Chapter 384: Chapter 16 Viral Spread
Qi Blood Martial Arts was developed by the Human Race to survive in a dangerous world filled with fierce beasts, and over time, it evolved into the most suitable cultivation path for humans.
Yet it was this path, so fitting for human cultivation, that the Spirit Clan and the Demon Clan—races almost entirely different from humans—were also practicing.
This situation was clearly not normal, but no one pursued the matter further, or rather, even if someone did, they failed to produce any results.
After all, it was very difficult to perceive the essence of things when power was restricted.
For instance, the Spirit Origin—if one’s strength was insufficient and one’s spiritual power was not strong enough, it was impossible to see it, let alone study and derive any results from it.
Wang Sheng had also wondered about this, but ever since he saw the baby within the Demon King’s Spirit Origin and heard some things from the Spirit Clan Elders, he easily concluded that it was because of this “baby” that they had no choice but to cultivate the Qi Blood Martial Arts of the Human Race.
Then, a question arose.
From the development history of the human race, it was evident that the Spirit Clan had existed early on; even humans could be considered a type of Ten Thousand Spirits.
However, at that time, there were many strange and powerful members of the Spirit Clan that humans could not compete with, so the Qi Blood Martial Arts were developed to hold their ground.
So what was the situation for the Spirit Clan before the birth of Qi Blood Martial Arts, or even for a long time after its birth?
Clearly, it wasn’t Qi Blood Martial Arts.
“The Spirit Clan must have had their own system a long time ago,” one could easily surmise.
“Yes!” The Spirit Clan elder knew this was an easy guess, so there was little surprise, “And what I am giving to you, sir, is the legacy of the Spirit Clan’s own techniques—the sealed innate talents of the Spirit Clan.”
Upon hearing the word “talent,” Wang Sheng paused for a moment, thinking that the Spirit Clan might also be a pitfall.
But he quickly dismissed that thought, knowing which “talent” the elder referred to.
“The Spirit Clan’s talent—is it something similar to martial skills?” Wang Sheng had seen a lot, so he had an idea of what such so-called talents might be.
“Talent is not martial skill. Within the Spirit Clan, there are many terms for it: Innate Divine Ability, accompanying skill… Talent is just the most widely spread term. Every Spirit Clan group has extremely special talents, and these talents are the Spirit Clan’s trump card. Of course, there are cultivation methods too, but they’re nowhere near as effective as Qi Blood Martial Arts.”
The Spirit Clan elder knew much.
The Human Race had come to dominate the world thanks to Qi Blood Martial Arts, even though the Spirit Clan was not united at the time, which spoke volumes about the potential and power of Qi Blood Martial Arts.
It was a pity that they later went astray.
“Special talents are the most important thing for the Spirit Clan, but sadly, we were dragged down by Qi Blood Martial Arts, and the talents gradually disappeared. Now, even the Spirit Clan’s physical form and thought are fading away.”
“The disappearance of talents is a devastating blow to the Spirit Clan.”
“Thousands of years ago, when the talents were gradually vanishing, it caused chaos among the Spirit Clan for quite some time. The power of the Spirit Clan was significantly reduced during that period, and now, if we hadn’t come together, perhaps any powerful force of the human race could annihilate a clan.”
“Later, when the talents completely disappeared, the path of the Spirit Clan slowly changed by force. Newborns of the Spirit Clan would no longer awaken powerful talents but would naturally practice the Qi Blood Martial Arts of the Human Race.”
The Spirit Clan elder spoke of these matters with a sense of melancholy—it was a concern related to the potential extinction of their race, and it would be hard not to worry.
“I’ve seen quite a few Spirit Clan with special talents, though?”
Da Bai and Yun Xiao both had something similar to talents.
“Sir, you probably haven’t studied those so-called Spirit Clan talents, right? Talents do not change with one’s power; they exist from birth, just like the innate intelligence of the Human Race. What’s now called talents among the Spirit Clan can be more accurately described as martial skills, since the Spirit Clan now also practices Qi Blood Martial Arts, similar to those of the Human Race.”
“Alternative martial skills?”
“Yes, Qi Blood Martial Arts are like an unusual virus for the Spirit Clan, a virus that can destroy them… and even for the Human Race, it’s… my apologies, I misspoke!” The elder lamented briefly and stopped himself upon remembering Wang Sheng was there.
In truth, Wang Sheng felt nothing special, because it was the truth.
In fact, the Spirit Clan hadn’t done anything wrong; they were just trying hard to change the situation.
He changed the subject, “The thing you’re going to give me, Elder, must be related to the Spirit Clan’s talents, right?”
The Spirit Clan Elder certainly wouldn’t bring up their talents for no reason.
“Indeed, one of our Spirit Clan ancestors, who resisted, discovered the problem and preserved some of the usable talents with his own methods. Among them, his own was the method of change. I have a part of it, which I can give to you.”
“Part of it? Do you have many?”
“Not many, but there are a few. The Spirit Clan isn’t just on this mainland; there are many other places too—I am just one of them.”
“In that case, Elder, why give it to me so readily without fearing I might take it and do nothing?” To be honest, he was somewhat interested in such things, but not greatly so.
The strength of that resisting member of the Spirit Clan was formidable, but it might not be much stronger than his own.
The methods left behind might not be of great use to him.
The only point of interest was that it was related to the Spirit Clan’s talents and also involved that special sealing technique.
The Spirit Clan elder answered candidly, “Actually, if possible, I would have preferred to give it to someone from the Spirit Clan, or even to someone from the Human Race only after a long period of assessment. But there’s no time left. Even if you hadn’t come today, I would have started making choices.”
“No time… Elder, are you going to become completely human?”
“Not just me, but the entire Spirit Clan. Due to my long life, I was chosen as the elder of the Spirit Clan. Having experienced many things, I am well aware of the current situation of our clan. Over the past few decades, an increasing number of our kind have become the Demon Clan.
Of course, there’s also a critical point—our process of becoming part of the Human Race is constantly advancing. Talents were being weakened before, but now they’re completely gone. We don’t even know how many of the Spirit Clan have turned into humans… and it seems something has happened, as this process has accelerated over the past few decades. In a few more decades, the Spirit Clan might vanish completely…
A few decades is not a long time, and that’s the best-case scenario. Should some anomalies occur, it might even be sooner.”
Is a few decades long?
For ordinary people, it’s definitely very long, but for those at the Grandmaster Level, it’s about one fourth of their lifespans, a sixth for a Great Grandmaster, and even longer for the Spirit Clan Elders, possibly as little as one tenth or even less according to the life aura they emit.
Time is relative; a few decades don’t count as long for the elders.
Wang Sheng had yet to speak when the elder continued, “Understanding what a person is like is hard; I’m willing to take a gamble. If I lose, the Spirit Clan still exists elsewhere.”
Qi Blood Martial Arts spread through the Spirit Clan like a virus over thousands of years, reaching its peak, and their “immune system” could no longer hold up.
Taking a gamble might solve the problem.
Not gambling would mean a slow death.
“Shall we gamble?”
Wang Sheng hadn’t expected, at this juncture, that there would still be investment in him.
But—
“Is the elder so certain I will accept?”
The elder was somewhat astonished; so all his talk about the threat of the Yun Demon was in vain?
Even if this person was very strong and possessed special methods, he should not have reached the strength of his ancestors, so he continued to explain.
“I’m not deceiving you. The existence of the Yun Demon will definitely affect the Human Race; you might not be able to escape…”
But—
“I know, I even fought it several times and pushed it back. To be honest, I do want to resolve it, but I have never been at a disadvantage!”
Wang Sheng never casually commits to anything unless he particularly desires it.
He had not reached the level of touching upon causality, but that didn’t mean he was without concern—accepting something from the Spirit Clan meant taking on their commission.
Being confident was one thing; acceptance was quite another.
Put simply, he could solve the Heavenly Father, but he had to be in charge.
When the elder heard this, his astonishment turned to shock.
He knew the man before him was powerful but hadn’t expected him to be so potent.
The strength of the Yun Demon, according to the information passed down, was supposed to grow stronger, yet in this era, someone could suppress the Yun Demon.
This powerhouse before him was no weaker than that resisting ancestor.
“Your strength…”
“I can easily exert the suppression force like yours, and I can see through the hidden methods you possess.”
“I’ve overstepped my bounds!”
The Spirit Clan Elder realized something in an instant; perhaps even without him saying anything, the powerful figure before him would still go after that entity.
And such a figure likely did not appreciate being told what to do.
However, after some thought, he still decided to take out two items, which appeared to be scales.
“These are left behind by our ancestor. I give them to you to handle as you see fit. I hope they are of help to you.”
The Spirit Clan Elder no longer insisted on help to resolve the Yun Demon issue.
Wang Sheng was going to solve the Yun Demon anyway, so there was actually no need for gifts.
But by offering nothing, it would seem as though they were incapable.
So they presented it straightforwardly as a gift.
Wang Sheng neither accepted nor turned it down, he inquired, “What use are these two scales?”
“I’m not entirely clear on the specifics, but according to the information handed down, one can briefly push strength beyond its limits, while the other seems to be an item that can aid in entering another world, where the Yun Demon resides.”
“Entering another world!”
Not to mention the scale that could break through strength limits—though without strength, it was indeed impossible to tackle the Heavenly Father—Wang Sheng felt it paled in comparison to the other.
Entering another world, his thoughts immediately went to the Spirit World, where only in that Spirit World would the Heavenly Father possibly be.
His Divine Thought extended to probe.
Sure enough, it picked up on some familiar auras; studying the Heavenly Father and the Spirit World for so long, he instantly judged its authenticity.
“Quite the method!”
Wang Sheng now viewed the Spirit Clan’s ancestor with new respect; he had found the correct approach, the Spirit World was the place to fully resolve the “Heavenly Father.”
At first, he didn’t want to accept, but now it seemed he might as well take it.
After all, he would deal with the Heavenly Father sooner or later.
Of course, these were just the objective reasons.
To sum up the subjective reasons, “the price was right!”