Chapter 325: The Complete Myriad Insects Secret Record |
But everyone present was a cultivator, with Zhu Fuxian and Shi Yuan possessing the highest realms among them. They heard every word with perfect clarity, and the two powerhouses turned their heads in unison.
For the first time in his life, Zhao Feng was utterly at a loss, his body frozen stiff. Offering gifts to smooth things over was a habit ingrained in him since childhood. Friends, family—they rarely refused. Some, like Shui Wuhen and Huo Ling, even took his offerings for granted. To be rejected so sternly, with an undercurrent of warning… this was a first.
Zhu Fuxian observed the exchange, a flicker of deep appreciation igniting in his eyes. He remained silent, but a subtle nod conveyed his wholehearted approval.
***
Seven days passed in a flash.
The outer Spirit Farm was harvested.
The Meridian-Corroding plague was resolved.
Jiang Chen’s life settled back into a quiet routine. His days were spent either brewing wine and refining pills or immersing himself in the arts of puppetry and the Myriad Insects Secret Record.
Puppetry proved to be a complex art, and reaching even the Novice level would take time. He was, after all, starting from scratch with no master to guide him; slow progress was to be expected.
**[Myriad Insects Secret Record – Reverse Spirit Chapter: Level 1]**
**Effect 1:** Comprehend the low-frequency chirps of Meridian-Reversing Worms and understand the basic intent of their mother.
Just then, a prompt materialized before him.
**[Consume 30 years of Lifespan to restore the Myriad Insects Secret Record to its complete form?]**
Jiang Chen’s eyes flashed. *So it’s possible.*
He’d suspected the Reverse Spirit Chapter was merely a fragment of a larger work. Now, the system had confirmed it. The only surprise was the cost—several decades of his life.
*This complete Myriad Insects Secret Record must be an Earth-grade technique, at the very least.*
Therefore, Jiang Chen did not refuse. He made his choice decisively. *”Go all in!”*
Instantly, he plunged into a profound state of Epiphany. Drawing upon the foundation of the Reverse Spirit Chapter, his mind raced, weaving together his own knowledge, experience, and skills to deduce and restore the lost text. Piece by piece, it came together.
The Poison Miasma Chapter materialized in his mind.
Followed by the Swiftness Chapter.
The Sturdy Armor Chapter.
And the Phantom Form Chapter.
All five parts merged, forming the complete Myriad Insects Secret Record, a tome encompassing the secrets of nearly all insectoid life. The sheer depth and richness of its content would have taken a lifetime to master through normal study.
**[Myriad Insects Secret Record: Level 1]**
**Effect 1:** Establish a basic connection with surrounding insects, allowing you to sense them within a certain range.
**[Consume 3 years of Lifespan to raise Myriad Insects Secret Record to Level 2?]**
Jiang Chen scoffed internally. *”No. I’m going all in!”*
**[Consume 9 years of Lifespan to raise Myriad Insects Secret Record to Level 5?]**
A mere nine years was a drop in the bucket. A single harvest from his Spirit Farm now yielded several years of Lifespan. If he were to cultivate his entire personal dimension… the returns would be staggering.
This Epiphany arrived and departed with blinding speed. After all, the complete content was already in his mind. This “improvement” was less about learning and more about stripping away redundancies and forging new, terrifying pathways.
**[Myriad Insects Secret Record: Level 5]**
**Sense:** Forge a psychic link with nearby insect life, sensing their species, numbers, and general state. This range expands with your cultivation.
**Lure:** Condense your spiritual energy, Qi, and botanical essences into potent Bait Seeds. These lures exert an irresistible pull on specific insect species, drawing them out for you to screen and tame individuals with the greatest Potential. The lure’s potency increases with your energy concentration.
**Tame:** Bind a chosen insect to your will with a blood contract. This pact suppresses the creature’s innate ferocity and forges a telepathic link, allowing it to understand simple commands. Success is tied to the insect’s intelligence; failure results in its death.
**Nest:** Within a storage artifact or designated space, construct a Sub-Nest. This pocket dimension simulates an ideal habitat, accelerating insect growth and egg incubation. By manipulating the nest’s environment, you can even guide their evolution, forcing mutations along desired paths. The Sub-Nest’s scale grows with your power.
**Command:** When your swarm reaches a critical mass, you can condense an Insect Token. This allows you to command the entire collective as one, transmitting your will through the token for unified, instantaneous action. Command efficiency scales with the token’s level.
**Special Effect 1 – Sacrifice:** Compel a high-grade spirit insect to willingly sacrifice itself. For a limited time, you absorb its core ability, powerful enough to even shatter a cultivation Bottleneck.
**Special Effect 2 – Forced Evolution:** Expend a portion of your own cultivation base to force a low-grade insect to evolve, or to Awaken a new ability in a high-grade specimen. Overuse will cause your own realm to regress.
**Special Effect 3 – Unity:** Fuse with a contracted insect, transforming it into a living spiritual armor that encases your body. You gain the defense and resilience of its carapace, along with its unique abilities.
**Special Effect 4 – Symbiosis:** Forge a symbiotic link with your entire swarm. In battle, they can absorb a portion of the damage you take. Conversely, you can channel your spiritual energy and Qi into them, bolstering their collective might.
**Special Effect 5 – Myriad Insects Dao Body:** If you possess a contracted insect of Rare grade or higher, you can temporarily merge with it. You retain your humanoid silhouette, but become sheathed in chitinous armor, your limbs capable of morphing into deadly insectoid appendages. This transformation lasts for a quarter of an hour, after which the insect falls into a seven-day slumber.
As he finished reading, a thousand thoughts stormed through Jiang Chen’s mind, but they all condensed into a single, sharp hiss. He drew a ragged, cold breath, his pupils dilating violently. He never imagined the complete Myriad Insects Secret Record would be so terrifyingly monstrous.
Beast-taming cultivators all shared a common trait: the ability to fuse with their spirit beasts, temporarily gaining their abilities and enhancing attributes like attack and defense. Insects might seem weak, but they were not to be underestimated. Take the common ant, for example—it possessed the heaven-defying ability to lift objects many times its own weight. If fused with such an insect, the master could briefly wield this power, making tasks like splitting mountains and shattering rocks trivial. And that was just one example among countless supernatural abilities.
Jiang Chen carefully recalled the abilities of the Meridian-Reversing Dragon Worm Mother. Suddenly, his gaze went blank. “Its ability seems to be prolific reproduction and abundant offspring. If I fused with it, wouldn’t that mean…”
To be honest, the mental image was too beautiful, almost unbearable to contemplate.
***
Suddenly, several fire crows circling in the sky let out warning cries. Jiang Chen closed his eyes, switching to their shared vision, and saw someone approaching. A man and a crane, moving at incredible speed. At first, they were just a dot, but in the blink of an eye, they neared the Spirit Farm. Then, Long Ao’s voice rang out: “Junior Brother Jiang!”