Longevity starts with choosing Hextech enhancement

Chapter 474 Spirit Beasts and Spirit Insects - Gray Feather True Monarch

The current leader of the Golden Cloud Sect is the Golden Whip True Lord, who is at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

It is said to be over 700 years old.

Wearing a gold-threaded crown and a seven-star robe, he looks kind and gentle, and is actually very easy to talk to.

Upon learning that Xiao Chen wished to borrow books from the library, he immediately led him to the library and said that all the books were free to be read.

Not only that, he also sent several of his personal disciples to guard the entrance on the first floor.

Firstly, to prevent other disciples from going in and disturbing them, and secondly, to wait here and await orders.

It was from here that Xiao Chen learned that the Golden Cloud Sect actually had quite a few direct disciples, basically accounting for one-third of the total number of Golden Core cultivators in the sect.

They belong to the category of those who, upon displaying even a little talent, will receive personal guidance and instruction from the Golden Whip True Lord.

Despite this, only five Golden Core cultivators at the Great Perfection stage were successfully trained.

It is still unknown when the second Nascent Soul True Monarch will be born.

Therefore, True Monarch Golden Whip mentioned to Xiao Chen, intentionally or unintentionally, "If you wish to sell Nascent Soul artifacts in the future, please be sure to inform me."

"Prices and everything else are negotiable; I certainly won't let you suffer a loss."

Judging from his words, the Nascent Soul Spiritual Objects within the Golden Cloud Sect are probably already in short supply or even completely depleted.

Speaking of this, Xiao Chen had just obtained a bottle of Nascent Soul Preservation Pill.

However, he was not in a hurry to bring up the deal.

The main event is the Hundred Herbs City Exchange Fair soon, where hard currency like breakthrough spirit items might come in handy.

Therefore, Xiao Chen only promised Golden Whip True Lord that if he were to sell Nascent Soul Spiritual Objects in the future, he would give him priority.

Then he went to the library and began to read the books related to raising spirit beasts and spirit insects.

Judging from the situation of the Sutra Repository alone, the Jinxia Sect and the Tianyin Sect are actually quite similar.

They all have a wealth of classic texts about their own characteristics, giving them a distinct and unique character compared to other sects.

Through the detailed records of various spirit beasts here, Xiao Chen also gained a deeper understanding of a lot of related knowledge.

For example, raising mythical beasts requires designating specific habitats.

We should also try to simulate its native environment as much as possible.

Simply put, place the fire spirit beast in a place with fire energy, and place the water spirit beast in a spirit spring or lake.

For example, spirit beasts not only need to consume a lot of spirit rice or spirit meat on a daily basis, but over time this can also become a considerable expense.

Furthermore, it is necessary to prepare some key rare and precious materials in advance to assist in the advancement process.

Otherwise, if we let it seek advancement on its own...

They either struggle to find their rhythm for a long time and are unable to break through.

They could easily fail to break through, resulting in serious injury or even death on the spot.

For example, spirit beasts are not necessarily 100% loyal to their masters, especially after they have just broken through to a higher realm or changed to a new master.

Once a spirit beast's strength far surpasses that of its master, it may break free from its restraints at any time and even turn against its master.

"Raising low-level spirit beasts is such a hassle."

Xiao Chen couldn't help but shake his head: "Even if we're going to raise one in the future, it has to be a spirit beast that can take human form."

"Then let it feed itself and take care of itself."

He was already being quite generous by not expecting his spirit beast to take care of him; he simply didn't want to put in any extra effort to care for it.

Fortunately, fourth-tier spirit beasts can transform into human form and also possess considerable intelligence.

As long as the master can provide cultivation resources, there's really no need to worry too much.

"Unfortunately, there are almost no records about spirit insects on the lower levels."

Xiao Chen has reached the top floor, but he has not yet seen any detailed records about spirit insects; most ancient texts only mention them briefly.

Only a few books mention that low-level cultivators are not suitable for raising spirit insects and should focus on raising spirit beasts.

After browsing through the books on the top shelf, he finally realized that there was more to it than met the eye.

Just like raising spirit beasts, raising spirit insects also requires setting up an insect nest.

However, the difference between the two is that if you want to raise a jackal, tiger, or leopard, you can make do with it even if there is no suitable habitat.

As long as it's not something like throwing it in water or burying it in the ground.

It just means that the growth will be a little slower, but generally there won't be any major problems.

However, most of these insects are quite 'delicate', especially during their larval stage. Without a suitable breeding environment, they will simply die.

Not only do the breeding environments differ, but the animals fed to them are also crucial.

Most spirit beasts also want to eat good food.

However, as long as they can be fed and not starve, at most they will be a little thin when they grow up and their maturity will come a little later.

However, for spirit insects...

If the food is not fed regularly and appropriately, the produce will be substandard "defective products," which is equivalent to wasting time and effort.

But these are not the most crucial differences.

Most importantly, the vast majority of insects have low intelligence and a lifespan far shorter than that of spirit beasts of the same level.

The former means that they are almost impossible to 'tame', and the risk of them devouring their master is higher when there is a difference in cultivation level between the master and the spirit insect.

The latter means that even if you manage to cultivate a qualified spirit insect, it will be in vain.

It may only take a few decades or even a hundred or two hundred years for it to reach the end of its lifespan and die.

However, the reason why spirit insects became a large category, even becoming a separate art form almost independent of spirit beasts, is that they are now considered a distinct category.

This is because, although it has the above-mentioned disadvantages, it also has many corresponding advantages.

For example, compared to raising mythical beasts, a large habitat might be required.

Raising spirit insects only requires maintaining a small section of the insect nest.

Unlike high-level spirit beasts, which are often several zhang, or even tens or hundreds of zhang in size.

Many spirit insects are only the size of a soybean, and even some high-level spirit insects are only the size of a mung bean, or even about the size of a grain of millet.

In addition, although the spirit insects have high requirements for the quality of food, their diet is much larger.

Many spirit insects can directly consume spirit herbs or spirit wood, and some can even consume spirit minerals.

To put it simply, the feeding costs are a bit higher, but as long as you can afford it, it's not difficult to solve.

Finally, here are the two most crucial points.

First, insects have low intelligence, which means they are almost fearless when fighting.

They will carry out any command given by their owner, even if that command involves biting off the head of their companion or even themselves.

To put it simply, it's very useful as a tool.

Secondly, the short lifespan of the insect means that its breeding cycle is also short.

Most spirit insects only need a few short years to grow from hatching to adulthood.

Compared to the growth period of spirit beasts, which often takes decades or even hundreds of years.

This timeframe is shockingly short.

Simply put, if there are enough insect eggs and enough spiritual items, raising spiritual insects can quickly build up combat power.

"So from this perspective, spirit beasts and spirit insects are indeed fundamentally different."

Xiao Chen finally summarized the situation: "Although both are helpful for cultivators in combat, they each have their own advantages and disadvantages."

“Raising spirit beasts is like taking a steady, long-term approach to development.”

"Although the training period is relatively long, the time it will be able to play a role in the future is also longer."

“If raised properly, it can even be passed down to future generations, making it more suitable for the long-term development of sects and families.”

“Raising spirit insects is a gamble, aiming to gain the most combat power in a short period of time.”

"Forget about inheritance. Most spirit insects have short lifespans, and their intelligence is not conducive to recognizing a new master."

"If the strength of future generations is insufficient, they may even suffer a direct backlash."

"What if we spend a lot of resources and then the spirit insects run out?"

"Then we can only say focus on immediate combat strength and not think too much about the future. We'll deal with the future when the time comes."

Given these circumstances, it's clear that the path of spirit insects is more niche than the path of spirit beasts, and there are indeed reasons for that.

Sects and families generally dislike such short-term speculation.

Because the risk is too great, if other forces tacitly join forces to counterbalance it, then all your investment will be lost.

Only rogue cultivators might be inclined to gamble their resources to see if they can use the combat power boost brought by the spirit insects to earn more resources for themselves.

However, as everyone knows, it is a big problem for independent practitioners to support themselves.

Of course, there is one special case.

That is, for Xiao Chen, he has relatively sufficient resources at his disposal, and he doesn't need to worry about long-term interests.

Spirit insects need to be fed by high-level spirit creatures, but they are not picky eaters.

That's easy. He already has a large amount of spirit wood and spirit ore from the Yin Corpse Sect and the Tianyin Sect in his storage ring.

The lifespan of a spirit insect may only be a hundred years or even a few decades.
That doesn't matter at all.

For Xiao Chen, it would be more than enough to use it temporarily for three to five years.

Furthermore, the advantage of a shorter training period brought about by this is exactly what he wanted.

"Looking at it this way, it seems like I could try cultivating Soul-Devouring Fire Cockroaches."

Xiao Chen thought for a moment: "Before reaching the Nascent Soul stage, including when I just broke through, I can rely on it to temporarily hold my own."

"Once I break through and my cultivation stabilizes, it won't matter at all if my lifespan ends."

However, there is still a problem: there are almost no records of demonic insects in the Jinxia Sect.

It merely mentioned that there were ten ancient demonic insects, each of which was extremely ferocious.

Objectively speaking, this is actually quite normal.

After all, the Golden Cloud Sect is not a demonic sect, and they don't even raise spirit insects.

Therefore, it is understandable that they lack understanding of the demonic insects.

"But the problem is that even if we do this, we still don't know how big the difference is between spirit insects and demon insects."

Thinking of this, Xiao Chen frowned slightly: "The most crucial point is that we don't know the breeding environment and diet of the Soul-Devouring Fire Cockroach, so it's not good to act recklessly."

He had just learned that larvae are very likely to die without a suitable breeding environment.

Moreover, we only have one insect egg, so we can't just waste it.

"The problem is that in this area, there is no other force in the Eastern Region that is particularly good at it."

Xiao Chen has already visited the Sutra Repository of Pudu Temple.

However, they don't know much about spirit beasts and spirit insects.

"But I remember there were Gu cultivators in the Western Regions, right?"

Xiao Chen thought about it carefully: "Gu worms are worms, and demonic worms are worms, so they should be pretty much the same."

"At the very least, they're all insects. Maybe they know more about the demonic insects over there."

"Even if we can obtain the inheritance of the local demonic sect in the Western Regions, we should be able to learn about the demonic insects from it."

"In that case, should we try to make a trip to the Western Regions?"

"Oh dear, isn't that a bit too much trouble?" Xiao Chen felt that traveling all the way to the Western Regions would easily become superfluous.

The key issue is that the eastern and western regions are far apart, and even if you go there, you might not immediately gain anything; it could take a long time.

If that time were used to focus on cultivation, one might be able to break through to the Nascent Soul stage sooner.

"However, with the opening of the Great Sea Secret Realm this time, there should be Gu cultivators from the Western Regions participating, right?"

Xiao Chen thought for a moment and set his sights on the secret realm: "If I wander around the inner world, it shouldn't be too difficult to encounter a Nascent Soul True Monarch from the Western Regions."

"Then we can ask them about the situation."

"Or you could just buy a copy of the inheritance about spirit insects."

The Vast Ocean Secret Realm was much closer, and he had originally planned to go to the inner realm to search for treasures anyway.

It's basically just an extra little thing that happens along the way.

"I'm such a little genius!"

Xiao Chen was proud of his cleverness: "I actually came up with such a good idea."

Then a thought struck him: "That's right, there's also the exchange meeting that's about to take place!"

“There will be reclusive sects and the Qinglan Chamber of Commerce participating.”

"Perhaps they also have relevant intelligence, or ways to obtain intelligence."

"In any case, we can try asking when the time comes."

As the saying goes, you can try your luck whether you have dates or not.

Asking about the situation doesn't cost any money, so why not?

If this can truly solve the problem, we can start cultivating Soul-Devouring Fire Cockroaches sooner.

This is something you should definitely enjoy as soon as you have it.

Although a fifth-order spirit insect is definitely no match for a true Nascent Soul cultivator.

But to possess a fifth-tier spirit insect while still in the Nascent Soul stage is simply incredible.

"Yes, this matter needs to be taken seriously and treated as a serious matter."

Xiao Chen secretly decided that he would start cultivating the Soul-Devouring Fire Cockroach as soon as possible without taking up too much of his energy.

Then, thinking that since we were already there, we decided to stay.

He also looked through the rest of the books in the library and took the opportunity to learn more about the Jinxia Sect.

"Wait a minute, something's not right."

Xiao Chen suddenly realized that, according to the records in the Scripture Pavilion, the Golden Cloud Sect should also have a guardian spirit beast at the mid-Nascent Soul stage.

The problem is that he's been here for several days and hasn't noticed anything amiss.

It should be noted that Nascent Soul spirit beasts are enormous in size.

He also didn't find any so-called habitat near Shengxia Mountain.

Surely it's not that the Golden Cloud Sect mistreats its own guardian spirit beast?
Honestly, that's a bit unlikely.

For a beast-taming sect, spirit beasts are practically pillars, even equivalent to a second supreme elder.

There is absolutely no reason why they should be treated unfairly.

Out of curiosity, after reading the rest of the books, Xiao Chen went outside to ask Golden Whip True Monarch for details.

As soon as he finished asking the question, he saw a strange expression on the other person's face.

It was as if he was embarrassed, or as if he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Alas, Fellow Daoist Xiao, you are unaware of this matter... it's a long story."

Golden Whip True Monarch subconsciously shook his head slightly, revealing a helpless bitter smile: "To be honest, our sect does indeed have another Gray Feather True Monarch."

"However, I don't usually like to stay at the sect."

"This story begins nearly ten thousand years ago, at that time..."

It took the Golden Whip True Lord about half an hour to explain the whole story.

In short, nearly 10,000 years ago, the ancestors of the Jinxia Sect accidentally obtained a bird egg while exploring north of the Storm Sea with their friends.

As a beast tamer, that True Lord certainly wouldn't think of cooking it and tasting it like Xiao Chen did.

Instead, they brought them back and carefully nurtured them, hoping to add another True Monarch-level combatant to the sect.

The result was one good news and one bad news.

The good news is that the spirit bird actually underwent a bloodline mutation during its growth, gaining additional innate abilities.

The bad news is that the mutation is actually aimed at longevity, rather than the combat power that the Jinxia Faction lacks.

That's right, that 'Grey Feather True Monarch' has lived for nearly ten thousand years.

If the Golden Whip True Lord were to encounter it, he would have to address it as Grand Master Uncle according to seniority.

This raises a problem.

That means that starting from the previous generation, no one in the Golden Cloud Sect has been able to control this spirit bird.

In terms of seniority, it holds the highest seniority within the entire sect.

In terms of strength, over such a long period of time, that spirit bird had already cultivated to the great perfection of the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

He was stuck at a minor bottleneck simply because his understanding of the Great Dao was insufficient.

Anyway, he's much more powerful than the Golden Whip True Monarch, who's only at the early Nascent Soul stage.

Therefore, this 'living ancestor' was too lazy to listen to the opinions of his juniors and did not want to contribute to the sect.

They spend their days eating and waiting to die, doing nothing.

My biggest hobby is going to Beihai to catch some spirit fish whenever I have free time.

At first, I would only go there occasionally.

Then he started running back and forth between the two ends.

Then it became a matter of coming back only occasionally.

In the end, he simply chose not to come back when there was nothing else to do.

"I'm not afraid of being laughed at by Fellow Daoist Xiao if I tell you this."

The Golden Whip True Lord spoke with a hint of self-deprecation: "Unless we encounter a catastrophe that wipes out our entire clan, I'm afraid we can no longer ask that person for help."

"But even so, we can't really turn against each other."

"We have no choice but to just let things take their course."

Having been released for so long without any restraint, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it has become a wild monster.

But as Golden Whip True Lord said, what can they do?

There's nothing we can do about it, so we can only let it drag on like this.

Let's see if we can wait until that 'Grey Feather True Lord' changes his mind.

Alternatively, another powerful Nascent Soul True Monarch could emerge from within the sect, be tamed again, and brought back.

"I see, that's quite a strange thing."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Chen offered a few words of comfort.

Then the two exchanged some polite words.

Midway through, Golden Whip True Lord enthusiastically summoned three disciples from his sect, saying he wanted to demonstrate their skills to Xiao Chen.

However, the focus is not on their own abilities, but on the three mutated spirit beasts they each tamed.

The first one is a two-headed tiger that possesses both ice and fire powers.

The second one is the Flip-Winged Bird, whose maximum sprint speed is twice as fast as the fastest Spirit Shuttle.

The third one is the most interesting; it's a mutated iron-eating beast that possesses the ability to forge its body.

It can imitate the martial arts techniques of body cultivators, and it's not just for show; it's a real skill that can be used in actual combat.

Xiao Chen nodded slightly after reading it: "Hey, not bad."

"I like to tell the truth, and these three spirit beasts do look quite distinctive."

"Especially this iron-eating beast, it seems destined for greatness in the future."

His words were half sincere and half a compliment.

But it also made Golden Whip True Monarch very happy, his face full of a genuine smile: "Since they can receive praise from Fellow Daoist Xiao, it means that they have indeed done a good job."

The three disciples smiled upon hearing this, feeling very happy.

This is praise from the True Lord, something I can boast about to my fellow disciples in the future.

"Since I've seen the performance, I naturally won't leave empty-handed. However, since this is our first meeting, I couldn't prepare anything special beforehand."

Xiao Chen pulled out a bottle of third-tier spirit pills from the Tianyin Sect's warehouse from his storage ring: "Here is a bottle of Winter Grass Gathering Yuan Pills, which also contains three pills."

"You guys should be able to use it, go and distribute it."

Since he had borrowed someone else's library, he should show his appreciation regardless of how much he gained, especially since third-tier spirit pills weren't worth much to him.

Nevertheless, the three disciples all showed joy upon seeing the elixir.

They all turned to look at their own True Lord, their eyes filled with anticipation.

"Oh, Fellow Daoist Xiao, you're too kind."

Golden Whip True Monarch smiled at Xiao Chen first, then turned to instruct, "Since Fellow Daoist Xiao is so inclined, then you may proceed."

The leading disciple then stepped forward, respectfully accepted the elixir with both hands, and the three of them bowed and expressed their gratitude.

Then they exchanged some ordinary pleasantries.

Xiao Chen then got up to take his leave.

This time, he deliberately went to the south side, and after passing through Jingkong Sea, he came directly to the front of Wanxian Islands.

He had walked this road once before.

If you revisit the same place, it feels like nothing has changed.

But that's normal, after all, it's only been less than six years, which is quite short for the cultivation world, so it's hard for anything to change much.

Xiao Chen deliberately slowed down and scanned the sign below with his divine sense.

Ironically, Chen Xiao's wanted poster is still hanging there.

Surprisingly, the number one spot still belongs to that white-bearded guy who doesn't have a portrait.

Xiao Chen noticed that his information had been updated, now appearing to be at the peak of the Golden Core stage.

Meanwhile, his total bounty has increased from the original 4.8 million spirit stones to 5.2 million spirit stones.

"Five million spirit stones is enough for me to make a trip to the new cultivation world."

Xiao Chen was quite shocked when he saw this number back then, and he is still somewhat tempted now: "If I could meet this guy, it would be a windfall."

Of course, it's okay if you don't meet them.

Firstly, he has enough spirit stones for the time being.

Of course, no one would complain about having too much of this stuff; if you could get another five million in windfall, that would be a good thing too.

Secondly, Xiao Chen is currently on his way to settle scores with the Jin family of Wanxian Island.

After it's all over, we should be able to seize another one or two million spirit stones.

(End of this chapter)