Immortal Venerable of the Beast Race

"This child had good intentions but ended up causing trouble; if it weren't for this, I wouldn't have had to ask Taoist Friend Shen for help,"

Qin Qing sighed.

Qin Tianhe wanted to help alleviate the pressure, which was a good thing, but being too young, he was deceived.

"Taoist Friend Shen, I will only borrow ten spirit stones, and pledge the insect egg as collateral. Within half a year, I will definitely repay the spirit stones,"

Qin Qing took out a yellow wooden box and handed it to Shen Long.

Ten spirit stones were not a small amount to the former Shen Long, and neither were they insignificant now, but he didn't want to reveal his wealth.

"What if you can't repay them!"

Shen Long said, frowning.

"If I can't repay, the insect egg will belong to you. Tianhe bought it with thirty spirit stones,"

Qin Qing said.

"Taoist Friend Qin, ten spirit stones can't hatch the insect egg; do you think I'm that foolish?"

Shen Long's face showed displeasure.

After pondering for a moment, Qin Qing said, "In that case! I will definitely repay the spirit stones, and this insect egg, I will give it to you as a gift. If it can be hatched, it will surely bring in a large profit."

He had been peddling the insect egg around, and indeed there were people willing to buy it, with the highest offer being two spirit stones. The egg was unhatched, and no one knew what kind of spirit insect it was.

If it were an ordinary spirit insect, it would be difficult to sell.

Shen Long's eyebrows furrowed as he showed a contemplative expression. Now, ten spirit stones weren't a large sum for him, but he didn't want to seem too carefree about it.

"Taoist Friend Shen, I really have no other choice. You help me today, and when you are in a tight spot in the future, I can help you as well,"

Qin Qing pleaded earnestly.

"Alright! Repay me sooner,"

Shen Long took out ten spirit stones and handed them to Qin Qing.

"Thank you, Taoist Friend Shen, thank you,"

Qin Qing handed the wooden box to Shen Long.

Shen Long opened the wooden box; inside was a yellow insect egg. He stored the box away, opened the door, and walked out.

"Don't think of going into the mountains to hunt monster beasts alone. If you die, there will be no one to take care of your grandson,"

Shen Long's voice came from outside.

"Thank you, Taoist Friend Shen,"

Qin Qing said gratefully, looking at the green vines in the sandpit with an approving expression.

"Tianhe is diligent in his cultivation, I hope he can walk further on the path of immortality!"

Qin Qing muttered to himself.

As long as Qin Tianhe could advance further on the path of immortality, any amount of hardship he endured was inconsequential.

After leaving the Martial Training Garden, Shen Long walked towards the base of the mountain.

He arrived at Azure Stone Plaza, where loose cultivators set up their stalls, and began to wander around.

After a while, a familiar female voice reached his ears: "Taoist Friend Shen, would you like to buy some spiritual wine?"

Shen Long looked towards the source of the voice and saw Huang Xiuyun, with several wine jugs placed on her small stall.

On Huang Xiuyun's left, another small stall displayed some first-grade talismans, managed by a slender girl in a red dress with a palm-sized black birthmark on her left cheek.

Shen Long visited this place every now and then, so he was acquainted with the girl in the red dress.

The girl's name was Ye Yushang; her sister, Ye Yuqing, a first-grade talisman maker.

Ye Yuqing was responsible for crafting the first-grade talismans, while Ye Yushang managed the sales. Their prices were somewhat cheaper compared to regular talisman shops, making them quite popular among the loose cultivators. However, they only sold their talismans occasionally and not in large quantities, so the Chen, Li, and Han families had not interfered.

Shen Long shook his head and said, "Not at the moment."

A thought crossed his mind, and he casually asked, "Fairy Huang, have the insect eggs you bought hatched yet?"

Huang Xiuyun had purchased two Snow Crystal Spider eggs, and Shen Long suspected they might be Snow Winged Ice Centipede eggs, but he had no evidence.

"Ah, don't bring that up. It's been half a year, and they still haven't hatched. Grandmother says I've been duped,"

Huang Xiuyun sighed.

A hundred spirit stones were not a large amount for them; they could recover the cost by selling more spiritual wine.

"That's not necessarily the case. If it hatches into a Snow Crystal Spider, you could definitely make a fortune,"

Ye Yushang said.

She had a fairly good relationship with Huang Xiuyun and would chat with her when there was no business.

Shen Long nodded, chatted briefly, and then walked away.

He strolled around the plaza but didn't find anything of interest. Leaving Azure Stone Plaza, he headed towards Qianzhu Peak.

As they passed a fork in the road, Chen Yishan and a delicate-looking girl in a white dress came face to face.

The girl's skin was as white as snow, and her eyes were as clear as water. She wore a white spirit beast bag around her waist, signifying the cultivation of the eighth level of Qi Refinement.

"Fairy Chu, the Hundred Spirits Pavilion is the only spirit beast shop in the marketplace, it may have the spirit beast you're looking for,"

Chen Yishan said enthusiastically.

"Then I'll have to trouble Taoist Friend Chen to lead the way,"

the girl in the white dress spoke, her voice sweet.

"It's no trouble at all, just a trivial matter."

Chen Yishan smiled broadly, leading the way for the girl in the white dress.

Shen Long didn't give it much thought and quickened his pace back to his dwelling.

He took out the insect egg Qin Qing had given him and observed it carefully, unable to recognize what kind of spirit insect egg it was.

Specialty breeds expertise, and to a layman's eyes, all insect eggs look more or less the same.

Shen Long took out a green jade slip and pressed it to his forehead.

The jade slip contained the records of the spirit insects from the Heaven and Earth Exotic Insect List, and after a short while, he removed it, his brow slightly furrowed.

There were so many types of spirit insects in the cultivation realm, and far too many yellow spirit insects; he couldn't determine the origin of this insect egg.

Shen Long took out the Spirit Control Tower, injected his mana into it, and instantly a dazzling blue light shone from it. A powerful suction forced him into the Spirit Control Tower.

Standing by a pond, Shen Long took out the insect egg and placed it into the water.

He approached a pattern with dozens of heads of demon insects, placed his hands on it, and injected his mana.

His mana drained quickly, and the eyes of the demon insect lit up.

Shen Long looked toward the pond and saw a blue light emanating from it.

Soon, he turned pale, withdrew his hands, took out two spirit stones, and absorbed the spiritual energy to recover his mana.

He came up to the pond and glanced in to see a yellow scorpion about a foot long, with a grayish-white tail poised high, ready to strike at any moment.

"Iron Tail Scorpion!"

Disappointment washed over Shen Long's face.

The Iron Tail Scorpion, an earth-element spirit insect, usually burrows underground for concealment and uses its stinger to wound enemies. It was a common spirit insect, and Shen Long, who had hunted monster beasts for years, had killed some Iron Tail Scorpions before.

On the Heaven and Earth Exotic Insect List, there were various Spirit Scorpions, among which the Earth Rock Scorpion and the Iron Tail Scorpion were earth-element demon scorpions. The difference was that the Earth Rock Scorpion excelled in stealth and its stinger contained a strange poison, while the Iron Tail Scorpion's stinger was non-poisonous; they were as different as heaven and earth.

The Hundred Spirits Pavilion also had Iron Tail Scorpions for sale, ten spirit stones each.

This made it difficult to sell this particular Iron Tail Scorpion.

Even if Qin Qing didn't return the spirit stones, Shen Long wouldn't be at a loss.

Shen Long left the Spirit Control Tower and sat down with his legs crossed, starting his cultivation practice.

Seven days went by, and on this day, Shen Long walked out of the stone house, intending to go to the Martial Training Garden to practice spells.

"Taoist Friend Shen, Taoist Friend Xu has called us over,"

Qin Qing said smilingly as he approached.

Shen Long nodded and went with Qin Qing to the Qingzhu Courtyard.

Aside from Xu Lei's group of four, there were also Ye Yushang and Ye Yuqing.

"Fairy Ye, what brings you here?"

Shen Long casually asked, suggesting that the Ye sisters had also joined their Monster Hunting Team.

"Taoist Friend Shen, you know them?"

Xu Lei asked, puzzled.

"I've purchased from Fairy Ye before,"

Shen Long explained.

Realizing the connection, Xu Lei said, "Let me introduce everyone, these two Fairies Ye are our new team members."

"Taoist Friend Xu, isn't their cultivation level a bit low?"

Qin Qing frowned and said.

Both Ye Yushang and Ye Yuqing were at the fifth level of Qi Refinement, which meant the team now had five members at that level.

"Fairy Ye is a Talisman Maker and has a spirit beast, her strength is not weak,"

Xu Lei clarified.

Hearing this, Qin Qing's expression eased.

"You all can purchase talismans from me, I'll give you a bit of a discount,"

Ye Yuqing said with a smile.