It was precisely because of Ziqing’s unique constitution that, the moment she began fighting against the poisonous beasts of this world, the moment she began coming into contact with their venomous blood, it would effectively mark the beginning of her transformation into a Gu.
If her formidable constitution could gradually adapt, even reaching a point where it no longer reacted to the poison at all, then the cultivation of the Gu would be complete.
And this adaptation could only occur through the process of actual combat.
But how could Ziqing possibly know any of this?
Her understanding of Mingsha Mountain had been limited to that secret chamber beneath it — she never could have imagined that beneath that chamber lay an entirely different world altogether.
Soon, the shaggy white creature finally revealed its true form — it turned out to be an enormous white bear.
It had to be admitted — at this moment, the bear looked utterly adorable, almost comically endearing.
Bears, after all, were inseparable from a single word: foolish.
Though this white bear was massive beyond comparison — a full three times the size of an ordinary bear — its spotlessly clean white fur, along with its dopey black eyes and good-natured expression, made it look more like a harmless, hulking simpleton than any kind of ferocious beast.
At this moment, it crept forward cautiously, tiptoeing like a thief toward where Ziqing lay. And yet, despite all its careful caution, every single step it took, however careful, produced an unmistakably loud sound, impossible to hide.
In truth, it needn’t have bothered being so careful at all.
But this was the world of poisonous beasts — a world that had never once known a human presence. To this foolish bear, Ziqing was something entirely unfamiliar, and its instinct was to treat her as some kind of monster, hence all the caution.
In truth, the distance was only a few steps, and yet the big foolish bear inched along for a good while before finally, cautiously, creeping up beside Ziqing.
Its large, figure-eight-shaped black eyes were filled with curiosity as it studied her for a long moment, then began sniffing her — starting from her head and working its way slowly down to her feet.
Those curious eyes suddenly filled with excitement, as if it had stumbled upon the most wonderful prey in the entire world!
“Growl, growl, growl…”
The big foolish bear couldn’t help letting out a few excited roars — but caught itself almost immediately, cutting off after just a few sounds.
Careful now — mustn’t get too excited. What if it drew other beasts here?
It had lived in this place for hundreds of years, and had finally come across such novel prey — it had no idea what species this creature was, or where it had come from!
All it knew was that her blood smelled absolutely delicious!
If it could coat her entirely in honey and eat her up bite by bite, wouldn’t that be the most wonderful thing imaginable!
The big foolish bear grew more and more delighted with the thought, chuckling to itself in a way that seemed remarkably human.
They say people grow into spirits with age, and ghosts into gods — and it seemed beasts, too, grew no less shrewd with age than humans did.
After all, this big foolish bear had lived for several hundred years — foolish it might be, but not nearly as stupid as it appeared.
Besides, beasts of medicinal poison were remarkably intelligent creatures, no less clever than humans, in truth!
The big foolish bear promptly stood up — goodness, while lying down it hadn’t seemed all that imposing, but once it rose to its full height, it stood as tall as a great tree!
It looked around in every direction, sniffing carefully all around, and once satisfied that the immediate surroundings were safe, it slowly lay back down again.
Its paw, easily as large as a human head, covered in warm, clean white fur with the claws sheathed, gently nudged Ziqing. Seeing no response from her, it pushed her firmly aside, away from the pool of blood.
Then the big foolish bear narrowed its eyes, chuckling to itself happily — already looking foolish enough, and looking even more so now with that silly grin.
Foolish-looking it might be, but it was genuinely no fool — its wariness was quite sharp. After once again checking its surroundings, it finally lowered its head and began licking up every last drop of blood on the ground.
Clearly, this big white-furred bear, spotless and clean, had something of a cleanliness obsession!
It methodically licked up every trace of blood from the ground, leaving the entire patch of grass without a single mark, and even the scent of blood in the air grew noticeably fainter.
Finally satisfied, the big foolish bear let out a couple more contented chuckles, looking utterly endearing.
Only then did it turn its head to look at Ziqing again. What did it intend to do?
For the moment, it had no particular plan — instead, with great care and thoroughness, it proceeded to lick every single trace of blood from Ziqing’s body as well, leaving not a drop behind.
Finally, it plopped down on its haunches, panting heavily from exhaustion, tongue lolling out like a dog.
Only then did it begin studying Ziqing properly, its attention settling on the sharp dagger clutched in her hand.
It was quite dark here, and yet, remarkably, this dagger still managed to catch and reflect what little light there was, gleaming brilliantly — living up to its name, Liuguang, “Flowing Light.”
In the world of poisonous beasts, weapons simply didn’t exist!
Everything here remained in its most primal state — every conflict settled through direct physical combat, survival of the fittest, the strong prevailing over the weak.
The big foolish bear stared at the dagger Liuguang, growing more and more curious the longer it looked. It even raised a paw and unsheathed its own claws with a sharp “clink,” carefully comparing the two, wanting to know which was sharper — the dagger, or its own claws.
It scratched lightly at the back of its other paw with its claws, feeling nothing much, and so brought that same paw close to the blade’s edge, brushing against it lightly — again, nothing seemed to happen.
It looked again at its own claws, considered for a moment, then pressed its paw even closer, rubbing it firmly against the blade’s edge.
Still, not the slightest sensation. The big foolish bear paused, examining its claws once more — something was off. This thing looked so sharp, so brilliant, clearly far more impressive than its own claws — how could it possibly feel nothing at all?
And so, the big foolish bear suddenly pressed down with real force!
Instantly, a deep gash opened across its paw, blood gushing out at once. Startled, the big foolish bear let out a strange cry and quickly backed away — the blood splattering not only onto itself, but onto Ziqing as well.
And it was at that very moment that something strange happened — the blood, upon touching Ziqing’s skin, seemed to gradually be absorbed, vanishing without a trace in no time at all.
The blood of a beast of medicinal poison was among the most toxic substances in existence!
How could this be?
The big foolish bear stared in disbelief, as if refusing to accept what it had just seen. It immediately dripped more blood onto Ziqing’s face — and again, the same thing happened: the moment the blood touched her skin, it was absorbed instantly!
“Awoo…”
The big foolish bear let out a mournful howl, utterly baffled by what was happening. It looked pitifully at the dagger in Ziqing’s hand, then at its own wounded paw, on the verge of tears, and could only put its injured paw in its mouth to suck at the wound and stem the bleeding.
What on earth was this monster?
So strange!
As it sucked at its wound, deep in thought, its gaze never left the dagger in Ziqing’s grip. After a good while, once the bleeding from its paw had stopped, it launched a second attempt.
This time, it was considerably less foolish about it — it pressed one paw down on Ziqing’s hand while pinning the dagger Liuguang to the ground with the other, then, gripping both firmly, pulled with all its strength, trying to wrench the dagger free from her grasp!