Chapter 129: Blood-Named Sprite: Moyan

“So, the Shu King was tricked. This is just an ordinary Jiangshi.”

[Revived Corpse, Health Points: 100%, Status: Bloodthirsty]

Looking at the Shu King Zombie struggling on the ground, Chen Xiyi thought it would have some earth-shattering special effect, but it was not even as good as his Corpse Demon.

At least the Corpse Demon had the prefix “Mutated,” but this one had a name similar to the Fox Demon and Tiger Demon.

The Fox Demon was an Enlightened Fox, the Tiger Demon was an Enlightened Tiger, and this Jiangshi was just a Revived Corpse.

This Home Game was too capricious. Only mutated monsters like the Corpse Demon had unique names.

Chen Xiyi suspected that the Corpse Demon was probably an elite monster; otherwise, its name wouldn’t be so distinctive.

“The grand Formation Array in this entire Shu King Palace is just a deluxe version of a fixed Yin Gathering Array, right? It looks grand and impressive, but it’s actually just flashy and overly decorated. Probably the person who set it up was only half-skilled.”

Regarding the Formation Array in the Shu King Palace, Chen Xiyi felt like he had been overthinking against nothing.

“What a letdown.”

He finally understood that the Shu King Palace definitely wasn’t managed by a Qi Refiner, because based on his self-awareness, a Qi Refiner would never set up such a crude Formation Array.

That’s right, this Yin Gathering Array might seem flashy and even have fixed positioning functions, but it was actually simple to the point of being shoddy. Chen Xiyi even suspected that if the person in charge wasn’t half-skilled, then they were simply embezzling funds.

Otherwise, why would they decorate this place so extravagantly?

But it was fine. Chen Xiyi later improved this Yin Gathering Array and removed the fixed positioning ability entirely.

After building the Prison, he stuffed everyone into their respective cells. He had successfully moved in.

There was still one floor above, reserved for future expansion. Since he had already fully Homesteaded it, he could just treat it as a backup.

“Is this the Shu King Palace?” Li Hao asked eagerly after watching Chen Xiyi lock the Jiangshi in a separate cell.

Chen Xiyi glanced at Li Hao. “Yes, it’s the Shu King Palace. You always wanted to come in, right? So I brought you in.”

“What is ‘Longevity and Wealth’? Can you tell me about it?” Li Hao quickly asked. He had wanted to come in for years, and today he finally made it, though the way he entered was completely different from what he had imagined.

“How should I know? I found the ‘Longevity’ part, though. Look, it’s right there.” Chen Xiyi pointed at the Jiangshi and continued to Li Hao, “I don’t know about the ‘Wealth’ part. If you like its clothes, I can arrange for you two to share a room. Then you can strip them off yourself.”

He had searched all around but couldn’t find any so-called “Wealth.” The Shu King had indeed achieved “Longevity,” just not in the way the Shu King probably imagined.

A Jiangshi truly had no lifespan limit, provided it drank enough blood and wasn’t killed by someone.

That was quite difficult, though, because Jiangshi had no brains. No matter how strong they became, they couldn’t develop intelligence. According to all the inheritances Chen Xiyi had read about Jiangshi, he had never encountered a Jiangshi with wit.

This world wasn’t some immortal cultivation or fantasy type of world, so the Jiangshi’s name was simply “Revived Corpse.”

Hearing Chen Xiyi’s words, Li Hao shrank his neck. Share a room with a Jiangshi?

Within ten minutes, only the Jiangshi would be left inside.

Even though Jiangshi had no brains, they knew how to eat. If Li Hao went in, he would just be a piece of fresh meat. He would be devoured completely.

“No, no, that’s alright. I was just asking, just asking.” Li Hao said sheepishly.

Although he was a Warlord commander, he had climbed up from the bottom. Naturally, he knew that discretion was the better part of valor. When it was time to be cautious, he had to be cautious. Those who were stubborn in this chaotic age would have grass growing over their graves several times over.

“No problem. I’m a very amiable person. If you have any needs, just say so. Whether it’s a Jiangshi or a Corpse Demon, if you want to be roommates with any of them, I can arrange it. Water Ghosts and Water Monkeys are also options, as long as you don’t mind their rooms being damp.” Chen Xiyi indicated that Li Hao could voice any ideas he had.

Water Ghosts and Water Monkeys needed water. The Water Ghost couldn’t even come ashore. The Water Ghost’s internal composition was mainly Water Qi, Yin Qi, Death Qi, and Resentment Qi, with Water Qi and Yin Qi being the primary components. If it came ashore, it would die soon, probably because the Water Qi evaporated.

This meant that Chen Xiyi had to conduct every experiment on the Water Ghost in the water.

As for the Water Monkey, it wouldn’t die if it stayed on land for a long time, but it would gradually become weaker.

Right after leaving the water, it was incredibly strong, but after a while, it would flop on the ground like a dead fish. Probably even an 80-year-old granny could arm-wrestle it.

The home turf for Water Ghosts and Water Monkeys was in the water, so they couldn’t be away from it for too long. Chen Xiyi could only assign them a small ditch to keep them in good physical condition.

After arranging all the matters and making a round of inspections, Chen Xiyi busily threw himself into the next stage of optimizing the Formless Astral Energy.

Basically, it was about enhancing it in all aspects and expanding its capabilities.

For example, adding effects from the Pure Yang One Qi Golden Light Talisman from the Dragon-Settling Nine Chapters, or stacking defense further with the Luminous Vajra Method from the Cloud Script Dao Registers, or increasing the range with Soul Returns to One Realm, or adding special effects against Yin Qi with Hundred Burials Return to Life.

As for the Du’e Spirit Child, that was a bit more difficult. Most of this inheritance required Guardian Spirit Children. The small parts that didn’t require them, Chen Xiyi didn’t need either. His innate hardware limitations led to poor compatibility, so he could only wait for further improvements later.

He was busy like this for several more months.

He briefly checked the time. Another year had passed since he came to this world.

He remembered that around this time last year, he was still studying and researching the basics of Qi Refiners with Cheng Zhen. And now, in the blink of an eye…

The refinement of the Formless Astral Energy went relatively smoothly, especially in terms of stacking defense. Although he knew that in the history of biological evolution, stacking armor and sucking squid were two things that often turned out badly, he couldn’t resist how comfortable it felt to stack armor.

So, during these days, Chen Xiyi charged ahead full speed on the path of stacking armor, and no one could pull him back.

This was largely thanks to the many test subjects. It would be great if they could become green-named friends. Unfortunately, they were all red-named NPCs, which made Chen Xiyi feel very sad. Was their friendship not deep enough?

Chen Xiyi even knew their body structures better than they did themselves. They say that liking someone starts with understanding them. Hadn’t Chen Xiyi reached that level of understanding?

Therefore, he now had serious doubts about that saying. Could the next step be to understand them from the Soul aspect? His current technology wasn’t precise enough for that step yet; the difficulty was a bit high.

[You have a new mail, stored in the mailbox. Please check it.]

While he was packing up, two mailbox notifications suddenly appeared in the game log, making him delighted.

“Could it be that my two good brothers sent me New Year’s gifts? How embarrassing, especially since the New Year is still some days away.”

Chen Xiyi said he was embarrassed, but the smile on his face was so wide it nearly creased.

The past few months had been relatively quiet, and they hadn’t sent him any mail, probably because they were busy.

But that made sense. Whether it was items with Historical Connotation or inheritances, they weren’t easy to find. So it required not just time, but also some luck.

[A letter from Chamber of Commerce President Li Zhao]

[A letter from Chamber of Commerce Vice President Mi Hong]

Sure enough, it was from his two good brothers. He happily opened Li Zhao’s letter first to see what he had sent.

[Brother Chen, I hope this letter finds you well. The Min Army has besieged the city for three months. The city is running out of supplies and food, and I fear we cannot hold out for more than two days. Now I bid you farewell, which is a great regret. If there is an afterlife, I will definitely share a drink and laughter with you. Take care, take care.]

[Attachment: Blood-Stained Old Book]

“???”

Looking at the few short lines, Chen Xiyi was inwardly cursing.

“Who dares to mess with my brother? You’re finished, I’m telling you.”

He then glanced at Mi Hong’s letter; the content was similar.

It basically meant that they wouldn’t have a chance to meet in this lifetime, and they would be friends again in the next life.

After claiming the attachments from both letters, the Blood-Stained Old Book was an item with Historical Connotation. Even its title was obscured by blood. It looked… after a quick flip through, it was a small diary narrating some strange tales and anecdotes.

As for what Mi Hong sent him, it was an inheritance.

Chen Xiyi didn’t have time to do much else. He quickly took out the carriage, stuffed all the test subjects inside, and placed it back into his Inventory. He then hurried back to his Homestead to perform Enlightenment and Spirit Communication.

With this book, the Bond of “Music, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting” could be completed. Then he had to rush over to save his good brothers.

Although they had the Formless Astral Energy Ritual Implement and the Purple Qi protective talisman, those could only hold out for a while, not forever.

Also, he wanted to go and increase his Favorability. After all, Li Zhao still had many friends with only 2-3 stars. After this wave, he was sure their Favorability would greatly increase.

[You used the skill Enlightenment and Spirit Communication on the Blood-Stained Old Book]

[The Blood-Stained Old Book’s Spirituality is awakening 1%…]

[You obtained the Blood-Named Sprite: Moyan]

[Blood-Named Sprite: Moyan]

[Satiety Level: 100/100]

[Ability 1: Name Obscured by Blood]

[Ability 2: Qi Connected to Sensation]

[Ability 3: Eloquent Tongue]

[You are under the effect of the Blood-Named Sprite: Speech Restriction, and gained the status: Yang Qi]

[The Bonds of All Things list has been updated]

[Music, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting: Music (Ear-reporting Fairy: Zhangliu), Chess (Mountain and River Fairy: Shanyue), Book (Blood-Named Sprite: Moyan), Painting (River Fairy: Jianghu)]

[Five Sense Organs: Eyes (Qi-Observing Sprite: Tongmu), Tongue (Blood-Named Sprite: Speech Restriction), Mouth (Vacant), Nose (Vacant), Ears (Ear-reporting Fairy: Zhangliu)]

[Five Senses: …]

[You activated the Bond: Music, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting, and obtained the ability: Six Arts]

While making a Miniature Garden and food for the newly arrived Moyan, Chen Xiyi checked the abilities of the palm-sized red-robed scholar doll Moyan and the Bond ability.

[Six Arts: Rites, Music, Archery, Charioteering, Calligraphy, Mathematics]

Chen Xiyi was a bit puzzled about the Six Arts. He didn’t gain any knowledge in his mind, nor did he feel any changes in himself.

But this wasn’t the time to dwell on it. It definitely wasn’t a bad ability.

Then he looked at Moyan’s abilities.

Name Obscured by Blood was an ability that could, to some extent, shield against celestial calculations. Chen Xiyi wasn’t sure exactly how. Qi Connected to Sensation enhanced his perception of Qi mechanisms, acting as a passive increase in overall Qi mechanism affinity. Eloquent Tongue allowed it to attach to his tongue, enabling him to reduce consumption and increase power when chanting or using language-related spells, Ritual Implements, or talismans. It also passively increased the persuasiveness of his speech.

It seemed somewhat underwhelming at first glance. However, after Moyan attached to his tongue, Chen Xiyi felt the terrifying aspect of Qi Connected to Sensation.

It was an ability no less significant than his core skill, Qi Sensitivity.

“No wonder in the Five Senses Bond, Moyan is assigned to the sense of touch.”

Chen Xiyi left his Homestead and, sensing the surrounding Qi mechanisms, couldn’t help but murmur to himself.