Abyss Town: Humans and (Non-)Nature?
"What a strange person!"
"But these people look so cute."
"Look, that uncle actually has a baby face, it's unbelievable!"
"They all seem to be wearing whistles around their necks, what are they for?"
Who knows?
"Wait, what's their accent? I can't understand a word they're saying?"
"Then it's not the common language of the Douluo Continent, right? Otherwise, even if the accent is strange, we should still be able to understand the general meaning."
"How strange, there are still places on the mainland that don't use the Continental Common Language?"
"······"
The rest of the college members were also intrigued by the appearance of the town's inhabitants.
The lord of Tianming City then stopped keeping everyone in suspense and began to tell them about the history of the town.
"This town is called Abyss Town, and it has a long history, at least 20,000 years. The reason why the residents here look so similar is actually because they have lived here for generations and have been influenced by the Abyss Ruins."
"Won't we be affected too?" some people worried.
Although this could be considered a different kind of "eternal youth," it only affects the external skin, and the body might even become shorter.
This would be a losing proposition!
"No, it won't." The city lord vouched for it. "We've also conducted experiments, and as long as you don't live here for more than three generations, there won't be any impact."
Upon hearing this, most people felt relieved.
But Zhou Qing couldn't help but roll her eyes.
No impact at all?
That's too absolute!
The environment has an impact on the human body everywhere. The successive city lords of Tianming City have at most experimented to determine the approximate time required for the human body to be affected by this environment.
Assuming each generation lives for a hundred years, that's three hundred years.
However, Zhou Qing did not need to worry about being affected by the environment here. With the operation of the Innate Internal Scripture Chart, and the Inner Scenery World of the Eight Trigrams Furnace built on the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and the Twelve Primary Meridians, he could always keep his body in the best and most suitable state.
Although Tang San, Xiao Wu, Romantina, and the others had not yet Opening Inner Scenery form of the inner realm, they were fortunate enough to understand the theory of the Martial Cauldron Soul Furnace and control the Qi Field Power. By regulating their own Aura Field, they could avoid being affected by the strange environment here.
Furthermore, as Zhou Qing interacted with the peculiar Aura Field of this place, his Soul Power, Qi and Blood and Spiritual Power operated in a peculiar way, causing his throat and trachea to tremble slightly, and as his breath surged, he couldn't help but want to sing out loud.
This made Zhou Qing realize that no matter how strange the Abyss Ruins were, they could still be explained by the "Aura Field theory".
The residents who have lived here for generations have been influenced by the unique Aura Field of this place for many years, to the point that their bodies have begun to adapt instinctively and undergo corresponding changes.
But--
"It seems that none of the residents here have awakened their Martial Soul?"
Zhou Qing had keen senses and noticed that none of the residents in the town had Martial Soul, but they had fluctuations in Soul Power and even had very vigorous Qi and Blood and qi.
"People living in this area cannot awaken their Martial Soul," the city lord continued.
"But I can sense Soul Power fluctuations on them, and many of them seem to have physical abilities comparable to Soul Master." In the Blazing Fire Academy, some students have keen senses and can detect the Soul Power fluctuations in the residents' bodies. Those children who look five or six years old but are actually twelve or thirteen years old can jump between rooftops without relying on Soul Power, which really makes him very curious.
"Perhaps it's because of the special environment here that they are physically strong and can cultivate Soul Power even without Martial Soul."
The city lord explained, "It's just that because they don't have Martial Soul, Meditation Method is ineffective for them. They can only passively retain the Heaven and Earth Energy in their bodies during physical training to improve their Soul Power."
But in Zhou Qing and Tang San's view, what the residents here lacked was an internal martial arts manual similar to the Mysterious Heaven Skill, rather than Meditation Method that only had a rudimentary Human Body Meridians Diagram.
The Meditation Method only teaches Soul Master how to meditate on their Martial Soul. The meridian diagrams are only to help Soul Master understand how the Martial Soul drives the circulation of Soul Power within the body, so that Soul Master can actively control this process in the future.
Therefore, all meditation methods on the Douluo Continent, as long as no one realizes that breathing is the key to cultivating internal energy, will have no practical effect on Soul Power cultivation for the residents living here, even if they are advanced Meditation Method.
"This place is so peculiar that one can cultivate Soul Power even without Martial Soul, breaking the existing cultivation theories on the continent, then—"
A student from the Thunder Academy asked, "Does the rule that one needs Soul Ring to break through a bottleneck not apply here either?"
"It certainly doesn't exist." The city lord confirmed his guess.
In an instant, most of the team members became excited.
In this way, wouldn't they be able to cultivate to a high level here first? For example, after Martial Soul Awakening, they could come here to cultivate their Soul Power to Level 30 before going outside to hunt for Soul Ring. Wouldn't that allow them to achieve one soul ring every thousand years?
Unsurprisingly, many team members turned their attention to the Nuoding Team. Some even felt that the so-called "Soul Ring Secondary Refinement Theory" was just a pretext. The real reason why Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu were able to achieve a thousand-year-old soul ring was that they were the first to discover the wonders of this place!
However, the city lord of Tianming City poured cold water on these people, saying, "Yes, the royal family and various families of the Star Luo Empire have also thought of this. But if it were that easy, this place would have become a strategic military location long ago."
"It takes three generations for an ordinary person to be affected by this place, but if an awakened Martial Soul cultivator spends more than half a year cultivating in this area, their appearance will change significantly. Moreover, even if they leave afterward, they cannot recover. Furthermore, after leaving, their Martial Soul can no longer absorb Soul Ring, and their cultivation speed becomes extremely slow. They can only continue to improve their Soul Power by returning here."
Unable to obtain Soul Ring?
Immediately, most of the Soul Master lost interest in cultivating here.
Soul Master's Soul Skill originate from Soul Ring. Without obtaining Soul Ring, it's equivalent to not obtaining Soul Skill, greatly reducing one's overall strength.
Self-Created Soul Skill?
Let's put it this way: all the Self-Created Soul Skill that exist and have been perfected on the mainland are the result of generations of exploration and summarization by Soul Master families and sects. They cannot be accomplished by one generation alone.
The Self-Created Soul Skill of Zhou Qing, Tang San, and others are also based on the fundamental theoretical knowledge analyzed, summarized, and concluded by various sages and researchers in their previous lives.
"Also, have you ever heard of Fallen One?"
The city lord continued, "A kind of Sentient Creature transformed from a human, resembling a human, a Soul Beast, and a Soul Tool, with different abilities and specializing in combat. Even Titled Douluo would find it difficult to contend with its combat power."
Fortunately, the Fallen One prefer to stay in the Abyss Ruins, and as long as humans do not provoke them, they will not harm humans.
Generally speaking, only those who enter the Abyss Ruins, pass through special areas, or encounter some strange events will transform into Fallen One. However, people affected by this place may also become Fallen One if they stay in the outside world for a long time. The knights outside the mountain are there as a precaution to prevent the residents from leaving.
Although the residents here seem to have a natural instinct to venture into the Abyss Ruins and don't venture out, it's still necessary to establish protective measures, just in case...