All-class Gu Immortal

Chapter 164 Great Advancement in Strength (4800-word long chapter)
"It actually succeeded! Are you a genius in alchemy?!"

As the Yuanhun Golden Liquid was successfully refined for the first time, Xuanzhu's shocked voice rang in Zhou Qing's mind.

According to its original expectations, Zhou Qing would need at least another six months to a year of practice before he could succeed even once, but it happened so much earlier than expected.

Moreover, judging from the quality of this Yuanhun Golden Liquid, it's not bad at all, so it doesn't seem like a lucky success.

"Then I wouldn't know." Zhou Qing smiled faintly. This time, the progress of refining the Yuanhun Golden Core increased by 21 points.

This is the result of him refining one batch in three separate batches. If he were to refine it into one Yuanhun Golden Pill normally, the progress should increase by fifty or sixty points.

After a dozen or so times, the alchemy technique will enter the next stage.

"Let's see how effective the improved Yuanhun Golden Elixir is."

Xuanzhu was somewhat impatient, after all, this was the first time he had wholeheartedly assisted Zhou Qing in improving the pill formula, and he cared a lot about the success or failure.

"Hmm." Zhou Qing nodded and took out a jade shovel to scoop up the pale golden liquid inside.

"Crack!"

The pale golden primordial spirit liquid appeared to have no cold aura leaking out, but as soon as the jade shovel touched it, it instantly condensed into a layer of white frost, and the next moment it froze and cracked into several pieces.

"Such strong cold air!" Zhou Qing's eyes narrowed. Fortunately, he didn't overestimate himself and directly touched it with his hand.

The power of this Yuanhun Golden Liquid was completely contained within, and no abnormality could be seen from the outside.

"It seems that ordinary objects cannot contain the Yuanhun Golden Liquid."

Xuanzhu said in a deep voice.

"However, judging from the results, the Ice Soul Spider's bloodline power has been fully activated."

“It’s not just ordinary tools that are no longer working, even this alchemy furnace is no longer working.” Zhou Qing frowned slightly as he looked at the fine cracks that had appeared on the surface of the alchemy furnace.

Although Wuchenzi's alchemy furnace was not a divine weapon, its quality was still quite good. Unexpectedly, it could not withstand the cold energy contained within the Yuanhun Golden Liquid.

"Your wooden king cauldron can temporarily replace the alchemy furnace to refine the Yuan Soul Golden Liquid, and can refine the second-tier Ice Fiend Gu, making you a second-tier Gu Master, or break through the Blood Exchange Realm. It's not too late for you to go and find a top-grade alchemy furnace then."

Xuanzhu pondered for a moment.

"That's all we can do for now." Zhou Qing nodded. The quality of the Wooden King Cauldron was definitely sufficient, but activating it would consume more true essence.

The Yuanhun Golden Liquid is not a true elixir, but an improved medicinal liquid. Its second-tier refining difficulty is mainly due to the extremely precious medicinal materials used.

To refine real elixirs, a professional alchemy furnace is still needed; the wooden king cauldron, a divine weapon, cannot replace it.

"Buzz!"

To further test the effects of the Yuanhun Golden Elixir, Zhou Qing released the Ice Silkworm Gu Worm.

The ice silkworm worm, as big as a human head, landed on the edge of the alchemy furnace like a lump of ice. Its bulging eyes were fixed on the pale golden liquid in the furnace, seemingly filled with some kind of desire.

"Go!"

Zhou Qing controlled the Ice Silkworm Gu worm to fall into the alchemy furnace.

"Kakaka!"

Even mutated ice silkworm worms, when they fall into the Yuanhun Golden Liquid, their bodies quickly condense into a layer of white frost, and are soon covered by a thick layer of solid ice.

However, through his true essence, Zhou Qing knew that the Ice Silkworm Gu was not dangerous; it was merely absorbing the pure icy cold energy from the Yuan Soul Golden Liquid.

And so, a full day and night passed, the solid ice on the surface of the Ice Silkworm Gu worm melted, and the Yuan Soul Golden Liquid in the alchemy furnace completely disappeared, having been absorbed and refined by the Ice Silkworm Gu worm.

[Refinement: Twin-Winged Ice Silkworm Gu]

[Rank: Tier 1 Top Grade (Cannot be evolved, can be combined for refinement)]

[Progress: Limit Break (800/800)]

"The effect is so strong?!" The Ice Silkworm Gu worm did not show any obvious changes on the surface, but Zhou Qing was both surprised and delighted when he checked the information about the Ice Silkworm Gu worm on the jade tablet.

Since he lived in Nanli County, and the Qilian Mountains were a couple hundred miles away, making travel to and from the city less convenient than from Heishan Town, Zhou Qing would only go out about once a month to enter the Qilian Mountains to collect poisonous insects.

The number of Ice Silkworm Gu worms has not exceeded one hundred so far.

However, although their numbers are far fewer than before, these surviving Ice Silkworm Gu worms are all much stronger.

Apart from the strongest mutated Ice Silkworm Gu, which already possesses combat power comparable to a Bone Refining Realm Martial Master, the other Ice Silkworm Gu worms are also very close to the Tendon Refining Realm in terms of individual strength.

Hundreds of Ice Silkworm Gu worms with combat power approaching the Tendon Refining level are enough to deal with multiple Bone Refining Realm martial artists.

If these Ice Silkworm Gu worms could all evolve to the highest level of Tier 1, then even a typical Blood Exchange Realm Grand Martial Master would have to flee in terror when faced with hundreds of these Tier 1 top-tier Ice Silkworm Gu worms.

“A third of the Yuanhun Golden Liquid allowed the Golden Silkworm Gu Worm to grow directly to its maximum size.” Zhou Qing held the mutated Ice Silkworm Gu Worm in his hand and finally noticed the difference.

Even though the Ice Silkworm Gu worm had suppressed the icy chill within its body, he still felt waves of bone-chilling cold.

It should be noted that his physical strength is far beyond that of ordinary Bone Refining Realm martial artists.

"Could it be that you also have a strong talent for refining Gu? How could your Ice Silkworm Gu have grown to such a level?"

Xuanzhu appeared beside Zhou Qing, looking at the Ice Silkworm Gu worm in Zhou Qing's hand with surprise.

It now occupies the body of the Corpse Worm Gu King, so its perception of Gu worms is much stronger than Zhou Qing's. It discovered that the icy cold energy within the Ice Silkworm Gu worm has undergone a qualitative change, and this process has only taken a day.

"Using this Ice Silkworm Gu worm and the Supreme Wood Spirit Corpse together should be enough, right?" Zhou Qing asked.

“More than enough.” Xuanzhu pondered, “However, you’d better prepare more Yuanhun Golden Liquid to maximize the success rate.”

“Of course.” Zhou Qing nodded and put the Ice Silkworm Gu and the Corpse Gu King into his Yuan Aperture.

He left the backyard and went to Wanbaoge in the inner city, where he used the last few thousand taels of silver he had to buy thirty portions of auxiliary medicine for refining Yuanhun Golden Liquid.

Thirty portions of medicinal herbs can be used to refine ninety times.

Even with a one in ten success rate, you can succeed nine times.

Moreover, he has already succeeded once, so his proficiency will continue to improve.

Before all the medicinal herbs are consumed, the progress of alchemy should enter the next stage.

After Zhou Qing put away the medicinal herbs, he returned home and wrote two letters, which he asked Lan Lan to pass on to Han Qingqing and Lu Yan.

He has been in the county town for more than five months, and it's time for him to go back. However, he should be coming back again soon.

Han Wending, leading the Shenwei Battalion of Nanli County, is still fighting against the Wuxi Barbarians and probably won't be able to return for a while. Therefore, Zhou Qing plans to visit the Han family again when the next battle ends and Han Wending returns.

After Lanlan left the house to deliver the message, Zhou Qing had already packed his things, mounted a tall horse, and rode straight out of the north gate of Nanli County, galloping away.

A moment later, after Zhou Qing's figure had completely disappeared, a girl in white appeared outside the county town riding a red-brown horse.

Immediately afterwards, a young man dressed in a Taoist robe appeared behind her on a black horse.

"Brother Zhou is really going too far!" Han Qingqing pouted.

"Brother Zhou left decisively; he's quite a remarkable person." Lu Yan cupped his hands in greeting towards the empty woods ahead.

Snapped!
"You shouldn't have left without saying goodbye!" Han Qingqing scolded, cracking her whip, and a loud bang echoed through the air.

Upon receiving the letter from Lanlan, she immediately went to Zhou Qing's residence, only to find it deserted.

She left the courtyard and ran into Lu Yan, so they headed to the north gate together, but they were still too late.

“Brother Zhou said that he will visit the Han family again when his uncle returns.” Lu Yan nodded.

"They didn't even wait for us to see them off." Han Qingqing was still a little unhappy.

"What? You're so reluctant to see Brother Zhou leave? Then next time I go to Ping'an County, I'll take you with me," Lu Yan said with a smile.

"What...what do you mean you can't bear to part with him?! Cousin, don't you want Brother Zhou to stay a little longer? Although he has lived in the city for five months, he has spent most of his time cultivating behind closed doors, and we haven't treated him well. If Father finds out, he will definitely blame us for not being hospitable and for not valuing our savior enough."

Han Qingqing spoke earnestly, though her eyes darted around somewhat. "Oh? Is that so?" Lu Yan looked at Han Qingqing with a half-smile.

"Of course that's how it is!" Han Qingqing glared at him.

“Then next time I go to Ping’an County, I’ll go by myself,” Lu Yan teased.

"Hmph! Then I'll go find him myself!" Han Qingqing blurted out, but as soon as she finished speaking, she realized that her words were inappropriate and her cheeks flushed.

After saying this, she cracked her whip, turned around, and returned to the city.

The words are divided into two parts.

On the other side, Zhou Qing rode his horse for hundreds of miles and stopped to rest in a small town as night fell.

At dawn the next day, he discovered that his horse was not behaving properly and seemed to be sick.

This reddish-brown horse was a gift from Han Qingqing, worth a thousand taels of silver, and is a genuine Akhal-Teke horse.

So Zhou Qing found a security escort agency in the town and had them send the horse back to Black Mountain Town, after which he left alone.

At his level of cultivation, he could run almost as fast as a good horse, and his stamina was far superior.

Most skilled individuals have mounts. It's not just about prestige, but more importantly, running is tiring compared to the ease of riding a horse.

However, the remaining journey is only a few hundred miles, which is nothing for Zhou Qing now. He can easily travel it in two days.

When it got dark again, Zhou Qing spent the night in the woods in the wilderness.

He took out the hazelnut essence he had bought from 'Bai Xiang Xuan' in the county town from the leather bag and ate it. He had specially brought it for his grandmother, and also bought some to bring to Liang Chao and Xu Lin.

"It tastes really good. Not too sweet." Zhou Qing said, giving the hazelnut shortbread the highest praise a dessert could receive.

After finishing three hazelnut cookies, Zhou Qing couldn't resist picking up a fourth one. Just as she was about to put it in her mouth, she suddenly paused, a strange smile appearing on her face. Then she put the hazelnut cookie in her mouth and chewed it slowly.

After finishing the hazelnut pastry in his hand, Zhou Qing stood up and patted the food crumbs off his hands.

"Perfect timing, a little exercise after dinner."

At that moment, a strange sound came from the bushes in front of the forest, and two jet-black arrows shot out in the dim moonlight. The arrowheads gleamed with a cold, eerie blue light, clearly indicating that they were coated with a deadly poison.

Faced with an arrow aimed straight at his face, Zhou Qing simply extended his right hand casually.

hum!
The icy energy, as if it were a tangible substance, gathered in Zhou Qing's palm and spread outwards. The dim moonlight shone on the energy, twisting and refracting it to form blue and white distorted patterns, as if there were a vortex in Zhou Qing's palm.

Click, click, click!
Two jet-black arrows spun rapidly less than a foot from his palm, but could not advance an inch. The entire arrow shaft was covered with a layer of white frost at an extremely fast speed, and quickly froze into an ice sculpture, before finally shattering into pieces.

Whoosh!
At that moment, a sharp whooshing sound suddenly came from behind Zhou Qing. A nearly transparent flying knife came flying from a hundred meters away and was less than a meter away from him in the blink of an eye, aiming straight for his back.

It turned out that the first two arrows were just a feint, and the throwing knife that followed was the real fatal blow.

clang! !

The next moment, a loud bang was heard, the transparent throwing knife flew backward, and a blue-white ice crystal the size of a human head appeared in Zhou Qing's back.

Kaka!

Cracks appeared on the ice crystal, spreading out like a spider web until they covered the entire crystal. As a piece of debris fell, the entire ice crystal shattered, revealing a ferocious blue-white beetle inside.

Chi——!
The Ice Silkworm Gu opened and closed its mouthparts, spitting out a ball of white, tangible cold air.

"Since you're here, why hide?" Zhou Qing turned around.

"What a wonderful Gu worm!"

An old man in a green robe emerged from behind the tree, a semi-transparent throwing knife between his two fingers. He exuded a sharp and domineering aura, like a precious sword ready to be drawn at any moment.

The old man in the green robe stared intently at the ice silkworm worm in front of Zhou Qing.

"Good work!"

At this moment, a masked man in black jumped out of the bushes behind Zhou Qing. The man was not tall, but he was extremely strong, with arms that reached past his knees, making him very conspicuous.

"I have never met the three of you before, why did you ambush me?" Zhou Qing said calmly.

Upon hearing this, the masked man in black's eyes sharpened. He hadn't expected that Zhou Qing had even discovered another martial artist who hadn't shown himself.

He immediately smiled and cupped his hands, saying, "Brother Zhou, you've misunderstood. It's all a misunderstanding."

"Three Bone Refining Realm martial artists, you think highly of me. So, my red-brown horse was also poisoned by the three of you?" Zhou Qing said calmly.

"I only added a little bit of croton oil," the masked man in black said with a smile.

“The three of us are all independent cultivators from the neighborhood. We’re a bit short on cash lately and would like to borrow some money from Brother Zhou. With Brother Zhou’s wealth, which allows him to spend tens of thousands of taels of silver at will, borrowing thirty thousand taels shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“Twenty thousand taels is enough!” the old man in the green robe suddenly interjected.

The masked man in black narrowed his eyes and was about to speak when the old man in the green robe added, "I want your Gu worm."

“No problem.” Zhou Qing nodded.

"Brother Zhou is indeed a..." A smile appeared in the black-robed, masked man's eyes, but he did not lower his guard.

"what!"

Suddenly, a scream came from the bushes.

The black-robed, masked man's expression changed. In a flash, Zhou Qing's figure transformed into a blur, instantly covering a distance of more than ten meters and appearing in front of him, his right palm slamming towards his face.

"you?!"

The black-robed, masked man was filled with shock and anger, but as a Bone Refining Realm martial artist, his reaction was quick, and his blood and qi instantly converged to his right arm.

"Kaka."

His already large right arm muscles quickly swelled and engorged with blood, stretching the loose sleeves until they burst open, revealing a ferocious right arm thicker than many people's thighs. His fist, the size of a clay pot, was adorned with a pale gold glove, and it suddenly met Zhou Qing's right palm head-on.

A mocking smile appeared on the face of the masked man in black robes. Since they had come to deal with Zhou Qing, they were naturally well-prepared.

Zhou Qing was a disciple of the Poison Demon Wei Sheng, and he practiced the White Cloud Palm Technique. Although this palm technique greatly enhances strength, it mainly relies on poison to fight enemies. Competing with a pure body-training martial artist like him in terms of strength would be absolutely suicidal.

In particular, he was wearing the Heavenly Silkworm Gauntlets that protected him from poison, so Zhou Qing's palm techniques had no effect on him.

boom--!
Fist and palm collided, and a loud bang resounded in the air. The mockery in the black-robed, masked man's eyes vanished instantly, and his eyes widened in shock. He felt an immense force coming from Zhou Qing's palm, and cracks instantly appeared on his arm.

Immediately afterwards, he felt a sharp pain in the muscles of his entire right arm, and a chilling aura seeped through the gauntlet into his meridians.

"what!!"

The masked man in black robes let out a painful scream, trying to pull back, but found his body stiff and numb, his fist firmly gripped by Zhou Qing's hand.

A layer of white frost quickly appeared on his entire right arm, and he tried to forcefully mobilize his true energy and blood to melt the frost away.

To his horror, he discovered that his right arm was covered with fine scars. The skin that was impervious to swords and knives had completely disappeared, revealing the muscles and fascia underneath. Waves of force, as if they were real, were cutting through his arm muscles like sharp bayonets.

"Pfft!"

A crimson blade of energy appeared before the black-robed, masked man's eyes, and a sharp pain shot through his waist.

Zhou Qing loosened his fist, and the upper body of the black-robed, masked man fell to the ground. He was directly cut in half at the waist by the Heavenly Centipede Blade, and his internal organs spilled all over the ground.

"Ah!! Help me!!" Even a Bone Refining Realm martial artist with tenacious vitality could not bear the excruciating pain after suffering such a severe injury, and let out a painful wail.

However, the old man in the green robe was too busy to help himself. Surrounded by hundreds of ice silkworm worms, he didn't even last until the masked man in the black robe died before being devoured by the ice silkworm worms.

As for the third person hiding behind the bushes, he was ambushed and killed by Xuanzhu, Erqing, and Chiyan at the very beginning.

The three Bone Refinement Realm martial artists didn't even last twenty breaths against Zhou Qing.

(End of this chapter)