Cultivation of immortality begins with an eighty-year-old eunuch.

Chapter 637 Reward! Gu Insects!

As soon as she finished speaking, the Gu woman struck again with her insect staff, and the entire Wan Gu City returned to its previous hustle and bustle.

"The Three Great Secret Gu." Han Cen stroked his beard, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes. "I've read in the ancient texts that the Great Desert Grasslands possess three great secret Gu lineages: the Soul-Devouring Gu, the Poison Shadow Gu, and the Life Soul Gu. These three secret Gu are closely guarded secrets of the Gu King's lineage, and ordinary Gu cultivators may never even see one of them in their entire lives. The Gu King is using these secret Gu as a prize this time; it seems he's gone all out."

When Chen Fan heard the words "Spirit Devouring Gu", his heart stirred slightly.

Although he had the notes of the True Man Insect, notes are still just notes, and they are bound to be far inferior to the true inheritance of the Gu King.

If one can obtain the Heavenly Gu Token and acquire the complete inheritance of the Soul-Devouring Gu, it will undoubtedly be a great help in cultivating the Golden Cicada.

But that's a story for another time.

The most important thing right now is to find a place to stay, and then go to the trading market in the east of the city.

Chen Fan could feel that Jin Chan was about to burst forth from his sleeve.

Subsequently, the stewards sent by the Gu woman arranged for the three teams to stay in different inns.

The Crown Prince's troops were housed in a rather spacious stone courtyard in the east of the city. The courtyard was built of black grassland stones, with three entrances and three exits, and was quite spacious.

There is a sacred spring in the courtyard, with clear and sweet water, which is an extremely rare treat on the grassland.

Han Cen and Ouyang Ye each stayed in a room, while Chen Fan chose the innermost side room.

After settling in, Chen Fan did not linger at the post station.

He carefully put away the gold offering token on his body, changed into a dark leather robe commonly seen among grassland Gu cultivators, and made slight adjustments to his appearance.

With his sallow complexion and the leather robe he wore, Chen Fan looked exactly like a rogue Gu Master who had been struggling in the desert grasslands for many years.

After leaving the inn through the back gate and passing through two narrow alleys, you arrive at the trading market in the east of the city that the Gu woman had mentioned.

The market was much larger than Chen Fan had anticipated.

The entire market occupied nearly half of the eastern part of the city, with hundreds of stalls densely packed along the two main streets and more than a dozen alleys.

The stalls sold a wide variety of items, including eggs and larvae of various Gu worms, medicines made from Gu worms, magical artifacts crafted from insect shells and bones, and some strange materials that Chen Fan couldn't even name, such as dark red cocoons, dark green Gu liquid, and sections of dried corpses of unknown insects and beasts.

The market was bustling with people.

There were grassland Gu cultivators selecting insect eggs, Zhao Kingdom cultivators buying antidote pills, and occasionally a few Boundless Sea Demon cultivators haggling with Gu cultivators at the stalls.

The smells in the air were more complex than in the city: the smells of insects, herbs, blood, and a faint stench of decay, all mixed together to make one want to vomit.

Chen Fan strolled slowly through the market, spreading his divine sense to scan the Gu worms on the surrounding stalls one by one.

Most Gu worms are of low grade, only at the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment level. Occasionally, you can see a few Gu worms at the Core Formation level, and their prices are ridiculously high.

He walked and stopped, occasionally pausing briefly in front of a stall before continuing on his way.

When they reached an inconspicuous corner deep within the market, the cicada in their arms suddenly began to tremble violently, its buzzing more urgent than ever before.

Chen Fan paused, following the cicada's senses, and looked to his left.

It was an inconspicuous little stall, run by a gaunt old Gu cultivator with early Nascent Soul cultivation. He was wrapped in a dirty sheepskin robe and was dozing in a corner.

There were a few insect cages scattered around the stall. Most of the Gu insects in the cages were listless and of low quality, only at the early stage of Core Formation.

In the far corner of the stall, in a palm-sized black insect cage, were three bright red silkworm-shaped Gu worms.

These three Gu worms were no bigger than a little finger, covered with a layer of fine, blood-red scales, and had serrated mouthparts. They were frantically gnawing at an unknown black stone in the cage.

The cicada's desire was precisely directed at these three Gu worms.

Chen Fan's expression remained unchanged. He slowly walked to the stall, glanced at it casually, pointed to the three crimson Gu worms, and asked in the hoarse accent typical of grassland Gu cultivators, "How much are these three?"

The old Gu cultivator opened one eyelid and glanced at him, then looked at the three Gu worms he was pointing to, yawned and said, "Blood Silkworm Gu, early stage of Core Formation, average quality, but not bad for feeding other Gu worms. Five thousand mid-grade spirit stones for one, twelve thousand for three."

Chen Fan did not haggle and directly took out 12,000 mid-grade spirit stones from his storage bag and placed them on the stall.

The old Gu cultivator's eyes lit up. He quickly put away the spirit stones and then stuffed the black insect cage into a specially made Gu bag and handed it over.

Chen Fan took the Gu bag, didn't look at it for long, and then disappeared into the crowd in the market.

Back in his room at the inn, Chen Fan set up two isolation barriers before opening the Gu bag.

He took the three blood silkworm gu out of the insect cage and examined them carefully in his palm.

These three Gu worms were covered in rich blood energy, and the insect spirit power contained within them was quite pure. No wonder the Golden Cicada was so eager for them.

With a thought, he summoned the golden cicada from his sleeve.

The golden cicada flapped its wings and flew out, circling once around Chen Fan's palm. Its dark red compound eyes stared intently at the three blood silkworm gu, and the tentacles beside its mouthparts trembled rapidly, emitting a series of low buzzing sounds.

Sensing the aura of the golden cicada, the three blood silkworm gu were immediately terrified and curled up into a ball, trembling and not daring to move an inch.

Chen Fan did not let the cicada devour it immediately.

He first used his divine sense to probe into the bodies of the three Blood Silkworm Gu, carefully sensing their internal structure and the way their spiritual energy circulated.

According to the notes of Master Chong, the Devouring Gu's instinct to devour needs to be stimulated and strengthened by constantly devouring other Gu worms. The higher the grade of the devoured Gu worm and the closer the attributes are, the better the effect.

Although these three Blood Silkworm Gu are not of high grade, their attributes are quite similar to those of the Golden Cicada, making them the most suitable bait.

Chen Fan placed one of the Blood Silkworm Gu on the ground and gave Jin Chan a simple command with his divine sense.

The cicada transformed into a streak of dark golden light and pounced instantly. Its mandibles pierced precisely into the head of the Blood Silkworm Gu, and a domineering devouring power surged from its body, extracting all the insect spirit power from the Blood Silkworm Gu's body as if peeling away silk from a cocoon.

The blood silkworm gu didn't even have time to struggle before it quickly withered away, leaving only an empty shell.

After consuming the food, the golden cicada flapped its wings and flew back into Chen Fan's palm. The golden light around its body was even brighter than before, and the eerie light on the pair of black tentacles next to its mouthparts was also more intense.

It let out a satisfied buzz and nuzzled Chen Fan's fingertips with its head.

He then fed the other two Blood Silkworm Gu to Jin Chan as well.

After consuming the three, the golden cicada's aura surged slightly higher. Although it was still some distance from the late stage of Core Formation, its devouring instinct was becoming increasingly apparent.

He put the cicada back into his sleeve, sat cross-legged on the futon, closed his eyes, and began to meditate and regulate his breathing.