Chapter 2317: The Troubles the Heavenly Demon Encountered

Such secret intelligence would not normally circulate in the mortal world. When Jiuyou heard this news, both his expression and pupils were relaxed; he had indeed known it long ago. Then the greatest possibility was that he also had a reliable and well-placed source of information in the demon realm.

Given his status and strength, having eyes and ears in the demon realm was perfectly normal — perhaps he was even a Great Heavenly God.

However, he was mistaken this time. The one who first brought this crucial intelligence was not a Heavenly God but Sun Hongye. He Lingchuan naturally would not correct him, only continuing: "Then?"

"They have already left Fu State, heading west," Shuangye said softly. "I can tell you their objective, as well as the latest progress of the Heavenly Gods' descent experiment."

The condition, of course, was to exchange it for a Golden Core.

The gaze He Lingchuan directed at him finally carried a hint of surprise:

"You dare say even this? Are you still the National Preceptor of Between Between Between Beijia?"

Shuangye replied lightly: "Even if I speak of it, it does not count as betraying the state."

When this sentence left his mouth, others would likely be confused; but He Lingchuan understood Between Between Between Beijia's contradictions perfectly and instantly grasped the implication:

Selling Between Between Between Beijia's intelligence would be betraying the state. But these yaokui experiments were conducted by the Heavenly Palace, not Between Between Between Beijia.

How could Shuangye's action be called betraying the "state"?

He Lingchuan turned his head to look at him: "Isn't the Jin Du Ghost Mother able to monitor your every word and deed, even using ghost spawn as a vessel to converse directly with others? Won't your current words be heard by it?"

Shuangye's eyes flickered slightly: "How do you know?"

Such detailed intelligence was even more secret than the legends of the Abusive Eaters. Jiuyou might have found records of the Abusive Eaters in ancient texts, but the detail that the Jin Du Ghost Mother could use her own offspring in the mortal world as a mouthpiece — such a detail could almost never have been passed down.

Jin Du ghost spawn rarely appeared in the mortal world, so recorded texts were naturally very few.

Then, how did Jiuyou know?

He Lingchuan said leisurely: "I also heard it from someone, a very long time ago."

"You need not worry." Shuangye lightly tapped his own temple with his index finger. "Soon after I was born, this place was injured; the Ghost Mother can no longer share senses with me, nor pry into my actions."

"Such a coincidence?" He Lingchuan pressed. "How was it injured?"

"Just an accident."

The more lightly Shuangye dismissed it, the more He Lingchuan was convinced there was another story behind it. But the Grand Preceptor clearly did not intend to say more, so He Lingchuan could only change tack: "Since you've broken free of its control, how could it tolerate you living to this day?"

Shuangye's expression turned cold: "Its say doesn't count."

Abusive Eaters appearing in the world were far too few; perhaps this was Shuangye's early value.

He Lingchuan pondered.

The progress of the Heavenly Demons' divine descent experiment was, of course, his most critical priority. Trading a mere Golden Core for major intelligence was actually very cost-effective for him, for Cang Yan — after all, Shuangye was right, a Golden Core was of no great use to He Lingchuan.

So he did not hesitate long before nodding:

"Deal. As long as your intelligence carries weight, the Golden Core is yours."

"Jiuyou is truly a straightforward person." Shuangye smiled faintly, then asked, "Do you know about Jialou Tian capturing the Hidden God Lord many years ago?"

"I know." He Lingchuan hummed in acknowledgment. "The Hidden God Lord obviously did not have the same good fortune as Thousand Illusions True Person."

"The Hidden God Lord thought that by manifesting tens of thousands of avatars, he could defeat the incoming enemy." Shuangye shook his head. "He was wrong."

"After capturing the Hidden God Lord, the Heavenly Palace's yaokui experiments entered an entirely new chapter."

He Lingchuan asked at the right moment:

"Do they intend to use the Hidden God Lord's characteristics to mass-produce divine descent bodies?"

"'Mass-produce' — these four words have hit the true essence." Shuangye knew at once that Jiuyou fully understood the danger of the Hidden God Lord falling into enemy hands. "Over these past years, the Heavenly Palace exhausted every means, and finally achieved complete divine descent a few months ago — that is, Heavenly Gods can remain for a long time in a mortal shell, without having to return to the Divine Realm after just a moment or two like before."

"That sounds inspiring. Is there any problem? I heard the demon realm was also overjoyed by this news." He Lingchuan had to admit that when he first heard this news, his own heart had turned cold.

Even though he knew this day would come sooner or later...

"Fortune does not come twice." Shuangye said bluntly. "You also hold a great national enterprise; you should know that behind the rejoicing are all hidden worries. The mortal world is like this; the heavens cannot be an exception."

He Lingchuan knew the key point had arrived: "What kind of hidden worry?"

"Trouble originating from the Hidden God Lord." Shuangye looked up at the sky and let out a long breath. "The idea of using the Hidden God Lord to mass-produce divine descent bodies was first proposed by the Lingxu Saint Venerable."

He Lingchuan also felt quite admiring: "Worthy of the holder of the Life Divine Authority."

"I won't go into the hardships and twists of the research process these years. But there is one major trouble that remains unsolvable to this day." Shuangye changed his sitting posture. "The Hidden God Lord's main body is so special that even among True Immortals it is a unique existence."

"Indeed, two species that struggled across generations ultimately fused into one."

"The Hidden God Lord is actually a massive aggregation of two tiny organisms, which then awakened a final integrated consciousness — the 'True Self'." Shuangye smiled. "Though it sounds a bit strange, all beings in the world — whether flying birds, running beasts, or you and I — our bodies are likewise aggregated from even finer tissues. Each of these tiny tissues has its own life cycle, but gathered together and functioning, they produce a main consciousness, which is 'you' and 'me'."

He Lingchuan also braced both hands on the large rock behind him: "But the Hidden God Lord is different after all."

The two organisms composing its body were originally not groups that could live together.

"The difference lies in this: when a human's main consciousness — the 'True Self' — perishes, the body becomes an ownerless thing, then loses vitality and slowly decays. Yet when the Hidden God Lord's 'True Self' was destroyed by Jialou Tian, its body still retained vigorous vitality, consistent with when it was alive. This is precisely the characteristic the Heavenly Gods need most to manufacture divine descent bodies."

Without vitality, a divine body is merely a piece of rotten flesh.

He Lingchuan murmured: "But because it was originally an integrated consciousness. Without the 'True Self', the various parts of the body will act on their own."

"Correct. The originally strongest 'True Self' could suppress the other consciousnesses, and thus the Hidden God Lord existed. Once the Hidden God Lord died, managing its body became the difficult core, because the other consciousnesses began to continuously grow and emerge, attempting to re-control and drive the Hidden God Lord's body."

He Lingchuan raised an eyebrow: "The Heavenly Palace is full of talent; they wouldn't be utterly helpless, would they?"