Chapter 157 - 156: Human Race and Demon Race
Compared to the monsters, mankind was an emergent race who managed to defeat previous rulers.
In earlier stages, monsters held advantages that mankind could hardly match. Monsters were physically strong, violent in nature, and possessed innate divine abilities through their bloodline, which required no understanding to manipulate freely.
In earlier stages, humans were physically weak. Before learning Taoism and divine skills, they should read enlightenment books like “Introduction to Cultivation”, memorize the path of spiritual energy circulation taught by the school teacher, numerous times, and then awaits the intake of the spiritual energy into their bodies, after which they could learn some shallow Taoist techniques.
Taoism was not something that could be mastered instantly. It required comprehension and talent. Even at the Foundation Establishment Stage, not all would grasp the basics of Taoist techniques.
The innate divine abilities of monsters were mostly designed for slaughter, while humans had a wide range of Taoism techniques that were non-lethal, such as techniques to speed up plant ripening or to control rainfall.
Therefore, before reaching the Nascent Soul Stage, the average strength of monsters surpassed that of humans, which was why there were proud individuals in the human race who ventured into monster territory to undergo trials.
The advantage of the monster race continues until the Nascent Soul Stage.
If born with good fortune and a decent bloodline, monsters could ascend to the divinity transformation stage or the Body Integration Realm, producing cases of unintelligent Body Integration Realm Demon Kings like the Kylin King, who merely had a powerful bloodline.
Among humans who could become Divinity Transformation or Body Integration Realm cultivators, every one of them was an extraordinarily gifted individual. They emerged from countless Nascent Soul Stage cultivators, every aspect of their talents and disposition was excellent, and the divine skills they cultivated were no less potent than the bonuses brought by top-tier monster bloodlines.
Upon reaching the Transcendance Tribulation Stage, it becomes the reign of humans, leaving monsters in the dust. Among the five who reached the
Transcendance Tribulation Stage, not one of them was from the monster clan.
However, the limits of the current meeting were set at the Nascent Soul Stage, which gave the monsters a considerable advantage if they participated.
Tiger Bone revealed a brutal smile, not considering the weak-looking human in front of him a threat. The tiger clan was a branch of the Ba tribe, holding a high status within the monster clans that valued strength above all. Therefore, as the finest cub in the tiger clan at the Foundation Establishment Stage, he obviously aimed to be the top contender of the meeting.
The name ‘Tiger Bone’ demonstrated his excellence. Only those who reached a certain level of strength and gained recognition from their tribe were allowed to be named after body parts, in accordance with Ba Clan tradition, which was also observed by the tiger clan.
Yun Fan seemed to recognize the strength of the monsters, evidently appearing a bit nervous.
“The contestant Tiger Bone makes the first move. He doesn’t use any spiritual treasure, seeming to plan on winning by relying on his powerful physique alone. ”
Tiger Bone held Spiritual Treasures in disdain. He believed that his physical body was strong enough, and he didn’t need any auxiliary Spiritual Treasures.
“Contestant Yun Fan takes out nine copper coins, trying to set up a defensive formation with the coins! ”
“However, he has been frightened by Tiger Bone’s posture and is somewhat nervous. He hasn’t yet set up his defensive formation. Could he be defeated because of this?!”
“Contestant Tiger Bone is getting closer and closer, but Yun Fan still isn’t ready. Will he lose?!” Heaven-Destined Taoist suddenly raised his pitch.
“My god, fellow Taoists, you look! The nine coins have automatically set up the defensive formation, and Tiger Bone, who rushed into them, was thrown away!”
Tiger Bone swayed dizzily, crashing into the coins. He hadn’t expected the nine copper coins to act on their own.
However, this was just a fluke. If he had been prepared, this level of defense wouldn’t be a problem.
He rushed again with teeth and claws bared menacingly, his tiger paws sharp, and fierce like the wind.
Inspired by the nine coins, Yun Fan gradually regained his composure and used the coins to form a bronze shield, raised his body to dodge the swipe of Tiger Bone’s claw.
Tiger Bone’s tail, like a whip, lashed out at Yun Fan who was behind him.
Regaining his state, Yun Fan made the coins follow his wishes, lined up in a row and transformed into a long sword.
Yun Fan flexed his wrist, blocking the tail of Tiger Bone.
The tail wound around the long sword, attempting to snatch the weapon away. The sword then transformed into scattered large coins, breaking free from the tail.
“We can see that both sides have entered a stalemate. The Tiger Bone competitor’s offense is swift and fierce, but it’s all neutralized by Yun Fan’s unpredictable large coins. Yun Fan leverages his strengths and avoids his weakness, refusing to engage in a head-on collision with Tiger Bone. His technique is dexterous, leaving us all astounded.”
“Speaking of these large coins, there’s an interesting anecdote.” Seeing that the two were at a standstill, the Fate Daoist began to narrate another story.
“The Cloud Transformation Sect was the first sect that the Human Emperor Jiang joined, not as a disciple, but as an accountant. The first spiritual treasure he obtained there were these large coins, low-grade spiritual artifacts. They were quite ordinary, but the Human Emperor Jiang used them in innovative ways. Even Qi Cultivators in the late stage found it hard to handle the mid-stage Human Emperor Jiang who wielded these large coins.”
“Since then, the Cloud Transformation Sect has adopted the usage of copper coins as weapons. However, they’re not as clever as the Human Emperor Jiang. The large coins didn’t shine in their hands and remained just your average spiritual treasure.”
“Now it seems that the large coins have developed a spiritual intelligence, resonating with Yun Fan, exhibiting a bit of the Human Emperor’s flair.”
Jiang Li nodded slightly. Yun Fan’s talent was mediocre and his combat skills were just slightly above average for the Foundation Establishment Stage. He was no match for a demon tribesman like Tiger Bone.
However, Yun Fan’s seamless coordination with the nine large coins made his offense and defense transitions fluid, like drifting clouds and flowing water. Even when Yun Fan was slow to react, the large coins would keep up the rhythm and automatically defend against the enemy.
Tiger Bone, despite his impressive strength, had nowhere to vent it. He roared in frustration, quickly exhausted, and was defeated by Yun Fan.
Eventually, Yun Fan triumphed over Tiger Bone through judicious use of force rather than brute strength.
“Good fighting spirit, Tiger, but unfortunately, you’re too stubborn.” MO Ruoyu of Penglai Fairy Island teased.
White Snow Spirit shook her head helplessly: “The demon tribe takes pride in their physical strength, thinking that using spiritual treasures is a gimmick. They refuse to use them. I’ve repeatedly tried to popularize the use of spiritual treasures but have always failed.”
Upon becoming the real White Marsh Emperor, and with the rebellion of the vassal kings becoming history, she moved her focus to enhancing the overall strength of the demon tribe.
The power of the demon tribe comes from their bloodline, a problem she couldn’t resolve. White Snow Spirit couldn’t ask pure-blooded divine beasts to breed extensively and produce more offspring.
Yet, a minister really suggested that White Snow Spirit should entertain an extensive harem, have parties every night, and give birth to more White Marshes.
She was very close to severing that minister. Is this how to serve as the mother of the nation?
The Dragon Palace had numerous spiritual treasures. White Snow Spirit reached a cooperation agreement with the Dragon Palace to purchase their spiritual treasures for the demon beasts to use. But the demon beasts, lagging behind the times, couldn’t understand White Snow Spirit’s approach and resisted. This made White Snow Spirit feel powerless and frustrated.
Hopefully, this competition could wake up some of the demon beasts.
“White Marsh Emperor, if you wouldn’t mind, why not let our Confucian Sect enter your imperial court and persuade the demon beasts to use spiritual treasures?” The Confucian Sect Hierarch, Dong Zhongren, marketed his sect.
Demons were savage, thoughtless, and unintelligent. Even the silver-tongued disciples of the Confucian Sect couldn’t stop the impulse of demon beasts to eat people, making it challenging for the Confucian Sect to make any progress in the White Marsh Empire.
If White Snow Spirit cooperated, however, the Confucian Sect might be able to make headway in the White Marsh Empire.
“…I will consider your proposal.” To be honest, White Snow Spirit was tempted, but she did not agree immediately. She needed to weigh the pros and cons. The Confucian Sect indeed could persuade the demon tribe to reason, but they could also cause the demon tribe to lose their vitality.
Demons without vitality are like toothless tigers, not even good for scaring people. That would be a losing outcome.
“The Tiger Bone competitor made a wrong move and unfortunately lost.” The Fate Daoist said regretfully, “If Tiger Bone had a spiritual treasure to partner with, the outcome might have been different.”
Tiger Bone walked off the stage dejectedly, his fluffy little tiger ears twitching,
a glimmer in his eyes..