Starting with the Corpse-Eating Worm, he worked his way up to become the Left-Winged Immortal Lord.

"At dawn today, the Taoist boy who is responsible for escorting the spiritual spring water reported that all 103 households in Dongwang Village had perished, their deaths were gruesome, their blood and energy were drained, and the spiritual spring water was also polluted."

However, Wufeng Temple currently lacks sufficient manpower, so after discussions with the Dharma Protector Hall and other managers, they have specially invited Master Lu, the manager of the Medicine Hall, to lead a team of Wufeng Temple cultivators to Dongwang Village to resolve the issue of the spiritual spring water.

The words fell.

Cheng Xiu put away the register of the Dharma Protector Hall.

Then he quickly added a sentence.

"The spiritual spring water of Dongwang Village is an essential material for Wufeng Temple to refine weapons, draw talismans, and make medicine. Now that it has been polluted, it will greatly affect the operation of Wufeng Temple. Please, Fellow Daoist Ding, be sure to pass this order on to Steward Lu. Do not delay for even a moment."

Ding Xian and the other cultivators from the medicine hall looked surprised and doubtful.

They never expected that even Lu Xingzhi would be arranged to leave Wufeng Temple, all for the sake of a spiritual spring.

The spiritual spring water in Dongwang Village is indeed excellent, and can increase the success rate of talisman making, weapon refining, and medicine making to a certain extent. However, Deng Hui has become so ruthless that he has attacked mortals and slaughtered the entire Dongwang Village. Going to Dongwang Village to solve the spiritual spring water problem at this time would be like walking into a trap and being sent to the tiger's mouth of the Heavenly Principle Sect.

"What exactly does your Dharma Protectorate want? It's just a spring of spiritual water; does it really require my master's intervention?"

Ding Xian was furious.

The others also spoke up angrily.

Despite the crowd's anger, Cheng Xiu remained indifferent, and a hint of sneer even flickered across her lips.

"Do you know how much material the other Daoists in Wufeng Temple will lose every day when they draw talismans, refine weapons, and make pills without this spiritual spring water? It's okay for a day or two, but if it goes on for a long time, what will the temple use to earn Five Elements Divine Sand?"

Without the Five Elements Divine Sand, where would your monthly stipends come from? Where would your monthly cultivation resources come from?

After questioning them, Cheng Xiu didn't give Ding Xian and the others a chance to answer, saying, "If you have any objections, go and summon the managers of other halls or the deputy abbots."

That's all.

Cheng Xiu walked away with an arrogant air.

However, he bumped into Lu Xingzhi as soon as he reached the door.

Facing Lu Xingzhi, Cheng Xiu finally dared not be too presumptuous and could only lower her posture, "Greetings, Steward Lu."

Tell Chen Ye that I am too busy.

Lu Xingzhi spoke coldly, staring intently at Cheng Xiu.

Cheng Xiu felt a cold sweat break out on her back as she was being stared at, and the kind and gentle appearance of Lu Xingzhi over the years flashed through her mind.

But now, Lu Xingzhi's gaze was so cold it seemed like he wanted to kill someone.

It seems that Steward Lu has completely taken the opposite side of the Dharma Protectorate.

"Manager Lu, this is what all the managers have discussed..." Cheng Xiu insisted on starting, but was interrupted halfway through her sentence.

Lu Xingzhi said coldly, "You want to teach me how to do things?"

"I wouldn't dare."

Cheng Xiu quickly shook her head, bowed without raising her head, and hurriedly left, not daring to linger for even a moment longer.

As soon as Cheng Xiu left, Ding Xian and the others quickly surrounded her.

"Master."

"Manager Lu."

"They've gone too far!"

"It's alright, it's not like it was the deputy abbot's order. Chen Ye can't do anything to me." Lu Xingzhi said nonchalantly, then warned everyone, "But you all must be careful when you leave Wufeng Temple. Survival should be your top priority. That Deng Hui has gone so far as to use mortals to cultivate, he will most likely turn against you too."

"Master, rest assured, I will definitely bring them back safely." Ding Xian patted his chest and looked around at the other cultivators in the medicine hall.

The others chimed in.

"Don't worry, sir, we will definitely come back safely."

"Please take care of yourself while you are at the temple."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xingzhi forced a relieved smile and waved for everyone to disperse.

But after everyone left, a hint of worry crept onto Lu Xingzhi's face.

Chen Ye wanted him to go and die, but he naturally wouldn't go.

No matter how much he pleaded, he wouldn't go.

But since Deng Hui had already attacked ordinary people, and the county government didn't have enough manpower, Wufeng Temple had to send someone to manage the situation.

Because mortals are the foundation of this world.

There are no mortals.

Therefore, it would be difficult for the cultivation world to prosper.

So he probably won't be able to refuse for long and will eventually be sent out.

Thinking of this, Lu Xingzhi couldn't help but feel a little anxious. "What exactly does that damned Deng Hui want?"

……

Now let's talk about Gu Qing.

After Ding Xian and the others left Wufeng Temple, Gu Qing began to spend all his time in the Yin Land, cultivating Ghost Cover Leaf.

For several days in a row, Gu Qing nurtured the Shattered Hollow Shovel Beetle with Yin energy for twelve hours each day, reaping 50 units of corpse energy and feeding back 25 units of Yin energy each day.

If you cultivate Ghost Leaf for twelve hours, you will harvest 100 units of corpse energy.

The profits were substantial.

However, the most profitable method is still refining cultivators' corpses, which yields 600 corpse energy and 300 yin energy daily.

In addition, once the Ghost Leaf was formally cultivated, he could obtain 200 Corpse Qi every day by dealing with the Spirit-Eating Insects. After three days, he had made a considerable harvest.

A total of 2850 corpse energy were collected.

If the corpse energy is fed back, the harvest will be 975.

The total amount of corpse energy remaining has reached another peak—3943.

However, it's still a long way from upgrading the Shadowless Corpse-Eating Worm to the third tier.

The total amount of corpse energy remaining after feeding back has also returned to above 3000—3425.

If he wanted, he could directly enter the third level of Qi Refining now.

However, there is no need for that.

Because his strength is not determined by his realm.

Breaking through now will not bring any benefits, but will instead bring trouble.

But Gu Qing was actually a little hesitant about whether to upgrade the Hollow Stag Beetle to the second tier.

The Shadowless Corpse-Eating Insect is indeed powerful, but it is ultimately only good at ambushes and only has explosive power, making it too limited. If it fails to strike and the opponent tries to escape, the Corpse-Eating Insect cannot catch up and can only watch helplessly as the opponent escapes.

"Even if I upgrade the Void-Shattering Stag Beetle to the second tier now, I still can't use it to deal with Chen Ye. At most, it can probably only handle a Qi Refining Level 5 cultivator. Killing a Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator is still too difficult."

Gu Qing murmured to himself, deciding to save up the corpse energy first and then upgrade the Corpse-Eating Worms in one go.

After reaching the third stage, the Shadowless Corpse-Eating Worm can evolve into the Phantom Corpse-Eating Worm. As long as the opportunity is right, killing a Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator shouldn't be a problem.

Moreover, even upgrading the Hollow Stag Beetle or the Forbidden Word Beetle cannot significantly increase the success rate of killing Chen Ye.

"In five days at most... I'll be able to gather enough corpse energy to enhance the Shadowless Corpse-Eating Worm." Gu Qing was filled with anticipation.

At that time, he would no longer be a threat in Wufeng Temple. Even if Deng Hui kept a close eye on him and wouldn't let go, he could easily deal with him.

The only thing to watch out for is that he might resort to desperate measures and reveal the true method of the "Unreturning Worms" to the Heavenly Principles Sect.

However, as long as Deng Hui is killed before he speaks, the threat of the Heavenly Principle Sect is not a big deal. After all, there are always tall people to hold up the sky. When the deputy abbot and abbot of Wufeng Temple realize that Xuanqing Temple may abandon them this time and let them fight against the Heavenly Principle Sect, they will naturally step forward to deal with the Heavenly Principle Sect.

He only needs to cultivate quietly, accumulate strength, wait for the appearance of the Nine Heavens, and then leave this place of trouble as soon as possible.

However, just as Gu Qing was accumulating the energy from stealing the liver of the purple zombie, Li Fu brought an unexpected message that made Gu Qing break out in a cold sweat.