We're practicing all martial arts, so why did you switch to easy mode?

Su Chen did not want to get involved in the battle between the two sides.

But as soon as he left, he noticed a subtle fluctuation emanating from his body.

This fluctuation was very subtle; if his primordial spirit hadn't reached an extremely powerful level, he might not have been able to detect it.

After discovering the fluctuation, Su Chen quickly traced it back to its source and found the origin of the fluctuation.

It was indeed a Gu worm.

He didn't know what kind of Gu worm it was, but this Gu worm was clearly inferior to the Greedy Wolf Moon-Swallowing Gu and the Heavenly Crocodile Ancient Halberd Gu. In Su Chen's opinion, its strength was at most that of a martial artist at the entry level of the Divine Intent Realm. What surprised him was that he almost couldn't even detect this Gu worm.

The Gu worms were far more unfathomable than he had imagined.

Fortunately, the Gu worm was not strong. The moment Su Chen discovered it, he immediately took action to suppress it.

Without a Gu Master to control them, the bred Gu worms cannot unleash their full power. After Su Chen suppressed them, he also learned who had made the move.

The direction from which the Gu worms attacked was precisely where Gu Yan was located.

Upon hearing this, Gu Yan's expression changed slightly. He hadn't expected that Su Chen would see through his methods.

He naturally didn't believe that Su Chen was really just passing by.

The words just now were merely a delaying tactic, intended to avoid making enemies and prevent Su Chen from joining Wen Qingya's camp and helping her.

That's why the tracking Gu worm was secretly released. This Gu worm is a fifth-level perfect Gu worm called the Shadow Gu, which can hide in the shadow of a Gu master and will not be easily detected even by a sixth-level Gu master.

He had planned to find Su Chen based on the Shadow Gu after dealing with the Wen family and others, and then take action against him. However, he never expected that Su Chen would discover the Gu worm so easily.

Just as Su Chen opened his mouth to ask, Gu Yan realized that the connection between himself and the Gu worm had suddenly disappeared.

This made him realize that Su Chen had not only discovered the Gu worm, but had also directly taken it away.

He didn't think Su Chen would kill a sixth-rank tracking Gu worm, after all, such things weren't cheap, and the entire Gu family didn't have many. He guessed that the other party must have used a forceful Gu worm to cut off his connection with the Gu worm and then plunder it.

Thinking of this, Gu Yan had an idea. He quickly apologized, "Your Excellency has misunderstood. It was my lack of discipline that allowed the Gu worms of my clan to disturb you. Please do not blame me. If you do not mind, I am willing to pay a thousand Yuan Stones as an apology. I hope Your Excellency can return the Gu worms of my clan to me."

He didn't mention the owner of the Gu worm at all, wanting to get the Gu worm back without bloodshed.

"Yuan Stones?" Su Chen raised an eyebrow, surprised, but his expression remained calm. He said calmly, "In that case, give them to me!"

Gu Yan was slightly taken aback; this guy was actually quite easy to talk to.

Without hesitation, he revealed the Gu worm, which resembled a golden toad. It continuously spewed out Yuan Stones from its mouth, quickly producing a thousand Yuan Stones. Gu Yan handed them to Su Chen without even counting them.

"This golden toad actually has storage capabilities!"

Su Chen stared at the golden toad that spat out the spirit stone without changing his expression, but his heart was filled with turmoil.

This scene made him realize the diversity of Gu worms even more.

It seems that in this world, Gu worms are not only used for fighting, but also have many other functions.

For example, tracking and storage.

“Su Chen, this Yuan Stone seems similar to the Pure Yuan Pill, but it is not as pure as the Pure Yuan Pill. Instead, it seems to be a weaker version of the Pure Yuan Pill.”

Duan Tian Dao examined the Yuan Stone and found that it contained Yuan energy, but the Yuan energy was uneven and not as good as that of a pure Yuan pill.

Moreover, the amount of Yuan energy stored in one Yuan Stone is less than that in a Pure Yuan Pill; at least fifty Yuan Stones are needed to equal one Pure Yuan Pill.

Su Chen also noticed this. To be precise, the energy in the Yuan Stone was more like unpurified Yuan Power.

With a thought, Su Chen refined all the Yuan Stones. During the refining process, a not-so-pure energy entered his body. Under the purification of the Primordial Chaos Power, it eventually became less than three strands, far less effective than a Pure Yuan Pill.

However, at this moment, he was not too picky. His Pure Yuan Pills had long been exhausted, and he wanted to replenish his Yuan Power as much as possible.

"Sir, here are one thousand spirit stones. Where are the Gu worms?"

Seeing that Su Chen had not spoken for a long time after accepting the spirit stones, Gu Yan's expression turned somewhat ugly, so he asked in a deep voice.

"Gu worms? What kind of Gu worms?" Su Chen asked in return, his expression quite calm.

These words made Gu Yan's face darken. He said coldly, "What, are you trying to renege on your debt?"

Su Chen's frankness surprised everyone: "You're right, I'm going to renege on my debt!"

How could a mere thousand spirit stones be enough to offset the fact that someone dared to use poison on him?

He only wanted to see the so-called Yuan Stones, and now that he has, it's time to settle accounts.

"Fine, fine, fine! No one has ever dared to be so arrogant in front of me before. You're really something!" Gu Yan gritted his teeth.

Immediately, he made a move, forming a strange hand seal, within which a pure white Gu worm was vaguely taking shape.

He did not use the Greedy Wolf Devouring Moon Gu to deal with Su Chen. He was currently using this Gu to keep an eye on Wen Qingya and could not move it easily.

To deal with Su Chen, the only option is to use other Gu worms.

Moreover, the fact that Su Chen was able to discover his Shadow Gu so easily indicates that the opponent's strength is at least that of a seventh-rank Gu worm.

With such strength, he naturally dared not be careless.

Gu Yan's hand seal movements were so fast that they were dazzling, and even if Su Chen made a move immediately, he wouldn't have time to stop him.

However, Su Chen did not intend to stop them; he wanted to see what methods the other party would use.

Having inexplicably arrived in this world where Gu worms reign supreme, and not knowing how long I'll be staying, I'll naturally have to witness the skills of a Gu master.

"What kind of Gu worm is this?"

The sudden appearance of Su Chen interrupted the confrontation between the two families. Wen Qingya did not take advantage of Gu Yan's attack on Su Chen, but instead observed the situation.

When she saw the paper-like Gu worms that Gu Yan had summoned, a look of suspicion appeared on her face.

My mind kept searching for names similar to paper-based worms, but it felt like there was a thin veil between us that could be pierced at any moment, yet I still couldn't find out the true name of this worm.

It wasn't until she saw the Gu worm reveal its black and white butterfly shape that a flash of inspiration struck her, making her instantly realize what kind of Gu worm it was.

"This is... a marriage contract curse!"

Wen Qingya could not hide the surprise on her face, and her beautiful eyes widened slightly as she stared at Gu Yan.

The Marriage Contract Gu is a rare Gu worm among the sixth-level Gu worms. It can only be used a maximum of three times in its lifetime. After the three uses, it will completely lose its power and either fall into a deep sleep or disappear into nothingness.

After use, without the consent of the person afflicted by the Gu, it can force the user to sign a contract with the person afflicted by the Gu. This is not an ordinary contract, but a power conversion contract, which can transfer half of the power of the person afflicted by the Gu to the user. As long as the Gu worm does not die, this conversion will last forever.

However, once the person afflicted by the Gu dies, it's equivalent to breaking the contract. The price for breaking the contract isn't heavy; it's still half of their strength. But the more powerful the Gu master, the more severe the lost half of their strength becomes, and this is precisely the Gu master's greatest weakness. Because the most important thing for a Gu master controlling Gu worms is balance—the balance between the Gu master and the Gu worms.

Generally speaking, a Gu Master of a certain level controls Gu worms of that level, and can be compatible with lower levels, but rarely with higher levels.

Even if there are any, there won't be many, unless one has a lot of Yuan energy in their body, or enough Yuan stones to feed these Gu worms.

Once the Gu worms can no longer be raised, the balance will be broken. The only consequence of breaking the balance is that the Gu worms will turn against you. If you are lucky, your strength will be damaged and you will regress by half. If you are unlucky, you will die a miserable death.

Under such circumstances, one can imagine what losing half of one's strength means to a Gu Master.

Moreover, this is not a temporary loss, but a potentially permanent one.

After all, no one knows how many times Gu Yan has used the Gu worm. If it was only used once, it means that Su Chen will have to wait at least twice more for the Gu worm to go into a dormant state or disappear. And who knows how long those two times will take?

By then, Su Chen's loss of half his strength would have already triggered a series of chain reactions.

Upon seeing these Gu worms, Wen Qingya couldn't help but feel fortunate that Gu Yan hadn't used a marriage contract Gu on her earlier, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable.

However, although the marriage contract curse is troublesome, there is no way to resolve it.

The solution is surprisingly simple: the moment the Gu worm lands on you, find a weaker companion to take the Gu worm's contract for you. Because Gu worms are extremely rare and have terrifying effects, there will be a slight delay when using them.

This slight delay is undoubtedly an opportunity for Gu Masters at level six or above; if they seize it, they can easily avoid it.

Judging from Su Chen's solitary appearance, this method seems unlikely to work.

What Wen Qingya didn't expect was that Su Chen didn't try to dodge at all.

He stood there, like an ignorant country bumpkin, his eyes fixed on Gu Yan, seemingly waiting for Gu Yan to make a move.

This left her speechless.

He wondered if the other party hadn't recognized the marriage contract curse and therefore didn't know its power.

It shouldn't be like this.

The aura emanating from Su Chen indicated that he was at least a sixth-level Gu Master. Logically speaking, a Gu Master of this level should be able to recognize the Marriage Contract Gu.

Especially since Su Chen is all alone, he should be even more knowledgeable and worldly-wise.

Otherwise, how could he have survived in these 100,000 mountains?

Gu Yan must have known this and realized Su Chen's power, which is why he immediately used the Marriage Contract Gu.

Wen Qingya was surprised, and Gu Yan was also surprised. He had already prepared himself for Su Chen to take the opportunity to stop him.

The other person simply stood there, looking at him expectantly.

This made him instantly realize that the other party must be a demonic Gu master without any power or background.

The Demonic Gu Master is ruthless and extremely selfish. He roams the Ten Thousand Mountains, using any means necessary to achieve his goals, making him a fearsome figure.

They are often alone and have no ties, so any power is very wary of the demonic Gu Masters.

This is both their advantage and their disadvantage, because they cannot receive the orthodox inheritance like those family-based Gu masters.

Many sorcerers are self-taught, stumbling and struggling to survive, so they naturally don't know much about sorcerer worms.

In Gu Yan's view, Su Chen was such a person.

Although he possesses strength no less than his, he is short-sighted and has not received any orthodox inheritance, so it is normal that he does not know about the marriage contract Gu.

"In that case, you only have yourself to blame!"

Gu Yan smiled coldly, and the marriage contract Gu was fully formed. The moment it was formed, it turned into a stream of light and entered Su Chen's body.

It was so fast that even if Su Chen reacted quickly enough, he couldn't intercept it, let alone dodge it.

Upon seeing this, Gu Yan's lips curled into a cold smile.

Next, he doesn't need to take action; he just needs to wait. The Gu worms will soon take effect and directly plunder half of Su Chen's strength.

Then he could see Su Chen's face full of fear and helplessness.

Wen Qingya was also staring intently at him, not because she was worried about Su Chen, but because she wanted to know how many more times the marriage contract Gu could be used.

This concerns their upcoming battle, and she cannot afford to take it lightly.

"Strange, why haven't the Gu worms taken effect yet?"

After observing for three breaths, Wen Qingya looked puzzled. Su Chen's appearance seemed unchanged, as if he hadn't been poisoned at all.

Gu Yan also noticed this and frowned slightly, but he did not make any rash moves. In his perception, the marriage contract Gu was still in Su Chen's body. However, he did not understand why the marriage contract Gu had not left Su Chen's body for so long.

He naturally didn't know that it wasn't that Gu didn't want to leave because of the marriage contract, but that she simply couldn't leave.

The moment it entered Su Chen's body, the marriage contract Gu was trapped by Su Chen.

"This Gu worm is absorbing my power!"

Su Chen keenly noticed the changes the Gu worms were causing to his body; they were actually absorbing his Yuan energy.

Moreover, this absorption was extremely strange, giving him the feeling that once absorbed, it would be impossible to recover.

He didn't know where this feeling came from, he only knew that he absolutely had to prevent the Gu worms from absorbing it.

He immediately used his Qi and blood power, primordial spirit power, primordial power, and divine weapon power to trap the Gu worm.

The Gu worms can absorb the power of primordial chaos, but they cannot absorb the power of blood and qi or the power of divine weapons. Moreover, because Su Chen's strength is too great, the Gu worms cannot even fully absorb the power of primordial chaos, but can only absorb it slowly.

The mixed Yuan power, which combines various Yuan forces, is much stronger than ordinary Yuan power and is far beyond what the Gu worms can absorb in a short time.

Of course, the Gu worms themselves are too weak, which is also one of the reasons. Moreover, Su Chen does not cultivate the Gu Dao, so he is naturally unaffected by the Gu worms.

That's why the Gu worms were defeated so quickly.

But Gu Yan was unaware of this, and as he waited in vain for the Gu worms to make any move, a sense of unease began to creep into his heart.

Just then, he felt a chill and suddenly looked up at Su Chen.

Because just now, the same thing happened: the marriage contract curse completely lost contact with him.

"How is this possible!" (End of Chapter)