Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 318 The Cicada Sheds Its Shell: The True Meaning of the Owner
Fang Shu repeatedly rubbed the dead skin in his hands and infused it with his true energy, but the skin still showed no reaction.

Clearly, this item requires specific techniques or internal energy to reveal its true nature; once obtained, it is difficult for others to use.

After a few moments of contemplation, Fang Shu suddenly had an idea: he could perhaps turn this object into something useful for himself.

However, he did not rush to test it, but first put the piece of dead skin into his sleeve.

"If it weren't for my elder sister, we might have missed out on such a treasure."

Fang Shu composed himself and nodded to Fang Lu with a smile.

He then scanned the black rat's other belongings with his divine sense, not even missing the charred remains of the creature.

Unfortunately, there was nothing else unusual about the rest, so Fang Shu could only have Fang Lu collect all of these things, either to fertilize the fields or to smelt them.

This matter is now closed.

Without further delay, Fang Shu prepared to get up and leave.

However, Fang Lu was very careful. He tilted his head slightly and then took out a small insect from his ear.

"Brother Shu, this is the Gu worm I told you about before. These past few days, as you said, I have been nurturing this worm with my true qi, and I am able to awaken it a little."

"Please accept this; it will be of assistance when you descend the mountain."

Fang Shu glanced at the small insect in Fang Lu's hand and realized that it was the Foundation Establishment Gu Insect that he had lent to Fang Lu in the secret realm.

When they left the secret realm, Fang Lu had actually mentioned this insect, saying that it had crawled into her ear and was lying there motionless. She asked Fang Shu if he had any way to remove it.

However, at that time, Fang Shu had not yet established a foundation, and since the insect did not seem to have any effect on Fang Lu, he simply instructed the other party to nurture it with true qi and to pay attention to its movements.

At present, Xia Shu is already a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and he has forged his Dao Meridian, which allows him to transform into a Dao Insect. With just one glance, he could see the uniqueness of this Golden Cicada Gu Insect.

Squinting, Fang Shu felt a surge of surprise and doubt, thinking to himself: "The Dragon Master is dead, so how come there are still a few traces of the Dragon Master's aura on this Gu worm?"
Could this thing be the Dragon Master's natal Gu worm...? But if so, it should die with the Dragon Master.

A multitude of thoughts swirled in Fang Shu's mind.

Soon, he thought of the wonder of blood regeneration in the Blood Mother Scripture, as well as the wonder of his own flesh and blood differentiation.

Fang Shu stared intently at the tiny Gu worm, his gaze suddenly becoming deep and unfathomable.

Fang Lu, noticing the slight change in Fang Shu's expression, asked curiously, not understanding why:
"Have you figured out the details of this Gu worm? I've inquired about it several times in the temple recently, and I've heard of a strange worm called the Six-Winged Golden Cicada, which is similar to it."

Upon hearing this, Fang Shu slowly said, "I have also heard of that strange insect, but I don't know whether the six-winged cicada has six wings or six pairs of wings."

He then said with a meaningful look in his eyes:

"But it is said that the cicada can conceal its life and death, and shed its shell to be reborn. It is an extremely good gu insect for preserving its life. In ancient fairy tales, there is even a saying that the cicada's song can move the river of time, allowing powerful beings to be resurrected."

Such Gu worms, regardless of size or quality, are extremely rare.

Upon hearing this, Fang Lu's expression immediately changed, and she quickly spoke up:

"Since it is such a strange insect, Brother Shu, you should quickly accept it. It might just help you get through this calamity."

However, Fang Shu picked up the little cicada that was dozing off and simply smiled as he stroked its abdomen with his fingers, playing with it for a while.

He then flicked the cicada at Fang Lu, and threw it back into the man's ear.

He chuckled softly:

"This insect was left behind by the Dragon Master. Now that you are in charge of the Gu Hall, you should get its help."

Seeing that Fang Lu was about to decline, Fang Shu waved his hand:

"No need to be polite. It didn't make a sound when it was in my hands. It only flew out to accompany you now that it's in your hands, which proves that you two are destined to be together."

From now on, treat this cicada well. As for me, I don't lack such a Gu worm.

As he spoke, Fang Shu's sleeves fluttered.

With a buzzing sound, five-colored poisonous insects flew out from his body. Although their number was much smaller, each one had the aura of a seventh-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, and was no ordinary insect.

After showing it off, Fang Shu took one last look at the golden cicada and then sent a telepathic message to the other party, saying that although this creature was rare, he must remember to drive it away when he was building his foundation and undergoing tribulation in the future.

Having said that, he solemnly cupped his hands in a respectful gesture:

"When will we leave the mountain? Shu still cannot determine."

I hope you will take good care of yourself in the future.

Faced with Fang Shu's formal greeting, Fang Lu was surprised. Her throat tightened slightly, but she nodded solemnly and bowed in response.
"I will certainly take good care of this Gu Hall and await your return to the mountain!"

The siblings smiled at each other.

Without lingering any longer, Fang Shu flew away from the Gu Hall, enveloped in peach blossom smoke.

Fang Lu then quickly walked out of the quiet room.

She watched him until he was outside the hall, gazing in the direction where Fang Shu had disappeared, before reluctantly turning her gaze away.

The woman looked dejected and was about to turn around and walk back into the hall when she suddenly felt an itch in her ear: "Huh."

It turned out to be the cicada in the ear that had been pretending to be dead and dozing off. Suddenly, it stirred and seemed to have finally been startled awake.

Fang Lu felt a strange sensation in her heart.

But lately, this cicada had been waking up and not really obeying her commands. In addition, Fang Shu had revealed his plans to go down the mountain today, so she was preoccupied and didn't bother to pay attention to the insect's movements.

Fang Lu merely summoned his inner energy and fed the golden cicada a few strands before calming himself down and hurriedly going to manage the affairs of the Gu Hall.

the other side.

After leaving the Gu Hall, Fang Shu went straight to the Scripture Hall of the Five Internal Organs Temple.

When he returned to the scripture hall, he wore a deer-head waist tag, allowing him to enter and exit without hindrance. He didn't need to ask permission from the immortals guarding the hall; he could simply slip in as if he were in an empty place.

The first floor, the second floor, and even the third floor.

After wandering around and becoming thoroughly familiar with the entire scripture hall, Fang Shu arrived at the bookshelf containing information on Gu Dao techniques.

Without any hesitation, he released his divine sense, multitasking as he browsed through various books on Gu Dao on the bookshelf, simultaneously nourishing his own Dao insect's intestines and searching for more records about the Golden Cicada.

After this investigation, Fang Shu's expression became even more unusual.

"Indeed, even in death, the spirit remains; like a cicada shedding its shell, it seems that the Gu worm truly was Master Long's backup plan. But I wonder what Master Long's true intention is in doing this..."

Fang Shu pondered, his eyes slightly closed, his mind churning.

The reason why Long Gu left such a golden cicada on him as a backup plan could be that she had ulterior motives and wanted to use him as a tool; it could also be that she wanted to leave behind a legacy to protect him, the only heir of the Gu Hall; or it could simply be Long Gu's way of protecting his own life.

However, these things are meaningless to the other side now.

Since this cicada and the deer seem to be connected and appear harmless, we'll see what happens later.

After thinking it over, Fang Shu pulled himself out of his thoughts. He opened his eyes, his mind returning to the dead skin he had just acquired.

It is said that he has no affinity with cicadas, but he is destined to be with dead skin, which is worth pondering carefully.

And just so happens, the most mysterious aspect of his Dao Insect incarnation is that it can devour secret texts and comprehend the principles of heaven and earth.

Regardless of what method is needed to open this dead skin, Fang Shu only needs to transform into a Dao worm and gnaw on it.

However, Fang Shu, standing in the scripture hall, managed to suppress this impulse.

He first absorbed all the books in the scripture hall into his mind, thoroughly filling the stomach of the Daoist worm.

In this way, we might be able to find a way to open it without damaging the dead skin.

And so.

For the next few days, Fang Shu stayed in the scripture hall.

The vast collection of books, thousands of spells, tens of thousands of secret texts and miscellaneous books, as well as poems, songs and essays... all flowed into his mind like water, being absorbed into his Daoist worm's intestines.

Because of the limited time, he didn't have time to analyze these newly acquired classics, so he just buried himself in reading them and trying to memorize them.

The sheer number of books overwhelmed him, leaving him completely bewildered and staggering as he walked.

Fortunately, in order to prevent others from knowing about his abnormality, Fang Shu directly used the deer beast token to seal off the entire scripture hall, prohibiting outsiders from entering.

Therefore, no one knew about his shameful behavior.

Finally, four days passed.

Fang Shu had moved the entire temple of internal organs into his own insect belly, so he could access the collected books at any time.

He sat cross-legged, feeling dizzy, and rested for half a day before he recovered.

Opening his eyes, Fang Shu let out a long sigh:

"The foundation of this sect is truly remarkable. In just four or five days, it feels as if I have acquired books that I could only access in five lifetimes."

Once he came to his senses, his face was filled with a deep sense of fulfillment and joy.

With so many books to fill his belly, he only needs to slowly analyze and digest them in the future, and his foundation will far surpass that of many old immortals who have been in the Foundation Establishment stage for many years.

This will undoubtedly be a great help to his path to achieving the Golden Elixir!
Fang Shuxin felt fortunate: "If it weren't for the critical moment when the Five Internal Organs Temple was in turmoil, even if I came from the Dao lineage, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to acquire so many classics in one go."

But amidst his joy, he touched the deer-shaped token at his waist, his brow furrowing slightly.

Over the course of four days, although he only skimmed through all the books without truly digesting them, he still gained a general understanding of the classic texts that were consuming his internal organs.

As a result, he neither found a way to unlock the dead skin inheritance among the numerous classic texts, nor did he discover a way to achieve the Golden Elixir.

This undoubtedly proves that the warning given by the Deer Cart Immortal that "there is no true Dharma in the temple" is indeed true!
Fang Shu examined the deer-head token with a deep, unsettling gaze.

But he didn't dwell on it for long. He quickly relaxed his brow and silently told himself that he should be content.

Immediately afterwards, Fang Shu got up and swaggered out of the prayer hall.

He had been flipping through books for five whole days, and his head was almost numb from reading. It was time to go home and rest, and also to digest that dead skin inheritance.

Suddenly, before he even stepped out of the main hall, he discovered someone blocking his way at the entrance—a strange Foundation Establishment Immortal.

Seeing this, Fang Shu subconsciously assumed that the other party was probably here to cause trouble because he had occupied the scripture hall for four or five days.

As soon as the man saw Fang Shu, he smiled and cupped his hands in greeting. Various books and objects flew out from his sleeves.

The earth immortal smiled and said, "Greetings, Fellow Daoist Fang Shu. I work in the Household Hall, and my Daoist name is Bimo."

These are all books and volumes from Fellow Daoist Yan Ya's possession. I've heard you're also a voracious reader, so I had my servants bring them all out. I'd be grateful if you could help me verify them.”

Fang Shu was slightly taken aback, then smiled and bowed to express his gratitude: "Greetings, fellow Daoist of Brush and Ink. Senior is truly kind."

While all of Yan Ya Di Xian's wealth and possessions were to be confiscated, his collection of books and other valuables naturally needed to be inventoried before being confiscated.

This act by the Immortal of Ink was undoubtedly a way of offering a flower to the immortal, a gesture of goodwill to Fang Shu, so as to avoid Fang Shu holding a grudge and going to the household hall.

The Immortal of Brush and Ink smiled and said, "Why are you being so polite? It is we who should thank Fellow Daoist Fang Shu."

The two smiled at each other.

After delivering the books, the Immortal of Pen and Ink nodded and drifted away, leaving only one of his disciples on site to hand them over to Fang Shuyi.

In this way, all sorts of beast-raising prescriptions and beast-taming notes accumulated by the Immortal Yan Ya suddenly flooded into Fang Shu's eyes.

Fang Shu glanced through them and found that although many of the books were similar to those in the scripture hall, there were also many others that the scripture hall did not have.

He was immediately horrified after reading some of the methods for controlling beasts.

Fang Shu sighed inwardly: "If we hadn't caught that Flame Crow Earth Immortal off guard and trapped him in the Gu Hall Valley, and had he really set up the Fire Crow and Fire Sparrow Formation... I'm afraid we really wouldn't have been able to do anything to him."

He silently warned himself that even as a Dao lineage member, he must never underestimate other Foundation Establishment Immortals in the future.

Afterwards, he spent more than half a day studying the scriptures in the scripture hall before calmly returning to his cave to begin his seclusion.

...............

Inside the cave.

Fang Shu took out the piece of dead skin from the black rat, immediately transformed into a Dao insect, and pounced on it.

The grayish-brown secret characters on the dead skin, once eaten by the Dao worms, immediately sparked bursts of spiritual light.

The entire skin seemed to come alive, twisting and writhing in mid-air, even trying to pounce on Fang Shu's flesh and devour him.

But this thing is ultimately just an "inanimate object," not even a magic weapon.

It was immediately suppressed by Fang Shu's magic, and Fang Shu no longer tried to probe it. He directly used his mouth to forcibly steal the words inside the dead skin.

Buzz!

The text was lost, the dead skin gradually stopped moving, the light dissipated, and it fell to the ground.

At the same time, cryptic characters appeared in Fang Shu's mind, gradually becoming clearer and forming a mantra that was unpredictable.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes, his gaze revealing surprise.

Fang Shu recited, “The True Explanation of the Skin Bag as a Master”.

On this dead skin, there was clearly a record of a foundation-building method comparable to the Blood Mother's True Scripture, which could also lead to the completion of the elixir.

It can enslave demonic beasts, making them recognize the cultivator as their master and be enslaved by him for life.

Even if a demon beast dies in battle, the cultivator can refine it into a skin, using it as a skin, and then either wear it on themselves or on others to continue to drive and enslave them.

Furthermore, if immortals use this method to tame demonic beasts from a young age and feed them with their essence and true energy, they can later skin the beasts and wear their own skin on them to devour them and aid their own cultivation!
(End of this chapter)