Longevity: Starting as a menial servant in the Green Wood Sect

This is deep within the folds of the stomach lining of the Tai Sui, a "dead corner" that has not yet been soaked by strong acid.

Gu An clung to the slippery flesh like a gecko, his body covered in a layer of corpse oil scraped from Wang Mazi's body—this stuff, though disgusting, could indeed temporarily protect against the corrosive effects of stomach acid.

He clutched the storage bag he had just snatched tightly in his hand.

The leather at the bag's opening had corroded, turning black and soft, and the spiritual energy seals on it were mottled and worn, like a candle flickering in the wind. If it had been two more breaths later, the bag and its contents would have turned to mush.

"open!"

Gu An shouted, his divine sense like a needle, piercing fiercely into the broken restriction.

With a soft sound, the restriction collapsed. Gu An flicked his wrist, turned the bag upside down, and dumped all the contents onto the rock beneath him.

With a crash, a pile of debris rolled down.

The first thing that caught the eye was the low-grade flying sword "Cloud Piercer." The sword's spiritual light was dim, and it was stained with Gu An's own blood. There were two small chips the size of rice grains on the blade, clearly damaged in the previous impact. But its essence was still intact; with a little refinement, it would become a deadly weapon.

Next came several pill bottles, made of special jade, which were undamaged. Finally, there were five shimmering stones, each only the size of a thumb, yet radiating astonishing spiritual pressure.

"This is a top-grade spirit stone!"

Gu An's breath hitched.

A single high-grade spirit stone is worth a hundred low-grade ones, and its spiritual energy is purer with fewer impurities; it's a valuable currency that only Foundation Establishment cultivators would dare to use. How could this Wang Mazi, a mere outsider, carry such a huge sum of five hundred spirit stones on him?

"Murderers and arsonists wear golden belts; the ancients were right."

Without any hesitation, Gu An grabbed the five high-grade spirit stones and stuffed them into his inner pocket. Then, he picked up the pill bottles, uncorked them, and sniffed them.

A pungent medicinal aroma wafted out.

"Aoki Dan" (a type of Qi-integrating Pill).

This is a pill used to improve cultivation in the mid-stage of Qi Refining, and its efficacy is more than three times stronger than that of the Qi Gathering Pill.

Gu An poured out one pill, tilted his head back, and swallowed it.

The pill entered his stomach and transformed into a warm current. However, before this warm current could spread to his limbs and bones, the omnipresent acidic mist around him seemed to have a mind of its own, drilling into Gu An's pores and frantically neutralizing and corroding the medicinal power in his body.

Unfortunately, being inside the belly of the Tai Sui, less than 30% of the original medicinal effect was actually absorbed by the meridians. The remaining 70% was completely neutralized by the evil energy of this cursed place.

"Cough cough..."

Gu An covered his mouth and coughed up a mouthful of black phlegm that tasted sour.

Here, ordinary elixirs are like a drop in the ocean. The rate of corrosion in the body far exceeds the rate of recovery. At this rate, even if the elixirs are not completely digested, the body will die from exhaustion of spiritual energy within three days.

We must find a more powerful and direct supply.

Gu An raised his head and looked at the writhing flesh wall not far away.

There, Wang Mazi's body had completely disappeared, leaving only a pool of thick, golden-yellow oily substance, slowly flowing along the texture of the flesh.

At the center of the oily substance, several deep red crystals, no bigger than a fingernail and crystal clear, slowly solidified, just like stalactites formed in a cave.

There was no sour or foul smell around the crystal; instead, it emitted an extremely pure, even slightly sweet, energy fluctuation.

"This is……"

Gu An's gaze narrowed slightly, and with a thought, he activated his innate affinity with spiritual plants.

Inside the monster's belly, his senses were compressed to the extreme, but this also made them more acute.

In his perception, those crystals were like torches in the darkness, containing astonishing bio-energy. They were the core essence extracted by Tai Sui after digesting the flesh, bones, and spiritual power of a Qi Refining Level 5 cultivator.

Impurities were expelled and turned into acid, while the essence was condensed into crystals.

[Successfully identified: Tai Sui blood essence]

[Rank: Tier 2, Low Grade]

[Note: This is the primordial crystal extracted from the flesh and blood after devouring high-level beings. It contains a violent yet pure power of blood and qi. Ordinary people who consume it will explode and die; those who cultivate their physical strength will experience its effects as if drinking strong liquor.]

"Blood in semen..."

Gu An licked his chapped lips, a hint of madness flashing in his eyes. He had gone to great lengths to poison this monster outside, all to force out a few drops of watered-down Blood Spirit Dew.

And now, solid crystals have been produced directly from the monster's belly! The energy contained in this single crystal is probably equivalent to a hundred bottles of Blood Spirit Dew!

"No wonder this thing can grow so big. It turns out it's a Pixiu that only takes in and doesn't give out, keeping all the good stuff inside to nourish itself."

Gu An looked at the few drops of blood essence hanging on the flesh wall, and then at his left arm, which was almost exposed to the bone.

Conventional methods couldn't save him. But this monster could.

"Since you ate my enemy and swallowed me in the process, then I will eat your flesh and drink your blood."

Gu An slowly stood up and grasped the "Cloud Piercing" flying sword in his hand. Although it had not yet been refined and could not be used to injure enemies, it was still a magical artifact and was sufficient to serve as a sharp chisel.

He pulled out a rope woven from dark yin silk from his sleeve, tied one end around his waist, and wrapped the other end around the edge of the boulder beneath him.

After completing the insurance, Gu An took a deep breath to adjust his state, and then continued to activate the Turtle Breathing Technique to shield his own energy. As the technique was activated, his heartbeat stopped and his body temperature dropped to zero.

His entire body once again turned into a piece of lifeless flesh.

He used both hands and feet, clinging to the slippery flesh, as he crawled toward the "mineral spot" where blood essence had been released.

Its movements are extremely slow, like a parasite slithering inside its host.

Ten zhang, five zhang, three zhang...

The closer you get to that digestion point, the denser the surrounding acid mist becomes, and the stronger the stinging sensation on your skin becomes.

A few fleshy buds responsible for patrolling swayed above his head, stirring up a foul stench.

Gu An remained motionless until the fleshy bud was moved away, then he continued to move.

Finally, he climbed to the few blood essences.

Up close, this thing is eerily beautiful, a translucent red, as if it contains flowing magma.

Gu An didn't try to pry it off with his hands. The fleshy walls were extremely sensitive. If he touched them and failed to remove the crystals but instead caused a disturbance, he feared he would be attacked by the tentacles inside his abdomen.

He raised the Cloud Piercing Sword in his hand, aiming the tip at the flesh membrane connected to the root of the crystal.

"Break it!"

Gu An let out a soft chuckle, drew his strength from his palm, and with a flick of his wrist, the sword blade silently sliced ​​through the flesh. The sharp magical weapon cut through the membrane as easily as slicing through a piece of tender tofu.

A drop of blood essence fell, and before it could fall into the acid pool below, Gu An's left hand, which was already prepared, shot out like lightning and caught it in his hand.

It was scalding hot to the touch, like holding a piece of red-hot charcoal.

"roar……"

A low groan came from deep within the flesh, like someone had plucked a hair from your body; it didn't hurt, but it was a little itchy.

The surrounding buds suddenly contracted and began to explore their surroundings.

At this moment, Gu An had already retreated into the shadows, pressed himself against the cracks in the rocks, and dared not breathe.

Only after the commotion subsided did he open his palm. The blood essence lay quietly in his hand, radiating an alluring heat.

Without the slightest hesitation, Gu An threw the blood essence, which was enough to cause a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator to explode, into his mouth.

"Glug."

As he swallowed it, Gu An felt as if he had swallowed a thunderbolt.

His eyes bulged out instantly, and his skin turned bright red at a visible speed, even emitting white smoke.

The violent energy exploded in his stomach, and without any guidance, it rushed into his limbs and bones like a raging flood.

A searing pain swept through my entire body! It was ten times more painful than the previous medicinal bath! My blood vessels were bulging, my muscles were tearing, my bones were cracking, and the pain showed no signs of abating; instead, it seemed to penetrate my flesh and strike straight at my soul…

"Refine the Hundred-Refined Golden Body... for me!"

Gu An gripped the sword hilt tightly, breaking one of his teeth. He forcefully circulated his internal energy, guiding this brute force to impact his skin and repair his broken bones.

Sizzle—the granulation tissue on the deep, bone-revealing wound on his left arm began to wriggle and grow wildly, filling the gap at a visible speed.

The skin, which was originally pitted and scarred by the acid, grew a new, tougher, and darker layer of skin after large areas of dead skin fell off.

The bronze color is turning into a dark iron color.

[Absorbing second-tier blood essence, the proficiency of the Hundred Refinements Golden Body Technique skyrockets]

【Hundred Refinements Golden Body Technique: Mastery (1/400)】

Physical Strength: Copper Skin (High-level) → Iron Bones (Prototype)

Lifespan: 19/95 (Repairs injuries, replenishes vital essence)

I don't know how much time passed.

Having survived the ordeal, Gu An spat out the broken pieces of the sword hilt he had bitten into and slowly opened his eyes.

The blue light in those eyes faded, replaced by a chilling dark red glow, as if they had escaped death.

He clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking like thunder. Not only were his injuries healed, but his strength had also increased by thirty percent.

This predatory evolution is too fast, too exhilarating, and too addictive.

Gu An raised his head, his gaze no longer filled with fear and caution, but with greed.

He looked at the few remaining drops of blood essence on the fleshy wall, then at the deeper, writhing darkness.

There seem to be even more "mining sites" there.

"Now that you're in, don't expect to get rid of me so easily."

Gu An licked his lips, a sinister smile creeping onto his face. This Tai Sui treated him like food, little did it know, it was the biggest buffet table in the world.

What's wrong with being a parasite?

Eat its flesh, drink its blood, and use its energy to build the foundation for your own longevity.

Gu An, sword in hand, disappeared into the darkness once more, crawling toward his next target.

……

The Tai Sui contains neither the sun nor the moon.

Gu An didn't know how much time had passed; it might have been a day, or it might have been three days.

He was like a tireless ghost, wandering through this enormous maze of the stomach.

When hungry, take a bite of a fasting pill; when tired, find a secluded corner and use the Turtle Breathing Technique to feign death.

Once they regained their strength, they began "mining".

Besides the few drops of blood essence extracted by Wang Mazi, Gu An also discovered other surprises inside the monster's stomach.

This Tai Sui has lived for countless years, devouring countless living beings. Some things it digested, and some things it couldn't digest.

For example, the bones of some high-level demonic beasts, certain hard ores, and even a few broken fragments of magical artifacts.

These things were washed away day and night by stomach acid. Although they lost all their spirituality, the remaining materials were extremely hard, which was just right to be used to polish Gu An's physical body.

"clang!"

Gu An punched a white leg bone that was half the height of a person.

The remains of some unknown monster, as hard as iron, were left with a shallow mark by Gu An's punch.

The force of the recoil caused Gu An's fist to turn slightly red, but he didn't care at all.

【Hundred Refinements Golden Body Technique: Mastery (85/400)】

This progress is simply phenomenal.

Just as Gu An was immersed in the exhilarating feeling of his heightened strength, the flesh beneath his feet suddenly began to twitch violently…