Chapter 119 - 80: Visit

Chapter 119: Chapter 80: Visit

Early in the morning, Li Yinsheng sat cross-legged on his bed. In front of him was a small saucer containing a thin layer of crystal-clear blood at the bottom.

The blood looked like flowing Red Jade, refracting a nearly crystal-like texture in the sunlight.

It was Li Yinsheng’s first time seeing what his True Blood looked like. It was completely different from ordinary blood.

Over a dozen red-and-white eggs, only the size of sesame seeds, soaked in the True Blood.

As Li Yinsheng formed a hand seal, he used the Insect-Control Skill to place a Restriction on these Red Jade Mosquito eggs and stimulated their incubation. The crystal-clear luster of the True Blood also faded at a visible rate.

The essence of the True Blood flowed into the eggs, helping the unformed Red Jade Mosquitoes build a solid foundation while simultaneously creating a Restriction within them that would be bound to their bodies and Souls.

The Insect-Control Skill left behind by Chongyun mentioned that a Restriction placed in this manner would not only allow the master to monitor the Exotic Insects’ every move, but it could even be inherited by their offspring.

As the Restriction strengthened with each generation, Exotic Insects born several generations later could be controlled without any Techniques or the Insect-Control Skill. With just a single thought from the master, they would flawlessly execute commands, acting as an extension of the master’s own body—quite literally answering to his every whim.

However, even at that stage, it didn’t mean the Insect-Control Skill would become useless.

The true utility of the Insect-Control Skill wasn’t limited to mere manipulation. Advanced Insect-Control Skills could use Exotic Insects as tools or materials to cast unique Magic.

Chongyun’s Insect-Control Skill also mentioned several other variants from Thousand Insects Valley, which boasted a variety of miraculous effects.

Some allowed the insects to transform into clones of the user. Others could use Spiritual Insects as scapegoats to save one’s life, or even command the Spiritual Insects to form an Array on their own.

One particular skill could even grant insects that naturally lacked the ability to gather and solidify the same shape-shifting power as the Red Jade Mosquito.

Although it wasn’t effective on all Exotic Insects and paled in comparison to the Red Jade Mosquito’s innate shape-shifting, the two abilities didn’t conflict with each other.

Unfortunately, the Insect-Control Skill left behind by Chongyun was a Magic Technique he compiled himself, likely intended only for his own disciples. It didn’t include those miraculous applications.

Perhaps he knew those methods himself but simply didn’t carry them around in written form.

Li Yinsheng made a mental note of this. If he ever visited Thousand Insects Valley one day and obtained those Insect-Control Skills, it would be the icing on the cake.

From early morning until near noon, the True Blood in the saucer completely lost its luster. The sesame-seed-sized Red Jade Mosquito eggs had swelled to three times their original size. Their surface color now matched the former brilliance of the True Blood, and they were all trembling violently.

As Li Yinsheng cast the final Technique, all the eggs shattered simultaneously. Over a dozen ruby-like mosquitoes emerged and took flight.

Li Yinsheng was somewhat surprised. In his memory, mosquitoes were supposed to spend time in the water as larvae before undergoing Feather Transformation into adults. It seemed the Red Jade Mosquito was different.

This was a good thing, though. Fast growth meant fast cultivation. These dozen or so Red Jade Mosquitoes couldn’t provide much combat assistance to him right now; he figured he needed to breed at least three to five hundred of them before they would be truly useful.

Thanks to the Restriction, Li Yinsheng controlled the mosquitoes with incredible ease, making them dance and weave around him exactly as he wished.

The speed of these Red Jade Mosquitoes was indeed terrifyingly fast. Even though they had just been born, their speed already surpassed many Cultivators riding Flying Magical Artifacts.

Li Yinsheng estimated that even Vice Temple Master Huang’s speed, when he arrived at Xuanzhen Temple riding his Talisman Crane, was about thirty percent slower than these Red Jade Mosquitoes.

Moreover, the Red Jade Mosquitoes possessed Concealment under a Cultivator’s Divine Sense. While it wasn’t as exaggerated as that Black Stone, it still wasn’t something Cultivators beneath the Daoist realm could easily detect.

Li Yinsheng pondered for a moment, then extended his hand. He let one Red Jade Mosquito land and controlled it to bite his fingertip.

However, perhaps because they had just been born, the Red Jade Mosquito couldn’t pierce his surface defenses as a Daoist Body Cultivator like the records claimed. Still, it gave him a slight prickly sensation.

If they continued to grow, perhaps they really could do it.

With a thought, the dozen Red Jade Mosquitoes transformed into thread-like streams of light, weaving together at his fingertip into a Red Jade Blade the size of a fingernail.

Since there were too few Red Jade Mosquitoes right now, their solidified form was only this big. It looked somewhat like a claw, its sharp tip glinting with a cold light.

Li Yinsheng pressed the tip of the blade against his thumb, gradually increasing the pressure. When he used about sixty or seventy percent of his strength, it finally pierced his skin.

Through the Restriction, however, he could sense that the Red Jade Mosquitoes had reached their limit.

If he applied any more pressure, the Red Jade Sharp Blade they formed would likely collapse outright.

They were just a bunch of baby mosquitoes, after all; he couldn’t demand too much.

Besides, even at their current level, killing the vast majority of Cultivators below the Daoist realm would be incredibly easy.

According to his tests, this solidified Red Jade could even leave scratches on an Upper Grade Magical Artifact like the Brass Incense Burner.

A thin Red Jade Flying Blade was enough to silently pierce through the defenses of most Cultivators.

Furthermore, Red Jade Mosquitoes naturally sucked blood. When used as a weapon, they would inevitably drain a massive amount of blood while injuring the enemy.

Li Yinsheng nodded in satisfaction and stored the Red Jade Mosquitoes into his Spirit Insect Cage. This Spirit Insect Cage had already been refined by him, making it perfectly suitable to house the Red Jade Mosquitoes.

Previously, the Spirit Insect Cage had housed thousands of Spiritual Insects of various species. Now, there were only a dozen Red Jade Mosquitoes inside. They were essentially living in a super-luxury mansion.

The Red Jade Mosquitoes had only just hatched. Once they matured, they could lay eggs, allowing Li Yinsheng to incubate the next batch.

Li Yinsheng rubbed his chin.

Since he had nothing to do tonight, why not practice controlling the Red Jade Mosquitoes? The people from Shouyi Temple were still staying on the peak. Tonight, he would have the Red Jade Mosquitoes pay them a visit, one by one, to say hello.

Li Yinsheng couldn’t help but curl his lips into an innocent smile, but he quickly suppressed it and looked toward the door. "Is that Meng? Please, come in."

The door of the Bamboo House was carefully pushed open.

Meng Yu’s eyes were filled with complex emotions, but her expression had already adjusted to the appropriate reverence and seriousness required when facing an elder.

She walked up to Li Yinsheng, bowed, and greeted him, "Greetings, Elder Li."

Li Yinsheng shook his head. "I’m already used to addressing each other as Fellow Daoists. Meng, calling me that actually makes me a bit uncomfortable. Why don’t we go back to the way it was before, and refer to each other as Fellow Daoists?"

It wasn’t like he hadn’t been called an elder before. When the gray-haired Vice Temple Master Huang, Vice Temple Master Zhao, and Vice Temple Master Liang had called him ’elder,’ he had accepted it calmly.

But that was mainly because he wasn’t very familiar with those three, so it didn’t really matter.

However, Meng Yu had been hired by him to construct Arrays for Xuanzhen Temple. During this period, they had been discussing Array Dao and addressing each other as Fellow Daoists, so he was completely used to it.

Meng Yu hesitated a little. "But you are a Daoist elder. You are supposed to be of the same generation as the Ancestor Master of my temple. I..."

"It doesn’t matter. We can use our own terms of address," Li Yinsheng said.

"But addressing a Daoist elder as a Fellow Daoist..." Meng Yu was still hesitant.

This wasn’t just a gap of one or two generations. Because Daoists lived much longer than ordinary Cultivators, many Daoists in the Daoist Temples were several generations senior to the Temple Masters and Stewards.

Logically speaking, even if her master were here, she would still have to call Li Yinsheng ’elder.’

"Then let’s compromise. Although I am a Daoist, I am currently acting as the Master of Xuanzhen Temple. Just call me Master Li," Li Yinsheng offered, not forcing the issue. "As for when I step down as Temple Master in the future, we’ll talk about it then."

Meng Yu sighed in relief. "Greetings, Master Li."

"No need for formalities." Li Yinsheng waved his hand, motioning for Meng Yu to sit down, and poured two cups of tea. "Meng, do you have some business with me today?"

"Well..." Meng Yu was still somewhat reserved. She carefully organized her words before speaking softly, "It’s Ancestor Master Yuheng from my temple. She ordered me to congratulate you on her behalf for becoming a Daoist at such a young age.

"Furthermore, she heard that you are quite interested in Arrays and would like to invite you to stay as a guest at our temple for a few days, so you two can exchange some pointers."

Li Yinsheng wasn’t surprised by this. He hadn’t hidden his identity during yesterday’s incident, so Meng Yu must have reported back to her Daoist Temple overnight.

He figured that aside from Meng Yu, the other two Fellow Daoists invited by Huang Bamboo Temple to hold down the fort were likely also trying to find a way to contact their respective Daoist Temples.

Most of the Patrol Disciples were ordinary disciples from various Daoist Temples and might not have recognized what had happened. But those Demon Extermination Disciples were the True Inheritance and Direct Lineage of their sects; their worldly knowledge shouldn’t be lacking.

Even though they probably had no way to contact their Daoist Temples directly from such a distance, they would definitely report back once they returned.

Considering the special circumstances of Xuanzhen Temple, once the harvesting of Cultivation Fruits at Bamboo Forest Peak concluded, the news of him becoming a Daoist would likely spread completely throughout the Dharma Vein.

In truth, by all rights, whenever a Cultivator from any Daoist Temple became a Daoist, it was customary to announce it to all Fellow Daoists and throw a grand banquet.

Firstly, because it was inherently an immensely joyous occasion.

Secondly, it was to inform neighboring Daoist Temples that they had gained another Daoist, and others had better think twice before crossing them in the future.

It was just that Xuanzhen Temple’s current conditions in all aspects were rather inadequate, making it unsuitable to host a banquet. The roofs of the buildings in the temple hadn’t even been repaired yet.

Li Yinsheng figured that there wouldn’t be any tactless Fellow Daoists coming up to ask him, "Li, since you’ve become a Daoist, why didn’t you announce it to the world so that we could all celebrate together?"

Word spreading was one thing, but as for the banquet to celebrate his ascension to a Daoist, he would just have to wait.

Meng Yu, however, had the means to contact Jade Altar Temple directly. Last night, after receiving her report, Jade Altar Temple probably thought to extend an invitation early, before the news had fully spread.

But as it happened, Li Yinsheng had condensed a Chess Soul and genuinely had quite an interest in Array Dao.

"Since Jade Altar Temple has extended such a sincere invitation, I naturally must go," Li Yinsheng said. "However, after this business with Huang Bamboo Temple is over, I have another important matter that requires me to visit Zulu Temple. So, I’m afraid my visit will be delayed."

"That’s perfectly fine! Ancestor Master Yuheng said that Jade Altar Temple welcomes Master Li at any time," Meng Yu quickly replied.

"Then please thank Yu Heng on my behalf, Meng," Li Yinsheng smiled.

Meng Yu subconsciously shivered. She thought, "Addressing each other as Fellow Daoists alongside the Ancestor Master? Me?"

"Huh?" Li Yinsheng suddenly raised an eyebrow. "What a coincidence."

Meng Yu looked puzzled.

"The other two Fellow Daoists invited by Huang Bamboo Temple to hold down the fort are here. They’re currently pacing outside in hesitation, looking like they want to request an audience but don’t dare to speak.

"Why are they agonizing so much? Do I look that scary?" Li Yinsheng said with a laugh.

"The other two seem to be the Stewards of Songyue Temple and Yuanya Temple. They must also be here to offer congratulations on behalf of their Daoist Temples," Meng Yu said.

"I really didn’t notice which temples those two young friends were from at the time," Li Yinsheng was a bit surprised. "To think they are from Songyue Temple and Yuanya Temple. Such a coincidence is quite amusing."

"A coincidence?" Meng Yu didn’t understand.

"My junior sister’s two teammates during patrols are also disciples from Songyue Temple and Yuanya Temple," Li Yinsheng explained.

Meng Yu came to a sudden realization.

However, there was actually another coincidence that Li Yinsheng didn’t mention.

Yue He of Songyue Temple had previously sent someone to make him her concubine.