All-class Gu Immortal

Chapter 194 No Effort! It's All Talent! (Two-in-One Chapter)

"What? Not satisfied? You don't have some kind of weird fetish, do you? Like mature women? There are some beautiful widows in the stronghold, though..."

Seeing Zhou Qing remain silent, Wanqi Zongyuan's gaze turned somewhat strange, and he pondered for a moment.

"No! Senior, you misunderstand. I am still young and want to focus on cultivation, so I don't want to get married or take concubines so early," Zhou Qing quickly explained.

"As long as you don't indulge in matters of men and women, you won't be affected. There's no need to talk about this anymore! Your bloodline is so pure; if you don't raise more offspring, wouldn't that be a waste of your talent?"

Wanqi Zongyuan's tone was full of unquestionable authority.

"How about I marry one first, and we can talk about the others later?" Zhou Qing nodded.

The so-called taking a concubine was probably partly to ensure he had some bloodline and a bond with the mountain stronghold, and partly to arrange for a bedmate to keep an eye on him.

He knew he had no choice, which is why he said he wouldn't marry any of them from the beginning.

There is currently a lack of sufficient trust between the two sides.

"Very well, then marry one first. If you meet a woman you like, then you can pursue her yourself." Wanqi Zongyuan reluctantly agreed.

The Ice Spirit Clan is a bloodline clan; clan members with pure bloodlines are likely to have descendants with good bloodlines.

After all, bloodline power is easier to pass on to the next generation than Gu Master aptitude.

Those who possess the pure bloodline of the Xuanzhu Venerable can subdue the Xuanbing Gu, unique to the Ice Spirit Clan, even without the aptitude of a Gu Master, and will also possess extraordinary talent in martial arts.

Furthermore, the Ice Spirit Clan possesses a third-tier Spirit-Subduing Gu left behind by the Venerable Xuanzhu. For clansmen with pure bloodlines, it doesn't matter whether they have Gu Master aptitude or not, because they can awaken the Spirit-Subduing Gu with the power of their bloodline and thus awaken their Gu Master aptitude.

However, after generations of reproduction, the bloodline of the Xuanzhu Venerable has become increasingly diluted. Many clansmen with the aptitude of Gu Masters do not have pure bloodlines and are unable to awaken the Spirit-Subduing Gu, thus failing to improve their aptitude.

Although the Ice Spirit Clan is not yet in decline, it's hard to say what will happen in a few decades.

Among the Five Streams Barbarians, the Ice Spirit Clan is undoubtedly the largest clan.

But bloodline can be both a blessing and a curse.

The day their bloodline declines will be the day the Ice Spirit Clan falls into ruin.

Now that Zhou Qing has finally appeared, he naturally has to shoulder the great responsibility of continuing the bloodline.

"Thank you, clan chief." Zhou Qing's face lit up with joy. He knew that this 'compromise' method would most likely succeed.

After all, Zhou Qing couldn't guarantee that his will was truly that firm.

He had never seen anything like it before, with such beauty before and the ability to do whatever he wanted.

The eight girls in front of him were all unique and varied, satisfying Zhou Qing's fantasies in every way. If he married several of them, and they were to take the initiative, even a eunuch would find it hard to remain unmoved.

"Then I'll choose this girl." Zhou Qing looked her over and selected the second girl on the left. She seemed rather indifferent and not eager to become his concubine. She obviously wouldn't try to seduce him.

"Alright, Miaoyin, you stay. The rest of you can go back first." Wanqi Zongyuan waved to the other seven girls upon seeing this.

Upon hearing this, the girl named Miaoyin turned pale, bit her lip, and hesitated to speak, seemingly afraid of Wanqi Zongyuan, so she dared not speak.

"Yes, clan leader." The seven girls bowed respectfully and slowly left the room. Before leaving, two of the bolder girls winked at Zhou Qing.

"Miaoyin, you should go down too and explain the situation to your family," Wanqi Zongyuan said calmly.

"Yes, Miaoyin takes her leave." Miaoyin bowed.

She truly lived up to her name; her voice was like that of a lark in the mountains—clear, melodious, and captivating.

"Clan leader, I have another request." After Miaoyin left, Zhou Qing spoke cautiously.

"Speak," Wanqi Zongyuan nodded.

"Could we postpone having children for a while? I want to focus on cultivation for the next two years," Zhou Qing said solemnly.

Once something starts, it's often beyond his control.

So if you want to negotiate, you can only do it now, otherwise you might really be used as a stud in the future.

The difference between indulging in beauty on one's own initiative and being forced to do so is quite obvious; the former has a choice, while the latter does not.

Upon hearing this, Wanqi Zongyuan frowned slightly, his expression somewhat displeased, and an invisible pressure filled the room.

Zhou Qing suddenly felt a tightness all over his body, but he did not give in and met Wan Qizongyuan's gaze with neither arrogance nor servility.

"Very well, this matter can be done as you wish, but you must agree to one condition of mine." Wanqi Zongyuan's tone softened.

"Please speak, clan leader. I will do my best," Zhou Qing said solemnly.

“It’s not just about trying your best, it’s about absolutely having to do it. Besides, this isn’t a difficult task for you.” Wan Qizongyuan glared at Zhou Qing.

"The Ice Spirit Clan has dominated the Five Streams for many years, but the Ten Thousand Mountains are boundless, and we are just living in a small corner."

The younger generations in the clan are getting worse with each generation, but they are all arrogant and complacent, acting as if they are the best in the world and don't care about anyone else.

I need you to put a blow to their arrogance and let them know that there are always people more capable than themselves.

"Of course, you can't use martial arts cultivation; you can only defeat them using Gu cultivation."

“This is not difficult. I am confident of victory.” Zhou Qing’s expression relaxed. He thought it was something difficult, but it turned out to be just suppressing a Gu Master of the same level.

"Don't be careless, kid. The Ice Spirit Clan is full of geniuses. These juniors are so arrogant, but they have the right to be arrogant. There are still two first-order perfect cultivators in the clan who are twenty years old."

Moreover, they have all refined the strongest Ice Cloud Gu in their clan, making them formidable fighters; all have a record of fighting against early-stage second-tier beasts without defeat.

Wanqi Zongyuan reminded him.

"As long as we're of the same level, I won't lose, at least not at Ice Cloud Stronghold!" Zhou Qing displayed strong confidence.

He has experienced countless life-or-death battles along the way, which is something these flowers grown in greenhouses cannot compare to.

Moreover, even without martial arts cultivation, the surge in true essence he gained after breaking through his realm was unmatched by a first-tier Gu Master.

Even if the Ice Spirit Clan's Gu Masters are incredibly powerful, there's no one who could cultivate a mid-stage second-tier Ice Fiend Gu like him at the first tier, right?
"Alright! You're pretty arrogant, kid!" Wanqi Zongyuan shook his head and chuckled. "However, you'd better succeed in refining a Xuanbing Gu first. Otherwise, if you lose, I won't let you off the hook."

"Is the Xuanbing Gu difficult to refine?" Zhou Qing asked.

"The Mystic Ice Gu is difficult for ordinary people to refine, but it should be very easy for you."

Wanqi Zongyuan stretched out his hand, and a hexagonal snowflake-like ice crystal appeared in his palm. "This is my natal Ice Soul Gu, which evolved from the Profound Ice Gu. It can activate the bloodline power of the Profound Spider Venerable, releasing the Ice Soul Cold Qi and even the Ice Soul Profound Light."

With the appearance of the Ice Soul Gu, the temperature in the entire room dropped rapidly, and the water vapor in the air condensed quickly.

Zhou Qing felt as if his body was about to freeze, so he immediately activated his ice-attribute true essence to protect himself, and waves of cold air surged from his body.

Feeling the powerful chill emanating from Zhou Qing's body, Wanqi Zongyuan's eyes lit up, and a smile appeared on his face:
"Your bloodline is indeed pure! Even without the Xuanbing Gu, you can still activate the power of your bloodline and release the icy chill."

If one could cultivate the Ice Soul Gu, it would definitely release Ice Soul Mystic Light.

"How many Gu worms do you possess now? Let me see. Just discard the unimportant ones. From now on, you only need to focus on cultivating the Xuanbing Gu." Wanqi Zongyuan changed the subject and put away the Bingpo Gu.

"Yes." Upon hearing this, Zhou Qing first released Er Qing.

"Puff puff!" Erqing hovered in the room, seemingly sensing Wanqi Zongyuan's power. It stopped on Zhou Qing's shoulder and looked at Wanqi Zongyuan warily.

"Hmm? This Gu worm is..." Wanqi Zongyuan didn't take Erqing seriously at first, but when he noticed the pinkish miasma emanating from Erqing's wings, his gaze sharpened.

"This Gu worm has accumulated such a dense Peach Blossom Miasma? If it is combined with the Rotten Peach Gu, it may be possible to refine it into a second-tier Hundred Poison Peach Blossom Miasma Gu."

Wanqi Zongyuan nodded, believing that Erqing had great potential.

"Anything else?" he asked after turning his gaze away from Erqing.

"This is a Gu worm I obtained from a heretical cultivator, called the Corpse Worm Gu King." Zhou Qing then took out a black beetle about the size of a thumb.

"Corpse Worm Gu King? Did it evolve from the Corpse Worm Gu? If so, it must have sacrificed a large number of living people. If it is to be combined with other Gu, it can only be combined with the Flying Zombie Gu. It has little value in cultivation and there is no need to continue cultivating it."

Wanqi Zongyuan frowned slightly. Using living people to refine Gu is a major taboo among Gu masters, so most Gu masters would not do it.

"Yes." Zhou Qing did not refute and obediently complied.

"Didn't you obtain a fragment of a spirit seed from the Heavenly Fire Palace? Let me see it."

Wanqi Zongyuan nodded.

"I'm afraid we can't show this fragment of the spirit seed to the clan leader." Zhou Qing hesitated.

"What do you mean? Do you think I would covet your treasures?" Wanqi Zongyuan said irritably, his beard bristling and eyes wide.

"That's not what I meant. Clan leader, please decide for yourself."

Zhou Qing took out the Heavenly Fire Centipede Egg, and the temperature in the room rose rapidly.

"First-order perfection? No! It's a second-order Gu worm?!" Wanqi Zongyuan's eyes widened.

"You've got some guts, kid. You're suited to be a Gu Master! You actually used such a precious fragment of a spirit seed to cultivate Gu worms. And you actually managed to successfully refine them!"

Wanqi Zongyuan nodded in satisfaction. It seemed that Zhou Qing still favored the Gu Dao in his heart. Otherwise, he would have kept the spiritual seed for cultivation instead of using it to breed Gu worms after breaking through to the Blood Exchange Realm before the age of nineteen.

"It's a pity that this second-tier Gu worm isn't ice-attribute. Its fire attribute clashes with our bloodline attributes. Although it can be of great use for now, in the long run, it's still not as good as the Ice Soul Gu." Wanqi Zongyuan said with some regret.

"But you're quite something, kid. You're really lucky too. You managed to refine a second-tier Gu worm all by yourself without any guidance."

"I don't know what's going on, but I've had exceptionally good luck in cultivating and refining Gu worms, and I always manage to make some progress," Zhou Qing explained.

"This Heavenly Fire Centipede egg is a mutated Golden Back Centipede that evolved into a Corpse Poison Centipede. Later, it absorbed a Blood Exchange Realm Grand Martial Master who cultivated a fire-attribute supreme yang internal energy, and finally completed the transformation of yin into yang."

"Evolved from the Golden-backed Centipede?" Wanqi Zongyuan was shocked. How could such a trashy Gu worm as the Golden-backed Centipede evolve into a second-tier Gu worm?
"Do you have some special talent for refining Gu poison?"

The Venerable Xuanzhu was a master-level expert in Gu refining back then; otherwise, he wouldn't have left behind the third-tier Spirit-Subduing Gu and many Gu refining secrets for the Ice Spirit Clan, helping them become the overlords of the Five Streams.

Could it be that talent for refining Gu can also be inherited through bloodline?
Wanqi Zongyuan suddenly had a brilliant idea.

"By the way, what about the Green Silk Gu you bought from Wanbaoge? You weren't planning to use it to cultivate wine worms, were you? Did it succeed?" Wanqi Zongyuan suddenly asked.

"I succeeded by luck." Zhou Qing took out the first-grade high-quality wine worm from his Yuanqiao.

"..." Wanqi Zongyuan stared at the wine worm in Zhou Qing's hand and fell silent. The wine worm that Zhou Qing showed him last time was a first-grade top-quality one, but this one was a first-grade high-quality one, which meant that he had really cultivated the wine worm in just a few months with a few green silk gu.

What kind of wine did you use?

"The wine I'm using is homemade, including apricot wine, fire toad wine, and bitter clam wine." Zhou Qing took out several wine jars from his storage space. Most of them were empty, but some wine was still left inside.

Wanqi Zongyuan dipped some of the wine on his fingertips and tasted it one by one.

“They’re all good wine!” Wanqi Zongyuan nodded, then suddenly realized something and looked at Zhou Qing with some surprise.

"You can brew wine?"

"I know a little bit," Zhou Qing replied.

"You also signed a contract with the Han family, becoming their exclusive alchemist?" Wanqi Zongyuan asked again.

"I also have some talent in alchemy," Zhou Qing said with a smile.

"He knows a little bit about everything: refining Gu, brewing wine, and making pills?" Wanqi Zongyuan said thoughtfully.

"More or less." Zhou Qing nodded, saying helplessly, "Ordinary people like me without any background can only rely on ourselves for everything."

"." Wanqi Zongyuan fell silent. Can you really rely on yourself to do many things?

"You're really not the reincarnation of Venerable Xuanzhu?"

A moment later, Wanqi Zongyuan suddenly asked.

"The clan leader is joking." Zhou Qing's lips twitched. If he were to release the Ice Fiend Gu, Wanqi Zongyuan would probably really think that he was the Xuanzhu Venerable himself.

However, he had already hidden the Ice Fiend Gu in the space of the Spirit Guiding Plate, so no matter how powerful Wanqi Zongyuan was, he couldn't find it.

"You're raising a second wine worm, could it be that you want to combine the four wine worms and use them to open your second Yuan Aperture?" Wanqi Zongyuan came to his senses.

“Indeed, I discovered records about cultivating the Four Flavor Wine Worms in a secret record of Gu refining left by a Gu master. So I thought I would cultivate martial arts while refining the Four Flavor Wine Worms.” Zhou Qing took out the manual for refining the Four Flavor Wine Worms from his storage space. This was a forgery he made himself. He naturally could not hand over the “Ice Sky Strategy” left by Venerable Xuanzhu.

"." Wanqi Zongyuan did not take the manual, but looked at Zhou Qing with a strange expression.

Even in ancient times, there were no secret techniques or treasures that could enhance one's talent for refining Gu.

No effort involved, just pure talent!
(End of this chapter)