Chapter 298: The Actions of Important People Are Often Overinterpreted

"That rat spirit isn't simple—don't get tricked by her," Bai Yi left, and only then did Liu Yunxi speak up to warn him; Feng Xue shrugged:

"She's at least a spirit living in a human city, so she should have some restraint. Besides, our Emperor Flow isn't hard to come by—any useful thing she gives us, we're not losing. But come to think of it, is she really a rat? She doesn't feel like the gray rat on Deng Miss."

"Definitely not the same kind. Deng Miss's gray rat was originally a household immortal; this rat spirit is a great demon, her exact cultivation level is hard to gauge, but her spiritual attainment is no less than five hundred years."

When speaking of what she understood, Liu Yunxi's mood lifted; Feng Xue was also curious, brought over two stools, brewed tea, and smiled:

"Tell me more."

Unaccustomed to Feng Xue's attitude, Liu Yunxi paused, then spoke:

"Most animals cultivating, aside from a few clans that, through countless generations, are born with innate spiritual awareness, mostly require rare herbs or treasures to awaken their spirit. The most common is Emperor Flow."

"Most such spirits focus on cultivation. Those awakened by Emperor Flow without special talents usually follow the path of absorbing lunar essence, though exceptions exist—crows draw in solar essence, wangling draw in mist and miasma. Of course, some evil spirits, for various reasons, choose to plunder human qi and blood."

"These spirits are fundamentally the same as human xuan cultivators—they seek immortality, to attain true enlightenment. But just as only a handful among humans ever achieve Yang Shen, so too are only a few spirits able to attain true enlightenment; most still cannot escape death, and due to their nature, many cannot even die peacefully (Note ①). After death, their spiritual souls, like human cultivators turning into ghost immortals, shift to becoming demon immortals."

"I know that—but Deng Miss's wasn't like that?"

Hearing Feng Xue ask this, Liu Yunxi naturally shook her head:

"If I said that, then it's certainly not! Household immortals of the Outriding Immortals, except the first generation which must be invited from outside, are later cultivated internally—basically, you find the soul of a creature of the same kind and worship it together. Ritual-wise, you're giving the household immortal a group of servants, like the little spirits serving deities—though without official rank, they still absorb some incense smoke."

"These animal souls are called 'Bao Ma' by Outriding Immortals—the lowest rank of household immortal, used for taking death in place, protection, message delivery, etc. —essentially consumables. You burned quite a few with one yin thunder last time."

"But Bao Ma are easy to cultivate; with a large base, some lucky ones survive, gradually growing stronger under incense nourishment, awakening spiritual awareness, and becoming true demon immortals. Outriding Immortals generally operate by family line—aside from the earliest ancestral immortal, nearly all are cultivated step by step from Bao Ma. Though it takes longer, the risk is lower."

Feng Xue's expression turned understanding, but he was practical—the source made little difference to him, so he cut straight to the core:

"So what's the real difference between these two kinds of demon immortals?"

"Of course there is!" Liu Yunxi answered sharply—

"During cultivation, spirits awaken various innate talents. For example, didn't I earlier enhance my physical strength? As cultivation advances, a spirit's innate abilities multiply. After transforming into a demon immortal, these talents remain—even physical enhancement can boost the Outriding Immortal they possess. But animal souls rising from Bao Ma begin as spiritual bodies, cultivating the soul itself, so they naturally lack such talents."

"No wonder that gray immortal was so weak…"

Feng Xue murmured; Liu Yunxi fell silent, feeling it slightly sycophantic to say "it's because you're strong," so she just shook her head and dropped the subject.

The two sipped tea and chatted idly; luckily, Feng Xue had been drained hard last night, or else they might've drifted back into the bedroom.

Meanwhile, Feng Xue was studying the pleasures of the boudoir, while Bai Yi was rushing from place to place. As a great demon who had cultivated for centuries, her network in this region was vast—but such matters couldn't be entrusted to subordinates, so she had to visit each household, ask each person herself.

In truth, for just one drop of Emperor Flow, it wasn't worth such effort—even if the substance was worth dozens of body cultivation lineages, it hardly justified her time.

But deals aren't judged by surface value. Ignoring the Emperor Flow itself, behind it lies a formidable figure capable of producing Emperor Flow on New Year's Eve. From that angle, it's extremely valuable.

Whether or not he collected it himself makes no difference.

If he did, even by chance, someone who knows the full process might replicate it.

If he didn't, he still possesses the technology to preserve Emperor Flow for forty years. In another decade or so, if he stores more, it's no different from a steady energy source.

Not to mention she had personally seen the flawless Bai Yu statue holding Emperor Flow—its perfect jade quality itself proves lineage; holding Emperor Flow proves the authenticity of the moon deity he worships.

To not cultivate a good relationship with such a figure would be foolish!

But Bai Yi's movement stirred others to restlessness.

No surprise—among the strongest cultivators in Gangdu, Bai Yi commanded considerable attention. Without knowing her intent, just watching her visit household after household, a sense of impending storm spread through Gangdu's cultivator circles.

Especially those unfamiliar with Bai Yi or the younger generation, their imaginations ran wild—but soon, all could not help but link their thoughts to last night's incident.

Though only one night had passed, the fact that the Japanese had tried to use malevolent spirits to disrupt Gangdu's feng shui and affect the Central Plains' dragon veins was no longer a secret. Why no battle had erupted yet: first, Gangdu had too many civilians—war would inevitably harm innocents; second, those capable were now conducting investigations, since no one could be sure last night's site was the only node.

Clearly, this wasn't just noticed by Gangdu's cultivators. Japanese disguised as civilians or merchants had also learned of Bai Yi's movements through various means.

In a new Korean pharmacy, a Japanese man dressed as a Korean, listening to his informant's report, frowned deeply. After hesitation, he summoned his subordinate:

"Using malevolent spirits alone couldn't trigger such a commotion—it must be that our plan was exposed! Quick, notify the homeland! Immediately!"

(End of Chapter)