"A spiritual essence spirit, is it...?"
Hearing the response echo within the depths of his heart, Xu Yuan lowered his eyes and murmured softly.
Earlier, reading in the jade slip how she had halted Tang and Su's experiments on living humans, he had assumed this Luo Xiran was cut from the same cloth as Xu Xinyao.
A researcher who harbored benevolence—who would have thought she was actually this ruthless?
Ruthless to her enemies, and even more ruthless to herself.
She had refined her own intent-soul into a spiritual essence spirit and poured it into the Blood God Stone, baiting the other three Saints into tearing at each other's throats like dogs over the aberrant ghost's corpse. Then, playing the oriole waiting behind the mantis, she would step in to take control of the ultimate victor among the three, taking the crypt's research findings to the surface to reinforce the besieged Overseeing Heaven Pavilion.
Unfortunately, she wasn't the only ruthless one.
Tang Wan'er, Su Luochen, and even that primordial aberrant ghost were just as merciless. In the free-for-all, with everyone pulling out all the stops, the end result was that everyone went down together.
Tang Wan'er and Su Luochen perished, their cultivation returning to the void; the primordial aberrant ghost forgot its true self and was trapped for ten thousand years; and the Blood God Stone housing Luo Xiran was split in two, unable to unite and command the aberrant ghost.
The Blood Nest calamity Xiao Bai had spoken of was probably this very farce ignited by four Saints, one that left behind no victor...
Hearing his mutterings, Luo Xiran assumed he was unfamiliar with the craft and spoke to explain:
"Spiritual essence spirits can be born naturally between heaven and earth, but they can also be artificially refined—using demonic, heterodox methods to refine a person's intent-soul into a vessel. It is only natural that you would not know—"
"I know," Xu Yuan said, snapping back to attention.
"..."
The gentle, melodious female voice fell silent for a moment before speaking with hesitation: "This wicked art of refining souls into artifacts was once the closely guarded secret of the Demonic Artifact Sect..."
Xu Yuan let out a soft chuckle.
"What closely guarded secret? Out in the world today, this method of refining spiritual essence spirits is practically everywhere."
Luo Xiran paused in silence, her tone tinged with gravity.
"Does that mean the world outside is now overrun by demonic sects?"
Xu Yuan sighed.
"Sister, ten thousand years have passed out there."
Luo Xiran's gentle voice carried a hint of astonishment:
"...Ten thousand years?"
Xu Yuan gave a faint, subtle smile. "You had no concept of time inside this Blood God Stone?"
"I... I have been in slumber the entire time, so naturally I wouldn't know."
Luo Xiran was quiet for a brief moment, her voice tinged with loneliness. "Ten thousand years... the world outside must have long since changed beyond recognition..."
"It certainly has."
Xu Yuan remarked with a trace of melancholy, "That demonic secret art everyone reviled back in your day is now a government-sanctioned method for prolonging life. Plenty of wealthy merchants and magnates flock to it like ducks to water."
"A method for prolonging life?"
Luo Xiran sounded baffled. "This demonic secret art fractures the subject's intent-soul inch by inch. The slightest slip, and one's soul is extinguished entirely. Yet people are actually willing to become artifact spirits of their own accord?"
"I already told you, ten thousand years have passed. The techniques and procedures have been greatly refined—it's completely painless."
Xu Yuan rolled his eyes and casually explained, "Of course, they probably don't last as long as in your day. Nowadays, if a refined spiritual essence spirit isn't maintained, it might dissipate within ten years."
This Luo Xiran had been cut off for ten thousand years; an antique was an antique.
Developed to the present day, the craft of refining souls into vessels remained intricate, but it was no longer overwhelmingly difficult, and within modern Great Yan, it could even be considered widespread.
Every year, many dying cultivators, wealthy local patriarchs, and renowned gentry pursued it relentlessly.
So long as one met the high moral standards dictated by the rites and decorum, the local government would submit an application, an imperial envoy would review it, and finally, the Imperial Astronomical Bureau would verify it. Then, the dying person could be refined into a spiritual essence spirit, continuing their life in an alternative form.
The mountain gods in mountain shrines, the city gods in City God temples, and the stone Buddhas in Buddhist halls were all created this way.
It was one of the Great Yan imperial court's methods for maintaining local governance, because the strongest among these spiritual essence spirits could rival Body Integration experts.
To ease the burden on the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, these spiritual essence spirits guarded local peace and security.
Naturally, no decree born of good intentions could withstand the temptations of reality.
Xu Yuan had previously read in internal reports from the Prime Minister's Manor that not a single link in the Imperial Astronomical Bureau's execution process for refining spiritual essence spirits was clean.
There might be one or two genuine local benefactors selected each year, but the vast majority of quotas were directly sold off by subordinates.
There was simply too much graft and profit to be made.
All mortals were ordinary creatures; the older they grew and the closer death approached, the more terrified they became.
In his previous life, top billionaires frantically poured fortunes into life-extension research, and people in this life were no exception.
Under such despair, the Great Yan court's system of refining spiritual essence spirits became their sole lifesaver.
To continue living, they were more than willing to pay astronomical sums.
Because of this, a policy that had once been reserved exclusively for respected elders and paragons of virtue had essentially degenerated into an annual auction frenzy run by local governments.
And the commodity on the auction block was the quota to be refined into a spiritual essence spirit.
Both the Emperor and Xu Yuan's father were more aware of this than anyone, yet neither had the slightest intention of cracking down on it.
For no other reason than that the buyers offered too much.
Refining spiritual essence spirits every year was originally a massive public expenditure, which Great Yan's abysmal fiscal state could never afford on its own.
There was nothing new under the sun; red lines had long been drawn for how much graft each tier of official could pocket and how much had to be passed up the chain.
Cross that line and get caught, and your clan would be exterminated.
The Great Yan imperial court needed only provide the technology to forge bodies using local merchants' coin, and guard local peace using merchants' souls.
And as for those merchants once they were refined into spiritual essence spirits?
If they wanted to keep on living, the Imperial Astronomical Bureau had to maintain and nourish their spirits—which brought in yet another handsome stream of revenue.
Under such a distorted policy:
The officials embezzled silver, the imperial treasury grew, and the merchants bought more years.
Mm, a world where no one got hurt had been achieved...
"Soul Condensation brat..."
Luo Xiran's faint voice drifted over, interrupting Xu Yuan's train of thought. "The world outside must have changed a great deal, hasn't it?"
Soul Condensation brat...
Xu Yuan clicked his tongue at the moniker, transmitting his thoughts via intent-soul: "Miss Luo, now isn't the time to reminisce. You don't want to stay trapped in this underground crypt forever either, do you?"
"Fair point."
Ripples stirred in Luo Xiran's heart. "Soul Condensation brat, you mentioned earlier that a Saint is hunting you down?"
"Right. And up above, there's an aberrant ghost trying every trick in the book to turn me into one of her kind..."
As he spoke, Xu Yuan gave this newly acquired pocket big sister a concise rundown of their current predicament.
After listening carefully to his account, Luo Xiran's calm, gentle voice carried a hint of approval:
"For a mere Soul Condensation brat to maneuver between a Saint and 'Qi' for so long... quite impressive."
"Soul Condensation brat" again.
*Soul Condensation is plenty strong already,* Xu Yuan grumbled inwardly. Clicking his tongue, he said:
"Also, can we cut the chatter? Is there another way out of here?"
The escape route in the secret chamber could indeed lead them out, but the Barbarian King, having attained sainthood, could easily catch up to them along that path.
Now that he had a pocket big sister—and one who had been the crypt's "chief engineer"—he wanted to see if she knew a better way.
Luo Xiran fell silent for a moment, then said:
"You ought to address me as Senior."
"Huh?" Xu Yuan paused, taken aback.
Luo Xiran's gentle voice turned earnest:
"I am a Holy Venerable of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion. I can tell your status is extraordinary, but according to proper decorum, whether by cultivation or age, you ought to address me as Senior and speak with due respect. Behaving with such wanton insolence is utterly improper."
"..." Xu Yuan was speechless.
Old Man Luo seemed pretty normal, so why did his sister seem to have a screw loose?
What kind of situation were they in, and she still cared about this nonsense?
After a moment's silence, Xu Yuan suddenly spoke up:
"By the rules of generational seniority, you and I are peers."
"?"
"Old Man Luo and I are close friends despite our age difference. As his sister, I could just as well be your elder brother."
"..." Luo Xiran was struck dumb.
After several breaths of silence, Luo Xiran dropped the subject and said coolly:
"Enough. Propriety and music have truly crumbled. As the artifact spirit of the Blood God Stone, I can command the fungal armor inside your body to devour life origin, and I can also manipulate the crypt's grand formation."
Seeing that she had stopped acting up, Xu Yuan immediately asked:
"To put it simply, I first devour the life origin in this blood pool to grow stronger, and then borrow the grand formation's might to fight that Saint?"
"You certainly think highly of yourself."
"..." Xu Yuan.
Luo Xiran gave a soft snort, speaking briskly:
"We are absorbing the life origin in the blood pool to deal with 'Qi.' From your description, her strength has likely declined due to the battle back then. But even if she no longer possesses the might of a Saint, we must never allow a primordial aberrant ghost to escape. Otherwise, the aberrant ghost calamity could ravage this world all over again."
Xu Yuan's tone was somewhat disappointed:
"So when all is said and done, we still have to escape through that tunnel in the secret chamber below?"
"Of course not. The formation can help us escape."
Saying this, Luo Xiran suddenly gave a warning: "However, you had best prepare yourself first."
"What do you me—"
Before Xu Yuan could finish his sentence, his aberrant ghost body suddenly gave him an instinctive sense of mortal danger.
*Rumble!*
A violent tremor rippled outward with Xu Yuan at the center. The entire blood pool abruptly began to boil, and the boundless life origin Qi had accumulated over ten thousand years surged uncontrollably into his body.
With the relentless influx of life origin, Xu Yuan's consciousness was assaulted in an instant, and the hazy, drifting sensation he had felt back in the cavern rapidly welled up in his mind.
Xu Yuan's body dropped uncontrollably into a half-kneel against the ground, one hand bracing himself while the other clutched his head, fingers digging so hard they nearly gouged into his skull. Gritting his teeth, he gasped:
"What... what are you doing?"
Luo Xiran's voice remained gentle and unhurried:
"I am controlling the fungal armor to absorb the life origin. As its host, your body will also undergo modification to a certain degree, but do not worry."
Even as she spoke, Xu Yuan lost control of his body once again.
He crossed his legs on the ground in a distinctly feminine posture, while retrieving a jade bottle from within the Blood Jade Glazed Robe. Popping the stopper, he gulped down two mouthfuls of the seemingly living liquid contained within.
Luo Xiran's pleasing, melodious voice sounded in an unhurried cadence:
"Life origin is not entirely a bad thing for our human race. So long as the dosage is strictly controlled within a certain measure, it can actually achieve longevity that matches the physical body."
Before the potion could disperse through his body, Xu Yuan forced his chaotic consciousness steady and asked through clenched teeth:
"Why... why didn't I see any mention of this in your jade slip?"
"Because it was merely a hypothesis of mine, yet to be verified. Had those short-sighted sects not turned on our Overseeing Heaven Pavilion, perhaps by now, ten thousand years later, the lifespan of cultivators would have already broken past its ancient ceiling."
Listening to the regret in Luo Xiran's voice, Xu Yuan cursed internally, gritting his teeth:
"In other words, I've... I've fucking become your test subject?!"
"Crude."
Her voice was faint, then laced with a hint of amusement:
"Rest assured. Once the fungal armor enters a body, it lives in symbiosis with the aberrant ghost. Should you die, the fungal armor will rapidly perish as well. Which is to say, Xiran and her 'elder brother' are now bound together in symbiotic union."
When she spoke the words "elder brother," Luo Xiran enunciated them with heavy emphasis.
Hearing this, Xu Yuan ground his teeth in frustration.
The sages truly spoke no lie: *only women and petty men are hard to manage.*
A dignified Holy Venerable of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion, and yet she was so petty and vengeful!
*Damn it, a real man knows when to yield. I'll endure it for now.*
*Once I'm back at the Prime Minister's Manor in the Imperial Capital, I'll teach this woman the true meaning of cruelty.*
Amid these swirling thoughts, Xu Yuan suppressed the surging instincts inside him and quickly sent an intent-soul transmission:
"B-but isn't your true form the Blood God Stone?"
"Oh? No way. As a mighty Soul Condensation expert, couldn't 'elder brother' tell? Though my true form is the Blood God Stone, it is already bound to the fungal armor inside your body."
Luo Xiran's voice carried a subtle, mocking smile. "Besides, aberrant ghosts have been extinct for ten thousand years, and only primordial aberrant ghosts can cultivate the fungal carpet. Xiran naturally could not find a second vessel to inhabit."
As she spoke,
A wave of refreshing coolness suddenly enveloped Xu Yuan's blurring consciousness, continuously washing away the primal urges the life origin inflicted upon his aberrant ghost body.
Sensing this shift, Xu Yuan felt slightly relieved.
It seemed the antidote she took was beginning to take effect.
"Oh, by the way, elder brother, there is one more thing."
Just as he was thinking this, Luo Xiran, who was manipulating the fungal armor to swallow the life origin, spoke up again.
Xu Yuan replied snidely with an intent-soul smile, "Between us brother and sister, feel free to speak your mind."
Luo Xiran gave a soft "Mm" and chuckled:
"When the Fate-Reversing Liquid and the life origin interact, it might hurt a little. Remember to bear with it. As a mighty Soul Condensation expert, elder brother surely won't find such trivial pain unbearable, right?"
The moment her words fell—
*Boom!*
An explosive roar suddenly erupted in Xu Yuan's mind.
Immediately, an agonizing pain welling up from the depths of his intent-soul spread out from his sea of consciousness, rapidly tearing through every limb and bone.
Pain—excruciating pain!
Endless as ocean tides, crashing wave upon wave from his sea of consciousness!
"Soul Condensation brat, you must hold on. If you lose consciousness, the aberrant ghost transformation will rapidly corrode your mind."
Amid Xu Yuan's agony, the teasing mirth in Luo Xiran's voice vanished, replaced by solemn gravity:
"This step is necessary. Even if the Fate-Reversing Liquid I developed can turn your body back into a human, with your mere Soul Condensation cultivation, the moment you revert to a human, the fungal armor that seeped into your body will instantly drain you into a dried husk."
Hearing this, Xu Yuan struggled to curl his lips into a smirk:
"What? Not calling me 'elder brother' anymore?"
"..."
Luo Xiran was quiet for a moment, her tone tinged with surprise:
"You can still talk?"
Xu Yuan rolled his eyes. Enduring the piercing, bone-deep agony, he gritted his teeth and sneered:
"A little pain like this? Your elder brother has endured it hundreds of times before."
Chapter 309