Brocade Handkerchief Warriors

Chen Ganliu thought it over, then cut in, "If Senior Sisters like liveliness, why not take a leisurely trip to Plum Blossom Mountain?"

"I heard the six Great Saints of Plum Blossom Mountain are holding a Spirit Basin Assembly to deliver ten-thousand-year ghost cultivators from suffering. It's bound to be quite a spectacle."

Chen Ganliu had happened to hear about this in his previous life. The Spirit Basin Assembly at Plum Blossom Mountain had indeed been unprecedentedly grand, but for a mere Second Layer of Qi Condensation minor cultivator, such a grand event was simply "none of his business." He did not even have the ability to cross thousands of mountains and rivers to get there.

What was more, a mere Second Layer of Qi Condensation minor cultivator might catch the eye of some great demon and become food in its mouth in the blink of an eye.

Back then, Senior Sister Jiang would not even let him go to Jinyun Mountain, worried about the danger. Plum Blossom Mountain was hundreds or thousands of times more dangerous than Jinyun Mountain, so Chen Ganliu had not even dared entertain the thought of going.

Even now, he was actually completely uninterested in the Spirit Basin Assembly. That kind of bustle was not something a minor cultivator who had only reached the stage of Boiling Liquid into Qi at the Second Layer of Qi Condensation could join. Chen Ganliu was merely thinking that if he had the chance to go to Plum Blossom Mountain, he could search the nearby area. If he could find the place where Qiu Sheng had died in meditation, perhaps he could save Yun Susu in the future—and change Senior Sister Jiang's fate as well.

Jiang Ningxue's eyes brightened slightly. Clearly, she wanted to go, but she immediately shook her head and said, "Plum Blossom Mountain is one of the five sacred lands of the Demon Race. All six mountain masters are Great Sun Saints. Zhanrou and I are both cultivators, so going there would make us too conspicuous. I'm afraid it would be dangerous."

In order to go to Plum Blossom Mountain, Chen Ganliu hurriedly said, "I have a way to conceal a cultivator's spiritual aura."

He then told them about the Seventy-Two Transformations Insect Art.

The two women listened with great interest. Although the Seventy-Two Transformations Insect Art was a low-grade minor technique, it did have some ingenious uses. As for its extremely high entry requirements, those were only a problem for Chen Ganliu. Both women were in the Golden Core Realm; learning such a minor spell was like building a high platform on level ground—easy enough to accomplish in a single stroke.

Jiang Ningxue smiled. "I never thought the world held such a wondrous spell, one that can transform into all kinds of insects."

Xie Zhanrou's eyes rolled around as she said, "I refuse to transform into any ugly insects. Butterflies, bees, and fireflies would be fine, though."

Jiang Ningxue asked, "Little Junior Brother, what demon insect are you planning to transform into?"

Chen Ganliu gave an embarrassed smile. "My cultivation hasn't reached that level yet. I can't transform into any demon insect. I only hope to have a little demonic aura to conceal my identity."

Jiang Ningxue smiled faintly, took out six or seven crystal bottles, and handed them to Chen Ganliu. "Senior Sister can't just accept your thanks without giving anything in return after teaching you such a marvelous spell. I'll give you a few insects."

To cultivate the Seventy-Two Transformations Insect Art, one had to find suitable demon insects and extract their essence blood to cultivate the transformation technique.

The more ordinary the demon insect one found, the more useless the resulting transformation would be. If the demon insect was an unusual species, the transformation would be somewhat better.

Chen Ganliu truly had never considered cultivating this technique before. For one thing, his cultivation was insufficient. For another, searching for unusual demon insects would take far too much time. He already felt he did not have enough time to cultivate the Azure Emperor Jia Yi Art properly, wishing there were forty-eight hours in a day. How could he be willing to waste time searching for some demon insects?

Each crystal bottle Jiang Ningxue had given him contained a demon insect. Every one of them was brilliantly multicolored and exceptionally dazzling.

Chen Ganliu took them and examined them carefully before crying out in surprise, "Could these be unusual Ice Silkworms produced on Great Snow Mountain?"

Xie Zhanrou smiled. "This one has eight or nine hundred years of cultivation. If insects didn't have such low intelligence, with this level of cultivation, it would already be capable of transforming into human form."

Chen Ganliu was greatly shocked. If an Ice Silkworm with nearly a thousand years of cultivation were released, its fierce chill would probably turn an entire county from summer into a bitterly cold winter. With his mere Third Layer of Qi Condensation cultivation, he would likely freeze to death on the spot just by reaching out to touch it.

He looked at another crystal bottle. Inside was a huge, brilliantly colored centipede that constantly sprayed rainbow-colored mist. A faint colored smoke also coiled around its body, startling him even more.

Although he did not recognize what unusual species this centipede was, he could tell that the demon insect's cultivation was profound. Heaven knew how many lives it had harmed, how many creatures it had killed, and how much essence blood it had swallowed. It had already developed a formidable power.

The colored mist it sprayed and the colored smoke coiling around its body were refined, highly poisonous demonic aura. An ordinary person who touched it would probably melt into a puddle of thick liquid. Even a Qi Cultivator could not withstand it without at least eight or nine layers of cultivation.

Another crystal bottle contained a spider that looked as though it were made of ice crystals. It constantly sprayed out transparent threads resembling silk, filling the bottle walls. Once there was no room left to move inside the bottle, it would take a desperate breath, and all the transparent threads would turn into freezing mist and be swallowed into its belly.

The chill of this Ice Spider was piercing, surpassing even that of the Ice Silkworm. Chen Ganliu had never heard that such an unusual demon insect existed in the world, and he could not help clicking his tongue in amazement.

The demon insects stored in the remaining crystal bottles were all extraordinarily powerful poisonous creatures.

Chen Ganliu thought, What kind of cultivation method does Senior Sister Jiang Ningxue practice? How can she have collected so many powerful poisonous insects?

Xie Zhanrou pondered for a moment before saying, "Senior Sister Jiang gave you something, so I can't fail to show my appreciation."

"However, I don't raise insects. I'll just give you a minor magical treasure."

Xie Zhanrou took out a stack of brocade handkerchiefs and handed them to Chen Ganliu. Chen Ganliu did not recognize what kind of treasure they were and asked, "Senior Sister Xie, what kind of magical treasure is this?"

Xie Zhanrou smiled. "Your magical power is too weak. You wouldn't be able to use other magical treasures."

"These are the Twelve Brocade Paired Warriors I refined myself. After magical power is infused into them, each brocade handkerchief can transform into a Divine General and be driven to handle odd jobs."

Chen Ganliu was overjoyed. He remained modest outwardly and declined several times before happily accepting them. He thought to himself, So this is a treasure like the Yellow Turban Warriors from ancient novels. I wonder what level Senior Sister Xie's Brocade Handkerchief Warriors are equivalent to?

If they have the power of the Third to Fifth Layer of Qi Condensation, they'd be excellent for protecting oneself. If they have the power of the Fifth or Sixth Layer, they could practically be treated as a family heirloom.

Encouraged by Chen Ganliu and having obtained the Seventy-Two Transformations Insect Art, Jiang Ningxue and Xie Zhanrou indeed set off again after resting for a night. They did not go to Three Saints Island, but headed straight for Plum Blossom Mountain.

Along the way, the two women constantly discussed how they would amuse themselves once they reached Plum Blossom Mountain, just like ordinary young girls.

Chen Ganliu, however, honestly continued cultivating throughout the journey. Nothing unexpected happened while he cultivated the Green Leaf Spirit Talisman and the Azure Emperor Jia Yi Art, but the Heaven Heavenly Demon Vein Shifting Method always felt somewhat wrong. A certain wisp of spiritual energy was constantly restless.

During the first few days, he worried that something might go wrong, so whenever he encountered it, he would skip over it for the time being and refrain from refining that wisp of spiritual energy. Later, Chen Ganliu thought, If I don't try refining it and see what changes occur, won't this wisp of spiritual energy go to waste?

In any case, I have two convenient Senior Sisters. If something goes wrong with my cultivation, they'll certainly lend me a hand.

Both of them are in the Golden Core Realm, while I'm only at the Second Layer of Qi Condensation. If there's any real danger, stopping me would take no more than the flick of a finger.

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