"How many resources could a mere Qi Refinement disciple consume? Just nurture her in secret. Out of all those Holy Maidens at Yihui Stockade back then, Old Ghost Qin specifically chose Yagu. Who knows—she might well become the bond connecting us to him."
Cui Xuanzi waved his hand, dismissing Junior Brother Tong.
The secret chamber fell silent and still. Cui Xuanzi summoned his natal insect gu: a scorpion roughly the size of his palm.
The venomous scorpion was pure white all over, its shell smooth and lustrous as though carved from jade, while the venomous stinger at the tip of its tail flickered in and out of view, bordering on illusory.
This was the Phantom Tail Poison Scorpion, one of the five insects that the Five Insects Sect excelled at raising.
Cui Xuanzi stroked the scorpion gently. After a moment, a smaller Phantom Tail Poison Scorpion crawled out from beneath its abdomen, rubbing against the tip of his finger with exceptional affection.
The aura of this smaller one was vastly weaker, merely at the peak of the first metamorphosis.
Looking at the two scorpions, one large and one small, Cui Xuanzi let out a soft sigh.
Both of these scorpions were his natal insect gu.
Years ago, when Cui Xuanzi used the blood refinement method to refine his natal insect gu, he discovered that two larvae shared a single egg as identical twins.
There were two ways to blood-refine an insect gu.
The first used an adult insect. After blood refinement, regardless of its prior realm, it would regress into an egg.
This method had a low success rate, as an adult insect would resist fiercely, and the stronger it was, the more violent the backlash. A cultivator could only rely on their own strength to suppress the spirit insect; if the spirit insect's power exceeded the cultivator's, success was impossible.
However, it had one advantage: once refined into a natal insect gu, undergoing subsequent metamorphoses was somewhat easier.
The second way was to directly choose an egg, which was the choice of the vast majority.
If one selected an egg for blood refinement, cases of twins or multiples from a single egg were not uncommon. One had to select the strongest larva and abandon all the others, for a cultivator could only have a single natal insect gu.
Yet for reasons unknown, Cui Xuanzi had somehow ended up refining both Phantom Tail Poison Scorpions into his natal insect gu, obtaining twin insect gu.
This had sent him into raptures. His natural talent was not exceptional, after all, and while raising two natal insect gu was vastly more difficult, it gave him twice the combat power.
He knew full well how unique his situation was and that it must never be leaked, so he had never displayed them before others; only his master knew.
During his Qi Refinement stage, Cui Xuanzi had relied on these two natal insect gu to achieve formidable combat power, racking up distinguished merits again and again. Singled out for key cultivation by the sect, he soon established his foundation smoothly.
Who could have foretold that after reaching Foundation Establishment, when he sought ways to elevate his natal insect gu, one of them underwent metamorphosis smoothly, but the growth of the other ground to a halt, utterly incapable of beginning its second metamorphosis no matter what he did.
Cui Xuanzi had never given up, lavishing countless resources upon it, yet it had produced not the slightest effect.
In the end, he had no choice but to admit that this Phantom Tail Poison Scorpion had completely lost its potential for metamorphosis. Perhaps this was the price of having twin insect gu.
Now, the second insect gu was like a chicken rib—of little value, bound to become increasingly useless in the future, yet too dear to discard.
***
Amid myriad mountains and ravines, noxious miasma covered the land, where human tracks were rare. Yet a figure glided effortlessly through the miasma and dense forest, moving more nimbly than a bird in flight.
"This is the place."
Qin Sang landed on a boulder and looked up at the towering mountain ahead.
At the summit, clouds and mist formed a ring-like barrier that sealed the mountaintop year-round without dissipating.
It was said that an ancient palace stood on the mountain, and someone had once obtained a legacy there.
By now, nearly two months had passed since Qin Sang departed the Bear Mountain region, and more than half a year since he first awakened while drifting on the water.
Over these past two months, Qin Sang had ventured out of the Bear Mountain region to scour the nearby perilous zones and secret realms.
Except for one exceptionally hazardous danger zone that he did not yet dare delve too deeply into, he had investigated all the rumors gathered by the Five Insects Sect and the others, whether grounded in truth or mere windblown gossip.
The mountain ahead was the last on his list.
Still, he had found no trace of an ancient teleportation array.
As for that perilous zone, though Qin Sang could not reach its core, he could discern enough to know the likelihood of an ancient teleportation array being there was minuscule.
His efforts had not been entirely without gain; he had gathered several spirit herbs useful for Foundation Establishment cultivators, so it was not a wasted trip.
"The last place. If there is nothing here either, I will put this aside for now and head into the heart of the Western Frontier to search for insects."
Qin Sang murmured to himself, making his decision. "I wonder how the Five Insects Sect and the others are doing with their search. Once I choose my natal insect gu, I will return to the Bear Mountain region and then depart the Western Frontier. Going outside to cultivate while inquiring about Senior Qingzhu is another viable path. Senior Qingzhu's talent was peerless, bright as the full moon—he could not have vanished without leaving any trace at all."
Pushing off with his toes, Qin Sang spread his arms like an eagle spreading its wings and soared toward the opposite mountaintop.
"It seems to be a unique restriction of the Witch Clan. If only I knew the Witch Clan's divine patterns, unraveling this barrier of wind and cloud would likely be much simpler."
Standing in midair, Qin Sang stared at the ring of clouds, pondering how to break through.
He had already gained a thorough understanding of the Witch Clan by now, and his questions regarding the divine patterns had finally been resolved.
The divine patterns of Witch Clan cultivators were, at their peak, only slightly stronger than peak Qi Refinement incantations. They were useful only during the Qi Refinement stage and the early Foundation Establishment stage, and beyond that, the path was cut off.
And thoroughly cut off at that!
Across the entire Witch Clan, countless brilliant talents had spent their entire lives immersing themselves in the study of divine patterns, attempting to find a path forward and reconstruct the Great Dao of the Witch Clan's divine patterns—among them not a few Nascent Soul Patriarchs—yet all had failed.
Witch Clan cultivators past the Foundation Establishment stage had no choice but to abandon divine patterns.
Some sect disciples who believed they had great prospects did not even bother cultivating divine patterns during the Qi Refinement stage, so as not to waste time.
Qin Sang had previously felt that divine patterns, as a power unique to the Witch Clan that resonated so deeply with Witch Clan bloodlines, were perhaps even more orthodox than natal insect gu.
Now it seemed that many Witch Clan forebears had shared similar thoughts.
Unfortunately, the path was broken.
Summoning the Flying Yaksha to keep guard, Qin Sang took out the Ten Directions Yanluo Banners. Forming a formation with three banners, the Nine Nether Demonic Fire coalesced into a fireball, then shot toward the ring of clouds.
*Boom!*
The black flames plunged into the ring of clouds like a drop of ink falling onto white paper, quickly bleeding outward.
The ring of clouds churned, and where the Nine Nether Demonic Fire struck, the mist rapidly dispersed, becoming exceptionally thin.
One after the other, the Flying Yaksha and Qin Sang breached the clouds and entered. Before them, the ancient palace atop the mountain came clearly into view, bathed in sunlight and gleaming with golden brilliance.
An hour later, Qin Sang emerged from the ancient palace, shaking his head.
Countless people must have visited this place before; any treasures had long since been picked clean, leaving the interior spotless.
Returning empty-handed once again, Qin Sang formally entered the heart of the Western Frontier and embarked on his journey to find an insect.
***
A month later.
Across a vast wasteland, wild grass grew as tall as a man.
Holding a topographical map, Qin Sang had been searching the wilderness for several days, trying to locate the entrance to an underground cavern.
The topographical map only roughly marked the nests of spirit insects. In many cases, someone had merely spotted such spirit insects nearby and marked an approximate area without ever seeing the nest with their own eyes.
Coupled with the passage of time and shifting terrain, finding the exact location would take considerable effort.
Chapter 641