novelraw Chapter 764 - 763 - Lost Race
Chapter 764 - 763 - Lost Race
"I am compiling a slip for your study so I will begin with what I can tell you. The race of True Qi users are not native to anything below the Celestial Fields. In fact, they are forbidden from descending." That little fact aligned with the Fiends. "Since the dawn of time they have lived and cultivated the natural world."
He noted a confirmation of his theory but not quite the way he imagined.
"Unlike any other race, they knew the limit of their cultivation. In a way, they were the gardeners of existence and explorers of the realms they lived in. Many humans, aether children, and so forth were lost until they received guidance. The only exception were the Divine Bloodlines." He nodded as that made some sense.
The Divine Bloodlines were often brought up in legends as the first teachers of cultivation in the mortal realms but he now realized it went back even farther.
"What do you mean they knew their limit?" He was not sure he grasped that aspect but he saw her actually look conflicted before continuing.
"When born, they innately knew how far they could go. Most made it to Immortality but a few went beyond. There was a large swathe, however, that never got past the Sky Realm." She then paused before looking at him deeply. "The reason they could accept it was due to being 100% reborn souls."
Shock flooded Lind. He in fact stood up in rage.
"ARE YOU TELLING ME THOSE MONSTERS ARE ALL REBORN?!" She did not lean back but actually forced him to sit back down.
"No. Fiends are not the same. They live so long as they can reap lives and their realm advances so long as they increase the quality of souls. I have gathered enough knowledge to know that much. Your story aligns with that as well, although–your harmony reaction is odd to me." As if her word was a summons, a spark of emerald Qi appeared in her hands and then Celestial Qi.
Instantly it turned to a spark of fire without any issue. Lind narrowed his eyes as there was no destruction! Fiend Qi was literally shattered in the conversion process but the Celestial Qi she used seemed to happily transform!
"Fascinating. Truly fascinating. I really must get all you can tell me about these harmonies." He nodded but would be setting conditions. He did not want the other powers trying to outmaneuver him.
"Before there were Fiends, almost a trillion years ago as you measure time, all the True Qi users were reborn. Time is a bit foggy between death and rebirth but generally their minds were intact. It allowed them to explore without causing too many issues." Lind could see wisdom in it but it brought a mountain of questions.
She held up her hand as if expecting them.
"Not even they knew why so many souls were reborn but they died as easily as any other being. Compared to other races, there were far fewer of them, but their power was far higher." Lind was even more confused. Then he suddenly recalled the very process he just went through.
"They were enlightened on rebirth?!" She nodded.
The True Qi and existence actually gave them innate knowledge? How unfair was that? He then realized how harsh their existence was.
"They could not go farther than their limit?" Again a nod and he felt how frustrating that would be. Various races are able to break the shackles of limits with treasures, luck, and hard work.
Yet, they could not.
"The vast majority enjoyed their lives to the fullest. They could have children but not with each other, only other races. It was a relatively peaceful time." She then looked vaguely out to the distance before resuming the story.
"My creator was born in this set of realms but she was able to reach out to the Divine Realm beyond and began to gather knowledge. It was during that time that she realized a lot of secrets of cultivation were lost. She began to wonder if maybe there was a way to progress for her race, but kept her hopes tamped down." A cracked and barely held together book appeared.
Lind saw it open very gently before he realized he could not read it at all. The symbols were complex but he recognized a few sigils here or there. It was only when a diagram appeared that his blood ran cold.
It was an altar with a person laid out and another standing over them. A flow of energy was moving from the one on the altar to the standing one. He knew what that was!
"It was a human that figured out a way. They had exhausted all other methods and were reaching the end of their lifespan. They refused to give up and studied how the True Qi users manipulated life so easily. It was then they discovered a loophole so to speak." She was speaking with disdain but the book was still there in front of them.
"Soulmancer?" The word made her sharply nod.
"They were not isolated to that Law Binding of yours. They were an order that spread a branch of weaving that was powerful and seemed without downsides but was in reality a cover for their practice of consuming souls to extend their lives." LInd felt cold inside.
He had seen them. The twisted forms and horrific bodies of the Soulmancers. He had thought it was due to Xing's influence but maybe it had nothing to do with her at all!
"My creator sealed this knowledge away as she understood the danger but shortly after finishing her work here, the ruins it was found in were raided. She worried she had missed something but what happened after that is beyond my knowledge." The book then vanished as she looked grim.
Lind felt like he was seeing a nightmare come to life in his head. He hated the Fiends and all they were but it seemed likely that the origin of the threat to all life came from human hands.
"What happened after that?" The spirit shrugged but then looked sad.
"All I know is that over a trillion years ago, anything remotely related to True Qi was corrupted in a day. A single day. I only survived because of being an Inheritance, but even that nearly broke under it. Can you understand that?" He slowly nodded. "I was then aware of Heaven's punishment on a basic level but it was just there. I do not know where it came from."
Lind suspected the True Qi instinctively passed it along or perhaps it was a final thought from her creator.
"After that day, a new race appeared. They were wildly powerful and very difficult to kill. Also, they consumed souls like food. The rest, as they say, is history." Lind felt a sort of shock as pieces fell into place.
Some of his theories were confirmed but other things he had never suspected. One thing was clear, a Celestial had found that knowledge in that book. The Fiend techniques were too refined and similar to not be from it.
"The thrall technique. They modified the thrall technique." The spirit nodded as she agreed with him.
The Soulless were not reverse engineered from the thralls, it was simply redone by the limited knowledge that survived with the Soulmancers. The thralls were derived from them!
"The Soulmancers were broken as a group back then also. They scattered and it is surprising a group survived to the present." Lind was not surprised. The world was just too damned vast and the Fiend War took up all the attention after a while.
"So, an entire race vanished and no one thought to record that event?" It was the mystery he most wanted to know.
"No, you are wrong. A race did not vanish, it was replaced. Heaven and Earth's punishments should not be underestimated." Lind slowly thought it over before his heart stilled.
"Heaven and Earth wiped the knowledge away?!" The spirit nodded but then he was very confused.
"Then why do you retain the knowledge and I have no issue with it?" She pointed at his dantian.
"You came to the conclusion naturally so you are, in a way, the redemption of that race. True Qi has returned thanks to you. The Ruin you found sounds like the last remnant of an Inheritance my creator enjoyed. It was where she began her journey for knowledge." He could understand that.
He also realized the uninhabitable region of the Ruin was a result of the curse! It was breaking down and only barely holding on!
"Our survival is due to the fact our creators were Divine Realm. As you have experienced, Divine Realms have a level of power not so easily overcome. Reality is not absolute to them." He nodded as his own wife and daughter existed due to that power.
"You will retain the knowledge but no one else can. Do not spread it around. It will not be just pain, I promise you." He nodded and accepted it.
A golden jade slip appeared on the table just then. The spirit smiled as she floated it over to him.
"I have compiled all scrolls, books, and treatises on Immortal Realm, Laws, and anything you might need. I have also included all knowledge on elixirs, Forging, and weaving. Take your time. You have no limit here." The spirit then vanished and left Lind with a very dense level of knowledge to go through.
He wished she could have been more clear on the no limit part but did not waste time.
He had already lost a month, so he theoretically had 2 to go. He assumed a lotus position with the slip nearly a third of his height in front of him. His eyes glowed as he sunk his senses into it and began to read.
Time flowed on and none knew a turning point had been reached. The most dangerous thing to arm Lind Frey with was knowledge and he had been given the very best that could be found in all existence!