Chapter 74 Bone Echo Gu

“The Bone Echo Gu has finally reached Rank Four. No wonder Grey Bone Scholar was able to develop the legendary Bone Flesh Unity Gu from it. Its effects are truly extraordinary. If I build a killer move around it, I might be able to turn the Gu Yue Clan against that old monster. Once the first-generation ancestor is forced into a corner, let’s see how long he can keep his Blood Sea inheritance hidden.”

Blood Sea Ancestor had left behind nine true inheritances, each valuable enough to provoke fierce competition among Gu Masters. The first-generation Gu Yue ancestor had obtained one of them—the Blood Skull True Inheritance.

Its core was Blood Skull Gu. By slaughtering one’s blood relatives and gathering their blood, the Gu could raise the aptitude of others from the same bloodline.

Although the first-generation Gu Yue ancestor possessed Rank Five cultivation, his aptitude had originally been only C-grade. The reason he established Gu Yue Village and allowed his descendants to multiply for hundreds of years was precisely to accumulate enough blood relatives to raise his own aptitude through Blood Skull Gu.

Naturally, Lin Feng could not simply stand by and watch the Gu Yue clansmen suffer such a cruel fate. He could only reluctantly seize the true inheritance from that old monster before he had the opportunity to use it.

Thinking of this, Lin Feng’s mood improved even further.

Bone Echo Gu itself was also extremely valuable. It combined the profundities of Blood Path and Bone Path, making it a rare Gu with considerable potential. Grey Bone Scholar had used this Gu as the starting point to eventually develop the legendary Bone Flesh Unity Gu.

Bone Flesh Unity Gu was specifically created to assist Gu Masters in cultivation. Of course, there were already many Gu capable of accelerating cultivation, with Liquor Worm, Relic Gu, and Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus being among the most famous examples. However, most Gu with such effects were either extremely rare, difficult to refine, or unsuitable for widespread use.

Without relying on such Gu, what was the most important factor determining a Gu Master’s cultivation speed?

Aptitude naturally came first. Beyond that, one of the most effective ways to accelerate cultivation was to receive primeval essence from a higher ranked Gu Master.

The primeval essence of a higher ranked Gu Master was superior in quality. By using this higher quality primeval essence to continuously wash the aperture walls, the speed of cultivation could be greatly increased, significantly shortening the time needed to advance.

However, this method had a serious drawback. Primeval essence belonged to its owner. When another person’s primeval essence was used to wash the aperture walls, it would leave behind a foreign aura that hindered future cultivation. This foreign aura could be cleansed using Cleansing Water Gu, but such Gu were rare and difficult for ordinary Gu Masters to obtain. Even clans could not afford to use them freely.

Because of this drawback, having an elder directly assist a junior’s cultivation could never become a common practice.

Grey Bone Scholar had once considered this problem and came up with an ingenious idea.

What if there was a Gu capable of transforming another person’s primeval essence into one’s own?

If the foreign primeval essence could be converted before being used, there would naturally be no foreign aura left behind. A higher ranked Gu Master could then pour primeval essence into a lower-ranked Gu Master’s aperture and greatly accelerate their cultivation without damaging their future prospects.

Grey Bone Scholar experimented with numerous methods before eventually developing the one with the greatest chance of success: the Bone Flesh Unity Gu series.

Bone Flesh Unity Gu was not a single fixed Gu worm, but a series of Gu with different qualities. The closer the relationship between the two Gu Masters involved in its refinement, the higher the quality of the resulting Gu and the more efficiently it could transfer primeval essence between them.

There were five different grades. The lowest could preserve only twenty percent of the transferred primeval essence, while the next preserved forty percent. The third could preserve sixty percent, and the fourth reached eighty percent. At the highest grade, the conversion became perfect, allowing one hundred percent of the primeval essence to be transferred without any loss.

Having inherited Grey Bone Scholar’s true inheritance, Lin Feng naturally possessed the refinement recipes for this entire series of Gu. Unfortunately, he had never been able to refine them himself.

His only blood relative in this world was Lin Zhiyao, who was merely a mortal and was not even by his side. Without another suitable Gu Master to cooperate with him, the refinement was impossible.

Even so, Lin Feng had carefully preserved the recipes. There was no telling when they might become useful in the future.

At this moment, Feng Tianyu, who was still lying on the ground beside him, suddenly asked, “Brother Lin, I heard you have an older sister who is a mortal without cultivation aptitude?”

Lin Feng was slightly startled. “How did you know that?”

“Brother Lin, I’m one of the Four Great Refinement Masters of the Southern Border.” Feng Tianyu spoke with unconcealed pride. “If I want information about someone, there are plenty of clans willing to send it to me. I also know that the reason you represent the Zhang Family in the merchant caravan every year is because of your sister. You’re doing it for her, aren’t you?”

The Southern Border was covered in countless mountains, many of which were completely uninhabited. Merchant caravans traveling between clans often had to cross vast stretches of wilderness filled with wild beast groups and Gu worms. A single unexpected beast tide or Gu swarm could easily cost countless lives.

Because of this, traveling with a merchant caravan was extremely dangerous. Even powerful Rank Three and Rank Four Gu Masters could die when faced with the unpredictable dangers along the trade routes. Although the profits were considerable, few clan elders were willing to repeatedly risk their lives for them. Compared with earning wealth they might never live to enjoy, remaining safely within their clan’s territory was naturally much more appealing.

The Zhang Family was unwilling to abandon the enormous profits brought by caravan trade, yet few of their elders were willing to take responsibility for leading the caravan through the dangerous wilderness. In the end, they placed this responsibility on Lin Feng, using his concern for Lin Zhiyao to make him represent their merchants and protect the Zhang Family members accompanying the caravan.

Lin Feng scratched his head awkwardly, seemingly confirming Feng Tianyu’s guess.

Seeing this, Feng Tianyu could not help feeling somewhat sorry for him. “What a pity, Brother Lin. Without this weakness holding you back, you wouldn’t have to let the Zhang Family control you like this. With your ability, your cultivation might have advanced even further by now.”

In Feng Tianyu’s eyes, Lin Zhiyao was the shackle the Zhang Family had placed around Lin Feng. Without a mortal sister tying him down, someone with Lin Feng’s abilities would never have willingly accepted such unreasonable conditions.

“Perhaps, but I don’t consider my sister a weakness.” Lin Feng shook his head. “She’s the only family I have left in this world. I’m already fortunate that she’s still alive and by my side.”

He glanced at Feng Tianyu before continuing, “Brother Feng, if your clan were still around, you would also have people you cared about and responsibilities you couldn’t simply abandon. Would you call them your weakness?”

Feng Tianyu immediately fell silent.

In truth, Lin Feng had never cared much about the Zhang Family taking advantage of him. At worst, he would earn fewer primeval stones from the caravan each year. Compared with what he secretly gained during those journeys, such a loss was insignificant.

After all, Lin Feng cultivated Blood Path, something the righteous path could never tolerate openly. Traveling with the merchant caravan gave him an excellent opportunity to secretly spread Blood Path inheritances, cultivate blood slaves, and collect the blood and materials he needed. Away from the countless eyes within the clan villages, many things became much easier to accomplish.

More importantly, Lin Zhiyao was only a mortal. No matter which clan they lived under, her fate could easily fall into the hands of Gu Masters stronger than Lin Feng. Taking her into the wilderness was even less practical. Lin Feng could protect himself against most dangers, but guaranteeing the safety of a mortal while traveling through the dangerous mountains was another matter entirely.

For now, leaving Lin Zhiyao safely in Zhang Family Village while he traveled with the merchant caravan suited Lin Feng’s plans perfectly. The Zhang Family believed they were using his only weakness to control him, while Lin Feng was simply making use of their arrangement for his own purposes.