Chapter 211: The Gu Feast and the Malevolent Yin Finger

“Finally, we can begin. What about you two?”

Bai Yue looked at Jia Cheng and Xushan. Though she posed the question, it was clearly not an invitation for their opinions, as Gu worms were already swarming from her body.

Centipedes, cockroaches, toads, giant pythons, moths, venomous flies, mosquitoes, leeches—a horrifying variety of Gu worms filled the air. They then converged, a sight that would cause most people to faint from terror.

Even though the falling ghasts were still engulfed in raging flames, these third and fourth-grade Gu worms showed no fear. They surged forward, forcibly devouring the ghasts, fire and all.

Piercing screams echoed relentlessly. It seemed being consumed by Gu worms was even more agonizing than being incinerated or shattered from a fall. Their wails were so distressing they impacted my concentration, making me want to cover my ears.

“I have no need. These ghasts are far too weak. I seek something truly powerful,” Xushan said, shaking their head.

Jia Cheng let out a dry chuckle as he raised his camera. “I just need to snap a few paranormal photos. Xiao Yue, feel free to proceed; I’ll cover your flank.”

With that, he lifted his camera, slowly focusing on the upper floors. In the interim, the vengeful spirits who had just plunged were completely devoured by the Gu worms. Not only that, but the worms had also consumed every last bit of the mangled corpses and shattered fragments on the ground.

Jia Cheng seized a perfect moment, instantly pressing the shutter. With a flash, the six flaming vengeful spirits plummeting through the air, along with the building itself, were captured within the lens. I observed a surge of malevolent energy being drawn into the camera, and the falling figures… they had already become utterly transformed.

This sight brought to mind a legendary ancient torture: the Gu Basin.

It was said that victims were thrown into pits teeming with venomous snakes and insects, left to be slowly bitten and consumed alive. Now, the spirits driven to leap from the inferno were falling, like those condemned criminals, endlessly into the Gu worms, only to be devoured completely.

My own Iron Thread Gu and Golden Bee Gu also sent signals, indicating their desire to join the feast. By then, I had nearly grasped how to absorb malevolent energy, so I permitted them to go and feed.

Xiao Qing, however, had yet to master the technique of controlling malevolent energy. She still relied on her Jade Gecko to absorb the energy for her before transmitting it. The Jade Gecko remained perched on her hand, diligently consuming the surrounding malevolent energy.

Fortunately, the Jade Gecko was a relatively gentle Gu worm—obedient and with a modest appetite. Therefore, it listened to Xiao Qing’s commands, dutifully absorbing malevolent energy for her.

It even regulated the intensity of the energy, preventing an excessive influx from overwhelming Xiao Qing’s control.

As my Golden Bee Gu and Iron Thread Gu flew and crawled down to the ground floor, Bai Yue’s Gu worms instantly cleared a space for them. Only her Dragon Gu Centipede, her Natal Gu — the Soul-Devouring Bee, and a few others did not yield their ground.

It became clear just how potent the grade suppression among Gu worms truly was. These very Gu worms, which had been so ferocious moments before, dared not compete for food with fifth-grade Gu worms.

This also revealed that the majority of Bai Yue’s Gu worms had not yet reached the fifth-grade.

“Two fifth-grade Gu worms, even your Jade Gecko reached fifth-grade! I’m truly envious of Senior Sister Xia,” Bai Yue exclaimed, watching as all three Gu worms she had released were now fifth-grade.

By this point, I could gather the surrounding malevolent energy into my hand. However, compressing it to my fingertip and shaping it into a ray remained incredibly difficult.

Despite my strenuous efforts to contain it, the turbulent malevolent energy refused to obey. After all, malevolent energy inherently accompanied malevolent spirits.

Grievance, hatred, fury, lament, obsession… countless negative emotions were all intertwined within it. Simply drawing it to my body made me feel as though I could hear innumerable cries, curses, and wails. It was utterly uncontrollable.

“Stop! Yubing, rest for a moment. If you can’t completely discharge the malevolent energy, any residue in your hand will harm your body.

Concentrating malevolent energy is indeed difficult. I’ll lend you my cursed artifact to aid your practice in a moment,” Mo Qingyan said.

I could already feel a burning sensation in my arm. My direct manipulation of malevolent energy was not yet proficient, nor did I have a Gu worm like Xiao Qing to filter out the excess negative energy. The damage to my body was thus more pronounced.

I had to pause and rest, using my prayer beads to dispel the malevolent energy from my arm.

“Can a cursed artifact also assist in practicing the Malevolent Yin Finger?” I asked Mo Qingyan during my break.

“Of course. In fact, using a cursed artifact can even enhance the power of the Malevolent Yin Finger. I only learned the Malevolent Yin Finger myself with the aid of a cursed artifact,” Mo Qingyan replied, pulling out a red pencil and pointing it into the air.

A black and red ray shot towards the center of the sky, extending directly from the ground to the rooftop of the thirty-plus story building, and even continued soaring into the heavens until it vanished amidst the billowing smoke.

“Hiss! What an incredible range, Senior Sister Mo! Just how far can this Malevolent Yin Finger reach?” I inquired.

“I don’t know its upper limit. They say the more proficient you are, the farther it reaches. When I first learned it, it was about one or two hundred meters. Now, I can barely manage to shoot it beyond a thousand meters, and with a cursed artifact, it can reach three thousand meters,” Mo Qingyan explained.

“Haha, when Senior Brother Liang graduated, his Malevolent Yin Finger could reach four thousand meters, and with a cursed artifact, it could hit targets ten thousand meters away. But we couldn’t even measure that far, and at such distances, it’s impossible to aim with the naked eye. Besides, I think that guy was still holding back,” Xushan chuckled.

“You don’t need to be so ambitious. A range beyond a thousand meters is essentially meaningless. Even if you can see it with the naked eye, you won’t hit accurately, unless you can use a magical artifact to assist with aiming, like Jia Cheng,” Mo Qingyan added.

“Using my camera is also pointless. If I could truly capture a photo of the target, I have many invisible curse-killing methods; why bother with the Malevolent Yin Finger?

Typically, a thousand-meter range for the Malevolent Yin Finger is sufficient. Further cultivation is solely to enhance its penetration and destructive power; range is merely a byproduct,” Jia Cheng also stated.

I wasn’t being overly ambitious. My thoughts simply stirred when I heard Mo Qingyan mention using a cursed artifact, because I currently had one in my pocket: that brass key.

“What are you two talking about, range and power? I can’t even condense malevolent energy myself; I have to rely on Gu worms,” Xiao Qing said, a hint of frustration in her voice.

She had just tried to condense malevolent energy on her own, without the aid of the Jade Gecko, but the energy remained completely inert. This had struck her yet again.

“Don’t use Yubing as a standard for comparison. She is a ghoulified person, while you are a pure human. She is naturally more adept at controlling malevolent energy than you.

Moreover, whether you can condense malevolent energy yourself is utterly unimportant. Using a Gu worm to help absorb malevolent energy achieves the exact same effect, and it’s even safer. Don’t worry about such trivial details,” Mo Qingyan reassured her.

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