“The greatest ability for change?” John repeated, not expecting to hear the dragon say such a thing.
“Exactly,” the dragon replied, but realized more clarification was needed.
“Do you know why humans are at the same time so weak yet so powerful, and considered by some to be the perfect lifeform, while others consider them the most pathetic life form?” the dragon-spirit suddenly asked, his question not what John had been expecting. He thought over the question for a bit, but shrugged his shoulders in reply.
“No idea,” he replied.
“Humans are born weak. So weak as to be considered beyond pathetic,” the dragon started to explain. “When you humans are born, you cannot even raise your head, and it takes you decades to obtain even a bit of strength. Compared that to most other races, such as us dragons, who are born with incredible might, but even the less powerful races are born strong and achieve strength at a pace that humans can only envy!”
John remained silent but couldn’t help but agree with the dragon.
‘When kirii had been born, he was basically born in the Core Formation realm. Not only that, but his strength is keeping up with mine, despite the fact that he’s only a few years old. It really isn’t fair when you think about it!’
“Are you thinking this is unfair? Unjust?” The dragon asked, almost as of seeing through John’s thoughts. John smiled wryly at having been seen through so easily, and nodded his head in agreement.
“It’s kind of sad when I think about it,” John agreed.
“We’ll do not lament your weakness, because it is also your greatest strength,” the dragon replied.
“When beasts and other powerful races are born, they are born with great strength and even greater cultivation speed, but the universe has balance in all things. Such a strong starting point also means less ability to change. Humans, who start out with no power at all can shape their cultivation pathway in the way they wish, with no taint of power from birth.
At the same time, humans have some of the highest comprehension abilities of all races, further emphasizing the advantage of starting from the very start of the cultivation pathway.
Furthermore, humans are among the best of all races when it comes to assimilating the powers of others, and some would even say the best. Comprehending soul arts, essence arts, body arts, formations, alchemy…all of this is possible as a Human.
And another talent you all have to varying degrees, bloodline assimilations. Amongst all the races, humans are without a doubt the most adaptable to absorbing and using the bloodline powers of others, as you have done with the Jade Dragon legacy…and also the Asura bloodline. No other race can absorb the powers of others and use it to such efficacy as the human race can.
And lastly, and most importantly, you humans are very…fertile. Us dragons and other powerful races find it very hard to breed, and in ten thousand years we might have one or two offspring. You humans however breed and spread like wildfire, at numbers unimaginable in this universe. So while almost all humans end up completely worthless on the cultivation pathway, the sheer number of humans being born ensures that heavenly geniuses arise consistently.
So you see, while humans have the lowest starting point out of all creatures, they also have the most advantages. Advantages that allow them to bridge the gap between them and the other races of the universe should they be allowed to cultivate for long enough.
You humans have so many advantages that it almost makes me, a True Dragon, feel envious. So as I was saying, there is no better race to inherit the legacy of us Jade Dragons,” the dragon-spirit said, finishing its long explanation.
John stood there in silence for a short while, thinking over everything the dragon had just said.
“I guess that all makes sense. I always assumed that humans were relatively average in the cultivation world, but I guess we’re quite impressive after all ,” John replied eventually, but couldn’t help but smile wryly again as he recalled the dragon mentioning human reproduction as an advantage.
“As one marked by the Divine, and with your bloodline, there could be no better human inheritor for this legacy,” the dragon concluded, clearly satisfied with the outcome.
“Now that you have inherited the power of a Jade Dragon, you shall as well inherit the burden as well,” the dragon spirit said.
“Oh that’s right,” John replied, having nearly forgotten about that. “What exactly is the burden of the Jade Dragon?” he asked curiously.
“It’s this,” the dragon-spirit said as it turned to the side and gestured towards the nearby dragon egg.
“The dragon egg is the burden? What, do I have to raise and protect your child or something?” John asked, half serious and half in jest.
“That is partially right, but not exactly what the burden is,” the dragon-spirit replied as it hovered over towards the egg and gazed at it in a loving yet melancholy fashion.
“This egg does contain my child, but also the last living Jade Dragon in existence.”
“The last Jade Dragon? You’re all dead?” John asked, to which the dragon slowly nodded.
“I thought you said Jade Dragons are the strongest of all dragons? How did you all die if you’re so strong?” John asked.
“The truth of what happened relates to the burden you will carry going forward,” the dragon-spirit replied, it’s tone growing slightly colder as if it had recalled a bad memory.
It suddenly waved its hand, and three dimensional image made of Qi sprung up in the air before John, depicting a moving image of an awe inspiring scene of a group of dragons of all colors grouped together on a high mountain, with a Jade Dragon sitting on a massive throne at its peak overlooking all.
The Jade Dragon was beyond awe-inspiring, and John felt as if he could feel a portion of its heavenly might despite it being an image of the past.
The dragon spirit waved its hand again, and the scene changed, again and again, depicting new events while the dragon narrated the events of the past.
“Long ago, we Jade Dragons, the mightiest of all Dragons ruled as the Dragonlords of the Dragon Race,” the dragon spirit started to explain.
“With us Jade Dragons leading the way, we carved out a massive portion of the universe as ours, and lorded over it as kings. Dragons of all kinds enjoyed the splendors and rewards of this effort as we all banded together, and formed one of the mightiest factions this universe has known.
Our rule led to us having many enemies of all kinds, but we stood firm against the waves of enemy hordes, and firmed our rule together. Despite the passage of millions of years, no enemy that challenged us ever managed to threaten our rule….until the enemy that could arrived,” the dragon-spirit explained, and glanced sideways at John as he said the last part.
“The Asuras?” John asked, as the dragon-spirits anger and hatred when he used his Asura Transformation was still fresh in his mind.
With the fact that his greatest inheritance was his Immortal Asura Body, his second dantian was seemingly related to it, the fact that every powerful being, from Celestial Soulrend to this dragon despised them fully, and even powerful Demons feared them, John was sure that the Asura menace was much grander than the singular Asura he was prophesized to battle for the fate of the world.
The dragon spirit remained silent for a moment before nodding its head in conformation.
“The Asuras,” it confirmed.