"Borrow Spirit Stones?"

Jia Ren turned his head. Two Ninth Level of Qi Refinement cultivators, one tall and thin, the other short and plump, were following him with ill intent.

Without some strength, how could they dare rob a Loose Cultivator of the same level? Thinking of targeting me? They've picked the wrong person.

"No, scram!"

If it had been earlier, Jia Ren might have been interested in playing along. Now, however, he just wanted to hurry back to the Water Mansion.

"Heh heh, fellow daoist, you are being rather unsociable."

"You dare to insult us brothers! We want to see what you're really capable of."

The two men exchanged glances and each took out a Black Fork Magic Artifact and a Curved Knife Magic Artifact, flanking him. They didn't speak definitively, to avoid cornering someone who might be too strong for them, thus leaving themselves room for retreat.

If he's weak... then we'll just kill him. Weakness is the original sin.

Seeing many other Loose Cultivators casting glances from a distance, Jia Ren decisively used his Wind Control Skill and fled swiftly towards the riverbank. He had just spotted the Foundation Establishment Cultivator Liu. It wouldn't be good to reveal his own combat strength, lest he arouse the man's vigilance.

"Hmph, you think you can escape?!"

The two decisively gave chase on their Magic Artifacts, pursuing Jia Ren out into the middle of the river. The banks of the Surging River were deserted—an excellent place to make a move.

"Fellow daoists, isn't life good for you?"

While fleeing, Jia Ren looked back, causing the two to heighten their vigilance.

"Heh heh, you'd better worry about your own little life!"

Before the two could act, Jia Ren pointed a finger at them. A streak of dark golden light shot out from his fingertip with astonishing speed, heading for the taller, slimmer Bizarre Cultivator who was closest.

"How dare you! You..."

They reacted quickly, the light of a Middle-Grade Defense Magic Artifact flaring. The golden finger light, as if piercing paper, easily penetrated the Spirit Shield and the Defense Magic Artifact. It continued with undiminished force, exploding the man's head.

Instant kill!

For a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, killing a Late Stage Qi Cultivator was exceedingly easy.

The short and plump cultivator, his face first stunned then horrified, quickly fled into the distance. "Fellow daoist, there's a misunderstanding; I don't need the Spirit Stones anymore," the short and plump Loose Cultivator stammered, realizing he had kicked an iron plate and was now intent on escaping.

Having mingled among Loose Cultivators for many years, how could Jia Ren not understand the tactics of Bizarre Cultivators? If the target is weak, kill them ruthlessly without hesitation. If cultivation levels are similar and they're unsure of your strength, they'll use excuses like 'borrowing Spirit Stones' to gauge if you're resolute or timid, then probe further. If they encounter strong resistance, they promptly flee. The two had survived this long; they were certainly old hands at this game.

Unfortunately, they encountered him.

Jia Ren's face was cold. His flying sword, crackling with leaping purple lightning, shot forth, carrying the sound of thunder. In an instant, as the thunder ceased, the flying sword returned to his palm.

Several hundred feet away, a headless, charred corpse fell from the sky, crashing heavily into the river water.

After effortlessly killing the two cultivators, he used water control to retrieve their dropped Storage Bags and incinerated the bodies on the river. After finishing everything, Jia Ren dove into the river water, vanishing without a trace.

Inside the Water Mansion, he took stock of the eight newly acquired Storage Bags.

A man's heart is never satisfied, just like a snake trying to swallow an elephant! They already possessed astonishing wealth, yet they still wouldn't walk the righteous path.

The two Bizarre Cultivators had been quite wealthy. Their Spirit Stones alone totaled over five thousand. In addition, there were numerous Spiritual Medicines, Elixirs, and Talismans—altogether worth at least sixteen or seventeen thousand Spirit Stones. They had obtained wealth from the destruction of the Market, resources sufficient for the two of them to squander for a long time. Still unsatisfied, they had set their sights on him.

This was the price of greed!

Jia Ren had made a small fortune, and a satisfied expression crossed his face. The resources these two had delivered would allow him to continue his cultivation for some time.

"Parasitic Spirit Mark!"

Jia Ren hadn't forgotten his main objective: to establish a connection with the Spirit Insects he had left in the town using the Parasitic Spirit Mark. Moments later, his perspective shifted to the residence of the Foundation Establishment Cultivator Liu—a secluded courtyard.

Coincidentally, since Jia Ren hadn't moved to the Water Mansion yet, they could have been neighbors. The place seemed ordinary, but as a Spirit Insect approached, the air around it rippled like water, revealing a protective Formation that prevented entry. The Foundation Establishment Cultivator Liu wasn't just passing through the Market; he had settled down there.

Why hadn't he returned to the Yuding Sect? Had he become a deserter, fearing the powerful Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre he would have to face upon returning to the Yuding Sect? The whereabouts of the other Foundation Establishment Cultivator were unknown.

In the days that followed, besides cultivating and researching Inscriptions, Jia Ren took on an additional task: monitoring every move of the Foundation Establishment Cultivator Liu. The man continued to cultivate, never leaving his closed doors.

「Half a month flew by in the blink of an eye.」

Jia Ren managed to replicate the Simplified Ancient Inscriptions, achieving at least eighty percent of the original's effectiveness. However, several other Inscriptions gave him a headache. He could replicate the Inscriptions that were relatively well-preserved, but he was helpless with the damaged parts. The replication of the River Mountain Bag thus hit a bottleneck. He had only one pearl from a Second-Order Monster and didn't dare attempt Artifact Refining lightly. He would only try when he was eighty percent confident.

Temporarily unable to find a breakthrough, he turned his attention to simplifying the other two Ancient Inscriptions.

"'The Spirit Fish should be slaughtered now.'"

Jia Ren went to the backyard pond. The Spirit Fish he was raising were thriving, the largest among them ten feet long and brimming with Spiritual Power. He had observed in recent days that the inherited spiritual essence from the Spirit Fish's atavism had been depleted, and their growth rate had slowed. Continuing to feed them would yield no significant improvement.

He decided to keep one Black Dragon Fish, one Boneless Silverfish, and one Phoenix Flame Tail Fish for long-term observation, intending to slaughter the rest for meat. Unlike Spirit Fish slaughtered immediately after their atavism, those cultivated for a full month had much better effects.

Simply consuming Spirit Fish provided negligible body strengthening and mostly satisfied his palate—a great waste. Spiritual Medicines a century old or more were hard to find; they were scarce even in the Market, let alone now.

Left with no choice, Jia Ren used younger medicinal ingredients to prepare a less potent medicinal meal with the Black Dragon Fish and Boneless Silverfish. After consuming it, he could barely circulate the Mixed Refinement Black Dragon Body technique, just meeting the minimum requirements for Body Refinement.

From then on, he could finally cultivate the Mixed Refinement Black Dragon Body. The only drawback was the slow progress. Normally, after digesting one serving of a standard medicinal meal, his proficiency in a Cultivation Technique could increase by one point. This low-grade medicinal meal was not very effective; three servings barely matched the effect of one standard serving.

Fortunately, Spirit Fish were abundant in the Surging River, and several types were easy to find. Only Spiritual Medicines were scarce. Using younger medicinal ingredients was still viable; he could compensate for quality with quantity, eventually reaching great success in Body Refinement one day.

While Body Refinement showed progress, Qi Refinement was much more challenging. Without suitable Elixirs, cultivating Qi through meditation was far too slow.

Does the Foundation Establishment Cultivator Liu have the Foundation Establishment Pill Recipe? This man was from the Yuding Sect. The sect had many Alchemists, most of whom cultivated Alchemy as a secondary practice, though few reached the Master Alchemist level. The hope of obtaining the Alchemy Recipe by killing Foundation Establishment Cultivator Liu was slim. Unless Liu could be forced to write down the Alchemy Recipe for a trade, and then killed before he could destroy it, there might be a chance.

It wouldn't be difficult for a Spirit Insect to infiltrate his residence silently, observe his Alchemy process, and learn his techniques. This was the most probable way to obtain the Alchemy technique.

Jia Ren tried to get a Spirit Insect closer, but unfortunately, the Formation around Liu's residence was not weak, and several attempts proved fruitless. This was the difference between low-level Loose Cultivators and High-Order Cultivators. Once a cultivator reached Foundation Establishment, they generally weren't poor and would certainly possess an Array Plate for a Formation.

How could he infiltrate quietly? He couldn't, unless he forcibly broke the Formation. But doing so would expose him, wouldn't it? What should he do? He couldn't very well have the Fathead Fish Demon personally break the Formation, could he? That would surely scare Liu away. It seemed he would have to handle it himself.

Jia Ren began to study Formations, looking for a way to break them silently. Besides forcibly breaking a Formation, an Array Master had many other methods. The simplest was a Ban-Breaking Bead. A First-Order Ban-Breaking Bead could effortlessly disable over ninety percent of First-Order Formations. Beyond that, there were methods like using another Formation to break one, or using a Magic Artifact.

The Ban-Breaking Finger technique he had learned could also be used against Formations. To be precise, the Ban-Breaking Finger couldn't completely destroy a Formation. It targeted too few restriction nodes at once and was better suited for simple restrictions. Breaking a full Formation was much harder. At best, the Ban-Breaking Finger could cause several dozen Spiritual Power nodes to malfunction, temporarily disabling a part of the Formation. This effect, if timed well, could be useful for infiltration.

Unfortunately, neither the Spiritual Power Fluctuation from the Ban-Breaking Finger nor a Spirit Insect's infiltration could escape the spiritual sense of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. Foundation Establishment Cultivator Liu was not blind. Such an attempt would not only fail but also alert him.

He would have to wait for an opportunity...

Jia Ren continued to use Spirit Insects to monitor Liu's every move while he began studying the Insect External Incarnation secret technique. He had wanted to cultivate it several times before but had been delayed by external affairs. The Water Mansion was relatively safe and free from external disturbances, making it a good time to cultivate an External Incarnation. Moreover, with Bizarre Demons rampant in the outside world, his safety couldn't be guaranteed. Cultivation resources would undoubtedly become scarce in the future. It would be best to let an Insect External Incarnation handle risky endeavors rather than his true self.

Which Spirit Insect should he choose for the Insect External Incarnation?

There were two main approaches to cultivating an Insect External Incarnation. One was to choose a powerful individual Spirit Insect, like the Black Wind Mantis. Such Spirit Insects possessed great individual combat strength and were well-suited for battle due to their unique abilities. The downside was that they died easily...

The second approach was to choose a swarm-type Spirit Insect, a collective of tens or even hundreds of insects. Here, quantity replaced individual quality. The consciousness would be divided among different Spirit Insects, dispersing the risk. Controlling a swarm of Spirit Insects was far more difficult than controlling an individual one, but it offered another significant advantage: strong survivability. To completely destroy such an Insect External Incarnation, one would have to kill every Spirit Insect housing a fragment of the divided consciousness. As long as even one Spirit Insect survived, the Insect External Incarnation was not truly destroyed. An Insect Tamer Master could replenish losses with Spirit Insects of the same species, restoring the Incarnation to its peak strength.

Few Insect Tamer Masters took the unconventional path of choosing an individual Spirit Insect; the vast majority opted for swarm-types due to their superior survivability. Jia Ren didn't intend to take this less-traveled path. While he hoped his Insect External Incarnation would possess formidable combat power, survivability was paramount; of course, the stronger its fighting ability, the better.

He possessed three types of swarm-based Spirit Insects: Golden Armor King Worms, Sound Seizing Demon Mosquitoes, and Dark Demon Shadow Insects. The Golden Armor King Worms excelled at digging and possessed decent defensive capabilities; they were his primary 'miners'. The Sound Seizing Demon Mosquitoes could fly, suck blood, and were skilled in sonic attacks. Their combat capabilities were strong, and they offered high mobility. Finally, the Dark Demon Shadow Insects could create confusing illusions and naturally transform into a black mist. In this state, they were immune to over seventy percent of Spells and Magic Artifact attacks, granting them excellent survivability.

Both the Sound Seizing Demon Mosquitoes and the Dark Demon Shadow Insects were suitable candidates for the Insect External Incarnation. Jia Ren's gaze shifted between the Sound Seizing Demon Mosquitoes and the Dark Demon Shadow Insects, hesitating over his choice.

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