Divine Level Witch Doctor

The Information Leaf read: The Fire Spirit Insect, a mutated variety of beetle. It typically comes into being when a mother insect lays its eggs near a Spiritual Land with extremely strong Fire Element properties. The larvae absorb Fire Element Spiritual Qi from a young age and, after passing through three tribulations, evolve into this form!

A Fire Spirit Insect’s lifespan is greatly increased, allowing it to live for several decades or even over a hundred years. It can also evolve through Cultivation, medicinal herbs, and other factors, with the potential to become a Demon! Because it has opened its Spiritual Aperture, its intelligence is comparable to a three- or four-year-old human child, and it can continuously improve through learning!

Overjoyed, Zhao Yuan grinned from ear to ear. ”A Spirit Insect? Holy cow! This is the first time I’ve ever set up an insect-summoning Array, and I can’t believe I hit the jackpot!”

Compared to ordinary venomous insects, the Fire Spirit Insect was the cream of the crop! It was also a coveted treasure that many Gu Raisers dreamed of obtaining!

Take Ying Ji, for instance. She began practicing the Witchcraft and Divination Dao as a child and started searching for insects for Raising Gu at the same time. Even so, after more than twenty years, she still hadn’t managed to find a single Spirit Insect, only succeeding in refining a few potent venomous insects. Although those were the strongest among venomous insects, in terms of both prestige and power, they were more than a world apart from a Spirit Insect.

If Ying Ji knew that Zhao Yuan had managed to summon the Spirit Insect she had dreamed of on his very first try, she would probably cough up blood from sheer rage!

It was just like playing a video game. If no one could pull an SSR-rank item, everyone would be disappointed but not overly so. They might even get used to their lives as unlucky players. But then, a newbie suddenly shows up and, on their very first pull, gets a flashy, golden SSR. Damn, it would be a miracle if that didn’t make people explode with anger!

When the unlucky players looked at an Emperor of Luck, their eyes were always filled with tears and rage... and, of course, a healthy dose of envy and jealousy.

Zhao Yuan had no idea just how good his luck was. He figured that Fire Spirit Insects probably weren’t that hard to get. ’Otherwise,’ he thought, ’how could I have summoned one on my first try, with my clumsy and unfamiliar technique?’

Bending down, Zhao Yuan picked up the Fire Spirit Insect, which had entered a dormant state, and placed it in the palm of his hand.

The Fire Spirit Insect’s wings twitched slightly.

Perhaps sensing Zhao Yuan’s presence, it quickly folded its wings again and remained fast asleep.

”Is that all it takes to acknowledge me as its master?” Zhao Yuan was a little bewildered. ”Don’t I need to do a blood pact, draw a Talisman, or establish some kind of soul connection?”

After flipping through the Sheepskin Book and confirming that the insect summoned by the Array—the one that emerged victorious—would automatically acknowledge the Array’s creator as its master, Zhao Yuan finally relaxed. Half-joking, half-serious, he quipped, ”It seems all those tropes in novels are lies. I was all prepared for the blood pact, but it turns out it’s not even necessary.”

Shaking his head, he placed the Fire Spirit Insect in his pocket.

According to the Raising Gu methods listed in the Sheepskin Book, a summoned Gu Insect should be placed in an Insect Cage and fed corresponding medicinal herbs to help it grow and absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. Afterward, a special set of insect-training methods must be used to teach the Gu Insect how to practice Cultivation, allowing it to continuously increase its strength!

It was a complex and lengthy process.

For this very reason, some impatient, unskilled, or malicious individuals had devised ways to use human blood and human lives to raise their Gu Insects, turning them into Evil Gu to accelerate their growth in power!

It was because of these people that Gu Insects had gotten a bad reputation, to the point that many people, upon hearing the word ”Gu,” would subconsciously assume it was something sinister. Little did they know that in ancient times, in the hands of a Witch Priest, Gu was not only a means to punish the wicked but also a wondrous method for curing diseases and saving lives.

Methods for using Gu and other insects to treat illnesses were also recorded in the Sheepskin Book, and Zhao Yuan had already committed them to heart during his earlier translation work. These methods seemed bizarre and strange at first glance, but upon deeper reflection, the principles behind them were not only coherent but also quite logical.

Zhao Yuan didn’t have an Insect Cage at the moment, so he could only tuck the sleeping Fire Spirit Insect into his pocket. ’I’ll head over to Cheng Yunlong’s Shufang Studio after daybreak,’ he mused, ’and buy some Jade to make an Insect Cage.’

According to the Sheepskin Book, Insect Cages were made from White Jade and Bronze, with White Jade being the superior material. Zhao Yuan wasn’t short on cash, so he figured he might as well get a White Jade Insect Cage to give the Fire Spirit Insect a better home.

Zhao Yuan took out the Sheepskin Book again, flipped to a new page, and muttered, ”Insect summoning, check. Now, let’s try this Summoning Soul Technique and see how it works.”

Besides Raising Gu and Divination, a Witch Priest’s specialities included Lower Yin, soul summoning, Inquiring Ghosts, and Ghost Cultivation.

Lower Yin referred to descending into the Underworld to communicate with ghosts, but unfortunately, there were no records of this in the Sheepskin Book. ’To be honest, even if there were, I wouldn’t dare try it at my current level,’ Zhao Yuan thought. ’Who could guarantee they’d be able to return after going to the Underworld? If anything went wrong, my own life would be on the line!’

Besides, Zhao Yuan figured that even someone like Ying Ji, who was raised in a Witchcraft and Divination Family, probably didn’t know a true Lower Yin technique. ’Their version of ”Lower Yin” is likely just a variation of soul summoning,’ he reasoned.

Following the method taught in the Sheepskin Book, Zhao Yuan first erased the insect-summoning Array. Then, in the same spot, he used a branch to draw a Talisman Array in the dirt. Next, using his Qi Observation Technique, he located the area’s Death Gate. He retrieved a candle from his Storage Ring Space, lit it, and placed it on that spot.

Just as Zhao Yuan was about to recite the Spell and begin the soul summoning, a black shadow suddenly appeared. With a SWISH, it knocked over the candle, and the faint flame was instantly extinguished.

Zhao Yuan jumped in fright. The hair on his body stood on end, and a cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead. ’What the hell is going on?’ he thought nervously. ’A Ghost showed up before I even started the Spellcasting Technique? And it’s a Fierce Ghost, one that can extinguish the candle?’

According to the Sheepskin Book, if the candle went out, the soul-summoning ritual had to be stopped immediately. It was a sign that something had gone wrong with the ritual. Continuing would either result in harm to the caster or the summoning of a ferocious Fierce Ghost or Evil Ghost!

’My luck can’t be this bad, can it?’ Zhao Yuan thought. ’A major problem on my very first try?’ He simultaneously and quickly retrieved the Fearless Pearl and an Exorcism Talisman from his Storage Ring Space, spun around, and prepared to face the Fierce Ghost head-on.

”MEOW!” the Fierce Ghost that had rushed into the Soul Summoning Array cried out.

Only then, by the moonlight, could Zhao Yuan see clearly. The thing that had appeared in the Soul Summoning Array wasn’t a Fierce Ghost at all—it was just the White Cat!

While he breathed a sigh of relief, he couldn’t help but complain, ”What are you doing out here instead of sleeping in the dorm? You nearly scared me to death!”

The White Cat meowed, as if to say, ’You’re doing something this fun and you didn’t bring me along? That’s just not cool of you.’

Zhao Yuan shook his head helplessly. After calming down, he walked over, set the candle upright, and lit it again.