Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 96 Transformation of the Insect Embryo's Divine Sense and Precious Light
Once the insect eggs enter the body, even Fang Shu's extremely poisonous flesh and blood become nourishment for the insect eggs, and even a great tonic.

Tiny cracks immediately appeared on the surface of the gold-seeking beetle eggs, as if they were about to hatch.

This made Fang Shu frown slightly, and he said in a low voice, "Now is not the time for you to hatch."

He extended a finger and touched his own brow, using his qi and blood to forcibly immobilize the restless insect eggs.

Fang Shu then focused on circulating the Qi and blood in his body, directing it all upwards to his face, and began to repeatedly cleanse it, using his brow as the core.

A metallic sheen also appeared on his face, making him look as if he were wearing a silver iron mask.

At this moment, Fang Shu was operating the "Secret Technique of Lead-Mercury Blood Treasure Seed Artifact" to refine the Gold-Seeking Insect Egg into his own artifact embryo.

From insect egg to embryo, and then to the natal Gu worm.

This three-step process was a method of refining Gu that Fang Shu had devised for himself.

Although the eggs of the gold-seeking insect have not yet hatched, this solitary insect can reproduce, and the number of offspring that reproduce at one time is not large. It often passes on some spiritual and ferocious qualities to its offspring, allowing it to sense good or bad fortune in the outside world while still in the egg, making it easier to decide whether to hatch or not.

At that moment, the gold-seeking insect egg sensed the danger and immediately began to wriggle frantically, trying to break out of its shell and escape the perilous situation.

Unfortunately, Fang Shu had been preparing for this day for a long time.

Without even lifting his eyelids, he merely moved his sleeve slightly, and a precious pearl appeared in his hand. He then held the pearl and pressed it between his eyebrows.

A surge of metallic poison appeared, pressing down on the Gold-Seeking Insect Egg, numbing it both inside and out. The poison also impacted the faint spiritual energy within the egg, allowing Fang Shu to refine it more effectively.

When the life force inside the insect egg begins to fluctuate, Fang Shu will promptly remove the lead essence pearl to allow the insect egg to catch its breath and stimulate its blood and qi, nourishing it generously.

As this process was repeated and carefully rubbed, the gold-seeking insect eggs struggled more and more helplessly.

Time passed, and Fang Shu had been sitting cross-legged in the tunnel for three days and nights without eating or drinking.

At this moment, the spirituality within the gold-seeking insect egg had been completely annihilated by his blood and qi, replaced by a glimmer of spiritual light that was reborn within it by his blood and qi.

Ordinary Gu worms retain their own spirituality after being refined into Gu, even if it is extremely weak; they are still independent individuals. However, natal Gu worms are completely different. They require the Gu master to become one with them, without distinction.

Once properly refined, the natal Gu worm becomes essentially an organ within the Gu master's body. Even if it can detach from the Gu master, the faint consciousness within it is still a continuation of the Gu master himself.

Therefore, when the original spirituality within the Gold-Seeking Insect Egg is completely replaced by Fang Shu's extended consciousness, the item is considered successfully refined.

At this moment, Fang Shu finally released the suppression of the insect eggs and instead actively fed them with qi and blood to help the insect hatch.

For a moment, his brow twitched.

After jumping a few times, a cracking sound seemed to come from between Fang Shu's eyebrows, and a tiny worm appeared between them.

This flesh worm is the larva of the gold-seeking worm. Its first step after hatching is to devour its own eggshell. Then it wriggles in the flesh of the square bundle, greedily inhaling and exhaling blood and qi. Based on instinct, it seeks out a place with richer and more abundant blood and qi to nourish itself.

Fang Shu had also opened his eyes, and a dazed look appeared in them.

In a way, he could sense the various conditions of the gold-seeking larvae, as well as the waves of hunger emanating from their bodies.

This feeling, which is similar to multitasking but not quite, is extremely mysterious and difficult to describe.

Although he was in a daze, it did not stop Fang Shu from immediately restraining the gold-seeking larvae's movements, lest the creature actually burrow into his eyes or internal organs and cause a serious mistake.

Confined by the square bundle, the gold-seeking larva only climbed a few millimeters before finally settling in the middle of the bundle's forehead. It then wriggled outwards, breaking through the bundle's membrane and revealing its body.

The insect landed on Fang Shu's forehead like a golden thread, and because it was crooked, it seemed to become Fang Shu's third eye, tightly closed.

Its golden color, though it is an insect, adds a touch of nobility to Fang Shu, and outsiders cannot tell the difference.

After carefully checking several more times to confirm that the insect was safe, Fang Shu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, he had already refined the Gold-Seeking Larva into a Natal Artifact Embryo. He only needed to raise it into a Qi Refining Gu Worm or a Fourth Tribulation Gu Worm before he could obtain a genuine Natal Gu!

By then, he will be a true Gu Master.

Overjoyed, Fang Shu drew upon a great deal of vital energy from his own body to nourish the flesh worm in his forehead.

In an instant, all sorts of profound and enlightening feelings emanated from the Gold-Seeking Larva and appeared in his heart, which he came to know.

These insights are precisely the various habits passed down from the adult gold-seeking insects, which help the larvae find a better place to live. And now, these habits also help Fang Shu to better control and raise this insect.

"So that's how it is. No wonder the Gold-Seeking Beetle has no fixed shape when it matures, and it changes according to what it eats." Fang Shu suddenly realized.

The Dragon-Seeking Gold-Touching Insect is not actually good at finding dragons and gold or pursuing spiritual energy and metal. These strengths are actually just to help them find powerful resources to promote their own growth and reproduction.

Its true strength lies in its ability to absorb the properties of what it eats, enhance itself, and transform into different forms. Furthermore, since dragons and metals are extremely powerful and hard objects in the world, gold-seeking insects often admire them, attempting to attach themselves to them and absorb a few strands of dragon energy and metal energy, hoping to become powerful and hard.

Therefore, in the eyes of the world, they became associated with dragon corpses and precious gold.

In reality, apart from the dragon, other powerful corpses and precious medicines are also attractive to the Gold-Seeking Insects, as they can help them grow and reproduce. The fresher the corpse, the better.

However, because these insects are weak and often live alone, not in swarms, they cannot hunt or even snatch fresh carcasses, so they can only eat scraps.

Realizing this, Fang Shu's eyes flickered for a moment.

His thoughts suddenly shifted from the insect's ability to "seek out dragons and find gold" to its ability to "parasitize and transform."

This ability is initially weak, and even if one were to actually obtain and devour the corpse of a dragon, it doesn't mean that the Dragon-Seeking Gold-Touching Insect can transform itself into a dragon insect.

But its wonder lies in the fact that the gold-seeking beetle can not only devour one thing, but can devour multiple things, and to a certain extent, it can undergo transformation through molting.

They can even combine several characteristics into one, making it easier for them to survive in different regions.

Because of this, the gold-hunting worm can live underground, underwater, and even in magma.

Fang Shu pondered this point, and a surge of joy welled up within him. He thought to himself:

"Such an ability, when placed on insects, would only help them adapt to their environment, but in my hands, it seems it could be developed into many wonderful uses!"

For example, he could make the Gold-Seeking Insect devour other Gu insects, absorbing their characteristics to make it easier to manage them and act as the leader.

For example, he could treat the Gold-Seeking Insect as a magical artifact and try to refine it by incorporating secret texts into it, to see if he could obtain a versatile magical artifact.

For example, he could refine the gold-seeking insect into an organ on his body, giving himself an extra heart, lung, stomach, and so on. Moreover, he could modify it later, making it easier for him to move in the soil, water, and fire...

However, all of the above are just Fang Shu's ideas at this moment. Whether these ideas can be put into practice depends on subsequent attempts.

After a moment of contemplation, Fang Shu touched his forehead, his face filled with anticipation.

The gold-seeking beetle's ability to "change" undoubtedly gives it an extra layer of adaptability.

His choice of this insect as his natal insect may not be considered brilliant, but at least in the future, this insect will not be completely useless; rather, it can be used in accordance with local conditions and changing times.

Making this insect your life's treasure is definitely worth it!
As he pondered, Fang Shu suppressed his distracting thoughts and thought to himself:
"Moreover, for me now, this insect is the perfect match."

With a thought, a burst of golden light suddenly trembled and hummed on his forehead.

It was the twisted gold-seeking insect's thread that was emitting light, as if a tightly closed eye had opened a crack.

Fang Shu and the insect are already connected by blood and share the same consciousness; the insect's body is his body.

In a daze, even though his eyes were tightly closed, wisps of spiritual energy appeared before him, some thick, some thin, some above, some below.

Before he even entered a meditative state, spiritual energy materialized before him, and it was clearer and more intuitive than he had ever perceived before.

Besides the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, he also saw various kinds of golden energy around him, and in a certain direction, a faint light of treasure appeared, causing the worm-like lines on his forehead to tremble slightly, showing a look of longing.

Fang Shu suddenly felt that he had gained a new way of perceiving the world, hearing what he could not see, and being able to observe things that could not be seen with the naked eye.

The surrounding feng shui and landforms were all presented in his mind in a visual way.

Such an ability seems to be somewhat similar to the divine sense described in the book.

The ability of divine consciousness is something that can only be born after a Qi-refining immortal has condensed their Yin spirit and soul.

After a long while, Fang Shu slowly opened his two naked eyes.

The spiritual energy he saw was still there, not an illusion, but it had dimmed a bit due to unfamiliarity and the influence of his naked eyes.

Fang Shu looked around at the terrain and landforms, examining and comparing them one by one. His understanding of a certain spell also increased dramatically in an instant, giving rise to many wonderful ideas.

This brought an undisguised joy to his face, and he couldn't help but whisper:

"Searching for dragons and robbing gold is not wrong either."

Immediately.

Fang Shu squinted and looked at the place where the "insect eye" could see a faint light of treasure.

Perhaps, besides the great joy of obtaining the embryo of one's natal insect, there may be other joyous events.

(End of this chapter)