Lu Qingshan narrowed his eyes. Forcing his way into the rubble could work, but if the thing inside was a lethal threat then all he’d accomplish was his own death. But there was no good way to see what was in there.

  He had come here simply to refine spiritual insects, only to encounter dangers at every turn. He didn’t see a way to enter without taking a risk. To access the treasure, risks would almost certainly be necessary. And he was about to take the biggest risk of all after he’d succeeded in refining the special insect in Daoist Qingxu’s journal.

  Confronting the demonic cultivators head-on would become possible, even if they'd reached the Qi Refinement realm. Yet such things were never guaranteed. If he couldn't even muster the courage to enter a room, how could he consider himself the founder of the martial way? How could he face endless waves of immortal cultivators who believed him an affront to their entire world order? One man, against untold millennia — that was the situation Lu Qingshan would face after his ascension.

  There was no reason to turn back, just from fear alone. Lu Qingshan closed his eyes and tempered the dread inside his body. Moments later, he opened them — it was time to face his fears.

  He began digging away at the soil. Rocks fell, only to break on his skin. A cloud of dust rose behind him and covered the barren stone floors in dirt. Soon Lu Qingshan had opened up a small tunnel, and his speed only increased with the amount of terror he felt.

  An opening formed in the rubble, which he peered through. Cast in the shadows of pale mushroom light was a small red glow. Lu Qingshan blinked his eyes, because he swore he saw the silhouette of an infant inside it. In an instant, the phenomena disappeared, but his eyes only narrowed in suspicion.

  He brushed the dust from his forehead and continued. Opening up the entire tunnel was not difficult. Though his body shivered constantly like he'd been in the cold for hours, the sense of fear slowly subsided. He broke through a while afterwards, and finally discovered what the demonic cultivators were trying to tend to.

  Inside the room was a giant pot — one he recognized from Daoist Qingxu's book. It was a clay pot, built to house various insects of all kinds, and was almost the size of his torso. To rear gu, spiritual insect refiners often made use of such artifacts to keep their insects preserved in an enclosed environment to perform their rituals.

  Lu Qingshan checked the inscriptions on the side. They matched the array formations described in Daoist Qingxu's text. This was a bonafide spiritual artifact, like the red flying sword and the Cold Abyss Pearl. But what was it doing inside this stone complex, buried underneath the cave? Was it one of the daoist's methods?

  This pot had twelve divisions, or twelve separate places where the insects could rest without encountering one another. Then there were also three main areas where he could send the creatures inside to face one another. Rearing gu traditionally involved battle, where the competing venomous insects would slaughter one another until only one survived. That creature would have a venom superior to any other. But Daoist Qingxu's methods were a lot more refined, incorporating mystical principles into the process.

  And judging from how the demonic cultivators had discovered this place earlier than him, using it for themselves, they knew some of this too. They seemingly had a plan of their own.

  That red glow might've been missed by other Innate realm martial artists, but Lu Qingshan stood at a higher position. Slowly tempering his upper aperture through slaughter had finally shown a clear effect. Whatever the glow was, it wasn't friendly, judging by the lack of fear he now felt after he'd entered the place.

  Lu Qingshan picked up the pot and searched around the room for anything else. It appeared that the items delivered by the demonic cultivators were insects. They were inside the pot, separated into seven different categories. He didn't recognize any one of them at a glance — they must've come from somewhere else — but the Insect Harmony Mantra was able to resonate with all of them. Since they were under his control, Lu Qingshan brought them all with him above the cave.

  This discovery, combined with the brief red glow, only made him even more convinced that someone had been here. Insects did not usually crawl into these pots on their own. Someone had to have picked these up and placed them inside.

  He carefully made his way back up to the cave, realizing that such a giant pot would be difficult to fit inside the small tunnel. An immortal cultivator solved this by using spiritual qi to shrink their artifacts if necessary. Obviously, Lu Qingshan didn’t have access to that ability.

  But there was no longer a need to be quiet. Since carving a path back towards the surface was the fastest way to return, that was exactly what Lu Qingshan did. As the cave behind him crumbled into ruins, he continued to rise with the pot in hand.

  That disappearing enemy might be able to travel through dirt and stone, but without this artifact, it might not even be able to do anything.

  Above ground, the three cultivators were still in a stand-off with the crystal cicada at the entrance of the tunnel. They visibly breathed a sigh of relief when they saw him appear. Then they did a double take at the giant pot he was carrying.

  "Let's go," Lu Qingshan said. They’d return later for a final sweep of the area with the spiritual earthworm once their most pressing concern, the demonic cultivators, was eliminated.

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  With this pot, Lu Qingshan gained another avenue of power. He didn’t really need it personally — most of what the pot could accomplish was replaced by the Insect Harmony Mantra. This only confirmed that what he had learned was extraordinary.

  To demonic cultivators, the Insect Harmony Mantra was a decently common method, but he’d never heard of anyone else having the same level of knowledge he had. Not even Daoist Qingxu, who often bemoaned his lack of control over masses of insects in his diary. But the pot was still useful in the hands of people who wanted to try their hand at rearing gu.

  Lu Qingshan figured someone else might be willing to learn from him as well. Thus, this artifact was to be kept safe. He personally brought it with him as they continued towards the mountain.

  They didn’t encounter another demonic cultivator for a while. Instead, Lu Qingshan ran into another landmark — a patch of land clearly denoting the entrance to the fog wall. Only when they crossed the border did they realize it was another side of the basin.

  From this position, he knew exactly where he was at. The mountain peak was close by. But where had the demonic cultivators gone? There were still a few swathes of forest they hadn’t checked, likely because they were fleeing at the time.

  It wasn’t wise to chase after them if they could help it. Lu Qingshan and the three cultivators hurried towards the mountain peak. Sometimes, they spotted flashes of movement, but discovered nothing when they investigated the area.

  Finding that shadowy demonic cultivator had been a fluke. It was time to implement his plan. First, he needed the crystal cicada to be well rested.

  As Lu Qingshan approached the mountain, he noticed something off about it.

  Of course the demonic cultivators wouldn’t leave such a place alone. He had hoped they would ignore the area. Unfortunately, this meant his plan had a much higher likelihood of attracting their attention.

  One thing caught Lu Qingshan’s notice. The swarms around the mountain hadn’t engaged in terrible conflict with the invaders. He needed to figure out why.

  Lu Qingshan sent a few flies to scout, but lost connection with them as soon as they drew close. But they didn’t die. Instead, it was as if his spiritual connections had been cut neatly with a pair of scissors. Then, a needle had stolen the string away, pricking him slightly in the process.

  He was forced to come closer in order to see the flies join the demonized insect swarm patrolling the mountains. It seemed the demonic cultivators had powers to command insects, the same as him. But they could only give vague orders.

  How to stop this phenomenon became his major concern. Lu Qingshan’s plan was to slowly draw away parts of the massive swarm and level up his Insect Harmony Mantra to the seventh level. Then, he could attempt the most basic method of rearing gu — merging poison through bloodshed.

  This poison was what he’d rely on in order to contend with immortal cultivators a realm above him.

  Fortunately, the phenomenon didn’t seem to affect actual spiritual insects as much. At least they stayed with him. His connections with them felt looser than before, but they hadn’t snapped.

  Lu Qingshan narrowed his eyes. Maybe, this was a way to gainfully increase his proficiency. Competing against demonic cultivators for control.

  Weaker Bloodseeker Flies were sent away. Their wills were too weak for them to last long under the phenomenon. Instead, Lu Qingshan brought out the Bloodsense Bug, the Berserk Bug, the Viscera Tempering Bloodseeker Fly, and the crystal cicada to enter the mountain with him.

  Upon entry, the crystal cicada chirped incessantly. It fluttered its wings and flew out of the area, staying just beyond his reach. His other two spiritual insects moved around skittishly, but never left him. Still, the range of his Insect Harmony Mantra was enough to cover them all.

  Lu Qingshan continued chanting the mantra, doing his best to keep the pair of spiritual insects stable under the aura surrounding the mountain peak. It wasn't too bad — their wills were fairly strong, and they were far enough away — but he realized that the demonic cultivators were much more spiritually powerful than him. So he couldn't keep this up for long as the insects would eventually lose control.

  But that delay caused his proficiency points to tick up rapidly, more than working with a horde of human-faced spiders and gaining slightly over practicing with spiritual insects alone. With the crystal cicada staying in range to listen to his mantra, it was certainly a fast and reliable way to raise the level. This gave him the chance to practice his other martial arts on the side while the insects rested.

  Of course, doing this under the nose of the demonic cultivators came with a certain risk. A few cloaked figures flew in and out of the mountains every so often. They didn't find him, since Lu Qingshan had chosen the most hidden, secluded spot he could find, and then covered his tracks with a thin layer of crystal dust to hide them from spiritual detection. As long as they didn't inspect too closely, he could stay here until their fasting pills ran out.

  If there was ever a time to use them, it was now. Clearing this hurdle of demonic cultivators was the last thing he needed to do in order to gain control over the area. Even if he couldn't figure out the inner workings of Daoist Qingxu's formations, the ample amount of territory and available exotic herbs could drive his martial arts to another level in the next few years.

  The An siblings and Song Lin were also having a good time. Around the mountain, the concentration of spirit qi was a degree higher than the general area. It elevated their cultivation speed and smoothened the flow of energy, making mistakes less likely. This was the first time Lu Qingshan was hearing about such an effect.

  He glanced at the mountain. Perhaps, this place was still important. As the supposed grave of Daoist Qingxu, he definitely missed some of his arrangements due to the lack of time he had to explore.

  Lu Qingshan turned his focus back on the main task: raising his proficiency while gathering insights on the demonic cultivator's movements. They seemed to head in the direction of where they entered more often than exploring deeper.

  His eyes narrowed. Were they continuing to kill other people coming into this area? This was the most likely conclusion floating in his mind. After briefly wondering if he should intervene, he shook his head. Too much a risk.

  Two months later, Lu Qingshan shivered. A blank look hung in his eyes as he mindlessly chanted away. Soon after he finished, he awoke from his stupor, a shocked expression on his face.