Chapter 29: Insect Skill Spiritual Materials Bring Double Joys
Fang Shu firmly engraved the lesson from Cheng Xiao Guanzi’s body in his heart.
Thus, the grudge between the two Chengs and the uncle-nephew pair came to an end, completely settled.
He once again threw himself into his daily arduous cultivation.
And not long after.
While Fang Shu was cultivating Insect Skill one day, he noticed that the speed of his qi and blood circulation was getting faster and more fluid, with the qi and blood in his body as obvious as flowing water, controllable at will, going wherever he directed.
For a full hour, he maintained this highly efficient blood refining cultivation, as if he had taken a banned drug.
But his mood was very calm, completely unlike the previous surge in Insect Skill, when he was filled with murderous intent and ferocity.
It continued until the pill essence in his abdomen was exhausted, when a intense hunger arose from his body, feeling like even a calf wouldn’t be enough to eat, before Fang Shu slowly came back to his senses.
A realization dawned in his heart, understanding that this was most likely his 《Hundred Insects Blood Refining Health Preservation Secret Skill》 having reached great completion, with all nine secret scripts fully mastered by him.
Sure enough, he silently called out “Dao Talisman” in his heart.
Buzz, a line of text immediately appeared in his mind:
【Cultivation Method:《Hundred Insects Blood Refining Health Preservation Secret Skill Entering the Dao Chapter》（Perfected）】
The Dao Talisman had indeed finished analyzing the Insect Skill, unlocking all nine secret scripts, and subtly infusing them entirely into Fang Shu’s cultivation process.
From now on, as long as his realm hadn’t reached a bottleneck, he could keep his cultivation efficiency at its optimal state at all times!
That’s why just now he entered that effortless cultivation state, lasting a full hour without exiting.
In his joy, Fang Shu’s gaze immediately fell on the three words “Entering the Dao Chapter” in the Insect Skill’s name on the Dao Talisman.
He carefully reviewed the Dao Talisman’s records and found that after fully unlocking this Insect Skill’s secret scripts, the Dao Talisman, based on its deduction of the nine secret scripts, discovered that the content he obtained was only part of the complete Insect Skill.
Or perhaps, this Insect Skill was simply an incomplete chapter, requiring replacement with other secret skills after breaking through to the Dao.
Pondering this, Fang Shu didn’t feel too surprised.
He and the Dojo Master were not related by blood; it was just one paying tuition and the other providing service.
Naturally, the other party wouldn’t teach all his family’s core skills at once; selling and teaching them in batches was the most normal approach.
Suppressing stray thoughts, Fang Shu took out an Essence Nourishing Pill and a Grain-Avoiding Pill from his waist.
He cracked open the wax seals of both pills with a snap, then swallowed them together.
He assumed the Insect Skill stance again, sometimes still and sometimes moving, tempering himself in the cultivation hall.
Fang Shu wanted to thoroughly test the cultivation efficiency brought by his now perfectly mastered Insect Skill!
Thus from morning to evening, from evening to midnight.
He remained in cultivation the whole time, without the slightest distraction.
And in this seven-hour cultivation session, as long as the pill essence in his abdomen could keep up, the speed of his qi and blood circulation showed no decline whatsoever.
This situation conclusively proved that Fang Shu’s Insect Skill had reached perfection.
Compared to before perfection, his cultivation efficiency had doubled.
Before Insect Skill reached perfection, Fang Shu could take at most three Essence Nourishing Pills per day, with excess pill essence left unrefined, either accumulating in his body or wasted.
Now, he could take five Essence Nourishing Pills in one go, fully digesting all their effects!
If not for tempering for seven or eight hours and learning from the Dao Talisman that his physical body’s tendons and bones were nearing their limit, continuing to push would damage his body and hinder tomorrow’s cultivation, leaving hidden dangers.
Otherwise, he could have continued taking pills to refine, pushing qi and blood by trading potential for energy!
After sorting through the changes in his body, Fang Shu’s mind and body were filled with a calm joy.
He let out a long breath and said softly:
“Not bad.”
At this point, the original two-year cultivation process to break through to the Dao could be halved directly; he only needed one year, or even less, to break through to the Dao.
Fang Shu stood quietly in place, savoring the refreshing yet sore, swollen, and painful sensation in his body.
After a long while, he slowly stood up, gathered his clothes, and left the corner with a calm gaze.
At this time in the cultivation hall.
It was long empty, even the youth who arduously cultivated day and night had gone to rest early, preparing for tomorrow’s arduous cultivation.
For a moment, Fang Shu’s inner joy had no one to share with, but it also didn’t need anyone to share it with.
He walked outward.
Accompanying him were only the full-body sweat stench and the deep chill of the night.
He casually exhaled, and white mist filled the air in front of him.
In Mount Lu, deep autumn seemed to have arrived.
Returning to the bunk room.
One night passed until dawn.
After Insect Skill reached perfection, Fang Shu could not only control his cultivation state at its optimal level, but his rest at night was also optimal.
Four hours of rest had nearly recovered his body, which was still sore and swollen from last night, without delaying the next day’s cultivation.
But after dawn.
He unusually didn’t rush to the cultivation hall, but strolled leisurely out of the Du Gu Guan, heading toward the depths of the marketplace.
Since he had gained one piece of good news this time, why not gain another!
He was going to claim Cheng Guanzi’s final inheritance—the Storage Black Ticket.
After some disguise and cautious operations.
In the secret room of a certain pawn shop, Fang Shu lit incense candles around, and rolling white smoke rose immediately, like curtains shrouding his body.
In the smoke screen, from a distance, holding the Long Tongue Sword, he carefully opened the Storage Black Box.
With a snap.
The black box opened easily, with no poison needles or Poisonous Water spraying out; it was just an ordinary Storage Black Box.
But the items inside were not ordinary.
First to catch Fang Shu’s eye was a pile of Talisman Money, strung together in strings, heavy.
Each string was a thousand Talisman Money, and the box held fully thirty strings, a whole thirty thousand Qing Fu Blood Money!
This was a windfall, richer than even the Gold Chain.
It was enough for Fang Shu’s tuition for nine months, or an amount an ordinary person would need over eight years of blood selling without eating or drinking to save up.
Besides the Talisman Money, the black box also contained a Copper-Skinned Gourd and a sheet of yellowed paper.
The gourd was heavy, seemingly solid copper throughout, but it held only half-full liquid inside, sloshing with a gentle shake.
Fang Shu didn’t rashly open the Copper-Skinned Gourd; he carefully inspected the yellow paper first, confirming no poison, then unfolded it.
A crude and simplistic yet extremely complex diagram appeared before his eyes.
At first glance, Fang Shu thought it was a child’s scribble, even suspecting it might be a strange secret script pattern.
But after careful thought, flipping and turning it, especially seeing a few tiny characters in the diagram.
He confirmed it was a hand-drawn map pointing to a certain mine outside the marketplace.
And in that mine, something called “Purple Lead Mica Milk” was very likely produced.
Realizing something, Fang Shu’s gaze jumped, landing on the Copper-Skinned Gourd beside it.
In a flash, he suddenly remembered.
Speaking of which, neighbor Dou Su Fu had mentioned that Cheng Guanzi once teamed up with others for mining, and in the end only that guy escaped from the mountain. Even Dou Su Fu’s husband died in that mining incident.
This made everything clear in Fang Shu’s heart.
He narrowed his eyes, stroking the Copper-Skinned Gourd with his hand, excitedly thinking to himself:
“This thing is a Precious Medicine from the mountains, a Spiritual Material from the mines!?”
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