When Lin Yan entered his uncle's tent and saw the small Gu, his eyes changed slightly. Thinking of what he knew, he asked with some doubt, "Is this… Liquor Worm Gu?"
"Haha, that's right," Shan Shayuan said with a satisfied look. "Seems like you've been studying well."
"And this… is for me?"
Lin Yan spoke a bit unsteadily. Liquor Worm was rare. Even a Rank 1 one cost several hundred primeval stones, and in practice, the price could go up to around a thousand. It was something that could strengthen a family's foundation.
"Nonsense," Shan Shayuan scolded. "Do you think I have that kind of money?"
He continued, "This belongs to the caravan. We got it by chance when passing through another family. You can use it for now, but once we return, it must be handed back. Don't lose it."
"It was only because the leader agreed that you got this chance. You owe her a big favor."
Hearing this, Lin Yan felt a bit disappointed. But after thinking for a moment, he accepted it. Whether it belonged to him or not didn't matter—being able to use it was already enough.
The Liquor Worm was well known in The Great Love Immortal Venerable's Biography. Its effect was to refine primeval essence and raise its quality by one level. For example, it could turn Rank 1 low-grade green copper essence into Rank 1 mid-grade Pale Green essence.
Cultivating with higher-quality essence was much faster, and using it to activate Gu would also greatly increase power.
With this Liquor Worm, Lin Yan felt confident he could reach Rank 1 high-stage within two months. By then, he would be among the top of his peers.
It was a pity that he was still behind Fang Yuan. Unless he could reach Rank 2 at sixteen, the remaining five months were not enough. It was too rushed.
"Then please thank the leader for me."
Lin Yan smiled, took the Liquor Worm, and returned to refine it. At the same time, he recalled what he knew. He remembered the refinement methods for Rank 2, Rank 3, and even Rank 4 Liquor Worm. If used well, this could bring great benefits to the family.
But this was not urgent. It needed careful planning. It would be better to consider it later, after the Rank 2 Liquor Worm was no longer useful to him.
Inside the tent, Lin Yan looked into his aperture. The chubby Liquor Worm absorbed primeval essence and then released it. In a short time, the pale green primeval essence sea shrank by half, but its quality became higher, turning into a deeper green.
After that, Lin Yan used primeval stones to recover his essence, then controlled the stronger primeval essence to wash against the aperture membrane again and again.
The caravan moved forward through the desert and finally entered the Flame Wolf Desert. Once they crossed this area, they would reach the next oasis and trade with a local family.
In the evening, wolf howls echoed across the desert. Lin Yan's expression turned alert. During this time, he had been cultivating and training in the dream at the same time. His breakthrough to the high stage was close, and his control over Fire Line Gu had improved a lot.
Even against Shan Shayuan, he could sometimes hit by predicting movement, reaching about thirty to forty percent accuracy. With the help of the Liquor Worm, he had enough confidence to deal with danger.
Sure enough, on the third day after entering the Flame Wolf Desert, trouble came.
Awoo—Awoo!
Under the blazing sun, hundreds of crimson giant wolves moved across the golden desert, facing the caravan from a distance.
Shan Shayuan quickly appeared and began directing people to set up defenses. Looking at the size of the wolf pack, his expression turned serious. They had met small groups of Flame Wolves before, but those usually avoided a large caravan like this.
This time was different. There were several beast kings among them, which gave the pack the confidence to attack.
"Our luck isn't good. We still got targeted," Shan Shayuan said, then turned to Lin Yan. "When the fight starts, don't rush forward. Stay by my side."
Lin Yan nodded. Soon, sand rose everywhere as the wolf pack charged. Their movements were fast and violent, kicking up waves of sand as they rushed forward like a tide.
Seeing this, Lin Yan felt the strength of these beasts. Normal wild beasts could be handled by Rank 1 Gu Masters, but mutated beasts were different. They carried dao marks. Flame Wolves, for example, had resistance to fire and were stronger in hot environments.
Above them were beast kings. Their bodies were much larger, and wild Gu often attached to them. Some even had Rank 2 Gu, making them stronger than ordinary Rank 2 Gu Masters.
Above that were Thousand Beast Kings, Myriad Beast Kings, and Beast Emperors, matching Rank 3, Rank 4, and Rank 5 Gu Masters.
However, when the Flame Wolf pack reached about fifty meters from the caravan, something strange happened. It seemed to be blocked by an unseen force, and their speed suddenly dropped.
Bang! Bang! Bang!