All-class Gu Immortal

Chapter 244 Heading to Zhongzhou
Buzz!

The enormous ice crystal dragonfly Gu descended from the sky through the clouds and landed on the summit of Black Wind Mountain.

Sensing the commotion, Zhou Qing came out of the wooden house.

Wan Qizongyuan, Wu Hongyang, and Wu Xia jumped into the Ice Crystal Dragonfly Gu.

Zhou Qing went up to them and bowed, saying, "Greetings, clan leader and two envoys."

Wanqi Zongyuan smiled and nodded, then suddenly his expression changed, and he exclaimed in surprise, "You've broken through?!"

"This return trip yielded some unexpected gains, and I managed a breakthrough by chance."

Zhou Qing said with a smile.

“This is no fluke.” Wanqi Zongyuan shook his head.

They traveled to the Central Plains on business, and it only took them a little over a year, which is a long time for ordinary people.

However, for a second-tier cultivator, a year or so is nothing.

After all, once you reach the second tier, it can take several years, or even more than ten years, to cultivate a small realm.

At this moment, Wu Hongyang looked Zhou Qing over and said with great interest:
"Zongzheng's qi and blood seem to have improved significantly! Could it be that his martial arts cultivation has also made great progress?"

When we arrived, we heard that some major events had recently occurred in southern Xinjiang, and it seemed to be related to you in some way.

"I was merely an observer who narrowly escaped with my life during the battle between the three top masters of the Five Poisons Sect, the Su Family, and the Witch God Sect." Zhou Qing smiled helplessly, completely omitting the topic of his own improvement in martial arts cultivation.

"Not even at the third rank, how can you be called a top-tier expert?!"

Wu Xia curled her lip, speaking with a hint of disdain.

As a disciple of the Golden Rainbow Path's Azure Sky lineage, she was treated with great respect by the Grandmaster of the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top during her trip to Central State. She had a natural sense of superiority over martial artists from the Southern Frontier region.

Wu Hongyang looked slightly embarrassed. "Junior sister speaks rather bluntly, please don't mind, Sect Master."

"The envoy is telling the truth." Zhou Qing smiled. Given their backgrounds, they naturally looked down on cultivators below the third rank.

"Zongzheng, now that we've finished our business, we're preparing to return to the Ice Spirit Clan. Would you like to come with us?"

Wanqi Zongyuan took the initiative to change the subject.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qing couldn't help but look apologetic: "Clan leader, I would like to stay here for the time being."

The martial arts training resources in southern Xinjiang are richer than those in the Qilian Mountains, making it more conducive to the improvement of martial arts skills.

Compared to the aptitude of a Gu Master, my martial arts foundation is stronger.

If I were to return to the Ice Spirit Clan, by the time the Blessed Land of Longevity opens eighteen years later, my Gu Dao cultivation might not have reached the peak of the second tier.

But if I stay in the Southern Frontier, perhaps in eighteen years my martial arts cultivation will reach the peak of twelve blood exchanges, and I will get a glimpse of the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top realm.

At that time, there is a chance to gain more benefits from the trials at the Land of Longevity.

Wanqi Zongyuan hesitated for a moment before saying "this".

In his view, although Zhou Qing did not have the aptitude of a Gu Master, he only obtained true essence comparable to a second-class aptitude by using the Four Flavors Wine Worm. However, he had a talent and ability in Gu refining that far surpassed that of ordinary people. Perhaps he could cultivate the Seven Fragrance Wine Worm and use it to break through to the third rank.

Moreover, if you spend more time cultivating the Spirit-Slaying Gu, there is still hope of truly raising the Gu Master's aptitude to the third level, or even the second level.

Specializing in Gu techniques should be faster than practicing martial arts.

However, Wanqi Zongyuan could not refute the fact that Zhou Qing's martial arts foundation was stronger, as he sensed Zhou Qing's powerful blood and qi.

At this rate of cultivation, he might actually have a chance to reach the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top before the Blessed Land of Longevity reopens.

A forty-year-old Grandmaster of the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top is no less capable than a third-tier Venerable.

However, this would diminish Zhou Qing's chances of inheriting the Longevity Blessed Land.

The spirit of the Blessed Land of Longevity will definitely prioritize Gu Masters as inheritors; otherwise, high-level martial artists from the Central Plains would also be vying for the inheritance of the Blessed Land.

"Since the clan leader believes that martial arts cultivation is faster, then the clan leader should respect his own wishes."

Wu Hongyang suddenly spoke up for Zhou Qing.

Of course, he didn't mean any harm.

Because he also wanted to compete for the inheritance of the Longevity Blessed Land.

Zhou Qing's talent has reached a level that cannot be ignored.

If he can cultivate to the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top realm within eighteen years, he will be able to better assist him and his junior sister in obtaining the inheritance in the Blessed Land of Longevity.

However, if Zhou Qing cultivates to the third level of Gu Dao, then the Blessed Land Trial will have an additional strong competitor, and it will be unknown who will ultimately inherit the legacy.

"In that case, I won't say anything more." Wanqi Zongyuan nodded, feeling a pang of regret, but he didn't dare to offer any further advice.

"By the way, I wonder how much vitality the Spirit-Subduing Gu has recovered during this time? I still have some essence blood left from my master, which I can give to the Sect Master for use in cultivating the Spirit-Subduing Gu."

Suddenly, Wu Hongyang changed the subject and took out a palm-sized porcelain bottle. As soon as the bottle came into contact with the air, a layer of frost condensed on its surface.

"The vital energy of the Spirit-Subduing Gu cannot be restored in a short time," Zhou Qing sighed. He had just awakened his martial arts spirit body with the help of the Spirit-Subduing Gu a few days ago, and the current state of the Spirit-Subduing Gu was about the same as when he first got it.

Now, less than 40% of the Ice Soul Mystic Spider's essence blood remains. Zhou Qing plans to consume another portion of the Ice Soul Mystic Spider's essence blood to restore the Spirit-Subduing Gu's vitality when he returns it to the Spirit-Subduing Gu in the future.

This can be considered a complete repayment of the favor owed to Wanqi Zongyuan for saving his life twice.

As for now, he has no intention of continuing to cultivate the Spirit-Slaying Gu.

After all, it's very difficult to improve one's martial arts spirit body and first-class Gu master aptitude.

Even if it could improve, this amount of essence and blood wouldn't be enough to make a difference.

As for Wu Hongyang's intentions, Zhou Qing saw through them at a glance.

Why would the other party be so kind as to offer up the essence blood of the second ancestor of the Ice Spirit Clan for nothing?

It seems they've got ulterior motives towards the Spirit-Slaying Gu again, wanting to see how much it has recovered.

"I have already agreed to grant Zongzheng the right to use the Spirit-Subduing Gu for twenty years. I believe that this long period of time will be enough for Zongzheng to slowly allow the Spirit-Subduing Gu to recover its vitality." Wanqi Zongyuan had obviously seen through Wu Hongyang's thoughts and spoke up for Zhou Qing.

Seeing this, Wu Hongyang quickly said, "Don't misunderstand, I have no intention of using the Spirit-Summoning Gu again."

"Last time I used the Spirit-Summoning Gu, I was careless and caused it to lose a lot of its vital energy. I feel really bad about it."

As he spoke, Wu Hongyang presented the porcelain bottle.

He did indeed have the intention to examine the spirit-summoning gu again, but since the two of them had already seen through him, he couldn't say anything more.

Anyway, there's not much essence left, so I'll take this opportunity to ease the tension with Zhou Qing. Eighteen years later, I can use Zhou Qing to inherit the Longevity Blessed Land.

It has to be said that he had a very clever plan.

"Then I thank the envoy on behalf of the Ice Spirit Clan." Upon seeing this, Wanqi Zongyuan took the porcelain bottle and handed it to Zhou Qing.

"Thank you, envoy." Zhou Qing accepted the porcelain bottle. Now that he had awakened the Ice Soul Spirit Body, he was extremely sensitive to the essence blood of the Xuan Spider. There were probably only a few drops of essence blood in it.

"We're all from the Ice Spirit Clan, no need to be so formal." Wu Hongyang revealed a satisfied smile. Whether it was genuine or not didn't matter; eighteen years later, he would have plenty of ways to get Zhou Qing to lend a hand.

"Once things are settled, let's head back as soon as possible." Wu Xia was a little impatient. She just wanted to return to the Ice Spirit Clan as soon as possible to inform her master that the mission had been successfully completed and to receive a reward.

"Alright. Take care, Zongzheng." Wu Hongyang smiled. Wu Xia's attitude made Zhou Qing realize the reality and understand who was the most suitable person to cooperate with.

After all, only one person can inherit the blessed land, and Wu Xia is also his competitor.

"If you need anything, you can have Miaoyin contact the clan, and I will send someone to deliver it. Or you can go back to the clan to get it," Wanqi Zongyuan instructed.

"Take care." Upon hearing this, Zhou Qing was deeply moved. He bowed to Wan Qizongyuan and made a decision in his heart.

After the three of them quietly departed on the Ice Crystal Dragonfly Gu, Zhou Qing's expression turned cold. "Trying to compete with me for the Longevity Blessed Land? I hope you'll have the chance in eighteen years!"

A murderous glint flashed in Zhou Qing's eyes.

Wu Hongyang and Wu Xia, relying on the influence of Jin Hongdao and their teacher, were able to act arrogantly in front of him.

Once the Land of Longevity opens, he will close these gaps, catch up with them, and leave them far behind.

"Perhaps martial arts cultivation can really catch up later." Zhou Qing pondered to himself. The improvement of martial arts cultivation by the martial arts spirit body was too significant, which was the main reason why he was unwilling to return to the Ice Spirit Clan.

Although the Qilian Mountains also have many precious resources that are hard to find outside, when it comes to the completeness of martial arts cultivation resources, the Southern Frontier is still the best. This is because the Southern Frontier is backed by the Central Plains, and as long as you have money and strength, it is easy to gather cultivation resources at least for the Blood Transformation Realm.

Zhou Qing needs to prepare the elixirs for his breakthrough to the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top.

Although he has awakened his martial arts spirit body and will not encounter bottlenecks, it does not mean that his success rate in breaking through is 100%.

If something has an 80-90% success rate, and you can continue to increase that success rate without paying a huge price, then it's worth doing.

Moreover, the pill Zhou Qing was preparing was called the 'Heavenly Spirit Pill,' which was one of the most difficult pills to refine among second-tier pills.

The main function of the Heavenly Spirit Pill is to increase the resilience of the meridians.

In addition, there is the third-tier 'Five Palaces Forging Pill', which can strengthen the five internal organs and six bowels. Even martial saints at the Five Qi Gathering Realm would use this pill.

The amount of heaven and earth power that Zhou Qing needs to draw upon when breaking through the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top is incomparable to the amount he draws upon during his usual cultivation; naturally, the more the better.

The more power of heaven and earth one absorbs, the greater the benefits one will gain after breaking through.

Zhou Qing possessed profound knowledge and skills. He pursued a perfect breakthrough, and fortunately, after the breakthrough, his cultivation continued to advance rapidly.

[Occupation: Alchemist]

[Skill: Alchemy]

[Progress: Masterful (361/800)]

Since alchemy reached a level of unparalleled mastery, the rate of improvement has slowed down significantly.

Only by refining these highly complex elixirs can the progress be accelerated.

Perfect timing, since Zhou Qing also had this need, killing two birds with one stone.

Moreover, the Heavenly Spirit Pill can be used by all the martial artists around him, and in the future it can also be used as a strategic resource of the sect to reward meritorious disciples and increase cohesion.

Theoretically speaking, with his current alchemy skills, he should be able to attempt to refine third-tier pills.

If one can refine or purchase the Five Palaces Forging Yuan Pill in Zhongzhou, then one can truly achieve a perfect breakthrough.

"It seems necessary to make a trip to Zhongzhou in person sometime in the future, but before that, I should first find out about the situation from Yao Xuewei."

Zhou Qing pondered to himself, "Although the Southern Frontier is vast, it is only a prefecture."

The entire Central Plains consisted of as many as fifty-four prefectures. The Sima family, the imperial family of the Great Jin Dynasty, directly governed only twelve prefectures, while the other forty-two prefectures were jointly governed with local powerful families.

Yao Xuewei's family, Yao family, is located in Jinyun Prefecture, near Shuntian Prefecture, which is about 10,000 miles away.

The Yao family is one of the most prominent families in Shuntian Prefecture. The Yao family patriarch was a grandmaster at the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top realm, and he had condensed the Earth Flower among the Heaven, Earth and Man flowers, which was no ordinary grandmaster.

Although Yao Xuewei is not a direct descendant of the Yao family, a Blood Exchange Realm cultivator can still have influence within the Yao family. Zhou Qing plans to use Yao Xuewei's connections to test just how deep the waters are in Zhongzhou.

The Ten Thousand Poisons Sect's mountain gate has only just been established, so there's no need to rush.

But that doesn't mean Zhou Qing has no plans at all.

The first step for the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect is to achieve large-scale silkworm farming.

The second step is large-scale breeding of poisonous insects, eventually reaching the point of mass production of low-level Gu insects.

Related derivative industries may also involve the production of various highly toxic substances.

The saying goes that poison, witchcraft, and medicine are inseparable, so they also need to open a chain of pharmacies.

If you've been poisoned by the Wan Du Men's specially made poison, it's best to go to a pharmacy under the Wan Du Men's control for an antidote to maximize your profits.

Silver is not very useful in the world of Gu Masters, but in the world of martial arts, as long as you have enough money, you can still buy many resources.

At least resources below level three can be acquired by spending money.

Of course, the Wan Du Men's businesses will initially only be centered around Black Wind Mountain and Yellow Dragon Mountain, spreading outwards.

But once it reaches a certain scale, it will snowball and expand rapidly.

With a powerful figure in charge, it's only a matter of time before the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect dominates the Southern Frontier.

They might even be able to expand into Central China in the future.

Although individual strength is the most important factor, one person's power is ultimately limited.

If tens of thousands of people mass-produce hundreds of millions of venomous insects, the emergence of mutated venomous insects will be inevitable.

This is a workload that Zhou Qing could not accomplish by raising Gu worms on his own.

With this in mind, Zhou Qing returned to Heishan Town and wrote a letter to Yao Xuewei.

Most of the major merchant guilds in Southern Xinjiang come from Jinyun Prefecture. As long as you spend a little more money, it's not difficult to have a caravan deliver a letter to the Yao family, although it will take a while.

A round trip could take more than half a year.

When Zhou Qing first moved to Nanli County, he wrote a letter to Yao Xuewei.

Eight months had passed when the caravan brought back the letter.

However, Zhou Qing was not in a hurry to go to Zhongzhou, so he could wait for a year or two.

Now that Wei Sheng has recovered his foundation, his cultivation has broken through to the seventh level of blood exchange, and Wei Hongyu has also broken through to the sixth level of blood exchange with the support of his pills.

For Zhou Qing, breaking through another level in a year or two would be a piece of cake.

But others might not be the same.

However, before leaving, he still planned to push Wei Hongyu to the level of a dragon of qi and blood after seven blood exchanges.

Anyway, there are still plenty of raw materials for the Marrow Cleansing Pill. He can now cultivate with the help of the power of heaven and earth. Most second-tier pills are not very useful to him, but they are useful to the people around him.

In addition, the Wei family members all cultivate the Green Wood Scripture, which is of the wood attribute, so it is highly likely that they can withstand the Yuan Soul Golden Core refined by the essence blood of the Xuan Spider.

Some time ago, Zhou Qing refined a Yuanhun Golden Pill and gave it to Miaoyin, who had been serving him diligently.

Miaoyin herself came from the Ice Spirit Clan, so she was able to refine the Yuan Soul Golden Core with only two blood transfusions, and eventually broke through to the third blood transfusion in one fell swoop.

Although the Wei family does not have the bloodline of the Ice Spirit Clan, their cultivation level is high enough, and the wood attribute, as a lower attribute of the ice attribute, has a high affinity. They should be able to adapt to the effects by refining some low-quality Yuanhun Golden Pills first.

Most people don't even have the chance to cultivate to the Qi and Blood Furnace Realm, let alone the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top. Therefore, the impact of taking the Yuan Soul Golden Pill on their future bloodline constraints is simply nonexistent for them.

Zhou Qing naturally hoped to use the remaining Ice Soul Mystic Spider bloodline to benefit those close to him.

If Wu Hongyang and Wu Xia hadn't been there, Zhou Qing would have already handed the Yuanhun Golden Core to Wanqi Zongyuan.

A year passed quietly, and Yao Xuewei's letter finally reached Zhou Qing's hands.

Two whole months have passed since he broke through to the eighth blood exchange stage.

Yao Xuewei's letters contain a great deal of content, and there is a faint sense of melancholy in the writing.

The last part mentions that she is engaged and wants Zhou Qing to go to Jinyun Mansion to see her one last time.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Qing explained the situation to the people around him and immediately set off for Jinyun Prefecture in Zhongzhou.

(End of this chapter)