Dong Rui chimed in immediately. "The hardest hurdle is right now! Putting in all this effort is just to nurture its congenital foundation. As long as it hatches smoothly, everything after that will be easy. Look at the ghost ape and the snail-toad—aren't they very little trouble and very cheap to keep right now?"
He Lingchuan glanced at the ghost ape. The monkey was two sizes fatter than when it first arrived on the island, and it had cost him tens of thousands of taels of silver.
Just like its master, it was mooching off him on his island.
Cheap to keep? Heh, only compared to an unhatched ji beast.
Dong Rui pondered for a moment, then continued, "Actually, there's another important reason I care so much about this child-devouring ji beast. It happens to coincide with a line of research I've been pursuing."
He Lingchuan asked casually, "What research?"
"Humanoid transformation."
"Wait a minute!" He Lingchuan rapped on the table, wondering if he had misheard. "What do you mean by that?"
"When birds and beasts become demons, their forms remain those of birds and beasts. At most, they grow larger or smaller, or undergo localized mutations, but they cannot assume human form." For instance, when a fox demon attained profound cultivation, its number of tails might increase; that was a localized mutation.
No matter how many tails it grew, it remained a fox and could not take human form.
Such were the laws of the world, with only a tiny handful granted exemption, like Fu Shanyue, who was a ba.
Of course, the strangest example was National Preceptor Shuangye. To this day, He Lingchuan did not know what breed of demon he was; his appearance was indistinguishable from a human's.
He had inquired about this in Lingxu City as well, but everyone he asked shook their heads without exception.
And among them were quite a few high officials and prominent figures.
They could find out what the Demon Emperor was eating for dinner that very night, yet they knew nothing of National Preceptor Shuangye's origins.
"Hey, hey, snap out of it," Dong Rui called him back to reality. "Do you know why this little ji beast was so prone to dying the moment it hatched? Another reason is that someone forcibly modified it using divine blood—lengthening its lower limbs and neck, and altering its pelvis and spine to make it more suited to, uh, more suited to..."
He could not find the right words for a moment.
He Lingchuan blurted out, "Walking upright!"
"Right, right! More suited to walking upright!" Dong Rui gave him a look that said *you really understand me*. "However, the poor little creature was a failed experiment, perpetually on the verge of collapse, so it was forced into dormancy. That's why Duyun Emissary He Jing of the Heavenly Palace brought it into battle—he wanted to find an opportunity to use it up."
It was a defective product anyway, meant to be discarded after squeezing out one last bit of utility.
"I knew it. Using this kind of demonic seed as a child-devouring ji beast meant the Heavenly Palace was either wildly lavish or terribly wasteful. Now it turns out there was indeed a reason."
The more He Lingchuan listened, the more something felt off. "Hold on! If it's on the verge of collapse at any moment, why am I spending so much money to save it?"
Apologies, but he was an ugly-faced boss who insisted on seeing a return on his investments.
"Just because they couldn't pull it off doesn't mean I can't," Dong Rui said with a face full of pride. "Didn't I tell you? I was already researching the humanoid transformation of demon puppets. These past few days, I did everything possible to purge the aberrations caused by the divine blood. Thanks to the Emperor's Flowing Dew descending repeatedly of late, this little thing's condition has stabilized. Its hatching is merely a matter of time."
"Then will it be human in form?" Come to think of it, the Emperor's Flowing Dew had descended several times, and this little ji beast had not missed a single one. Its luck was far better than that of its kin.
"No, no!" Dong Rui shook his head like a rattle drum. "Didn't I say that the aberrations caused by the divine blood were purged? But the blood's influence has already been wrought, so this little creature's appearance will definitely change."
He Lingchuan let out an "mm." "Transforming a ji beast into a humanoid form... why would the Heavenly Palace conduct that kind of research?"
In his view, ji beasts were like the Heavenly Palace's biochemical weapons. Since they were weapons, the more powerful they were, the better.
Why force a change in physical shape?
Would the Heavenly Palace engage in something so pointless?
Dong Rui shrugged. "No idea. When people have too much time on their hands, who knows? The Heavenly Palace isn't just one person anyway. Some do this, some do that. As long as you have a pretext, you can secure funding."
He Lingchuan smiled and asked, "You seem to understand that quite well. So why were you doing research on humanoid transformation?"
"Well... just a passing whim."
He Lingchuan gave a half-smile. "Back when you were like a rat crossing the street everywhere you went, despised by everyone and scraping by on scarce funds, you still had the mood for that?"
This fellow really was hard to fool! Dong Rui squirmed before saying, "Back then, my face was rotten, and I wore a mask all day long. I couldn't be close to anyone. The only things around me were demon puppets, so I wondered if I could reshape them into human form. That way, ahem..."
He Lingchuan stared at him intently for a long time—so long that Dong Rui was on the verge of flying into an embarrassed rage—before saying with sudden enlightenment, "Were you thinking of reshaping them into women?"
"Nonsense!" Dong Rui slammed the table and stood up, his face flushed with indignation. "What do you take me for! Would I do something like that? I just... wanted them to be more human."
Back then he was all alone, surrounded by lovely mountains and rivers yet thoroughly lonely. Once in a while, he had wanted a companion.
The room fell abruptly silent.
The two stared at each other with wide eyes, neither making a sound.
Then He Lingchuan coughed. "So the Heavenly Palace's experiment failed, right?"
Dong Rui sat right back down. "Ah, yes. The laws of Heaven and Earth aren't so easily broken!"
"Yet the laws of Heaven and Earth have changed before—like the appearance of essence energy." Originally, there had been no essence energy in the world. It was only after the great war of gods and immortals, after a fragment was knocked off the Tianluo Star, or even—as some believed—after the Dafang Pot appeared, that essence energy was born.
"It is exceedingly difficult for mortal power to breach the laws of Heaven and Earth," Dong Rui said solemnly. "However, judging from this child-devouring ji beast, the Heavenly Palace's research wasn't entirely without progress. I just don't know how far they got."
He touched his own face. "In any case, I'm not doing that kind of research anymore."
Now that he had a proper face, he could venture into human society to eat, drink, and make merry. Why would he need humanoid demon puppets for company?
He Lingchuan took out an envelope. "Since you're determined to come along, listen to the mission National Preceptor Wang assigned."
Wang Xingyi was Lingshan's decision-maker, responsible for assigning tasks and coordinating relations among all parties.
As the liaison between He Lingchuan and Lingshan, Fang Canran received missions from National Preceptor Wang and passed them on to He Lingchuan.
"One month ago, a tribute sent by the Xiaoyao Sect to Mou Kingdom was intercepted at Julu Port." He Lingchuan pointed to a location marked on the sand table. "Julu Port lies on the Yiling Strait, serving as the hub where the maritime route transitions into the inland waterways. Cargo arriving from the outer seas is unloaded here and transported into the interior of the Shanjin Plain via the Yiling Canal."
"So it's a port." Dong Rui studied it closely. "With the tribute lost, is the Xiaoyao Sect responsible for recovering it?"
"No. The ones escorting the tribute were guards dispatched by Mou Kingdom. In other words, the tribute was lost from their hands and has nothing to do with the Xiaoyao Sect."
Dong Rui asked in surprise, "Wait a second. Aren't tributes usually escorted to their destination by the country or faction offering them?"
It was a tribute, after all. If the Xiaoyao Sect didn't deliver the tribute to Mou Kingdom's capital themselves, how could they demonstrate their sincerity?
Besides, the process of paying tribute was also a process of court etiquette and diplomacy.
A great power like Mou Kingdom naturally required the prestige of foreign nations paying homage.
"All other tributes follow that process, except this one. Mou Kingdom dispatched a capable detachment to escort it all the way from the Xiaoyao Sect back to Mou Kingdom's capital." In other words, Mou Kingdom did not trust anyone else to transport it.
Dong Rui's curiosity was instantly piqued to the utmost. "What kind of treasure could possibly warrant such importance from Mou Kingdom?"
Even if it couldn't match Beijia in wealth, Mou Kingdom did not lack rare and wondrous treasures. Why would it care so intensely about a tribute from abroad?
"The dossier from Fang Canran states that this item is named the 'Bright Lantern Cup.' Its specific effects aren't mentioned."
He Lingchuan's curiosity was also strongly drawn by this treasure.
In the Panlong World, Zhong Shengguang had sent Shao Jian to the Shanjin Plain to search for the Bright Lantern Cup. He Lingchuan tended to believe that this had also taken place historically, only with a different warrior dispatched.
In other words, General Red needed the Bright Lantern Cup.
Now, Mou Kingdom also needed this treasure, going so far as to designate it as the Xiaoyao Sect's tribute and sending their own guard unit across the ocean to fetch it in person.
What miraculous effect did this thing possess to captivate two major powers across time?
Before Dong Rui could speak, the eyeball spider perched on He Lingchuan's shoulder shouted, "What cup? Say that again!"
"...Are you Madame or Second Madame?"
"Of course it's me!"
With such a blunt tone, "Oh, Madame Zhu."
Madame Zhu went straight to the point. "What else did that Fang fellow's documents say?"
"They only stated that it is an exceptionally rare spiritual herb, which nowadays grows exclusively on the high snow mountains of the Xiaoyao Sect and can be found nowhere else. The Bright Lantern Grass blooms only once every thirty years, and the fruit it bears is called the Bright Lantern Cup." Looking over the letter, He Lingchuan added, "Mm, it says the Bright Lantern Cup is a crucial medicinal catalyst, but it doesn't mention what medicine it brews."
This time, Second Madame Zhu took over. "Even to this day, are there still people who refuse to give up?"
The spider demon sisters had different tones, and by now He Lingchuan could tell them apart at once.
Madame Zhu sneered, "Humans. Heh!"
Being one of those humans, He Lingchuan could only ask humbly, "My dear ladies, what riddles are you speaking in?"
Second Madame Zhu organized her thoughts. "Do you know of the mystery of the womb?"
"I've heard of it."
"In the past—and I mean ancient times—even supreme immortals of boundless magical power who wished to perform body seizure faced the perils of the mystery of the womb. Body seizure comes with many stringent conditions; it cannot be done casually. Yet no matter how profound one's cultivation, how resilient one's divine soul, or how thorough one's preparations, there was always the risk that during the seizure, one's memories would be washed away, turning into a brand-new, blank soul." Second Madame Zhu sighed. "Among the demon immortals I knew, two perished because of this."
He Lingchuan understood. "That is no different from death."
The "self" was anchored in memory. Without memory, there was no personality—only a brand-new soul.
Once they failed to see through the mystery of the womb, then for the divine souls of these immortals, what seemed like rebirth was, in truth, absolute destruction.
"In an environment where Heaven and Earth's spiritual energy was in decline, I used spider molts to shed my cultivation and adapt to the world." In the end, it was cutting the feet to fit the shoes—an unspeakable despair and agony.
Chapter 1095