Raising Insects

Sitting in his room, Huo Hai wore a gloomy expression. Huo Kai had just called him over and given him a fierce scolding, all because he had wanted to mess with the instructor. Though he had not succeeded, he had still done it, hadn't he?

It was not the instructor who had reported him. Perhaps because of that snake, the instructor had not told Huo Kai. Huo Kai learned of it because the other children told their friends and parents after returning home. As more and more people learned about it, word spread. Children were hardly capable of keeping secrets.

On the Spirit Realm Continent, the strong were revered, but there were rules as well. Everyone showed great respect toward instructors capable of teaching them, even if they only taught common knowledge and writing.

"Respect your teacher and honor the Way" was no empty saying. Huo Hai had disrespected his instructor, so naturally he had been summoned for a scolding. Even if he had lost his memories, Huo Kai had to make him understand what could be done and what could not.

Of course, there was good news as well. Huo Hai had completely remembered his writing, and he could look up common knowledge in books himself. Starting tomorrow, he would no longer need to attend the schoolhouse and study alongside children. Of course, perhaps Huo Kai had realized that Huo Hai did not fit in with the children and had simply used that as an excuse to make him stay quietly at home for a while.

"Ah, what am I supposed to do? This is such a bother." Huo Hai had just finished cultivating his Spirit Art, and now he had nothing to do again.

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

It could also be cultivated at other times, but the results would be poor. 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 rudimentary combat techniques and methods of using spiritual energy.

Huo Hai was currently only at the Spirit Body Realm, with spiritual energy merely filling his body. A few punches and kicks could still display some use. Yet for some reason, Huo Kai had always insisted that Huo Hai first lay a solid foundation. He could not divide his attention by practicing too many fist-and-kick techniques now and could only familiarize himself with them. Now that he had only just gotten through the period when he could not cultivate his Spirit Art, Huo Hai was bored again.

If he were on Earth... well, such leisurely times had been rare. "If I had this kind of free time on Earth, what would I have done? Spent time with my girlfriend, played on the computer... but I seem to have none of that here."

As he recalled everything from Earth, it had seemingly only been a few days, yet Huo Hai felt as though it had all been a dream. Everything on Earth seemed to be drifting farther and farther away from him. He wondered how his parents were doing now. Would they be heartbroken over his death?

And his grandmother. He remembered the things she had taught him when he was young. "Wait, how could I have forgotten that?" Huo Hai's eyes lit up. It was not that he had nothing to do—couldn't he still raise insects?

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

Gu Insects were extremely filthy things, heavy with yin and evil energy. Since ancient times, only women had been able to learn it. If men learned it, their lives would be shortened. That was one reason why those who learned to raise Gu Insects 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. The so-called yin and evil energy was no legend; it was an aura inherent to Gu Insects themselves. Since there was no spiritual energy between heaven and earth, nor any powerful insects in the wild, the art of raising Gu Insects had evolved into what it was now over countless years.

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

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

That had been exactly what his grandmother feared back then, which was why she had refused no matter what to let Huo Hai try. As time passed and he received all kinds of scientific education, Huo Hai himself had gradually stopped believing in Gu Insects. Usually, he would only recall those things and treat the 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 a decade 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 as well. If he remembered correctly, there seemed to be a profession among spirit masters called Beast Spirit Masters. They specialized in communicating with spirit beasts and controlling them to help in battle. If spirit beasts could be controlled, what about ordinary Gu Insects?

"Hehe, there's no spiritual energy between heaven and earth, is there? Isn't what I'm cultivating right now spiritual energy? Since there is spiritual energy, wouldn't it be letting Grandma down if I didn't test it? Grandma, don't worry. I'll definitely live well in this world. I'll also raise insects and carry it forward in this world. I absolutely won't let insect raising disappear just like that."

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-grade the insects, the better. Raising Gu Insects did not necessarily mean making insects devour one another.

In truth, genuine masters of insect raising valued the strength of the insects themselves. If Earth had possessed powerful insects, they would not have needed to force venomous insects to devour each other and create mutated monstrosities. Such creatures appeared powerful after mutation, but because they were mutated, their potential was limited. It was difficult for them to truly become powerful insects.

His 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, now that he had 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 coming to this world, none of it could help him. The only thing that could help him was the insect-raising art his grandmother had taught him. Whether for self-protection or to become a true bad man 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. No medicinal herbs or other things are needed. Since it's my first time raising them, I might as well experiment first." The moment he thought of it, he acted. For his first attempt, Huo Hai had no intention of creating anything earth-shattering.

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

Looking around, Huo Hai soon found some decent grass near the door. The grass was tough and springy and could substitute for bamboo strips. He had learned many handicrafts from his grandmother before. After recalling the process, Huo Hai's hands moved nimbly. Before long, a small bamboo cage appeared in his hands. Its mouth protruded outward, allowing a stopper to be plugged in.

"Hehe, I never expected my hands to be 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 dexterous. He absolutely could not have done this before.

He simply made several more in one go, saving himself the trouble of making them later when he lacked the time. Huo Hai wove quickly, grass cages appearing in his hands one after another. No, they should have been called grass cages. Before long, several sat beside him.

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

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

When he turned around, he saw a delicate little girl, seemingly familiar. Huo Hai frowned and thought carefully. The fragments of memories he had obtained were truly too few. After a long while, realization finally dawned on him. "So it's little sister Huo Yuner. Sorry, some of my memories are missing, so I didn't recognize you just now."

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

Huo Yuner skipped in front of Huo Hai, her face slightly unhappy. "Hmph, Brother Hai actually forgot even Yuner. Honestly. If you can't remember, I'll definitely make Eldest Uncle give you a good beating." Huo Hai rubbed his nose, looking utterly innocent. In the family, this girl Huo Yuner was even more favored than Huo Hai. If he offended her, the unlucky one would definitely be him.

Fortunately, Huo Yuner had already shifted her attention to the grass cages. "Brother Hai, what is this? It's so pretty. But how do you use it?" She picked up one grass cage and examined it back and forth.

It looked like a bottle, but if it were used to hold water, it would certainly leak. If it held something else, it was too small to be of much use. Looking at this grass cage that let wind pass through from all sides, Huo Yuner truly could not understand it. Perhaps in her eyes, there were only things that looked good and things that did not. How they were used came second.

"Brother Hai, why don't you weave it with prettier grass? Or try using flowers." Huo Yuner's face was full of innocence.