The Lingtong Race's Innate Divine Ability

No matter how unbelievable something seemed, once the facts were laid out plainly before you, there was nothing to do but accept them.

Besides, Jiang Yao had already set records that challenged the entire history of the Lingtong Race: cultivating Seven Turns of Heaven's End to nearly the sixth turn in a year, and possessing a Domain at the first tier of the Planetary Level. Every one of those feats was unprecedented.

Once was an accident; twice was a coincidence.

This was the third time, and Prose recovered faster than Elder Luo and Kuman.

But whenever he thought of the "nineteen-year promise" he had made a year ago, believing it would spur and encourage the little fellow, he felt at a loss for words.

Kuman, meanwhile, "stared" at Jiang Yao with his closed eyes, lost in a rare moment of distraction.

In fact, even when he had first heard that Jiang Yao possessed a Domain, Kuman had not been nearly so shaken. He had been the Yanhe Lingtong Race's number-one genius since childhood, and his confidence and pride were not so easily broken.

His first reaction had actually been excitement and defiance.

So what if Jiang Yao had cultivated Seven Turns of Heaven's End to the fifth turn in a year? Kuman had reached the same level in three years. The gap wasn't that great—though, of course, he didn't know that Jiang Yao had reached the fifth turn in less than three days, not a year.

So what if Jiang Yao had a Domain at the Planetary Level? Kuman had comprehended one not long after entering the Stellar Level. And Jiang Yao wouldn't stay at the Planetary Level for long, either. Once he reached the Stellar Level, it was anyone's guess who would be stronger.

Even among the super geniuses who had made a name for themselves in their Universe Countries during the past Universe Peak Battles, none had been said to possess a Domain at the Planetary Level. Nor had anyone claimed that those who did were sure to achieve more than Stellar-Level geniuses who comprehended a Domain at the Stellar Level.

Cultivating a Domain and comprehending an Origin Law didn't become any easier just because you had gained a Domain early at the Planetary Level. Compared with other geniuses, that head start simply wasn't enough to give you a meaningful lead.

Comprehending a Domain an entire major level earlier naturally gave people more room to imagine your potential. But greater potential in their imagination was still only potential. Whether it was real, and whether you could fulfill it, remained to be seen.

Besides, the reason he hadn't possessed a Domain at the Planetary Level was that, as a Planetary-Level genius of the Lingtong Race, he hadn't spent his time improving his mastery of combat intent. If he had trained in combat techniques and Combat Secret Techniques at the Planetary Level, who could say he, Kuman, wouldn't have gained a Domain before reaching the Stellar Level?

So even though Jiang Yao had accomplished a miracle no one in the history of the Lingtong Race had ever managed, Kuman had no intention of handing over the title of the Yanhe Lineage's number-one genius of this generation. It would take more than that to make him admit defeat.

But now, in an instant, his confidence had been driven to the edge of a cliff.

Back then, Kuman had spent a full 114 years cultivating the Secret Technique of Guidance.

If the two of them had taken one year and three years, respectively, to reach the fifth turn of Seven Turns of Heaven's End, the difference might not have seemed so great.

But when it came to forging the Boat of Guidance, one year versus 114 years—that gap was enough to make a person despair.

At least when it came to his talent or comprehension in cultivating mental-force techniques, he and Jiang Yao were no longer on the same level. He couldn't even hope to catch up.

After a long while, Elder Luo sighed deeply. "At that speed, it would probably be unprecedented even in the Sacred Land."

The Patriarch would probably be disappointed. He had been hoping to keep Jiang Yao here for at least a few decades and build a closer relationship with him. After all, a genius like this would surely never return once he went to the Sacred Land. Come back to become Patriarch? What had the Yanhe Lineage done to deserve that?

But the old man immediately perked up again. The Yanhe Lineage hadn't been separated from the Sacred Land for long, and its foundations were shallow. Having a genius like this emerge was already an extraordinary stroke of luck. The race's growth had to happen one step at a time; there was no need to rush. There would be plenty of time.

At that thought, Elder Luo regained the composure of the Yanhe Lineage's leader and said warmly, "Jiang Yao, since you've forged the Boat of Guidance and traced your bloodline back to its source, you must have sensed the origin of my Lingtong Race's bloodline."

Jiang Yao nodded. "Yes. When I gazed toward the source of the bloodline, I sensed many powerful, savage auras seeming to call to me. Those must be the Bloodline Divine Abilities of our Lingtong Race, right?"

"That's right!" Elder Luo stroked his beard. "There are many accounts of the origins of my Lingtong Race in the Virtual Universe. Most of them are fiction, though some happen to be close to the truth.

"The ancestors of my Lingtong Race weren't actually a human race from the stars of the universe. They came from an ancient Cosmic Secret Realm. Strictly speaking, they were Secret Realm Humans.

"In those days, our ancestors lived alongside ferocious beasts and demonic beasts in the secret realm, where conditions were harsh.

"Many of the ferocious and demonic beasts in that ancient secret realm didn't have a high Life Gene Level, but each possessed its own inherited Innate Secret Technique—or, you could say, Innate Divine Ability. They were extremely difficult to deal with.

"During their arduous struggle to survive, some of our ancestors came up with the idea of extracting these beasts' Bloodline Divine Abilities and refining them into secret techniques, which could greatly enhance human strength. From then on, the war between the Secret Realm Humans and the ferocious and demonic beasts grew more intense.

"After all, extracting inherited bloodline material from a single beast wasn't enough. It took countless ferocious and demonic beasts to have any chance of extracting the Innate Divine Abilities imprinted in their genetic material.

"Then, some remarkably gifted people came up with a way to plant the secret arts extracted from the beasts into their own bloodlines, and even pass them down to their descendants.

"Generation after generation, our people's bloodlines accumulated more and more Innate Divine Abilities taken from ferocious and demonic beasts.

"For reasons unknown, one branch of the Secret Realm Humans left the secret realm and began settling in the stars of the universe. That was the origin of our Lingtong Race.

"We're called the Lingtong Race because, when we activate our Bloodline Divine Abilities, the organs that store and unleash them are our eyes. That's where the name Lingtong comes from."

Although Elder Luo had told the story in a calm, casual manner, Jiang Yao could still sense the stench of blood and battle.

As one of the universe's peak races, humans were indeed extremely powerful against other races most of the time. Behind every bit of humanity's strength, there might well be the blood and tears of other races.

This once again deepened Jiang Yao's understanding of the cruelty of this world. If his own race—or the Human Race as a whole—ever weakened, it could just as easily end up being slaughtered by the billions, with its bloodline essence extracted and its genetic material harvested for inherited Innate Divine Abilities.

Piglet, inside the Taihuan Token, muttered, "Your Lingtong Race's ancestors were rather fortunate, but it's a pity your Gene Level is too low, which also limits your Bloodline Divine Abilities. The beasts whose genes gave rise to the Innate Divine Abilities planted in your bloodline were all around your own Gene Level. If their Gene Level were more than twice that of the Lingtong Race, it would be extremely difficult to imprint their Innate Secret Techniques into your bloodline.

"These Innate Divine Abilities in your bloodline probably don't even rank in the universe."

Taihuan Token Envoy sounded dismissive of the Lingtong Race's Bloodline Divine Abilities, but Elder Luo didn't know that. The old man was clearly extremely proud of his race's Bloodline Divine Abilities.

"My Lingtong Race's Lingtong Divine Abilities aren't simple at all. They're not merely a matter of gaining an Innate Divine Ability. Our ancestors extracted the bloodline essence from those demonic and ferocious beasts, generation after generation, to obtain every one of these abilities. Do you know what that means?"

Elder Luo didn't wait for Jiang Yao to answer. Instead, he answered his own question. "It means that every Bloodline Divine Ability contains the will of the ferocious or demonic beast race behind it!"

Jiang Yao almost sucked in a sharp breath.

Good heavens. To extract a single Innate Divine Ability, they probably had to slaughter tens of millions of ferocious or demonic beasts to obtain enough bloodline essence. If those slaughtered beasts had left their will behind in their Innate Divine Abilities, then even the mere remnants of their viciousness would be terrifying.

Seeing Jiang Yao's shock, Elder Luo chuckled. "Don't be nervous. It's not that exaggerated. After being passed down and multiplied through generations, the will left behind by those demonic and ferocious beasts has faded considerably. It's said that long ago, only those with exceptionally strong wills among the Universe Level dared to awaken their Bloodline Divine Abilities. Nowadays, any Stellar-Level Spirit Reader can activate them."

"However..." Elder Luo's expression grew more serious. "This is also why our Lingtong Race includes a test of will in our talent assessment.

"Even though the wills contained within these Bloodline Divine Abilities have faded considerably, they're still no small matter for an individual. So once you activate the Innate Divine Ability you choose, you'll immediately enter into a long-term struggle against the wills of the ferocious and demonic beasts contained within it!

"To suppress the will contained in the ability, you need not only powerful mental force but also a strong will of your own. The stronger your will, the longer and more completely you can suppress it.

"Conversely, struggling against the will contained in the ability can also temper your own will, though that process isn't easy—in fact, it can be painful.

"This suppression is also a process of building up strength. It's like a spring: the longer you hold it down, the angrier and stronger the will of the ancient demonic or ferocious beast becomes.

"Until you can no longer suppress it—or until you want to unleash the ability—then you relax your will and release the 'spring.' The will of the ancient beast race, suppressed for so long, will erupt together with the Innate Divine Ability, unleashing immense power.

"In a sense, this can also be considered a way to amplify your Combat Power with an Innate Divine Ability."

After hearing Elder Luo's explanation, Jiang Yao finally gained a true understanding of his own Lingtong Race's Innate Divine Abilities.

The first thing it brought to mind was a scene from an anime he had watched in his previous life. The Virgo Gold Saint would keep his eyes closed to accumulate the power of his cosmos, then open them and unleash it all at once when necessary, displaying overwhelming power.

The two did share a certain similarity.