Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 193 The Sacrifice Mission: Poisonous Sand Centipede (5.2 thousand words)

However, before Fang Shuxin could be happy for long, he soon learned about it from Er Daiyuan and the others.

A hundred or so years of practice is not enough to guarantee him a place among the inner disciples.

Generally speaking, you need at least 200 points to have a chance, and 250 points is more reliable. To compete for the top three, you must earn at least 300 points!
This instantly brought Fang Shu to his senses.

He had the Dragon Maiden Immortal family as his backing, and the other disciples in the temple also had their own families and masters as their backing.

Moreover, there are seventeen other halls in the temple that are adjacent to the Gu Hall alone. As for the Foundation Establishment Immortals beyond the eighteen halls, Fang Shu doesn't even know the exact number.

In addition, among the disciples each year, there are bound to be some brave and daring individuals who can earn fifty, sixty, or even a hundred merit points from a single mission.

"We can't just sit and wait!" This thought came to Fang Shu's mind.

He also began to secretly wonder why the Dragon Maiden Immortals wanted to cut off his way down the mountain to do missions.

Was it a deliberate test for him, or was it better for him to miss out on becoming an inner disciple on the mountain, rather than risk his life to earn Daoist merits and accidentally die outside?
But no matter what, he was determined to obtain the identity of an inner disciple.

In particular, Fang Shu's thoughts drifted, and he suddenly remembered the words that the old mountain master had casually mentioned to him before he went up the mountain.

He vaguely suspected that if he could obtain the status of an inner disciple, there might be other opportunities later.

Let go of distracting thoughts.

Fang Shu stopped spending his days in the Yin-Yang Gu Pit practicing magic and instead frequented other halls such as Hutang.

He also began asking his friends to inquire about tasks that could be completed within the temple and offered substantial rewards. By chance, he learned of a long-term contribution task that existed within the temple's main hall.

However, Qi Refining disciples rarely come into contact with this task; it is usually Foundation Establishment immortals who use this method to earn Dao merit in the temple to support their families.

This task was to replenish the scripture hall, which meant bringing in various cultivation methods, classic texts, rare treasures and secret techniques that were missing from the temple's Taoist collection, as well as repairing and perfecting the incomplete cultivation methods, prescriptions, and formations in the scripture hall.

This matter can bring the immortals a great deal of Taoist merit!

Some particularly powerful cultivation techniques even allow the immortals to share in the Daoist merits paid by other disciples when they purchase these techniques, year after year, throughout their lifetime.

This rule immediately reminded Fang Shu of similar clauses in his dream of Su Huizhong.

However, Fang Shu did not immediately begin working on this task of making contributions.

He first inquired about it on his own, and then began to ask other people for advice.

For example, on this day, Fang Shu rushed to the Gu Hall and invited his second senior brother, Hao Junliang, to come out.

He cupped his hands and said, "May I ask, senior brother, is this kind of mission of offering cultivation manuals in the scripture hall really a long-term one, and are there any aspects of it worth noting?"

Upon hearing this, Hao Junliang's expression faltered slightly, but he immediately understood that Fang Shu had set his sights on this aspect of Daoist cultivation.

He chuckled and replied, "These kinds of tasks are indeed issued regularly, and there is no limit to the number of people who can do them; even menial disciples can do them."

Looking Fang Shu up and down, Senior Brother Hao said again:

"Rest assured, the Scripture Hall will strictly protect the identity of any disciple who presents cultivation techniques and incantations, especially for Qi Refining disciples who present important techniques."

If they suddenly meet with misfortune, the Punishment Hall will conduct a thorough investigation within the temple, according to the standards for inner disciples, to rule out the possibility that they were killed in retaliation.

The other party pondered for a moment and then explained in detail.

It turns out that these rules were jointly established by the foundation-building immortals within the temple.

There was even a Foundation Establishment Immortal who suggested that if there were truly disciples of such extraordinary intelligence and great contributions, they could be directly granted the status of inner disciples as a special favor.

Senior Brother Hao said with a half-smile:
"After all, if we disciples cannot achieve Foundation Establishment, we are nothing more than ordinary people to these Foundation Establishment immortals."

However, the situation is different when it comes to cultivation techniques and scriptures. Whether it's stolen, robbed, taken a chance, or figured out on their own, collecting these for the temple can greatly save the Foundation Establishment cultivators a lot of effort.

Upon hearing this, Fang Shu immediately understood what Senior Brother Hao meant.

Because of their low cultivation level, even if Qi Refining disciples are of value to Foundation Establishment Immortals, this value is often difficult to surpass their cultivation level.

On the contrary, many problems of Foundation Establishment Immortals in terms of collecting cultivation methods and comprehension can be broken down or passed on to their disciples for trial and error.

This is also one of the concerns that the fifth senior brother mentioned in his notes.

Huai Liangxing was terrified by the Yin-Yang True Qi passed down by Long Gu. It was because Long Gu wanted to perfect the method that she passed it on to everyone, using them as test vessels.

Having learned the rules of this kind of contribution task, Fang Shu had already made up his mind and decided to bid farewell to Senior Brother Hao.

Before he left, Senior Brother Hao called him back and instructed him:
"Xiao Jiu, although you are intelligent and have outstanding comprehension, if you encounter difficulties in this area, there is no need to get stuck on the details."

"You should know that this temple has been established for so many years, and the cultivation methods and scriptures that could be obtained from the outside world have long been acquired by our predecessors. The easily solvable difficult problems have also been largely solved by them. Only the contribution tasks temporarily proposed by a few Foundation Establishment immortals in the scripture hall are worth a try."

At this point, Hao Junliang added meaningfully, "But if you accept this kind of task, remember to have your master review it."

Upon hearing this, Fang Shu raised his eyelids slightly and immediately cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother."

After leaving the Gu Hall, he did not hesitate and went straight to the Scripture Hall again.

After exchanging greetings with an old immortal guarding the temple, Fang Shu spent some of his Taoist cultivation to arrive at a pile of fragmented texts.

Looking around, there are indeed quite a few damaged books here.

Some were eaten by insects, some were torn apart, some were burned, some were flooded... and some had lost their spirituality or had their secret texts destroyed.

However, all the items placed here are cultivation manuals of considerable value. Precisely because of this, one must first spend a certain amount of cultivation merit to browse and consult them.

Immediately, Fang Shu wandered among these fragments and looked around.

His gaze shifted, and he discovered that these fragments contained numerous Foundation Establishment level techniques.

For example, there is a technique called "Three True Flames Technique", which can gather three kinds of flames: fire from stone, fire from water, and fire from wood, and condense them into a Three True Flames.

Its power is immense; once unleashed, it is enough to burn down a mountain and annihilate an Eight Tribulation Immortal.

Fang Shu was very interested and immediately wanted to flip through the book again to see what was next.

However, when he flipped further down, a restriction appeared on the cultivation method. The following content was clearly cursed by the people in the scripture hall, and it would take a certain amount of Taoist cultivation to break it.

Moreover, this skill is quite valuable, starting at a hundred coins! This left Fang Shu with no choice but to sadly put down these books.

He then wandered over the incomplete scriptures that did not require any additional cultivation, examining them carefully, and a general idea gradually emerged in his mind.

He decided to only choose cultivation manuals at the Qi Refining level to try them out.

This approach is not only less difficult but also requires less effort. If there are no results, it won't waste too much time, leading to excessive sunk costs and a dilemma.

Moreover, if one were to actually master something, a mere Qi Refining level technique wouldn't stand out too much and attract the attention of Foundation Establishment immortals.

He thought to himself.

It should be noted that although, as Senior Brother Hao said, there are rules within the temple, it's not always possible to encounter a Foundation Establishment Immortal as easy to talk to as Master Longgu.

Fang Shu would never forget that Huai Liangxing's notes also recorded many spiritual root disciples who died young.

As his thoughts became clearer, Fang Shu meticulously examined these fragments and notes.

After a few cups of tea.

His gaze fell on a certain type of method, and he recalled the various steps in Huai Liangxing's notes about testing methods on human bodies.

These methods are precisely the physical cultivation methods used within the Five Organs Temple to nurture Dao soldiers.

According to Fang Shu, although the Taoist soldiers in the temple can be quickly trained, they either require the use of large medicinal ingredients or the intervention of a Foundation Establishment Immortal.

Furthermore, Dao soldiers for different purposes often require different steps of refinement. Dao soldiers refined in this way have short lifespans, are not good at magic, can only fight against Qi Refining disciples with their physical strength, and will also suffer some loss in their mental state.

What Fang Shu wanted to do was not to solve these inherent flaws of Dao soldiers, but to further improve the Dao soldier refining method.

All he was thinking about was how to refine a batch of Dao soldiers for the Gu Hall, adapting to local conditions.

It should be noted that the Taoist soldiers responsible for managing the Gu pits in the Gu Hall were not personally crafted by Long Gu.

She simply purchased them from the Puppet Hall and planted Gu worms that could control Dao soldiers. The wonders of human body refining are quite different from the refining of Gu worms, so it's understandable that the Dragon Maiden Immortal Clan isn't very good at this.

However, Fang Shu happens to be extremely good at this.

It should be known that he possesses a Taoist talisman, and he himself is a human body. Over the years, he has become thoroughly familiar with the various organs and meridians of the human body, and understands all kinds of mechanisms and structures.

Fang Shu even considered that, with the Daoist talisman at his side, he should delve into the art of body refining in the bedroom and make it his specialty.

In addition, the many trial methods recorded in Huai Liangxing's notes can also be used.

After much deliberation, Fang Shu finally settled his thoughts.

He was invigorated and planned to perfect a method for cultivating Gu-refining Dao soldiers for the Gu Hall.

If he succeeds, he will not only gain a large amount of Taoist merit, but also receive more appreciation and protection from the Dragon Maiden Immortal Family.

Without further delay, he immediately collected numerous damaged Dao soldiers and human body texts from the scripture hall, and even spent a sum of Dao merit to exchange for a complete Four Tribulations Dao Soldier Spirit Root Planting Method, which he could use as a reference later.

for the rest of the time.

Fang Shu once again nestled in the Gu pit, cultivating and refining Gu at the same time, without ever leaving the pit.

Soon, he made great progress in the refining of Dao soldiers.

Furthermore, through various means, Fang Shu has already roughly estimated how much Dao merit he will gain once he perfects the method of refining Dao weapons with Gu.

It is worth at least 150 merits!

Furthermore, if someone purchases and uses it in the future, one-tenth of the profit will be awarded as a reward based on the pricing and effectiveness of the product.

This discovery greatly excited Fang Shu. As long as he could perfect and master this method in time and no longer need to be busy with other tasks, his status as an inner disciple would be secure.

Besides studying the art of refining poisonous weapons, he also did not neglect his mastery of the method of condensing evil spirits.

He had a complete understanding of the entire Five Tribulations Technique and had mastered it perfectly. He could harvest the evil energy at any time and integrate it into his six internal organs.

However, he held back, intending to wait until he officially obtained the status of an inner disciple before studying and verifying the original Qi-condensing technique in the temple and the method given by the Dragon Maiden Immortal.

After all, as the immortal Longgu said, he had been busy in the temple for the past year and was unable to go down the mountain. He was not in a hurry to collect evil energy. Instead, he could take this opportunity to better consolidate his true energy, which would be quite beneficial, especially for the Yin-Yang true energy he cultivated.

Allowing for more sedimentation can greatly reduce the negative effects of subsequent condensation and lower the risk of misfires.

time flies.

Half a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

During these six months, Fang Shu had been able to keep the Gu Pit occupied without having to work every day, as his subordinates and servants took care of it. He earned a total of sixty-three Dao Merits.

According to Erdaiyuan, his skill level is currently only in the lower middle range among those vying for inner disciple status, so he needs to work harder.

Among them, when Erdaiyuan saw that Fang Shu, apart from enjoying the output of the two Gu pits every day, did not take the initiative to do any other work.

The woman was clearly getting anxious and had already tried to persuade him to go through many rounds of persuasion, both overt and covert.

On two or three occasions, she even used her body as a suggestion, attempting to motivate Fang Shu's ambition.

Fang Shu naturally accepted such a good deal without hesitation, enjoying it to the fullest, but remained unmoved.

It should be noted that since the matter of refining Dao soldiers with Gu was involved, he could not reveal to Er Daiyuan that he had made some progress in this matter. Even if he ultimately failed, with the results of his current research, he should be able to exchange them for dozens or even hundreds of Dao merits!
If he were to reveal this information carelessly, it could potentially affect certain interests within the organization and attract unseen interference from others.

At that time, not only will their relationship be damaged, but even if there are rules in the temple, it will still take a lot of time for Fang Shu to get support from the Dragon Maiden.

Things are best done in secret. Before things are accomplished, it's best to keep them hidden and avoid trouble.

Soon, Fang Shu realized that his concerns were not unfounded.

Because his research on Taoist soldiers had not yet been revealed, someone had already come to interfere with him.

This day.

Fang Shu remained in the Gu pit, surrounded by yin energy, with centipede-like Gu worms crawling rapidly around him.

The aura emanating from these Gu worms has clearly reached the fourth tribulation level, classifying them as Qi Refining Gu worms.

Fang Shu looked delighted as he teased the worms.

This item is the Poison Sand Centipede that he refined using Huai Liangxing's expertise in the Soul-Eroding Poison Sand Gu as a base.

The reason I was distracted in refining this particular Gu worm is because it is an extremely important part of the Gu-refining Dao weapon.

As mentioned in Huai Liangxing's notes, the Soul-Eating Poison Sand Gu in the opponent's possession was no ordinary Poison Sand Gu. Its final step required condensing the five poisonous substances into insect eggs and raising them in the human body.

In this way, once the Gu worm hatches, it will drain the essence of the human body to strengthen itself.

When facing enemies in the future, this insect will also be attracted to human flesh and blood, and once touched, it will frantically burrow into the human body.

Based on Huai Liangxing's Gu formula, Fang Shu removed the redundant parts, eliminating the four poisons and using only one, refining it in the form of the human spine, and finalizing the use of centipede venomous insects.

According to his design, this Gu, now that it has been refined, is ready to be used for live experiments.

At that time, he will find a way to make the centipede eat only the spine of the living creature without harming other flesh and organs, and eventually serve as the spine of the living creature, evolving into a spiritual root.

In this way, beings below the Qi Refining level who obtain the Gu worm's spiritual root can be immediately promoted to Qi Refining beings.

Even when the Gu Refining Dao Soldier dies of old age, the poisonous sand centipede inside his body can be extracted again and re-condensed into insect eggs, with a certain improvement in quality.

As he pondered, Fang Shu felt even more hopeful.

Including the Yin Corpse Gu and Yang Huo Gu, he now has another poisonous sand Gu, making his methods even more diverse. The number of Gu worms that can be used to set up Gu arrays has also increased to three.

"Perhaps, once the inner sect competition is over, we should put the matter of upgrading the Gu Formation back on the agenda," he thought to himself.

Suddenly, Fang Shu felt that he didn't have enough time, and there were many aspects that he could study and ponder.

Just then, a servant came forward and told Fang Shu that a woman surnamed Er was outside requesting an audience.

Upon hearing this, Fang Shu subconsciously assumed that Er Daiyuan had come to visit again.

Although he found it strange that the other party did not come to him directly, Fang Shu was in a good mood and immediately handed over the Gu around him to the servants so that they could properly raise and record them.

He then tidied his appearance, dispelled the yin energy from his body, and walked briskly toward the entrance of the Gu pit.

But only when he got closer did he realize that the woman surnamed Er who came to visit today was not Er Daiyuan, but another somewhat familiar face.

The other person had slender shoulders and a narrow waist, somewhat resembling a turtledove.

He racked his brains for a moment before remembering that the woman's name was Erdaiyang. She was the noblewoman from the Er family whom he had met when he visited the Er family before.

Now that they meet again, Fang Shu noticed that Erdai Yang's aura was much more mature than before, and he had a slightly more refined air about him. His cultivation level also seemed to have increased little, but he was still only at the fourth level of tribulation.

The woman stood in front of the Gu pit, her demeanor self-important. She even looked arrogant towards the servants, especially when she saw the various snakes and insects in their hands. Her brows furrowed, and she wore a look of disgust.

Upon seeing this scene, Fang Shu's original intention to meet the woman vanished instantly.

He stopped abruptly, summoned a servant, and asked him to see the guest out. He then went into the quiet room to continue tending to his poisonous centipede.

For the next two days, the Nalded sheep came to visit, and their behavior became increasingly impatient.

On the third occasion, seeing that she still couldn't even enter the Gu pit, Erdaiyang's face darkened. However, she dared not act recklessly in front of the Gu pit, so she simply left a letter and asked the servants to deliver it to Fang Shu.

When Fang Shu had some free time, he unfolded the letter and read it, only to find out that this woman had also come to borrow the Gu pit.

However, the other party's request was unusual; they actually wanted Fang Shu to open the Yin energy source in the Gu pit to help someone condense evil spirits. And that person's surname was Pei; Fang Shu had glimpsed him from afar at Er's house before—he was the young disciple who had been flirting with this woman back then.

Faced with this request, Fang Shu naturally chuckled and immediately forgot about it.

Several days passed.

Just when Fang Shu was about to forget about the matter, the Er family actually launched a "retaliation".

(End of this chapter)