The afternoon meeting was held inside the tent.
There were four people attending.
Zhen Jin, Zi Di, Cang Xu, and Lan Zao.
The small table was covered in animal skin maps.
The biggest of them was in the center.
Zhen Jin pointed to the biggest map and said: “Zi Di combined and merged all the maps and information on hand to create this one.”
The people around the table looked at the map.
North, south, east, and west.
The northeast corner of the map depicted a ship’s anchor.
Zhen Jin pointed to the anchor symbol: “This is the exploration team’s starting point, it is also the beach where the front half of the Hog’s Kiss had run aground on. If the situation remained the same, then there should be around fifty or sixty people here, the situation there should be controlled by the first mate of the Hog’s Kiss.”
To the southeast of the map was a cross.
Zhen Jin shifted his finger and pointed to the cross. “This is where President Zi Di, I, and the rest of our group washed up at. This beach also has three landing crafts.”
A winding and curved path spread out from both the cross and the anchor. The two routes were marked with words or drawings at regular intervals.
These two different paths represented the path of Zi Di’s and Cang Xu’s respective exploration groups.
But these two different routes did not converge, rather they both spontaneously
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stopped midway. In the middle of this big map lay a wide blank expanse.
Zhen Jin took out two smaller maps and slapped them down onto the blank part of the large map.
One map depicted a desert terrain and the other, a mountainous and forested terrain.
Focusing on the latter.
The forest map depicted some notable locations such as the monkey bear’s ore cave, the spider forest, and the mountain spring.
The two paths representing the two groups finally merged into one at the mountain spring.
Zhen Jin’s finger then moved to point at the symbol of the mountain spring: “Right now we are located here and our goal is to return there.”
His finger shifted to the northeast of the big map, towards the drawing of the anchor.
No one had any objections.
This island prohibited the usage of low level magic and battle qi and there were many ferocious beasts, therefore it was crucial for everyone to unite their strength and cooperate as much as possible to survive.
With external help being out of reach and unreliable, it was more logical to rebuild the ship and set sail again.
Building and sailing a ship without many people was impossible.
“It goes without saying that there are difficulties, with two obvious issues.” Zhen Jin continued. “The first one is the ferocious magic beasts along the way. The second one is the strangeness of the terrain here. What are your opinions?”
Lan Zao replied in a deep voice: “Master, if this island didn’t prohibit the usage of low level magic and battle qi, our strength would have been much higher. But now, to deal with these bizarre beasts, we can only use our flesh. But no matter what, I and Huang Zao will be your sword, wherever you look, ours swords will strike.”
Lan Zao expressed his loyalty and Zhen Jin nodded with satisfaction: “I look forward to your performance.”
Zi Di seemed to have keenly sensed something when she heard this and she looked at Lan Zao with a bewildered expression: “That's a strange thing to say. If this island didn’t prohibit low level magic and battle qi, then all these fierce monsters could use all kinds of magical abilities. We would be stronger, but they would also be more of a threat than they are now.”
“According to my speculations, this is unlikely Lord Zi Di.” Said Cang Xu. “I believe that the magic beasts on this island are unable to use any kind of magic.”
“Oh? Why do you judge this as so?” Zi Di inquired.
Cang Xu didn’t directly reply to her, but looked at Zhen Jin instead: “May I ask Lord, did you find any magic crystals
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in the bodies of the magic beasts that you killed?”
Zhen Jin shook his head: “So far, I have not found a single magic crystal.”
This was clearly abnormal.
Cang Xu noddeed: “Although we haven’t managed to kill a silver level beast during our journey, we still obtained a few bronze and iron level magic beast corpses.”
“However we have also never seen a magic crystal.”
“Why was that?”
“A magic crystal is formed as a magic beast living in an element-filled environment for a long period of time, as it grows and eats, magic power constantly accumulates in its body, until a qualitative change takes place and condenses a magic crystal. A magic crystal not only stores the vast majority of a magic beast’s magic power, but they also aid the beast in stabilising and utilising its magic powers.”
“Generally speaking, the more powerful a magic beast is, the quality of the magic crystal in its body would also be higher.”
After listening to Cang Xu, neither Zhen Jin nor Zi Di had any objections. This was of course common sense.
Continuing on, Cang Xu declared his point of view: “I think the magic beasts living on this island all have chaotic magic power in their bodies. They are unable to coordinate their magic power or stabilise it. Because of this, the magic beasts are unable to control their internal magic power and because of their chaotic magic power, they cannot form a magic crystal.”
Zi Di nodded and slightly shook her head: “It is true that chaotic magic power is unable to form a magic crystal. However this is just one possibility on why these magic beasts are incapable of forming a magic crystal. More importantly Mr. Cang Xu, how have you determined that the magic power within these magic beasts is chaotic?”
Zi Di could not help but be suspicious at this point.
Zi Di herself was an iron level magician, however here she was unable to use magic here and was thus unable to investigate the state of the magic power in the bodies of these magic beasts.
Cang Xu was just an ordinary person and was not even an apprentice magician. What methods did he have to determine this?
Faced with Zi Di’s doubts and questions, Cang Xu was calm and collected: “I have extrapolated it.”
The old scholar then tossed out a new perspective: “First of all, I believe all of the island’s magic beasts are not naturally born. They are all artificial.”
“Artificial magic beasts?!” Zhen JIn and Zi Di looked at each other and saw each other’s amazed expression.
As for Lan Zao on the side, he had probably heard Cang Xu’s theory before and was not surprised in the slightest.
“In that case, how have you determined that these magic beasts are not naturally born? Rather, how were they artificially made?” Inquired Zhen Jin.
Cang Xu slowly explained: “Ever since I arrived on this island, I have dissected many magic beasts. I have found that even though they have a stable condition, and their organs work together closely, as if they were born this way. However upon deeper investigation, they were unnatural.”
Zi Di wrinkled her brows as she mulled over Cang Xu’s words: “Unnatural?”
“Yes.” The scholar nodded with a deep look in his eyes. “They all lack a natural charm. Do you not feel that these magic beasts all look like they were put together piece by piece?”
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Zi Di muttered to herself: “I have once processed a monkey bear’s carcass, a silver level magic beast that died at the hands of Lord Zhen Jin. It had a monkey tail, a bear’s torso, and an orangutan’s arms, its fingers were hard and grew slender iron-like claws.”
“At first, it seemed this monkey bear was an amalgamation of orangutan, monkey, and bear parts. However in reality, its skeleton was very reasonable. It had two hearts while the rest of its internal organs perfectly supported its physique.”
“I am a low level mage, and I spent most of my energy studying medicine during my studies. I have gathered many materials, thus I thoroughly understand the composition of the majority of lifeforms. Although this is the first time I have seen this kind of monster, I feel their bodies were perfect, without disabilities,mutations or useless body tissues. What is so unnatural about this?”
Zhen Jin’s heart skipped a beat.
Zi Di mentioning the monkey bear made him once again think about his hands transforming.
During those desperate straits, his arms had suddenly transformed into claws like those of the monkey bear and fatally struck the spider.
After the event, his hands turned back into their original shape.
Due to some unclear mentality that he couldn't explain, Zhen Jin decided to conceal this entire affair from Zi Di.
“I suppose that Zi Di is currently speaking about this event to highlight my strength” Zhen Jin’s thoughts spurred as he tried to uncover Zi Di’s intentions.
Sure enough, the next moment he saw Lan Zao's eyes widen and looked at him with admiration.
Lan Zao exclaimed from the bottom of his heart: “Master, you truly have formidable strength!”
“Lord Zhen Jin, your talent is amazing. Your bravery and accomplishments will certainly be praised far and wide.” Cang Xu also agreed and then turned to look at Zi Di.
“Lord Zi Di, you have said nothing wrong at all. I fully trust your judgement. The structures of these living beings are indeed very rational and stable.”
“I do not have a magician’s aptitude nor have I studied medicine. However I had the fortune of reading many books. A portion of these books contained the history of many clans. These histories detail how certain noble clans rose to power and how they ran their territories. Their early years were actually about confronting nature and the process of combining nature with manpower.”
“These records contain stories of wiping out ravenous thieves, resisting beast tides, hunting wolves near villages, repelling wild boars from farmland, and much more. In order to guide the future generations of the clan, the ancestors of the past compiled these history books and left behind many meticulous illustrations. These included detailed records on the forms, habits, and properties of magic beasts as well as how to effectively fight back and kill them.”
“It is because I had benefited from these records, that my foolish brain could ponder a bit deeper and arrive at many shallow but fascinating conclusions. As a result, it allowed me to sense the unnatural nature of the magic beasts on this island.”
“I had discovered that horned beasts are typically herbivores. Their horns are their main weapon to defend against predators.”
“Likewise, ferocious carnivores have longer and sharper teeth, more developed muscles, and are expert runners especially in short bursts. Some of them have pads on their paws which allows them to approach their prey more silently.”
As he spoke, Cang Xu’s words shifted slightly.
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“Not long ago, before we found Huang Zao, we had stayed on a sparsely forested hill. The temperature was low and the wind occasionally carried in some snowflakes. At the end of our exploration, we caught a glimpse of a gold level beast”
“It was a deer with enormous bone-white antlers on its head that looked like crisscrossing branches. This deer did not eat grass, furthermore it also had a pair of huge snow-white wings. I secretly named it the White Bone Feathered Deer.”
“Although it was only a quick glance, I think it should have a reasonable body structure that is stable and suitable to support its daily activities.”
“However it is not natural. You see, its build is not suited for flight. Its pair of huge wings could at most let it glide. It is carnivorous, and it lives on the high end of the food chain, preying on other animals. However it has horns. Horns are used for defense and are not good for attacking, or running, or hunting, or hiding.”
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“Let us speak again about the monkey bear you killed my lord. When monkeys swing through the forest, their tails keep their bodies balanced as they leap through the air. But why does a brown bear need one? It is very heavy, what kind of tree could support it? Does it even jump a lot? Don’t you feel a monkey tail growing on its body is redundant?”
“Moreover it also has orangutan arms similar to a human. The biggest difference between the claws of many beasts and an orangutan’s arm, is that orangutans have thumbs. This structure benefits orangutans as they grab and move between tree branches. However, the monkey bear’s arms have sharp claws. Is this not also redundant?"
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“This is what I meant by unnatural.”
Seeing everyone before him deep in thought, Cang Xu continued to speak frankly.
“Life’s number one demand is survival. Nature is cruel and harsh, only the beasts with amazing survival skills will survive and reproduce. These skills are normally given by the organs of their bodies.”
“Take the mole for example. It possesses strong claws, strong teeth, and a suitable figure for burrowing. But it cannot see. In fact, it does not need to see because the soil is dark and without light. In place of its eyes, it has a nose. It has an extraordinarily keen sense of smell.”
“This is a natural living being in nature. It has its strong points but also its weak points. Its body has integrated its advantages and disadvantages to survive the cruel competition of life and find its suitable position."
“However when we look at these island monsters, they are excessively strong. Their structure is very stable, but contradictions and conflict exist. They do not have a clear place in nature.”
“This is the case of the monkey bear Lord Zhen Jin killed, it had a monkey tail it did not need.”
“Likewise is the case of the White Bone Feathered Deer, why does it need wide antlers? It also does not need those. Its heavy overhead antlers would rather obstruct its hunting.”
Translators corner of rambling
“Your fursona is shit and unscientific”
Cang Xu probably Notes
I guess Cang Xu has never seen or heard of narwhals or sawfish, if they even exist in this world. I will let it slide however since it seems he is only addressing land animals and there are stark differences between aquatic and land based creatures. This does bring up an interesting question about the life in this world. Are all living beings products of evolution or are some created? There are many bloodlines in this world, are all of them simply a product of evolution? If so, how do magic, battle qi, and other abilities factor into the process of evolution? The problem with making comparisons to real life science is that this world has magic and physics defying stuff. Going down the path of evolution means the author will eventually need to explain how life such as elves, demons, and dragons managed to evolve into being. Of course he could just do a cop out and say gods just made these beings for reasons unknown. Cough old ones, cough cough.
Translation Notes
(戛然而止: with a grunting sound it stops (idiom); to come to an end spontaneously (esp. of sound) ) (I suppose antlers are considered horns) ( 多此一举: to do more than is required (idiom); superfluous ) Editor Notes