“The Nine Years Decadence Sutra?” Lu Qingshan asked. That was the name of the technique looted from Liu Wanli's body.

  "It's a demonic cultivation technique, no doubt about it," Qin Ye said. "With desire and suffering intertwined, harvest the Six Desires Seven Emotions Qi. That's what it says in the manual."

  "This was the source of most of the conflict," Li Fanghua added. "Liu Wanli wanted the city in chaos, for everyone to kill one another to satiate their desires. He was then able to refine an entire portion of true qi and store it in his jade box."

  Lu Qingshan looked at the jade box sitting on a table. "Are you sure it's safe to keep that here?"

  "It is," Qin Ye assured. "I don't know why Liu Wanli's grip slipped at that moment, but the jade box has shown no problems afterwards. It's secure, I'm pretty sure."

  "That jade box is of the finest make I've ever seen," Wu Ruoling said while standing to the side. She tilted her head. "It's even better than anything my family has."

  "What are the effects of the technique?" Lu Qingshan looked back at the two immortal cultivators. "And there were two other jade slips in his room. What did they contain?"

  "Auxiliary techniques for the Nine Years Decadence Sutra," Li Fanghua said. "We'll talk about those later. The use of the Nine Years Decadence Sutra is to primarily entrance others into doing your bidding. It has a few spells contained within the sutra itself." She looked towards Qin Ye.

  "The ability to manipulate emotions and amplify desires is the first and most obvious effect. An adept practitioner of the sutra can even weave complex and lengthy illusions on a person, though that ability is reserved for stronger cultivators,” Qin Ye said.

  “One of the auxiliary techniques in a jade slip was to create a Desire Seed. By taking a portion of spiritual qi and weaving it into a person’s desires, they can tap into their emotion at will later on. This was how the city turned to chaos. Whoever mastered this technique used it on most of the city’s inhabitants.”

  “The other auxiliary technique is called the Dream of Sorrow. By amplifying the target’s negative emotions to the highest, one can capture their thoughts and feelings on an event. It’s an interrogation technique — the victim cannot help but recount all the details to their captor.”

  “We think the person who was chasing Marquis Zhou might not be Liu Wanli’s master. According to the sutra, a practitioner who has refined the Six Desires Seven Emotions Qi should not look so unassuming. Instead, they appear so beautiful they can enthrall mortals with a single glance.”

  Lu Qingshan nodded slowly. "Interesting. Do we have the ability to counter those effects?"

  "Not at the moment, other than a few ideas," Li Fanghua said. "We'll probably need a higher cultivation level and a while to study the sutra at least. It’s also very likely the person needs to have a strong will.”

  "What are your thoughts on trading these to the ghost market?"

  "An awful idea," Qin Ye said. “Sorry, sect master, but what are you thinking? This sutra is dangerous enough that we should destroy it, not give it away.”

  "But it has to be worth something,” Lu Qingshan argued. “We need resources desperately before Liu Wanli’s master returns. I don’t know exactly why an immortal cultivator would disappear for months to years, but I can guess. He’s going to come back stronger.”

  "The problem is that we don't know how many spirit stones it could be worth." Li Fanghua glanced at Wu Ruoling, who shook her head. “We don’t exactly have immortal cultivator contacts who can help us discern the true value of these techniques.”

  “That’s true,” Lu Qingshan said. "I do agree it’s too dangerous to just give away without a contingency plan. We still have a few spirit stones of our own. I’m not going to be greedy on this when we don’t even know if Liu Wanli’s master is working with the ghost market or not. But I do want you all to be thinking of money earlier than later.”

  He was still quite undecided on how to treat these cultivation techniques. There was a voice in his mind telling him that it wasn’t so bad. He hadn’t even interacted with the immortal cultivation world yet, so how could he really be sure the technique was harmful? Perhaps it was a healing technique.

  Still, it was best to not risk it. Selling it was likely to bring more trouble than it was worth. Unless the profits could propel Lu Qingshan’s martial prowess to a realm rivaling Qi Refinement, he could afford to wait.

  "What about the book on exotic insects?" he asked, hoping the two could give him a quick summary.

  "We couldn't find the title anywhere in the pages," Li Fanghua said. "It might be an ancient book that's been worn down. Some of the pages looked damaged too."

  "That's fine. What did you uncover?"

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  "A lot of things," Qin Ye exclaimed. "Let's go to where you stored Liu Wanli's insects."

  In a secluded guest room, Lu Qingshan had placed down the insect containers where they were kept well-fed and checked regularly for any differences each hour. Fortunately, these insects were all docile, especially when his constant chanting of the Insect Harmony Mantra washed over them often.

  "We'll start with this one." Qin Ye pointed to a long, wriggling centipede. "It's an exotic insect called the Hundred Venoms Centipede."

  "Did you ask Liu Yingting about it?"

  "We did. He doesn't know when or where his family gained the Hundred Poisons Body martial arts manual or the Hundred Poisons Elixir recipe, only that they had both a long time ago. This bug is likely related to the past."

  "Like its namesake," Li Fanghua said, "its body contains a hundred poisons, secreting one for each leg. Some have positive effects, and some have negative effects, depending on which target it's used against."

  "Do you know all of those effects?"

  "No," Qin Ye admitted. "Liu Yingting came to take a quick look at one point, letting some of the poisons from the back and the front legs soak into his body. He told us the effects he knew, but promised us he would continue testing later once he refined those poisons into himself. We also haven't yet tested its use in the Hundred Poisons Elixir recipe."

  "That's fine," Lu Qingshan said. "You've done a great job. What about the other insects?"

  Other than the centipede, there had been six containers for a total of seven. Three of those containers held Green Heart Worm larvae in untold numbers. They hadn't yet hatched, so it was impossible to tell if they were mutated or not. But the three remaining containers held singular insects of different species.

  Qin Ye slowly opened the lid of another. Lu Qingshan didn't think the boy would be scared. He quickly chanted the Insect Harmony Mantra, and the bug inside froze.

  "Thank you," Qin Ye said. "This is a fierce insect. It's called the Berserk Bug, and it's lethal."

  "How so?"

  Qin Ye bit his lower lip and reached a hand inside. "Come on," he whispered.

  Lu Qingshan had it peacefully crawl up the arm. He noticed it took more effort to control it than all the other insects he’d interacted with before.

  "Thanks again. This insect has the ability to induce an irresistible rage onto whoever it bites," he muttered. “The dangerous part is that it works on Viscera Tempering stage martial artists. Liu Yingting was the one to test this as well, thinking it was just venom, and he was almost overwhelmed.”

  Lu Qingshan stared at the little thing. On the back of its beetle-like body, wings flapped, and a pattern akin to an angry face glared back at him. He wondered what it would be like for it to bite him.

  “How did you resist its bite?” he asked Qin Ye. “You’ve clearly been handling it alone.”

  “I have a strong will.” Qin Ye beamed.

  Lu Qingshan glanced at Li Fanghua. She blushed, and scratched her cheek.

  “We’ll all need to work on that.” Lu Qingshan turned his eyes towards the third exotic insect.

  “This is the Beguilement Butterfly,” Li Fanghua said, looking at the book of exotic insects in her hand. “Or at least it should be.”

  “This ugly maggot?” The thing was a wrinkly worm. Its body was mostly gray, with patches of black and white all over. Some misshapen parts had spikes and others had pus. Compared to the image on the book, which depicted a beautiful butterfly flashing with a dozen colors, this critter was hideous.

  “It’s said to be rare for one to successfully hatch and develop. Their eggs can remain dormant for many years, and they only hatch when they detect their only food source. It’s a specific type of flower — a hallucinogenic herb that looks faded at a distance and can blend into the environment. Very hard to spot. Liu Wanli probably couldn’t feed it well.”

  “In the Nine Years Decadence Sutra’s Embryonic Breathing description, it is said that this butterfly can greatly increase the speed of cultivation. Usually tripled if done properly,” Qin Ye muttered.

  “We probably don’t need it,” Lu Qingshan said. “I’ll keep it along just in case. How long do these insects live anyway?” His own Bloodseeker Flies had life spans ranging from three weeks to three months at best after reaching adulthood. Only their prolific breeding habits kept each generation thriving, but these exotic insects were currently one-of-a-kind.

  "Years," Li Fanghua said. "Even the failed Beguilement Butterfly larvae can eventually become a full butterfly as long as it has enough food to propel its metamorphosis before it dies of natural causes within thirty years. The Berserk Bug can go up to five years and the Hundred Venoms Centipede has been observed to live for twenty, though it's rare. They usually average fifteen."

  "How long do you think Liu Wanli kept them?" He looked at the Berserk Bug. Through the Insect Harmony Mantra, he could tell it wasn't that old — around two and a half years. Perhaps there was a source nearby.

  "Don't know," Qin Ye said. "He didn't keep any journals that we found, and neither did he write any notes down. So there's no way to tell where he got these insects from. But his master would definitely know more."

  Lu Qingshan nodded. There was one more bug to inspect. As Qin Ye went over to tease open the lid, he spoke with Wu Ruoling.

  "How's progress with the ghost market? Did they agree to trading the Divine Crossbow? Marquis Zhou left, so did that lower the price?"

  "They agreed to the trade," she said. "Marquis Zhou worked very hard to eradicate most traces of corruption from the city's forces. He managed to find and purge all missing Divine Crossbows from the roster. None of the soldiers are going to trade the rest, as the man still has loyalists even if he was forced to flee. So the ghost market couldn't get any more."

  "They've decided to bring many of their materials they're willing to trade in return for the weapon. We could rob them if you want."

  "I don't think so," Lu Qingshan decided. "This trading relationship has been very useful. We'll remain cordial with them unless they choose to break ties."

  Qin Ye finally finished handling the fifth and final insect. It made Lu Qingshan's eyes widen. Deep within his spiritual connection, he discovered a trace of spirituality similar to the Bloodsense Bug.