HSSB425: Demonic bloodline cultivators
While this group of demonic bloodline cultivators had accidentally let the serpent escape from the cage, inflicting immense damage, in the face of danger and death, they had mostly maintained their composure, cooperating in battling it in an orderly manner.
Their clothes as well as equipment were orderly and of rather high quality as well.
Yan Zhaoge deduced that their background must not be weak.
Indeed, these martial practitioners hailed from a major power of the Furan Kingdom’s capital city Kanghe, the Eagle Feather Sect.
Yan Zhaoge and the others all had limited understanding on the background of this Eagle Feather Sect, but that wagon which had been damaged carried a bright yellow symbol.
Yan Zhaoge already knew that in the various countries of the Floating Life World, the royal family similarly took on bright yellow as their colours. Like in the Eight Extremities World, this followed the ancient customs of before the time of the Great Calamity.
While they had redeveloped their civilisations on what little foundation remained, the cultivation route of the martial practitioners of the Floating Life World being diametrically different from that of before, many things were still influenced by the civilisation of before the Great Calamity.
For a clan to be able to prosper within a nation’s capital, it was either that their strength presided over that of the nation in question or that they were very close to the royal family.
The Eagle Feather Sect was not the Blood Cloud Clan, not possessing such great power. Connecting this to them helping to escort the prisoner wagons, the latter situation clearly applied. They must be connected to the Furan Kingdom’s royal family.
Yan Zhaoge was extremely satisfied by this.
While his current party was currently masquerading as people from undeveloped, rural places, the Furan royal family should also wish for experts or those with ability to pledge fealty to them.
Yan Zhaoge had no interest in being a guest there. All he was interested in was who the stone carving made by his mother had been excavated away by.
At the same time, conversing with these Eagle Feather Sect demonic bloodline cultivators while travelling together, Yan Zhaoge was also able to gain a greater understanding of the Floating Life World through the perspective of martial practitioners.
The strongest powers of the Floating Life World were known as the Three Demons and Four Clans. The Blood Cloud Clan was one of the Four Clans, being the current strongest power of the Floating Life World.
In this world, the cultivation of demonic bloodline cultivators was rather unique.
This was because as one guided the blood of the demonic beast into their body to refine, the demonic beast bloodline would meanwhile unceasingly affect the mind of that martial practitioner.
If they lost control, the demonic bloodline cultivators could step pass that forbidden boundary, awakening the bloodline of the demonic beast they were refining.
Under such a state, these demonic bloodline cultivators were generally known as semi-demonised practitioners. They would be much more powerful than they had been originally. At the same time, cultivating with the demonic beast blood as a foundation, their rate of improvement would be much quicker than that of typical demonic bloodline cultivators.
However, their humanity would regress, their bestial instincts awakening, this being irreversible as they would become half-beast, half-man.
While they might still be able to recover their original appearance, the semi-demonised practitioners were more like the demonic beasts whose blood they had refined, being bloodthirsty and brutal, beginning to thirst for the flesh and blood of humans.
Cannibalism by semi-demonised practitioners was not a rare occurrence.
Because of their familiarity with human society and its martial practitioners, the damage and chaos caused by semi-demonised practitioners were often even more brutal and terrifying than that by most demonic beasts.
Yan Zhaoge stroked his lower chin, “Back in the primordial forests, with that leopard that was offed by me, when his power over thunder and lightning manifested in the form of the silhouette of a Six-Legged Flying Lightning Leopard, his gaze full of wildness and bloodthirstiness and his strength having increased greatly, that should have been him transforming into a semi-demonised practitioner after having lost control of himself, right?”
Xu Fei said, “After you broke off his arms, at the shock of it, the demonic beast bloodline within his body was awakened a step further as he completely lost human form, truly turning into a Six-Legged Flying Lightning Leopard.”
While semi-demonised practitioners would change greatly in personality, they would still be able to increase their strength through the cultivation methods of demonic blood cultivators.
However, if they lost control a step further, the demonic beast bloodline within their bodies completely awakening, the end result would be them increasing greatly in strength yet further but at the same time also turning irreversibly from a human into a demonic beast for good.
From a certain perspective, it was like a demonic beast having obtained new life with a human’s body.
Yan Zhaoge curled his lips, “I have really sinned, it seems.”
Generally speaking, semi-demonised practitioners were loathed by everyone. Due to certain psychological factors, the wariness and hostility of humans towards semi-demonised practitioners was even greater than that directed at true demonic beasts.
Here, of the Three Demons and the Four Clans, the ‘Three Demons’ did not refer to demonic beasts or the demon tribe as in Yan Zhaoge’s memories, instead referring to the current three most powerful semi-demonised practitioners of the Floating Life World.
Due to their partial demonization having caused their strength to skyrocket, these three semi-demonised cultivators could basically also be considered the current three greatest experts of the Floating Life World.
While in the Four Clans of demonic bloodline cultivators, there were as many as experts as there were clouds, speaking of one versus one battles, there were none who were able to stand against any of the Three Demons.
Normally, demonic bloodline cultivators would rely on their numerical superiority and coordination to hunt down and kill semi-demonised practitioners.
Gradually, the semi-demonised practitioners had also begun congregating by the side of the ‘Three Demons’, being accepted into organisations under them. Like demonic beasts guarding around the side of their beast king, they resisted the martial practitioners of the human race.
Other than the Three Demons and Flour Clans, there also existed some powerful pure demonic beasts in the Floating Life World, existences that people did not dare to lightly provoke.
There were conflicts between demonic bloodline cultivators and demonic beasts, and there were conflicts between semi-demonised practitioners and demonic beasts as well. True demonic beasts seldom had much interaction with semi-demonised practitioners, more of it being battling it out as both sides tried to devour each other’s flesh and blood in order to strengthen themselves.
The entire Floating Life World appeared violent and stained with blood.
Ah Hu asked curiously, “Young Master, even if Madam wasn’t born in this world, she should also have left behind some marks here, right? Have you had any news about her?”
Yan Zhaoge shrugged, “At the very least, these Eagle Feather Sect people are indeed ignorant on the matter. Of course, I also cannot press them too much.”
The two groups of people proceeded onwards together like this, arriving at the capital of the Furan Kingdom, Kanghe City.
While the architecture style in Furan City still appeared rather rough, it naturally flourished much more than Muzi City over to the south borders.
That martial practitioner of the Eagle Feather Sect, Chen Shuo, was rather a warm and forthright person. He treated Yan Zhaoge and the others politely and well, also referring him to see his Master, the Chief of the Eagle Feather Sect Gao Fang.
Gao Fang was a hale and hearty looking old man with white hair and childlike features.
This old man seemed to be warm and forthright like Chen Shuo, but was deeply intelligent and experienced with age as he kept on trying to sieve out the background of Yan Zhaoge and the others amidst their conversation.
The cultivation methods of demonic bloodline cultivators were different from the martial civilisation of the Eight Extremities World.
If it were true demonic beasts, one would instead be able to determine their strength through the spiritual qi fluctuations of their demonic energy.
However, the origin of a demonic bloodline cultivator’s strength, also the foundation on which they cultivated, all lay within the demonic blood within their bodies, adding on numerous formless inscriptions on their bodies.
When not fighting, these things could all not be seen.
With their level of qi also being very low, Yan Zhaoge and the others could not easily determine the individual strengths of these martial practitioners of the Floating Life World at all.
As for Gao Fang, Chen Shuo and the others, after Yan Zhaoge and the others had intentionally retracted the auras, they too were unable to tell their cultivation bases, only able to guess at it.
As for the prying of Gao Fang, Yan Zhaoge parried all the questions that came. While Ah Hu, Xu Fei and the others all not knowing how to speak the language would inevitably lead to the other side’s suspicions, they still managed to get past it as a whole.
After Gao Fang and the others had taken their leave, Yan Zhaoge left their current lodgings and strolled leisurely about Kanghe City. There, he gained an increased level of understanding regarding the Eagle Feather Sect from the mouths of others.
This sect was indeed subordinate to the Furan royal family. It could be considered one of the few major powers of Kanghe City.
Meanwhile, the pieces of news in the Furan Kingdom that had drawn the most attention in recent days was that an envoy from the Blood Cloud Clan would soon be arriving and organising a great talent meet in Kanghe City, with the young heroes from the Furan Kingdom and its neighbouring countries all able to participate in this meet. It would be a major event for the entire land.
“While it is a different world, many things are still the same, huh,” As Yan Zhaoge returned to his lodgings, an attendant came to pour some tea for him.
As the tea arrived by his mouth, Yan Zhaoge’s nose twitched lightly, his gaze instantly narrowing slightly.