"Had your fill?" Lin Ke asked with a smile.
"Mm!" Having eaten her fill, Lin Can's eyes shone brightly.
She set down the gu tablet in her hand and asked Lin Ke expectantly:
"Can we have Summer-Winter Mosquitoes, Moon-Shooting Golden Toads, Cold-Drizzle Mystic-Splendor Lice, and Great Sun Pythons in the future too?"
"Of course!" Lin Ke nodded. "We'll definitely have a chance."
The requirements for a Summer-Winter Mosquito were already difficult enough to meet, and the others Lin Can had mentioned belonged more to the realm of divine beasts.
Still, there would surely be opportunities in the future.
"I want to eat the eggs from a Summer-Winter Mosquito mating with a Blackgold Silkworm!" Lin Can waved her fists excitedly. "I'm going to lay a hundred of their eggs someday!"
"All right, all right." Lin Ke didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Let's make the Amethyst Longhorn Beetle first!"
One Stinger Hawk Moth consumed one insect jelly, but what about an Amethyst Longhorn Beetle?
It consumed sixteen pieces!
He refused to believe that an Amethyst Longhorn Beetle created with that much insect jelly would be weaker than a Stinger Hawk Moth.
"Here it comes! The Amethyst Longhorn Beetle!" Lin Can's face flushed red with effort as she cupped her hands around empty air.
Under Lin Ke's expectant gaze, the Amethyst Longhorn Beetle's egg finally took shape.
It was a palm-sized, pure white egg covered in crisscrossing purple markings.
Just as before, the eggs Lin Can produced could hatch without a long wait.
"Come out!" Lin Can panted.
The next moment, the egg split open, and a beautiful creature with a body like crystal crawled out.
It looked like an enlarged version of an ordinary longhorn beetle, with two long antennae, a hard carapace, and powerful mandibles.
Its most distinctive feature was its body, which looked as though it were made entirely of amethyst.
"I wonder what abilities you have." Lin Ke held out his hand for the Amethyst Longhorn Beetle to crawl onto and examined it closely.
He really ought to buy one of the mirrors Zong Ya and the others used in the Spirit Insect Cave-the kind called a treasure mirror. Although it was only a low-grade spirit tool, it was designed specifically to identify the traits of spirit insects and was extremely practical.
"So pretty..." Lin Can leaned closer, her eyes filled with delight. "The Amethyst Longhorn Beetle I made-no, the one we made-is so pretty~"
What do you mean, we made it...? Helpless, Lin Ke said, "Wait here. I'll go ask Senior Sister to appraise it."
"Mm-hmm!"
"What a beautiful longhorn beetle!"
Zong Ya's voice was filled with wonder.
Sure enough, the first thing some women paid attention to was often appearance.
"It is." Watching the Amethyst Longhorn Beetle crawl slowly across his hand, Lin Ke also thought it was quite pretty. "Senior Sister, what are its traits?"
"Let me take a look." Zong Ya took out the Bronze Treasure Mirror and shone it on the Amethyst Longhorn Beetle.
"Although your Amethyst Longhorn Beetle is only low-grade spirit quality, it's very close to mid-grade spirit!"
"Its greatest strength is its carapace."
Zong Ya gently stroked the Amethyst Longhorn Beetle's warm, smooth carapace. "It should be able to use its ability to instantly enlarge its carapace... This is a spirit insect with an innate talent of its own!"
A skill?!
Lin Ke immediately understood what Zong Ya meant, and delight flashed in his eyes.
Some spirit insects possessed innate abilities of their own, which Lin Ke understood as skills!
Stinger Hawk Moths and Blackgold Silkworms were too weak. If he had to count their abilities, Blackgold Silkworms could spin silk, while Stinger Hawk Moths had thick needles on their tails.
Stinger Hawk Moths were a little better. According to Zong Ya, the powder from their wing scales could be cultivated into a poisonous substance.
But Blackgold Silkworms?
Even mortals could handle Blackgold Silkworms however they pleased. Aside from spinning silk and breeding, they were essentially useless, with combat strength infinitely close to zero.
"Instant enlargement..." Looking at the Amethyst Longhorn Beetle before him, Lin Ke's heart burned with excitement.
Wasn't instantly enlarging its carapace a textbook defensive skill?
He currently had Mountain-Moving and Sea-Overturning, the Moisture-and-Egg Transformation Method, and the Dragonfly Dash Art. What he lacked was a defensive method.
This Amethyst Longhorn Beetle neatly addressed his current weakness.
Moreover, this Amethyst Longhorn Beetle's aptitude was already close to mid-grade spirit.
If he had Lin Can carefully nurture one, wouldn't there be a real chance of producing a mid-grade spirit insect?
"If you sell it, you could price it at four hundred and sixty spirit stones." After saying this, Zong Ya put away the Bronze Treasure Mirror and looked at Lin Ke with a bright smile.
"Lin Ke, this Amethyst Longhorn Beetle is quite good. If you haven't found a second life-bound spirit insect by then, this one would be just right."
"I'll consider it." Lin Ke nodded without mentioning Lin Can, then asked, "Senior Sister, is this Bronze Treasure Mirror of yours available for purchase? I think it's quite useful."
He couldn't keep troubling Zong Ya every time. She had her own duties to attend to while working at the Spirit Insect Cave.
"You mean the Insect Mirror?" Zong Ya frowned slightly.
"Although it's only mid-grade spirit, only the enforcement team and the people of the Spirit Insect Cave are issued one. Those of us in the Spirit Insect Cave can only use ours inside the cave. The enforcement team carries them whenever they enter the Poison Tempering Mountains, but otherwise, they're forbidden from circulating outside. Getting one would be... difficult."
"All right." Lin Ke smiled. "Then I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you more often in the future, Senior Sister."
"It's a trifling matter. There's no need for such courtesy between us." Zong Ya smiled calmly, then her eyes suddenly lit up.
"Or, once you report your breakthrough to the Dao Foundation to the technique transmission elder, why not simply join the Spirit Insect Cave and work as a steward alongside me? I could look after you too."
"Join the Spirit Insect Cave as a steward?" Lin Ke paused, then declined. "No, Senior Sister. I'll stay in the Green Mulberry Garden."
Even Dao Foundation cultivators could only choose one place to serve.
Since he had chosen the Green Mulberry Garden, he couldn't choose the Spirit Insect Cave as well.
Besides, apart from the Insect Mirror, there was nothing in the Spirit Insect Cave that appealed to him. After all, working there didn't involve researching insects or anything of the sort; it was more like sales.
It was like selling houses or toothpaste, except the Spirit Insect Cave sold insects.
"The Green Mulberry Garden?" Zong Ya considered it briefly, apparently guessing some of Lin Ke's thoughts. "Although it's remote, its tranquility makes up for that. That's fine too."
"But, Junior Brother..."
She mused, "That Beast Venerable's fury forced the sect master to go to the Mu Mansion in the Dali Domain to discuss countermeasures. I keep feeling that troubled times are approaching. You and I need to give this more thought."
"You're right, Senior Sister..." Lin Ke nodded. "I'll put some effort into the Green Mulberry Garden for now. Perhaps it'll become a refuge for the two of us someday."
"That would be best." Warmth filled Zong Ya's heart.
After all, Lin Ke was only in his teens. In her eyes, he was still young, and even after reaching Foundation Establishment, he was still her little brother.
But when a little brother wanted to protect his big sister, she was naturally happy.
Still, afraid that Lin Ke might reach too high and chase too far, Zong Ya sighed and said:
"Our family backgrounds can't compare to those of the sect's powerful families, whose children can refine superior-grade spirit insects, or even Supreme Grade and transcendent-grade spirit insects. But a decent mid-grade spirit insect can still spare us a great deal of arduous cultivation."
"I understand. Don't worry, Senior Sister." Lin Ke nodded.
The normal quality rankings consisted of only three grades: superior, middle, and low. However, particularly powerful insects that still fell within the spirit grade were classified as supreme-grade.
Those that were powerful and extremely rare were Supreme Grade, and above those stood the legendary peerless-grade.
Supreme Grade, transcendent-grade, and peerless-grade insects could only be encountered by fortune, not sought at will.
In his original body's memories, there seemed to be an elder whose life-bound spirit insect was a supreme-grade spirit insect purchased elsewhere, at several times the price of an origin tier spirit insect.
Of course, cultivators at the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages could only refine spirit-grade spirit insects at most. Only at the Golden Core Stage could they refine origin tier insects.
"In the future, perhaps I'll find a supreme-grade, or even a Supreme Grade or peerless-grade spirit insect..."
An indescribable brilliance appeared on Lin Ke's face.
Zong Ya merely smiled without speaking, clearly unconvinced.
"Senior Sister, I'll head back now."
"Mm. Don't forget your sect assignments and the Sect Grand Tournament!"
"Got it."
Before you continue