"Lin Sheng, you said you don't have Bloodline talent, how is that possible?"
Inside the carriage, Huang Quan looked at Lin Sheng, his eyes filled with surprise.
Lin Sheng shook his head slightly.
"I really don't."
"How did that Blazing Star Envoy recruit you back then? If you don't have Bloodline talent, how could you directly become a Gray Star Envoy??"
Huang Quan spoke as if he didn't quite believe it. He looked at Lin Sheng, seeking his opinion.
"Lin Sheng, you don't mind if I probe a bit, do you?"
"You can." Lin Sheng nodded and didn't refuse.
Immediately, Huang Quan extended his withered hand and placed it on Lin Sheng's shoulder, then closed his eyes and carefully felt around.
At the same time, Lin Sheng felt a subtle force enter his body from Huang Quan's palm, quickly circulate within him, and then return to his hand.
"There really isn't any... there's no reason for this, how is this possible?"
Huang Quan opened his eyes, his face full of disbelief. He stroked his chin, seeming quite puzzled.
"Without Bloodline talent, your cultivation progress shouldn't be this fast, right? Moreover, your body is full of qi and blood, much stronger than ordinary Martial Artists at the same level."
Lin Sheng had experienced this kind of probe once before from the Blazing Star Envoy in the black robe. However, compared to that Blazing Star Envoy, Huang Quan's probing speed was noticeably slower.
This was likely due to the difference in their strength.
Regarding Bloodlines, the black-robed man from back then hadn't explained it in detail. He had always been in a state of partial understanding. In the time since, he had also deliberately searched for a handbook on Bloodlines, but unfortunately, he hadn't found anything.
Seeing Huang Quan, he thought it was a good time to ask the question he had in his heart.
"That Senior back then said the Bloodline Power I might possess is quite faint, making it difficult to detect, but I don't know what exactly this Bloodline Power is?"
As he spoke, his gaze fell on Huang Quan, quietly waiting for the other party's reply.
"Faint Bloodline Power, huh?"
Hearing Lin Sheng's words, Huang Quan nodded hesitantly, but he was still quite puzzled.
Logically speaking, even if the Bloodline Power was quite faint, he should still be able to detect some anomaly, unless it was so faint as to be almost non-existent. Thinking this, he didn't bother to dwell on it further. After all, the Blazing Star Envoy, whose strength was above his, had personally checked, so there was no need for him to waste the effort.
"That is indeed possible. Perhaps the Bloodline Power you possess is not only faint but also in a recessive state. Although this situation is extremely rare, it has certainly occurred before."
"As for what you mean by Bloodline Power? Since there's nothing else to do, I'll give you a simple explanation."
As Huang Quan spoke, he had already taken out his pipe from his waist, lit it, and took a slow puff before continuing.
"Bloodline Power can also be understood as Bloodline talent. This world we are in is called the Barren Land. It is vast and has countless living beings. Not to mention anything else, just take Northern Yan where we are. The population is no less than several billion, and it wouldn't be surprising if it exceeded ten billion. With so many people, there are bound to be geniuses among them."
"And among those geniuses, there are some even more outstanding geniuses, or you could say, lucky individuals. These people are born with anomalies and possess special abilities that ordinary people do not have."
"Some are born with immense strength, copper skin, and Iron Bones. Even without cultivating any martial arts, they can fight against Forging Tendons Martial Artists after adulthood. Some even stronger ones can contend with Blood Transportation Martial Artists without cultivating martial arts. Of course, talents vary, and when combined with suitable martial arts techniques, they can unleash even more astonishing power. Moreover, their cultivation speed is far beyond ordinary people, and they are more likely to break through Bottlenecks."
"Without cultivating martial arts, a normal person can hunt down Blood Transportation Martial Artists!!?"
Lin Sheng gasped, his face showing shock.
Although from the reaction of the black-robed man back then, Bloodline Power was definitely a rare thing, he hadn't expected it to reach such a degree.
One must know that even his current self, capable of contending with Blood Transportation Martial Artists, relies first on cultivating multiple martial arts, and second on the body enhancement from the mountain and sea scroll. Otherwise, he would not be qualified to challenge a Blood Transportation Martial Artist at all.
And some people are born with such formidable strength, how could it not shock him?
Seeing the rare look of shock on Lin Sheng's face, Huang Quan seemed to remember something and said with some emotion.
"Does it feel like this damned old sky is very unfair?"
"It is indeed very unfair." Lin Sheng exhaled and nodded gently.
"What can you do about unfairness? In the myriad forms of life, what can truly be fair? Some are born with a golden spoon in their mouths, while others struggle even to crawl out of their mother's womb."
Huang Quan sighed leisurely, but then quickly changed the subject, a smile appearing on his face.
"Of course, there are very, very few people with Bloodline Power. Someone once calculated the proportion of geniuses with Bloodline Power, which is probably one in tens, even hundreds of thousands or millions of people. Of course, among the tens of millions of living beings, besides those born with Innate Bloodline characteristics, there are also some with Bloodline talent that needs to be activated later."
"It's just that this later activation is very random. If discovered by some major power, it might be quickly activated for them. If not, then they can only activate it themselves under some serendipitous conditions. Some unlucky ones, even if they have hidden Bloodline talent, never activate it until they die. Isn't that unlucky?"
"Acquired Bloodline and Innate Bloodline..."
Lin Sheng chewed on these two unfamiliar terms.
"So what's the difference between Acquired and Innate, and which is stronger or weaker?"
"Well, most of the time, Innate is a bit stronger than Acquired. In a true sense, there is no difference between the two, nor is there a stronger or weaker one. It's just that Acquired requires an activation process compared to Innate. People born with Innate Bloodline have the talent boost for cultivation from birth, while Acquired Bloodline only reveals its special and miraculous aspects after activation. Otherwise, there isn't much difference from ordinary people."
"If you activate it at 10 or 20 years old, you will naturally be a bit behind Innate Bloodlines in terms of cultivation. However, if both are at the same Realm, the difference isn't significant."
Huang Quan explained calmly.
He himself had a bit of a talkative nature, and now that he had opened the floodgates, he couldn't stop talking.
Lin Sheng was naturally happy with this.
"I see."
He thought of Liu Tianci, that peerless Genius in Lin'an County, who had suddenly enlightened in his teens. From then on, his cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds, and he was eventually favored by a great figure and taken to Linjiang Prefecture. He likely belonged to the Acquired Bloodline.
As for Innate Bloodline, this was the first time he had heard of it.
"Given such a disparity in proportion, aren't there not many people with Bloodline talent in the entire Great Yan Kingdom?"
After all, with such a vast disparity of hundreds of thousands or even millions, even if the Great Yan Kingdom has tens or hundreds of billions of people, at most, there would probably be no more than a thousand people with Bloodline talent.
"Indeed, there aren't many, but there are quite a few more than what this ratio translates to. After all, people who are born with talent have a good chance of having descendants with Innate Bloodline. So, the actual number of people with Bloodline talent in the Great Yan Kingdom, I wouldn't say ten thousand, but at least several thousand, there definitely are."
Saying this, Huang Quan smacked his lips, as if he had thought of something unpleasant. He lightly snorted and continued.
"Therefore, these Bloodline talented individuals are basically divided by families or sects. Due to the variability of Bloodline Awakening, those Bloodline families basically combine strengths. The stronger the Bloodline talent of the parents, the stronger the Bloodline talent of their offspring is generally."
"Some even produce powerful descendants who surpass their predecessors, possessing Bloodline talent that is stronger than their ancestors. However, the type of Bloodline talent is generally similar to that of their ancestors."
Hearing this, Lin Sheng nodded.
This situation was also normal. However, those who already possessed powerful Bloodlines would likely give birth to many powerful Bloodline individuals over years of reproduction.
And as time went on, the power of these Bloodline families would undoubtedly grow stronger and stronger.
It was hard to imagine what level the number of powerhouses would reach in those Bloodline families that had been passed down for who knows how many years?
While Lin Sheng was contemplating, Huang Quan spoke again.
"In short, Bloodline is extremely important. It is not just reflected in combat power and cultivation speed far exceeding those of the same level. More importantly, it is extremely difficult for those without Bloodline Power to break through the Bone Transformation Realm. Even if they are lucky enough to break through, their combat power is far inferior to those with Bloodline talent. Lin Sheng, do you know why?"
"Is it because of True Cultivation Method?"
Lin Sheng narrowed his eyes and spoke slowly.
"That's right, it's because of True Cultivation Method, or rather, cultivation methods."
Huang Quan smiled and clapped his hands.
"There are many living beings in this world. We humans are just one of them, and not a particularly outstanding one. Among living beings, there are those with terrifying combat power, even beyond human imagination, just like the Phantom Demon Beasts that recently appeared. Compared to these terrifying Strange Beast, we humans are far, far inferior."
"The human body is simply too fragile. Although there are various cultivation methods, the human limit is set. No matter how well you Cultivate, you can only stop when you reach the limit, and your limit is nothing compared to those Strange Beast, especially the powerful ones."
"So, Lin Sheng, do you know where the human limit is?" Huang Quan looked at Lin Sheng and asked calmly.
"Blood Transportation?" Lin Sheng thought for a moment and gave his answer.
"Yes and no. Human Physiques vary, and there are differences between individuals. Indeed, for those without Bloodline, even with good comprehension and root bones, reaching the Blood Transportation Realm is basically the end. Breaking through to the Bone Transformation Realm is extremely difficult. After all, with a mortal body, even reaching the Blood Transportation Realm only grants a lifespan of one hundred and fifty years. As one gets older, qi and blood decline, and there is absolutely no path forward."
Huang Quan shook his head and spoke.
"Moreover, to Cultivate and step into the Bone Transformation Realm, one must Cultivate a True Cultivation Method. Over ninety percent of the True Cultivation Methods in the world have Bloodline requirements. Forcing cultivation will definitely lead to Qi Deviation, and even if you don't die, you'll be half-crippled."
"So, only those with Bloodline have a chance to explore the true Peak of martial arts."
"I see. So where does Bloodline come from?"
"Well, I'm not entirely sure about the specifics, but I once heard an old guy from the organization say that Bloodline Power comes from those extremely powerful Strange Beast. It is said that a long, long time ago, I don't know exactly how long, humans were just food for those powerful Strange Beast."
"Under this heaven and earth, humans struggled to survive. The main characters of this world were those terrifying Strange Beast that could destroy mountains and overturn seas, while humans lived in the cracks. Perhaps some ancestors, by chance, obtained the blood of these terrifying Strange Beast while fighting with them. That blood was no different from a deadly poison to fragile humans."
"However, there were always some lucky individuals, one in a million, who didn't die after consuming that blood. Instead, they gradually became stronger and exhibited various special characteristics. This should be the earliest Bloodline, which then evolved over countless years to become what it is today."
"If that's the case, then can we use the blood of those powerful Strange Beast to artificially induce Bloodlines?"
This thought flashed through Lin Sheng's mind, and he immediately spoke it out.
"Heh heh... I knew you'd say that." Huang Quan seemed to have anticipated that the other party would ask this question. He chuckled, revealing his yellow teeth.
"If you can think of this, how could others not think of it? Especially those powerful families and sects. Although people have tried this method countless times, it's unfortunately useless. Ordinary people who swallowed the blood of powerful Strange Beast basically ended up exploding and dying."
"Even if they were lucky enough to swallow it and not die, it wouldn't have any effect. After all, that was something people adapted to and reproduced over countless years in ancient times to succeed. How could it possibly succeed easily now? Of course, those who didn't die might have descendants who develop a Bloodline after several hundred or even a thousand years."
"Furthermore, the origin of Blood Pills is also due to this point."
Huang Quan spoke with a smile, as if he had thought of something interesting.
"Someone came up with a unique idea: refining the blood of powerful Strange Beast with other herbs into pills. It's just a pity that ordinary people still exploded and died after consuming them, even faster than simply swallowing the blood."
"However, for Martial Artists with decent strength, it had a good effect. After years of refinement, it became the current path of Blood Pills."
The two talked all the way until sunset, when Huang Quan, unable to resist his hunger, went into the forest outside the official road to hunt for dinner, finally bringing their conversation to an end.
Inside the carriage, Lin Sheng quietly digested the information he had received today.
"Bloodline, I didn't expect it to be so important."
He muttered to himself.
He was well aware of his own talent, which was only average at best.
As for the so-called Bloodline Power, he didn't have any at all.
"However, with the enhancement of the mountain and sea scroll, as long as the Spirit Beasts that enter my body are strong enough, I may not be inferior to those powerful Bloodline individuals."
Thinking this, he closed his eyes and entered cultivation.