Thinking of this, Chen Qing began to meticulously search his surroundings. Although Chen Qing had already opened his apertures (in cultivation context) and primordial sea, he currently had no Gu, nor were any Dao marks imprinted on his body, so he was not much different from a Mortal.
After searching here for a while and finding nothing, he walked out of the small pond.
Coming ashore, he began to search his surroundings meticulously again, but with only the dim light filtering in from outside, Chen Qing couldn't see the area very clearly.
He felt along the stone wall, walking forward.
"Hmm?"
Chen Qing noticed something suspicious; there was a patch of soil on the ground whose color was slightly different from its surroundings. In such a dim place, the color difference was not very obvious, and if Chen Qing hadn't observed carefully, it would have been very difficult to notice.
Chen Qing slowly squatted down and cautiously reached out to touch it. The touch was wet.
The main reason Chen Qing was so careful was that the various Legacies in the Gu World were too abstract. If it were a Righteous Path Legacy, that would be fine; Righteous Path Legacies primarily tested the Heart-Nature of the successor, and even if the successor's Heart-Nature wasn't up to par, there was a high probability that their life wouldn't be in danger.
However, Demonic Path Legacies were different. People of the Demonic Path, due to a lack of resources or prolonged exposure to danger, often had their minds highly strained, becoming frenzied, obsessive, or even cold and cruel, killing without batting an eye. They could not be judged by normal human thinking.
Some tested the mind, full of mysteries, difficult to explore in a lifetime.
Some were simple, with only a few Gu and dozens of primeval stones.
Of course, there were also Legacies set up by Devil Heads with dark and extremely radical psyches, purely self-defeating and harmful to others, wanting to drag others down even in death.
Some of this information was learned from Gu Masters chatting among themselves in a passing caravan, while another part was because he was an otherworldly Devil, and in his previous life, he had read "Great Love Immortal Venerable." Although his memories were somewhat blurred after more than ten years of attrition, he could still recall some things.
Chen Qing's thoughts raced like lightning. After a slight hesitation, he began to dig. Since the soil was soft and wet, digging was not difficult.
When he had dug about an inch deep, a faint, ethereal fragrance wafted into Chen Qing's nose.
Smelling this fragrance, Chen Qing's movements on his hands quickened.
As he dug, a faint dark golden light emerged from beneath the soil.
Seeing this dark golden light, Chen Qing's movements became even more delicate and careful.
"What is this?" Chen Qing began to recall, but still couldn't remember what this golden light was.
A moment later, a dark golden flower was dug out of the pit.
This flower extended about two inches underground, was as large as a normal millstone, with a surface as delicate as silk, dark gold in color, exuding a quiet, mysterious, noble, and elegant aura.
"Is this... Earth Treasury Flower Gu?" Chen Qing only now remembered what this large dark golden flower was.
"Earth Treasury Flower Gu. In the Gu World, Gu will starve to death without food. To preserve Gu, Gu Masters have devised many methods, and the Earth Treasury Flower is one of them.
The Earth Treasury Flower Gu is a one-time consumable Gu. Once planted, it cannot be moved again. Its food source is also very simple: it's Earth Qi! Its function is also very simple: to Seal Gu. If a Gu is placed into the golden liquid in the heart of the flower, the Gu will fall into a deep slumber." Thinking of this, Chen Qing reached for the Earth Treasury Flower.
Chen Qing tried hard to recall his memories of reading the novel in his previous life. After recalling some details, he cleaned the mud from his hands and reached for the Earth Treasury Flower.
He carefully peeled back the dark golden petals.
The Earth Treasury Flower Gu's appearance was like a combination of a lotus and a cabbage. Its petals were thick, layer upon layer, and felt warm and smooth, like peeling off layers of silk.
After peeling about a dozen petals, its size had significantly reduced, revealing the inner heart of the flower.
The petals in the heart of the flower were even softer, like Xuan paper.
The petals were filled with a golden liquid, and in the center of this liquid, there was a Gu whose appearance was unclear.
Chen Qing gently tore open a petal, and a liquid resembling soybean oil flowed out, causing the petal to deflate. Chen Qing tore open the remaining petals and carefully extracted the Gu within.
This Gu resembled a leech, with dense, triangular sharp teeth in its mouthparts. It was entirely blood-red and about six to seven centimeters long.
At this moment, it seemed somewhat listless, possibly due to extreme weakness.
Chen Qing was overjoyed at this sight. When a Gu Master refines a Gu, it means their will occupies the Gu's body, and during this process, the true essence in the Gu Master's apertures (in cultivation context) is the best medium.
Chen Qing immediately sat down cross-legged, mobilized the emerald green bronze true essence within his body, and concentrated on refining the leech-like Gu.
The leech's body was enveloped by the smoky true essence. Perhaps because its will was extremely weak, the refining process went smoothly. In just a few hours, the Gu was refined by Chen Qing.
Upon completion of the refining, the leech squirmed and crawled towards Chen Qing's right hand. The leech crawled onto Chen Qing's right hand and slowly merged into it. A blood-red leech shape, like a tattoo, appeared on his palm and the back of his hand, flashed once, and then slowly faded away.
Chen Qing had already refined this Gu. His will had occupied the Gu's body, and he naturally knew the Gu's function.
Its ability was... blood absorption!