When the Deed Was Done, the Dao Register Changed

Early morning. The sky had only just begun to brighten, and the air was slightly chilly.

In Guling Town, mist hung thick over the streets. Walking through it truly felt like passing through the clouds.

Wrapped in a Daoist robe and empty-handed, Fang Shu climbed alone over the wall into the Solitary Gu Hall.

Before setting out, he had disposed of everything he had been carrying.

What could be burned, he burned. What could be thrown away, he threw away.

Even the fox-pelt artifact had cost him a sum of talisman money to store at a pawnshop in town, in exchange for a Black Ticket.

As for the things he had looted from Cheng the Jar, he had not had time to inspect them closely. He had likewise deposited the whole lot for Black Tickets, only at a different shop.

He handled them this way because he feared those items might bear tracking marks or medicinal powder, allowing thieves to follow the vine and find the melon—to trace their way to him.

Moreover, even with the fox pelt wrapped around him, Fang Shu repeatedly used Clean-Clothes Talismans and Scent-Repelling Talismans, cleansing himself thoroughly from head to toe.

Even the Long-Tongue Sword had been taken out and carefully scraped and washed several times.

Fang Shu considered these measures cautious in the extreme. They would leave behind no solid traces. Besides, it was a "fox demon" that had killed Cheng the Jar—what did that have to do with Fang Shu?

Yet as Fang Shu paced through the Daoist hall, thoughts churned in his mind. He could not help going over last night's events again and again, unable to settle himself.

He walked all the way to the Training Hall of the Solitary Gu Hall.

Only when he smelled the lingering stench of sweat piled up inside did his mind finally steady, and he forcibly suppressed all stray thoughts.

Fang Shu strode into the hall.

At this hour, apart from that young man who was even more diligent than he was, there were still no other disciples in the hall.

He did not disturb the other man. Finding himself a corner, he began tempering his body stroke by stroke, hammering his own blood and qi.

Move after move, Fang Shu gradually immersed himself in it until not a single distracting thought arose.

Today's training was quite different from yesterday's.

A fierce aura surged from his body. The Insect Method he had already become rather proficient in now seemed to have come alive. The muscles across his chest, abdomen, and back bulged, and the Mystic Script insect faces formed there writhed hideously, laughing.

Over a single night, merely because he had killed one man, the progress of his Insect Method had surpassed what he normally gained in ten days.

Buzz!

At last, the Dao Register in Fang Shu's mind gave a slight tremble. Dense lines of text appeared at once, slowly bringing him back to himself.

Yet he did not immediately end his training. Instead, he slowly assumed the Mantis Stance and began standing practice.

His body hunched, his bones jutted sharply. He truly resembled a human-sized praying mantis, standing still in the corner and waiting to hunt its prey.

As Fang Shu maintained the stance, he focused his attention on his mind.

One by one, he sorted through all the words that had appeared in the Dao Register since he killed Cheng the Jar:

[The Register Holder has slain a First-Tribulation Essence-Refining immortal and acquired a lifeform of the immortal system. The system of Three Calamities, Six Hardships, and Eighteen Tribulations is accordingly being completed... Completion in progress...]

[The First-Tribulation Long-Tongue Sword has absorbed the essence blood of a lifeform from the immortal system. According to the text of the <Hundred Insects Blood-Refining Body-Nourishing Secret Art>, it is designated "Treasure Blood."

Having consumed Treasure Blood, the First-Tribulation Long-Tongue Sword is undergoing self-sacrificial refinement... The Tongue Sword may return immortal Treasure Blood to nourish the Register Holder's body. Should it be accepted?]

[Notice: The Register Holder and the Treasure Blood originate from the same species. Lifeforms of the same species must not consume one another, lest there be a risk of madness.

May the Register Holder be asked: Should the Treasure Blood returned by the First-Tribulation Long-Tongue Sword be expelled? Should it be guided into the Dao Register...?]

[Command received. Guide blood into the Register. Dao Register update in progress.]

Fang Shu studied the densely packed words for quite a while before reaching the end.

The main points were these two messages, which surfaced one after another:

[Three-Six Elixir Method completion finished. The Register Holder's elixir method progress can now be assessed.

Current realm: Unranked (twenty-three percent).

Distance to the First-Tribulation Essence-Refining Human Immortal realm: seventy-seven percent.]

[Dao Register update completed. <Hundred Insects Blood-Refining Body-Nourishing Secret Art> Mystic Script analysis progress updated... Remaining time: five days and three hours.]

Staring at the Dao Register, joy rose in Fang Shu's heart.

Although the original Dao Register could measure his lifespan, it had provided no particularly direct description of his training progress—especially the gap between him and the next realm.

He had thought this was the limit of the Dao Register's abilities. After all, what he possessed was merely a Child's Register.

Unexpectedly, after killing Cheng the Jar and absorbing that fiend's essence blood, the Dao Register had begun completing itself. Now it could directly display his cultivation progress.

But after considering it, Fang Shu calmed down.

Twenty-three percent. I still need another seventy-seven percent before I can attempt the pass and try to break through into a First-Tribulation immortal.

By now, he had been cultivating in the hall for nearly two months.

Even that was only because he had taken quite a few medicines lately. Though he had later focused primarily on sacrificially refining the Long-Tongue Sword and somewhat neglected his own cultivation, the gains during that time could not be underestimated.

His brow furrowed slightly as he thought:

In other words, with my natural talent, if I want to temper myself to full completion and attempt the Refining Essence pass—

It truly will take one or two years. I am no different from the ordinary disciples in the hall, perhaps even somewhat worse.

At once, he recalled the Lone Pavilion Master's evaluation of him—below-average aptitude.

But Fang Shu was only gloomy for a moment before turning his attention back to the analysis progress of the <Hundred Insects Blood-Refining Body-Nourishing Secret Art>.

The words "five days" immediately smoothed his furrowed brow.

It turned out that after the Long-Tongue Sword had devoured Cheng the Jar's Treasure Blood, it had eaten itself full and then tried to return the excess to Fang Shu.

But Fang Shu and Cheng the Jar were both human. Those of the same species could not devour one another.

Following the Dao Register's advice, Fang Shu returned all the Long-Tongue Sword's offered blood to the Dao Register.

With essence blood nourishing it, the Dao Register began to update.

Now that the update had finished, the Dao Register's efficiency in analyzing Mystic Script had risen dramatically.

Fang Shu compared it with the remaining time before the transformation and discovered that its current analysis efficiency was more than twice what it had been before!

Good! he thought.

Once the Mystic Script is fully analyzed and I completely master the Insect Method, my training efficiency will remain fixed at its optimal state!

Immortal cultivation methods were quite miraculous. Not only could one cultivate while learning them, strengthening the body in the process.

After one had completely mastered them, they could further strengthen an immortal's physique, raise the practitioner's training efficiency to their personal maximum, and even provide assistance when breaking through a pass.

Only once the immortal's realm surpassed the cultivation method would that strengthening cease.

Furthermore, with certain unique cultivation methods, after the practitioner completely mastered them, their Mystic Script would remain manifested upon their body at all times. The effect was much like having a spell cast upon oneself, providing benefits to the practitioner.

For instance, the Insect Method of the Solitary Gu Hall.

Once Fang Shu mastered it completely, his resistance to snake and insect venom would greatly increase. It would allow him to fear no insect poison in daily life, and it would also give him a chance to endure the Venom Pit tribulation and successfully break through the pass!

Anticipation filled Fang Shu's heart.

Only five days remain before I completely master the Insect Method. By then, my cultivation progress will surely be faster than before.

For a moment, he was brimming with ambition, suddenly feeling that the immortal path lay within reach.

Yet however wildly the waves churned within Fang Shu's heart, his outward appearance remained calm and unruffled.

Once he had thoroughly sorted out the Dao Register's changes, he slowly opened his eyes and continued steadily tempering his strength in the Training Hall.

Time dripped by.

As the mist over the streets gradually dispersed, other disciples slowly began arriving at the Training Hall as well.

Li Hou'er ambled over and found Fang Shu. As usual, he could not help exclaiming in amazement at Fang Shu's diligence before immersing himself in training too.

Hah! Ha!

In an instant, the Training Hall was filled with shouts and cries, its atmosphere fervent.

The disciples began their day-after-day cultivation.

Fang Shu blended among them, utterly unremarkable.

None of them knew that last night, he had slipped out and secretly slaughtered an immortal, reaping no small harvest from it.