I am an insect

This time, Ji Ye felt differently from last night during his cultivation. In his meditation, which was free from self and consciousness, he would always vaguely sense the City God Temple, and the image of the City God would keep appearing in his mind.

He was jolted awake from his meditation several times, and each time he woke up, he could see the light, cloud-like mist formed by the energy of his mind around his body.

He recalled the scene when he worshipped the City God during the day, and the smoke rising from the statue of the City God seemed to gently caress him.

At this moment, in his sea of ​​consciousness, the entire Ma Village seemed to have transformed into an enormous entity of thought, coming to life on this night.

He was inside this mental entity and had a connection with it. The mental entity hidden within him became more and more active and resonated with the enormous mental entity outside his body.

This strange sensation reminded Ji Ye of his first attempt at cultivating the "Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic," where he sensed that the universe was a unified consciousness, and the entire spacetime seemed to come alive, like an ancient, super-life form.

However, that was the only time. After that, no matter how he tried to sense it during his cultivation, he never had that feeling again.

Unexpectedly, being in Mazhuang tonight, after worshipping the City God during the day, Ji Ye experienced this unusual sensation. His heart pounded wildly. Could it be that the City God of Mazhuang really exists?

Because I had worshipped it during the day, I felt a connection with it tonight?

The idea was absurd. Ji Ye felt a bit thirsty and got out of bed. He poured himself a glass of water, drank it to moisten his throat, and looked out the window.

At night, the once bustling blue-brick streets of Mazhuang became silent. Ji Ye suddenly opened his eyes slightly. Outside the window, clouds and mist swirled, and the blue-brick houses became indistinct in the mist.

"Such a thick fog? No, this is the energy of a mental entity..."

Ji Ye's heart tightened. He put down the water glass he was holding, pressed his face against the windowpane, and looked toward the end of the street.

The fog outside was too thick for Ji Ye to see clearly. He could only see the clouds churning, as if something was hidden inside. Then, he heard a strange and faint sound.

The sound resembled the noise of some creature gnawing on food. The sound seemed to come from near and far, and it was unpredictable. As Ji Ye listened, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Suddenly, he saw dark shadows appearing in the distant clouds. They were human shadows, one or two at a time, then more and more, followed by the sound of footsteps.

Numerous dark figures appeared within the thick fog.

Then he heard the sound of a door opening, and a large number of dark figures appeared in the churning fog, approaching the brick and tile houses before disappearing one by one.

Ji Ye understood. These must be villagers from Mazhuang. However, because the fog was so thick tonight, the villagers appeared as blurry figures to him. The sound of the door opening meant that they had all gone home, so the figures in the thick fog disappeared one after another in front of the brick and tile houses.

"Why aren't they sleeping in the middle of the night? What are they all doing there?" Ji Ye thought of the City God Temple at the end of the street.

"Did they all go to worship the City God? Is there still such a custom in the countryside?" Ji Ye pondered, thinking of the sensations he had during meditation, and felt an indescribable strangeness even more.

There's something strange about this Ma Village.

As the figures disappeared, the outside became very quiet, with only the mist swirling around, growing ever thicker. Ji Ye observed that his bedroom was also filled with this mist, and the energy of his mental body was strong, making it the best time for cultivation.

Although everything seemed strange, Ji Ye could only suppress his curiosity and focus on cultivating. In that strange state, his cultivation speed was astonishing. In just a short time, he felt his mental energy was abundant, and his mental body showed signs of improvement.

Especially at the wound on his left arm, a warm current was surging there. His left arm, which had been weak before, began to gradually become stronger. The speed of healing surprised Ji Ye. He didn't know if it was due to the acupuncture and medicine from Lao Qin or the cultivation of his mental body.

When dawn broke, Ji Ye opened his eyes. The thick fog from the previous night had disappeared, and a ray of sunlight shone into the bedroom. He let out a long sigh of relief, feeling his mental body brimming with energy. The effects of this short night of cultivation were astonishing. Not only had his mental body advanced further, but his spirit and energy were also abundant. Furthermore, a large amount of energy had accumulated within his body. Once this energy reached a certain limit, he would be able to reach the limit of the second stage, the "sub-state." After that, he would use the Yellow-Red Technique to break through the limit and surpass the "sub-state."

Kino believes that the sub-stage is only the second stage of the adult insect, but not the limit of the adult insect.

Above the adult substage, there must be even higher stages.

"Although this Ma Village is a bit strange, it is a treasure land for cultivation. At this speed, I will soon reach the limit of the sub-state, or even break through the sub-state..." Ji Ye clenched his right hand tightly, his eyes shooting out two beams of light.

He didn't trust anyone and never thought of relying on anyone; his only hope was his own strength.

When he came out of the bedroom, Lao Qin had already prepared breakfast for him. He asked him to sit down first, and then Lao Qin was going to change the gauze and ointment on his left arm.

Suddenly, a look of surprise appeared on Old Qin's face: "Your injury..." As if he had made a discovery, he reached out and gently stroked Ji Ye's left arm, his expression becoming increasingly strange.

"What's wrong?" Ji Ye looked at Lao Qin's reaction and thought there was something wrong with his left arm.

"Your recovery speed is far beyond that of ordinary people. Although I administered acupuncture and used my unique ointment, it would still take at least a month to fully recover. But now, you're already more than half healed..."

Ji Ye understood that this must be the effect of his mental body and his cultivation method.

"At this rate, your bone should heal in a week at most." Old Qin suddenly laughed and said, "It must be because you prayed to the City God yesterday. It's all thanks to the City God's blessing. Why don't you go and pray again today? It would be best to buy some incense, candles, and paper money."

Ji Ye recalled his feeling from last night, and his heart stirred slightly. He nodded and said, "Okay."

Yesterday, he only paid homage to the City God, and his mental energy reacted at that moment. If he had actually bought incense, candles, and paper money to worship, he might have made an even more amazing discovery.

Old Qin was delighted to see that Ji Ye was willing to go and worship the City God, and said, "Eat quickly, and I'll take you there after you finish. It will definitely be of great benefit to you."

Ji Ye nodded, finished breakfast with Lao Qin, and then went out together.

Just like yesterday, the people of Mazhuang were very enthusiastic. They greeted Lao Qin when they saw him, and their attitude towards Ji Ye was even more enthusiastic than yesterday. Many people smiled and nodded at him as a way of greeting him.

"Ma Wen—" Old Qin called out from afar to the short, stout man who sold joss paper, incense, candles, and various paper houses and figures, and led Ji Ye inside to buy joss paper and incense.