White Sun Needles and Seventy-Two Transformations Insect Art

Chen Ganliu remembered this matter not because Qiu Sheng had healing elixirs from the Jade Purity Feather Ascension Tower lineage. Even if he had possessed such elixirs, he had been grievously wounded at the time and had probably consumed them himself. How could he have left any behind?

He remembered it because among the several treasures Qiu Sheng had stolen from the Jade Purity Feather Ascension Tower lineage was a set of White Sun Needles. These needles were extraordinarily sinister and venomous, as fine as the hairs on a human body. Once they entered the body, they followed the flow of true qi into hiding within the apertures, specifically destroying the spirit meridians.

However, aside from overcoming enemies and securing victory, these needles could also be used to save people.

Their ability to mingle with true qi and travel throughout the body made them the finest treasure in the world for combing through meridians and expelling foreign true qi. If someone suffered internal injuries or had stagnant true qi, the needles could travel along with the qi and open up whatever passages were blocked.

In his previous life, Chen Ganliu had lacked the ability to search for Qiu Sheng's place of meditation near Plum Blossom Mountain. This life, however, was different. He now had two crucial advantages.

First, he had met Yang Xuesheng and addressed this only daughter of Yang Shiyilang, the great demon of Jinyun Mountain, as Junior Martial Uncle.

Although Jinyun Mountain was far from being comparable to Plum Blossom Mountain, demons often interacted with one another. There would certainly be a way to sneak into Plum Blossom Mountain.

Second, the best way to infiltrate the sacred mountain of the Demon Race was to turn himself into a demon.

In his previous life, Chen Ganliu had never dared to entertain such a thought. How could a spell capable of such a transformation be easy to obtain? But now he held the White Emperor's Discourse Collection, and this scroll of the Demon Race's cultivation secrets happened to contain a spell called the Seventy-Two Transformations Insect Art.

This spell was extremely difficult to cultivate, with an exceedingly high threshold, yet it was merely a low-grade minor art.

Without the cultivation of the Eighth Layer of Qi Condensation and Qi Refining Transformation, it was impossible to use it at will. Even with profound cultivation, after mastering it, one could only transform into various demonic insects. When transforming into insects, one's body became light and tiny, causing one's magic power to fall by several major levels. It was utterly useless in Magical Combat.

Chen Ganliu intended to use it to conceal his identity. For that purpose, the art was sufficient. He only needed to cultivate a body full of demonic qi, then he could claim to be a demon without being exposed by his "kind."

In truth, this world's distinction between humans and demons differed slightly from that of Earth.

On Earth, humans were humans, while demons were animals, plants, or even strange objects that had cultivated into sentience.

In this world, however, those who cultivated orthodox methods and possessed a body full of spiritual vitality were cultivators. Those who cultivated demonic methods and possessed a body full of turbid, sullied qi were demons. The distinction was based on whether the aura around one's body was pure or turbid.

Thus, although Yang Xuesheng was born in Jinyun Mountain and was the only daughter of the great demon Yang Shiyilang, she would suffer some discrimination within the immortal sects, yet the disciples of those sects still regarded her as a proper cultivator and would not treat her as a demon.

But if an ordinary person, without demonic blood or a nonhuman nature, failed to cultivate orthodox methods and instead specialized in demonic arts, filling their body with turbid, sullied qi, they too would be treated as a demon.

Among cultivators, there were orthodox cultivators, Demonic Cultivators, and Evil Cultivators, but there were no "Demon Cultivators." There were only demons.

Regardless of whether one was human or object, cultivating demonic arts made one a demon.

Chen Ganliu turned over and sat up, thinking secretly, This path may work. Besides, I don't know when Senior Martial Sister will come to visit Master again. I can use that chance to hide outside.

But my cultivation is still too low. If I leave now, dangers will be everywhere.

I'd better wait until I have perfected Condensing Qi into Apertures and forged a new spirit meridian before setting out to try my luck.

I hope Master and Senior Martial Sister remain safe during this period.

Chen Ganliu let out a faint sigh. Although he worried about Master and Senior Martial Sister, his cultivation was only at this level. He could do nothing, no matter what he wanted to accomplish.

After Yu Qinghong taught him the complete orthodox Green Leaf Spirit Talisman and the method for cultivating a Natal Spirit Talisman, she disappeared again, presumably to gather medicine for Master.

Chen Ganliu secluded himself in bitter cultivation every day, intending to first infuse the thirty-six Green Leaf Spirit Talismans into his apertures.

One had to know that every Green Leaf Spirit Talisman infused into an aperture could produce a thread of azure spiritual qi, bringing endless benefits to one's cultivation.

After Chen Ganliu returned to Dragon Cloud Cave, he gradually sensed that Master's condition might be extremely grave, because Senior Martial Sister came twice more. With Junior Martial Sister absent, Teacher still did not show himself.

The third time she came, Nan Shiheng did not leave. She waited outside Dragon Cloud Cave for half a day and happened to meet Junior Martial Sister upon her return. The two exchanged a few words outside the cave, but Nan Shiheng still did not enter. She handed Yu Qinghong a gourd of spirit pills, then rode Golden Radiance away.

When Yu Qinghong returned to the cave, she did not ask why he had failed to come out and greet her. Her face was haggard, and her complexion was terrible. Although she had not yet reached the point of sighing incessantly, the dejected air about her could not be concealed.

Chen Ganliu did not dare ask Junior Martial Sister for guidance in the Dao. He merely comforted Yu Qinghong a few times and said that he had been very well-behaved and had caused no trouble. After Yu Qinghong delivered the medicine to Master, she hurried away again.

Although he had once more avoided disaster and had not crossed paths with Senior Martial Sister, Chen Ganliu's sense of crisis only grew stronger. Yet it was still too soon to leave the Green Leaf Sect.

Chen Ganliu had also gone to the rear cave several times to pay his respects to Master, but Yun Susu had only given her eldest disciple the incantation for entering the meditation chamber. He could not get inside and could only sit quietly for half a day before returning dispiritedly.

After rising early this time, Chen Ganliu cultivated the Azure Emperor Jia Yi Art. Suddenly, one of his apertures loosened, and the thirtieth aperture burst open. Another Green Leaf Spirit Talisman fell inside, firmly occupying the aperture and producing wisps of true qi.

Chen Ganliu stopped cultivating the Azure Emperor Jia Yi Art and switched to the Heavenly Demon Vein Shifting Method, refining the threads of spiritual qi.

After these seven threads of spiritual qi had been purified, their miscellaneous and turbid qi removed, they had become the purest condensed spiritual qi. As he cultivated them, no demonic qi spilled out anymore.

Chen Ganliu knew that it would take a great deal of time to refine these seven threads of spiritual qi into spirit meridians, so he was not impatient. After refining for two hours, he changed to another one. When he reached the fifth thread of spiritual qi, it suddenly jerked.

Chen Ganliu was startled and thought, What does this portend?

Why is there no relevant record in the White Emperor's Discourse Collection?

Cultivating alone without guidance from elders had made Chen Ganliu cautious to the extreme. He hurriedly stopped cultivating, skipped over that thread of spiritual qi, and cultivated the remaining two. Nothing went wrong with either of them.

He thought secretly, My recent cultivation progress has been slightly faster than expected, but I still must not rush for quick results.

Senior Martial Sister comes every five days. By my calculations, she will come again today. I might as well stop cultivating for a day—for one thing, to calm my mind, and for another, to evade the danger.

Having made up his mind, Chen Ganliu rose and left Dragon Cloud Cave, deciding to visit the fellow disciples who had entered the sect at the same time as him and once lived together.

Although he did not actually want to have much to do with these people, since he had become a disciple of the Green Leaf Sect, he had to follow the prevailing custom to some extent.

The moment he left Dragon Cloud Cave, Chen Ganliu caught sight of a streak of Golden Radiance descending from the sky. He thought secretly, Why has Senior Martial Sister come earlier this time?

He did not dare look up or quicken his steps, maintaining an unhurried bearing. Yet he heard an incomparably familiar voice call from behind him, "Little Daoist, did you come to visit Dragon Cloud Cave too?"