Eating bizarre things in public upgrades my status; the Special Affairs Bureau wants me to join them

"Is this the nine-section jade cong?"

Ling Nian killed the ninjas from Sakura Country, and He Li found the Nine-Section Jade Cong on the bandit leader.

The nine-section jade cong is rectangular in shape and is entirely emerald green. Each section is distinguished by raised stripes, and each section is carved with many peculiar patterns that resemble ancient sacrificial activities.

If you look closely at the patterns...

You can even see that the pattern seems to move.

What surprised He Li the most was...

He held the nine-section jade cong, turned it upside down, and looked at the hollow jade cong, discovering that there was something inside.

"This is..." He Li stared at the pale green mysterious liquid at the bottom of the jade cong with great curiosity; the liquid not only glowed but also seemed to ignore gravity and always stay at the bottom.

Even if He Li reversed the jade cong, he couldn't pour it out.

At this moment, Yu Ji and the others approached.

He Li then looked at Yu Ji and asked, "Could it be that this nine-section jade cong originally contained something like this?"

Yu Ji was from one of the five tribes of Shu Prefecture. He Li asked her because he thought she should know more about this matter, at least... she definitely knew more than others.

However, upon hearing He Li's words...

Yu Ji leaned closer to examine the nine-section jade cong and shook his head: "This wasn't originally inside the nine-section jade cong."

"It should be empty."

"Unless... unless Jiang Xiong did something that caused the Nine-Section Jade Cong to react in some way, and then this strange thing was generated inside the Nine-Section Jade Cong."

"To find out what happened, let's go to the place where Jiang Xiong originally kept the nine-section jade cong."

"We should be able to make a discovery by then."

"Hmm!" He Li nodded upon hearing this.

The island isn't large, and the ninjas from Sakura Country have already explored it. If we just follow the trails they left behind...

We will definitely find our destination.

However, just as He Li was about to act, the spirit of Qingyang Mountain suddenly interrupted them.

"No need to go back and check."

"That must be... immortal blood!"

Then, the voice of the spirit of Qingyang Mountain rang out.

He Li and the other two were somewhat alarmed upon hearing this.

Immortal blood? The blood of an immortal?

They couldn't help but wonder, and the spirit of Qingyang Mountain seemed to see through their thoughts and nodded slightly: "Just as you think, this thing is the blood of an immortal being."

"Don't underestimate this kind of thing."

"The immortals have completely transformed; they are now entirely distinct from mortal beings."

"It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them a new species."

He paused for a moment at this point.

"To put it another way, you can think of immortals as walking treasures of nature. Immortal blood, immortal bones, and other such things are the most precious treasures for mortal beings."

"For us mortals, the ultimate goal is to achieve an upward transformation."

"To make oneself..."

"Like a natural wonder of heaven and earth."

"While this would certainly grant us immense power and exponentially extend our lifespan, to some beings we would also become their favorite... consumables!"

Qingyang Mountain Spirit originally wanted to talk about food.

Perhaps they felt that the word "food" wasn't quite right, so they temporarily changed it to "consumables".

He Li didn't seem to have any particular feeling about this.

He had suspected this all along.

Yu Ji was similar.

Mu Lan couldn't help but chime in, "So you mean the result of all our desperate pursuit..."

"So it's food that transforms into a higher form?"

"Yes and no!" Qingyang Mountain Spirit shrugged. "I don't know if you've heard of it, but sometimes, people from later generations will collect the remains of those powerful figures from the past..."

"Consider it a rare and precious treasure."

"For example, using the bones of a cultivator who has transformed into a spirit to refine qi to forge weapons!"

"For example, a Nascent Soul cultivator can create a Soul Banner."

"For example, using the flesh and blood of a Qi Refiner to refine elixirs..."

Even if He Li hadn't seen these things with his own eyes, he had at least read about them in novels.

For example, in those fantasy novels, they often find the hand bones and skullcaps of the Great Emperor as top-grade artifacts. He had never thought carefully about what was wrong with this before.

Now, hearing what the spirit of Qingyang Mountain said...

He Licai suddenly realized.

It seems... from the very beginning, they were no different from those beings in the upper realms.

The spirit of Qingyang Mountain continued...

"I say this simply to tell you that the pursuit of ultimate strength will inevitably lead to a transformation in yourself. This transformation makes us stronger and fills our bodies with power."

"Our powerful bodies are no different from those spiritual plants in the world."

"The strong gather spiritual plants to cultivate and become even stronger."

"The weak are the same."

"But spiritual plants can also become sentient and turn against you... It all comes down to 'struggle'."

"So why have emotions?"

"Since you've begun your cultivation, since you want to become stronger, since you've embarked on this endless path of struggle, then you should be prepared to accept these things, and even..."

"Follow their example and go even further!"

The spirit of Qingyang Mountain finished speaking.

The three men had different expressions.

"Perhaps... the Middle Realm and the Upper Realm are countless times more dangerous than we imagine."

After a moment, Yu Ji broke the silence.

He Li nodded without saying a word.

From Qingyang Mountain Spirit's words, he had already seen what the situation was like in the Middle Realm and the Upper Realm, especially the Upper Realm, where all living beings were probably fighting their own battles and guarding against each other.

Because they all see each other as a rare treasure, as an opportunity for advancement, and want to exploit each other.

Living in such a world...

The creatures there must be crazy; it wouldn't be surprising if they did anything.

"If this situation continues..."

Is there really a future?

He Li couldn't help but mutter to himself.

The spirit of Qingyang Mountain shook its head: "It's hard to say, but this is the path to advancement as we know it."

"Ruthless, heartless, rational, insane, absolute..."

"It aligns with the universal principles of Heaven."

"The supreme being looks down upon all living beings..."

"Isn't that exactly it?"

Hearing this, He Li curled his lip.

However, he didn't say much, after all, he just felt that this path was definitely not right, but he hadn't figured out what the right path was, so he didn't say anything more.

He simply shook the nine-section jade cong: "Getting back to the main point, where did the immortal blood inside come from?"

"Since you've recognized it as immortal blood..."

"Did you see something more?"

"The Immortal of Fixed Wind!" the spirit of Qingyang Mountain uttered a name.

The Immortal of Fixed Wind? Why the suspicion?

He thought of the flying centipede. Could it be that the immortal blood in this nine-section jade cong came from it?

Speaking of which, could the statue that Yin Yunzi, who worshipped what appeared to be a flying centipede, gave to Jiang Xiong actually be a statue of the flying centipede and still be in use?

Otherwise, how do you explain this immortal blood?

That's what he was thinking.

The spirit of Qingyang Mountain said, "I think this place should be hiding the statue of the Immortal Dingfeng."

"However, I don't know what the people here did to alarm the Upper Realm Wind Immortal and bestow immortal blood upon them. Most importantly, normally such a thing is unlikely to be accomplished."

"Above your lower realm, there is a middle realm."

"Normally, Dingfengxian shouldn't be able to help... Perhaps, what you have is somewhat unusual."

At this point, he added with a playful tone, "Leaving aside what exactly this Immortal Blood is all about, what I want to tell you is that Immortal Blood can drastically increase a person's strength."

Even if this immortal blood is diluted...

"Even though I didn't discover that this immortal blood possessed immortal power."

"But for you martial artists, and even Qi cultivators, these are invaluable treasures."

"Of course, there are side effects to taking this."

"As for the side effects..."

"Well, I can't say for sure."

"How about it? Want to take a bet?"

The spirit of Qingyang Mountain smiled and urged He Li, "Taking this will rapidly improve your strength and realm. Even if there are side effects, I'm sure you're not afraid of them with your strength."

"You...you're not afraid to gamble, are you?"

A provocation tactic? What an outdated trick.

He Li glanced at Qingyang Mountain Spirit with some disdain.

He ignored Qingyang Mountain Spirit.

He simply lowered his head, staring at the faintly shimmering green immortal blood within the nine-section jade cong, lost in thought.

This stuff can be considered biological blood, right?

Immortals are living beings too!

This Wind-Stabilizing Immortal might actually be a monster.

No matter how you look at it, that thing is a flying centipede!

As for myself... if I activate the supernatural power of Devouring Monsters to digest this thing, theoretically, eating monsters wouldn't cause any side effects, right?

After all, his supernatural power was extraordinary.

All the side effects will be absorbed by you.

Thinking of this, the light emanating from He Li's pair of pupil-less golden eyes gradually grew brighter.

Then, to the astonishment of the spirits of Qingyang Mountain, as well as Yu Ji and Mu Lan, He Li activated his supernatural powers, raised the nine-section jade cong, scooped out the immortal blood, and poured it into his mouth...