Starting with the Corpse-Eating Worm, he worked his way up to become the Left-Winged Immortal Lord.

"The Ghost Market Brokers, a branch of unorthodox practices, are not as sophisticated as those who raise corpses, feed ghosts, or control insects, but they have their own unique characteristics. They excel at the art of trading, but what they trade is not money... but the life essence of others!"

The words fell.

Gu Qing's expression hardened.

Li Fu continued, "There are many destitute people in gambling dens, so he often lends money out without any interest. If they can't repay on the due date, their life essence will be drained by the contract that was signed long ago."

In this way, he gains the essence of lifespan without incurring the karmic burden of killing mortals—a win-win situation… This humble Taoist reminds you, if you truly lack money, borrow from me; do not dabble in methods that harm lives.”

Gu Qing's heart tightened.

No wonder they don't charge interest.

So it turns out they were after the life essence.

For unorthodox cultivators, the life essence of mortals is an excellent resource for cultivation.

Needless to say, those who have already cultivated their skills in miscellaneous and unorthodox schools need not be aware of this.

What is repaying a debt of gratitude?

What kind of wealth?

It's all an illusion!

"He's so cruel to ordinary people, doesn't the authorities care?" Gu Qing pressed.

Li Fu patted Gu Qing on the shoulder and advised, "Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask; it won't do you any good."

Gu Qing nodded, swallowing back the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

obviously.

There's someone backing them!

"How much money do you need? I'll lend it to you," Li Fu said again.

However, Gu Qing did not speak.

Because he didn't think his current value was worth Li Fu paying five hundred taels.

We'll have to wait.

The first level of the wondrous method of waiting and controlling insects is now complete.

Under normal circumstances, it would take at least half a year of practice to achieve the first level of minor success.

Then we'll borrow money from Li Fu to fill the hole in our house.

……

After saying goodbye to Li Fu, Gu Qing went straight to the canteen, ate his fill, and then went down the mountain to work.

Despite being exhausted by the end of the day, the Corpse-Eating Worm had successfully refined a portion of the Eight-Legged Heart-Eating Worm.

The gains from this part were beyond imagination.

[Evaluation Panel Lv1 (6/100)]

[Today's Review!]

[By using insects to examine the corpses at the Fufeng Forest tomb, four corpses that were about to commit fraud were discovered ahead of time. This earned praise from Daoist Duofu, who rated it as Grade D - Corpse Aura +5]

[The Corpse-Eating Insect has been refined into a Tier 2 Eight-Legged Heart-Eating Insect, rated C—Corpse Qi +50, Yin Qi Replenishment +25]

[PS: A very fruitful day!]

"The Corpse-Eating Insects have only refined one-tenth of it, yet they have already gained a full 50 points of corpse energy."

Gu Qing was overjoyed.

In this way...

The remaining corpse energy directly exceeded 100 words.

[Remaining Corpse Energy: 120]

No hesitation.

Gu Qing immediately consumed 100 units of corpse energy, further boosting the power of the Black Armor Corpse Devouring Worm.

[Black-armored Corpse-eating Insect]

[Status: Adult (0/200) - Breeding Direction: First Tier Mid-Range]

After reaching the next level, the Black Armor Corpse-Eating Insect's overall abilities improved again, and its stealth capabilities also increased.

At this moment, the Corpse-Eating Insects in the Blood Refining Insect Breeding Jar appeared unchanged, but he, who had undergone a transformation and gained divine connection with them, could clearly sense the rise in their aura. The feeling they gave him was that they had surpassed even his mother's.

His mother's cultivation level was Qi Refining Level 1!

"From this perspective, the lower level of the first rank corresponds to a Qi Refining Level 1 cultivator, and the middle level of the first rank is probably the Qi Refining Level 2 cultivator."

And so on.

The eight-legged heart-eating worm probably corresponds to a cultivator in the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

No wonder the gains from obtaining and refining the corpse were so great!

Gu's mother cultivated for over ten or twenty years, but only barely managed to reach the first level of Qi Refining.

Gu's father was slightly better, but he was only at the second level of Qi Refining.

The mid-stage of Qi Refining is probably only found in the Wufeng Temple.

Moreover, even within the Wufeng Temple, it belongs to the top tier.

After all, Gu's father had mentioned that Li Fu was at the third level of Qi Refining.

Of all the Taoist priests he had seen so far, the only one with a stronger aura than Li Fu was Chen Ye, the protector of Wufeng Temple.

Thinking of this, Gu Qing felt a surge of emotion.

"Once the eight-legged heart-eating worm is completely refined, even if the corpse-eating worm cannot enter the second rank, it will probably be able to reach the upper level of the first rank."

By then.

It will become my most secretive and strongest trump card!

I put my thoughts aside.

Gu Qing's gaze fell on the corpse energy that was being replenished.

[Residual Corpse Energy After Feeding Back: 85]

"Only 15 points away from reaching 100!"

This time, however, Gu Qing was not so expectant and quickly calmed down.

Because if he were to master the wondrous method of subduing and controlling insects tomorrow, he might not be greeted with praise.

A tree that stands out in the forest will surely be felled by the wind.

He understands this principle.

"Whether it's gaining Li Fu's favor or the Wufeng Temple's approval, all I need to demonstrate is value, not extraordinary talent. So if I can't break through tomorrow, I'll have to postpone it for a few more days."

……

In the following days, Gu Qing continued to travel between Wufeng Temple and Fufeng Forest.

I'm still exhausted every day.

However, the corpse energy increases by 55 points per day.

The Yin energy is replenished daily by 25 points.

After three days, the remaining corpse energy reached 185.

The excess Yin energy is replenished, reaching 160.

Gu Qing originally planned to break through the Subduing and Controlling Insects Technique when his remaining corpse energy also exceeded two hundred, but unexpectedly, early that morning, all the Daoist disciples in the same room turned pale.

It's not from being tired.

Rather, it was caused by fear.

Before Gu Qing could ask, an elderly Taoist priest suddenly approached, "Is Fellow Daoist Gu Qing here?"

The visitor was none other than Liu Zaiyan, the Taoist boy who had been digging up the Yin Corpse Mushroom in the Fufeng Forest Cemetery during the day.

"Fellow Daoist Liu, what is it?"

Gu Qing quickly put on her shoes and prepared to go out.

Liu Zaiyan hurriedly said, "Master Li asked me to tell you that you don't need to go down the mountain today; you can rest on the mountain."

"Um?"

Gu Qing was stunned for a moment.

Is this Li Fu's style?

"What happened?" Gu Qing asked hurriedly.

Liu Zaiyan glanced at the pale-faced Taoist disciples in the room and said, "The Taoist disciple who shared a room with you last night was drugged and several others were brutally murdered by evil magic that searched their souls. When Master Li arrived, that person had already disappeared."

The words fell.

The Taoist boys inside the room looked even more displeased.

Last night, they lost consciousness while digging. When they woke up, there were five or six dead people around them, which really terrified them.

Before Gu Qing could ask any more questions, Liu Zaiyan added, "Moreover, it is said that Li Shoutian, the Taoist priest in charge of guarding the corpses at the mortuary, was also murdered, and his soul was searched as well."

"Is it all soul-searching?"

Gu Qingxin was surprised.

In the wondrous method of controlling insects and subduing evil spirits, there is a brief mention of the number of souls to be searched.

One of the unorthodox and heretical practices.

You can search for souls and view memories.

A slight mishap.

The soul of the person being searched will dissipate.

"That person is repeatedly searching souls. What is he doing? Trying to uncover the magic of Wufeng Temple? No, that would only require searching the soul of Master Li Shoutian of the Yizhuang (mortuary). Why is he searching the soul of a young Taoist priest? Is he looking for something?"

Gu Qing's heart tightened.

The first thing that came to mind was the eight-legged cod-eating worm.

That's a second-tier item.

Now that I think about it, how could it have appeared in a corpse out of nowhere?

Moreover, if he hadn't used his insect-controlling abilities to probe deeper into the body, he wouldn't have been able to sense the aura of the eight-legged heart-eating worm at all.

"Fellow Daoist Gu, you should rest first. I have to go to the front yard. Daoist Li might call me to do some work."

After saying this, Liu took his leave.

Gu Qing saw him to the door, his mind filled with a myriad of thoughts.