged with a pained expression, disliking both heat and cold.

Luckily, reality didn’t torment them for long.

After Lin Jing and the pine leaf mouse spent some time as an unrivaled pair of rabbits, Divine Pine seemed to sense something.

"It’s coming."

The snowflakes falling from mid-air suddenly condensed into white threads, dancing like white snakes, trying to wrap around the snow hare Lin Jing had turned into.

Before the white threads could approach, a golden-green spiritual power fluctuation flashed across the pine cone Lin Jing carried.

Immediately, a mass of golden resin appeared, completely swallowing and enveloping the incoming white threads, floating there.

"Elder Shen Song, how’s that!" Lin Jing glanced at the dense white threads wrapped within the resin, hmm? Only threads?

"Failed," Divine Pine remarked. "As I thought, it’s not an ordinary Gu worm."

"This Gu worm... is probably not yet born."

"Intangible things naturally can’t be captured."

"Squeak!!!" The pine leaf mouse suspected that Divine Pine was making excuses for not catching it!

An unborn Gu, how could it be eating snow hares!

Cold to death!

"Do you know how Gu are formed?"

"By placing various highly toxic insects in a container, letting them kill each other and devour each other’s poison, the last one remaining becomes the Gu," Lin Jing explained the simplest concept.

"Exactly, Gu are cultivated by cultivators from toxic insects after birth, not innate. Thus, Gu take on various bizarre forms."

"Among the countless Gu insects refined by the Gu God Sect, there are ten peculiar ones."

"They take the form of toxic insects, but their bodies are composed of elements, immortal and indestructible. Each time they are destroyed, they don’t truly die; after thousands of years, they can absorb nutrients and be reborn at their corresponding elemental ground."

"Although reborn, they forget all memories, like a reincarnation, but their bloodline powers... they retain. Each can be called a king among Gu."

"If I’m not mistaken, an ice-element peculiar Gu will soon be conceived and reborn here," Divine Pine said. "The white threads are its organs, instinctively absorbing nutrients, preparing for manifestation from formlessness."

Lin Jing and the pine leaf mouse learned something new, such peculiar Gu indeed exist! No wonder the Gu God Sect was one of the few demonic sects not completely wiped out during Celestial Essence Ancient Country’s demon-cleansing operations.

"So what do we do, wait until it rebirths to capture it?" Lin Jing asked.

"That’s all we can do. But I believe what you should focus more on now is finding the true culprit who harmed your senior brother."

As Shen Song finished, Lin Jing was startled, immediately realizing the inconsistency.

"An unborn Gu worm only has the most primitive desire to feed, whereas Gu poison is a Gu worm’s attack method after formation."

Lin Jing asked, "Could it be that a cultivator from the Gu God Sect... is here waiting for a Gu worm to be born? Was it truly a demon cultivator who injured my senior brother?"

"It doesn’t have to be a cultivator from the Gu God Sect, but it must be a cultivator familiar with ’Gu techniques.’

"Newborn Gu worms differ from mature ones, instinctively seeking a host to parasitize immediately after birth, to sleep, digest, and grow."

"Regular cultivators would not willingly become a vessel for a Gu worm’s growth; after all, a Gu worm acts as a parasite on a cultivator, bringing numerous negative effects."

"However, if viewed from another angle, as long as the consequences are bearable, and mutual utilization with the Gu worm is possible, then the Gu worm’s power can be used by the cultivator."

"The branch of cultivators known as Gu Masters stems from this notion. Though this alone wouldn’t make Gu Masters demon cultivators, sadly, too few cultivators can bear a Gu worm parasitizing them. Most Gu Masters, unwilling to part with the Gu worm’s power, can only provide others as nutrients to cultivate Gu worms."

"Each different Gu worm requires a different parasitic environment. If someone knew in advance that a peculiar Gu would be conceived and reborn in this city, they would have enough time to prepare, cultivating their physique to accommodate an ice-element peculiar Gu’s slumber and growth, becoming a Gu Master."

"Moreover, if they acquired the method to refine the low-level Gu of this peculiar Gu, they could first have this low-level Gu parasitize within them, increasing compatibility with the ice-element peculiar Gu. The birthplace of a Gu King is also the best site for refining its low-level Gu."

"A physique suitable for the ice Gu’s slumber and nutrient absorption..." The first thing Lin Jing thought of was City Lord Tang’s acquired ice spirit body. Could it be that Young Master Gao was actually correct???

No, that’s not right. Although the ice Gu and ice spirit body seem fitting, why would City Lord Tang target Senior Brother Ouyang in that case?

A Golden Core Cultivator taking action means that, no matter how strong Senior Brother Ouyang was, he couldn’t escape. Besides, it was said the City Lord’s Mansion’s cultivators were the ones to find the injured Senior Brother Ouyang and provided immediate aid.

Lin Jing’s counter-intuitive thought: "Could it be that the ideal physique for ice Gu parasitism is actually fire-attributed or yang-attributed? Is the hidden cultivator with such a physique, knowing the peculiar Gu will revive soon, yet discovering Senior Brother Ouyang also has a yang-attributed physique, secretly sabotaging him with a subsidiary Gu out of fear of Ouyang affecting their suitability as the Gu’s host?"

"Could the Gu worm actually utilize yin-yang harmony, ice and fire fusion tricks? Or is it that purely fire-attributed cultivators don’t freeze to death too quickly, saving the Gu worm from becoming homeless?"