"Second sister, look at these blood threads. I've searched them all, and there's no trace of Zhong Qiu Jie's main consciousness within. They're all just chaotic, weak consciousnesses."
Xiao Fei, now back in his cave dwelling on Meteor Island, presented a bundle of restrained blood threads to his second sister for examination.
Xiao Lan took the blood threads and examined them for a moment before popping them into her mouth, relishing them as if they were spicy strips.
"Hahaha! Little brother, you don't know this, but creatures like us are formless and traceless. We can gather and disperse at will.
This is very different from you humans. We don't have a sea of consciousness. Our consciousness can be dispersed into many minute parts. These minute consciousnesses gather together to form the master consciousness."
As Xiao Lan spoke, her body suddenly disintegrated, transforming into a mist of ghosts. Her familiar voice emanated from the spectral fog.
"See, my consciousness is now dispersed throughout this entire ghost mist. Every part of the mist contains a portion of my consciousness.
When gathered, it forms a complete me. If I disperse the ghost mist, I become many incomplete versions of myself."
With Xiao Lan's explanation and demonstration, Xiao Fei finally understood what was happening.
After his second sister became a ghost cultivator, she had essentially entered a different biological mode.
"Second sister, if I give you all the blood threads that Zhong Qiu Jie transformed into, can you devour them all?"
"Naturally, I can. But I can only do it bit by bit, slowly devouring them. If I rush, I might even be devoured and refined by the other party."
The ghost mist dissipated, and Xiao Lan reappeared beside Xiao Fei, resuming her form as a woman in a black dress.
Ghost cultivators had no physical form. Weak ghost cultivators were merely wisps of spectral energy. Xiao Lan, now in the late Nascent Soul stage, had a very solidified ghost body, approaching physicality, but still a significant difference from a true flesh-and-blood body.
For the next period, Xiao Fei would give his second sister a small portion of the blood threads each day for her to devour and refine.
When she had devoured half of them, Xiao Lan was surprisingly able to condense a flesh-and-blood body for herself using the blood threads.
"Little brother, do I look exactly like a real person now?"
Xiao Fei walked over and pinched Xiao Lan's face. Apart from a slight chill to the touch and the elasticity of her skin, her feel was indistinguishable from that of a real person.
He then grabbed Xiao Lan's arm, which was also identical to a real human body.
"Yes! Other than being a bit cold, you look exactly like a real person."
"There's nothing that can be done about that. Even if I cultivate fire-elemental techniques, the flames produced are Yin fire, which generates no heat."
Xiao Lan was not discouraged. Having been a ghost for so many years without a physical form, she had experienced numerous inconveniences. Now, to possess a body that was very close to flesh and blood was an unexpected joy.
"Furthermore, I can feel that after possessing a physical body, the heavenly tribulation for advancing to the Soul Transformation stage should be much smaller."
Ghost cultivators were not tolerated by the Heavenly Dao. Every advancement would be deliberately targeted by the Heavenly Dao, resulting in heavenly tribulations that offered a slim chance of survival.
Now that she possessed a physical body, although still a ghost, she was significantly different from other ghosts. The Heavenly Dao's perception seemed to be less intense.
Sometimes, when Xiao Fei thought about these matters, he felt quite indignant. He couldn't quite understand why the Heavenly Dao was so idle, doing nothing of substance all day and only focusing on striking down ghost cultivators.
From a moral standpoint, while there were indeed many malevolent ghosts among ghost cultivators, the sins committed by other races were no less.
For instance, among human rogue cultivators, calling them beasts would be an insult to animals, and calling them禽兽 (qín shòu - beasts/brutes) would be an insult to such creatures.
Rogue cultivators committed evil and killed people based purely on their whims, sometimes wiping out an entire village or even a city, and their methods were extremely cruel.
Yet, these rogue cultivators lived their lives with gusto, never being targeted by the Heavenly Dao.
The demon race was similar, like locusts, leaving no human habitation within a thousand miles wherever they went.
The demon race was also not targeted by the Heavenly Dao and lived their lives vibrantly.
However, no matter how great Xiao Fei's dissatisfaction was, it was useless. He was merely a minor cultivator, and it was enough to protect his own life.
In the days that followed, Xiao Fei continued to send the remaining blood threads to Xiao Lan in batches for her to devour and refine.
During the refining process, Xiao Lan gradually received some hidden messages within these blood threads.
...
Long Xiao Chong never dreamed that the clan would dispatch a Void Refinement stage expert to accompany him on his journey back to the Heavenly Yuan Realm.
Although he himself possessed the cultivation of the early Soul Transformation stage, the hierarchy within the Demon Dragon Clan was strict.
While he appeared to be high and mighty in front of the clan elders, his parents' status and position within the Demon Dragon Clan were merely at the bottom rung.
Low-ranking clan members faced heavy labor every day, yet received very little cultivation resources.
Even if he exerted himself to his utmost, he could at best cultivate to the late Soul Transformation stage in his lifetime, with no opportunity to obtain anything that could aid in Soul Transformation.
Therefore, the Void Refinement stage was something he could never hope to reach.
"Lord Long Wei, the records state that this is the passage to the Heavenly Yuan Realm.
The last time I traveled from here to the Heavenly Yuan Realm, it took me a full year."
Long Xiao Chong knew that his primary task this time was to serve as a guide, so he diligently provided Long Wei with information.
If he could serve Lord Long Wei well, perhaps it might lead to a great opportunity or fortune.
"Hmm! Follow me, and we'll reach the Heavenly Yuan Realm in at most three months."
Although this Lord Long Wei was a man of few words, his abilities were indeed formidable. Three months later, both of them emerged exhaustedly from a sealed demon well.
Even with Long Wei's immense strength, traveling continuously for three months through the passage had thoroughly exhausted him.
After climbing out of the sealed demon well, he was panting heavily from exhaustion.
As the two of them completely exited the sealed demon well, they discovered that the passage they had come through had vanished, replaced by a small hall.
"This place is quite uniquely decorated!"
Long Wei, suspecting nothing, assumed the exit here was well-constructed and decorated.
Long Xiao Chong, however, saw his expression change. He remembered that it had not looked like this before. Furthermore, he tried to absorb the spiritual and demonic energy here, but he could not, nor could he mobilize it.
Long Wei also noticed something was amiss. Almost at the same moment, flames suddenly erupted within the small hall.
These flames enveloped the two of them, forcing them to rely on their internal demonic power to resist.
"Villain, how dare you!"
Long Wei roared in anger, extending his massive claw and striking forward.
Instantly, the stone wall in front collapsed, revealing a hidden stone chamber. The chamber also contained flames, but on the ground of the front stone chamber, there was a teleportation array.
"Hahaha..."
Long Wei laughed and strode towards the teleportation array. In his view, this small hall was enclosed on all sides, and the teleportation array must have been for the array's creator to enter and exit.
"Lord Long Wei, could this teleportation array be a trap deliberately set by the enemy?"
Long Xiao Chong, having suffered greatly at the hands of humans on the Eastern Continent, was now more cautious.
However, this Lord Long Wei, accustomed to enjoying abundant resources within the clan, possessed high strength but less experience than Long Xiao Chong.
He waved his hand dismissively.
"It matters not. It's merely a petty trick! Any conspiracy or scheme is utterly vulnerable in the face of absolute power."