A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

Silently, wisps of black vapor rose from the insect corpses scattered around Lü Zhong.

A closer look revealed it wasn’t vapor at all, but a swarm of minuscule insects.

”This is bad—they’re Heartrot Insects! A Spiritual Shield won’t work on them. You have to dodge!” Alou’s face fell as he urgently warned Lü Zhong.

’I can’t just lose the backup I’ve been desperately waiting for.’

”A petty trick!”

Lü Zhong gave a cold smile as a ring of fire erupted around his body.

Spirit Forging Fire!

This fire could also be used as a Spirit Fire against enemies.

WHOOSH! The golden flames exploded outward, voraciously consuming everything in their path.

The Heartrot Insects were no match for such intense heat. A series of sharp POPS and CRACKLES filled the air as they were instantly incinerated, turning to ash in moments.

Seeing her trump card countered so easily, Qizhu lost all will to fight. ’The power of this black-haired young man is terrifying,’ she thought. ’He’s on par with the masters from the great strongholds. An ordinary Insect Master like me can’t possibly handle him.’ With a wave of her hand, she unleashed a cloud of white mist and began to retreat into it.

Chou Dong, who was beside her, saw this and did the same.

But Lü Zhong had no intention of letting them go. He raised his hand and unleashed several bolts of Palm Thunder.

A blood-curdling scream erupted from within the mist.

It was Chou Dong. Charred black, he collapsed to the ground with smoke pouring from his mouth and nose, his body twitching uncontrollably.

”One got away.”

Lü Zhong’s expression darkened. ’The methods of Insect Cultivators are truly bizarre,’ he thought.

He had clearly locked onto her with his Divine Sense, yet his attack had inexplicably missed, striking only a flesh-colored maggot. Apparently, his lock had been on nothing more than a bug.

Lü Zhong’s gaze shifted to Alou, who immediately offered an explanation. ”That’s a life-saving technique we Insect Cultivators use. It’s called a Substitute Insect. It can confuse a Divine Sense lock and block attacks.”

”I see...” Lü Zhong nodded. He looked at the man, his expression cold. ”Since you’re now safe, can you make the poison vow and teach me the Furan Spirit Eye Skill?”

”Of course, of course!” Alou’s mind raced. He quickly added, ”But as you can see, I’m badly poisoned. Can I treat my wounds first?”

It was the truth. If he didn’t treat the poison soon, he would die as it reached his heart.

Seeing that Lü Zhong didn’t object, Alou immediately sat down cross-legged.

He reached out, magically pulling the ashes of the incinerated Heartrot Insects toward him. Gritting his teeth, he swallowed them all, then retched, spitting out a mouthful of dark, clotted blood.

His face turned a deep, purplish-black before quickly draining of color, becoming as pale as a sheet.

After a moment, Alou’s breathing finally stabilized. A cunning glint flashed in his eyes, but his face was a mask of gratitude. ”I’m ready. When shall we begin?”

”Make the poison vow first,” Lü Zhong replied coldly without turning his head.

”Alright, as you wish!” Alou immediately pointed his fingers to the sky and swore a poison vow, calling for heavenly thunder to strike him down if he broke it. He then cut open his arm and pulled out a bloody, green, multi-legged insect. ”You only need to hold this insect to learn the Furan Spirit Eye Skill.”

Seeing Lü Zhong’s suspicion, he quickly explained, ”This Spiritual Eye Skill is a legitimate inheritance from the Barbarian Race, not an Immortal Dao Secret Technique from Central Earth. That’s why it requires a Dharma Transmission Spiritual Insect as a medium to be taught.”

Lü Zhong glanced at the so-called Dharma Transmission Spiritual Insect, then shot Alou a smirk.

’Still, the ancient texts did mention things like this.’

After a moment of pause, a flash of lightning sparked in Lü Zhong’s hand, and he blasted Alou to the ground.

”Ah! You...!” Alou was horrified. He never imagined the young man would be so capricious. To earn his trust, he had sworn an airtight poison vow.

’So why did he still attack me?’

Lü Zhong naturally wouldn’t explain that he had the Gray Mist Space.

After running a simulation, he knew the so-called Dharma Transmission Spiritual Insect was a complete fabrication. Its true purpose was to control a cultivator’s Heart and Spirit.

”I’m genuinely curious. How could you make a poison vow and still plot against me?”

After a moment of thought, understanding seemed to dawn on him. He smiled. ”Was it the Substitute Insect?”

Hearing these words, Alou looked as if he had been struck by lightning.

After a long silence, he spoke with an air of resignation. ”You’ve guessed correctly. I do have a Substitute Insect on me. And it’s no ordinary one—it’s a Substitute King Insect. It can withstand the Thunder Punishment from the backlash of a broken vow.”

”Oh?” Hearing this, Lü Zhong was suddenly interested.

The Spiritual Eye Skill was just a nice-to-have for him; after all, his Qingyang Mirror already possessed an Illusion-Breaking Divine Technique. But a Substitute Insect that could block a Thunder Punishment... that was something worth looking into.

’If it can block a Thunder Punishment, could it also be used against a Celestial Tribulation?’

As if reading Lü Zhong’s mind, Alou forced himself up through the excruciating pain. He shook his head. ”The Substitute King Insect can indeed take the brunt of a calamity, but it’s linked to my Heart and Spirit. If it dies, I pay a terrible price. At a minimum, my Divine Soul would be severely damaged—that’s a certainty.”

By his logic, using a Substitute King Insect to block a Celestial Tribulation would be a cure worse than the disease.

Hearing this, Lü Zhong immediately dismissed the idea, and his gaze on Alou grew colder. Noticing the change, Alou quickly added, ”An ordinary Substitute Insect, however, doesn’t have such severe consequences. While it’s also linked to the cultivator’s Heart and Spirit, its death only causes minor damage to the Divine Soul. One can fully recover after a period of recuperation.”

”If you’re interested, I’m willing to teach you the technique for raising them as an apology for my earlier transgression.”

After speaking, he looked up at Lü Zhong.

But all he saw was a flash of lightning rapidly growing larger.

Lü Zhong had seen how devious the man was and worried he might get tricked. ’When it comes to scheming, I’m clearly no match for him,’ he thought. So, he decided to just kill him and be done with it.

BOOM! A golden light suddenly flared from Alou’s body, intercepting the Palm Thunder completely.

When the lightning dissipated, a fleshy golden maggot lay on the ground. It looked remarkably similar to the previous Substitute Insect. ’This must be the so-called Substitute King Insect,’ Lü Zhong surmised.

”Huh, so there really is a Substitute King Insect?” Lü Zhong said, surprised.

He looked back at Alou. Though the man had survived thanks to the Substitute King Insect, his eyes had rolled back into his head. He was clutching his skull and thrashing wildly on the ground. It truly looked like his Divine Soul had been severely damaged; no one could fake an act like that.

’Strange. This so-called Substitute King Insect can take the hit from a calamity, but the side effects are absurd. It seems less practical than a regular one. Maybe... there’s another secret to it!’

But now, the man’s Divine Soul was so severely damaged that he was beyond saving.

Seeing this, Lü Zhong could only dismiss his idea. He took the Storage Bag from Alou’s waist, casually conjured several Fireballs, and burned the man to ashes.

After a moment of contemplation, he levitated the corpse of the ordinary Substitute Insect toward him and began to form hand seals and chant.

Lü Zhong was performing the Spirit Medium Tracing Technique. It was a Tracking Spell, perfect for this situation. He might be able to use it to track down the Insect Cultivator who had escaped and get some answers from her.

Soon, a brilliant Spiritual Light surged from the insect corpse serving as the spirit medium.

Lü Zhong paused. The Tracing Spirit Light was surprisingly bright. ’It seems the connection between a Substitute Insect and its host truly is at the Divine Soul level,’ he mused.

He didn’t forget to take Chou Dong’s Banner Flag and Storage Bag before releasing his Wood Spirit Wind-controlling Ship.

Once he had his bearings, the Flying Ship shot forward with a sudden burst of speed.

How could a cultivator’s escape speed possibly compare to a Flying Ship? In less than an ancient hour, Lü Zhong found Qizhu hiding in a cave, her body crawling with insects as she tried to heal.

The grotesque scene was enough to make one’s skin crawl.

Lü Zhong’s brow furrowed, and he simply incinerated everything with his Spirit Forging Fire.

After some threats, Qizhu revealed a lot of information.

It turned out that the Substitute King Insect’s purpose wasn’t as simple as Alou had claimed. It really could be used to withstand a Thunder Tribulation, but only if it completed nine molts. With each successive molt, the backlash the cultivator suffered upon its death would lessen. After nine molts, the side effects would become negligible.

Qizhu called the Secret Technique for making the King Insect complete its nine molts the ”King Insect Nine Transformations Skill”.