Sun and Moon Worship Technique

Jiang Yan also looked over and saw two Daoist acolytes before him. One was burly and was working with a hide laid on an anvil.

The other was far more ferocious. Two vats containing Gu insects stood open.

Judging by the sounds, the Gu insects inside had probably been gathered into one vat.

And this man had actually buried his entire body among the Gu insects in the vat, leaving only a bald head exposed.

When Jiang Yan entered the courtyard, perhaps the scent of a stranger had agitated them.

All manner of hisses and screeches rose incessantly from the Gu insects in the vat.

As the waves of insects swayed, a gap opened among them.

First, a pair of venomous fangs emerged, followed by a long human body.

Hundreds of pairs of legs crowded densely together as it climbed up the chest of the acolyte in the vat, seemingly intent on coming out.

The burly acolyte beside him frowned.

"Gu-Eating, keep your bugs under control!"

"I know, I know. You talk too much!"

The Gu-Eating Daoist Child replied casually, then opened his mouth just as the centipede reached his chin.

With a movement of his lips, he took the centipede's head into his mouth, then bit down hard.

A clear crack of breaking shell rang out, and the centipede immediately began to convulse.

Its nearly meter-long body coiled and writhed, wrapping his entire head tightly.

The Gu-Eating Daoist Child certainly lived up to his name. His body did not move at all, and faint chewing and slurping sounds even came from within his wrapped head.

The burly acolyte ignored him and came over to greet Jiang Yan.

After a brief conversation, Jiang Yan learned the basics about them.

These two were also disciples of the Prefecture Academy and had arrived only a year before Jiang Yan.

They had gone to take the annual Prefecture Examination some time ago and had only returned today.

The burly one was called the Xipi Daoist Child. Judging by his appearance, Jiang Yan reckoned that he probably cultivated the Sinew-Shifting and Bone-Transmuting Dao.

As for the Gu-Eating Daoist Child, he naturally cultivated the Witchcraft and Gu Ritual Path.

They did not mention their cultivation realms, but since they had only arrived a year ago, they could be no higher than the Ninth-Rank Lower Realm.

It was their first meeting, and they were unfamiliar with one another, so Jiang Yan exchanged only a few casual words with the Xipi Daoist Child.

He raised a hand in farewell.

As Jiang Yan prepared to return to his room, he glanced toward the Gu-Eating Daoist Child again.

In that brief span, the centipede that had originally coiled around his entire head had already been mostly eaten.

Only a length slightly longer than a palm still hung from his mouth, its remaining legs twitching incessantly.

Dark green insect blood had run everywhere, and the Gu-Eating Daoist Child's face was covered in it.

Noticing Jiang Yan's gaze, the man even gave him a rather polite nod.

Jiang Yan nodded in greeting as well, then lingered no longer, pushing open his door and entering his room.

Only the Skin Player and the Gu-Eating Daoist Child remained outside.

The Gu-Eating Daoist Child swallowed the centipede's final segment. Without speaking, he communicated through his gaze alone.

What do you think of him?

The Skin Player did not answer immediately. After a moment's thought, he spoke quietly.

"Decent enough. He doesn't look like a meddlesome one. At least he should be less trouble than that woman."

As he spoke, he tipped his chin toward Zhang Yunhong's room.

Clearly, the troublesome woman the Daoist Xipi meant was Zhang Yunhong.

And these two had not told Jiang Yan the truth earlier either. Judging by their familiarity, they certainly did not seem like people who had known each other for only a year.

The two had probably known each other before coming to the Prefecture Academy.

After a few casual exchanges, the Xipi Daoist Child went back to working at the anvil nearby.

The Gu-Eating Daoist Child closed his eyes comfortably in the vat of Gu insects.

Whenever a Gu insect broke through the sea of insects and crawled out, he immediately took it into his mouth and swallowed it.

Meanwhile, inside Jiang Yan's room.

Having just become nodding acquaintances with the two, he did not dwell on them.

Jiang Yan's impression of them was much the same.

Although the Gu-Eating Daoist Child's cultivation methods were somewhat bizarre, neither of them seemed meddlesome.

That was good. One Zhang Yunhong, whose background remained unclear, was enough. With a few more, he really would have to consider moving away.

Fortunately, these two were not like that. Jiang Yan sighed in relief, then took out the two stones he had just bought at the Market.

He placed a sunflame stone and a moonshade stone on the table, one on the left and one on the right.

After taking out the spirit ink and setting it down as well, Jiang Yan did not rush to begin.

Instead, he used the Stone Book to start analyzing the Sun and Moon Worship Technique.

Naturally, this technique could not compare with the Fire-Element Pill Refining Method. It could even be called simple.

In just a quarter of an hour, Jiang Yan had thoroughly grasped it.

"It didn't take much effort. In that case, I'll finish it in one push."

Feeling that he still had plenty of stamina, Jiang Yan picked up the sunflame stone, gripped it tightly, and activated his Law Power.

Under Jiang Yan's control, strands of Law Power swept across his palm like blades.

Tiny chips kept falling from the sunflame stone.

It took little time. Once the excess edges and corners had been removed, a sphere appeared in Jiang Yan's hand.

This was the first step of the Sun and Moon Worship Technique. He had to make vessels for the sun and moon before proceeding to the next step.

With the "sun" finished, Jiang Yan picked up the moonshade stone, but instead of starting immediately, he hesitated.

The moon's phases were ever-changing, sometimes full and sometimes incomplete. What shape should he make it?

After only a brief hesitation, he decided to make it a full moon.

For no other reason than this: if he made it a half moon, would that not waste half the stone?

As his Law Power surged, another pale blue sphere appeared.

Holding the two spheres, each about an inch across, Jiang Yan could not resist playing with them for a moment. One was warm and the other icy cold, and they felt quite pleasant rolling in his hand.

The scattered chips he had cut off could not be put to any other use.

Jiang Yan did not waste them either. He gathered them into his hand, tipped his head back, and tossed them into his mouth.

He had already mastered the Ingestion Method, after all, and could fully digest ordinary low-grade spiritual materials like these.

After playing with the sun and moon spheres for a moment, Jiang Yan picked up the spirit ink beside him and poured it out.

Just as when he had practiced the Ingestion Technique last time, he controlled the spirit ink with his Law Power and began inscribing the sun and moon spheres.

This time, he was not engraving their surfaces, but incorporating the inscriptions into them.

The two spheres were small, and only half the spirit ink was needed.

On the sun sphere, Jiang Yan carved raised Register Script; on the moon sphere, he carved recessed script.

With spiritual materials, spirit ink, and the Register Script Jiang Yan had inscribed, the sun and moon spheres now resembled two tiny ritual altars.

With the preparations complete, he naturally had to test the technique's effects.

Following the instructions of the Sun and Moon Worship Technique, Jiang Yan raised his hand and tossed the two spheres into the air.

At the same time, he formed hand seals and sent a strand of Law Power into them.

The sun and moon spheres hovered overhead. The sun sphere remained still, the Register Script engraved on it lighting up and emitting a faint glow.

The moon sphere began revolving around the sun sphere.

According to the technique, this was how it worked during the day.

If used at night, the sun sphere would revolve around the moon sphere instead.

Bathed in this light, Jiang Yan also activated the Spirit Gathering Formation, then tried circulating his cultivation method.

After only a few cycles, he keenly sensed that there was indeed a little more Spiritual Qi available for his cultivation today.

Compared with before, the increase was probably around one-fifteenth or one-sixteenth.

Jiang Yan was already very satisfied with this effect. It was equivalent to cultivating for two extra days each month, which would amount to no small sum over the long years.

The sun and moon spheres would not last forever, though. After perhaps three to five months of use, they would need replacing.

Even accounting for that, however, it was still worthwhile. Exchanging ten Spirit Stones for this technique had been no loss.