Chapter 156: Chapter 152: Where Have the Prodigies Gone?
In the Holy Blood Sect, there was a saying.
Every True Inheritor had to defeat the other True Inheritor Candidates one-on-one, stepping over their corpses to claim the title.
But there were always a few exceptions.
They were few and far between—perhaps only one would appear every century, or even every few centuries.
People like this shouldn’t have existed.
Because their appearance proved that all experience and all rules were wrong.
Their path to becoming a True Inheritor was not to defeat the other candidates one by one.
Rather, it was that all the other True Inheritor Candidates could attack him at once and still not be his match.
Bai Shaofeng was just such a person.
Du Youqian was an immensely proud man. Against an ordinary True Inheritor Candidate, even after several more years of Cultivation and with his Sword Intent having grown much stronger, he felt his chances of winning wouldn’t exceed eighty percent.
Against some of the stronger ones—those with a high chance of obtaining the True Inheritor Identity—Du Youqian estimated his odds of victory were only forty to fifty percent.
But against this Bai Shaofeng, Du Youqian felt that if he had to fight him, the only outcome would be to continuously use the Reverse Blood Qi Transformation Technique. He might be able to wound his opponent, but he would then burn through his own lifespan and be forced to reincarnate.
’Win? Impossible.’
’Not a chance.’
Based on the rumors, if Bai Shaofeng were to face him, it would be a complete rout—just like when Du Youqian himself had faced Du Ruyuan.
’Would such a powerhouse really fall to a sudden cultivation deviation?’
Statistically, it wasn’t impossible.
But it felt unnatural.
It was as if an unseen hand was pulling the strings from behind the scenes.
And after hearing from Meng Xiao that for thousands of years, every true prodigy had perished before forming a Golden Core, Du Youqian’s suspicion grew even stronger.
"Do you think... could it be..." Du Youqian said in a low voice.
Even knowing no one could be eavesdropping, he couldn’t help but lower his voice.
It seemed as if discussing such a secretive topic demanded this kind of atmosphere.
Meng Xiao sighed. "I dare not let my thoughts run wild."
’Listen to that!’
’What kind of answer is that?’
’He doesn’t dare let his thoughts run wild!’
’It means he knows something is wrong, but he’s too scared to think any deeper.’
’Every true prodigy meets with an "accident." Could it be that someone is specifically targeting them?’
’What kind of earth-shattering conspiracy is this!’
But soon, Du Youqian considered another possibility. "Fellow Daoist Meng, have you ever thought that perhaps they didn’t really perish?"
A knowing look crossed Meng Xiao’s face.
"Fellow Daoist Yu, so you have the same suspicion? Any intelligent person would feel that something isn’t right. It’s just that, without paying close attention to this information and knowing that similar incidents have played out repeatedly over the past few millennia, it’s difficult to make the connection."
"However, this history has long been erased by certain people. I only learned of it myself by pure chance."
"No wonder. I’ve read voraciously, yet I’ve never seen any records of it," Du Youqian said, letting out a heavy breath. "If they didn’t perish... then where could they have gone? To the world beyond the Nine Countries of Momenan Desert?"
Meng Xiao nodded in agreement. "I believe that possibility is extremely high."
"But why?" Du Youqian asked, looking at him.
Meng Xiao thought for a moment, seemed about to speak, then stopped himself and shook his head.
After another moment of thought, he finally spoke in a questioning tone, "Could it be because they are all true prodigies? Here, they are fated never to break through to the Nascent Soul realm, so to prevent their heaven-sent talents from going to waste, a way was found to send them out?"
"Fellow Daoist Yu, what you say has some merit," Du Youqian said, his mood growing heavy. "But have you considered another possibility? What if it’s because the outside world *needs* prodigies like them?"
Meng Xiao’s expression changed abruptly, his eyes filling with panic, fear, and confusion. "If that’s the case, just how dire is the situation outside the Nine Countries of Momenan Desert? I’ve heard a saying that the Nine Countries of Momenan Desert are the last sanctuary of the Human Race, established to preserve our bloodline and Inheritance. If that’s true... then outside the Nine Countries... is the Human Race on the brink of collapse, or even facing extinction?"
After voicing his speculation, Meng Xiao glanced nervously at Du Youqian.
A chill ran down both their spines at the horrifying speculation.
After a long silence, Du Youqian finally said, "It’s just a guess. It’s not necessarily reliable."
"Right," Meng Xiao said, forcing some cheerfulness into his voice as he agreed. "Just a guess. We’re just speculating."
As they spoke, they both started to laugh.
But the laughter sounded somewhat hollow and unnatural...
"Fellow Daoist Meng," Du Youqian said, changing the subject, "what do you know about the Demon Zombies?"
"I’m afraid I don’t know much more than you do," Meng Xiao said. "Where they come from, why they appear—I have no idea. But I did investigate, and over a thousand years ago, Demon Zombies had never appeared."
"Then, about nine hundred years ago, there was a concentrated outbreak of Demon Zombies. It seemed that neither our Sect nor the Taihe Sect were too surprised at the time. They quickly organized the Major Sects, marshaling manpower and resources to suppress the Demon Zombie uprising. Not only did it not cause any serious consequences, but it actually helped various Sects gain some new Fake Pill experts."
"Ever since then, a Demon Zombie has appeared on the edge of the northern Desolate Desert every twenty or thirty years. The Evil Pools along the Desolate Desert’s border aren’t actually natural formations. Our Sect set them up there, specifically to have a valid reason to send people to Garrison the border. But starting from the year you were assigned to Garrison the Evil Pool, the frequency of Demon Zombie appearances seems to have increased, with one showing up almost every year."
Although this information wasn’t much, and in fact did nothing to answer Du Youqian’s questions, given Meng Xiao’s standing, it was impressive that he had managed to gather this much. Du Youqian couldn’t ask for more.
Meng Xiao didn’t stay for long. After reporting all the important intelligence he had gathered over the past year, he eagerly departed for the Sect.
According to him, Xi Mengran had made great strides in the past year or so. He was planning to take on some Sect missions to earn contribution points, which he would exchange for a Secret Technique that could help a Ghost Cultivator’s soul become more solid.
After Meng Xiao left, Du Youqian still found himself thinking about their conversation from time to time.
If their speculation was true... if those prodigies really were being sent to the outside world...
Then Du Youqian would have another way to get there himself.
He would only need to accumulate a deeper foundation in this life, then reincarnate. In his next life, he would join the Holy Blood Sect or the Taihe Sect again, sweep through his generation as the most powerful prodigy, and naturally be sent to the outside world.
Of course, upon deeper reflection, that plan had too many uncontrollable variables.
Du Youqian’s first priority was still to find the Liu Hua Cave Mansion. If that path proved to be a dead end, he would consider other options.
~~~~~~~~~~
Cultivators tend to lose track of the passage of time.
The years and months used by mortals held little referential meaning for high-level Cultivators.
They would casually enter seclusion for months of meditation and Breathing, or bury their heads in practicing a single Secret Technique for months or even years.
When they encountered a bottleneck, a decade of seclusion was considered normal.
Therefore, Du Youqian had grown accustomed to using important milestones as his frame of reference.
The assessment held every three years, for instance.
Or the changes in his own strength.
At the age of 31, Du Youqian advanced to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
By his count, it had been thirteen years since he had broken through the Mystery of the Womb in this life.
In his second life, thirteen years of Cultivation had only gotten him to the Qi Cultivation Third Layer.
Then there was his third life. As "Qiu Yuanqing," he had spent the first six years in the Governor’s Mansion, so he had only actually cultivated for a short ten years.
In those ten years, relying on Elixirs that would exhaust his future potential, he had barely managed to reach Qi Cultivation Perfection.
And then there was this life.
A Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator at 31 definitely had a chance of reaching Foundation Establishment Perfection before the age of 60, becoming a "Golden Core Seed" in the eyes of the world.
Of course, of every ten so-called Golden Core Seeds, it was considered a good outcome if even two or three managed to blossom brilliantly and bear bountiful fruit.
Seven or eight out of ten would still fail at Core Formation.
But for most cultivators at Foundation Establishment Perfection, the probability of successful Core Formation was less than ten percent.
In this life, Du Youqian had set a clear goal for himself: if he had a chance at Core Formation, he would definitely make an attempt.
But he had to prepare well in advance to ensure he wouldn’t perish during the Pill Formation Tribulation.
If the chances of Core Formation were slim, that was fine too. He would just strive to live on, reach the full lifespan of a Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivator, master his Swordsmanship, learn a few powerful Secret Techniques, and solidify his foundation.
Then, in his next life, after breaking through the Mystery of the Womb, he would take the Nine Countries of Momenan Desert by storm as the most powerful prodigy of his generation.
Du Youqian flicked his sleeve, and the somewhat stale air in the secret chamber was instantly refreshed.
He rose to his feet, and the door to the secret chamber swung open silently.
Fang Hua, who had been sitting at the entrance hugging her sword for who knows how long, brightened up. She stood and said in a crisp voice, "Fellow Daoist Yu, you’ve come out of seclusion!"
Then she exclaimed joyfully, "You’ve successfully broken through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage!"
