Translator: Cinder Translations
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When the bone-picking knife sliced through the withered old woman's inner thigh, its sharp edge suddenly met with resistance.
Song Wen initially thought he had hit hard ice again, but upon closer inspection, he discovered something foreign inside the wrinkled inner thigh.
It was this foreign object that had blocked the knife's edge.
Upon closer examination, there was a somewhat inconspicuous scar on the thigh that Song Wen hadn't noticed earlier due to the excessively wrinkled skin of the corpse.
Song Wen slowly cut along the edge of the foreign object, finally revealing it before his eyes.
"Blood Gu Technique!"
A technique the size of two palms, made from the hide of a demonic beast, appeared before Song Wen.
Song Wen stretched his limbs and moved his head slightly, as if relaxing his limbs during the corpse-resolving process.
However, he took the opportunity to glance around.
He was sure there was no one around; Yuan Cheng was still inside his cave and had not come out.
In other words, no one knew about the existence of the "Blood Gu Technique."
Song Wen calmly put the "Blood Gu Technique" into his own storage bag.
After obtaining the "Blood Gu Technique," Song Wen couldn't help but feel excited and pleased. This technique should have been the old woman's main cultivation method.
Moreover, Song Wen speculated that this old woman was probably a Foundation Establishment stage expert, who needed to carefully hide such a technique. It definitely wasn't something common; there must be something precious about it.
After calming his emotions a bit, Song Wen continued to dissect the corpse.
Fortunately, during the process of resolving the corpse, Song Wen's worries about abnormalities did not materialize. The dissection went smoothly, except for the surprisingly low amount of blood in the old woman's body. There were no other anomalies or dangers until he cut open the old woman's chest.
The internal organs appeared before Song Wen's eyes, showing signs of countless tiny insect-like bites. Additionally, there were still unmelted ice crystals in the old woman's body, indicating that her organs had been consumed in this manner while she was still alive.
Song Wen couldn't imagine the pain the old woman must have endured in her lifetime.
"Could it be because of practicing the Gu Technique?"
Song Wen felt a chill in his heart. The tiny holes in the internal organs made him feel extremely uncomfortable and horrified.
After resting for a while, Song Wen overcame his discomfort and continued dissecting the corpse.
When he removed the damaged heart, three rice-sized insect eggs slipped out through the holes in the heart.
The insect eggs were milky white, with an extremely thin and transparent outer layer covering a white larva inside.
"These should be the eggs of Gu worms!"
Once he confirmed again that there was no one around, Song Wen absent-mindedly took out a jade bottle and collected the three insect eggs.
Afterward, he dissected the heart further and found five more similar insect eggs. He collected all these eggs into the jade bottle and then placed it inside his chest garment.
Witnessing the miserable state of the old woman's internal organs, Song Wen felt unusually horrified. However, deep down, he subconsciously believed that if he could cultivate these Gu worms, it would add another means of dealing with enemies, increasing his chances of survival in this dangerous world.
Nearly half an hour later, Song Wen finally completely dissected the old woman's body.
Throughout the entire process, there were no dangers encountered, nor were any more insect eggs found.
When Song Wen handed over the storage bag, Yuan Cheng asked,
"Was the corpse resolving smooth? No incidents occurred, right?"
Song Wen understood in his heart that Yuan Cheng probably knew the identity of the old woman as a Gu Master, yet he did not remind him to beware of Gu worms that might appear on the corpse during dissection.
It is well known that Gu Masters hide Gu worms all over their bodies. Even after killing a Gu Master in battle, one cannot let down their guard. Many cultivators who are unaware of the prowess of Gu Masters have lost their lives carelessly while touching the corpse, as they were injured by Gu worms on the Gu Master's body.
During the process of dissecting the corpse, Song Wen roughly understood the various abnormalities on the old woman's body.
The old woman should have been a Foundation Establishment stage Gu Master who lost in battle and was killed by someone.
The person who killed her feared that there were Gu worms hidden on her body, so they froze her using ice spells. As time passed, the ice gradually began to melt.
Yuan Cheng was worried that with the melting of the ice, the Gu worms might revive. Therefore, he made Song Wen work overtime to dissect the body.
Moreover, now there were only Song Wen and Yuan Cheng in the entire dissecting chamber. In case of any unexpected reversal, the Gu worms would certainly prioritize attacking Song Wen. Although Yuan Cheng's cave had the protection of formations and was sufficiently far from the dissecting platform, Yuan Cheng would have enough time to activate the formations.
In other words, even if Gu worms revived, they would only kill Song Wen alone, thus greatly reducing the damage to the person dissecting.
Speaking without revealing his intentions!
Although he felt unwilling in his heart, Song Wen's face showed a bewildered look as he said, "There was no danger at all, just that the ice crystals on the body were too solid, making it difficult to dissect the corpse, which took a bit more time."
Yuan Cheng nodded, took the storage bag, and handed Song Wen ten pieces of spirit stones.
Seeing Song Wen's puzzled expression, Yuan Cheng explained, "This female corpse is extra; these ten spirit stones are considered your hard-earned fee."
Song Wen nodded in acknowledgment and accepted the spirit stones.
He understood that these ten spirit stones were payment for his discretion.
If another corpse dissector had received these ten spirit stones, they would surely be grateful, but Song Wen did not want to earn these additional spirit stones.
Although there were no accidents during this corpse dissection, and he even obtained a Gu technique, he truly did not want to take such risks. He could quietly steal the essence blood from the dissecting chamber and earn spirit stones without risking his life.
Reluctantly, but at least Yuan Cheng did not withhold the spirit stones that he deserved. Song Wen respectfully expressed his gratitude, "Thank you, Senior Brother Yuan Cheng."
Yuan Cheng replied, "You may go. Remember, there's no need to mention this matter to others."
...
Back in his cave residence, Song Wen immediately took out the "Blood Gu Technique."
He needed to understand exactly what kind of Gu worms the eight insect eggs he collected were.
He must find the correct method to breed and control them; otherwise, if allowed to hatch and grow freely, they could possibly turn against him.
The "Blood Gu Technique" recorded methods for breeding and nurturing dozens of types of Gu worms. Between the lines, there were scattered notes that were likely insights from the old woman's own experience in raising Gu worms.
From there, Song Wen also traced the origins of the insect eggs.
This Gu was named the Beetle Gu, a relatively common type of Gu worm. This Gu's combat power is not high, and its temperament is rather gentle, which is quite different from the malicious and fierce image of Gu worms commonly perceived by ordinary people. However, this Gu also has its advantages.
This Gu is extremely small in size, with the adult being only the size of a small rice grain. It flies silently and is extremely difficult to detect, often used for scouting and reconnaissance purposes.
(End of the Chapter)