The Wonderful Uses of the Spirit Control Tower

The jade slip records the exotic insects on the Heaven and Earth Exotic Insect Ranking, including their appearances, innate abilities, and habits.

The Heaven and Earth Exotic Insect Ranking was compiled by enthusiasts and serves as a useful reference.

The other two jade slips record the Azure Cloud Art and the Travels of Master Azure Cloud, respectively. The Azure Cloud Art is a cultivation technique that can be practiced up to the ninth level of the Qi Refining stage.

The Travels of Master Azure Cloud is a travelogue compiled by a rogue cultivator named Master Azure Cloud. He never managed to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm in his lifetime, but he traveled extensively throughout the Qin Kingdom and recorded his experiences.

The Travels of Master Azure Cloud provides a detailed account of the situation in the Qin Kingdom. The Qin Kingdom consists of twelve provinces and thirty-six counties, with five major powers, each backed by a Nascent Soul Cultivator: the Mystic Yang Sect, the Tyrant Blade Villa, the Spirit Control Sect, the Purple Firmament Gate, and the Seven Rosy Clouds Sect. The strongest among them is the Mystic Yang Sect.

There are also several small and medium-sized factions in the Qin Kingdom that serve as subsidiaries to the five major powers.

Shen Long is most interested in the Spirit Control Sect. According to the jade slip, the Spirit Control Sect is famous throughout the Qin Kingdom for its insect-taming and beast-taming techniques. Most of its disciples raise spirit beasts and insects, releasing them to assist in battle when facing enemies.

Over a hundred years ago, a group of evil cultivators wreaked havoc in the Qin Kingdom, harming many cultivators. Their leader was a Core Formation Cultivator, but the Snow Spider Fairy of the Spirit Control Sect stepped in and eliminated the leader, earning her great renown.

The Thousand Bamboo Mountain Range was once plagued by a third-rank Azure Wind Wolf that harmed many cultivators, but it was Master Azure Python of the Spirit Control Sect who stepped in and resolved the threat.

Shen Long's gaze shifted to the pile of spirit stones, his face showing joy.

He had ninety-two spirit stones of his own, and with the ones he seized, he now had a total of two hundred and sixty-seven spirit stones. This was a massive fortune, and he had also obtained three magical artifacts.

A horse cannot grow fat without night grass; a man cannot get rich without a windfall.

This was his first time killing someone. He only possessed two low-grade magical artifacts, but his three perfected spells played a crucial role, especially the Fireball Technique.

Shen Long picked up the wooden box, took out the Spirit Control Tower, and injected his mana into it.

The Spirit Control Tower lit up with a dazzling blue light, and a powerful suction force emerged, pulling him into the tower, where he appeared in a spacious and bright hall.

He walked over to the pool and placed the insect egg inside, wanting to see if there would be any changes.

He had tried lying in the pool before, but there were no abnormalities; the Spirit Control Tower was likely related to the cultivation of spirit beasts and insects.

Half a quarter of an hour passed, and the insect egg showed no changes.

Shen Long frowned, looking at the beast patterns on the stone wall.

He thought of something and walked over to the True Dragon pattern, placing his palm on the stone wall and attempting to inject mana, but there was nothing unusual.

He walked toward the Heavenly Phoenix pattern next to it and tried injecting mana.

Just like that, he went to each beast pattern one by one, attempting to inject mana into them.

After a while, he stood before a ferocious insect pattern. The insect had dozens of heads, a flat body, and a row of sickle-like claws under its abdomen, looking as if dozens of insects were tangled together.

He attempted to inject mana, and a shocking scene occurred: his mana uncontrollably surged toward the beast pattern, and the insect's eyes lit up, as if it had come to life, rotating incessantly.

Shen Long looked toward the pool and discovered a blue light glowing from within it.

His mana was quickly drained, leaving his face pale. He hurriedly took out two water-attribute spirit stones to absorb the spiritual energy and recover his mana.

His eyes were fixed on the pool, but the blue light faded, and there was nothing unusual about the pool.

After a while, Shen Long recovered some mana and walked toward the pool.

When he reached the side of the pool, he saw a black centipede about a foot long. On its back was a pair of snow-white thin wings, on its head was a pair of white antennae, and under its abdomen was a row of small white legs.

"Snow Wing Ice Centipede!"

Shen Long recognized the origin of the black centipede.

The Snow Wing Ice Centipede is ranked nine-hundredth on the Heaven and Earth Exotic Insect Ranking. It can exhale cold air, freezing an entire area, and is immune to water and fire. The higher its rank, the larger the area it can freeze.

This Snow Wing Ice Centipede was only a larva, so its strength was not high.

While surprised, Shen Long was also somewhat excited.

His gaze turned to the beast patterns on the wall, and a look of sudden realization appeared on his face. So, these patterns were useful; insect eggs that were difficult to hatch could be placed in the pool, and by injecting mana into the corresponding beast pattern, they could be hatched.

Shen Long ignored the Snow Wing Ice Centipede and left the Spirit Control Tower.

After emerging from the Spirit Control Tower, he put away the items on the ground and began to chant. His facial features became blurred, and a blue light shone on his head.

As the blue light faded, Shen Long had changed his appearance. Disguise techniques were known to many rogue cultivators, but they could only change one's appearance simply and could not alter one's aura or cultivation level.

He put away the spirit stones from the Soundproofing Array, pushed the door open, and walked out.

Half a quarter of an hour later, Shen Long appeared at the entrance of a five-story green pavilion. A lacquered gold square plaque bore the three silver characters: "Hundred Spirits Pavilion."

This was a shop specializing in the sale of spirit beasts and insects, belonging to the Li Clan.

Walking into the Hundred Spirits Pavilion, he was met with a spacious and bright hall. Behind the counters were rows of tall shelves displaying various insect eggs and containers, and the chirping of insects could be heard.

Shen Long arrived at a counter, and a young and beautiful maid in a green dress walked over quickly, saying enthusiastically, "Is there anything I can help you with, fellow Daoist?"

"I want to buy a type of spirit insect, the more powerful, the better," Shen Long said.

"Then you have come to the right place. This is the spirit insect catalog, which records all the spirit insects in our shop. You can take your time to choose, or I can introduce them to you."

The maid in the green dress took out a pale green magic disk and handed it to Shen Long.

Shen Long cast a spell, and the magic disk lit up with a green light, revealing a black earthworm pattern with a line of text next to it.

"Earth-Covering Earthworm, has a wide diet, can be used to loosen soil and improve soil fertility."

"Fire Cloud Scorpion, exhales flames, and its tail stinger contains highly toxic venom."

"The White Jade Bee has a gentle temperament and can collect nectar to brew spiritual honey."

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Shen Long examined them carefully. It didn't take long for him to finish reading the introductions for all the spiritual insects, but none of them were on the Heaven and Earth Exotic Insect Ranking.

"That's it? There's nothing else?"

Shen Long asked.

"These are all the spiritual insects in our shop. If these don't catch your eye, how about spiritual beasts? We just received two new types."

The maid in the green dress said enthusiastically.

"No need, thank you."

Shen Long politely declined, set down the cyan dharma disk, turned around, and left.

There was only one spiritual beast shop in the market, so Shen Long didn't need to visit any other stores.

It seemed that the spiritual insects on the Heaven and Earth Exotic Insect Ranking were indeed very precious.

Xu Lei and the others were being hunted by Chen Xiong, and their fates were unknown. If they were all dead, Shen Long would need to join another monster-hunting team. If they were severely injured, they wouldn't be able to go out and hunt monsters for a long time.

After much thought, Shen Long decided he could only wait quietly. He returned to his residence and began to practice his cultivation.

Three days passed. One day, while Shen Long was cultivating in his residence, a sound transmission talisman flew in and hovered before him.

Shen Long quickly ceased his cultivation, grabbed the sound transmission talisman, and crushed it. Qin Qing's voice rang out: "Fellow Daoist Shen, Fellow Daoist Xu wants us to hold a meeting."