Chapter 256: Chapter 255: Beast Tide Returns (First Update, Please Subscribe)
Squeak squeak!
Amidst the flickering golden light, a fist-sized bee landed on his shoulder. Lu Xuanji reached out to stroke the golden insect, feeling the transformation of its body, with a flow of magical power circulating inside. Within its body existed a Golden Core, also known as a Demon Pill.
The Gold-devouring Insect had already become a Golden Core Demon Beast, yet its magical power was merely a jiazi, its combat power quite dismal, reputed as the weakest Golden Core in history. Nevertheless, it was still a Golden Core Demon Beast.
Using this insect’s transformation, he could better understand the mysteries of the Golden Core.
As the Gold-devouring Insect’s cultivation improved and its Life Origin evolved, its combat power would continuously increase; it couldn’t remain weak forever.
Squeak squeak!
The Gold-devouring Insect cried out, transforming into a stream of light, entering the insect bag to rest.
The insect’s intelligence was elevating, rising from an infantile state to a three-year-old state, emerging from confusion with a spark of vitality in its eyes, and the gold on its wings was increasing.
Crunch!
Crunch!
The insect was gnawing away, quickly consuming two grams of Immortal Gold before slipping into a deep sleep.
This was the life of the insect: eat and sleep, sleep and eat.
This was the cultivation journey of the insect.
If humans desired to progress in cultivation, eating alone wasn’t enough; they needed continually to refine magical power, hone the flesh, and cultivate the Divine Soul, enhancing life’s essence. All this was arduous and complex, yet for the insect, it was much simpler; it only needed to keep eating and sleeping to advance.
As the Gold-devouring Insect advanced, Lu Xuanji felt jubilant. The shackles of his body broke, his cultivation entering the Eighth Layer of the Purple Mansion.
Crunch!
Crunch!
With the transformation of his body, waves of immense power surged, washing over his flesh, refining his Divine Soul, purifying his True Essence. The area of his Dantian expanded, his meridians became tougher, his physique and bloodline underwent fierce metamorphosis, and his entire body emitted a fragrant aroma, like the grand elixir of life.
Through Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Purple Mansion, and Golden Core, not only were his cultivation and combat power improving, but his Life Origin and life’s essence were elevating as well.
This gap would expand with further cultivation.
A monkey and a human might seem similar, but no human would ever consider a monkey as its kin.
Similarly, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator might consider a Qi Refining Cultivator as kin, but a Nascent Soul Cultivator wouldn’t consider a Qi Refining Cultivator as of the same kind, as if looking at a colony of ants.
This gap was not only in cultivation but also in biological hierarchy, including reproductive isolation.
A Foundation Establishment Cultivator and a Qi Cultivation Cultivator could produce offspring, but the probability decreased when a Qi Cultivation Cultivator paired with a Purple Mansion Cultivator, and was almost nil with a Golden Core Cultivator due to a three Great Realm gap, which had already resulted in reproductive isolation.
"Congratulations on reaching the Eighth Layer of the Purple Mansion!"
Jin Xi smiled.
"Congratulations to you too!"
Lu Xuanji smiled, "You’re still at the first layer of the Nascent Soul; I wonder when you’ll advance to the second layer!"
"After the Nascent Soul stage, each layer advancement requires hundreds of years, even with abundant resources, excellent comprehension, and few bottlenecks. If unforeseen circumstances occur, it could take even longer!" Jin Xi said, "After Nascent Soul, one must attempt to walk their path, creating their Cultivation Technique!"
"Even if one’s genius or comprehension is inadequate for creating their technique, they must edit, revise, and recreate the previous techniques, adapting them to their path and not merely blindly copying. After Nascent Soul, cultivation speeds slow down... Fortunately, a Nascent Soul Cultivator has a lifespan of two thousand years, with ample time to find their path."
"A Nascent Soul Cultivator may even manipulate the Heaven and Earth Laws, participating in reincarnation to live again. Life has no remedy for regrets; what’s lost is lost forever. But after reaching Nascent Soul, they have the power to regret!"
In Jin Xi’s eyes, Lu Xuanji’s talent was monstrous; he was destined to reach the Nascent Soul stage, so knowing these things in advance was harmless.
Lu Xuanji inquired about core formation precautions, Golden Core experiences, and Nascent Soul insights—fields where his domain was blank.
Artifact Spirits like those in Feathered Transformation Pagoda and Pure Yang Sword were born with Immortal Gold memories, abundant with knowledge yet lacking that relevant to lower cultivators. As they were born with Harmonization cultivation, unlike human cultivators who advance step by step, their experiential knowledge was extremely lacking.
Jin Xi spoke about experiences, drawing from both the Jin Family’s predecessors and his own.
Boom boom boom!
At this moment, Lu Xuanji felt the ground trembling, the view afar violently shaking, as if a host of thousands galloped, their resonating waves sweeping all around.
"What’s going on?"
Lu Xuanji asked.
"A Beast Tide has occurred! The centennial Beast Tide has erupted again!"
Jin Xi replied.
The centennial here didn’t literally mean every hundred years.
It might erupt in ninety years or a hundred twenty, a hundred fifty, or even a hundred ninety years.
Lu Xuanji stepped out, Jin Xi following closely.
Atop the mountain, they saw a dense array of Demon Beasts: Demon Wolf, Demon Rabbit, Demon Rat, Demon Cat, all sorts rallying, their sheer numbers overwhelming, akin to ocean waves engulfing everything.
Beast tide, beast tide, engulfing everything.
Lu Xuanji worried, "I need to return to the Lu Family!"
Jin Xi consoled, "I’ve already arranged it; the Lu Family won’t suffer greatly, albeit there will be casualties."
Lu Xuanji asked, "In the beast tide, how many Demon Beasts are there?"
"I don’t know, nor do those Nascent Soul Demon Emperors, perhaps tens or hundreds of billions, even more!" Jin Xi said, "Each beast tide sees Human Race Nascent Soul True Monarchs and Demon Race Nascent Soul Demon Emperors collaborate to unleash emotions using the beast tide."
"Humans and demons may incessantly battle across Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Purple Mansion, Golden Core; each tier engages incessantly in bloodbaths, seizing treasures, settling vendettas, chaos reigning until the tide subsides."
"During beast tides, Demon Emperors use it to cull the excess Demon Race population; beasts like rats, rabbits, wild boars, deer reproduce prolifically, annually birthing multiple litters with numerous offspring, causing population crises too intense after a century. The tide serves to eliminate surplus Demon Races."
"Moreover, intense inter-racial Demon Race conflicts, like Tiger and Cat races against Rats, necessitate a common foe to divert these internal conflicts."
"Lastly, such trials hone some Demon Race prodigies in life-or-death battles."
"Of course, there are benefits for humans too; seizing the chance to kill Demon Beasts for resources or vanquishing rival clans, avenging grudges, and cultivating Human Race prodigies, nurturing battle-hardened talents stronger than sheltered flowers."