8 Absolute Beginning

Chen Qing didn't show any fear. Anyway, there were many people who knew that he was here. If something happened today, even Xiao Zhong wouldn't be able to explain it clearly.

In the room, Xiao Zhong poured a cup of tea for Chen Qing, and gestured for him to sit opposite him.

"Junior Brother Chen, I'm keeping you here to tell you some more secrets."

Chen Qing became serious. "Senior Brother, please enlighten me."

Xiao Zhong pondered for a moment, and said, "I saw that your Gu insect usually manages the sect's spiritual fields. Your Grass Spirit Gu can manage about eight mu of land a day, right?"

Chen Qing nodded.

Xiao Zhong continued, "That much is about it, my Grass Spirit Gu was about to advance when I could manage eight mu of land.

"Your Gu insect is very likely on the verge of advancement.

"This is your luck, but it is also your shackles."

Chen Qing asked, "What do you mean?"

Xiao Zhong said, "You were preparing to advance from the beginning, but the materials for advancement are not comparable to the materials for improving quality. The materials needed for advancement are not something that can be bought with a few thousand spirit stones.

"I made a list of the ingredients that my Grass Spirit Gu consumed when it advanced. Remember it."

Xiao Zhong took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and pushed it to Chen Qing.

Chen Qing picked it up and looked at it carefully. The materials on it added up to about 50,000 low-grade spirit stones!

At this point, Xiao Zhong was a little smug. "It's my good luck. Generally speaking, low-grade spirit stones needed to advance the Grass Spirit Gu might be around 100,000."

Chen Qing was secretly shocked. Even if he saved 2,000 spirit stones a year, if he did not see the information, he would have to work hard for 50 years to nurture a grass spirit butterfly.

This was even if his luck was good, and if he was prepared to advance the Grass Spirit Gu he had just obtained.

Others were not like him. Grass Spirit Gu had to be nurtured step by step, which also required a large number of spirit stones.

Moreover, before it was nurtured enough to reach high quality, the spirit stones they could earn in a day were not as much as theirs.

Furthermore, cultivation required spirit stones.

In other words, a normal person would never be able to nurture a Grass Spirit Butterfly in their entire life.

And this was in the case of only nurturing one Grass Spirit Gu.

Xiao Zhong introduced, "Those that I circled are the materials that I guessed were more likely. Junior Brother, remember them."

After 15 minutes, Xiao Zhong asked, "Junior Brother, have you memorized all of them?"

Chen Qing nodded.

Xiao Zhong took the piece of paper, and placed it in a small red clay stove beside him to burn it.

Although Chen Qing did not know if it was true or not, the other party had good intentions after all. Chen Qing cupped his fists gratefully, and said, "Thank you for your generous gift, Senior Brother. I will definitely remember it!"

Xiao Zhong smiled. "Then you can go back. I wish your Grass Spirit Gu to turn into a butterfly as soon as possible."

Chen Qing nodded seriously, and said, "Okay, Senior Brother."

After returning to his cave abode, Chen Qing lay on the bed and recalled the number of spirit stones he had left. He suppressed the thought of counting again.

'From the looks of it, it's impossible to turn into a butterfly using normal methods.

'But I've heard of many cultivators who have butterfly Gu.

'Xiao Zhong is one of them. The mountain lord1 is definitely one. There are also a few elders in the sect.

'Normal accumulations can't let Gu turn into butterflies. One can only rely on the accumulation of their predecessors. As for the rest, there's only one path.

'Kill and burn to get a golden belt. A man can't get rich without getting suspicious money. A horse can't get fat without eating grass at night2.

'This cultivation world is even crueler than I imagined.'

Half a month passed slowly. On this day, Chen Qing got off work and walked around the market at the foot of the mountain. He bought some rice and meat, and prepared to go home.

When he was walking in a black alley, a black shadow suddenly ran over his head, leaping over roofs and vaulting walls. After discovering Chen Qing, it suddenly threw a black cloth bag into Chen Qing's arms.

Before Chen Qing could see what he had obtained out of the blue, he saw three Carefree Mountain disciples chasing after the black figure from behind.

"You're also a disciple of Carefree Mountain?"

Chen Qing cupped his fists. "I am a disciple of Carefree Mountain!"

The Carefree Mountain disciple in the lead asked, "A black shadow ran over just now. Did you see it?"

Chen Qing hurriedly pointed in the direction where the black shadow had left. "What's wrong, Senior Brother? Is it an evil cultivator?"

The leading disciple said seriously, "It's not just an evil cultivator, it's a great evil cultivator! That person seems to be from the Aurora Cult!

"Hurry up and go back. We still have to chase after him!"

Chen Qing nodded. As he walked, he prayed that these three senior brothers could kill that inexplicable black shadow.

The man in black clutched his chest and leaped over the wall, walking on the eaves.

He had just killed Daoist Wild Dog and obtained the ghost mask when he was discovered by Carefree Mountain disciples. How unlucky.

However, it didn't matter. He was the only one at the third layer of Qi Refining in the market today. It wouldn't be too late to come and take the ghost mask when he recovered.

Even Chen Qing did not expect his low cultivation level at the third layer of Qi Refining to become a special characteristic.

…

After returning to his cave, Chen Qing opened the black bag.

He had thought that it would be a treasure. At the very least, it would be a spirit stone.

In the end, there was only a bronze ghost mask inside. It looked strange.

"This is the Aurora Cult's keepsake?"

After being in this world for almost a year, Chen Qing still had an impression of a sect with an extremely bad reputation like the Aurora Cult.

It was said that thousands of years ago, the Aurora Cult had already been extremely active. However, it had declined because of the fall of its cult master3.

The Aurora Cult was an extremely mysterious organization. They only communicated with each other through this kind of ghost masks.

Another characteristic of the Aurora Cult was that their members did not know each other.

After wearing the ghost mask, your consciousness would enter a special place. There, the mask would hide all personal information.

The only bronze ghost mask that Chen Qing had ever heard of was the token of the smallest branch of the Aurora Cult.

As for the cult master who created this bronze ghost mask, and was the only one who could control it, he had long passed away.

It was said that there were many mountains in the Aurora Cult, and there were even many famous orthodox sects. (1. It was common knowledge4 that the terminal controller of the Aurora Cult's ghost mask was dead. 2) Even the terminal controller couldn't know everyone's identity, chat history, and transaction information, because the Aurora Cult's leader didn't set up these functions at all. Don't ask why it was so ridiculous, because the entire Aurora Cult, too, felt that it was ridiculous. Walking my way, doing my own things, raising my light, wearing my ghost mask, what was the difference between it and the Aurora Cult5?)

'I wonder what's going on with this cult.'

Chen Qing put on the strange bronze ghost mask, and his consciousness arrived at a magical space.

It seemed to be a platform built in the clouds and of a cloud. In the middle of the cloud platform was a long table with 12 seats.

There were five on both sides, one at the front, and one at the back.

When Chen Qing's consciousness appeared, he was sitting in the second seat on the right.

There were two other people here besides him. One of them was a woman in red with a bronze ghost mask.

This woman in red had a very good figure. She had a single ponytail, and her face could not be seen at all.

The woman in red sat opposite Chen Qing, studying him with interest.

On Chen Qing's left sat a strong male cultivator.

When Chen Qing first arrived, he thought that the evil cultivators were discussing how to destroy this world and hatch some earth-shattering scheme. In the end, the two of them were discussing the cultivation of Gu insects excitedly.

When they saw Chen Qing arrive, they were only surprised for a moment before regaining calm.

It seemed to be different from the evil cult that Chen Qing had imagined.

The male cultivator flicked the folding fan in his hand, and asked politely, "Daoist Wild Dog must be dead; may I know the name of the fellow daoist who has obtained the ghost mask?"

Although the ghost face isolated him from detection, Chen Qing could still feel their gazes focused on him.

At this moment, Chen Qing suddenly had a bold idea.

He remembered a book he had read before.

Online dating platforms were all the same.

Although he was not the host of the meeting, it was not important. It did not affect his putting on a pretense at all.

In any case, he was just here to have fun. He had no intention of joining the Aurora Cult.

'I, Chen Qing, am a dignified righteous sect of Carefree Mountain. How can I collude with evil sects?'

Therefore, he placed his right hand on the table, and tapped the table with his index finger.

"It's been too long. I've almost forgotten the name.

"If you must call me with a name.

"Well, you can call me…

"Absolute Beginning."