Molting the Mortal Coil

With a pair of broken legs, and covered in cuts Sage was going to have a hell of a hard time getting out of here. His storage ring was already in quite the mess so he checked the beast bag. Blinking with disappointment as he couldn’t even send his consciousness inside. There was a huge hole stabbed into the front of it and not a bug to be found. Frowning, Sage had a quick look around, checking for any nearby insects.

With the true Insect Immortal Index I have a chance. I just need to find an insect. Mmm, and something that flies would be best.

Delving into the storage ring, he put a plan into motion. Sorting through the mess left within, he picked out a jar of sugar and set it in a small bowl. Mixing in some water and making a bit of syrup, he then used the Qi Feeding technique of the Insect Immortal Index to make the syrup into a food for Spirit Insects. With the trap laid, he quickly consulted the manual for the true Insect Immortal Index. Studying rapidly to master the improved abilities. His plan depended on it.

Within a few minutes, there was a small gathering of bugs on the little tray of sugar water. He made sure to flick away the regular insects, letting only the Spirit Insects around. Now, there was a choice he’d have to make. Should he pick something small and easy to nurture, like that little fly? Or should he choose the largest and most powerful, like that hornet?

Mmm, no. I’ve got just the one.

One of the Spirit Insects was a Silver Leaf Honeybee, or more commonly Silverbee. They were usually found around the Silver Leaf Flower, a Spirit Plant that blooms under the moonlight. Famous for producing Moonhoney, which looked like translucent mercury and had many marvelous properties. Linking with a Silverbee would not only save him now but could be quite useful in the future. It was time to start the plan.

Fetching out a small insect net from within the storage ring, Sage swung it down precisely upon the little saucer. Capturing the whole group of bugs in one go, he wasn’t about to risk a missed grab and lose this valuable little bee. Carefully parting the small net to isolate the Silverbee, Sage started the linking process. First creating a unique type of qi pellet using the Qi Feeding technique, and letting the Silverbee consume it. This qi pellet was still linked to his control, the special method of the Insect Immortal Technique ‘Merge’, the qi within can be controlled to spread through the Spirit Insect’s body. Once filled completely, the qi sinks in and forms a permanent link to the cultivator.

The time required for the link varied, as the size and strength of an insect grew so did the qi required to link them. It was quite simple though, he just had to feed the bug the pellet, stay close enough to feed in more qi, and then it was just a matter of quantity. There was quite a few old stories Sage had heard in the Lang Clan of Cultivators clinging to the back of a massive Spirit Insect for days until they finally conquered it. Luckily, the Silverbee was quite small so he guessed it would be linked in half an hour.

Now I just have to hope I can stay hidden and alive for half an hour.

Sage’s luck seemed to be improving. He finished studying the true ‘Merge’ technique only minutes before the link with the Silverbee was completed. The new consciousness was just as weak as the other insects he’d linked with, but there was a difference this time. In the past he’d only linked with Mantids which were solitary and even cannibalistic. The Silverbee was very social and he could sense a remembered flight path to its home as well as a few scent markings in the area. Pleased, Sage put the plan into action!

The ‘Merge’ technique linked a Cultivator to a Spirit Insect, and it also created an internal space in the body to store it. Thinking about it, it was quite similar to the Beast Bag in that regard, a place to keep living things, the inside bigger than the outside. Modifying space, something he’d seen in a few comic books and sci-fi shows. The storage ring was also similar but it didn’t let anything live inside.

Perhaps no air, so no normal decomposition? I’ll have to experiment later!

The true version of the technique also had another ability, creating a space inside the Spirit Insect to store the Cultivator! The only problem was that the space created was relative to the size and rank of the Cultivator and the Spirit Insect. The true version of the third technique ‘Mature’ would handle this. Sure, he could force it into metamorphosis and into a pupal state. Using ‘Mature’ the transformation would be quick but it would still take time. Instead, he’d have to use the other method, rapidly raising it’s rank! Using ‘Mature’ with enough qi the Silverbee could be forcibly improved in intelligence, age, and power.

The amount of qi required is normally something that would take even more time than simply using ‘mature’ to improve size, but Sage had bottles of qi cultivating pills! He also had Spirit Jade and Spirit Stones, both of which were basically qi batteries. Well, more like a capacitor and a battery. Spirit Jade could let out large quantities of qi in a burst and be recharged many times before they finally wear down, while Spirit Stones would crumble into dust when they were empty and couldn’t be recharged.

Setting out a few Spirit Stones onto his lap, and holding a Spirit Jade in his hand, Sage popped a basic qi gathering pill into his mouth. This pill multiplied the rate at which a cultivator could breathe in the energy of the heaven and earth, which was very helpful in the lower ranks, almost doubling their cultivation rate. Releasing the Silverbee from the net, he started to pour his qi into it. Simultaneously drawing upon the stones and jade to replenish the energy he expended. Combined with the pill’s effect, he was just barely able to match rate of recovery with that of his expenditure.

The little Silverbee started to rapidly change, growing only slightly in size but changing rapidly in form. The metallic shine of its silver and black body grew by the second, looking to be forged from actual metal after just a few minutes. The thick hairs first looked like shimmering fur quickly changing to glistening spikes. The Silverbee’s abdomen (the butt!) grew larger and longer, just like a queen bee would have. Its stinger lost the barb and lengthened, shining viciously in the light. Originally the size of a pocket watch, and many times larger than a normal honeybee, the Silverbee had nearly doubled in size, its body the size of a thumb with four inch wings that looked like silver gossamer. The Silverbee had finally reached an equal level of cultivation as Sage and the space within it was now large enough for him to fit into!

I can’t wait for the space to grow large enough to carry an army around!

With time still an issue, Sage quickly sent himself into the Silverbee’s inner space. Looking around, it felt like he was floating in mist. Not especially comfortable, but he still had the bee’s senses to use. Ordering her up into the air, the first step was cleaning up this mess! Buzzing around, Sage had the bee fly past all the objects he’d thrown out of his storage ring earlier. Scooping them back up into the ring as rapidly as possible, it only took a few minutes to gather the majority of the mess. He even recovered half the Insect Cages, all of them empty, but with another stroke of luck he found a pair of Spirit Jade Beetles under the ledge of a rock and scooped them up. Holding them in an Insect Cage and tucking it into his torn up robes.

He found no traces of the other Spirit Insects he’d brought from the Back Mine, but there was the handful he’d captured under the net with the syrup. With a few cages in his hands he scooped up the remaining bugs and had the Silverbee do one last pass over the area before telling it to head home.