Chapter 22: Vicious Beasts Always Roam Alone
In the main hall.
While Fang Shu and Qin Min were immersed in their first cultivation practice, the Dojo Master was not idle.
On the contrary, she paid even more attention to the two than when transmitting the secret skill. Her originally turbid old eyes were now like two knives, stabbing at the two of them.
Of course, to be more precise, they were stabbing at the rustic Qin Min.
After carefully observing for a while, the Dojo Master’s face showed nothing until her gaze fell on Fang Shu again, revealing a few traces of surprise:
“Entering the basics so quickly, and even inducing spiritual energy absorption. Is it decent comprehension, or have you learned breathing techniques and once consumed spiritual energy?”
But she was only surprised for a moment before shifting her gaze away.
This situation at most showed that the boy had decent comprehension or strong endurance, making him relatively suitable for insect skill.
But without a spiritual root, they were just mortal bone Daoist children. She had seen too many like this in her lifetime; it was nothing unusual.
The Dojo Master instructed:
“Yu Er, stay here and watch them. After they finish cultivation practice, check their bodies. If nothing serious, no need to tell me.”
“Yes, Grandmother.” A woman in yellow clothes, about seventeen or eighteen years old, stepped out from the side, indicating she understood.
The Dojo Master nodded, then hunched her body and left the main hall with ghostly steps, silent and traceless underfoot.
Not long after.
Fang Shu gradually awoke from his daze.
The moment he woke, the stinging pain in his limbs and all over his body surged in all at once, making his face twitch. Fortunately, the pain only lasted an instant, followed by a numbing sensation throughout his body.
He looked down and found that the so-called “Ant Master” was long gone from his body, leaving only complex and intricate ant trail marks, some red, some purple, on his chest, back, palms, soles, and both legs.
A voice sounded nearby:
“Put on your clothes first before going out.
There are nine secret scripts of varying sizes on your limbs, chest, abdomen, and other parts; these are the core of the insect skill and must not be known to outsiders.”
Fang Shu looked up and saw a woman in yellow clothes smiling as she explained to him.
She continued: “These insect marks can last one to two months without fading. Remember to comprehend them constantly when you get back; comprehend as much as you can.
Otherwise, once the insect marks fade, you’ll have to borrow secret manuals from the dojo and learn the secret scripts from dead objects, losing some spirituality.”
Fang Shu nodded immediately: “Yes, thank you, Senior Sister.”
He turned his head and saw that the girl named Qin Min nearby had already woken up.
She looked much more lively, as relaxed as if nothing had happened, and the rusticity on her had diminished greatly.
There were faint insect marks on Qin Min’s neck, but they were not hideous; instead, they gave her a touch of beauty.
“F-Fang Senior Brother.” Seeing Fang Shu look over, the girl hastily gave an awkward salute.
The woman in yellow smiled at the scene, then spoke:
“You two just finished cultivation practice and shouldn’t exert yourselves further. Also, don’t circulate energy for at least six hours.
Qin Min is new, so Fang Shu, you lead her around first to get familiar with the dojo.”
“Yes, Senior Sister.”
“Yes, Yu Er Senior Sister.”
Fang Shu and Qin Min responded in turn.
Then Fang Shu led the girl Qin Min slowly toward the hall entrance. She followed with her head down like a rabbit, half a step behind.
Once out of the main hall, Qin Min seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and curiously looked around.
Fang Shu dutifully began leading her around place by place:
“Life in the dojo is simple: cultivation practice main hall, back kitchen dining hall, sleeping bunk room. These three points and one line are what you’ll frequent, Qin Min.”
In the conversation, Qin Min timidly glanced at Fang Shu and said softly:
“Senior Brother Fang can just call me Bao Er; Elder Sister calls me that.”
Fang Shu didn’t think much and casually said:
“Alright, then I’ll call you Qin Bao Er. I’m two years older than you, so you can call me Fang Ge Er; that’s how Li Hou Er calls me.”
Qin Min hurriedly said: “Yes, Fang Brother.”
Fang Shu slightly raised his eyebrows but didn’t correct her.
Suddenly, Qin Min stopped and tugged at Fang Shu’s clothes, pointing to a spot in the dojo, asking somewhat fearfully: “Fang Brother, what’s that?”
Fang Shu turned to look and heard noisy voices: sobbing, wailing, cursing, as if a fight was about to break out.
He didn’t avoid it and directly led Qin Min over.
The voices in their ears became clearer.
“Husband, what will we do with our Flower from now on?” A woman cried.
A man immediately grunted: “What else can we do? At least she protected her face; she can still get married.”
Someone else jumped and cursed, pointing at a Daoist child lying on a plank, staring blankly at the sky:
“Useless thing! I spent so much money to support your cultivation practice, and you ruined yourself directly. You’ll have trouble even selling blood later; what a waste raising you.”
This scene made Fang Shu and Qin Min’s hearts sink.
Even more upsetting was a pair of siblings kneeling before a seated Daoist child, the sister sobbing nonstop:
“Dad, Father!”
“Sis, why is Father still cultivating? When will he wake up?”
This seated Daoist child was the oldest among the six, a middle-aged man. He too had consumed potent medicine and entered the Scorpion Basin to undergo tribulation, a ruthless one.
To this day, he remained in a stiff seated posture, face with a half-smile, but ashen and lifeless.
Fang Shu and Qin Min watched silently.
This scene before them was the tragic end for poor families who finally reached tribulation after hard cultivation practice, only to fail.
Compared to the main hall, this seemed more infuriating, unwilling, and heartbreaking.
Fang Shu glanced at the side hall behind the crowd and said flatly:
“Remember this; it’s the medicine hall. Don’t go to the wrong place later.”
With that, he turned and walked to other places without another glance.
“Wait for me, Fang Brother.”
Qin Min, realizing late, several steps behind, hurried to catch up.
Transmitting techniques ended, and days passed as usual.
Next.
Using the Dao Talisman and with Li Hou Er to consult, Fang Shu quickly recorded all nine secret scripts of the insect skill into the Dao Talisman.
The Dao Talisman was constantly analyzing the secret scripts.
This cultivation method was indeed not crude; the analysis took fully twice as long as the Fur-Shedding and Skin-Changing Technique.
Even so, it was because Fang Shu had the insect mark secret scripts on his body and was in the dojo where he could consult others.
By absorbing knowledge repeatedly, he compressed the time to a total of two months.
Without the Dao Talisman, mastering just these nine secret scripts would take two years. Though during those two years, he could still cultivate practice without complete delay.
After learning the secret skill.
Fang Shu’s demand for blood food grew greater; he ate more in the dining hall, and his “hungry beast” reputation spread wider.
Fortunately, with the secret skill, he could gradually control his intestines and stomach, no longer needing to eat and defecate constantly to prevent bursting.
It became just twice morning and evening, plus emptying and filling once each before and after cultivation practice, totaling four times.
Even so, ones like him in the dojo were still a minority.
This left him with no friends besides Li Hou Er; others in the dojo were just familiar faces, at most known by name.
The Dojo Master’s granddaughter—Yu Er Senior Sister—counted as half. She was friendly to all Daoist children in the dojo and skilled in medicine, with a healer’s benevolence.
As for the girl Qin Min who first called him “Fang Brother.”
After adapting to dojo life, she gradually distanced herself from Fang Shu; at most, they nodded when passing on the road.
She no longer walked with her head down as when she first entered, her rusticity gone, becoming bright-eyed and fair-skinned.
But all these were passing clouds to Fang Shu, nothing to mind.
He was immersed in cultivating the secret skill: eating, sleeping, cultivation practice, unable to extricate himself!
《Hundred Insects Blood Refining Health Preservation Secret Skill》 is an immortal cultivator’s blood refining cultivation method.
It induces spiritual energy absorption, and with the Dao Talisman’s constant reminders, Fang Shu felt every bit and drop of his progress. Even his long-stalled lifespan limit began recovering substantially.
This feeling of growing stronger made Fang Shu feel great; no person, no matter could touch his heart!
Until someone came to find him.
