Amidst the flow of people.

Jiang Xu walked out of the auction house.

He secretly glanced behind him.

The old woman was staring at Jiang Xu, her eyes filled with hatred, looking as if she wanted to slice him into a thousand pieces.

Jiang Xu figured the old hag had probably transferred her hatred for the thief onto him.

But it didn’t matter.

Jiang Xu secretly used his Insect Control Technique on the small insect on his clothes, the one sent by the old woman.

After the mark was formed, he tried to brand the small insect with it.

But to his surprise, Jiang Xu’s Insect Control Technique actually failed on the little insect!

The moment the mark touched the insect, it was repelled, unable to penetrate it in the slightest.

The startled insect immediately tried to fly away in a panic, but Jiang Xu was quick. He snatched it, holding it immobile in his grasp!

’Damn it, it seems she has some kind of insect control method too! My Insect Control Technique isn’t at a high Skill Level yet, only at the Beginner Stage. I can’t deal with her!’

’This is bad,’ Jiang Xu thought.

He hadn’t expected that his newly acquired Insect Control Technique, with its extremely low Skill Level, would fail to control the other party’s insect as he’d hoped, putting him in a passive position!

Jiang Xu activated his Light Body Spell, his form flickering as he dashed into a hidden corner and concealed himself.

But since the small insect was a living creature, he couldn’t just transfer the tracking mark like before. In the end, he had no choice but to crush it and put it in his Storage Bag.

’Now is not the time to deal with her. If my Insect Control Technique can’t suppress hers, I’ll still be in some danger.

Anyway, I have this little flying insect. Once my skills have greatly improved, I can use the Seeking Technique to find her. It won’t be too late to get my revenge then!’

Having convinced himself, Jiang Xu watched the old woman frantically searching for him not far behind. After a moment of silent mockery, he slipped away and vanished.

...

"Where’s that bastard!"

The old woman sensed the final trace from her Tracking Insect and rushed over in a panic.

But she found nothing at all in front of her!

She stood stunned for two seconds before it dawned on her that he had actually... escaped in such a short amount of time!

"Don’t think you’re safe now! I’ll have you know that the Holy Insect of my Nanjiang Wu Peng Race isn’t so easily taken!"

A continuous stream of Gu Insects then poured out from her clothes, swarming away in all directions!

...

After returning from the auction house, Jiang Xu went back to his residence.

The haul from this auction was quite substantial. Jiang Xu began to study his new acquisitions.

First was the Array Plate for the Tier One Upper Grade Seven Extremes Array.

It was a circular plate, its surface carved with complex patterns and Runes. These Runes formed concentric lines on the Array Plate, spreading out like ripples.

In the center of the Array Plate were three large grooves and six small ones, which looked like spots to place Spirit Stones.

To fully unleash the array’s power, it required three Middle Grade Spirit Stones and six Lower Grade Spirit Stones.

Jiang Xu tested its effects and was very satisfied with the results.

First, its warning capabilities were very strong. It was said that it could even detect scans from Divine Sense.

Although Jiang Xu didn’t have Divine Sense, he tried other methods, and it was able to detect all of them except for his Concealing Breath Spell.

Second was its defense.

Once set up, it could probably withstand attacks from a Qi Cultivation Late Stage cultivator for about fifteen minutes.

To be honest, this already exceeded Jiang Xu’s expectations.

The third ability was that it could create an illusion on its exterior to conceal traces of its presence.

However, although the array’s name was Seven Extremes, it only had these three abilities, not seven.

Jiang Xu felt he’d been cheated as a consumer.

The second item he bought was a Talisman Brush.

The Wolf Hair Talisman Brush, made from a Tier Two Demon Wolf, truly lived up to its reputation.

The bristles had extremely high Magical Power conductivity, making the brush more stable and fluid when drawing Talismans, and it did indeed increase the success rate.

Most importantly, Jiang Xu could now draw Middle Grade Talismans without any hindrance. His speed of earning Spirit Stones would increase once again!

Finally, and most importantly.

The Golden Silkworm Gu.

Jiang Xu took it out cautiously.

The people at the auction house had already told Jiang Xu.

They told him to be careful when opening it and to make preparations in advance.

Otherwise, he would likely be in danger.

Jiang Xu set up the Seven Extremes Array. Inside the array, he would have a certain degree of defense, allowing him to block in time if the Golden Silkworm Gu attacked.

Then Jiang Xu concealed his presence and opened the Jade Box.

Inside the Jade Box, the Golden Silkworm Gu was lying on its back, resting, completely unresponsive to the commotion Jiang Xu had made.

Jiang Xu breathed a sigh of relief. He then used his Insect Control Technique to form a mark and brand it onto the Golden Silkworm Gu’s Divine Soul, creating a faint sense of connection between them.

Jiang Xu tried to control the Golden Silkworm Gu. Although there was some lag and resistance, the Golden Silkworm Gu still moved according to his will.

Clearly, the Golden Silkworm Gu was now successfully under his control.

Seeing this, Jiang Xu quickly deactivated the Seven Extremes Array.

After all, keeping this thing active cost Spirit Stones.

’According to the descriptions in the Insect Breeding Chapter of the Insect Control Scripture, raising a Golden Silkworm Gu requires a certain skill.’

The Golden Silkworm Gu’s poison depended on the type and dosage of poisons it was fed, as well as the types and quantities of various venomous insects it consumed. It was a mixed poison, extremely difficult to neutralize.

It could only be cured if one knew all this information and could create a corresponding antidote.

If one didn’t want to use the Golden Silkworm Gu’s poison, there was another path.

One could instead feed the Golden Silkworm Gu various Spirit Herbs and Treasures.

The Spirit Herbs and Treasures needed to be brewed into a small cup of highly concentrated medicinal liquid, which would then be sprinkled evenly in batches inside the Jade Box. When the Gu Mother was thirsty, it would drink the liquid, thus absorbing its medicinal properties.

This would nullify the Gu Mother’s toxicity, imbuing it with medicinal properties instead. It could cure all poisons and even enhance a cultivator’s cultivation speed.

Jiang Xu wasn’t torn.

His Cangmu Skill could already neutralize poisons, and there were other Elixirs to increase his cultivation speed.

Therefore, he only wanted to raise the Golden Silkworm Gu as a venomous insect.

’The Insect Breeding Chapter says that for a Golden Silkworm Gu to undergo Transcendence into Spirit, it needs to be fed seven types of Tier One Spirit Insects that it has poisoned to death.

I need to feed it one type of Spirit Insect every seven days, and continue this process for forty-nine days.

The process cannot be stopped for even a single day during these forty-nine days. Stopping would mean all previous efforts were wasted.

Furthermore, the types of Spirit Insects fed to it previously cannot be used a second time in the next advancement ritual.’

Although Jiang Xu didn’t know the principle behind this, he wouldn’t dare to rashly change the process.

After all, this had been personally certified by the panel.

’Duo Bao Pavilion has two of them. I need to find the remaining five as soon as possible. A poison that can cripple even a Foundation Establishment Cultivator... if I use it for a sneak attack...’

Jiang Xu was actually very interested in the Poison Techniques Ji Shengliang had used before.

Even when he was on the verge of death, he had managed to take down two cultivators of the same rank, which showed just how potent Poison Techniques could be.