Chapter 6: The Convergence of Four Soul Totems
After choosing the power of the longhorn beetle, Lu Wu waited for a moment to let it assimilate, then took another sip of Ziyu’s blood.
He then turned his gaze to the Book of Knowledge.
Host: Lu Wu.
Species: Mosquito.
Lifespan: 240 days.
Level: Unranked monster, mortal class.
Body Strength: Negative thirteen.
Strength: Three longhorn beetle’s strength.
With three longhorn beetle’s strength, turning the pages should be no problem!
The strength of the longhorn beetle was formidable; with its six legs, a single beetle could grasp a quarter of a brick. Lu Wu had tested this himself as a child.
Of course, it was actually Lu Wu holding the beetle, and the beetle holding the brick, not the beetle lifting the brick unaided.
Nevertheless, the beetle’s raw strength was among the strongest in the insect world.
Lu Wu made his way to the library and wrote in the air: “I can turn the pages now!”
The Lady Sage was constantly observing him with her divine sense—if he deviated from his usual path, she would immediately know what he was up to.
After reporting in, Lu Wu couldn’t help but complain inwardly that he felt like a wage earner texting his wife at night to check in, as he went off to search for the “Atlas of Myriad Beasts.”
Soon, he found the book.
“With three longhorn beetle’s strength, I should be able to turn it with ease.”
Though his mosquito legs had no barbs, he managed to grasp the corner of the book cover and, with a powerful flutter of his wings, flipped it open.
He flew over and began to examine the characters on the page.
Lu Wu couldn’t see them clearly—the compound eyes of an insect could only piece together a blurry image—but the Book of Knowledge quickly copied all the writing from the “Atlas of Myriad Beasts.”
To his astonishment, after transcribing the first page, the Book of Knowledge did not stop, but continued feverishly to write.
Only by looking at one page, could it extract all the contents?
Lu Wu was overjoyed!
If he ever obtained incomplete secret manuals, couldn’t the Book of Knowledge restore their complete text?
Lu Wu thought of the “Taixu Dao Scripture.”
That treasure, and yet Elder Chen had only given the disciples the introductory section.
If he took the opportunity to glimpse the introduction while the disciples practiced, couldn’t he reconstruct the full text?
But this was not the time to dwell on that.
Lu Wu began to read the “Atlas of Myriad Beasts.”
All the while, he pretended to turn the pages in a show of earnest study.
The secret of the Book of Knowledge could not be revealed to the Lady Sage.
It was one of his core secrets, on par with the fact that he was, in truth, human.
Though he mimed reading, Lu Wu had already devoured the compendium within the Book of Knowledge.
The “Atlas of Myriad Beasts” chronicled the Way of Beast Simulacra.
There were many ways to simulate beasts; the method the Lady Sage knew—living and eating among wild beasts—was but one of them.
But those details were unimportant to Lu Wu. He turned straight to the cultivation method.
“So that’s how it is!”
The key to the “Atlas of Myriad Beasts” was the beast soul!
It was common knowledge in this cultivation world that a living being possessed only one soul.
But one day, Wu Kuang—the creator of this technique—discovered a secret.
Abandoned at birth, he had survived in the wild, raised by wolves.
Later, a cultivator found and adopted him.
After he began his practice, Wu Kuang uncovered a heaven-level truth:
Every soul mirrored the form of its physical body.
Raised by wolves, his own soul bore the aura of a wolf!
Upon further research, he found that this wolf-shaped soul aura could be manifested as a beast totem.
Wu Kuang’s first totem, the Wolf Totem, was born when he accidentally consumed a celestial treasure called Soul Spirit Grass.
Having gained his first totem, Wu Kuang continued his study of the Way of Beasts.
Over many years, he confirmed that if a person mastered the way of a beast, they could condense a soul totem.
After prolonged exploration, Wu Kuang found a way to form soul totems without rare treasures: by nourishing simulation laws with the soul’s aura.
Lu Wu found this section rather confusing.
Others mastered the Way of Beast Simulacra for real, while he relied on the Book of Knowledge—he wasn’t sure whether he was suited for the “Atlas of Myriad Beasts.”
“Condense a Fly Soul Totem!”
As described in the book, it took Lu Wu an hour to grasp what soul aura was.
He expected it would take just as long, if not longer, to comprehend the Way of Beast Simulacra.
Yet, the moment the idea formed, a fly totem appeared instantly!
“What…”
What grade of secret treasure was the Book of Knowledge?
According to the Lady Sage, many people struggled their whole lives to master even one Way of Beast Simulacra.
Yet he, upon grasping the basics, completed in an instant what others could not achieve in a lifetime?
Though a fly was weaker than other beasts, wasn’t this normal?
With a thought, Lu Wu summoned the Bee Totem and the Longhorn Beetle Totem—they appeared in a flash.
“That’s right, my soul should be human-shaped, so…”
“Mosquito Totem!”
The Mosquito Totem formed instantly.
The others were rewards from the Book of Knowledge; the Mosquito Totem was half from the book and half from Lu Wu’s own hard-earned experience living as a mosquito for so long.
Mosquito, fly, bee, longhorn beetle—Lu Wu had already mastered four totems!
He returned his attention to the “Atlas of Myriad Beasts.”
“Soul-Body Power Conversion Method?”
“With several totems, I can briefly unleash several times the power of my soul, and the nature of this strength mimics the blood energy of the body?”
Four times human strength!
A gentle flick of his mosquito leg, and the entire “Atlas of Myriad Beasts” was lifted into the air!
At last! At last! At last!
Lu Wu had regained the strength familiar to him—the strength of a human!
Compared to humans, the power of insects was pitifully weak.
This truly was a qualitative leap!
Lu Wu continued reading; the “Atlas of Myriad Beasts” also recorded various methods of using soul energy.
Primordial Spirit Transmission.
Soul-True Essence Conversion.
Soul Cultivation Advancement!
This was the true key.
Lu Wu could now cultivate using his soul!
According to the “Atlas of Myriad Beasts,” soul cultivation advanced through the same realms as body cultivation.
Without the support of a physical body, however, the power was rootless and fleeting—explosive but short-lived.
“But with the Book of Knowledge, I can evolve endlessly.”
“When one masters enough beast ways, one can push into the next stage—not just one totem for one person’s power, but multiplicative!”
“When my burst of strength is enough to crush others in my realm, who cares about endurance?”
Short-lived, perhaps, but powerful and exhilarating!
The Lady Sage’s voice sounded in his mind: “You’ve already mastered the secret art of converting physical strength? So quickly?”
“You condensed a soul totem so fast?”
Lu Wu hurriedly wrote in the air: “Just scratched the surface.”
The Lady Sage: “Even so, that’s already fast enough. Your talent surpasses ninety-five percent of the great sect disciples I’ve seen.”
“Next, you must snatch food from the tiger’s mouth!”
“The disciples of Taixu Palace will, after the selection, have a chance to enter the Sword Tomb.”
“You must secretly sneak in and seek out a powerful sword embryo.”
“It will greatly aid your future cultivation!”
“Understood.” Lu Wu pondered for a moment, then continued turning pages while practicing the various secret arts from the “Atlas of Myriad Beasts.”
He thought, “I can’t reveal too many secret arts at once. Just showing this much, she already thinks my talent is monstrous. If I showed everything, coupled with my bloodsucking nature, she might think I’m some infant version of a demonic overlord or a nascent king of monsters.”
“Better keep pretending to read.”
After spending the entire day, Lu Wu had mastered nearly all the foundational and entry-level techniques from the “Atlas of Myriad Beasts.”
At this moment, the Palace Master of Taixu Palace, Li Daoyun, entered the library.
The Lady Sage instructed, “Stay perfectly still.”
Lu Wu obeyed.
Li Daoyun walked straight to the shelf where the Book of Knowledge had once been placed.
He looked utterly befuddled. “Where… Where’s the book?”
He glanced under the shelf, then up at the shelf again. “Where’s my book?!”
Lu Wu dared not move a muscle.
“Damn, could he know the power of the Book of Knowledge?”
“If he exposes it, will the Lady Sage discover it’s on me?”
Lu Wu was overthinking it; Li Daoyun was simply shocked that a book had vanished from the library.
“No wonder it’s called the Divine Book—appeared in a hurry a century ago and now has vanished mysteriously…”
“Such a pity I never figured out its true purpose.”
After Li Daoyun left, Lu Wu flew out toward the outer peaks. It was time to seek out the lovely Ziyu for another drink of blood.