The Choice

Thus, this person lived on within the body of an insect gu, yet possessed the power of the Nascent Soul realm! Reading of this rumor recorded in the jade slip, Qin Sang found it utterly bizarre and sinister—on par with Wu Shang actively refining himself into a living corpse just to achieve Core Formation. The difference was that Wu Shang had failed. Whereas the cultivator surnamed Fang in the rumor had succeeded, fusing with his natal insect gu to become an insect. The rumor had not surfaced that long ago; if this person truly existed, he might even still be alive today. Intrigued, Qin Sang decided that after leaving the Western Frontier, he would make discreet inquiries to see if such a ruthless figure truly existed. A natal insect gu offered abundant benefits: not only could it aid in breaking through bottlenecks, but if it underwent metamorphosis alongside its master's rising cultivation, its might could even surpass that of a life magic treasure. In battle, it required minimal effort from its master, making fights effectively two against one. Not to mention that many spirit insects possessed all manner of peculiar innate gifts and divine abilities. Of course, all of this was predicated on the natal insect gu undergoing timely metamorphosis and keeping pace with its master. A spirit insect's metamorphosis was extraordinarily difficult—even harder than a cultivator breaking through cultivation realms. Even though refining a spirit insect into a natal insect gu allowed one to nourish it with essence blood and apply unique insect-controlling techniques to aid its metamorphosis, the difficulty remained immense. It was just like human cultivators who, upon reaching Core Formation, often had to make do with talisman treasures just to keep up appearances, toiling for decades or even centuries to gather spiritual materials before they could forge their life magic treasures. Many Witch Clan cultivators found their natal insect gu still stuck at the Second Metamorphosis after they reached Core Formation, forcing them to exhaust every means to search for spiritual items and medicinal pills to aid their gu's metamorphosis. Finding a suitable natal insect gu and knowing the exact materials required to assist its metamorphosis would yield twice the result with half the effort. Herein lay the core of the insect-controlling arts of the major Witch Clan factions. The evaluation criteria of the Witch Insect Registry were likewise tied to these considerations. A spirit insect's bloodline potential was only one part of the equation. The Witch Clan cultivators had compiled the Witch Insect Registry as a reference for the majority of their clan's cultivators, so the highest-ranking insects were not necessarily those with immense potential. An insect had to possess the potential to reach the Second Metamorphosis just to qualify for the list. Potential for the Third Metamorphosis was ideal; beyond that, it had little bearing on the rankings. Furthermore: The insect's combat prowess throughout the first three metamorphoses, as well as the ease or difficulty of undergoing the Second and Third Metamorphoses—especially the Third— These were the most critical factors determining a spirit insect's standing on the Witch Insect Registry. Those rare spirit insects with potential for the Fifth, Sixth, or even higher metamorphoses—revered as exotic insects by the Yuling Sect—were ranked very low on the Witch Insect Registry. For one, their early strength was weak and their abilities unimpressive, failing to provide meaningful combat capability. For another, the difficulty of their metamorphosis was staggering, even harder than the breakthrough of a cultivator. Using such spirit insects as a natal insect gu would only lead cultivators astray. At the First Metamorphosis, individual Ghosthead Bees were not particularly powerful; only in swarms could they strike terror into enemies. However, after the Second and Third Metamorphoses, a Ghosthead Bee's combat strength would undergo a qualitative leap. Because of this, despite the great difficulty of its metamorphosis, it still ranked in the five-hundreds. Of course, where an insect placed on the Witch Insect Registry was one matter; whether one could actually find it was another. Qin Sang retrieved both the Witch Insect Registry and the Exotic Insect Registry. He figured that before reaching the Core Formation stage, choosing a natal insect gu based on the Witch Insect Registry was undoubtedly the right path. However, now that he had already formed his core, it was best to consult the Exotic Insect Registry in tandem, taking into account both potential and future growth when selecting a natal insect gu. Herein lay the true value of the Exotic Insect Registry: the methods detailed within for several exotic insects went as far as the Fourth and Fifth Metamorphoses, with great thoroughness. The only pity was that even the cleverest housewife could not cook a meal without rice—he lacked the insects themselves. This copy of the Witch Insect Registry was a common, widely circulated edition across the Witch Clan. Among them, the Five Insects Sect possessed unique insect-controlling methods for five specific insects on the list, which constituted the core of their true inheritance. Only after Qin Sang swore an oath never to leak them had Cui Xuanzi been willing to hand them over. The major factions undoubtedly possessed similar secret techniques, closely guarded and never shared. He wondered if the insect-controlling arts of the great Witch Clan factions were even richer and more detailed than his Exotic Insect Registry. The arts of insect control were remarkably intricate, and it took Qin Sang a long time just to read through them from start to finish. After reviewing this information, Qin Sang made up his mind: he would select a suitable spirit insect and refine it into his natal insect gu to serve in place of a life magic treasure. There were many reasons for this. Human cultivators dared not take this path out of fear of a natal insect gu's backlash, but with the jade Buddha, Qin Sang could completely eliminate that hidden danger. In fact, even the Witch Clan could not compare to him in that regard. When the time came, Qin Sang could let his natal insect gu advance to the Fourth Metamorphosis without restraint. Back when he was in the False Core stage, he had easily controlled the Flying Yaksha; even when Yi Tiannie had exhausted every scheme, he had failed to erase Qin Sang's soul imprint—all thanks to the jade Buddha. Seeing that a natal insect gu had the wondrous effect of aiding in breaking through bottlenecks, Qin Sang had been thoroughly captivated. Looking back at his past struggles, Qin Sang could well imagine how astronomically difficult his future Nascent Soul formation would be. Whether a single Du'e Pill would be enough to propel him into the Nascent Soul realm was something he had little confidence in. Even the slimmest opportunity was something he had to seize firmly. Even without the jade Buddha to eliminate the risks, Qin Sang would have sought every possible way to refine a natal insect gu. Now that he had no need to fear backlash, he could not afford to pass this up. Furthermore, the knowledge the Yuling Sect had recovered from ancient texts—especially insect-controlling methods unknown even to the Witch Clan—along with the Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold in his possession, gave Qin Sang the confidence to pursue this path. The Red Gold Vine absorbed metallic spiritual energy and fiery qi from the world to bear fruit, which was an unformed state of Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold. It was originally suitable for artifact crafting. Yet an elder of the Yuling Sect had once obtained an ancient beast-taming manual from the relics of an ancient cultivator, and discovered that if the fruit of the Red Gold Vine was not smelted, but instead had its pulp-fluid extracted and fed to a spirit insect, it actually held a certain probability of helping the insect break through! Back in the ancient cultivator's abandoned abode, Qin Sang had seen with his own eyes that after Old Man Dique fed Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold to the Fire Jade Centipedes, they immediately showed signs of metamorphosis. After acquiring the Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold, Qin Sang had been constantly on the move to advance his cultivation and mend his foundation, never having the spare energy to dabble in the art of insect control. Even when he had the fortune to encounter Ghosthead Bees, they were mutated and had lost the capacity for further advancement and metamorphosis. As a result, the Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold had lain idle in his mustard seed bag without a purpose, truly a pearl cast into darkness. Now, the Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold finally had its use. Although Qin Sang only had a single Red Gold Vine fruit, a cultivator could only have one natal insect gu. Using it to support his natal insect gu through its Third Metamorphosis would not be difficult, and there would even be some left over. For Qin Sang, the chances of nurturing a natal insect gu to its Third Metamorphosis were very high. Afterwards, spending a few centuries to prepare the spiritual medicines required to aid its Fourth Metamorphosis would be far better than cultivating aimlessly on his own. After his aptitude was enhanced by the killing talisman, his cultivation speed was solidly in the upper-middle tier, giving him the leeway to divide his attention. However, what had initially driven Qin Sang toward choosing a natal insect gu was none of these reasons.