Chapter 45 - 7 I'm a cat?! No way!

The so-called "Demon Clan" is not a race, at least not in biological terms. The scientific name prepared by Spirit Beast Mountain for the Demon Clan is "Demonized Individual." For instance, the Barbaric Lion Demon, biologically speaking, should be correctly referred to as "Felidae Panthera species Lion kind Barbaric Lion subspecies Demonized Individual." As for the designation "Demon Clan," it more often pertains to a cultural identification. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Demon Clan once had a civilization that briefly flourished. However, in the era dominated by the Human Clan, practically nothing remained of the Demon Clan's culture, and their language was basically reduced to roars, with at most two Great Demons using Spiritual Sense to convey simple information such as images. During the zenith of the Ancient Method Immortal Path thousands of years ago, the Human Clan could be considered the hegemon of Shenzhou, although they were far inferior to the dominion of the four Sea Dragon Clans. Yet they excelled in unity and possessed a complete cultural system. Thus, some insightful Great Demons began learning human scripts, and Transformation... *cough*, the Divine Skill of Transformation was developed during this period. Demons were not born with Spirit Wisdom, but rather acquired it through coincidentally aligning their innate activities with the Breathing of Heaven and Earth, gradually leading to Spirit Awakening. This principle is similar to the Modern Method. The initial Modern Method was indeed inspired by the cultivation practices of the Demon Clan and developed by Spirit Beast Mountain in collaboration with Wanhua Valley. It is also because of this reason that the innate Divine Skills of the Demon Clan conform to the laws of Heaven and Earth, rendering the Ancient Method Practitioner to exclaim their invincibility. Relying on their innate Divine Skills as capital, the Demon Clan, as loose as sand, engaged in countless direct confrontations with the Human Clan on the Shenzhou Continent. It was only after the Immortal Path of the Modern Method, which annihilated the Ancient Method Practitioners, declared a full-scale war on the Demon Clan, that they mustered the courage to overturn the status quo. Subsequently, the nine iconic Great Demons, who refused to renounce the privilege of eating humans and led thousands of Demons toward freedom, were quickly taught to behave by the foremost exponent of the Modern Carefree practice using their best-known strategies. The King of Ten Thousand Fungi, Bashide, of the first rank, planted mushrooms in the High Mountain Tree Demon. Fentian Marquis Kelvin, using the "Heavenly Entropy Technique" to control temperature, burned Sea Dragon Bifang to death and froze Beiming Cold Chi to death. Northern Wilderness's bear, Xiong Mo, whose talent lay in employing the power of the earth element to his advantage, was flattened into a pancake by Yuanli Master Newton, using gravity. The Great Demon of the East Sea coast, known for being the strongest in close combat, was simply killed barehanded by the first Carefree Practitioner of the Modern Method, Heavenly Selection God Monarch Darwin. In the Naxi Ancient Land, the Mysterious Poison Demon King, unmatched in poison skill, was turned into a pile of rotting bones by the Carefree Practitioner from Burning Gold Valley, possessing the ultimate poison, . The Jilei Pond, the so-called Human Clan forbidden area and the lair of the Demon King, was the site where Prison Thunder Venerable, wearing the Prison Thunder Spell, stood his ground and took the Thunder Strikes from the Thunder Beast Demon King head-on. By the time the Demon King realized the futility of his actions, he had already been roasted by the microwaves generated from his strikes. Prison Thunder Venerable then used the Electric Crossbow Magnetic String to shoot out the roasted meat, killing the Thunder Beast Demon. The eighth to be eradicated, the Golden Sword Demon King, was none other than a transformed Ancient Sword. Having transformed after drawing the blood and essence of humans, the Demon became even more violent after transformation, turning an entire city into blood water to gather in a pool, self-proclaimed "Ancient Sword Pond." The Golden Sword Demon was a natural Sword Cultivator, with every movement radiating Sword Qi. In the end, the Carefree Practitioner from Light Hall, De Bui, using the "Elephant Phase Wave Skill," literally chopped him into pieces. After the demise of the Golden Sword Demon, the last influential Great Demon fled overseas with his confidants. Since then, there were no more Demon Clans on the Shenzhou Continent. The continent's Demon Clan was all governed by the Immortal Alliance. Those who abandoned the savage act of eating humans and complied with the education of the Human Clan had all their rights equal to Human Clan cultivators. By today, some Demons have even appeared in the middle ranks of the Immortal Alliance, and Half-demons have become a significant population. After finishing his explanation, Wang Qi didn't forget to ridicule Zhen Chan, "Did you hear that? 'The innate talent of the Demon Clan is unbeatable' has long been a joke. Those who don't know how to climb the Technology Tree are just laughable - they might be stronger at the start, but once the secondary resource nodes are open, all they can do is sigh!" Mao Zimiao: "Although I don't understand what Xiao Qi is talking about, it still sounds very awesome, meow..." "By the way, what Cultivation Technique are you planning to study? If I recall correctly, you were contemplating Liuyun Sect's 'Cloud Mist Sun Covering Technique,' right?" "Cloud Mist Sun Covering Technique" was one of the more primitive Cultivation Techniques within Liuyun Sect, obtained by its founder through observing cloud mist and Heavenly Phenomena, and still bore traces of Ancient Method Water Element cultivation methods, incomparable to the "Flow Control Technique." However, "Cloud Mist Sun Covering Technique" had a low threshold and was easy to start, and both its light-body ability and Nourishing Life effects were relatively good. Mao Zimiao shook her head: "No, that's not it. I've decided, I'm going to study the 'Heavenly Calculation Atlas,' meow." Wang Qi was startled, "Just you?" Spirit Beast Mountain and Yangshen Pavilion had both declared that there was no evidence to show that half-demons had inferior spirit wisdom to humans, but Wang Qi had once suspected that this was a fake declaration issued to avoid "racial discrimination." From what Wang Qi had seen, Mao Zimiao's level of mathematics was simply... horrifying. If Mao Zimiao were not the only half-demon Wang Qi was familiar with, he would have definitely considered this a general rule of this world. The limitations in mathematics level made Mao Zimiao's choices for mental methods very narrow. Mao Zimiao puffed up her cheeks, "Xiao Qi, you're being too mean, meow! Do you think I'm an idiot?" Wang Qi revealed a sincere smile, "Yep!" "Yep, my ass, meow!" "But I suggest you reconsider," Wang Qi said earnestly, "The 'Heavenly Calculation Atlas' indeed emphasizes accumulation and inspiration, but from what I know, when you practice this cultivation technique to a deeper level, you'll need to understand mathematical reasoning." Mao Zimiao shook her head, "Isn't it the same, meow? Don't most modern cultivation techniques need mathematics as a supplement when practiced to a deep extent, meow?" "That's also true." The mental method of Wanfa Sect is known as the authentic Modern way for a reason; nearly all sects' cultivation techniques bear traces of Wanfa Sect. Wang Qi changed the subject, "By the way, Azimiao, what made you suddenly want to practice such a quintessential cultivation technique?" "A senior who's been very kind to me told me, meow. In order for a half-demon to maximize their potential, they at least need to supplement their training with the 'Heavenly Calculation Atlas' meow. At least until Foundation Establishment, I plan to mainly practice the 'Heavenly Calculation Atlas' and supplement it with the 'Cloud Mist Sun Covering Technique.'" Wang Qi whistled, "Someone kind to you? Sugar daddy? An affair?" Mao Zimiao's face flushed red, "It's not like that, meow! Senior Sister Ai... Senior Sister Ai just acts a bit... a bit unconventionally, meow!" "I thought it was an unwritten rule at first, but turns out it's pure lily love!" "It's not, meow!" "Hey, does she have..." Quickly, Mao Zimiao recalled the fear of having her integrity shattered by Wang Qi and the humiliation of being teased by him — when it came to "integrity outbursts," the innocent half-demon was no match for Wang Qi. Fortunately, Wang Qi knew when to stop. Seeing Mao Zimiao's expression slightly twisted and her anger gauge about to fill up, he wisely ended the topic and took out something from his storage bag, "Okay, okay, let's not talk about this. Here, this is a thank-you gift, thanks for helping me sew the pillow." Mao Zimiao looked puzzled, "What's this... Is this some kind of spirit grass, meow? It looks a bit familiar, eh?" Wang Qi held a plant in his hand, its stem upright, with green conical flower clusters tightly packed together into a cylindrical shape, and bristly rough to the touch—this is a precise description. A more literary description would be: it looked like some dog-tail grass. "Poaceae family, dog-tail grass genus, an annual herb... probably annual, right? I haven't been here a year, so I'm not certain. With Xin Mountain being such a feng shui treasure, it wouldn't be impossible for this thing to mutate into some extraordinary heavenly material or treasure." It really was dog-tail grass! Mao Zimiao's mouth twitched, "This... how do you use it?" Wang Qi offered the dog-tail grass to Mao Zimiao, "I'll just demonstrate." "Okay." Mao Zimiao nodded, but after waiting for a long time, Wang Qi was still waving the grass around. She couldn't help but ask, "Xiao Qi, what on earth are you doing, meow?" Wang Qi frowned, "Don't you want to slap this grass with your hand? Or do we need to resort to the ultimate method?" "Eh?" Mao Zimiao was about to ask what the "ultimate method" was, but when she saw Wang Qi moving the dog-tail grass towards her chin, she completely understood. "Meow—! Don't! Use! Me! As! A! Cat!" A few minutes later, Wang Qi finally got up from the ground, "The strength of a half-demon is really frightening..." Mao Zimiao, who had not yet reached the Qi Cultivation Stage, slapped Wang Qi, who was in the Qi Cultivation Stage, nearly knocking him unconscious in her angry embarrassment. Zhen Chan said, "Using catnip to entertain a cat demon... the things you come up with." Wang Qi held the dog-tail grass in his mouth, "What's wrong with that?" "It's very wrong. I was wondering why you were picking dog-tail grass on the road today," Zhen Chan huffed, "Besides, folks chew on grass stems because they want something to chew on or they crave the sweet juice of the plant. Dog-tail grass stems are astringent, so why are you chewing on it?" Wang Qi rolled his eyes, "I like it." Zhen Chan fell silent for a while, "Could it be that you think it has been tainted with the scent of that half-demon girl?" Wang Qi opened his mouth wide, and the dog-tail grass he was holding in his mouth slid to the ground, "Oh my... I've noticed that you, old man, have been slipping in your moral integrity lately..." "The dye of a close association." "Heh." "What are you planning to do next?" Wang Qi shook his head, "I haven't decided yet. It's probably better not to meditate or practice Qi Cultivation before the conflict between mental methods is resolved. I'm tired from the afternoon, and practicing martial arts now would not yield good results." Thinking of the conflict between mental methods, Wang Qi looked in the direction Mao Zimiao had left. That silly cat has also made her decision about her path... What about me? What exactly am I planning to do? What is my ideal? A tumult of thoughts flooded his mind. After a long while, Zhen Chan spoke up to remind him. Wang Qi shook his head, "Forget it, this is not something that can be figured out in a day or two. Besides, no matter what, I have to resolve the issue with my cultivation technique first." At present, studying the "Heavenly Calculation Atlas" seemed to be the only way out. But Wang Qi, who lacked interest and talent in biology, could not see a future on this path. In fact, Wang Qi had also thought about circumventing the Evolution Theory and trying to deduce the "Heavenly Calculation Atlas" using pure mathematical methods. But this might bury unforeseeable risks, which was why he hesitated so much. Standing still and thinking for a while, Wang Qi still shook his head, "Forget it, I will just do some intensive learning of biology in the coming month or two." Having made a decision, Wang Qi headed for the Book Tower. Although the Book Tower no longer lent out books at night, the Ten Thousand Immortals Mirror was always available. The "network" was a new phenomenon in Shenzhou and its entertainment functions had not been developed, so not many people used it. In the Immortal Mirror Room with more than thirty Ten Thousand Immortals Mirrors, only five or six were in use. Wang Qi sat in front of a Ten Thousand Immortals Mirror and then faced difficulty again. His understanding of biology was hardly better than a high school textbook, and he had no idea what knowledge he should focus on cramming. "Tomorrow I'll ask a cultivator from Tianling Ridge... Right, Tianling Ridge, Spirit Beast Mountain is a branch of Tianling Ridge..." Tianling Ridge, in ancient times, was formed by the merger of Spirit Beast Mountain and Wanhua Valley, which then gave birth to many branches, with Spirit Beast Mountain always being the largest. Suddenly remembering the expression Su Junyu had when mentioning Xiong Mo at noon, Wang Qi was overcome with curiosity. The research of the Immortal Alliance's various sects on the Ten Thousand Immortals Illusion Mirror were all recorded, but experimental plans and reports required merit to access. However, that only applied to successful experiments. Rejected experimental plans and interrupted experiment reports were free to browse. Wang Qi placed his palm on the Ten Thousand Immortals Mirror and infused mana. The copper mirror quickly shone with a hazy layer of light. Then, a Tai Chi diagram appeared as the "startup screen." Wang Qi efficiently activated a function called "Ferry" — reputedly named with the sentiment of "an endless sea of learning, sailing across in a small boat." After entering the keyword "Xiong Mo," Wang Qi saw the result he wanted. Then, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Holy crap!"