Insect Egg Hatching Successful

Luo Mu injected his Poison Spirit Power into the Poison Fang dagger and carefully inserted it into the cliff face.

The Poison Fang was a mid-grade magical tool, capable of slicing through iron as if it were mud. Once Luo Mu infused it with his Poison Spirit Power, the blade became even sharper. Before he even applied force, the entire dagger slid into the rock, a testament to its keen edge.

With a gentle twist, Luo Mu carved a square roughly a foot long into the cliff. With a pry of the dagger, he dislodged the stone block.

The space behind the stone was hollow. Luo Mu's heart leaped—he knew he had struck gold!

Sure enough, a black, strip-like substance the thickness of a thumb was flowing slowly inside, resembling a crawling caterpillar. Had this spot not been directly exposed to the sunlight, the black substance would have been nearly impossible to spot against the dark rock.

"It's exactly as the Insect Control Technique described. This must be the Ink Jade Marrow!"

Though his heart raced with excitement, Luo Mu's hands remained steady. He quickly retrieved a porcelain bottle from his storage pouch and carefully wrapped the Ink Jade Marrow in his Poison Spirit Power. Under his control, the caterpillar-like substance drifted toward the bottle, vanishing inside in the blink of an eye.

He sealed the bottle instantly and tucked it into his storage pouch without a second glance. It wasn't that he didn't want to inspect it, but the Ink Jade Marrow was far too precious; if another cultivator were to catch even a glimpse, it would surely invite a lethal disaster upon him.

Unlike common rare herbs, the Ink Jade Marrow fell outside standard grading systems. It was a rare treasure of the cultivation world, something only those with great destiny could hope to encounter. While the amount Luo Mu had obtained was small, it was more than enough to make low-to-mid-level cultivators fight to the death.

The uses for Ink Jade Marrow were vast, particularly in alchemy, where its effects were most pronounced. Although the marrow itself was highly toxic, when used in pill refinement and neutralized by other ingredients, it could significantly elevate the quality of the final product.

This property alone increased the value of the Ink Jade Marrow several times over, enough to drive any cultivator to madness.

Luo Mu understood the principle that one should not flaunt wealth. He cast a cautious look around, and finding no sign of other cultivators, he finally let out a breath of relief. Without lingering, he left the spot and departed on his flying sword.

After leaving the canyon, Luo Mu did not return directly to Dragon Gate Town, but instead headed back to Jinxiu City. He had originally intended to return to Dragon Gate Town to refine the Poison Spirit Power in his dantian after securing the Ink Crow Grass, but upon reflection, he realized he had forgotten one crucial task.

It was a task he absolutely had to complete.

A short while later, Luo Mu appeared before the entrance of the same magical tool shop he had visited earlier that day.

The shop was not large, but judging by the flow of cultivators entering and exiting, business was quite good. Luo Mu stood outside, hesitating for a moment before his face hardened with resolve, as if he had made a difficult decision, and he stepped inside.

Inside, several cultivators were browsing for tools, while two others were haggling with the shop assistant. Luo Mu's arrival drew little attention; the others merely glanced at him briefly before losing interest.

As a fellow cultivator, Luo Mu's second-layer Qi Refining strength offered nothing to catch their eye. While the others in the shop were also low-level, they were still a stage or two above him.

Luo Mu felt no offense at being ignored; instead, his desire to grow stronger and rise above others only intensified. This world was one of survival of the fittest; if one's skills were inferior, one could only expect to be overlooked.

"Greetings, Immortal Master. How may I help you?" Just as Luo Mu was making his silent vow, an assistant approached him, bowing and scraping with extreme deference.

The assistant was merely a mortal, but he dealt with so many cultivators daily that he could distinguish a mortal from a practitioner at a glance. The moment Luo Mu entered, the assistant sensed his cultivation and reflexively approached to recite his practiced opening line.

The assistant pulled Luo Mu back to reality. Seeing the man's respectful demeanor and recalling the cold indifference of the other cultivators, Luo Mu felt a wave of emotion. By comparison, he found he quite enjoyed the treatment the assistant provided.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Luo Mu returned to the present and, under the assistant's attentive gaze, stated what he had come to buy.

"Do you have any Spirit Beast Bags here?" After a quick scan of the shop revealed no such items on display, he asked the assistant.

"Spirit Beast Bags? Why, of course! We certainly have those. Please, follow me, Immortal Master." The assistant said enthusiastically, leading Luo Mu to a counter in the corner.

"How many would you like, Immortal Master?" the assistant asked respectfully once they reached the counter.

"How much do they cost?" Though his pockets were shallow, Luo Mu kept his expression calm. Inside, however, his heart was pounding—what if they were too expensive to afford?

"In reply to you, Immortal Master, they are thirty Low-grade Spirit Stones each."

Luo Mu raised an eyebrow, then calmly produced ninety Low-grade Spirit Stones and placed them on the counter. Without a flicker of hesitation, he said, "Give me three."

The ninety stones piled on the counter looked like a small mountain, shimmering in the light, while Luo Mu's heart bled. He had started with over a hundred stones, and now only a dozen remained. He had arrived with over two hundred, and in a single day, he had spent nearly all of them. He sighed inwardly at how quickly spirit stones vanished.

His actions, however, drew the attention of the other cultivators in the shop. They had never expected someone with only second-layer Qi Refining strength to produce so many stones at once, and even more so, to do it without a hint of pain on his face.

The way the other cultivators looked at him changed instantly, though the new gaze was far from friendly.

Luo Mu clearly sensed this shift and felt a jolt of alarm, lamenting that the rule about not flaunting wealth was indeed the truth. In his urgency, he ignored the others and pressed the assistant, "Hurry and get me three; I'm in a rush."

"Yes! Please wait a moment, Immortal Master, I will fetch them for you."

With that, the assistant bent down, retrieved three Spirit Beast Bags from the counter, and placed them down. He left the pile of stones untouched for the moment.

Only after Luo Mu had carefully inspected the three bags and found them in order did the assistant collect the payment. Luo Mu tucked the bags into his storage pouch and left the shop without looking back.

No sooner had Luo Mu exited than two cultivators followed him out, trailing closely in his direction. Their hostile expressions made it clear that they were up to no good.

Luo Mu, of course, sensed he was being followed. His heart tightened, and he quickened his pace, hoping to shake them off. He couldn't gauge the strength of either man, which meant they were both superior to him.

Since his strength was inferior, no matter how he accelerated, he couldn't lose them. The two stuck to him like glue, filling him with irritation.

Fortunately, fighting was forbidden within the city. If the official enforcement team of Jinxiu City caught them, the consequences would be dire—at best, their cultivation would be crippled and they would be expelled; at worst, they would be executed on the spot.

This was the primary reason the two followed him but dared not strike.

Since he was being watched, Luo Mu was not foolish enough to leave the city for Dragon Gate Town; doing so would likely cost him his life. For safety, he took a long, winding route and checked into an inn.

He moved in without a word, leaving the two men tailing him grinding their teeth in frustration, yet helpless to act. They did not give up, however, and instead went into hiding nearby.

A day passed, and Luo Mu did not emerge. The two men grew restless, yet they persisted. Two days passed, and still, Luo Mu did not appear...

By the third day, with no sign of Luo Mu, the two finally abandoned their plans for murder and robbery, flicking their sleeves in anger before departing.

On the fourth day, Luo Mu still did not emerge.

The fifth day.

The sixth day.

It was not until the seventh day that a man in a black robe walked out of the inn where Luo Mu had been staying, a mask covering the left side of his face, obscuring his true appearance.

After exiting the inn, the man in the black robe headed straight for the city gates. His pace was neither fast nor slow, revealing nothing out of the ordinary.

An hour later, the man in the black robe appeared at the gates of Jinxiu City. After glancing left and right, he let out a long sigh of relief. He slapped the storage pouch tied to his waist, and a giant sword shot into the sky. With a single leap, the man in the black robe landed steadily upon the blade, which then carried him away, transforming into a streak of light that vanished into the horizon.

The direction the man in the black robe headed was none other than Dragon Gate Town. This man in the black robe was none other than Luo Mu, who had been hiding to evade two cultivators harboring malicious intent.

Originally, Luo Mu had intended to stay at the inn for a few more days until he felt completely at ease before returning, but this very morning, he had suddenly felt a connection: the insect egg back home, which shared a bond with his own heart's blood, had successfully hatched.

Unable to suppress the excitement in his heart, Luo Mu had asked the inn's waiter to purchase this black robe and mask for him first thing in the morning. Then, with a heart filled with slight trepidation, he had resolutely departed from the inn.