Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 400 The Mystery of the Beads
As night fell, the spacious hall was brightly lit. George Lam and his wives, Lin Huairou and Lin Xingyu, along with Jiang Zichen and his wives, Hua Yuan and Jiang Yuan, gathered together at a round table.

"Junior Brother Jiang, congratulations on advancing to the Foundation Establishment stage. Come, let me toast you." Lin Zixiang rarely smiled, and raised his wine glass.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Lin." Jiang Zichen smiled and drank it all in one gulp.

"I am truly happy today. All the brothers who came with us from Qingyun Sect have passed away one after another. Senior Brother Zhong Wenyuan failed to establish his foundation and died in meditation."

"Junior Brother Zhang Ningyuan died in the Battle of Humen City."

"Junior Brother Zhang Yi died in the conscription battle in Xijiang County."

"Junior Brother Zhong Yang died in the Battle of Bianxia Town."

"There's also Junior Brother Xu Ning, who was imprisoned for twenty years. He was finally released after serving his sentence and wanted to atone for his crimes by performing meritorious service, but he died during the battle to attack the Kong family at Luojia Mountain."

"There are very few people left now. Given Junior Brother Lu Yuan's current condition, I'm afraid he doesn't have many years left."

"Junior Brother Shen Fan is in charge of the Tianshan Camp and spends most of his time in Tianshan. He is taciturn and I have never been very close to him. Fortunately, Junior Brother Jiang has successfully established his foundation, so I won't be so lonely anymore."

Jiang Zichen drank it all with him: "I was fortunate enough to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm today, thanks to Senior Brother Lin. Without Senior Brother Lin's usual care, I wouldn't be where I am today."

Lin Zixiang put down his wine glass: "Given our relationship, such a small matter is nothing to worry about. With Junior Brother Jiang's help in the future, I won't be left to fend for myself alone. The sect has brought in too many cultivators from all walks of life, creating a mess. Those people are all after the sect's benefits; there aren't many who are truly sincere."

"Junior Brother Jiang, you must be more wary of them. Our sect is the result of our hard work and dedication. We have fought countless battles and risked our lives to achieve our current glory. We have lost so many brothers and sisters. We cannot let those who want to reap the benefits of our hard work get away with it."

Jiang Zichen picked up a piece of spiritual food from the table and put it into his mouth, chewing slowly. After he finished speaking, he nodded in agreement: "What Senior Brother Lin said is right. The power of the sect must not be controlled by people with ulterior motives. We must be able to distinguish between those who are sincere and those who are not."

Lin Zixiang said, "You can't see into someone's heart. How easy is it to distinguish between a person's true and false intentions? There are so many people in the sect. Who knows how many of them are hypocritical and have ulterior motives?"

"Therefore, I have always advocated making more use of the direct descendants that our sect has cultivated since childhood, and being wary of those outside rogue cultivators. We cannot casually entrust important positions to them."

"Senior Brother Zhong Wenyuan, Junior Brother Zhang Ningyuan, and Junior Brother Lu Yuan all think so. The sect's development today is all because the policies and strategies they adopted before were completely correct."

Jiang Zichen nodded: "Disciples trained by a sect are naturally more reliable than rogue cultivators."

Lin Zixiang smiled slightly with satisfaction: "Junior Brother Jiang, the sect leader summoned you today. I wonder what they discussed?"

"It's all just idle talk, nothing important. The sect leader said that Senior Brother Lu Yuan is not in good health and asked me to be more lenient with him."

"It is clear that the sect leader intends for you to take over the position of chief of the cabinet. However, you should be wary of Junior Brother Hu Xiaobao. Currently, he is the only one in the sect who has the ability to compete with you for this position."

"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother Lin, but this is a matter for the sect leader to consider. In fact, in terms of seniority and ability, Senior Brother Lin is the only suitable candidate; I am far from being qualified."

"I'll pass. I'll be in charge of the Martial Guard Pavilion's affairs. You guys can handle the Inner Cabinet. Here's what we'll do: in a few days, I'll talk to Junior Brother Lu. He'll definitely support you."

"Thank you very much, Senior Brother Lin."

.........

In the blink of an eye, several months have passed.

On this day, Song Xian returned to his residence after a day of cultivation, as usual. Just as his escape light descended, he suddenly felt some unusual changes in his storage bag.

He picked up the storage bag and probed it with his divine sense. What he saw there surprised and delighted him.

Inside, the emerald green beads were found to be overflowing with a milky white liquid.

He quickly took out the bead, and pure white liquid flowed from the inside out of the emerald green, crystal-clear bead, just like the milk squeezed from a woman's body.

The pure white lotion flowed down the bead onto his palm, bringing a cool sensation and surrounded by rich spiritual energy.

Song Xian stared in disbelief, his eyes wide as copper bells, blinking several times, almost unable to believe his eyes.

This milky white liquid was actually a very precious spiritual milk in the cultivation world.

After absorbing the Ghost General's crystal core, the emerald bead was able to expel spiritual milk, which was utterly unbelievable.

Song Xian stood there in disbelief for a long while before he came to his senses. He quickly took out a pill bottle from his storage bag, poured out the pills inside, and placed the pill bottle under the dark green bead to collect the spiritual milk that overflowed from the inside.

"Zhirou, Zhirou, come and see!" Song Xian rushed in, his voice filled with joy and excitement.

Upon hearing this, Su Zhirou quickly came out of the room. Seeing the emerald green beads oozing white liquid, her eyes lit up and she asked curiously, "Husband, what is this?"

"Spiritual Milk".

"Spiritual milk?" Su Zhirou's eyes widened instantly, her face filled with disbelief: "How is this possible?"

“I don’t know either.” Song Xian sat down at the table, watching the milky white liquid continuously oozing out of the bead, and was overjoyed: “Just now when I returned to the mansion, I noticed something strange about the storage bag, and when I looked, I saw it was overflowing with spiritual milk.”

"How could this be?" Su Zhirou's eyes gleamed with surprise.

“I told you long ago that this thing was no ordinary item. I guess it absorbed the ghost's crystal core and then needed an internal transformation process, which is why it was so quiet before. Now that the transformation is complete, it has revealed its contents.” Song Xian said excitedly, “I never expected that it could actually generate spiritual milk. It’s truly incredible.”

The two sat at the table, heads bowed, their eyes fixed on the bead.

The emerald green beads continuously overflowed with spiritual milk, gradually stopping once the bottle was more than half full.

After the spiritual milk stopped overflowing, Song Xian took it to examine it. There was still a layer of milky white liquid covering the surface of the bead.

He tried to infuse his spiritual energy into it, but nothing changed, and his divine sense couldn't detect anything unusual.

It's really amazing. Song Xian played with the bead with great affection. What is the origin of this thing? How can it absorb the crystal core of the ghost and then overflow with spiritual milk?

Logically speaking, ghost crystal cores and spirit milk are two completely unrelated things.

Ghosts do not absorb spiritual energy, but rather absorb yin energy to cultivate. The crystal core is the crystallization of the ghost's cultivation by absorbing yin energy, containing extremely strong yin energy.

Spiritual milk, on the other hand, is a creation of heaven and earth. It must be formed in a place of outstanding natural beauty, where spiritual energy gathers over many years, absorbs the essence of the sun and moon, is impacted by the energy of the earth's veins, and is melted by the pure energy of heaven.

These two things are fundamentally different; one is the condensation of yin energy, and the other is the condensation of spiritual energy.

But this bead can actually transform two things of different natures.

This was completely beyond Song Xian's comprehension, but he didn't rack his brains to figure out the underlying principles, because there were many things in the world beyond his understanding.

For example, the Profound Heaven Fusion Fire Technique, which he has always relied on, can fuse with strange fires and make them his own, which is beyond his comprehension. He only needs to know that this thing has the function of absorbing the crystal cores of ghosts and expelling spiritual milk.

Although the spiritual milk cannot directly improve his cultivation level, it can quickly restore the spiritual power in his body, which greatly helps to improve his combat power.

This half-bottle of spiritual milk should be enough to replenish the spiritual energy in his body from depletion to fullness.

Years ago, he encountered a bottle of spiritual milk being auctioned at a market fair in Xijiang County. That bottle was much larger than the pill bottle containing spiritual milk that he currently has. According to the auctioneer at the time, it was enough to instantly boost the spiritual power of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from empty to full.

He had never drunk spiritual milk before, but based on this, the bottle of spiritual milk in his hand should be usable by a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Unlike elixirs, spiritual milk doesn't have a difference in age, nor does it have the claim that older milk is more effective.

In the cultivation world, it is generally referred to as "hundred-year-old spiritual milk" because it is secreted from the breast pillars.

The breast pillars must be born in a place with abundant spiritual energy and beautiful scenery. Not only are the growth conditions extremely harsh, but it also takes a hundred years to reach maturity and then secrete spiritual milk.

Therefore, it is called the "Hundred-Year Spirit Milk".

The efficacy of spiritual milk depends on its quantity, not the age of the breast.

Even if a breast pillar grows for a thousand or ten thousand years, the spiritual milk it secretes is no different from the spiritual milk secreted by a breast pillar that has grown for a hundred years.

"Husband, you said it transforms the crystal core of ghosts into spiritual milk?" Su Zhirou snatched the bead from his hand and examined it closely, her face full of shock.

"How would I know? There are countless rare treasures in the world. The moment I saw it, I knew it was something extraordinary."

"If we collect more ghost crystal cores from now on, won't we be able to generate spiritual milk continuously?"

"We don't know yet; we need to try it with the ghost crystal core to know the effect."

Su Zhirou was overjoyed: "A single second-tier ghost crystal core can generate more than half a bottle of spirit milk. If we get more ghost crystal cores and fill a jar, even if we don't use them ourselves, we can still make a fortune by selling them. Husband, quickly gather some people and have them go and find out about ghost crystal cores!"

“No, this matter cannot be revealed to outsiders.” Song Xian shook his head, having regained his rationality and calm from his initial joy.

"Of course I know that I can't tell others about the beads. I meant to tell them to collect the ghost crystal cores."

"We can't do it in a big way."

Su Zhirou was taken aback and looked at him: "Why? Didn't you leave the task of finding information about rare treasures and puppet materials to those disciples?"

"This is different. The person who obtained the Profound Heaven Fusion Fire Technique has already become a ghost cultivator. The puppet-making method is not a particularly rare thing, but the original owner of this bead is very likely still alive. If we make a big fuss about searching for ghost crystal cores, he will definitely take back the bead. Although we don't know who the owner of this bead is, judging from that strange ghost infant, this person's strength is definitely beyond our ability to contend with."

Su Zhirou frowned slightly: "If the owner of this bead is alive, why would he hide it on that remote island?"

“I don’t know. This matter is eerie. Better safe than sorry. We must proceed with caution. If the original owner of the bead is still alive, he will do everything he can to find out where the bead is. If we want to collect the ghost crystal cores, we can only do so secretly. We must not do it in a big way.”

“Spiritual milk is a good thing, but it is not helpful for cultivation, so there is no need to rush it. The safest way is to wait until my cultivation improves in the future, and then I will go to that alien ghost island to hunt down a few ghost generals.”

As Song Xian was speaking, a sudden inspiration struck him.

By the way, why did the owner of the bead place this item in the cave where the ghost infant was sealed? Could it be that it would help the ghost infant in some way?
Since the bead can absorb the spiritual milk secreted by the crystal core of the ghost, can it also nourish the ghost?
Thinking of this, he immediately took out the Blood Soul Banner from his storage bag.

Seeing him suddenly take out the black banner with a serious expression, Su Zhirou couldn't help but ask, "Husband, what's wrong?"

Song Xian briefly explained his idea. With a thought, the banner flashed with light, and a ghost emerged from it. Its crimson eyes swept over Su Zhirou before it obediently lowered its head.

The Blood Soul Banner has long since grown into a magical artifact with forty-nine layers of restrictions. Each layer contains a ghost or monster, which is not a puppet-like entity but a conscious and independent life form.

Song Xian poured a little of the spiritual milk from the bottle and ordered the ghost to drink it.

The monster dared not disobey. After the spirit milk entered its stomach, its eyes lit up as if it had tasted some rare delicacy. It stuck out its scarlet tongue and licked its lips, staring intently at the bottle containing the spirit milk, and swallowed hard.

Seeing its appearance, Song Xian poured out some more spiritual milk from the bottle. The ghost almost snatched the spiritual milk and drank it in one gulp, its face showing a very human-like expression of enjoyment.

It seems that this spiritual milk is truly beneficial to the growth of the demons within the black banner; upon closer reflection, it makes perfect sense.

Ghosts can grow by consuming the flesh and blood of cultivators or demons. What they absorb is not just flesh and blood, but the spiritual power contained in the bodies of cultivators and demons.

The reason is simple: if it is fed the blood and flesh of ordinary animals, such as pigs, dogs, cattle, sheep, tigers, leopards, or even ordinary people, it will not change much.

Song Xian conducted an experiment in this regard. He gave ordinary wild animals to ghosts, and although they were forced to suck their blood and flesh under orders, they showed no disdain.

However, if given a high-level demonic beast, it will show an expression of enjoyment after consuming it. Compared to cultivators of the same level, demonic beasts are obviously more preferred by ghosts.

Because the spiritual energy contained in the flesh and blood of demon beasts is much richer than that of cultivators, demon beast flesh and blood can be used to refine spiritual wine and spiritual food, while cultivators cannot, simply because the spiritual energy contained in the flesh and blood of the two is vastly different.

The spiritual power contained in spiritual milk is far beyond that of demonic beasts; it is purer than the spiritual power contained in any other spiritual object in the world.

Even a cultivator with such a weak body can directly draw upon it and recover from a state of spiritual depletion, which shows how pure and gentle the spiritual energy is.

Seeing that the ghost was still staring intently at the bottle containing the spiritual milk, Song Xian immediately gave the order to make it roll back into the black banner.

He was just testing the waters with this ghost; he couldn't let it squander the entire bottle of spiritual milk.

The ghost looked reluctant to leave and returned to the black banner.

"Husband, if we had enough spiritual milk, do you think we could upgrade this black banner to a magic weapon?" Su Zhirou seemed to have a sudden flash of inspiration.

“I don’t know, maybe!” Song Xian also showed a thoughtful expression: “The Black Banner’s advancement is related to the growth of the monster inside. In the beginning, the Black Banner was just a blood-red light. As the blood-red light absorbed flesh and blood, it slowly grew into a monster, and the Black Banner advanced accordingly.”

"Up to now, the Black Banner has grown into a top-grade magic artifact with forty-nine layers. Inside, there are forty-nine ghosts, each with the strength of a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator. If all the ghosts inside can grow again, they might be able to advance to the level of a magic treasure."

Su Zhirou pondered, "So, does this spiritual milk also help ghosts improve their cultivation?"

"Not necessarily. The ghosts and monsters inside the black banner are different from other ghosts. Ghosts and monsters inside the black banner can grow by absorbing blood and flesh and spiritual energy, but I've never heard of ghosts needing spiritual energy to cultivate."

"The ghost baby we encountered before was different from ordinary ghosts. Could it be a special kind of ghost nurtured by spirit milk?"

"That's possible. That ghost infant is definitely not a normal ghost cultivator. There must be human intervention behind it."

The couple discussed the relevant matters at length.

(End of this chapter)