During the refinement process, he actually suffered a Gu worm backlash!
The Liquor worm inherited the powerful will of the Flower Wine Monk. At this moment, it invaded his aperture, brazenly launching a backlash against Fang Yuan.
This powerful will force crashed down heavily from top to bottom, aiming straight for the copper primeval sea at the bottom of the aperture.
And the copper primeval sea was also rolling with waves, kicking up tides one after another. Under Fang Yuan's will, a large torrent of primeval essence rose against the heavens, gathering together to form a sky-soaring mad wave, fiercely meeting the Liquor worm's will head-on.
Seeing that the two sides were about to viciously collide in the center of the aperture. But right at this moment, an indistinct phantom shadow of a Gu worm manifested in the blank zone of the aperture, right in the center of the two forces.
This was a cicada.
The body size of this cicada was not large. If the Moonlight Gu was a curved blue crystal like a crescent moon, then this cicada was like an exquisite handicraft made by a master artisan using brown wood and tree leaves.
Its head and abdomen were both brownish-yellow, with textures on the surface resembling the annual rings of a tree, as if it had witnessed the passing of years.
The pair of wings on its back were very wide and semitransparent, looking like two overlapping tree leaves. Both wings had patterns on them, and they were highly similar. These patterns were just like the typical reticulate veins of a leaf; in the center was a thick stem, from which the net-like leaf patterns radiated outward to both sides.
The Spring Autumn Cicada!
It was alarmed.
Just like a giant beast perfectly hiding and sleeping in a cave. But suddenly it was awakened, and discovered that its territory was being infringed upon.
Who dares to run wild in my territory!
Seemingly having its dignity offended, the Spring Autumn Cicada grew furious, exuding an aura.
This aura was faint, yet so tremendously powerful. As if a surging Heavenly River, rolling forward with boundless waves, about to sweep across ten thousand miles of green mountains, about to drown the vast heavens and the great desert!
Compared to this aura, the Liquor worm's will was like an ant meeting an elephant!
The aura swept and expanded outward in all directions, just like an invisible, peerless grand tsunami kicking up. The invading will of the Liquor worm did not even have the ability to resist upon meeting this tsunami; it was directly swallowed completely clean by this aura.
Fang Yuan's chest felt stifled.
He tried his best to incite the upward-charging copper primeval essence, but upon meeting this aura, it was as if a sea wave had crashed into a heavenly mountain. The gathered primeval essence instantly fell apart and disintegrated, scattering into rain that entirely sprinkled down, falling back into the primeval sea surface.
Splash, splash.
Waves rose and fell continuously on the surface of the primeval sea, as if a rainstorm had fallen, adding even more turbulence.
But a few breaths later, the Spring Autumn Cicada's aura spread down, pressing upon the primeval sea.
Boom!
Fang Yuan seemed to hear a buzzing sound. In an instant, the wave-rolling primeval sea abruptly came to a standstill.
The Spring Autumn Cicada's aura deadly oppressed the entire primeval sea, like a formless grand mountain suppressing it. The sea surface could not kick up a single ripple, as calm as a mirror.
It was also as if an originally wrinkled piece of paper was suddenly covered and smoothed out by boundless giant hands formed from this aura.
This was simply an unparalleled power!
Fang Yuan felt as if a formless grand mountain was pressing on his heart, seemingly like Sun Wukong being suppressed beneath the Five Elements Mountain. He could not mobilize even a single trace of primeval essence.
However, although he was shocked, he was not afraid. Instead, a strong feeling of intense joy welled up in his heart.
"To think the Spring Autumn Cicada actually followed me and was reborn together! So it is not a one-time consumable Gu, but can be utilized repeatedly."
The Spring Autumn Cicada's grade was as high as Rank 6. It was the first Rank 6 Gu worm Fang Yuan had in his past life, and also his last. To refine it, Fang Yuan utilized all his methods and resources, expending the effort of nine bulls and two tigers. It took a full thirty years of preparation before he luckily succeeded.
But not long after succeeding, before the Spring Autumn Cicada even had the time to warm up, the orthodox heroes felt the threat from Fang Yuan. They formed a united front and attacked, killing Fang Yuan.
After his rebirth, Fang Yuan did not find the Spring Autumn Cicada, so he assumed it had perished. But in reality, it was harbored within Fang Yuan's body, having fallen into a deep sleep.
Reversing five hundred years of time in an instant severely damaged its vitality. It was truly too weak; so weak that even its master, Fang Yuan, could not sense it.
Right now, although the Spring Autumn Cicada had appeared, its condition was still not good.
Since the rebirth, it had been recuperating in a deep slumber. Appearing at this moment, it merely sensed the crisis in the aperture, practically awakened by the Liquor worm's will.
It was very weak, extremely weak, unbelievably weak.
In Fang Yuan's memories, the original Spring Autumn Cicada was full of vitality. Its body's trunk was like precious flooring, emitting a warm and moist oily luster. Its pair of wings were tender green, resembling two freshly sprouted tender tree leaves.
But right now, a dense aura of desolate and dead silence radiated from the cicada's body. Its trunk did not have the slightest luster, appearing rough and dim, like withered wood. Its pair of wings were also not tender green leaves, but completely filled with a withered yellow hue, like withered leaves about to fall in autumn. Moreover, the tips of the wings were slightly curled up and incomplete, just like the edges of a fallen leaf.
Regarding this, Fang Yuan felt both heartache and relief.
The heartache was that the Spring Autumn Cicada had suffered such heavy damage, only a single thread away from perishing, like having one foot stepping off the edge of a cliff.
The relief was that fortunately the Spring Autumn Cicada was weak to this degree, otherwise he would be in massive trouble!
One must know that between a Gu Master and a Gu worm, they must complement each other, and it is best if they are of the same realm.
A Rank 1 Gu Master using a Rank 1 Gu worm, this is the most suitable.
If the Gu worm's grade is lower than the Gu Master, when the Gu Master uses it, it would be equivalent to a burly man wielding a small wooden stick; very ineffective.
If the Gu worm's grade is higher than the Gu Master, when the Gu Master uses it, it would be like a child carrying a heavy grand axe; the heart is willing but the strength is lacking.
The Spring Autumn Cicada was a Rank 6 Gu worm, while Fang Yuan was only a tiny Rank 1 initial stage Gu Master. Using a more graphic analogy, the Spring Autumn Cicada was a mountain, and Fang Yuan was a squirrel. For a squirrel to carry a mountain to smash enemies, in the first instant, the squirrel would be flattened flat by the mountain.
If the Spring Autumn Cicada was in its peak state, Fang Yuan's tiny Rank 1 Gu Master aperture fundamentally could not accommodate it. He would be directly burst to death by its majestic aura.
It was precisely because it was weakened to the absolute limit that it could be accommodated by Fang Yuan's current aperture.
"I gave up the Moonlight Gu and tried by every possible means to find the Liquor worm, all to refine it into a vital Gu. But in truth, I already had a vital Gu long ago. The Spring Autumn Cicada is my vital Gu!" Feeling that intimate connection between himself and the Spring Autumn Cicada, Fang Yuan's heart was filled with myriad emotions.
The vital Gu is the first Gu worm a Gu Master refines. It is extremely important, largely influencing the Gu Master's future development.
If the vital Gu is chosen well, the Gu Master's development will be smoother. If the quality of the vital Gu is poor, it will drag down the Gu Master's cultivation and they will be overtaken by their peers. Most crucially, it will affect matters of life and death such as combat.
Fang Yuan knew this clearly in his heart, so even when he chose the foundational Moonlight Gu of Gu Yue Village, he was still not satisfied, and tried every possible means to seek out the Liquor worm.
In his memory, for a tender new Rank 1 Gu Master, the Liquor worm was already a top-tier choice. The Moonlight Gu could only be considered upper-middle tier.
But the reason why life is fascinating is because people never know what awaits them in the next moment.
In his past life, Fang Yuan had refined the Spring Autumn Cicada. After rebirth, the Spring Autumn Cicada fell into a deep slumber, but this refined connection still existed.
And seemingly tempered through the River of Time, Fang Yuan discovered that the connection between him and the Spring Autumn Cicada was even more profound and tighter than in his past life. It was only because the Spring Autumn Cicada was too weak that Fang Yuan had not sensed it.
Therefore, in a true sense, the Spring Autumn Cicada was the first Gu worm he refined.
It was just that the Spring Autumn Cicada was not refined by Fang Yuan in this life, but was the fruit of his five hundred years of effort in his past life.
The Spring Autumn Cicada was Fang Yuan's vital Gu.
A Rank 1 Gu Master, possessing a Rank 6 vital Gu!
If this matter were spoken out loud, probably no one would believe it! This had already broken the limits of the world's common knowledge!
But this matter had indeed truly occurred.
The truth was beyond any doubt.
"The Liquor worm is a supreme choice for a vital Gu, but compared to the Spring Autumn Cicada, it is just mud dregs on the ground! To think my vital Gu in this life is actually the Spring Autumn Cicada, hahaha…"