Chapter 138: Repairing The Molted Shell
Within the Spirit Chamber, ten-odd days quickly passed.
During these days, Fang Shu did not begin the breakthrough.
Instead, he ate and drank well each day, and in his idle time, he read some Dao books or even flipped through a few storybooks he carried with him for amusement.
Until this day, the Dao Talisman in his mind trembled lightly, and text appeared:
【《Insect Grass Parasitic Body Technique》 mastered 】
Various profound texts and the Spiritual Root Manual surged into his mind with a whoosh, causing his gaze to lose focus for a moment.
Indeed, during these days’ efforts, besides continuing to temper his cultivation, he had also used the Dao Talisman to perform analysis on the Spiritual Root Method.
Compared to ordinary magic, although the Spiritual Root Method had more specific steps and only involved planting a Spiritual Root, comprehending it did not require learning from scratch; instead, its many principles aligned with Immortal Studies disciplines such as Gu Dao.
However, for ordinary people, it still required months of comprehension time. Especially for Immortal Cultivators without a foundation in Immortal Studies, fully grasping it was akin to cultivating a magic from scratch, needing one or two years or even four or five years.
Senior Sister Fang Lu had previously done menial laborer work for two years, perhaps for this reason.
Fang Shu himself had a foundation in Gu Refining, and with the Dao Talisman as aid, in less than fifteen days, he had already comprehended it thoroughly. And by rights, this time could have been even shorter.
The reason it was like this was that he had mixed in his own understanding of Spiritual Roots, as well as the abbreviated versions of the twenty-four methods he had obtained for free from the Jin Family’s Treasure Hall, into the Insect-Grass Spiritual Root Method, using them to cross-reference and verify the method’s authenticity.
Slightly closing his eyes, Fang Shu silently comprehended it.
After thoroughly digesting it, no joy appeared on his face; instead, his brows furrowed slightly.
Because according to the Dao Talisman’s deduction, the 《Insect Grass Parasitic Body Technique》 in his hands, while having an 80% feasibility, also had a 20% chance of risks or flaws.
Moreover, even if Fang Shu fully mastered it with the Dao Talisman and his foundation was solid, using this method to plant a Spiritual Root still could not raise the success rate to 90%.
“These remaining 20% risks—are they flaws in the method itself, or loopholes left by the Jin Family?”
Frowning and pondering, Fang Shu soon let go of this thought.
At this point, dwelling on it was useless and would only disturb his mind.
Rather than that, it was better to think carefully about how to patch the remaining 20% risks. In any case, he now had no opportunity or chance to obtain a more perfect Spiritual Root Method.
Fortunately, Fang Shu had long anticipated the current situation.
It could even be said that obtaining an 80% feasible method to plant Spiritual Root had already exceeded his expectations.
Regardless, without Senior Sister Fang Lu’s help, Fang Shu had originally planned to take on a recruitment task with lower danger but imperfect reward methods, then spend time on his own to repair and research a Spiritual Root Method.
Now with a feasible method in hand, he only needed to spend some more effort to patch its flaws in a way suited to the situation and the person.
With a thought in his mind, the Dao Talisman in Fang Shu’s mind trembled again.
In his mind, bits of secret script emerged, and a strange secret script like a net and shaped like a human body appeared from his mind, slowly twisting and wrapping onto the Insect Grass secret script.
This secret script was precisely the innate secret script he had observed and imprinted from Xiao Li Li’s body.
Compared to the several Insect Grass secret scripts, this Medicine Ginseng secret script was overly intricate and complex, but it carried its own natural rhythm.
Even more special was that when connected, their rhythms interlinked without resistance.
Waves of profound principles and ingenious ideas continuously surged in Fang Shu’s mind.
He calmed his mind, his brain power rapidly depleting, and cold sweat seeped from his forehead.
After carefully cross-referencing, a hint of joy finally appeared on his face.
Although the Medicine Ginseng secret script and Insect Grass secret script differed, they did not resist each other; many principles could interconnect, allowing the former to supplement the latter or the latter to reference the former.
Fang Shu thought to himself: “As expected, the Medicine Ginseng method plants spiritual plants in flesh to nurture Precious Medicine. The Insect Grass method also nurtures mycelium in flesh; the two are quite similar.”
This point was another reason he had selected the 《Insect Grass Parasitic Body Technique》 from the twenty-four Spiritual Root Methods.
At once, Fang Shu collected his mind and took out the paper and brushes he had prepared long ago, personally deducing and repairing the Spiritual Root Method in the Spirit Chamber.
Rustle rustle rustle—sheets of white paper covered in scribbles like ghostly symbols fluttered around the Spirit Chamber like white moths.
More than a month passed again in a flash.
This day.
Fang Shu was disheveled, with at least hundreds of waste papers in the Spirit Chamber. Moreover, three days earlier, he had already used up all his paper.
He sat withered, now purely relying on brain power and the Dao Talisman to deduce in his mind.
Suddenly, a realization surged in his heart, and he felt he could begin planting the Spiritual Root.
Sure enough, after this realization arose in his heart, three breaths later, the Dao Talisman flickered:
【Realm: Refining Qi possible（96%）】
With this confirmed text appearing, a look of relief appeared on Fang Shu’s face.
And the line in the Dao Talisman about the method, the Spiritual Root Method text, transformed:
【《Fang Clan Insect Grass Gu Planting Technique》（Perfected）】
After his repairs, the Insect-Grass Spiritual Root Method passed down from the Jin Family had become his unique secret technique, blending the wonders of Gu Refining and planting ginseng, so he had changed its name accordingly.
With the Spiritual Root Method complete and everything fully prepared without omissions, Fang Shu still did not immediately start planting the Spiritual Root.
He first lay directly on the ground and slept with his head covered.
He slept for a full eighteen hours straight before getting up to stretch his tendons and bones, then leisurely took pills, inventoried materials, and set up the altar.
This took another full three days, after which he burned incense, bathed, and prayed to various righteous gods such as Long Wangye, Zao Wangye, Tai Sui, and so on—he praised them all.
Finally.
This day, the last stray thought emerged in Fang Shu’s mind: “The same batch of Immortal Seeds, if nothing unexpected, have mostly become menial laborers by now.”
The next moment, he suppressed this stray thought as well.
Buzz! Several formations activated, dense spiritual energy even condensing into strands of spiritual light flashing around him—even a mortal could see at a glance that this place was extraordinary.
In addition, pages of talismans made into banners fluttered without wind around the surroundings.
Fang Shu calmed his mind and slightly closed his eyes.
Planting the Spiritual Root formally began.
He took a silver knife and slowly cut open the skin on his forehead, deeply to the bone, as if to peel off his own scalp.
Fortunately, his action was not so terrifying, stopping at the right point.
But the next moment, the Dragon Seeking Gold Worm already prepared on his forehead received some stimulation, wriggling madly and burrowing toward Fang Shu’s body and brain.
Strands of mycelium like beard and hair spread from the Gold Worm’s body, eerie and horrifying, as if moldy.
In the blink of an eye, Fang Shu’s physical body was completely covered, turning into something like a white-furred zombie. These mycelium also spread to the altar beneath him, eroding talismans and absorbing medicinal liquid, growing ever more rampant.
And Fang Shu’s entire aura grew increasingly wilted, like a withering death, resembling a shed insect shell.
One day, two days, three days…
A full eighteen days passed.
A surge of vitality suddenly erupted within the dried corpse in the Spirit Chamber.
A point of golden tender sprout grew from Fang Shu’s forehead, yellow and brilliant, golden and shining, like millet grains or golden flowers, impeccably smooth.
In an instant, the spiritual energy in the chamber surged on its own, gurgling and gathering there, stirring restlessly.
