Immortal Venerable of the Beast Race

The jade slip recorded the spirit insects from the Heaven and Earth Exotic Insect List, including their appearance, divine skills, and habits.

The Heaven and Earth Exotic Insect List was compiled by enthusiasts and serves as a useful reference.

The other two jade slips held records of "Green Cloud Spell" and "Travels of Master Qingyun." The "Green Cloud Spell" is a set of techniques that can be cultivated up to the ninth level of Qi Refinement.

"Travels of Master Qingyun" was authored by a loose cultivator named Master Qingyun. He was unable to advance to the Foundation Establishment Stage in his lifetime, visited many places in Qin Country, and recorded his experiences.

"Travels of Master Qingyun" detailed the situation in Qin Country, which consists of twelve provinces and thirty-six counties. There are five strongest forces, each anchored by a Nascent Soul Cultivator, namely the Xuanyang Sect, Badao Villa, Spirt Control Sect, Zixiao Sect, and Qixia Sect, with the Xuanyang Sect being the most powerful.

Qin Country also had several small and medium-sized forces that were affiliated with the five major powers.

Shen Long was most interested in the Spirt Control Sect. According to the jade slip, the Spirt Control Sect was famous in Qin Country for repelling and controlling insects and beasts. Most of its disciples raised spirit beasts and insects, releasing them to assist in annihilating enemies when in combat.

Over a hundred years ago, a group of evil cultivators caused chaos in Qin Country, killing many cultivators. The ringleader was a Core Formation Cultivator. The Snow Spider Fairy of the Spirt Control Sect took action and eliminated the ringleader, securing a reputation in the region.

The Qianzhu Mountain Range once faced the threat of a third-order Monster Beast, the Green Wind Wolf, which harmed many cultivators. It was the Green Python True Person of the Spirt Control Sect who stepped in to resolve the menace.

Shen Long's gaze turned to the pile of spirit stones, and his face showed delight.

He had ninety-two spirit stones on him, and together with the seized stones, he now had a total of two hundred sixty-seven spirit stones—a huge sum—and he had also obtained three magic artifacts.

A horse cannot get fat without night grazing, a person cannot get rich without windfall.

This was his first time killing someone. He had only two lower-grade magic artifacts, and his three Great Perfection spells played a significant role, especially the Fireball Technique.

Shen Long picked up the wooden box and took out the Spirt Control Tower, infusing it with mana.

The Spirt Control Tower emitted a dazzling blue light, and a powerful suction force emerged, pulling him inside the tower and leading him to a spacious and bright hall.

He approached the pool to place the insect egg inside, curious to see if there would be any changes.

He had tried lying in the pool before and noticed nothing unusual. The Spirt Control Tower was likely related to nurturing spirit beasts and insects.

Half a quarter of an hour passed, and the insect egg had not changed at all.

Shen Long furrowed his brow and looked towards the stone wall adorned with Monster Beasts Patterns.

An idea struck him, and he approached the True Dragon Pattern, placing his palm on the stone wall to try infusing it with mana, but nothing unusual occurred.

He walked over to the Heavenly Phoenix Pattern nearby and attempted to infuse it with mana.

Thus, he approached each Monster Beasts Pattern, trying to inject them with mana.

After a while, he stood in front of a fearsome Demon Insect Pattern. The creature had dozens of heads, a flat body, and rows of sickle-like claws on its underside, appearing like numerous demon insects entwined together.

He tried infusing mana into it, and an astonishing scene unfolded. His mana uncontrollably surged towards the Monster Beasts Pattern. The eyes of the demon insect lit up, as if coming to life, and started moving restlessly.

Shen Long looked back at the pool, where a burst of blue light emerged.

His mana was quickly drained, leaving his face pale. He hastily took out two water attribute spirit stones to absorb spiritual energy and recover his mana.

With his eyes fixed on the pool, the blue light dispersed, leaving the pool seemingly unchanged.

After a while, Shen Long had recovered some mana and walked towards the pool.

When he reached the pool, he saw a black centipede about a foot long, with a pair of snow-white thin wings on its back, a pair of white antennae on its head, and a row of white short legs on its underside.

"Snow Winged Ice Centipede!"

Shen Long recognized the origin of the black centipede.

The Snow Winged Ice Centipede ranked at number nine hundred on the Heaven and Earth Exotic Insect List. It could breathe cold air to freeze an area, immune to both water and fire. The higher its rank, the larger the area it could freeze.

This Snow Winged Ice Centipede was just a juvenile and not very powerful.

Shen Long was surprised, and also somewhat excited.

Gazing at the Monster Beasts Patterns on the wall, his face lit up with a sudden realization. It turned out that these patterns had a use—the difficult-to-hatch Spirit Insect Eggs placed in the pool could be incubated by infusing mana into the similar Monster Beast Patterns.

Shen Long paid no heed to the Snow Winged Ice Centipede and left the Spirt Control Tower.

Upon leaving the Spirt Control Tower, he picked up the things on the ground and started murmuring to himself. His facial features blurred, and a blue light shone from his head.

The blue light dissipated and Shen Long's appearance changed. The technique of disguise, many Loose Cultivators know this spell; it can only change the appearance simply, not the essence and cultivation.

He then picked up the Spirit Stones from the Soundproofing Array and stepped out the door.

Half a quarter of an hour later, Shen Long appeared at the entrance of a five-story blue pavilion. A signboard plated in gold with the words "Hundred Spirits Pavilion" written in silver loomed above.

This was a shop that specialized in selling Spirit Beasts and Spirit Insects and was under the control of the Li Family.

Walking into the Hundred Spirits Pavilion, he was greeted by a spacious and bright hall. Behind the counter were rows of tall shelves laden with various insect eggs and receptacles, and the sound of insects could be heard.

Shen Long approached a section of the counter, and a young and beautiful maid in a green dress came over briskly and asked enthusiastically, "How may I assist Taoist Friend?"

"I would like to purchase a Spirit Insect, the more powerful, the better,"

said Shen Long.

"Then you've come to the right place. This is the catalog of Spirit Insects, which lists all the Spirit Insects in our shop. You can take your time to choose, or I can introduce them to you,"

the maid in the green dress took out a pale blue Law Disk and handed it to Shen Long.

Shen Long injected a spell into the Law Disk and it lit up with a blue light, displaying a black Earthcovering Eel pattern, accompanied by a line of text describing it.

"Earthcovering Eel, eats a wide variety of foods, can be used to loosen soil, and improve fertility,"

"Cloudflame Scorpion, spits fierce flames and its tail contains deadly poison,"

"White Jade Bee, has a mild disposition, can collect flower nectar to brew Spirit Honey,"

······

Shen Long looked carefully, and soon after, he had finished reading all the introductions to the Spirit Insects. There were none from the Heaven and Earth Exotic Insect List.

"Is that all? Nothing more?"

asked Shen Long.

"These are all the Spirit Insects we have in our store. If none of them interest you, how about Spirit Beasts? We have two new species that have just arrived,"

the maid in the green dress said enthusiastically.

"No need, thank you,"

Shen Long politely declined, set down the blue Law Disk, and turned to leave.

In the marketplace, there was only one Spirit Beast shop, so Shen Long did not have to visit other stores.

It seemed, then, that the Spirit Insects from the Heaven and Earth Exotic Insect List were still very precious.

Xu Lei and the rest were being pursued by Chen Xiong, their fates uncertain. If they had all perished, Shen Long would need to join another Monster Hunting Team. If they were severely injured, they would not be able to venture out to hunt Monster Beasts for a long time.

After much deliberation, Shen Long decided he could only wait patiently. He returned to his lodging and began cultivating.

Three days went by, and on this day, while Shen Long was cultivating at his residence, a Sound Transmission Talisman flew in and hovered in front of him.

Shen Long swiftly ended his cultivation, grabbed and crushed the Sound Transmission Talisman, and heard the voice of Qin Qing, "Taoist Friend Shen, Taoist Friend Xu is calling a meeting."