In a distance, they could see White Ape’s silhouette closing in. When he arrived, they saw Zhi Yin pale as a sheet clinging to his back. Upon seeing Lin Jin and Shang’er, Zhi Yin was mildly stunned. However, he quickly regained his senses and he got off White Ape’s back to salute them with a Buddhist prayer.
“Thank you, Curator, for saving my life.”
“Venerable One, do not move.” Lin Jin could tell what was wrong with Zhi Yin so he fired a needle at one of Zhi Yin’s acupoints. The next instant, Zhi Yin grimaced in pain as his veins throbbed as if something was moving inside.
It wasn’t long before Zhi Yin started gagging and he bent over to throw up.
A lot of matter was regurgitated from his stomach onto the floor, where one could see a large worm wriggling around.
After throwing up, Zhi Yin seemed visibly better than before and he bowed one more time at Lin Jin. “Thank you, Curator, for your assistance. Otherwise, I might have to wait until I return to Daluo Temple to break this insect curse.”
After asking a few questions, Lin Jin came to learn that Zhi Yin had previously set forth for Reed City’s Qiao Manor to slay White Ape. Zhi Yin was worried that innocent human beings would be caught in the violence, but what surprised him was White Ape’s escape. He later learned that White Ape had done so to avoid causing harm to the folks at Reed City.
Subsequently, a heated battle between him and White Ape ensued. Surprisingly, they were somewhat evenly matched, but at one point, Zhi Yi had the upper hand. It was then that out of nowhere, the old Taoist suddenly ambushed the both of them who fell under captivity subsequently.
White Ape was restricted by the immortal binding rope while Zhi Yin was put under an insect curse. The past few days had been torture for them.
Fortunately, Zhi Yin’s strong willpower helped him live through the ordeal.
“I don’t know that Taoist’s background but he had an unrivaled ability to manipulate insects. Even a rector from our monastery might not be able to match up to him,” Zhi Yin commented fearfully.
He was considered quite skillful himself because, in his ten years of slaying monsters and demons, Zhi Yin had never once met an opponent that made him sweat. That was also the reason for his inflated pride. Hence, this terrible encounter came conveniently for putting Zhi Yin’s ego in place.
Lin Jin wanted to clarify what Zhi Yin had mentioned as well.
The mountain peak where they had previously battled was currently a mess. With her Object Manipulation, Shang’er had uprooted all the trees around the area. Even the rocks weren’t spared, as some of them were used as makeshift projectiles during the battle.
The endless sea of poisonous insects had now scattered away but some bugs remained, allowing Goldy to enjoy his little feast. Lin Jin glanced at Goldy but he failed to detect any unique characteristics, even though he was informed by Shang’er that the rooster had pecked and swallowed a golden cicada he found from the old Taoist.
The old Taoist’s skeleton was a harrowing sight to see. It was ironic how he had died to the pool of insects that he himself had summoned. Still, Lin Jin was sure that he more than deserved such an outcome.
One thing to keep in mind was that poison bugs only consumed flesh and not bones nor clothes, or other inanimate objects. Hence, after searching the scene, they found many items.
Inside the old Taoist’s robes were dozens of insect amulets, each one more terrifying than the other. Lin Jin even found a small purple booklet with the words ‘Insect Mantra’ written on it.
‘How imposing!’ Lin Jin’s brows furrowed at the words.
Here in this world, anything that was named a ‘mantra’ or ‘classic’ was almost always incredible creations. The same applied to spells. In most cases, ordinary spells were regarded as ‘little tricks’ or ‘tiny spells’ and cultivators were mostly humble about them. Those who were confident enough to call their spells a ‘mantra’ or a ‘classic’ would often try to pass it down through generations, as these were high-tier skills.
Lin Jin studied the name of the author for this creation. It was a Taoist name, so in other words, it was that old Taoist who wrote this book.
The fact that he called the methods he researched a ‘mantra’ proved just how conceited the old Taoist was.
Credit where credit was due, the skills demonstrated by the man thus far were indeed powerful. His Rise of Insects spell was particularly exceptional. It was the spell that awakened all poisonous bugs within a ten-mile radius and drove them to go into a mad, blood-thirsty frenzy. The man could even gather and turn the insects into certain shapes for offense, which was considered an incredible feat to pull off.
Lin Jin wasn’t a pompous person so although his first judgment of the old Taoist was ‘egoistic’, after careful consideration, the old Taoist was indeed a top-class expert when it came to manipulating insects.
It was likely that only a select few were able to rival the old Taoist when it came to casting spells of a similar nature.
It was a pity that while Lin Jin was somewhat interested in this study of manipulating insects, he knew better than to bite off more than he can chew. There were tons of spells in this world with equally abundant methods of cultivation. One couldn’t possibly learn them all, and even if they could, they wouldn’t get very far.
As the saying goes, spell-casting values quality over quantity.
Although Lin Jin wouldn’t learn this ‘Insect Mantra’, he could keep it and pass it on to a good-natured fellow who belongs to this field in the future.
With this, the skill wouldn’t be lost nor would it bring tragedy to the world.
Besides the Insect Mantra, Lin Jin found another book.
What the book contained wasn’t information on spells. It seemed more like a diary instead and Lin Jin was intrigued upon first glance of its contents.
The book described the old Taoist’s background and the origin of his skills. In addition, from the bits of information paired with Lin Jin’s earlier speculation, he now had a rough idea why the old Taoist had been targeting him previously.
Just as he assumed, the old Taoist was trying to take him down.
There was someone else here that stuck out like a sore thumb other than the old Taoist.
It was Daojun!
In the past, Lin Jin had occasionally heard Black Crow and Madam Ghost Child mention his name. He sounded like he was quite the character among the villains several hundred years ago.
There was even a period when Daojun ruled over the villains and even premium countries had to heed his orders.
One could imagine how impressive this Daojun used to be.
There were also stories that told of Daojun’s incredible beast appraisal skills in addition to the rest of his achievements.
Of course, Lin Jin didn’t believe the rumors completely. Moreover, this man must have been dead for a couple hundred years now, so there was no need for Lin Jin to be this worried about him.
Thankfully, the old Taoist’s diary contained some information on Daojun.
‘Taoist’ was the nickname Daojun bestowed upon his disciples.
This recently deceased old Taoist was actually called the ‘Insect Taoist’. According to the diary, Daojun had had ‘Six Beast Taoists’ under his apprenticeship, and Insect Taoist was one of them.
As for the five other Taoists, according to the diary, they were the Dragon Taoist, Tiger Taoist, Crane Taoist, Corpse Taoist, and Ghost Taoist.
Including this Insect Taoist, they added up to become the ‘Six Beast Taoists’.
After reading this far, Lin Jin chortled.
Was this Daojun a nerd? How did he manage to come up with such cheesy-sounding names? As irked as he was, if it was left to Lin Jin to come up with names, he would feel inexplicably embarrassed by it too.
However, when Lin Jin flipped to a portrait hand-drawn by Insect Taoist, he was stunned.
Insect Taoist had great penmanship it was reflected by the words he wrote in the Insect Mantra. In most cases, people with great handwriting tended to fare well in drawing as well.
To Lin Jin, Insect Taoist was indeed a great artist, and almost every line was accentuated tastefully. He somehow managed to make Daojun look alive in this little portrait.
What shocked Lin Jin was Daojun’s face.
In the painting, Daojun was wearing a mask.
