He hadn’t forgotten about the Red-winged Blood Bamboo colony hidden in a deep mountain ravine out back.
This was the main reason he had chosen them. Though they were just common insects, their venom was potent, and in large enough numbers, they could overwhelm and kill someone.
He got right to it.
Li Changsheng grabbed an empty bowl and gathered Spiritual Power in the fingers of his right hand. He aimed carefully and swiped them across the tip of his left middle finger.
Instantly, a small cut split open on his fingertip.
Droplets of fresh blood dripped into the bowl, and before long, a shallow layer had pooled at the bottom.
’That should be enough.’
Li Changsheng used his Spiritual Power to stop the bleeding, then mentally reviewed the instructions for using the "Insect Seal" one more time.
He formed a hand seal for the Technique. The Spiritual Power in his body began circulating along the pathways of the Insect Seal Magic. Gradually, countless tiny energy channels outlined a strange pattern.
"Go."
The moment the pattern formed successfully, Li Changsheng felt a flash of insight. He pointed at the bowl and uttered a soft command.
As he spoke, a stream of faint gray light shot from his fingertip into the bowl and merged with the blood.
The blood rapidly coagulated into a gray, fingernail-sized solid that gave off a peculiar odor.
Smelling the odor, Li Changsheng exclaimed in delight, "It worked!"
As the strange smell wafted through the air, the three bamboo tubes on the table and the one tucked in his robes began to buzz and rattle.
Li Changsheng wasn’t surprised. According to the *Insect Breeding Record*, the gray solid was incredibly alluring to insects. Once ingested, a magical seal would form inside their bodies, marking the process a success.
Li Changsheng took the bamboo tube from his robes, set it with the others on the table, and then pulled out the wooden stoppers.
Four thumb-sized Red-winged Blood Bamboos leaped from the tubes and flew straight to the bowl. They plunged their mouthparts into the gray solid and began to feed greedily.
In moments, the four Red-winged Blood Bamboos had devoured the entire gray solid and lay motionless at the bottom of the bowl.
Li Changsheng dared not delay. Sensing the magical connection within the insects, he focused his mind and activated it.
BUZZ...
A faint light shone from within the Red-winged Blood Bamboos. Gray patterns rapidly spread across their crimson, bamboo-like segmented bodies, covering them completely in the blink of an eye.
The Red-winged Blood Bamboos, originally only the size of a thumb, instantly swelled to more than double their size, and a faint trace of Spiritual Qi emerged within them.
Soon, the four Red-winged Blood Bamboos had finished their metamorphosis.
Li Changsheng found it incredible. The four Red-winged Blood Bamboos in the bowl gave him a strange sensation; it seemed that with a mere thought, he could command them to perform any action.
’Fly.’
The thought barely formed in Li Changsheng’s mind.
BUZZ...
The four Red-winged Blood Bamboos beat their wings in unison, wobbling unsteadily into the air.
’Fly in a circle...’
’Go left... now right...’
’Do a loop...’
Like a child with a new toy, Li Changsheng had the four Red-winged Blood Bamboos flying around for a full hour before letting them rest.
Through this practice, he discovered that the Red-winged Blood Bamboos could instantly unleash their faint internal Spiritual Qi to double their flight speed. However, because they had so little Spiritual Qi, the burst only lasted for about two breaths.
The good news was that their Spiritual Qi would slowly regenerate.
What surprised Li Changsheng most, however, was that after doubling in size, the Red-winged Blood Bamboos’ mouthparts had become incredibly sharp.
He tried shielding his palm with Spiritual Power and commanding one of the Red-winged Blood Bamboos to strike it. Its mouthpart instantly left a small pit in his palm, a testament to its sharpness.
The only thing he hadn’t tested was the Red-winged Blood Bamboo’s blood venom.
But this alone was enough to prove that in sufficient numbers, they could threaten the life of a Cultivator.
With a thought, Li Changsheng had the four Red-winged Blood Bamboos fly into one of the bamboo tubes. He poured in some Blood Bamboo Vine juice and tucked the tube into his robes.
After tidying up the kitchen, he turned and went out the door.
The sky had already begun to darken.
Li Changsheng gazed into the distance, where lights were beginning to flicker on in the beast pens. The air was filled with the unending, low roars and cries of beasts.
He watched for a moment before turning and entering the pens.
He lit a lamp and looked toward Xiaohua’s pen.
Xiaohua was now more than half again as large as Big Flower, its body as robust and intimidating as a horse-drawn carriage.
GRRROOOWL...
Just then, Xiaohua’s back arched high, and its dark brown bristles stood on end like steel needles.
Then, just as suddenly, the bristles went limp. They flowed like water, instantly enveloping Xiaohua’s entire body to form a suit of dark brown hide armor.
Before Li Changsheng could get a good look, ROAR... Xiaohua let out another low roar, and the dark brown hide armor on its body reverted to bristles in an instant.
’Could it be...?’
Watching the transformation, Li Changsheng stared in disbelief.
[Target: Xiaohua]
[Race: Tusked Pig (Male)]
[Tier One Middle-grade: 1%]
[Innate Magic: Hardened Armor.]
[Status: Healthy.]
’A domesticated Tusked Pig can awaken an innate Magic?’
Li Changsheng rubbed his eyes, still finding it hard to believe.
Whether or not a Spirit Beast awakened an innate Magic determined its future: would it be a cultivation resource, or a spirit pet?
Previously, even if Xiaohua had advanced to become a Tier One Middle-grade Spirit Beast, its ultimate fate would have been to be harvested for materials. But now that it had awakened an innate Magic, its value was completely different.
It was like the difference between two Cultivators: one who could only manipulate Spiritual Power, and another who could also cast Magic. The gap between them was obvious.
The same was true for Spirit Beasts.
Now that Xiaohua had awakened an innate Magic, it could easily hold its own against a Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer Cultivator who lacked a Middle-Grade Magical Artifact.
Li Changsheng was eager to test the strength of Xiaohua’s innate Magic. After a moment’s hesitation, he opened the pen’s gate.
"Xiaohua, come on out."
Seeing Xiaohua standing motionless by the feeding trough, Li Changsheng tried calling out to it.
SNORT SNORT...
Xiaohua looked up at the entrance, grunted, and obediently walked out.
But the walkway of the pen was quite narrow, and Xiaohua’s massive frame completely blocked it.
The man and the pig stood face to face, staring at each other.
Li Changsheng swallowed hard. If Xiaohua were to charge him now, he’d have no chance of escape.
SNORT SNORT...
Xiaohua grunted, scraping its menacing tusks on the ground, but showed no intention of charging.
Seeing this, Li Changsheng relaxed. He grabbed the bars of the pen with one hand and gestured back with the other, shouting, "Xiaohua, back up, back up."
SNORT SNORT...
Xiaohua seemed to understand him. It slowly backed up until it was out of the narrow walkway.
Li Changsheng followed it out.
By now, the sky had grown completely dark and a large moon was rising.
In the hazy moonlight, Li Changsheng could finally see the true scale of Xiaohua’s body.
Xiaohua stood over two meters tall and was nearly five meters long. Its massive tusks glinted in the moonlight, giving it an incredibly intimidating presence.
Li Changsheng said excitedly, "Xiaohua, use your innate Magic!"
SNORT SNORT...
Xiaohua just paced in place, shaking its head back and forth, but didn’t use its innate Magic.
"The one you just used!" Li Changsheng said hurriedly.
SNORT SNORT...
"You know, where your bristles suddenly spread out and turned into armor..."
SNORT SNORT...
Li Changsheng was speechless.
He was wrong. He shouldn’t have assumed that awakening an innate Magic meant Xiaohua’s intelligence had also grown.
’If the Insect Seal didn’t only work on spirit insects, I’d definitely use one on Xiaohua,’ he thought.
Just as Li Changsheng was wondering how to communicate with Xiaohua, a bloodcurdling scream suddenly pierced the night.
"AHHH!!"