Starting as a stray dog, I embarked on a journey of cultivation.

Master Lingdao, accompanied by the mutated Madam Zhang, turned and walked deeper into the mountains and forests.

Gou An then concealed his aura and followed at a distance, not getting too close.

Because you can find them just by smell.

After venturing deep into the desolate mountains and traversing several barren peaks, Master Lingdao finally stopped at the foot of a cliff.

The rock face is covered with intertwined vines, concealing a very hidden cave entrance.

Without careful investigation, it would be impossible to discover.

Master Lingdao led Madam Zhang into the cave, and Gou An quickly approached, sniffing the cave.

There were no other signs inside the cave. The presence of Lingdao Shangren alone, along with the mutated Madam Zhang, indicated that this was merely a temporary dwelling.

So Gou An concealed himself in the shadows and silently slipped into the cave.

Meanwhile, the spiritual master inside the cave was completely unaware that someone had slipped in. He raised his hand and threw out a black iron cage from his storage bag.

Then, he pushed the bloodthirsty and still wild Madam Zhang into the cage and locked the cage door.

After doing all that, he took out several crimson pills and threw them into the cage.

Upon seeing the pills, Madam Zhang immediately pounced on them and swallowed them whole.

Before long, the effects of the drug began to take hold, and her skin and flesh visibly swelled up.

Its ferocity and malevolence grew increasingly agitated, and low growls echoed continuously from within the cage.

At that moment, Master Lingdao suddenly heard footsteps. His expression changed drastically, and he turned around sharply, staring intently at the cave entrance. His spiritual energy instantly tensed, and he assumed a defensive posture, shouting sharply, "Who's there!"

Gou An slowly emerged from the shadows, his gaze sweeping over the simple, dilapidated cave dwelling, his eyes filled with undisguised disdain.

Upon recognizing Gou An, Master Lingdao knew he was no ordinary person, and his expression grew even more solemn: "Fellow Daoist, this is my private cave dwelling. Your uninvited arrival is rather improper, isn't it?"

"Just because you say it's yours, does that mean it is?" Gou An's tone was indifferent, with a hint of aggressiveness.

Seeing Gou An's overwhelming aura, Master Lingdao frowned and asked again in a deep voice, "Please state your purpose!"

Gou An did not respond and walked straight toward the iron cage.

Originally, Madam Zhang was restless and howling in the cage, her ferocity vanishing the moment she saw Gou An. As if encountering a natural enemy, she trembled and huddled in the corner of the cage, not even daring to raise her head.

This scene, witnessed by the Spirit Dao Master, greatly shocked him, making him even more hesitant to act rashly.

Gou An glanced at him, his tone icy: "Speak, after wasting so many mortal lives to cultivate this monster, what exactly do you want to do?"

Master Lingdao's eyes flickered, and he feigned ignorance: "I don't understand what you're saying at all."

"Stop pretending!" Gou An pressed on, speaking calmly, "From the Zhang family mansion in town onwards, I've seen everything you've done. Confess honestly, or I'll force you to resort to underhanded tactics!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a faint light appeared in his palm, and a cluster of spiritual fire condensed, instantly enveloping the entire cave with scorching pressure.

Master Lingdao's expression changed drastically. He knew he was no match for him, but he did not want to sit and wait for his death.

Therefore, he could only pretend to compromise on the surface, but secretly he suddenly activated the spiritual energy around him, wanting to strike first.

Suddenly, a wisp of energy condensed at his fingertips, and he launched a sneak attack on Gou An!

But his sneak attack was surprisingly slow in Gou An's eyes.

Gou An has now entered the Demon Transformation Realm, and his cultivation is comparable to that of a human cultivator in the Core Formation Realm, which is a full one major realm and two minor realms higher than that of the Spirit Dao Master. The difference in strength is overwhelming.

Gou An merely shifted his body slightly to easily evade the sneak attack, then leaped forward in an instant, precisely grabbing the Spirit Dao Master's neck with one hand.

Soul-devouring claws!

The sorcery was activated instantly, and an invisible suction force wrapped around the Spirit Dao Master, beginning to strip away and extract the spiritual energy from his body.

Feeling the spiritual energy draining from his body and his strength rapidly waning, the Spirit Daoist turned deathly pale, gripped by extreme fear. No longer daring to harbor any illusions, he frantically struggled and begged for mercy: "I'll talk! I'll confess everything! Please, fellow Daoist, have mercy!"

Seeing that he had become more obedient, Gou An loosened his grip slightly.

Lingdao Shangren then revealed the reason in a trembling voice: "My cultivation has been stuck at the Qi Sea Realm for many years, and my lifespan is nearing its end. I have exhausted all methods, but I still cannot break through to the Core Formation Realm."

"I created this blood worm to cultivate forbidden techniques and condense the Blood Essence Pearl, hoping to find a way to break through and prolong my lifespan!"

"Blood worms? Blood Essence Pearls?" A look of surprise flashed in Gou An's eyes, and he couldn't help but think of the Heavenly Star Sect: "Where did you obtain this technique?"

"It's a booklet that I stumbled upon while traveling through the desolate mountains in my early years, among the belongings of a fallen cultivator!" Master Lingdao quickly replied.

"Go on," Gou An said, slightly loosening his grip and giving him a chance to catch his breath.

Master Lingdao gasped for breath and honestly confessed everything: "Madam Zhang did not die suddenly; it was all my careful planning."

"My lifespan is coming to an end, and I have nowhere else to turn but this forbidden technique. This method requires the body of a woman with an Earth-rank spiritual root as the mother to cultivate blood worms."

"But whose cultivation level isn't higher than mine among those Earth-rank spiritual roots? They all have profound cultivation levels, and I have no power to provoke them at all."

"So he had no choice but to settle for second best and wander around looking for ordinary women."

"I happened to pass through this small town and discovered that Madam Zhang perfectly fit the criteria. Although her spiritual roots had withered due to her lack of cultivation, she was still the ideal candidate for fulfilling the requirements!"

"So I pretended to be a fortune teller and secretly introduced a wisp of evil energy into her, damaging her vital essence and causing her to die suddenly after returning home. Then I showed myself and pretended to be able to bring people back to life, thus gaining Master Zhang's trust."

"Afterwards, I secretly planted a blood worm Gu that I had prepared in advance in her body. The Gu worm devoured her internal organs, parasitized her body, and transformed her physical foundation."

"Those eight mortals with different destinies are also consumables needed for the forbidden technique. They are used to draw out evil spirits and gather energy to nourish the mother body. This is an essential step in the refining of the pearl."

"Everything I did was done according to ancient methods."

"Bring the item out so I can see it!" Gou An ordered coldly.

Lingdao Shangren dared not disobey, and with trembling hands, he took out a yellowed and tattered booklet from his bosom and respectfully handed it over.

Gou An released him and tossed him aside, then took the booklet and flipped through it. Sure enough, it contained detailed records of the complete forbidden techniques for cultivating the Bloodworm Mother and condensing Blood Essence Pearls. The techniques were sinister, vicious, and extremely harmful.

Having lost most of his spiritual energy, the Spirit Dao Master was extremely weak, his body growing increasingly aged and decayed. He immediately knelt down and begged for mercy: "Fellow Daoist, I know I was wrong! I was forced by my lifespan to harm living beings; please spare my life!"

Gou An closed the booklet and put it in his pocket. He looked down at the man kneeling and begging for mercy, and said in a cold and indifferent tone, "Even if you were to be nurtured smoothly all the way, you would never succeed."

Master Lingdao was taken aback and looked up blankly.

Gou An continued, "The key to this method is to nourish the mother body with the blood, flesh, and spiritual energy of the cultivator in order to quickly condense the pure blood essence pearl."

"With your meager cultivation level, where could you possibly find so many cultivators as materials?"

"If you rely solely on the essence and blood of mortals for nourishment, it would take at least several decades. You are already nearing the end of your lifespan; where do you find the time to waste?"

When Gou An pointed it out, Lingdao Shangren's expression became even more dejected, because he knew that what Gou An said was true.

"Kill me if you want!" Master Lingdao slumped to the ground, seemingly having given up struggling: "I don't have any valuable treasures on me, just give me a quick death."

His last hope was extinguished by Gou An's sudden appearance.

Gou An sneered, then said, "Wouldn't giving you a quick death be too easy for you?"

"You!" Master Lingdao clutched his chest, glaring fiercely at Gou An. "What else do you want? I'm already at my wit's end, how much more do you want to force me?"

"Naturally, it's to let you exert your last bit of power!" Gou An patted the iron cage, a wicked smile on his face as he said to Lingdao Shangren, "I want to test the effects of feeding him human cultivator flesh and blood!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Gou An opened the cage door.

However, the mutated Madam Zhang dared not climb out and remained curled up in the cage.

Gou An could only step forward, grab the head of the Spirit Dao Master, and use his sharp claws to slash a bloody wound on his face before trying to throw him in.

"No, please don't do this!" Master Lingdao hurriedly begged for mercy.

But Gou An ignored him, stuffed him directly into the cage, and then closed the cage door.

In order to prevent the mutated Madam Zhang from continuing to be afraid of him, Gou An deliberately took a few steps back.

As expected, Madam Zhang's appetite was whetted by the smell of blood. She turned her head and saw Master Lingdao, and immediately licked her lips.

"You beast, I am your master!"

Master Lingdao wanted to scare Madam Zhang away, but at such close range, coupled with the attraction of blood energy, the mutated Madam Zhang could no longer resist and pounced on her.

The weakened Lingdao Shangren was completely unable to resist and was eventually bitten to death by Madam Zhang, who then slowly devoured him.

Gou An stayed quietly throughout, paying close attention to Madam Zhang's every move.

Sure enough, after devouring the flesh and blood of cultivators, Madam Zhang's qi and blood underwent a particularly noticeable change, completely unlike when she was devouring mortals.

Blood Essence Pearls are incredibly potent tonics for enhancing cultivation!

I wish I could breed a mother insect like that myself!

Upon seeing Madam Zhang before him, Gou An frowned slightly.

Because Madam Zhang was only a mortal, not the best vessel.

Furthermore, the booklet I just read states that the cultivation of the mother insect takes a long time and involves three stages.

Only after reaching the third stage can one refine the Blood Essence Pearl within the body, which requires a large amount of cultivator's flesh and blood.

If we could find a female cultivator with a low-level spiritual root to be the mother, that would be perfect.

So Gou An sent out the Heavenly Map and summoned Pig Ninth and Liu Dayong, instructing them to send Madam Zhang, along with the iron cage, into the world depicted in the map.

Gou An gave them a simple task: occasionally feed them some wild animal flesh and blood, and make sure Madam Zhang doesn't escape and starve to death.

Once a more suitable host is found, we can find a way to transfer the bloodworms.

However, it remains to be seen who the unlucky one is.