A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

The next step would be to cross the Transformation Tribulation.

’Don’t tell me it’s really about to start Crossing its Tribulation?’ The thought flashed through Lü Zhong’s mind.

He slowly walked up to the Insect Queen. Staring at its gaping, bloody maw the size of a house, his expression remained impassive. The Insect Queen, however, noticed its master’s arrival and let out a series of low rumbles.

To Lü Zhong, it felt just like a puppy trying to curry favor.

”Do you need this?”

He took out the Cordyceps Flower and asked the Insect Queen.

Immediately, the Insect Queen conveyed a wave of intense emotion.

Its enormous body squirmed, clearly wanting to pounce, but it was still afraid of Lü Zhong’s power. It once again let out a series of ingratiating, low rumbles.

Seeing this, Lü Zhong tossed the Cordyceps Flower into the Insect Queen’s mouth.

The Insect Queen immediately devoured the small flower, letting out a cry of extreme pleasure. At the same time, its body began to change, squirming and emitting a series of thunderous rumbles.

One flower... two flowers... ten flowers!

”Look, the Insect Queen is shrinking!” a Steward suddenly shouted.

It wasn’t just him; all the cultivators present had noticed this phenomenon.

Lü Zhong, of course, had also discovered it.

From the moment he fed it the first Cordyceps Flower, he, who had been watching the Insect Queen closely, had keenly noticed this effect. Moreover, the Cordyceps Flower’s effect was clearly not limited to making the Insect Queen smaller; it was also strengthening its body.

”Relay my order. Gather all the Cordyceps Flowers and feed them to the Insect Queen,” Lü Zhong commanded.

”Yes!” Hearing the order, the disciples immediately sprang into action.

As the Cordyceps Flowers were fed to it one by one, the Insect Queen’s body shrank more and more. Soon, it was less than a hundred zhang long, yet the shrinking showed no signs of stopping. In fact, it seemed to be accelerating.

At the same time, the uninfected Great Honey Insects swarmed toward the birthing chamber.

However, they were separated by layers of Arrays and were all blocked outside.

”Let them in!” Lü Zhong said.

From the look of things, the spread of the strange disease and the Insect Swarm’s unusual behavior were clearly caused by the Insect Queen’s advancement. There was no need to keep the Great Honey Insects out.

He was very curious to see what would happen next.

Just then, Yu Feng’Er also rushed over after hearing the news, with Su Caocao following behind her.

Seeing the rapidly changing Insect Queen, Yu Feng’Er had a look of astonishment on her face.

”Husband, what is it doing?”

”It’s about to break through,” Lü Zhong replied.

”Break through? Doesn’t that mean it has to undergo the Transformation Tribulation?” Hearing this, Yu Feng’Er’s brow furrowed, her face instantly covered with worry. According to the ancient records, a Demon Beast’s Transformation Tribulation was far more difficult than the Six Celestial Tribulations of Cultivation.

If it failed to cross the tribulation, the Insect Queen would surely die.

”The Insect Swarm doesn’t have a new queen yet. Husband... why don’t we have it stop its breakthrough?”

”That is a problem!” Lü Zhong only just realized that he had been so focused on the Insect Queen’s changes that he had completely forgotten the most important point.

Just then, a Spiritual Light flashed between his brows, and he chuckled.

”Wh-what is it?” Yu Feng’Er asked, confused.

”My lady, it seems a living creature’s greatest instinct truly is to reproduce!” Lü Zhong said, gazing at the Insect Queen’s body. He had just used his Celestial Net Secret Eye and discovered another life form inside.

If all went as expected, it had to be the new Insect Queen.

Beside him, Yu Feng’Er, her cheeks flushing red and hot, followed her husband’s gaze to the Insect Queen. Only then did she finally understand that Lü Zhong hadn’t been teasing her just now.

Seeing that no one else had noticed this little incident, she pretended nothing had happened and continued to watch the events unfold.

Lü Zhong, the only one who had noticed, simply smiled to himself.

Soon, after devouring a massive number of Cordyceps Flowers, the Insect Queen’s body shrank to the size of ten zhang. This seemed to be its limit; no matter how many more the disciples fed it, it didn’t shrink any further.

At that moment, the Insect Queen let out a series of cries.

The Insect Swarm gathered in the birthing chamber suddenly surged forward. When they reached the Insect Queen, they each raised their mouthparts and began to spew streams of red liquid.

”It’s Spiritual Honey mixed with insect blood!” Yu Feng’Er exclaimed in surprise.

As they expelled the Spiritual Honey, one Great Honey Insect after another collapsed from exhaustion. But the Insect Swarm continued to press forward, one wave after another, ceaselessly spraying the Insect Queen with Spiritual Honey, even at the cost of their own lives.

Soon, a ”palace” quietly took shape.

’So it’s not breaking through immediately. It seems to have to go through a ”cocoon” stage first,’ Lü Zhong guessed inwardly.

’I wonder what will emerge from the cocoon in the end?’

Seeing that the cocoon had formed and the Insect Swarm had quieted down, Lü Zhong issued a command: from this moment on, the Insect Nest was a forbidden area of the Bihai Sect. Everyone was to withdraw immediately.

As for himself, he prepared to stand guard personally.

’As its master, it’s time I fulfilled my duty.’

...

Regarding the effects of the Cordyceps Flower.

After dedicated research by the Alchemists of the Pill Hall, the results were quickly revealed.

Following the conventions of the Cultivation Realm, the item was classified as a type of Spirit Medicine. Because its Medicinal Spiritual Qi was exceptionally pure, it was categorized as a Tier Three Spiritual Medicine.

It was given the name ”Immortal Insect Grass.”

Unlike Spirit Ascending Honey, which could increase one’s cultivation, the Immortal Insect Grass had a remarkable effect. Just as it had demonstrated on the Insect Queen, it could purify and strengthen the physical body.

It would not be an exaggeration to call it a ”Body Refining Pill.”

Lü Zhong used the Creation Secret Array to specially convert some into a small vial of Spirit Liquid to test. He was pleasantly surprised to find that this Spirit Liquid could allow his Half-pure spirit body to continue its Metamorphosis.

Furthermore, the Immortal Insect Grass also had the effect of Limb Regeneration.

A Qi Refining cultivator only needed to consume one flower to regrow a missing part of their body.

Obviously, if these Immortal Insect Grasses were sold, they would surely fetch a large amount of Spirit Stones. After all, Spiritual Objects capable of Limb Regeneration had always been priceless but unavailable in the Cultivation Realm.

But Lü Zhong had no intention of selling them.

He left a portion of the Immortal Insect Grass in the Sect Treasure Vault as a benefit for the Bihai Sect disciples and gave another portion to Shuini and Yu Feng’Er to strengthen their bodies. The rest of the Immortal Insect Grass, he planned to keep for his own use.

Increasing his own strength was the most important thing.

As for the Sect, it was merely a tool for him to achieve this goal.

While guarding the Insect Queen, he consumed the Spirit Liquid for Body Refining.

Time passed, little by little.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a year went by.

As the day of the Ten Thousand Witches Hall’s arrival drew ever closer, the situation in the Southern Barbarian lands began to stir with undercurrents. The shadow of Central Earth’s forces appeared behind many incidents.

It was obvious they had their eyes on the ”Ten Thousand Witches Hall,” this potential piece of juicy meat.

Just as the storm was about to break, Lü Zhong was still in seclusion.

The Spirit Liquid refined from the Immortal Insect Grass was truly extraordinary. It had caused the progress of his Pure Spirit Body’s transformation to surge forward by a large margin.

The result was a comprehensive improvement in his physical constitution.

At this moment, his physique was already stronger than a Flood Dragon’s.

However, just when he was one final step away from a physical breakthrough...

Something frustrating happened.

He had run out of Cordyceps Flowers.

Lü Zhong did the math and found that even including the ones he had given away, it was still not enough for his Pure Spirit Body’s Metamorphosis. There was still a huge shortfall.

’What is this?’

Shaking his head, he shifted his gaze to the cocoon nearby.

Based on his observations over the past few days, the Insect Queen had almost completed its Metamorphosis. Its aura had also swelled to its peak. He expected the day it would break out of its cocoon to be very soon.

Just then, Lü Zhong’s eyes narrowed slightly.

’Heh, so someone really did come to interfere with the tribulation.’

The reason he was personally guarding the Insect Queen was to guard against powerful Demon Beasts or cultivators who might come to interfere.

He hadn’t expected it to actually happen.

At this very moment, a figure was sneaking into the Insect Nest as if no one was around.

’If this Daoist Master hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, I’d never believe that a remote place like the Southern Barbarian lands—a real shithole—would actually have a Jade Pearl Insect!’

The thought belonged to a fat cultivator, dressed in a white Daoist Robe and styled as a Daoist.

When he saw the mountain of insect corpses inside the Insect Nest, his dark-skinned face was instantly filled with shock. For a moment, he was too stunned to speak.

’Th-th-this! What am I seeing? A Jade Pearl Insect Queen is about to advance!’

The fat Daoist knew exactly what an Insect Queen’s advancement meant. His breathing involuntarily quickened, and his eyes darted about, clearly scheming something.

’Hmph, how can such a fortuitous opportunity be held by a barbarian?’

’What a waste for them to have it.’

’It should belong to this Daoist Master!’