The Spirit-Devouring Insect's Feedback

"Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art, circulate one hundred times!"

Ten days later, a thunderous sound echoed through his mind, and a warm current surged throughout his body; the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art had undergone its first reinforcement.

The reinforced furnace was no longer illusory; it had become as substantial as reality, silver-white from the inside out, exuding a sense of nobility and grandeur.

"The furnace has changed, and the rate of spiritual energy consumption is terrifying."

Chen Changming felt it silently. Fortunately, his spiritual energy was vast, so he did not need to worry about this.

Since the Heavenly Furnace had materialized, Chen Changming decided to undergo another round of body tempering.

As rolling waves of spiritual energy poured into the Heavenly Furnace, the liquid inside was no longer boiling water, but burning silver flames. While the temperature of these flames remained the same as before, the effect on his body tempering had increased tenfold!

Chen Changming's skin became increasingly tough, dense, and rock-hard.

Three hours later, even with his dantian full of spiritual energy, it was completely exhausted by the Heavenly Furnace.

"According to the requirements of the technique, if the skin is tempered to a silver hue, hard as iron and impervious to blades, one can begin practicing the second-layer incantation."

A weak Chen Changming felt the immense changes occurring in his body and smiled with satisfaction. The Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art was truly worthy of being a Nascent Soul-level technique; although the start was difficult and the progress slow, the rewards were immense, and everything was worth the wait.

This second-layer incantation was for tempering the flesh.

The Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art progressed from skin to flesh, delving deeper layer by layer to temper the entire body into something incredibly powerful. When cultivated to a profound level, the physical body could withstand flying swords and magical treasures.

Once a cultivator was caught in close quarters, they could be crushed to death with a single slap.

This was the strength of a body-refining cultivator.

"Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art, circulate one thousand times!"

Three and a half months later, Chen Changming finally ushered in the second reinforcement of the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art.

After this reinforcement, the Heavenly Furnace turned golden.

The flames transformed from the spiritual energy pouring into the furnace also turned a noble gold, the body-tempering effect increased tenfold once more, and the consumption of spiritual energy also increased tenfold. For the first time, the spiritual energy in Chen Changming's dantian was not enough.

"Perhaps, now is the time to take a High-grade Spirit Gathering Pill."

A thought arose in his heart, and he immediately took out a High-grade Spirit Gathering Pill and swallowed it without hesitation.

Boom!

As the pill hit his stomach, an astonishing amount of spiritual energy erupted. Chen Changming hurriedly circulated the Evergreen Art, continuously guiding it into his dantian. The dantian was soon filled, and the remaining spiritual energy began to wreak havoc within his body.

He swiftly circulated the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art, injecting the spiritual energy from his dantian into the Heavenly Furnace.

Just like that, he continuously converted spiritual energy, keeping the fire of the Heavenly Furnace burning steadily.

Chen Changming continued to temper his body.

His skin began to take on a silver hue, which signified the successful cultivation of the first layer of the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art.

However, the silver skin appeared for only a moment before threads of gold began to crawl over the silver.

"Could it be that these golden flames can allow me to temper golden skin?"

The youth thought to himself.

Even with the same silver, after the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art was reinforced, his silver skin was even stronger. If he could now temper it into golden skin, the defensive power of his skin would reach a terrifying realm.

One month later.

After consuming dozens of High-grade Spirit Gathering Pills, his cultivation had further improved, and he was only one step away from the fourth level of Qi Refining.

Another month or so passed.

After consuming all the Spirit Gathering Pills, he finally broke through to the fourth level of Qi Refining. By this time, the golden lines on his skin were becoming more numerous, with a faint tendency to merge into a single piece.

One year later.

Chen Changming's entire body was golden, giving off a truly stunning impression.

The Heavenly Furnace vanished.

The gold also disappeared, and his skin returned to normal.

As long as he circulated the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art, this golden skin could reappear. Even without the gold in his daily life, his skin was extremely hard, and it was difficult for blades and swords to harm him.

With this, the first layer of his Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art was finally successfully cultivated.

This year, the youth was sixteen years old, and his cultivation had reached the fourth level of Qi Refining.

Such speed was slow as a snail in the eyes of others; a sixteen-year-old at the fourth level of Qi Refining was truly trash.

Squeak, squeak...

From his chest came a series of sounds; it was the Spirit-Devouring Insect.

"I had forgotten about this little guy!"

Chen Changming slapped his thigh. In recent years, he had been cultivating crazily and had completely forgotten about this little insect.

Looking down, he was immediately amused.

The originally silver little insect had also turned golden. It seemed it had also been tempered by the Heavenly Furnace, and its tiny body must have become much harder.

The aura of this little insect had also risen to the sixth level of Qi Refining.

This meant that it was already a first-rank mid-stage demonic beast.

"You little bug are quite extraordinary; to think you didn't die and even underwent body tempering just like me."

Chen Changming stroked the little insect and said with a chuckle.

The Spirit-Devouring Insect moved its tiny mouth, suddenly spitting out a stream of silver spiritual energy. This energy flowed out in increasing amounts, eventually forming a sphere the size of a pigeon egg.

"What is this?"

Feeling the astonishing spiritual energy radiating from the pigeon egg, Chen Changming was somewhat bewildered.

The aura of this spiritual energy was remarkably similar to a High-grade Spirit Gathering Pill!

The Spirit-Devouring Insect flew up, staring at the pigeon egg as it brought it to the youth's lips, emitting squeaking sounds from its mouth.

"You mean for me to eat it?"

Chen Changming reached out to grab the pigeon egg and asked.

The Spirit-Devouring Insect nodded gently.

"Alright, I'll give it a try."

Chen Changming placed the pigeon egg into his mouth and swallowed it in one gulp.

Boom...

The pigeon egg transformed into a massive surge of spiritual energy, its momentum so great that it was no weaker than a High-grade Spirit Gathering Pill.

The youth hurriedly sat cross-legged and circulated his Evergreen Art.

He was now at the fourth level of Qi Refining, and his dantian's capacity had expanded once more; there was no longer any danger in consuming a High-grade Spirit Gathering Pill.

After a while.

Chen Changming opened his eyes, a flicker of pleasant surprise appearing in them.

This pigeon egg was truly like a High-grade Spirit Gathering Pill; he never imagined that this little golden insect possessed such a miraculous ability.

Recalling how the terrifying spiritual energy had poured into the insect's body during his previous cultivation, he felt enlightened.

This little insect was by no means ordinary.

Those Foundation Establishment cultivators were certainly not searching for the Man-Eating Flower Demon, but for this miraculous little insect.

"Are there any more?"

The youth, still wanting more, asked with a beaming smile.

The Spirit-Devouring Insect vibrated its wings and made squeaking sounds, as if telling him there were none left.

The youth felt slightly disappointed.

However, he immediately realized that since this insect was only a first-rank mid-stage demonic beast, it was already quite an achievement for it to spit out a sphere of spiritual energy comparable to a High-grade Spirit Gathering Pill.

A pleasant surprise, however, arrived the next day.

On this day, the Spirit-Devouring Insect spat out another pigeon egg, exactly the same as the one from yesterday.

The youth understood at once: this little golden insect could spit out one pigeon egg a day, which meant he had a High-grade Spirit Gathering Pill to enjoy every single day.

"No wonder so many people were looking for you; you are actually this formidable..."

The youth muttered to himself.

He felt extremely fortunate for a moment that he had carried the senior sister on his back and fled, running a thousand miles through the night to get far away from Cloud Mist Mountain. Even if those Foundation Establishment cultivators returned, they would not be able to find him.

Invisibly, he had avoided a catastrophe.

Otherwise, if those people returned, they would surely find this little insect on him, and to keep their secret, they would have killed him to silence him.

Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out on Chen Changming's back.

This world was too chaotic, and a more powerful force had emerged around him; if he returned to the Lingxiao Sect now, he would likely be discovered by this force.

After all, there were too many suspicious points.

At the time, he was merely a small cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining who had somehow survived the beast tide and returned to the sect safely.

Following that, he had suddenly disappeared.

Presumably, those Foundation Establishment cultivators must have suspected that he had obtained this miraculous little insect. They had likely set up eyes and ears throughout the entire Lingxiao Sect, and even within the borders of the Yue Kingdom; he would be discovered the moment he stepped out.