New concept of the mysterious way to ascend to immortality

Chapter 103 Immortal Sect Insect City Feathered Immortal

The two siblings were so poor that they didn't even have a stool. Yuan Zhu simply grabbed the small wooden stake that belonged to her brother, sat down under his angry glares, and looked at her more "mature" and steady sister.

"As you can see, I mean no harm..."

He had barely begun to speak when his younger sister nodded in understanding: "Yes, I already feel the kindness of the adults."

"...?"

Yuan Zhu, whose train of thought was interrupted, pondered for a moment before continuing, "To show my sincerity, I will let you go...Brother? Can you control him and stop him from fighting back? I have some information I want to know."

The little girl nodded repeatedly: "No problem, he's very obedient. Brother, when the guests let you go later, squat by the wall honestly, don't move around, and don't cause trouble. Do you hear me?!"

The stubborn boy looked frustrated and gritted his teeth and said, "Hmm!"

The little girl looked at Yuan Zhu expectantly again.

He thought slightly, and the shadow that was wrapped around the boy dissipated automatically. The boy rolled over and jumped up, moving his hands and feet in surprise, then glanced deeply at Yuan Zhu, and took the initiative to walk to the corner and squat, looking honest and pitiful.

Considering there was only one wooden stake, Yuan Zhu decided not to return it and let him continue squatting there.

"If you have any questions, please ask. This is our family's food, including meat sticks. Please enjoy."

The little girl first pushed the plate full of insects in front of Yuan Zhu, but felt it was not rich enough, so she turned around and took out a broken wooden box. She reluctantly took out a pile of dried black meat strips and placed them in front of him with a forced smile.

Looking at the food that exuded a strange smell and was reeking of strong contamination, Yuan Zhu expressed no appetite. But out of politeness, he casually asked, "What are these?"

The little girl introduced them enthusiastically: "This one is a fragrant fart beetle, this one is a fragrant mouth beetle, this one is a dung beetle... and this one is a stinky boss."

"..." Yuan Zhu suddenly regretted his rudeness, "Is this what you usually eat?"

"Yes." The little girl looked puzzled and observed Yuan Zhu's expression, trying to understand his attitude.

“Are there any vegetables?”

"Vegetables?" The little girl was stunned, trying to understand Yuan Zhu's meaning. Then she thought hard and answered, "We also eat moss, mushrooms, and purple leaves from the Nisheng Garden. Uncontaminated tree roots."

Yuan Zhu knew nothing about the underground world: "What is Nisheng Garden? What do you mean by uncontaminated tree roots? Aren't all those tree roots in the underground tunnels contaminated?"

Seeing his calm demeanor, the little girl boldly asked, "Is this guest not a resident of the underground paradise?"

"Yes, so I want to know about the situation in your underground world."

The little girl didn't dare ask any more questions. After a moment's thought, she began to explain, "The roots you see in the underground passage are those left behind by the Celestial Realm Tree, imbued with celestial energy. They are the source of life for all creatures in the underground paradise today, and they also serve as a protective barrier protecting the underworld. However, the Celestial Realm Tree has been dead for a hundred years, and its roots are slowly decaying and deteriorating. The celestial energy is tainted by the decay and pollution, and is no longer pure."

"Furthermore, after experiencing the apocalyptic catastrophe, the earth's surface has become a barren desert, suffering from repeated pollution from demonic calamities. This includes the highly toxic and corrosive [ferrous acid rain], which seeps into the ground, where it is intercepted and filtered by the immortal roots, protecting the underground paradise from erosion. However, when the immortal tree roots absorb this acid rain, the pollution is further exacerbated, becoming highly toxic metal-containing, accelerating decay and deterioration, giving rise to the release of highly toxic miasma, and even causing the remaining vital immortal roots to distort and lose control, transforming them into forbidden zones."

"[Reverse Life Garden] is the living 'Roots of the Immortal Realm Tree' reawakened by the Immortal Realm Sect in the underground paradise. It has grown downwards in the underground caverns in the form of a [Reverse Life Tree], creating a new immortal land. However, this [immortal land] is a blessed place only for immortal masters. Immortal sects control the 'Reverse Life Tree', reawakening the vitality of the immortal roots, controlling the veins for hundreds of miles, and gaining control of resources such as survival, cultivation, and food. As a result, many city lords choose to rely on the immortal sects for their existence, and every city has a large number of 'Reverse Life Gardens' as grazing farms."

The little girl's introduction was very clear, but Yuan Zhu was stunned. This plot didn't match what the captain had given.

The captain informed us that the Bubble World had just experienced a devastating catastrophe, with Earth Immortals slain, their spiritual roots drained, and the world left desolate. The insect-infected natives rose to power, overwhelming the Kunlun Immortals. But now, the [Reverse Life Trees] have regrown, the Immortal Sect has been reestablished, and a blessed underground paradise has been created. This "Reverse Life Garden" is clearly a small forest of trees that have split underground within a hundred-mile radius.

Yuan Zhu: "How many cities are there in the underground world? What's the name of the immortal sect? How big is the range of the Reverse Life Tree?"

These questions clearly stumped the little girl, who shook her head. "The Underground Paradise is as vast as the world itself. The underground space is full of forbidden areas, teeming with danger. I've never left the boundaries of [Cicada City], but I've only heard that there are five or six nearby cities affiliated with [Immortal Bee Path]. And in the entire underground world, there are perhaps twenty or thirty cities. Some are too far away, some were destroyed by demonic calamities, and some powerful individuals have opened up new settlements, gradually expanding them into new cities."

"I know of four [Reverse-Growth Trees], but legend has it there's a mysterious fifth that remains undiscovered. There are four immortal sects in total. Our [Cicada City] is within the boundaries of the [Immortal Bee Path], and there are also the [Earth Escape Sect, Fish and Insect Path, and Xirang Sect]. I don't know the extent of the Reverse-Growth Tree, but it's said to be enormous, covering a hundred miles or even more..."

There are actually four Reverse-Growth Trees and four Immortal Sects? This timeline is quite different from the captain's intelligence. If the immortals become powerful again, they will even cooperate with the immortal cultivators to raise insects together?

Yuan Zhu: "In the underground world, is the Immortal Sect the largest? Are all of your cities dependent on the Immortal Sect? Are there any other forces?"

"After a century of catastrophe, spiritual energy declined, the Immortal Sect declined, and the underground paradise was filled with miasma. The immortals retreated into their caves and remained secluded. Only small cities depended on the Immortal Sect for survival. Large cities like [Cicada City] had a cooperative relationship with the Immortal Sect, able to communicate on an equal footing and trade with each other. Behind many [Insect Cities] stood the powerful [Technician Alliance]. They once faced the [Immortal Sect] head-on, ultimately leading our insect race to overthrow the Immortal rule and establish city-states. Now, the [Technician Alliance] has also split into nine major families."

Yuan Zhu: "Zerg? I see you two are both human. Could it be that you have Zerg blood in you?"

Yuan Zhu carefully observed the little girl and her tall, burly brother. Although her eyes were frighteningly large (bulging), they looked human, without any insect-like features (compound eyes). Her brother, with thick eyebrows and large eyes, had a typical Oriental appearance.

The little girl said, "Of course we are humans. But humans also have different tribes. My sister and I are from the Cicada Tribe. There are also the Fly Tribe and the Locust Tribe in Cicada City..."

Yuan Zhu now understood what he meant; it was just a simple term of endearment. Just like he wasn't just Han Chinese, he could also be a Moonlight Tribe or a Head-Down Tribe. But he still had a question: "How are these [Cicada Tribe] and [Locust Tribe] divided?"

"It's related to the art of refining Qi. Different Qi refining techniques divide different races. This is the foundation of our insect race's century-long rise, our resistance to the immortals, and our attainment of freedom. Every [Insect City] has a supreme [Source Qi Breathing Method]."

Yuan Zhu thought to himself that this was what the captain had mentioned as the "insect contamination". He didn't expect that after a hundred years of brewing and evolution, a unique "cultivation system" had been born.

"Breathing techniques, Qi refining techniques...are they evolved from the secret techniques of the immortal sect?" Yuan Zhu asked curiously.

He didn't know much about Kunlun's immortal arts, only that there were five types of immortals, and that the fundamental to entry was cultivating spiritual roots. Now, it seemed like the "roots" scattered throughout the underground passages were considered inferior spiritual roots? He wondered if they could be used to forge "Kunlun's minions"? He was missing the almighty goblins again!
Hearing Yuan Zhu confuse the [Breathing Technique] with the Immortal Sect's methods, his younger brother, who was squatting in the corner, couldn't help but retort: "The Qi Refining Technique has nothing to do with the Immortal Sect's methods. It's a cultivation technique created by us Zerg! Martial arts can lead to divine enlightenment, and we can ascend to immortality."

"Look! You still say it's not an immortal technique? You've already ascended to immortality. I've also heard of the fame of Kunlun Qi Refining Technique."

The young man was so angry when he saw Yuan Zhu being unreasonable, but he didn't know how to argue, so he could only squat in the corner and sulk.

Fortunately, his younger sister stepped forward and said, "Your Excellency has misunderstood. Our Zerg's [Original Qi Breathing Method] has little to do with the Immortal Scriptures. Half of it is obtained from natural disasters on the surface, and half from Zerg Dao Seeds. When the Breathing Method is practiced to a high level, the Zerg cultivator will hear messages related to [Transformation] in their dreams. That's why we call the ultimate pursuit of the [Breathing Method] [Transformation into Immortality]."

Hearing the little girl's introduction, Yuan Zhu was also stunned. He seemed to have heard of [Yuhuaxian] somewhere.

The [Immortal of Ascension] mentioned by the other party is obviously the same as Du Ling's [Sword Immortal] and [Corpse Immortal]. They are not the serious style of cultivating immortals, but the skins of those pollution sources of the first and second generations.

Xiao Latiao suddenly resurrected: "In the paradise's redemption list, there's a [Feathered Immortal] column, and it's missing. Something seems to be wrong with this system?"

Yuan Zhu: "Boy, the power you used to counterattack just now was [Qi Refining Technique]?"

The young man nodded honestly: "Yes, that is my cicada qi silk."

Yuan Zhu looked at his sister and said, "Okay, I'm very interested in your [Qi Refining Technique]. Tell me a little bit about it."

(End of this chapter)