Chapter 66: Senior

After a while.

Yan Buji carefully mixed the clam juice into the potion he had prepared.

In an instant, a strong, pungent, nose‑stinging fragrance spread, and Yan Buji's face turned fierce. He could barely tolerate the smell, so he stepped far away, pinching his nose and waiting for fifteen minutes to pass.

"With such a strong fragrance, it must be ready." Yan Buji let out a laugh.

But before the fifteen minutes had elapsed, Yan Buji suddenly saw a black‑backed centipede crawl onto the stone where he had placed the perfume.

This centipede was as thick as Yan Buji's arm and over a meter long, with many legs and a sharp mouth; apparently attracted by the fragrance, it bit his perfume bottle in one gulp and began sucking up the liquid!

"You bastard!"

Yan Buji's eyes widened, and a surge of anger rose instantly.

The black‑backed centipede sensed Yan Buji charging at it, then suddenly rose upright and sprayed a stream of seven‑colored rosy vapor!

Huh?!

Yan Buji had seen huge worms before, but he had never seen a centipede capable of spraying seven‑colored toxic mist!

This thing… is definitely not an ordinary centipede!

Even if Yan Buji had an antidote, he wouldn't dare approach; instead, after the black‑backed centipede spewed its poison, it instantly burrowed into the ground and fled.

Yan Buji's face darkened as he clenched his fists, trying to console himself that he had just suffered a dumb loss.

But just then, Yan Buji looked up and saw an old woman and a little girl land on the ground.

The white‑haired old woman's face lit with joy; she pinched her fingers and said, "Come!"

The centipede that had burrowed into the soil suddenly poked its head out, but it seemed unwilling, frantically twisting its body to escape.

"Yue'er, now!"

"All right, Grandma!"

Beside them, the little girl took out a jade bamboo, likewise raised two fingers, and stared nervously at the black‑backed centipede.

Seeing their fingers glow, Yan Buji's heart sank.

Cultivators?!

Both of them!

The black‑backed centipede seemed unable to struggle; the girl's jade bamboo kept spiraling upward, emitting a flash of light, after which the centipede on the ground was drawn into it!

Witnessing this, Yan Buji felt even colder inside.

Is this what cultivators can do?

That centipede, which looked extraordinary at a glance, was so easily subdued by them!

The old woman breathed a sigh of relief, affectionately patted the girl's head, carefully took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead, and smiled, "Yue'er, you're amazing—you succeeded in capturing a gu worm on your first try!"

"Hehe, with Grandma around it's naturally easy." The girl lifted her head, slightly narrowed her eyes enjoying the old woman's caress, and laughed proudly.

Yan Buji stepped back, clasped his hands, and said, "I mean no disturbance to your senior's capture of the gu worm; I'll take my leave now!"

"Wait!"

The old woman suddenly called out to stop Yan Buji, who was trying to run away; his face stiffened, he turned with difficulty, and spoke in a fawning tone:

"Um, senior, what are your orders?"

"I see you're only a first‑ or second‑layer loose cultivator; how do you know this worm‑attracting method?"

"Worm‑attracting… method?" Yan Buji looked bewildered.

The old woman looked at Yan Buji's expression, equally puzzled: "You don't know that the potion you made is for attracting gu worms?"

"I didn't know; isn't this just a bottle of perfume?"

"Perfume?"

"Yeah… if you don't believe me, senior, let me show you the prescription."

"Hmm."

The old woman looked at the prescription Yan Buji tossed over, reached out to take it, and examined it carefully.

"It really is perfume… clam juice, hehehe, interesting—I never imagined this mundane thing could also attract gu worms. Young man, you've done us a big favor." The old woman nodded, and her gaze toward Yan Buji lost much of its wariness.

As for why a grown man would make perfume,

can't we allow other cultivators to have their quirks?

This perfume isn't an aphrodisiac or poison, so there's no need to obsess over it.

Although the old woman didn't know Yan Buji's purpose in making perfume, she discovered the prescription's benefit; as a cultivator who leans toward the righteous path, she naturally wouldn't just grab something and run.

Yan Buji hastily clasped his hands and said, "If it's useful to you, senior, I'll naturally be happy."

"Hmm, what's your name?"

"I am Ji Bu."

"I am the old lady Gu Li, and this is my granddaughter Gu Yue. The centipede you attracted is a first‑turn gu worm we've been chasing for a long time; although you happened to catch it, together with this favor and the prescription, I can give you a little benefit. Tell me, what would you like?"

"So you're Senior Gu and Miss Gu Yue; I've been rude. I'm just a loose cultivator who happened to set foot on the path of cultivation, never having met a fellow practitioner, so I truly don't know the etiquette." Yan Buji gave a bitter laugh, while inwardly observing their demeanor.

That little girl, Gu Yue, hid behind Old Lady Gu Li, curiously sizing herself up—much like any ordinary child.

But Old Lady Gu Li is different; her eyes are murky, yet they flash with a wise light, as if she's discerning whether my words are true.

Actually, Yan Buji's words are half‑true, half‑false; he isn't a cultivator, but he genuinely wants to learn some rules of the cultivation world, which is why he said that.

In other words, he's asking this senior of the cultivation world to inform him about cultivators and the cultivation realm.

Indeed, Gu Li saw nothing special about Yan Buji—he didn't even possess an Accumulation Device, and she couldn't gauge the level of his spiritual power.

Perhaps he had just finished drawing qi into his body and still didn't know how to accumulate spiritual power.

Tsk tsk tsk.

It's fortunate I ran into him; otherwise, this sort of loose cultivator dragged off to a black mine to dig until death would have no idea how to cultivate properly.

"Alas, the path of a loose cultivator is truly hard. Young man, since you've asked sincerely, I'll hold nothing back—please sit."

Yes, thank you, senior!

Only saw Gu Li raise her hand; after a flash of light, a table and three chairs appeared, leaving Yan Buji dumbfounded.

What do you want to know?

After the three sat down, Gu Li asked.

"This..." Yan Buji looked bewildered, as if he had many questions in mind but didn't know where to start, so he smiled wryly and said: "I am a humble lone cultivator; senior, please speak freely, I am all ears."

Gu Li chuckled: "Hehe, young man, you have quite the ambition. Then I'll start from the beginning. When did you complete drawing qi into the body?"

"Drawing qi into the body?" Yan Buji froze, then blurted out.

Not good!

Surely they won't notice I'm not a cultivator, right?

Gu Li seemed not to mind either; she could sense that Yan Buji's spirit had already transformed into spiritual awareness, so she said: "It's the period after you opened the Mud Marrow Palace, when your spiritual sense detects spiritual qi, absorbs it into the body, and until a breakthrough gives birth to a thread of magical power."

Yan Buji's pupils constricted.

So that's how it is!

Through the spiritual transformation, the spiritual sense detects spiritual qi, absorbs it into the body, and gives rise to magical power!

This is what a Lianqi Phase cultivator is!

Not easy, huh.

Only now did Yan Buji understand how a normal practitioner enters the Lianqi Phase!