Raising Insects

Sitting in his room, Huo Hai wore a depressed expression. Huo Kai had just summoned him over and given him a fierce scolding, all because he had wanted to mess with the tutor. Though he had not succeeded, he had still done it.

It was not the tutor who had tattled on him. Perhaps because of that snake, the tutor had not told Huo Kai. Huo Kai had learned of it because the other children went home and told their friends and parents. Gradually, more and more people found out, and the news spread. These children were hardly people who could keep secrets.

On the Spirit Realm Continent, strength was revered, but there were rules as well. Everyone deeply respected a tutor capable of teaching them, even one who only taught common knowledge and writing.

"Respect your teacher and honor the Way" was no empty saying. Since Huo Hai had disrespected his tutor, naturally he had been called over for a scolding. Even if he had lost his memories, Huo Hai still needed to know what he could do and what he could not.

Of course, there was good news too: Huo Hai had completely remembered his writing, and he could now read books himself to learn common knowledge. So starting tomorrow, he would no longer need to go to the schoolhouse and study alongside children. Of course, it was also possible that Huo Kai had realized Huo Hai being with children was not a good idea and had found an excuse to make him stay quietly at home for a while.

"Ah, what am I supposed to do? This is really troublesome." Huo Hai had just finished cultivating his Spirit Art, and now he was idle once more.

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Cultivating a Spirit Art required perseverance, but one could not cultivate at every moment of every day. Different Spirit Arts had different optimal cultivation times. The Huo Family's ancestral Spirit Art was best cultivated in the morning, at noon, and at midnight.

It could also be cultivated at other times, but the results would be poor, so it was better to do something else. Before reaching the Spirit Practitioner Realm, one could not cultivate powerful Battle Spirit Arts. At this stage, one could only practice basic combat techniques and methods of using spiritual energy.

Huo Hai was currently only in the Spirit Body Realm, with spiritual energy merely filling his body. A few punches and kicks could still display some power. But for some reason, Huo Kai had always said that Huo Hai needed to lay a solid foundation first. He could not divide his attention by practicing too much fist-and-foot combat; he could only familiarize himself with it. Now that he had finally passed the morning, when he could not cultivate his Spirit Art, Huo Hai was bored.

If he had been on Earth, well, such leisurely time had been rare. "If I had this much time on Earth, what would I have done? Spent time with a girlfriend, played on the computer... but I seem to have neither."

Thinking back on everything from Earth, only a few days seemed to have passed, yet Huo Hai felt as if it had all been a dream. Everything on Earth seemed to have drifted far away from him. He just did not know how his parents were doing now. Would they be heartbroken over his death?

And his grandmother—he recalled how she had taught him when he was young. "Wait, how could I forget this?" Huo Hai's eyes lit up. It was not as if he had nothing to do. Could he not raise insects?

His grandmother had said herself that she was an expert at raising Gu Insects. But science had become all the rage, and there was no spiritual energy between heaven and earth, so not even his mother had learned it. No one believed in it at all. Left with no other choice, his grandmother had taught him so her insect-raising skills would not vanish, yet she had always strictly forbidden him from actually raising Gu Insects.

Gu Insects were extremely filthy things, heavy with yin and wicked energy. Since ancient times, only women could learn to raise them. If men learned it, they would have short lives. That was one reason why those who learned Gu Insect cultivation in the Miao Borderlands had always been women.

Of course, that was merely an outside rumor. Having truly learned this art, Huo Hai understood more than most people. The so-called yin and wicked energy was no legend; it was an aura carried by Gu Insects themselves. Because Earth had no spiritual energy and no powerful insects in the wild, after countless years of evolution, insect raising had become what it was today.

Without spiritual energy to feed them, one had to use human vitality, feeding them with one's own blood mixed with medicinal herbs. Raising Gu Insects over a long period would inevitably drain one's blood and vitality. Moreover, Gu Insects were poisonous, and their toxins would inevitably enter the body.

Those toxins would not truly kill a person who raised Gu Insects. But the yin and wicked energy contained within them was extremely heavy. Women were one thing, but if a man truly raised Gu Insects and became tainted by such things, his lifespan would be continuously worn away.

That was precisely what Grandmother had worried about back then, so no matter what, she had refused to let Huo Hai try. As time passed, and as he gradually received all kinds of scientific education, even Huo Hai himself stopped believing in Gu Insects. Usually, he merely recalled the contents and treated that book recording Gu Insect cultivation as a novel to pass the time, nothing more.

But things were different now. "Hmph, if transmigration can exist, why can't Gu Insects?" The scientific materialism Huo Hai had upheld for more than ten years collapsed completely in an instant. Could science explain his current situation?

Clearly not. Since it could not, why should he still believe in science? If transmigration existed, then insect raising naturally could exist as well. If he remembered correctly, Spirit Masters seemed to have a profession called Beast Spirit Masters. They specialized in communicating with Spirit Beasts and controlling them to aid them in battle. If Spirit Beasts could be controlled, then what about ordinary Gu Insects?

"Hehe, there is no spiritual energy between heaven and earth, is that it? Isn't the energy I cultivate now spiritual energy? Since there is spiritual energy, if I do not test it out, wouldn't I be letting Grandmother down? Grandmother, rest assured. I will live well in this world. I will also carry forward insect raising and make it flourish in this world. I absolutely will not let insect raising disappear like this."

Huo Hai shouted, then closed his eyes and began recalling matters related to raising Gu Insects. To raise Gu Insects, one first needed insects. The higher the grade of the insects, the better. Raising Gu Insects did not necessarily mean making insects devour one another.

In truth, genuine masters of insect raising revered the innate strength of the insects themselves. If Earth had possessed powerful insects, they would not have needed to force venomous insects to devour one another and produce mutated deformities. Those things looked powerful after mutating, but because they were mutations, their potential was limited. It was difficult for them to truly become powerful insects.

His current cultivation was still weak, and he did not have many resources, so it seemed he could only use the primitive method of raising Gu Insects. However, with spiritual energy to nourish them, he would not need to use large amounts of blood to feed the insects.

He had studied for so many years on Earth, yet after arriving in this world, none of it could help him. The only thing that could help him was the insect-raising art Grandmother had taught him. Whether for self-protection or to become a true villain in the future, strength and methods were both indispensable. Since that was the case, he might as well give it a try.

"The most basic method of raising Gu Insects only requires insects. Medicinal herbs and other things are unnecessary. Since this is my first time raising them, I might as well experiment first." Once he made up his mind, Huo Hai acted. For his first attempt, he had not expected to create anything earthshaking.

To raise Gu Insects, he first needed tools. At the very least, the simplest tools included bamboo cages for keeping insects, along with small jars or boxes. He did not need to worry about the bamboo cages; Huo Hai had learned how to make them.

Looking around, Huo Hai soon found some rather good grass by the doorway. The grass was tough and springy, capable of replacing bamboo strips. He had learned many handicrafts from his grandmother before. After recalling the process, Huo Hai's hands moved nimbly. Soon, a small bamboo cage appeared in his hands. Its mouth protruded outward, allowing a stopper to be fitted in.

"Hehe, I never realized my hands were this nimble." Huo Hai muttered to himself. After cultivating the Spirit Art, not only had his body become much stronger, but his control over his own strength had become far more flexible. He definitely could not have done this before.

He simply made several more in one go, so he would not lack them later when he had no time to make any. Huo Hai swiftly wove them, one bamboo cage after another appearing in his hands. No, they should be called grass cages. Before long, several had been placed beside him.

These things were not only for raising Gu Insects. Huo Hai remembered that on Earth, even more people used this kind of cage to keep crickets.

"Wow, Brother Hai, what are you making? It's so pretty. Can you give me one?" While Huo Hai was focused on weaving the cages, a crisp voice suddenly sounded beside his ear, startling him awake.

He turned around and saw a little girl who looked as if she had been carved from pink jade. She seemed very familiar. Huo Hai frowned and carefully searched his memories. The memory fragments he had obtained were simply too few. After a long while, realization finally dawned on him. "So it's little sister Huo Yuner. Sorry, part of my memory is gone, so I didn't recognize you just now."

This Huo Yuner was the daughter of Huo Hai's second uncle, and his only daughter. Otherwise, how could it be said that Huo Hai was the Lineage's sole male heir? In a Lineage like this, they would hardly fight over power and profit. There was simply no need.

Huo Yuner skipped over to Huo Hai, her expression somewhat displeased. "Hmph, Brother Hai actually forgot Yun'er too. Honestly. If you still can't remember, I'll make Eldest Uncle give you a proper beating." Huo Hai rubbed his nose, looking utterly innocent. Within the family, Huo Yuner was even more pampered than Huo Hai. If he offended this girl, the one who would suffer was definitely him.

Fortunately, Huo Yuner had already turned her attention to the grass cages. "Brother Hai, what is this? It's so pretty. But how is this thing supposed to be used?" She picked up a grass cage and examined it back and forth.

It looked like a bottle, but if it were used to hold water, it would definitely leak. If it held anything else, it was too small to be useful. Looking at this grass cage with air flowing through all four sides, Huo Yuner simply could not figure it out. Perhaps in her eyes, there was only pretty and not pretty. As for how it was used, that came second.

"Brother Hai, why don't you weave it with prettier grass? Or maybe try using flowers." Huo Yuner looked utterly innocent.