"Our numbers used to be much higher than this, but the village has not had a child in over 60 years, making the population age while the numbers shrank. This is all due to the men's level of genetic deterioration. It has reached a point where we're pretty much all impotent. In this generation, we're expected to lose two-thirds of our population, if the Monstrous Bulls don't get to us first, that is." The former head farmer told Xinzi.
"Is that so, the Green-Hat and Golden-Haired Immortals screwed you guys over pretty badly," Xinzi said.
"Genetic? You've been using that term for a while now. What is...genetic?" Dong Ling raised her hand, asking in confusion. She wasn't the only one puzzled by this exchange, in the White Immortal Sect, only Zi Yao had a strong understanding of genetics, in that territory leaving even a quasi-millenium old fossil like Lord Hanxing in the dust.
"To sum it up, your genetic makeup is the amalgam of all the traits you inherited from your parents. It has different names depending on language and involves a lot of complexities so I can't go into the details right now. If you're curious, I can slowly teach you. If we later go to the Imperial Wind Academy, you'll learn all that there, and they will try to twist their knowledge to convince you of what they call the Hierarchy of Races, with humans and mysterious beasts at the bottom," Xinzi said, adding more questions than he answered. Still, Dong Ling knew that this wasn't the right time to probe deeper, and so she restrained herself.
Though the people of the Great Desolation World wore ancient robes and rode carriages, the level of technological development in the Spirit clans was 10,000 years ahead of the common man's.
Spiritual Arks best exemplified this. But for people that could fly at a lightning bolt's speed, cross vast expanses of land through teleportation formations and spatial rifts, slow transportation tools that enabled them to experience the world as they went through had a lot more appeal than super-fast vehicles.
There was a lot that they could create. All diseases, they could eradicate. But they didn't care enough to solve the mortals' problems. Why would they? They weren't mortals. The philosophy of "those that aren't us are only good for scorn and exploitation" dominated the majority of the spirit clans, making it impossible for them to consider sharing their vast knowledge with the common man.
Exceptions existed, but would they ever become the norm? Xinzi didn't think so, not unless mortals became so powerful and advanced that those that scorned and exploited them had no other choice but to look at them in awe.
Setting scientific matters aside, our monk swept through the Green Leaf women's rank. 'I wanted more for potential demonic conversion, but to take care of these small farms, 5,000 cultivators are enough. As long as I can extend the men's lifespans, their numbers don't need adjustments. And the Spring of Eternal Youth can guarantee just that. We can also use a Festival of Youth to generate Eternal Life Water through these ladies' Tender Spring Physique. But am I really going to fuck 5,000 gals? That'd mean months of non-stop dual cultivation at the very least. Intriguing, but not for now.' Xinzi suppressed the decadent devil in him.
"You may rise. My Humble Self is Abbot Xinzi of the Liberation Temple. Since you've devoted yourself to me, I don't mind keeping you under my umbrella. But to join my temple, you all have to go through meticulous examinations and rites. Few will make it to the finish line."
"We ask for nothing more than the chance to serve you!" They replied almost immediately, showing impressive harmony. Xinzi liked synched groups—much easier to manage.
"The Golden Lotus be praised. Your words warm my humble heart. Be not afraid. From this onward, no one will harm you," Xinzi said, then turned to the former head farmer, who like all the other men, bowed at our monk.
"For now, the rest can stay here. You take us to the Spring of Eternal Youth, it's time it gets a new and prolific owner," Xinzi said.
"Yes, master!"
...
Meanwhile, the other camps in Green Leaf Village pondered on the recent commotion.
"Strong. Very strong."
"At least Divine Transformation level. And there might be more than one."
"Yes, but unless we unleash our spiritual senses, we have no way of figuring that out."
In-between lush shrubs, in a land where blue, green and yellow leaves gently swayed under the rustle of a mellow spring wind, a nest of gargantuan reptilian figures hovered above a translucent spring, their clawed limbs rippling with horrifying blood energy.
Under rank-six Ordained Beast level, Mysterious Beasts didn't have access to a Spiritual Sense. There was only four exceptions to this rule, the four legendary creatures: Dragon, Phoenix, Kun, and White Fox.
Though each had their own unique characteristics, they shared this one in common, through that alone reminding other Mysterious Beasts, that in the hierarchy of the myriad beast clans, they'd always stand on top.
These reptilian creatures did have Ordained Beasts among them, but even those without such cultivation had Spiritual Senses spread out, watching out for potential invasions of Green Leaf Village's most sacred territory.
The largest of these figures, a mountainous specimen stretching across a solid 100 meters, descended from the sky, shaking the earth as it landed on the ground. Its slit golden eyes stared into the distance, revealing the face of an adult dragon beast.
However, the emerald scales and red gem at the middle of the dragon's forehead made it impossible for the Great Desolation World's scholars to identify their bloodline. Only one person could: Qiu Meng.
Xue Yuanshao helped his disciple and brother-in-law in many respects, but at the end of the day, the master gave the blueprint and the disciple brought it to the peak. Even Xue Yuanshao couldn't imagine that Qiu Meng would succeed where he failed, making his dream of an innately immortal bloodline that mirrored the Hengye and Taiyang clans' ability to live for over 100,000 years even without cultivation, a reality.
The Tender Spring Physique failed. The Longevity Cowgirls failed, but the prototypical dragons in which Yuanshao had the least faith in evolved into a thunderous success—with this Eternal Dragon clan becoming the first lineage of neither Demon Noble nor Divine Spirit able to live till Heaven ended them with a Life Tribulation.
The bloodline still had several issues, but of all true True Dragon Bloodlines, only lost to the Solar Dragon clan sired by Yanglong himself. Needless to say, at the moment, these dragons couldn't revel in their might or quasi-immortality. Their eyes all glanced towards the village proper, wondering what had caused the seismic vibrations that put them all on maximum alert.
"Could it be that girl? After all, she even managed to open a Spatial Rift and form a contract with demonic forces. The Monstrous Bulls have been undergoing full demonization and might have broken through their bottlenecks.
"No. Let's not even mention that without an Ordinance, they'd need to become actual demons to cultivate to higher levels. The Monstrous Bull clan cannot attack the villagers without us noticing it, so while that girl does have the strength to trigger such a commotion, she can't be the culprit. They can't be. This...is outsider work. And after they're done with the village, they will probably aim for the Spring of Eternal Youth.
Contact the girl. This matter concerns the survival of the entire Green Leaf Village. We didn't destroy her for creating a Spatial Rift and consorting with demons, so it's time she pays back what she owes."
"No need. My Celestial Farm is impregnable, and I have no reason to fight these outsiders. You can do it on your own." Barely had the eldest dragon told his brethren, that in the sky, the clouded figure of a horned woman took shape—rejecting any alliance offer.
