Gu Shi Yi listened intently and nodded continuously,
"Then what other uses does this finger have besides alchemy?"
The old man said,
"It can also be eaten... but not by you. It's something that Nether Beings and Ghosts can consume. Eating it can strengthen the soul, and solidify the Primordial Spirit... Hmm... The fingernail on it is definitely that of an adult. You can take the fingernail and place it on top of your own. When an enemy comes attacking, just scratch them like this..."
The old man gestured with the finger and a black line appeared in the half-air where the finger had traced,
"A mortal being scratched like this will rot all over and die!"
"That powerful!"
Gu Shi Yi jumped in fright, and the old man hummed and said,
"An adult Fish Kui Beast, even a cultivator at the Nascent Soul Stage would have to go to some trouble to deal with it. Naturally, it has its own extraordinary aspects... Such adult Exotic Beasts are no longer common in these rivers. If it could cultivate and grow eighteen pairs of hands, it would be able to transform into a human... But the Fish Kui Beast is inherently a creature from the depths of the earth. Now that it has come to the surface and been exposed to the daylight, the possibility of it transforming is almost non-existent, so sixteen pairs of limbs is the limit!"
Having said that, the old man handed the finger back to Gu Shi Yi,
"That's all, you can go now!"
Gu Shi Yi took the finger, bowed respectfully to the old man, lowered her head, and left the small shop. The old man squinted his eyes and watched her leave, chuckling to himself,
"She seems to have a half-demon body, but the demon bloodline within her hasn't awakened yet..."
In this realm, where Spiritual Energy is abundant, many from the Demon Clan, as long as they cultivate diligently and with some luck, can shape-shift. After transforming, they love to mingle in the Mortal World, and some even have children. Thus, there are quite a few half-demons in this realm, but most do not live to adulthood. Even if they do, there are few who awaken. The old man had seen a few like Gu Shi Yi before. He just smiled and put the matter out of his mind, continuing to snooze in the store!
When Gu Shi Yi stepped outside, she noticed that the sun had already set. She hurried back to the boat and told Li Yaner everything she had learned from the old man,
"Eat?"
Li Yaner was full of question marks as she looked at the soft, pale thing, and instinctively swallowed her nonexistent saliva,
"This thing can be eaten?"
Gu Shi Yi nodded,
"That's what the shopkeeper said..."
She then suddenly smacked her forehead,
"Oh no, I forgot to ask him how to eat it!"
After thinking for a while, she said,
"Shall we just go back and ask tomorrow?"
Worst comes to worst, we just do another day's work!
Li Yaner nodded,
"Why not, take me with you tomorrow!"
Gu Shi Yi thought about the situation in the city that day. There were more Great cultivators around, but they seemed contemptuous about interacting with a mortal like her. Surely no one was interested in a small ghost like Yanyan, right?
"Okay, let's go together tomorrow!"
The next day when Gu Shi Yi returned, the old man looked at her chest with some surprise and asked,
"You brought a ghost with you?"
Gu Shi Yi stepped forward and made a bow, then said,
"I was enlightened by your teachings about the use of the finger the other day. It just so happens I have a friend who was wronged by others, lost her life, and now must reside within a Little Mud Man. I would like to give this finger to her to eat, but I don't know the method. So I had no choice but to shamelessly seek your advice once again!"
The old man pondered for a moment and said,
"Very well, today I have a few little things in my backyard that I haven't fed yet. You can go and feed them!"
Gu Shi Yi readily agreed,
"Rest assured, I will definitely do a good job for you!"
The old man snorted with a chuckle, looking at her with a look that was both mocking and not,
"You'll see when you go to the backyard!"
So Gu Shi Yi followed the old man to his backyard, which was two football fields in size, and when she saw the exotic beasts in the animal pen, she stood there dumbstruck,
"You... You call these 'little things'?"
She asked the old man, pointing at the giant bull with three heads in the pen. The old man gave her a glance and said,
"It is only a Young Beast. If it's not small, then what is it?"
"This... This one's already as big as a house!"
Gu Shi Yi's mouth hung open as if she could swallow an egg whole. The old man, seeing her look as if she had never seen the world before, couldn't help but chuckle and pointed at the bull's head, saying,
"Look... its horns haven't even grown out yet!"
He paused and then added,
"This is a Golden-Horned Beast. Only after a head grows three horns does it count as an adult. This Golden-Horned Beast is one my friend has left here for safekeeping. Today, you may feed it this..."
With that, he pointed at a mound of yellow sand as tall as a small mountain in another corner,
"Eat... eat sand?"
Could these creatures truly be so easy to take care of, sustained by just some yellow sand?