Cultivation and the Strange Insect Sounds
Chapter 4
At dawn, Li Changmeng woke up to the crisp mountain air.
His first task of the day was to gather materials near Baiyun Temple. The Spirit-Building Method required no rare resources for forging a golden body—only a strong connection to faith energy. However, as an eight-year-old with no access to divine relics, he settled for carving an aged tree.
Wielding an axe almost as tall as himself, he spent hours felling a tree as thick as a rice bowl. Sweat dripped down his back as he dragged the logs back to his lodging, his arms trembling from exertion.
By noon, he had shaped a crude deity statue—its arms raised as if supporting the heavens, its legs planted like immovable pillars of the earth.
To transform this wood into a true golden body, he needed either gold-clay coating or blood infusion. With no access to gold-clay, he had only one choice.
Taking a small knife, he nicked his finger. Scarlet droplets splashed onto the statue's crown, snaking down its features like ancient inscriptions awakening.
After a quarter of an hour, he wrapped his finger tightly in cloth. Blood-forging was a slow process—his young body couldn't afford excessive blood loss. This ritual would take a month to complete.
That evening, Baiyun Daoist noticed the faint metallic scent in the air the moment he entered.
"Tomorrow's meal will include a blood-replenishing tonic."
"Thank you, Master." Changmeng continued eating, knowing that the tonic would help him complete the golden body sooner.
Baiyun Daoist's expression remained unreadable. "Since you still call me 'Master,' this much is warranted."
After dinner, Changmeng sat cross-legged on a cushion, preparing for the night's cultivation.
Spiritual energy sensing—the first step for most cultivation paths—was also the foundation of the Spirit-Building Method. Following the breathing rhythm described in the jade slip, he emptied his mind, attempting to perceive the ambient spiritual energy.
Darkness. Silence. Then—
Chirrrr—
A deafening screech exploded in his consciousness, drowning out all thought.
His eyes snapped open, sweat trickling down his temples. Insects? That couldn't be right. Baiyun Daoist had warded the temple grounds, making it impossible for pests to approach.
"Am I talentless?!"
Doubt gnawed at him. Perhaps exhaustion from blood loss and carving had affected his focus. For now, he abandoned the attempt and crawled into bed.
That night, he dreamt of a colossal, chitinous creature chasing him through an endless void. Countless legs clicked against nothingness as it closed in—
CRUNCH.
He jolted awake, gasping for breath, his heart hammering against his ribs. Though the nightmare faded, an unsettling dread lingered.
Hallucinations? A coincidence? No. This was something else.
Under the dim morning light, he carefully reread the jade slip.
The words… had changed.
His pulse quickened. Cultivators often enchanted jade slips to prevent unauthorized copying. Could this be the reason for the shifting text—and his failed cultivation attempt?
This time, he followed the instructions precisely, reading the slip as he meditated.
The moment he entered his trance, his perception expanded.
The world sharpened. His spirit felt weightless. Shimmering colors emerged from the void—
Orange. Green. Blue. Red. Brown.
Five elemental energies.
He visualized a flowing river, guiding the energies into his dantian. The spiritual particles obeyed, swirling into a structured pattern, accelerating their absorption.
Soon, a soft glow filled his core. His body, once opaque, now flickered with faint, multicolored light.
Exhaling slowly, he ended his meditation. A warmth spread through his abdomen—he had successfully absorbed spiritual energy.
Now, he faced a choice: ignite his spiritual light immediately or temper his body first.
With the golden body incomplete, he chose tempering.
The true path of cultivation would begin once the statue was finished.