Instantly, the jade emitted a brilliant red glow, and a translucent barrier of magical power rose up around Yelin's small courtyard.
This was the concealment array inside the courtyard, known as the Misty Array, which consumed one Spirit Stone every three months.
It was Yelin's first time activating the array, and he was quite curious. Instead of going back inside, he opened the courtyard gate, stepped out, and looked back toward his enclosure.
He could only see a thick cloud of mist completely wrapping around his entire yard, making it difficult to make out anything inside.
"The senior brother from the Inner Sect introduced that only Core Formation Experts can sense the aura of things inside the misty array, but even they cannot see clearly. Only Golden Core Experts, with their divine sense extended outward, are capable of insight into everything."
"Surely there aren't Core Formation Experts and Golden Core bigwigs staring at me, an insignificant handyman disciple, every single day."
When Yelin thought of this, he actually felt a little guilty.
He recalled the gaze of Fairy Qingyao, the Master of Spirit Beast Peak, as she passed by on an inspection. Although it was very brief, he always felt there was something unusual about it.
After all, there were fully hundreds of people standing in the plaza at the time; why did she single him out with her gaze when he considered himself thoroughly unremarkable?
"Could it be that I'm just too handsome? Or was it just my imagination, and everyone felt like they were being watched at the time?"
Yelin frowned slightly, but could not come up with an answer.
"Forget it. Fairy Qingyao is high above, worlds apart from me; she shouldn't be so bored as to target me. And my Insect Emperor bloodline can only be discovered by insects that have tasted my blood, while every single insect that has ever drunk my blood remains utterly loyal to me."
Putting this matter out of his mind, Yelin's mood became cheerful once more, and he was quite satisfied with his small courtyard.
"I hear that being promoted to an Outer Disciple grants a larger courtyard, and promotion to an Inner Disciple grants an independent immortal cave. Furthermore, the immortal caves are located on a branch of the Dragon-Seeking Mountain's spiritual vein, where the spiritual energy is extremely dense, making cultivation twice as effective with half the effort."
Song Lingtian currently possessed a rather nice immortal cave. Yelin had even been a guest there once, and he felt a deep yearning to have an immortal cave of his own.
After properly latching the courtyard gate, Yelin made the Insect Emperor Ancient Ring appear on his hand. With a flash of white light and a dark shadow, Xiaobai—a giant python a full two zhang in length and as thick as half a water barrel—and Xiaoqiang, the size of a millstone, appeared beside Yelin.
Over the past two months, as Xiaobai and Xiaoqiang entered the Ancient Ring Space, his blood grew increasingly rich in nutrients, and their growth rate had visibly accelerated.
"Xiaobai, Xiaoqiang, we finally have our own little courtyard! Although the space isn't very large, you are completely free now!"
Although Foundation Establishment masters could sense the aura within the Misty Array, Xiaobai and Xiaoqiang had already comprehended the secret art of concealing their aura within the Ancient Ring Space. Unless a Golden Core bigwig swept their divine sense across the area, they would not be discovered.
Besides, why would a Golden Core bigwig care about a few Qi Condensation Stage Spirit Insects? In their eyes, all Qi Condensation cultivators were mere ants; even Foundation Establishment cultivators were just slightly larger ants.
Xiaobai and Xiaoqiang immediately cheered.
"That's wonderful, Master! I want to swim and take a bath..." Xiaobai said excitedly.
"Alright, we can dig a pool beside the training ground."
To a cultivator, altering the terrain was a trivial matter. Powerful cultivators could even move mountains and fill seas, turning oceans into land and land into vast oceans, so there were no restrictions forbidding handyman disciples from remodeling their dwellings.
Xiaoqiang chirped excitedly.
Outside the space of the Ancient Ring Ancient Ring Space, it was unable to speak human words. However, Yelin knew what Xiaoqiang was thinking: it said it was going to steal a crane back so Yelin could make roasted crane.
Startled into a slight change of complexion, Yelin quickly said, "Xiaoqiang, we haven't secured our footing yet, so let's discuss this matter later. Absolutely do not go out thieving lest you provoke powerful figures we cannot afford to offend."
Hearing this, Xiaoqiang became dejected, feeling that its future insect life was cast in perpetual gray.
Chapter 38: The Gluttonous Snow Silkworm Baby
Xiaoqiang loved thieving, especially stealing food. This was its innate nature, just as humans possessed seven emotions and six desires.
Since arriving at the Taixuan Sect—where powerful figures abounded—over the past two months, Xiaoqiang had spent the vast majority of its time inside the Ancient Ring Space, and even when it was let out, Yelin kept it under strict supervision.
Now that it finally enjoyed a shred of freedom, the urge to steal that it had suppressed for so long could no longer be held back.
Yelin seemed to understand Xiaoqiang very well. Although Xiaoqiang was usually obedient, it was not out of the question that it might lose its head and run off. Stealing was a minor matter, but what Yelin feared was that it would be discovered and executed by a Foundation Establishment Expert. As for Core Formation bigwigs, they shouldn't bother with such trivial matters.
Therefore, Yelin earnestly advised, "Xiaoqiang, it's not that I won't let you go out, but you must cultivate your *Hidden Dragon Technique* to the second layer. Once you are undetectable by Foundation Establishment cultivators, you can come and go as you please here in the Taixuan Sect, as long as you don't patronize the Core Formation bigwigs."
He had to find something for Xiaoqiang to do.
The so-called *Hidden Dragon Technique* was the secret art of aura concealment that Xiaobai and Xiaoqiang had comprehended in the secret realm. Yelin had also received teachings from Xiaobai, but he had yet to step into the first layer.
The *Hidden Dragon Technique* was extremely difficult to cultivate. Cultivating it to the first layer could shield one from the long-range perception of Foundation Establishment Experts; cultivating it to the second layer could completely shield one from the perception of Foundation Establishment Experts; cultivating it to the third layer could shield one from the ordinary perception of Core Formation bigwigs; and the fourth layer could even shield one from the divine sense probing of Core Formation Experts. In total, there were ten layers.
At present, Yelin had no idea what grade of cultivation technique the *Hidden Dragon Technique* actually was.
The difficulty of cultivating the *Hidden Dragon Technique* was extremely high, and Yelin believed that in the short term, Xiaoqiang would not be able to cultivate it to the second layer.
Hearing this, Xiaoqiang's two pitch-black eyes lit up with brilliance.
"Long live Master! Xiaoqiang is going to cultivate right now!"
With that, without the slightest hesitation, Xiaoqiang turned into a streak of black light in extreme excitement and burrowed straight into Yelin's Ancient Ring Space.
Cultivating techniques inside the Ancient Ring Space yielded twice the result with half the effort for Xiaobai and Xiaoqiang.
Yelin smiled wryly in helplessness.
What kind of sins had he committed in his past life? The spirit insects he raised all seemed a bit abnormal: Farting Bug loved to fart, Xiaoqiang loved to steal things, and only Xiaobai was somewhat normal.
Then he saw the rocks flying about near the training ground. In just a few breaths, a pit three to four zhang deep was formed. Following that, a mass of dark clouds drifted across the sky, and torrential rain began to pour down into Yelin's small courtyard.
Xiaobai had its own hobbies as well; it immensely enjoyed bathing and living in water, refusing to let the slightest speck of dirt linger upon its pristine white scales...
Yelin wiped away the rainwater that was blurring his vision and murmured, "Let's hope the two silkworm babies about to hatch won't have any rather extreme hobbies. Xiaolan, come with me."
Xiaolan was the new name Yelin had given to the Farting Bug.
Farting Bug Xiaolan vibrated its wings happily in the rain, following closely behind Yelin.
Since Xiaobai and Xiaoqiang both knew that Xiaolan lacked intelligence, they did not attempt to communicate with this new companion and simply went off to mind their own business.
Yelin walked under the eaves and gave his magic robe a pat. With a distinct "pop" sound, a wave of Qi surged outward from his body, completely driving away the water stains upon him.
The Taixuan Sect's magic robes were impervious to water and fire, and untouched by dust—this was entirely true.
"Xiaobai, remember to fix the pool and help me plant these mulberry trees into the spiritual field."
"Understood, Master!" Xiaobai was already lazily sprawled out inside the pool, which had gathered half a pit of clear water.
The mulberry trees had already been sent down. Whether or not he fed the snow silkworms mulberry leaves, they had to be planted to prevent other cultivators from coming to visit Yelin, discovering that his snow silkworms were thriving yet finding no mulberry trees planted, which would arouse suspicion that he harbored secrets.
Yelin returned to his room and retrieved the crystal-jade box containing the snow silkworm cocoons from his storage space. Without rushing to open the jade box, he first quickly browsed through the *Snow Silkworm Rearing Manual*. After understanding the relevant habits of the snow silkworms, Yelin opened the lid of the jade box.
Two snow-white silkworms the size of thumbs were lying quietly inside the jade box.
If following the normal procedure, Yelin would need to build an ice cellar for the ice silkworms to live in normally, and he did indeed intend to construct an ice cave to pull the wool over people's eyes, but not right now.
Snow silkworms needed time to grow; he wanted to hatch them like this first and let them enter the space of the Ancient Ring Space to mature. Within the Ancient Ring Space, Yelin had cultivated the water-attribute spirit grass, Frost Grass; the temperature around the Frost Grass was very low, and the effect might be even more ideal than an ice cellar.
Having settled on his overall strategy, Yelin first used the blade of his flying sword to slice his finger open, then squeezed out two drops of fresh blood and dripped them onto the cocoons respectively.
Following that, with a flick of his thought, he placed the two insect cocoons next to the Frost Grass within the Ancient Ring Space. In merely a few breaths, Yelin's blood had soaked through the entire cocoons, turning them from snow-white to blood-red. At the same time, Yelin felt the two cocoons tremble slightly, clearly indicating that a tiny life was awakening within.
Puff, puff, puff...
A series of intensely foul-smelling farts enveloped Yelin. Catching the scent of Yelin's blood, Farting Bug Xiaolan grew uncontrollably excited, crawling frantically over Yelin's other hand and rubbing against it crazily, yet without Yelin's permission, it did not dare to brazenly step forward and devour Yelin's blood.
Yelin retrieved a plate from his storage space and squeezed fresh blood onto it.
"Ahem... eat up. You can eat a bit more the first time. Open your spiritual wisdom early on and you won't go around farting indiscriminately..."
Xiaolan ravenously sucked down Yelin's blood, after which Yelin placed it into the Ancient Ring Space. Yelin watched as it very curiously crawled over to the side of Xiaoqiang, who was currently cultivating its technique, and let out a few "puffing" farts to show friendliness.
Whereupon it was batted flying away with a single pincer-strike from Xiaoqiang.
However, Xiaoqiang did not actually hurt it...
Xiaoqiang complained, "Stinking me to death! Still, our outer appearances are somewhat similar; from now on, you'll follow me out to learn how to steal!"
Yelin hurriedly used a thought to plunge Xiaolan into a deep sleep...
After dealing with Xiaolan and the snow silkworm cocoons, Yelin headed out to the Spirit Beast Peak cafeteria for a hearty meal, and then went to the marketplace to purchase the Yellow-tier lower-grade spell, *Freezing Art*. As long as he mastered the *Freezing Art*, he could use his magical power to quickly freeze water into ice blocks, making the construction of an ice cave effortless.
...
On the third day after Yelin arrived at Spirit Beast Peak, two plump, white silkworm babies with bodies somewhat crystalline and translucent like fine jade finally appeared within the Ancient Ring Space.
Yelin's two ice silkworms had finally hatched.
Just as Yelin had anticipated, the ice silkworms loved the space of the Ancient Ring Space very much. They did not just stay active near the Frost Grass; they could adapt to room-temperature areas as well...
However, what gave Yelin a bit of a headache was that the two cute silkworm babies loved to eat immensely. They ate wherever they went inside the Ancient Ring Space... Within a day, tiny bite marks were left on many spirit grasses, and even Xiaoqiang and Xiaolan's sword-edge carapaces had tooth marks left upon them...
These two silkworm babies seemed to be born gluttons, possessing an exceptionally sharp set of teeth right from birth while also appearing endlessly insatiable...
Yelin couldn't help but complain, "Do I, Yelin, not deserve to own a single normal spirit insect?"
Chapter 39: Unharmed by Blades and Swords
Because the snow silkworm babies ate a lot and obtained abundant nutrition, their growth was correspondingly rapid, changing almost by the day. The ten clumps of Frost Grass Yelin had planted were gnawed down to two within five days, and the snow silkworms showed a trend of further increasing their appetite.
Fortunately, Yelin still had thirty Spirit Stones on hand and had planted another thirty clumps of Frost Grass specifically to feed the snow silkworms.
This was an extremely extravagant course of action.
The *Snow Silkworm Rearing Manual* recorded that Frost Grass could be used as a high-grade ingredient for raising snow silkworms, but due to the extremely high cost, the snow silkworm silk produced might not outweigh the investment, so very few people used such a luxurious method to raise them.
Moreover, the Frost Grass cultivated by Yelin cost several times more than those on the market, and he was deeply worried that these two plump little fellows would eat him into bankruptcy.
However, Yelin had always liked small insects. Seeing the snow silkworm babies eating so happily, he felt it was quite meaningful. If the snow silkworms really managed to flatten his wallet, he would simply have to rely on drinking blood to survive in the future.
After all, as far as the snow silkworm babies were concerned, Yelin's blood was their absolute favorite.
Aside from eating Frost Grass, Yelin also occasionally had Xiaobai and Xiaoqiang feed them spirit grasses of four other attributes, though the feeding amounts were very small. Devouring metal-attribute spirit grasses could make the snow silkworms' teeth sharper; devouring wood-attribute spirit grasses kept the snow silkworms high-spirited and growing rapidly; devouring fire-attribute spirit grasses made the future spell power of the snow silkworms stronger; and devouring earth-attribute spirit grasses gave the snow silkworms astonishing defensive capabilities.
Such a costly feeding method was rarely attempted even by Inner Disciples of Spirit Beast Peak.
Under Yelin's feeding, Farting Bug Xiaolan also entered a period of rapid growth. Xiaolan preferred eating fire-attribute spirit grasses, though its appetite was much smaller than the snow silkworms'.
Yelin discovered that after devouring fire-attribute spirit grasses, Xiaolan was undergoing a certain mutation. The most obvious change was that its farts smelled even worse, and occasionally it would spit out sparks that ignited the stench, resulting in a violent explosion.
Just like that, while feeding his spirit insects, Yelin concentrated on his cultivation and occasionally went to the Spirit Beast Peak classroom to attend lectures. Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, more than a month had gone by.
In Yelin's bedroom, he sat cross-legged on a jade-made elliptical meditation cushion. The Gengjin Sword Grass leaves in his hand rapidly withered as a large amount of Gengjin Qi fused into his body.
Unlike the excruciating pain at the very beginning of cultivating the *Five Elements Vajra Body*, Yelin didn't even knit his brow. His execution of the Five Elements Vajra Body was now extremely smooth, to the point where he couldn't feel any pain and his physical body even felt somewhat comfortable.
Suddenly, Yelin's body gave a jolt, and a faint golden radiance flashed across his entire skin—Yelin had turned into a golden Buddha!
At that very moment, Yelin opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing within them. With a stretch of his hand, the Xuan-Iron Precious Sword resting on the table flew out of its scabbard with a crisp "clang" and turned into a cold beam of light that flew into Yelin's hand.
He extended his wrist and, holding the Xuan-Iron Precious Sword, slashed fiercely. With a single "ding" sound, sparks flew in all directions. Yelin's wrist suffered no damage whatsoever; there was merely a silvery-white scratch, which completely vanished within a few breaths.
Yelin had finally successfully stepped into the first layer of the *Five Elements Vajra Body*.
When he circulated the technique, mortal weapons could no longer inflict any damage upon him; even the flying sword attacks of cultivators at the same realm would not instantly pierce his body.
Yelin grabbed the sharp Xuan-Iron Precious Sword, and the weapon actually rapidly deformed within his grasp, finally being kneaded by his two hands into a large rice dumpling!
The *Five Elements Vajra Body* not only enhanced his physical defense capabilities, but it also reinforced his bones, meridians, and muscles. Now, his physical body also possessed the strength of one fierce horse!
Physical strength and magical power intensity did not add up by much when using magical tools for ranged attacks, but if Yelin wielded a close-combat weapon, infusing his entire body with magical power would result in a perfect cumulative addition.
In other words, when engaging in close combat now, Yelin could unleash the strength of 3.4 fierce horses!
Furthermore, while magical power was easily exhausted, an immortal cultivator's physical strength was inexhaustible and not easily depleted. Most cultivators would see their combat power plummet the moment their magical power was exhausted, but body-refining cultivators would not drop by much.
This was precisely where the advantage of a body-refining cultivator lay.
Looking at the Xuan-Iron Precious Sword in his hand, Yelin was extremely satisfied with the *Five Elements Vajra Body*. Over the past month, he had endured torture akin to being carved by a thousand knives day after day, but the suffering had ultimately not been in vain!
Yelin rose with ease.
"For the time being, I can finally begin to concentrate on cultivating the *Five Elements Primordial Art*. Once the *Five Elements Primordial Art* successfully steps into the first stage, I will consider cultivating the second layer of the *Five Elements Vajra Body*!"
With the *Five Elements Vajra Body* having stepped into the first layer, Yelin finally possessed the foundation to cultivate the *Five Elements Primordial Art*.
If he could cultivate the *Five Elements Vajra Body* to the second layer, ordinary flying swords and spells would find it difficult to harm his physical body—his "Iron Tortoise Technique" could then be considered barely small-success.
However, the second layer would inevitably be much more difficult than the first, so he could not be overly impatient.
With a flick of Yelin's thought, five rays of light flashed, and Xiaobai, Xiaoqiang, Xiaolan, along with the two silkworm babies, appeared before Yelin.
"Dinner time!" Yelin stroked their heads one by one, then placed a plate in front of each of them. After dispersing the *Five Elements Vajra Body*, a flying sword flashed across his wrist, and a large gush of fresh blood spewed out, filling each plate about halfway.
Except for Xiaobai, the other four spirit insects all began to devour their food ravenously. Xiaobai stretched out its head and licked Yelin's wrist with its tender, red, forked tongue, causing Yelin's wound to heal naturally.
Only after dressing Yelin's wound did Xiaobai begin to eat.
Yelin's gaze fell upon the two snow silkworm babies, which were now three to four inches long.
Their names were Can Yi and Can Er respectively, exactly one male and one female.
Can Yi and Can Er were eating more and more, and their appetites were now almost catching up to Xiaobai and Xiaoqiang. The one with the smallest appetite was Xiaolan, and while the other spirit insects rarely ate spirit grasses after drinking blood, these two continued to eat endlessly from morning till night...
If there was no spirit grass to eat, they would eat the blocks of ice surrounding them; once the ice blocks were finished, they would even crunch on a few mouthfuls of sand on the ground.
At present, within Yelin's Ancient Ring Space, only four out of the dozens of clumps of Frost Grass remained. Even with the snow silkworm babies rationing themselves, it wouldn't last ten days.
As for Yelin, although his strength had greatly improved, his money-making plan had still made no substantive progress. Relying solely on the four Spirit Stone stipend of a high-grade handyman disciple each month simply could not sustain his current expenses.
"How come I'm always this poor... I have to find a way to make money." Yelin was somewhat troubled.
Yelin needed money to cultivate the *Five Elements Vajra Body*, money to cultivate the *Five Elements Primordial Art*, and even more money to raise spirit insects...
Chapter 40: High-Grade Snow Silkworm Silk
According to the records in the *Snow Silkworm Rearing Manual*, snow silkworms had to be raised for nearly three months, and only when raised quite well would they spit out a small amount of snow silkworm silk.
Under Yelin's care, Can Yi and Can Er had grown plump and robust, and their growth should be extremely rapid, but Yelin couldn't accurately gauge when they would spin silk...
As for the Farting Bug Xiaolan, since it had undergone a mutation, every fart it produced now generated a violent explosion rather than producing toxic gas, so hoping to rely on Xiaolan's farts to sell for money was also unviable.
Taking advantage of the snow silkworm babies eating with great relish, Yelin walked over to the clear pool where Xiaobai usually took its baths, placed his hand into the water, and circulated his magical power: "Freeze, quick!"
Crack, crack...
A large chunk of white, hard ice rapidly condensed around Yelin's palm.
The *Freezing Art* was mostly used in underwater combat and had low practical value; Yelin hadn't studied it much, but being able to manufacture ice blocks was already not bad.