"Hu, come here."

Chu Xuan waved his hand.

Hu swiftly trotted over to his side. Dropping to one knee, he respectfully said, "Master, what commands do you have?"

His physique was immense, nearly five meters tall when standing fully upright. Even kneeling, his shoulders were higher than Chu Xuan's head.

Chu Xuan patted Hu's shoulder with satisfaction.

"How's your progress with magic cultivation lately?"

Hu scratched his head and answered in a humble tone, "I have poor talent, only managing to learn some basic spells."

He continued, "It seems I learn defensive magic faster than other types of spells."

Letting out a low growl, Hu released a surge of Lightning Spiritual Qi, quickly enveloping his body in a crackling armor of thunder.

Another growl, and Hu summoned four giant shields made of lightning to surround him.

Within moments, Hu had cast six different defensive spells. In contrast, his attempts at offensive magic were painfully slow. Not only were they off-target, but they were also so weak they barely made an impact.

Chu Xuan couldn't help but click his tongue.

"Good boy," he muttered. "You've maxed out your defense!"

He chuckled, "Don't you envy Long?"

Hu nodded vigorously. "I do. Its level is lower than mine, but its strength can rival mine. If it had the same level, it would definitely be stronger than me."

Chu Xuan grew serious, his voice becoming more thoughtful. "I plan to integrate the True Steel Centipede into your body. Once you form a symbiotic relationship with it, you'll be stronger than Long."

Hu's eyes widened in pure excitement. "Thank you, Master!"

He had no reservations or doubts. As long as it could make him stronger, enabling him to serve his master better, he would be thrilled.

Chu Xuan smiled and explained further, "These three True Steel Centipedes are all third-transformation gu worms. If you want to fight, you could crush them effortlessly. You need to learn to accept them, don't resist."

Chu Xuan cut open Hu's chest, carefully placing one of the True Steel Centipedes inside, while speaking in a deep, commanding tone.

Hu nodded, understanding completely. "Master, I understand."

With wide, copper-like eyes, he stood perfectly still, allowing the True Steel Centipede to burrow into his body without flinching.

Chu Xuan extended his spiritual sense, constantly monitoring Hu's changes.

When he noticed the True Steel Centipede was feeding relentlessly, he immediately poured in a pre-prepared medicinal liquid through the wound. This liquid was designed to reduce the activity of the True Steel Centipede, a concept he had derived from the Giant Centipede Cultivation Method given to him by Xiao Renjie.

Time passed steadily. Hu's body began to heal, with the True Steel Centipede slowly being enveloped by flesh and blood. Gradually, the two forms merged seamlessly together.

Chu Xuan smiled and clapped his hands.

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It worked! To his surprise, it succeeded on the first try.

Crack, crack!

Hu slowly stood up.

Its body expanded at a visible rate, growing taller and broader with each second. In the blink of an eye, it had grown from just under five meters to over six and a half meters in height. Its muscular arms were so thick they could rival the trunks of large trees.

It truly resembled a giant!

Chu Xuan scanned it briefly and noticed that Hu's cultivation level had soared alongside its physical transformation, reaching the rank of Level 8 Corpse King before finally stopping.

"Thank you, Master!"

Hu half-knelt, speaking with deep respect.

Chu Xuan casually summoned Long as well. "Go ahead, spar with each other."

He was eager to see just how much stronger Hu had become.

Bang, bang, bang!

The two corpse puppets collided, their punches landing with a series of dull, thunderous sounds.

When Hu landed a punch, it left a deep dent in Long's chest. However, Long was far from passive. Blue Tuft Silk, resembling thick vines, erupted from Long and wrapped around Hu's limbs. The Blue Tuft Silk condensed into sharp blades, seizing an opening and slicing off one of Hu's arms.

Despite this, Hu casually picked up the severed arm and reattached it, as if the injury had not even affected its combat ability.

Chu Xuan used his spiritual sense to scan the battlefield and quickly deduced that the True Steel Centipede had entered the severed arm, continuing the fight through its influence.

The battle between the two corpse puppets raged on for nearly half an hour. In the end, Hu emerged victorious. After all, even though Long's head had been knocked off, Hu was able to keep fighting, exchanging injuries for power and continuing its relentless onslaught.

The Blue Tuft Silk within Long began to weaken over time, and the disparity in strength became increasingly evident.

"Combining gu worms with corpse puppets truly makes for an overwhelming force," Chu Xuan nodded in satisfaction.

It was another fine, sunny day. A tall, unremarkable cultivator, with a plain appearance and modest attire, boarded a seemingly ordinary flying boat and made his way to Moon Island. He followed the designated path for Nascent Soul cultivators, entered the bustling market, and soon found himself in the area where spiritual plants were traded.

This cultivator, whose entire presence screamed of ordinariness and poverty, was none other than Chu Xuan.

On this trip to the Moon Market, he intended to purchase some spiritual plant seeds. After all, creating pills such as the Great Soul Spirit Pill, Boiling Blood True Pill, and Focus Spirit Pill required a substantial amount of spiritual plants. Some of these plants were quite delicate, disliking being cultivated on people who consumed flesh and blood, preferring to grow in the rich spiritual earth instead. They constantly needed spiritual liquids to nourish them.

The world of spiritual plants was vast, with many different varieties and habits. This was simply the law of nature, and Chu Xuan couldn't complain. All he could do was go out and buy the seeds.

"If only I were a Deity Transformation cultivator," he mused softly. "I've heard that once a Deity Transformation cultivator's primordial spirit reaches full maturity, they can split off a portion of their primordial spirit. With that ability, I could send a clone to buy the things I need, without having to risk myself. If the clone encounters danger, I could simply sever the connection and not have to worry about the main body at all."

He sighed lightly. The more you ventured out, the more likely you were to encounter trouble. Staying at home every day, after all, was the true path to avoiding disaster.

But this time, his luck seemed to be on his side—no one had taken notice of him. After all, he was merely purchasing some spiritual plant seeds.

Few would notice a poor, wandering cultivator haggling with the stall owner for an hour just to save half a piece of great spirit stone.

To avoid drawing attention, Chu Xuan didn't even bring out the Nine Yin Ship. He used a much smaller, patched-up flying boat instead. He might as well have had the words "pauper" written on his face.

Just as Chu Xuan was boarding his flying boat, preparing to leave, a pillar of light shot up from the distance, piercing the sky. Almost immediately, thick black smoke erupted, reaching toward the heavens.

After a while, the distant roar of successive explosions echoed through the air.

Perhaps due to the force of the blasts, the sea began to churn violently. Enormous waves began to form, the tallest one reaching a height of tens of zhang. Farther out, the waves were even higher, towering to more than a hundred zhang.

Not only was Chu Xuan stunned, but the other cultivators on Moon Island were also bewildered, having no idea what was happening.

After a long moment, someone cried out, "Isn't that the direction of Desolate Island?! The volcanic cluster on Desolate Island erupted!"

Another voice quickly followed, "And it was a series of explosions! My heavens, there must have been at least eight explosions in a row!"

At this point, many cultivators' expressions grew increasingly complex. Some were joyful, while others looked anxious.

The joy was understandable—whenever the Desolate Island volcanoes erupted, they often brought forth numerous treasures.

As for the anxious ones, Chu Xuan surmised that they likely had friends or family on Desolate Island.