Chapter 1401: The Spirit Elevation Rite

Qin Sang carried the witch race's original secret technique of the life-bound insect gu, so Hundred Flowers Valley's modified inheritance held no interest for him. What he was curious about was how much the valley knew of what came after a life-bound insect gu advanced past its fourth metamorphosis!

The valley's low-level disciples could not possibly know such secrets. After speaking with a few of them, Qin Sang lost interest. Once he had finished the texts in the scripture repository, he returned to the bamboo tower to cultivate in seclusion and await word from Lan Jingsi.

During this time, he took out the ice box again and tried to break its seal. The result was the same as ever. He felt no discouragement at all. The stronger the seal, the more precious the treasure, and the more it was worth looking forward to.

Meanwhile, in Hundred Flowers Valley's forbidden ground, Lan Jingsi sat cross-legged on a meditation mat, her figure melting into the darkness, all around her still and silent.

Before her was arranged an extraordinarily intricate spiritual array shaped like an altar.

Before long, Lan Jingsi raised a hand, a finger tapping lightly toward the array's center. The array lit up with white light, giving off invisible ripples, its radiance flickering between bright and dim. A few breaths later, it sank back into darkness, and all was as before.

Her expression unchanged, Lan Jingsi returned to her meditative trance.

After an unknown span of time, she repeated the attempt, and this time, at last, something new happened.

The white light trembled and rushed toward the array's center, gathering into a sphere of light. Then, from within the sphere, came a man's voice. "Junior Sister..."

Lan Jingsi opened her eyes and looked toward the light. "Senior Brother, have you all come out? How did it go?"

"We only probed the periphery... haven't truly gone in yet... it doesn't look promising..."

Perhaps because of the great distance, the voice sounded blurred and broken.

"What has happened... to use a precious Heaven-Listening Talisman... only three remain..." Worry carried through the voice.

Seeing that her senior brother had misunderstood, Lan Jingsi hurried to say, "Rest assured, Senior Brother, all is well in the valley! A few days ago, Master Feng brought someone who wished to call on you..."

"A friend of Daoist Feng's... who..."

The time of an incense stick later, Lan Jingsi flew out of the forbidden ground, heading straight for Qin Sang's bamboo tower.

Sensing her approach, Qin Sang immediately opened the tower's barrier and invited her in.

"I just received Senior Brother's reply." Lan Jingsi came straight to the point without any suspense. "He said it can be revealed to you. His spiritual insect advanced to its fourth metamorphosis with the help of a secret technique."

Qin Sang was taken aback; he had not expected it to be this easy. Pleasantly surprised though he was, he did not relax his guard. He asked solemnly, "Does Daoist Mu have any conditions?"

Lan Jingsi shook her head. "First let me explain the technique's benefits and drawbacks."

Qin Sang listened attentively.

"The technique is called the Spirit Elevation Rite," Lan Jingsi said. "In essence, it uses external objects and forces to stimulate a spiritual insect's potential, forcibly helping it leap up a whole realm."

The Spirit Elevation Rite. Qin Sang searched his memory; he had never heard of such a technique on the Witch God Continent.

Would stimulating a spiritual insect's potential with external objects inflict serious harm on it? If the price of one advancement was to damage its future, Qin Sang would certainly hesitate.

Before he could voice the concern, Lan Jingsi explained of her own accord. "The first use of the Spirit Elevation Rite does no serious harm to the insect, and there are ways to make up for it. Repeated use, however, not only lowers the success rate drastically but also causes irreversible damage. And even on the first attempt, the success rate is under twenty percent, and that is for us cultivators of Hundred Flowers Valley, with thorough preparations in place. If you performed the rite on your Fire Jade Centipede, your odds would certainly be lower than ours!"

Her words did not scare Qin Sang off. He pressed on at once. "Can the rite only be used for advancing to the fourth metamorphosis? And how can its odds of success be improved?"

He had heard something more in her words, and his heart stirred. If Hundred Flowers Valley cultivators enjoyed a higher success rate than outsiders, it was very likely because they cultivated life-bound insect gu.

And Qin Sang possessed a life-bound insect gu himself!

Moreover, his probing in the Fire Jade Centipede's name had always had one true purpose: finding a way to help the Sky-Eyed Butterfly. Whether the centipede could advance hardly mattered. If the Sky-Eyed Butterfly could advance through the Spirit Elevation Rite, even by a single minor realm of the fourth metamorphosis, it would be a tremendous gain!

"I've truly never thought about your first question. Every generation of our valley's grandmasters used the Spirit Elevation Rite to advance their insects to the fourth metamorphosis. There's no precedent for using it beyond that. However..."

Lan Jingsi pondered a moment. "When our grandmaster passed down the rite, she never specified that it could only be used to break through to the fourth metamorphosis. Stimulating potential to advance is a principle that should hold at any realm. The difference lies only in how refined the stimulating technique is and how precious the external objects used. The spiritual materials the rite requires are all costly, so it should presumably also work on the minor realms of the fourth metamorphosis."

She paused, then continued, "As for raising the odds of success, that can only come from oneself. The closer the bond between master and insect, the more the insect trusts and feels attached to its master, the likelier success becomes. The master's own cultivation level also has an effect."

With that, Lan Jingsi glanced at Qin Sang. "To be honest, my own spiritual insect is still at the peak of its third metamorphosis, and I plan to wait until I've at least reached the peak of the early-stage Spiritual Infant Realm before considering its breakthrough. You are already at the middle stage of the Spiritual Infant Realm, so cultivation is no concern. But I don't know what method you used to tame your insect, or how tight the bond between you is."

Qin Sang asked, knowing full well what the answer would be, "Hundred Flowers Valley's inheritance is unique in the immortal cultivation world. May I borrow a page or two from it?"

Lan Jingsi replied apologetically, "It isn't that we're unwilling. Our valley's arts are simply too particular. For an immortal cultivator above the Golden Core Realm, they offer nothing at all worth borrowing."

Qin Sang nodded and pressed no further.

Outwardly he appeared deep in thought; inwardly he was overjoyed. He had never expected that so soon after arriving at the North Sea, a path would open for the Sky-Eyed Butterfly.

Lan Jingsi's phrasing just now had been "leap up," not simply "break through." Did that mean the rite did not demand the insect first cultivate to the peak of its current realm? Having yet to see the rite's contents with his own eyes, Qin Sang could not judge.

If it could help the Sky-Eyed Butterfly rise even a single realm, that would be enough.

Without the Corpseflower Blood Amber and the soul shadow, Qin Sang still had no idea how he would break through to the late stage of the Spiritual Infant Realm. Helping the Sky-Eyed Butterfly catch up to his own realm as soon as possible mattered enormously; by the nature of the life-bound insect gu, it could then lend him strength in his future breakthrough.

Every bit of improvement was precious!

His thoughts racing, Qin Sang had already set his heart on obtaining the Spirit Elevation Rite. But he knew things could not be so simple, so instead of asking about the rite directly, he shifted his tone and countered, "I take it that Valley Master Mu has something he wishes to say to me?"

Lan Jingsi said solemnly, "Senior Brother ordered me to pass on this message: If you wish to learn the Spirit Elevation Rite, Daoist Ming Yue, he hopes you will not mind the journey to Boundless Sea. He would like to meet you."

With that, she produced a jade slip containing a nautical chart. She placed it on the table and left the decision to Qin Sang.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.