AZI Volume 6 Chapter 12

"Why don't you sit back down first?"

Glancing at Zhen Qing Huai, Long Hua says—

"Lao Zhen, if you have words to say, say it quickly, and if you need to get a fart out, get it out quickly as well."

"…"

Hearing this crude remark, Zhen Qing Huai frowns, and says—

"Not a trace of delicacy from you, is there, Lao Long?"

"There's little need to show someone who's clearly after something of mine any hint of tact."

Heaving a sigh, Zhen Qing Huai asks—

"Other than spirit herb cigars, is there anything else you can think of?"

"I…-"

Just as Long Hua is about to say no, he suddenly recalls Zhen Qing Huai's previous claim—about her bloodline branch being able to cultivate the best spirit herbs. 

"There was a native spirit herb called the thousand dream flower. It's a poisonous herb."

"…Is it used for killing?"

Shaking his head, Long Hua answers—

"It's used for making wine. But it's rather selective with what it chooses to work with."

"And the wine made, is there anything special about them?"

"In high concentrations, even a practitioner at the realm that is two stages above the Nascent Soul realm can get drunk off them."

"Oh?"

Immediately, Bai Wen turns to Zhen Qing Huai, and says—

"Lao Zhen, be quick about it."

As far as Zhen Qing Huai is aware of, a spirit herb of this nature is completely unheard of. That being the case—

"…Lao Bai, you're asking my bloodline branch to breed out a completely new spirit herb."

Although the task will be difficult and time consuming, the profit that can be made is something that Zhen Qing Huai cannot see the end of. 

For elderly practitioners, drinking has become a favorite pass time of theirs. 

At the same time, remarks—made towards the woes of not being able to get drunk, are often heard of in practitioner-centered celebrations. 

"I can put some people to this task. Anything else?"

"Grounded spirit herb mixes, which are placed into smoking pipes."

Hearing this, Zhen Qing Huai directs an odd look at Long Hua, while asking—

"Lao Long, the previous world you were in…- Does the people there only know how to pull blasphemous crap like this?"

"Piss off, I wasn't the one who came up with this stuff, so quit giving me that look."

"Don't you have anything… Normal?"

Feeling like this is going to be a long conversation, Long Hua seats himself back down, and places his cup near Bai Wen, who refills it for him. 

Gathering his thoughts, Long Hua asks—

"…Does the Everlasting Spirit Realm have something called a soul refinement art?"

"…?"

Seeing the look on Zhen Qing Huai's face turning stranger at the mentioning of this, Long Hua has his answer. 

Down a bit of wine, Long Hua explains—

"This soul refinement art is basically the art of taking one's soul and refining it like a magic treasure. The result is an increase in the soul's strength and purity, which results in the strengthening of one's divine senses. A person's talent is also something that can be drastically altered by this art."

"Ah this…-"

Just as this method begins to sound attractive to the ears, Long Hua cuts Zhen Qing Huai off by saying—

"But failure means immediate death without any chances of reincarnation."

"…Who the hell is that bored of living—to go through the effort of inventing this art? What is the name of this world you were in before even?"

Leaning back in his chair, Long Hua replies—

"Sorry, those of us in the Zang Luo Realm—we're simply that bored of living, and go through every effort to make ourselves different from everyone else."

Having said this, Long Hua suddenly feels like the people who had invented these odd methods were those that he had met during his previous life. 

"Ai, this method is generally done in portions, so instant death doesn't happen that often."

Narrowing his right eye, as he refills Long Hua's cup, Bai Wen asks—

"What do you mean?"

"There're two divine arts involved in this method working successfully. One is meant to sever the soul itself into portions. The other is meant to repair the damages that can be caused during the process, or to mend the lost portions of the soul."

Hearing this, Zhen Qing Huai suddenly feels like this soul refinement art isn't as insane as it would have sounded initially, causing her to ask—

"Are there special resources involved with attempting this?"

"A soul cauldron, it's a specialized magic treasure meant to contain and nourish the soul held within—prior to the refinement process. Practitioners would generally house their souls inside of these cauldrons to prepare themselves. The finer details of this magic treasure aren't something that I'm too clear about. Other than that, specialized flames. We call these soul flames. They can be manufactured; however…"

Contemplating for a bit, while sipping away at the wine, Long Hua eventually adds—

"Ai, different manufacturers of soul flames have different methods, which works for them, and only them exclusively—upon reaching a certain level. But generally speaking, it requires the manufacturer to amass the roaming souls of the dead together to create just a single flame."