Chapter 34: Studying Gu Technique, Awaiting Scorpion Basin
According to the Dao Talisman display, Fang Shu’s Muscle and Bone Transformation today not only successfully completed all his cultivation before Entering the Dao in one fell swoop.
Moreover, his chances of Entering the Dao from now on are as high as ninety-nine percent!
Even that remaining one percent is actually just a nominal figure.
As long as Fang Shu does not fall victim to schemes, earthquakes, or other events that could lead to him being crushed or killed during Entering the Dao, then this ninety-nine percent can be regarded as a “one hundred percent probability.”
Staring at the text on the Dao Talisman in his mind, Fang Shu felt dazed for a moment: “This means I can safely Enter the Dao!?”
The arduous cultivation of the past half year flashed through his mind like a lantern show, giving him a faint sense of unreality.
After all, whether according to the Dao books, the horrific Scorpion Basin Tribulation scenes he had witnessed with his own eyes, or the rumors in the Marketplace, passing the Tribulation to Enter the Dao was an extremely difficult matter that could bring glory to one’s ancestors.
If one passes, they become a true Immortal Cultivator; if not, they remain a Mortal, separated by the divide between immortals and mortals.
But soon, a mocking smile appeared on Fang Shu’s face.
He now had two Immortal Merits—one fast and one slow—combined within him, and with the aid of a Precious Medicine like Purple Lead Mica Milk, he had refined his Physical Body’s tendons and bones. Moreover, the Dao Talisman monitored his body at all times every day, leaving no hidden ailments.
More importantly, he was not yet seventeen, the period when the human body is most vibrant and robustly growing.
Under such advantageous conditions, if he still could not safely Enter the Dao, that would be the real joke.
Fang Shu mused inwardly: “Note that whether it was Cheng Guanzi or Li Hou Er, both of them safely Entered the Dao and began Refining Essence after obtaining the Precious Medicine.”
This showed that Entering the Dao was indeed as Li Hou Er had said back then: the difficulty lies in the frailty of the human body—the poorer, the harder.
Composing his emotions, the timidity in Fang Shu’s heart vanished instantly, replaced by overflowing joy that brought an expectant smile to his face.
He now truly wanted to head to the Marketplace immediately, procure a Tribulation ritual for Entering the Dao on his own, and perform it grandly just like earlier to swiftly Enter the Dao.
However, Fang Shu still suppressed the restlessness in his heart.
“Can Enter the Dao” only meant a high success rate for his Refining Essence, not the quality of the Qi and Blood after Refining Essence.
As far as he knew, the Precious Blood condensed by Immortal Cultivators after passing the First Tribulation had different wondrous uses depending on its quality.
If he casually bought a ritual from the Marketplace to aid Entering the Dao, that would be wasting his potential and squandering the quality of his own Precious Blood.
In contrast, using the Scorpion Basin Tribulation method from the Du Gu Guan, as long as one successfully broke through the barrier, and paired it with day-and-night practice of Insect Skill, the Precious Blood condensed after Entering the Dao would be “Gu Poison Blood.”
This not only enhanced the Immortal Cultivator’s own toxin resistance but also facilitated future cultivation in Gu Merit, Poison Cultivation, Gu Technique, and poison techniques.
However, the more wondrous uses and higher quality the Precious Blood had, the more difficult it was to condense.
It was possible to labor in vain and still fail at the last step, managing only a crude Entering the Dao.
Or a prospective Immortal Cultivator who was fully qualified to Enter the Dao might suddenly fail the Tribulation and be reduced back to a Mortal.
But for Fang Shu, this was no longer a concern.
Because the “Entering the Dao probability” estimated by the Dao Talisman in his mind was based on the Scorpion Basin Tribulation method from the Du Gu Guan.
Fang Shu mused inwardly:
“The Dojo will open a Scorpion Basin at the latest in two months. Rather than pursuing a faster Entering the Dao, I should focus on the quality of the Precious Blood refined during the Entering the Dao Tribulation.”
His gaze flickered, then he suddenly closed his eyes and turned his attention to the Dao Talisman Magic section.
This section, besides the Secret Mouth-Sword Technique and Fur-Shedding and Skin-Changing Technique, now had an additional【 Gu Technique（ Sleepy Bug Chapter）】.
It was unclear whether the Dojo Master did it intentionally or not, but in this Gu Technique, she not only wrote the method for refining Sleepy Bugs but also included some techniques for making a Scorpion Basin.
Although the Scorpion Basin mentioned in the Gu Technique could not compare to the dojo’s signature Scorpion Basin in the Cultivation Practice hall, the principles behind both were the same.
Both used mutual killing and devouring in raising Gu to stimulate the potential of Gu Worms or the human body, thereby activating Qi and Blood to promote the birth of Gu Worms and Immortal Cultivators.
In the Quiet Room, Fang Shu had already read the content of this Gu Technique chapter countless times and knew it by heart. Moreover, the Dao Talisman had long ago helped him unravel all its mysteries.
It was just that he had never found time to personally refine it, so he was still at the stage of “knows in the eyes but not in the hands.”
After pondering carefully, a contemplative look appeared in his eyes:
“The Scorpion Basin Tribulation is actually treating the dojo disciples as Gu Worms, raising Gu through the Tribulation…
In that case, the best Tribulation method is not just passively enduring the Poisonous Insects’ bites and toughing it out, but actively refining the Poisonous Insects in the basin to stimulate Qi and Blood?”
He mulled it over repeatedly, feeling more and more that this was correct.
However, the low-level disciples in the Du Gu Guan generally considered it impressive just to endure in the Scorpion Basin surrounded by Poisonous Insects, let alone actively refining Gu to stimulate themselves.
After repeated contemplation, the light in Fang Shu’s eyes grew brighter:
“Ordinary disciples may not be able to, but that doesn’t mean I can’t. Besides, I have the Dao Talisman monitoring my Physical Body at all times; if something goes wrong, I can decisively stop, avoiding carelessness.”
With this thought, his heart grew increasingly eager, and he began pondering how to turn passive into active during the Scorpion Basin Tribulation.
As for why Fang Shu wanted to enhance the quality of his Precious Blood, besides seeking perfection, it was also for another reason.
On the Dao Talisman in his mind, one line of text read:
【Spiritual Root: Upper Middle】
Compared to before the Muscle and Bone Transformation, he had gained quite a bit this time, with his Spiritual Root improved by a full two levels.
But it was still only middle-grade Spiritual Root.
What Fang Shu hoped for was to thoroughly Metamorphose his Physical Body in the Scorpion Basin Tribulation, solidly and completely, to see if he could elevate his Spiritual Root again to upper grade.
He thought to himself:
“Even if the Scorpion Basin can’t elevate the Spiritual Root, the better the Precious Blood refined, the greater my advantage in Insect Skill and Poison Cultivation going forward.”
At that point, his talent in Insect Skill and Poison Cultivation would perhaps equate to upper grade.
After some careful thought in the Quiet Room, Fang Shu slowly stood up.
Methodically, he packed up everything in the Quiet Room and erased the traces of the ritual to prevent others from noticing.
Next.
Fang Shu eased up on polishing his Physical Body and began focusing on researching the Scorpion Basin Tribulation.
This action puzzled the dojo disciples for a time, who thought he had finally lost heart.
Thus, the Cultivation Practice hall of the Du Gu Guan shifted from two competing factions to the sole dominance of the arduously cultivating youth Shi Hou.
But Fang Shu ignored such trivial matters and focused entirely on the Gu Technique.
His main research method was to personally refine the Gu Recipe page given by the Dojo Master, to see if he could produce the so-called “Sleepy Bug.”
Fang Shu originally thought that this Gu Technique, which lacked dedicated Secret Scripts and overlapped with Insect Skill, would not be too difficult to refine.
But reality gave him a hard lesson.
For refining Gu Technique, the nine Secret Scripts in Insect Skill were merely the foundation, barely allowing him to resist Gu Worm toxins and have some affinity with Gu Worms.
Truly refining Gu Worms was not as simple as throwing insects into a basin and letting them kill each other.
Fang Shu had to understand every type of insect entering the basin—their habits and states—like the back of his hand. He needed to pre-raise and select Gu materials with Essence Blood, specially blend drugs during the process to stimulate the Gu Worms, and afterward nurture them like Magic Tools.
This Gu Technique was also a field of empirical study.
Fang Shu even felt that this “minor technique of the unorthodox path” was more profound and mysterious than Lead Skill, Insect Skill, Tongue Sword, or Skin Technique!
Moreover, every principle written in the recipe was easy to learn but hard to master.
Thus, after half a month of research, he was still stuck at the “during” stage of the Gu Refining process, unable to produce a true First Tribulation Sleepy Bug.
But his gains were not small; his originally perfected Insect Skill actually benefited from some experiences in researching Gu Technique, with mutual verification leading to improvement!
“The Gu Technique path can also nourish cultivation?” he sighed inwardly.
Since even perfected-level Insect Skill had improved, Fang Shu’s confidence in the Scorpion Basin Tribulation undoubtedly increased further.
Now he could be said to have everything prepared, only awaiting the opening of the basin for Tribulation!
And soon.
At the end of the month, the Tuition Fee disciples of the Du Gu Guan gathered once again in the Cultivation Practice hall…
