"There aren't many of the five poisons or six evils, especially the six evils."
The pain in Fang Tong's body had eased considerably, and under the effects of Spirit Power, his wounds were even slowly healing:
"Venomous snakes, centipedes, and geckos are everywhere in spring, but to catch toads, we'd have to go to the Red River. Scorpions are scarce too. I reckon we'd have to enter a spur of the Poison Tempering Mountains."
"Of the six evils, we only caught three wind mosquitoes and three damp spiders. The others don't come out in spring."
Lin Ke knew the five poisons were plentiful, and he could understand why the six evils were scarce.
But whether they went to the Red River to catch toads or to a peak in one of the Poison Tempering Mountains' spurs to catch scorpions, it would be dangerous.
"To breed a summer-winter mosquito, I have to use five poisons gu..." Lin Ke shook his head, left with no choice but to give up on that exceedingly tempting spirit insect.
Although he had a wind mosquito, breeding it into a summer-winter mosquito required first turning it into a gu-in other words, a spirit insect.
Once it became a spirit insect, he would still need to gather all five poisons spirit insects and use the specific shamanic arts recorded on the Gu Tablet to transform the wind mosquito into a summer-winter mosquito.
If he had a summer-winter mosquito, even one of the very poorest quality would probably be spirit-grade superior. Even a fairly ordinary one might be supreme grade.
What if he bred a spirit-grade transcendent summer-winter mosquito?
If he then combined it with a blackgold silkworm, or with one of the blackgold silkworm's second-generation spirit insects, such as a stinger hawk moth or an amethyst longhorn beetle, he might well breed an even more powerful killing machine.
Unfortunately, he lacked the strength right now. His cultivation was nowhere near strong enough to support acquiring enough spirit insects for breeding.
Still, while he could not breed a summer-winter mosquito, he could breed a few five poisons spirit insects.
Although none of the five poisons were insects, they were small enough to be brought into the Niwan Palace.
Besides, his classification of insects came from his previous life.
In this world, the five poisons counted as insects in both the path of shamanic gu and the immortal path of beast taming.
"Other than toads and scorpions, there are plenty of the others," Fang Tong said.
"Then catch more venomous snakes, geckos, and centipedes first," Lin Ke said. "I'll open up another mountain specifically for raising the five poisons. Send people to tend them diligently. I'll teach you when the time comes."
By obtaining Old Han's legacy, Lin Ke had effectively acquired the research knowledge of hundreds or thousands of generations of Old Han, who were entomologists and biologists.
As long as he set up a breeding farm according to these Old Hans' precious knowledge, his five poisons would grow ever more numerous.
"Shouldn't we raise gu first?" Fang Tong was taken aback, then reminded him, "Immortal Lin, why bother raising ordinary insects? They're all over the mountains and fields. Only gu are useful. Gu are the most powerful!"
"No, we still need to raise them." Lin Ke shook his head.
Fang Tong, along with many of the Old Hans here, felt that insects covered the mountains and fields, so why bother breeding them?
But they did not know that Lin Ke's Niwan Palace housed a little fellow with an enormous appetite.
Nor did they know that scientific breeding was far more efficient than running around the world catching insects.
The greatest advantage of industrial production was mass production.
If he wanted to raise spirit insects like summer-winter mosquitoes in the future, he would need not only immense quantities of ordinary blood food, but spirit insects as well.
How were the five poisons spirit insects cultivated into gu?
The simplest, most basic method was to put hundreds or thousands of the same kind of five poisons creature into a container made through shamanic arts or inscribed with a formation, and let them fight to the death.
The final victor would absorb the essence of the other creatures and transform into a gu insect.
Only gu insects like these could serve as the basic materials for the shamanic arts used to breed summer-winter mosquitoes.
It was easy to imagine just how great his future demand for the five poisons would be.
That was why he needed to start breeding them in advance, lest he be unable to find materials when he needed them.
"We'll discuss the details tomorrow," Lin Ke said with a smile. "For now, focus on recovering."
He could tell that this Gu Tablet was a spirit artifact.
Fang Tong was not a cultivator and could not refine spiritual energy, but through years upon years of blood refinement, he had refined the Gu Tablet-the so-called recognition of a master through a "drop of blood."
Yet even after refining it, he could not use it.
Generation after generation of Old Hans had devised a solution: breeding the bizarre parasitic star-pattern ticks to enable them to use the Gu Tablet.
After piercing his own skin, Fang Tong had not known why the pain was so agonizing, why it pierced him to the very core.
In truth, it was because the blood refinement had ended, and this spirit artifact no longer belonged to him.
"Thank you, Immortal!"
Fang Tong's eyes were full of gratitude, and he took his leave.
Lin Ke turned his attention to the Gu Tablet in his hand.
With a surge of spiritual power, he quickly refined it.
He had thought it was some kind of plant, wood, or bark. To his surprise, it was a flattened earthworm.
The method for making these Gu Tablets was also included in Old Han's legacy. Once made, they could record information much like jade slips.
He had to admit that the path of shamanic gu was indeed utterly different from the immortal path, with its own distinctive character.
Whoosh!!
The Gu Tablet shot from his hand like a bullet, then swiftly flew back, exactly like the flying sword he controlled.
Although he could use it like a flying sword, he could not bear to do so.
Thus, Lin Ke stored the Gu Tablet in his Cinnabar Field, placing it on the land within the Embracing Origin Palace alongside Lin Can.
The Embracing Origin Palace was the land, while the Niwan Palace was the sky.
Lin Can was eating jelly made by the stinger hawk moth. When she saw Lin Ke toss in a wooden tablet, her gaze was immediately drawn to it.
"How is it? Do you have enough to hatch an amethyst longhorn beetle?" Lin Ke's mental power condensed into a physical form, appearing beside Lin Can.
"Daddy, once I finish eating what's here, I'll have enough~" Lin Can pointed at the six jellies around her with a grin.
He had sold twenty blackgold silkworms and kept one for everyday use.
This stinger hawk moth had devoured the insects Fang Tong and the others caught without stopping, day or night, converting them into these jellies.
After Lin Can ate the jelly, it was not simply a matter of producing offspring. Her own growth and development consumed some of the energy too.
As a result, Lin Can's body was now as big as a forearm.
"Daddy, what's this?" Lin Can stared at the Gu Tablet in a daze. "Can I eat it?"
"Eat it?" Lin Ke was surprised, then realized that the Gu Tablet had been made from a Spirit Insect earthworm. In a sense, it too counted as an insect.
In Old Han's legacy, such things were called gu artifacts. They lacked the functions of spirit artifacts, but were strange enough in their own right.
"You can't eat this." Lin Ke did not know whether to laugh or cry. "But you could try learning the knowledge on it."
He picked up the Gu Tablet and handed it to Lin Can.
The Gu Tablet was probably as tall as Lin Can's body. Once she held it, she sensed the same mysteries Lin Ke had, then obtained that knowledge.
After all, Lin Can was not only Lin Ke's life-bound spirit insect, but also the "artifact spirit" of his Niwan Palace. She could be considered a truly unique existence.
Whatever Lin Ke could read, Lin Can could naturally read too.
"Ah, so-so many insects!" Lin Can was instantly dazzled. She read while eating insect jelly, just like eating popcorn while watching something.
Lin Ke smiled and said nothing more.
By the time Lin Can had read most of it, she had finished all six insect jellies as well.
Now it was time to produce an amethyst longhorn beetle!
Before you continue