Returning to Origin.
It was a simple three word phrase but it was one that had held undeniable importance to the Cultus for a very long time.
One of the largest problems faced in the martial world was the problem of Bloodline. Inevitably, as time passed, a Clan would always decline no matter how many counter measures they had set up to help mitigate this. There was simply no getting around this.
The Faeries were just yet another example of this. As the descendants of the Fey, their Bloodlines had long since diluted to the point a Fey hadn't been born in several Eras. Instead, they continuously birthed lesser versions of themselves forced into niche and boxed in affinities that could never match up to their Ancestors…
The thought was quite depressing when you thought about it. The Fey used to be split into just two categories. The Moon and Sun. Being born the former gave you control over all that was Yin and being born the latter gave you control over all that was Yang.
But now, Faeries could only control very specific and narrowed types of qi. Though the depth they could reach was the same, they lacked the breadth their Ancestors had had. But even this problem was just the tip of the iceberg.
The Faeries hadn't produced a Sky God in a very long time. It was to the point where Ailsa's father was forced to use a secret technique of the Cultus to raise his level to the Peak World Sea Realm.
Within the Ethereal Plane, so long as the three Kings came together, even a True Sky God would have no choice but to turn tail and run. But, how much longer could such a thing last? If Peak World Sea Realm was their limit now, what about in another generation? What about in another two generations? Three?
With the way things were going, the Faeries were bound to fall from grace, never to rise again. Knowing this, the Cultus had poured trillions of years of research into finding a method to rekindle Bloodlines.
Truth be told, when the Ancestral Beasts returned, Ailsa was even more shocked than Ryu had been. The reason for this was simple: Her perspective was different.
While Ryu was shocked by the event itself, what she saw was a group of creatures who had returned to their former peak.
The question was… How had the Ancestral Beasts done it?
When the Ancestral Beasts were forced to retreat from the Real Plane and disappeared from the martial world, the situation of their Bloodlines was even worse than that of the Faeries. The reason for this was quite simple. Ancestral Beasts were promiscuous and reproduced with practically everything. Lower level beasts, humans, other sub species… It didn't matter.
Because of their dense Bloodlines, they had the most trouble reproducing with their own, so their lax practices eventually came around to bite them.
But somehow, they had recovered.
When Ailsa saw this, she felt a light of hope rekindle. If the Ancestral Beasts could do it, didn't that mean that they could too? But, almost as soon as she had had this thought, she smiled bitterly, realizing how naïve such a thought had been.
The Ancestral Beasts were able to disappear from the martial world not by some stroke of luck. They had won the war with the Fey and became Heaven's Favored. As such, they were granted the Grace of Heaven and were allowed the chance to preserve their race.
Logically, then, wouldn't it be appropriate to conclude that the rekindling of their Bloodlines was also related to the interference of the Heavens? In that case, was it even a method Ailsa could think of using?
However… Seeing the state Ryu was currently in lit her up with the rays of hope.
Ryu was probably the very first Immortal to step onto the Mortal Plane since its inception. The result triggered a change within himself, cleansing his body and purging him of impurities so toxic it was hard to believe that he had even survived with them within himself to begin with.
'Return to Origin… It's something that we've been studying for a very long time. In the martial world, the idea of Faith and connection by it is so important. There's no greater connection of Faith and Fate than sharing a Bloodline with another.
'By this logic, it should be possible for the boost in one Bloodline to functionally advance the boost in another. So long as a person has a great amount of Faith and a family continuously produces talents, their Bloodline should enter a feedback loop of sorts that cleanses and purifies itself.
'Though it's impossible to produce talents into infinity, it would still extend the lifetime of a Bloodline by countless factors…'
This was the general gist of the theory formed by the Cultus. It was sound and cogent… The issue was that they had no idea how to execute it.
They had tried everything. They went through countless formation derivatives, made several experiments, they even tried to fuse disciplines of alchemy and formations, even at one point thinking of making a treasure that could facilitate the connection of Bloodlines, only to give up realizing that such a theoretical treasure would surpass the Origin Grade by untold amounts.
But, in all that hard work, in all that effort, even as all the generations passed… What they had never once thought of doing was using Mortal Qi.
Ailsa stood in silence, feeling the pure euphoria coming off of Ryu. Her mind was lost in a haze and she was pretty much doing everything in her power to not pounce on her husband right this moment. Of course, the terrible and toxic impurities coming from him were a large part of that barrier.
This discovery wasn't just a small matter that could be shrugged off. If she was correct, this could be the root of not only the revival of the Faeries, but also the foundation of Ryu's climb to that highest mountain peak he longed for.