Chapter 139: Live Insect, Dead Grass; Qi Refining Spiritual Immortal
The dense spiritual energy gathered, making the small golden sprout on Fang Shu’s forehead even more delicate.
The spiritual energy also condensed into dew-like droplets, accumulating between its leaves, appearing moist and full of life.
This item was precisely the insect-grass gu that Fang Shu cultivated according to his spiritual root cultivation method—the Fourth Calamity Qi Refining Spiritual Gu!
Dong dong dong!
The moment the insect-grass gu appeared, a faint heartbeat also pulsed within Fang Shu’s dried corpse-like body, and his eyelids trembled slightly.
The gu worm was successfully refined, even though Fang Shu used his own flesh as nourishment for the scorpion basin. This proved he had mastered the art of refining Fourth Calamity gu worms and was a genuine Gu Master!
This very fact brought a flicker of joy to the dying Fang Shu.
However, at this moment, he had only refined the spiritual root and had not yet planted it. Furthermore, the birth of the insect-grass gu marked the most dangerous stage of planting the spiritual root.
Why would a Fourth Calamity gu worm, reborn through mycelial transplantation and imbued with spiritual essence, willingly submit to the control of a mere Refining Essence Human Immortal like him?
Ssss!
A few breaths after Fang Shu’s heart beat again, the insect-grass gu on his forehead trembled slightly, immediately sensing the abnormality of its parasitic host. More mycelia then grew out, spreading throughout Fang Shu’s physical body.
In just a few breaths, Fang Shu felt his heart tighten as if caught in a net, struggling to beat. A sharp pain shot through him, like countless steel needles piercing it and drawing out his heart’s blood.
This was not Fang Shu’s delusion. Text was rapidly appearing and flowing on his Dao Talisman:
【 Talisman Master’s physical body is being eroded, heart rate is slowing, essence blood is continuously decreasing! 】
【 External entity is invading, Talisman Master’s limbs are paralyzed, vitality has dropped by fifty-seven percent! 】
【 Talisman Master’s bone marrow is being eroded, blood production capacity has dropped by eighty percent… 】
According to the Dao Talisman’s prompts, problems were erupting all over his body. All these issues could be summarized as one thing: “He was dying!!”
Not only was his physical body acting strangely, but Fang Shu also felt his scalp itching, his mind disoriented, and his three souls and seven spirits were all in turmoil.
Despite his eyelids being slightly closed, a golden light appeared in his eyes. This golden light was the exact appearance of the golden sprout on his forehead, not just the tiny sprout emerging from his forehead.
The entire being resembled a worm or a snake, with small horns sprouting from its head, resembling sprouts, and fine, intricate root-like tendrils spreading below.
The dense tendrils formed a human-like shape, similar to ginseng. Upon closer inspection, it resembled a diagram of human meridians woven from silk threads or hair.
Furthermore, its tendrils continued to spread, like mold, wild and unruly.
Looking at this scene, Fang Shu felt his own consciousness being pierced by these tendrils, being slowly dragged into them, to be drained and transformed into nourishment for this entity.
Therefore, his spirit resonated with the insect-grass gu, allowing him to feel the intense joy and hunger filling its body due to its recent birth.
He watched this entity in a daze, his emotions complex.
He felt as if he were witnessing offspring he had personally nurtured, and an impulse arose within him to willingly offer his entire flesh, blood, soul, and spirits for it to devour.
But in the next moment.
Mycelia were pulled on Fang Shu’s numb face, revealing a semblance of a smile.
“You want to eat me? You’re too green.”
ZING!
Suddenly, his eyelids snapped open, his qi and blood instantly vibrated, and bursts of vitality erupted throughout his body like firecrackers, tearing apart the fine mycelia that enveloped him.
Holding his breath, Fang Shu staggered, hard enough to uproot himself, now rooted, from the altar. He slowly reached for the surrounding talisman papers, stepped on the Big Dipper, and performed the ritualistic footwork.
Whoosh, waves of profound magic power surged around him.
Wisps of smoke rose into the air, scorching his body, causing the mycelia on his skin to sizzle upon contact.
As the smoke completely filled the spirit chamber, the spiritual energy within churned as if boiling.
The discarded papers and talismans piled in the spirit chamber spontaneously combusted, filling the air with the scent of sulfur, lead, and mercury, with a faint hint of alcohol.
This was the fire method of burning the body. Both insects and plants feared fire. According to the Insect Grass Parasitic Body Technique, fire could be used to suppress and control them.
Instantly, the mycelia in the spirit chamber were swept away. Fang Shu strode on the altar, no longer bound.
His robe and the hair on the back of his head were also burned by the flames, turning to ash.
At this moment, he stood naked on the altar, his head like a peeled egg, his skin cold and white, muscles clearly defined, like a stone sculpture, striking a foundational stance.
This was not merely Fang Shu standing still; the mycelial roots within him were not dead, causing his limbs to become even more numb.
The fire method only dealt with the external mycelia. Within his body, the insect-grass gu remained wild and unruly, and even more intense than before.
Sensing the danger, a hint of anger emanated from the spirituality it manifested.
Noticing this, the smile on Fang Shu’s face widened, appearing extremely ferocious due to his numb facial features.
Profound intent filled the air, and spiritual energy billowed.
As Fang Shu held his stance, he grunted, indistinctly uttering an incantation:
“Meridians melt, qi and blood cease, vitality decays, soul and spirit condense. Muscles and bones gradually dissipate, essence and qi scatter, epidemic waves spread, plants and trees fall…
Insect and grass harmonize, fleshy mushroom grows, mycelial network forms roots, spiritual root enters its position! Hasten as the law commands!”
With the utterance of this incantation, Fang Shu’s stagnant qi and blood churned once more, and like blades of fire, they fiercely scoured and burned the mycelial roots within his body according to the path of the Spiritual Root Manual, refining this entity.
His originally cold white skin turned red, as if he were a shrimp that had been scalded.
Subsequently, waves of pain erupted in Fang Shu’s internal organs, including his skull. Every inch of flesh on his body felt as if it were being churned by knives.
This sudden pain caught him by surprise. According to the spiritual root cultivation method, after being eroded by insect-grass mycelia, his nerves should have been paralyzed, possibly even experiencing a heavenly sensation. Even if there was pain, it should have been like ant bites.
However, this was a spiritual root tribulation, a knock on the door of Qi Refining. An Immortal Cultivator’s life was undergoing a metamorphosis, and anything could happen.
Fang Shu bit his tongue, suddenly invigorating his spirit.
Then, his tongue moved, picking up the Lead Essence Treasure Bead from beside the altar and placing it under his tongue.
A tingling sensation immediately spread through his mouth and tongue.
The sharp pain in his mouth and tongue subsided, replaced by a rich, metallic taste. His already boiling qi and blood felt like adding fuel to a fire, becoming even hotter.
This was Fang Shu imitating the experience from Xiao Li Li, borrowing the Metal and Stone Poison from the treasure bead to counteract the countless mycelial roots within him.
This measure proved highly effective. Under the circulation of his qi and blood, the Metal and Stone Poison quickly spread throughout his body, and his brain was also slowly affected.
The mycelial threads, thinner than hair, could not withstand this poison and were rapidly transformed into pus, which was then absorbed by his body.
But just as Fang Shu felt that he was about to succeed, a wriggling sensation appeared on his forehead.
*Gurgle*, the insect-grass spiritual root had come alive. It wriggled and struggled, breaking through the membrane and pulling itself out of Fang Shu’s body, as if trying to escape the toxic mother body.
This point truly surprised Fang Shu!
Insect-grass, insect first, grass second.
Although it had the name of an insect, the insect was merely nourishment. It should be more akin to a plant like a ganoderma lucidum mushroom and should not be able to move.
But as the insect-grass gu was pulled from Fang Shu’s body, it did not attempt to escape.
Fang Shu steadied his mind and watched coldly.
Soon, he felt the entity wriggle towards his eye socket, then burrow in, descending along the nasolacrimal duct into his nasal cavity, and then further down to his tongue.
*Sizzle* sounds of friction arose from beneath Fang Shu’s tongue.
This gu was fierce and spirited. It endured the potent Metal and Stone Poison and actively lunged towards the treasure bead, intending to gnaw on it.
Furthermore, it was not a suicidal act due to a lack of intelligence. As it approached the treasure bead, although its root tendrils receded, its insect body began to change rapidly, with metallic luster appearing on its surface.
Within dozens of breaths, this creature mutated, gradually becoming accustomed to the Metal and Stone Poison!
Fang Shu felt the activity beneath his tongue, and amidst his surprise, a realization dawned: “Swallowing gold and eating iron, this is the strength of a Dragon Seeking Gold Worm.”
Pondering carefully, he discovered that the spiritual root he had refined was not a traditional insect-grass but more like a living insect controlled by mycelia.
Or perhaps, it was like a Gold Seeking Insect, empowered by a secret technique, that had actively fused with mycelium, gaining the ability to transform between insect and grass, making it quite wondrous.
Fang Shu was amazed, but his actions did not slow down in the slightest.
Immediately, he acted, snatching the insect-grass gu, whose attention was fully occupied by the Lead Essence Treasure Bead, and placing it in his hand.
Next, he took advantage of the insect’s weakness, his long tongue like a blade, rapidly cutting open its body, allowing the Metal and Stone Poison to penetrate even more fiercely.
This time, even with the inherited mutation ability of the Gold Seeking Insect, this gu could not cope and its body became numb.
And this was precisely what Fang Shu was waiting for.
He once again picked up the Gold Seeking Insect, pressed it against his forehead, embedding it into his flesh, and held the Lead Essence Treasure Bead firmly against it. At first glance, the treasure bead seemed to be embedded in his forehead.
Fang Shu then took out various medicinal ointments, ingested them, and formed a hand seal, mobilizing his qi and blood, which surged towards his head, constantly scouring and refining the gu!
Gurgle!
As time passed, his qi and blood churned like lead and mercury, and the sound of rushing rivers echoed in the spirit chamber.
Under this scouring, the spirituality within the insect-grass gu was instantly overwhelmed and, through repeated grinding, completely replaced.
Furthermore, since the Dragon Seeking Gold Worm had long since merged with Fang Shu, being an embryonic worm, the new spirituality that arose within its body was equivalent to being born from Fang Shu’s flesh and blood, merely triggered by the mycelia.
Thus, these crushed spiritual essences were consumed by Fang Shu.
In the blink of an eye.
Fang Shu suddenly felt his vision shrink, his limbs and fingers disappear, transforming from a human body to an insect body.
In another blink, his physical body remained, and without the erosion of the insect-grass gu, it was rapidly recovering.
This scene clearly indicated that he had successfully refined the insect-grass gu into his body, allowing him to control both his human body and the insect body simultaneously through divided focus.
However, this peculiar sensation only lasted for a few breaths.
Soon, the human and insect bodies in his perception rapidly merged, becoming indistinguishable.
In their place, an even more peculiar perspective appeared in his mind.
He clearly saw streams of more distinct auras appearing in his “vision,” floating and sinking, some dense, some sparse, with mixed colors and lights, mingled in the air, distinct like milk and water.
“This is… spiritual energy!” Fang Shu exclaimed in surprise. He immediately tried to widen his eyes to look more closely.
But then he realized that he had not opened his eyes at all; his eyelids remained slightly closed, three parts open and seven parts closed.
Yet, strangely, not only was the spiritual energy in the air exceptionally clear, but the talismans, paper ash, and gaps between bricks on the altar around him were also perfectly visible.
Fang Shu’s heart stirred, and he looked at himself, discovering that the meridians, internal organs, bones, and other structures within his body were also completely transparent, with no obstruction.
At this point, he suddenly understood that he was not seeing with his eyes but with his heart. Or rather, with his spiritual sense.
This was spiritual sense!
He had now deeply planted his spiritual root, and through the planted spiritual root, he could sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, condense his three souls and seven spirits, manifest his spiritual sense, and thus perceive his own body internally and his surroundings externally.
Understanding his current state, Fang Shu’s thoughts descended once more.
Whoosh, the spiritual energy gathered around him immediately surged into his body from his forehead like a trickling stream, providing unprecedented nourishment to his entire being.
Both Fang Shu’s physical body and his soul were rapidly repairing and growing under the nourishment of the spiritual energy.
The range he could “see” also expanded inch by inch.
Three feet, six feet, one zhang!
Soon, the entire three-zhang-wide and long quiet room was present in his mind, and his consciousness seemed to transcend the physical realm, looking down upon the place from above.
He saw a thin, emaciated shell sitting hunched on the altar in the spirit chamber. Although his body was thin, it was full of vitality, and as his eyes were slightly closed, spiritual light emanated, and his forehead shone brightly like a candle flame, as if possessing a third eye.
This was Fang Shu’s own physical body.
Around his body, things were sprouting, connecting his inside and outside, colored in halos, like a sun’s corona, neither air nor water, interlinked.
This scene was precisely the manifestation of an Immortal Cultivator’s spiritual sense and the budding of true qi, heralding the opening of the immortal path.
With this, Fang Shu had overcome his tribulation, successfully passed the Fourth Calamity, and stepped into the Qi Refining realm!
From this day forward, he would be free from hunger and thirst, able to subsist on qi, live eternally with divine clarity, and possess a lifespan of three Jiazi cycles, that is, one hundred and eighty years.
This is called a Qi Refining Spiritual Immortal.
4,000 characters, wrote a bit more. Posted late.
Recommended reading: 《 Apothecary Disciple’s Cultivation Notes 》
The benevolent apothecary saves suffering and delivers from hardship; the planter’s heart is one, ascending to bliss together.
Why do you call me an unorthodox cult leader?
