"Crack!"
With a crisp sound, the jade cocoon finally couldn't withstand the pressure and completely shattered.
"Pfft!"
Liu Chen suffered a massive backlash; a powerful force slammed into him, making him feel as if he had been struck by a heavy blow. His body trembled violently, and he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, which splattered onto the ground, forming a shocking pool of crimson.
Not only that, his soul also took a severe impact, as if it had been struck hard by a heavy hammer, causing unbearable pain. His face instantly turned ashen, devoid of color, cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and he clutched his head tightly with both hands, groaning in agony.
Gazing at the jade cocoon, which had already turned into scrap, Liu Chen felt a wave of despondency and frustration. He had poured so much effort and dedication into this Gu, only for it to fail at the last moment, all his efforts turning into smoke in an instant.
Time passed minute by minute, and after about an hour, Liu Chen finally felt his body recover slightly. However, he knew clearly that his injuries were too severe this time; not only would he be unable to refine Gu again in the short term, but even his own Cultivation would likely be forced to a halt for a period.
Liu Chen stared at the pile of failed Gu remains before him, his heart filled with helplessness and worry. These Gu were originally his important means to conceal his Qi and evade Family detection, but now they were all ruined.
Without the cover of the Gu, his existence would easily be discovered by the Family, which would undoubtedly bring him great trouble and might even trigger some unexpected changes.
Thinking of this, Liu Chen couldn't help but sigh, "This Gu refinement failure means I probably can't stay in the Mountain Village anymore. I must leave here before the year-end assessment."
For the past two months, Liu Chen had been recuperating until October, when his body fully recovered.
And the place he was in was still the Flower Wine Inheritance Cave.
During this time, Liu Chen did not neglect his Cultivation. Through unremitting efforts, his Cultivation had successfully advanced to First Rank Peak, and his Aperture was filled with ninety percent dark green true Qi.
Not only that, his Aperture had also been nurtured to its limit, and the opportunity to Breakthrough to Second Rank was today.
The Gu in his Aperture had now been completely removed by Liu Chen. He took a deep breath, mobilized the dark green true Qi within his body, and like surging waves, fiercely impacted the cliff-like crystal membrane of his First Rank Peak Aperture.
The sea of true Qi churned with waves, one after another crashing against the crystal wall of the Aperture, emitting crisp sounds of impact. And beneath this turbulent sea, undercurrents also surged violently, constantly impacting the crystal wall of the Aperture.
This crystal membrane Aperture was exceptionally sturdy, like an impregnable fortress. However, even so, it could hardly withstand the continuous impact of so much dark green true Qi.
Liu Chen's A-grade Aptitude meant his ninety percent bronze true Qi contained immense power, and this power, under his single-minded push, was like a torrent, unstoppable. The crystal wall of the Aperture, under the fierce impact of this torrent, gradually began to show fine cracks, which spread rapidly like a spiderweb.
Finally, with a soft cracking sound, the crystal wall of the Aperture completely shattered. The broken crystal wall transformed into specks of flowing light, and these flowing lights, as if alive, quickly gathered together to form a light membrane.
The light membrane shimmered with a faint glow, like a transparent veil, enveloping Liu Chen's Aperture. Having successfully broken through to Second Rank, Liu Chen felt an indescribable joy welling up in his heart as he sensed the pale red Second Rank red iron true Qi gradually accumulating in his Aperture.
"I finally broke through!" he muttered to himself, a satisfied smile on his face. A Two-Cycle Gu Master was already considered a capable person in this Mountain Village.
The only thing that made Liu Chen a bit worried was that when he advanced to Second Rank, his First Rank Wine Gu would become useless. If he still wanted to continue enjoying the effect of true Qi purification brought by the Wine Gu, then he would have to upgrade the Wine Gu to a Second Rank Four Flavors Wine Insect.
However, due to the painful lesson from the previous Gu refinement failure, Liu Chen had some doubts and lack of confidence in his ability to refine Gu. He couldn't help but recall that failed experience, and a lingering fear remained in his heart.
Despite this, in order for his Cultivation Dao to continue forward, Liu Chen had no choice but to bite the bullet and refine a Wine Gu first. The Gu recipe for the First Rank Wine Gu was something he had obtained from the Legacy memory of Flower Wine Ascetic, which gave him a little peace of mind.
Actually, if it weren't for the time crunch, Liu Chen had originally planned to rely on the Wine Gu in the future to earn the primeval stones needed for Cultivation. After all, the Wine Gu's true Qi purification effect was quite attractive to cultivators. It was just a pity that plans often couldn't keep up with changes, and reality was always so cruel.
However, fortunately, Liu Chen had made all necessary preparations before refining the Wine Gu. The main gu materials needed for refining the Wine Gu were large quantities of wine, and he had already stored a considerable amount in advance.
Furthermore, the Wine Pouch Flower Gu in the Legacy Cave had not withered to this day and could also serve as an auxiliary gu materials for refining the Wine Gu.
The refinement of a First Rank Wine Gu was not difficult for Liu Chen; with his stored large quantities of wine, he successfully refined a First Rank Wine Gu.
The success of this Gu refinement was like a shot in the arm for Liu Chen, filling him with confidence for the upcoming Second Rank Four Flavors Wine Insect refinement.
Liu Chen had already prepared four kinds of fine wines—sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy—in addition to two Wine Gu as the main materials. With everything ready, he began the refinement of the Second Rank Four Flavors Wine Insect.
Liu Chen placed the two Wine Gu into the sour wine jar, then enveloped them with red iron true Qi. As the true Qi enveloped them, the two Wine Gu, as if attracted, quickly drilled into the sour wine jar.
Seeing this, Liu Chen unhesitatingly threw in one hundred primeval stones. The energy from these primeval stones was quickly absorbed by the Wine Gu, and the sour wine was also devoured completely by the two Wine Gu in a short time.
Immediately after, Liu Chen poured the sweet wine into the wine jar, also throwing in one hundred primeval stones. The sweet wine, like the sour wine, was quickly absorbed by the Wine Gu.
In this way, Liu Chen sequentially poured the bitter wine and spicy wine into the wine jar, each time adding one hundred primeval stones. Each time, the Wine Gu quickly absorbed the wine, and a faint glow gradually blossomed in the wine jar.
However, just as the Four Flavors Wine Insect was about to be successfully refined, an accident occurred. With a "bang," the wine jar suddenly cracked open, and the Four Flavors Wine Insect, which should have been successful, did not appear.
Liu Chen looked closely and saw two Wine Gu lying weakly at the bottom of the wine jar; one of them was already dead, and the other was extremely weak, as if it could die at any moment.
This sudden turn of events astonished Liu Chen; he never imagined that the Gu refinement, which was on the verge of success, would fail at the very last moment.