Anytime the cicada was ready, Lu Qingshan had scattered crystal shavings on their trail. Though the existence of the shavings themselves meant they still left behind a different trail, the tiny particles of dust were much more difficult to spot with the naked eye. Their resistance to spiritual qi reduced the ease at which a cultivator could follow this type of trail. They had also used other tricks to help them evade any pursuers, managing to go a few weeks without seeing anybody else.

  Once, Lu Qingshan too had almost doubted how necessary all these precautions were. Then he finally sensed it: living proof they were being followed.

  Along the way, he’d scattered Bloodseeker Fly clusters around swarms of demonized insects. Highly aggressive, these swarms consisted of multiple different species of insects who chased down other demonized insects as prey. Their behavior was certainly unusual. Something made them converge into these swarms without a discernible pattern, that Lu Qingshan was trying to figure out. The only thing they feared was the crystal cicada, but they also ignored his Bloodseeker Flies.

  His flies sustained themselves off the aftermath of each battle. It also helped him detect these dangerous roaming swarms and guide the others away from them.

  Lu Qingshan anticipated them to be so aggressive that they’d chase after any creature, including even Qi Refinement realm cultivators if they didn’t unleash their power. For most martial artists, a horde of demonized insects would be impossible to survive. Even Embryonic Realm cultivators would be hard-pressed to outlast so many powerful bodies rushing towards them. But Qi Refinement cultivators had indiscriminate attacks. Lu Qingshan was counting on this collateral damage to affect his flies, thereby telling him the locations of their pursuers when it happened.

  His plan worked. Several fly clusters had instantly disappeared from his spiritual connections a week ago. He and his group were able to continue fleeing while making sure to avoid that area.

  Relentless massacres of his flies followed. From the frequency of his flies' deaths, he believed the enemy was at the Qi Refinement realm. Despite this, all they accomplished was repeatedly telling Lu Qingshan their general location and allowing him to stay a constant step ahead of them.

  Having more detailed knowledge enabled Lu Qingshan to make do with less. He didn't need to order the group of martial artists and cultivators to march as harshly as before. They no longer complained much once they had some proper rest. Combined with the rising benefits brought from various exotic medicinal herbs uncovered from the land, it was no wonder they heeded his words.

  Liu Yingting and Wu Ruoling worked tirelessly to uncover the properties of these new materials. It also turned out that An Zichen was a budding medicinal doctor as well, having a wood-element based cultivation technique. The three of them were able to come up with new recipes of secret medicines by pooling their knowledge together. Things were looking up for their group.

  In the meantime, Lu Qingshan continued observing what he could through his dwindling supply of Bloodseeker Flies. Three swarms of insects were about to meet in the distance. Not far from the conflict was where a batch of his flies had recently perished, and Lu Qingshan assumed the four different groups would converge soon.

  He watched silently through his spiritual connections. The scenery was relatively quiet from the perspective of this wandering swarm, but it would soon transform into a gruesome battle. He wondered if that person would show up and end everything in a single instant. What he was trying to do was a risk, but being able to memorize their pursuer gave him more options when trying to take revenge later on.

  But nothing like that happened. Lu Qingshan waited until the battle was over and two of the other insect groups had been torn into shreds. His flies feasted on their corpses and prepared to lay the next generation of eggs. Still, no one appeared, even as the bodies were all consumed.

  Lu Qingshan frowned. Their pursuer had changed their tactics. Now they moved with purpose, avoiding the demonized insect swarms with some unknown methods of their own.

  From the tree he was staying on, Lu Qingshan peered out and found his surroundings still calm. He was fairly certain they were safe, having run far from the direction of the mountain peak and remaining a good distance away from the last batch of fly deaths. It would be pretty difficult for even a Qi Refinement realm cultivator to catch up.

  But it wasn’t impossible. Now that they were moving blind, Lu Qingshan also adjusted his tactics. He converged some of his fly swarms and set them to patrol the forest wherever the group moved, until they had finished extracting all value from the area. Through this tactic, Lu Qingshan was finally able to resume his own cultivation.

  His elders came up with a secret medicine that greatly overtaxed the energy of the body in return for improved effects. Lu Qingshan was pretty much the only one who could use these medicines, easily regenerating his bodily reserves by slaughtering demonized insects to seize their blood essence. The max level Blood Seas Inner Force fueled the growth of the Giant Whale Breathing Method, which in turn promoted the development of the Dragon Spine Manual.

  He spent a few more weeks following this cycle. The demonic cultivators chasing them had somehow not made a single move all this time. Lu Qingshan thought it very suspicious, but lacked the power to investigate. Trying to uncover too much could prove lethal.

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  On a quiet night, with nobody around, Lu Qingshan smiled. The counter for the Giant Whale Breathing Method had ticked over to the fifth level.

  Giant Whale Breathing Method (Level 5, 1/10000)

  There was still a lot to do. The Dragon Spine Manual’s growth was slightly lesser, so he’d need around half a year to level it up. Not far from the seventh level was the Insect Harmony Mantra, which would require only a few months, unless he had a way to amplify its speed even further. Lu Qingshan planned to experiment with the demonized insects for this. Though his mantra didn’t seem to work as expected, he hadn’t had the time to test the exact points of failure.

  Gaining more time depended on the activities of the demonic cultivators. With Lu Qingshan constantly watching their behavior, he needed his sect members to do most of the miscellaneous tasks. Such as reading Daoist Qingxu’s journal. He’d like nothing more than to settle down with it, but their pursuer was much more important to track.

  So he hoped they had stopped following their trail. The An siblings couldn’t have been the only ones who were tagged with one of those insects. Lu Qingshan suspected they were there to help the demonic cultivators track their prey. Now that the crystal cicada had devoured them, they found it much harder to follow. Even so, they came dangerously close on a few occasions, were it not for Lu Qingshan’s flies.

  Lu Qingshan decided to give it another month before he would allow himself to fully concentrate on his martial arts. In the meantime, his sect elders worked hard in the background to make the most out of their situation. Secret medicines were being produced daily and given out to the entire group. Recruiting these martial artists was no longer as difficult once they enjoyed the benefits of following the Seven Mysteries Gate.

  Out of the new martial artists, only three were Viscera Tempering experts, and still working on the first organ. They had ties that could not be easily broken. But the Marrow Tempering experts were different. Many were free to wander the world without obligations, so as long as Lu Qingshan could keep them satisfied, they were happy to fall in line. And he was certain they would come around in the end.

  Perhaps, even the An siblings and Song Lin would end up agreeing to follow him. This was his true goal. By deciphering the details in Daoist Qingxu’s journal, he hoped to gain leverage over their future cultivation. He hadn’t asked if they had access to Qi Refinement methods yet, as it wasn’t the time. But if they didn’t, it was almost guaranteed they’d join.

  Speaking of Qingxu’s legacy, Lu Qingshan looked over the three crystal fruits again. Normally, the crystal cicada devoured the things it crystallized even if it was a weak demonized insect or exotic fruit. But these fruits were skipped over.

  They had to be special. He just didn’t know what they could do. The crystal that surrounded the fruits was much too hard to break, and he didn’t want to destroy it by using too much force.

  An immortal cultivator could shave away at the outer layers. Yet Li Fanghua and Qin Ye were too busy to do this task. Unless one of the other three cultivators volunteered to do it for free, uncovering the purpose of these treasures would take a delicate amount of time.

  With a few weeks of studying the journal, surely the two of them had gleaned some insights. Lu Qingshan decided it was time to visit them.

  He entered the makeshift hut they were staying in. Even now, the two were engrossed in the book, rarely straying away from it.

  “Have you discovered anything we could use in this situation?” he asked. “The source of the demonized insects, for example?”

  Qin Ye shook his head and stood up, leaving the book to Li Fanghua alone. “The journal doesn’t have any extremely specific details like that. It’s mostly a record of Daoist Qingxu’s journal from a mortal to Foundation Establishment. He’s recorded a lot of knowledge, insights, and his experiences, but nothing about this place.”

  “There’s not a formal introduction in here,” Li Fanghua interrupted, “but Qingxu was probably an expert in formations. There are several mentions of this during his most dangerous encounters.”

  Of the four major immortal cultivation professions, formations were the most varied in what they could do. Alchemists were venerated, artifact refiners were respected, and talisman inscribers were reliable. But true formation experts were feared.

  “What level was he?”

  “Even among veteran Foundation Establishment formation experts, he could compete, while still only at the Qi Refinement realm.” Li Fanghua’s eyes never left the book, and her hands were constantly in motion. With Qin Ye taking a break, she was scanning page after page.

  “Then the fog?”

  “Likely one of his formations. He hasn’t explicitly used it in the journal, but many of the formations he did use resembled the fog in many ways. I could see some variations easily transforming them into fog.”

  Lu Qingshan nodded in understanding. They were getting closer to unraveling the puzzle that was this area. His mind was focused on the demonized insects, fog formation, and the crystal cicada. Though he still felt that he was missing something.

  There were many abnormalities that he just didn’t know about. The human-faced spiders had seemed important, but they could’ve been a byproduct of some immortal methods. Then there were abnormal zones like the patch of blood-colored trees, which Lu Qingshan was still waiting for the spiritual earthworm to wake up from its slumber. Perhaps another key to the puzzle was hidden there.

  It might all lead to Daoist Qingxu’s inheritance, or a method to fully exploit the resources inside this place. As an area with high spiritual energy quantities, there had to be more than just a few medicinal herbs. Lu Qingshan aimed to find as much as he could within the three years he had.

  Still, there was one thing he needed most of all: a higher cultivation level. This was the foundation upon which everything depended on. His sect, his livelihood, even his survival all revolved around it.

  With secret medicines still streaming in, Lu Qingshan's decision was to continue staying in this area. Nearby were a few demonized insect groups tracked by his scattered swarms of flies. It was finally time to consider doing a full exploration into these monstrous creatures, and why they resisted his Insect Harmony Mantra.