"Chirp~ (That? You don't know? I thought all you humans knew.)"
The Wind God Falcon said casually, "Chirp~ (It's really nothing major. A little over a hundred years ago, a very weak human came to Ten Thousand Beast Mountain and had one of those... what was it? A resource... resource exchange? Right, a resource exchange—with the demons at the summit.)"
Ji Ruo was stunned. "So someone really did establish a deal with the demons..."
His experiences since crossing over, and the people and events he'd encountered, made this hard for Ji Ruo to accept.
"Chirp~ (Yeah.)" The Wind God Falcon said, "Chirp~ (I don't much like spending time with those guys at the summit, so I wasn't there at first. They only notified me after they'd reached an agreement, telling me not to go killing humans around the foot of the mountain anymore. What a joke. I can't be bothered to kill them. Humans hold grudges so badly—kill one and a whole pack comes after you. It's such a hassle.
They called me over for such a stupid little thing, and I got so mad that I beat them up on the spot. After that, they hardly ever came looking for me.)"
"The area at the foot of the mountain..."
Ji Ruo pondered. He felt as if he'd vaguely caught onto something.
Wasn't the area controlled by humanity the foothills?
And a little over a hundred years ago was when the Secret Realm Martial Exam system had been introduced!
High-level demons like the Wind God Falcon couldn't just leave whenever they wanted.
The moment they did, they'd inevitably draw attacks from countless high-level martial artists. Whether they could win was another matter—no one liked going out of their way to invite trouble!
Demons weren't united. If a Great Demon or a Great Fiend got surrounded, the other demons would most likely just take the chance to divide up its "property."
After thinking for a moment, Ji Ruo asked, "Auntie, do you know what exactly was exchanged?"
"Chirp~ (That weak human gave the guys at the summit a treasure. It could apparently control some of the power of space... and promised that as long as they didn't go to the foot of the mountain to kill weak humans, humanity wouldn't send powerful martial artists into Ten Thousand Beast Mountain. In other words, if a weak human like you died in Ten Thousand Beast Mountain, no powerful humans would come seeking revenge. Something like that.
You humans seem to treat the area at the foot of the mountain as a trial ground, where everyone's fate is their own.
Over the years, humans and those low-level demons have both suffered casualties, but overall, more low-level demons have died.)"
"Chirp~ (But the guys at the summit thought that humans had given them a treasure and foolishly kept sending weak humans in to die. They thought humans were really stupid.
As far as they were concerned, humans were weakening themselves.
And they didn't have to give up anything. All they had to do was promise not to go to the foothills, an area they hardly ever visited anyway, and they even got a treasure for free. In short, they were very happy.)"
Ji Ruo fell silent.
What was this? The truth behind the Martial Exam?
So humanity had obtained control of the Secret Realm's area through a deal like this...
He found it hard to accept.
"I can't believe humanity actually compromised with the demons..." Ji Ruo said, his heart heavy.
"Chirp~ (Compromised?)" The Wind God Falcon gave Ji Ruo a strange look. "Chirp~ (As far as I know, you humans have never compromised!
Only those idiots at the summit were gloating over a single treasure. But don't forget, that deal had another condition: as long as the guys at the summit didn't break the rules, humans wouldn't send powerful martial artists into Ten Thousand Beast Mountain...)"
Ji Ruo was stunned. "You mean...?"
The Wind God Falcon gave him a long look. "Chirp~ (The way I see it, doesn't a deal presuppose that both sides have theoretically equal strength?
Those high-level martial artists are a real headache, even for me...)"
Aunt Wind God Falcon gave him a rueful look. "Chirp~ (Hundreds of years ago, this Floating Island of mine was a whole continent. Back then, I left the Secret Realm with the floating continent and flew freely toward your human territory. When I got close, a powerful martial artist punched the sky... and afterward, this is what was left. So when I returned, I stopped attending those summit idiots' daydreaming meetings.)"
"Gasp—"
Ji Ruo sucked in a sharp breath. Was the Sense of Immersion skill really that powerful? She could even tell him something like this?
"Auntie, is it really okay for you to tell me all this...?" Ji Ruo asked hesitantly.
"Chirp~ (I'm not telling you this because I'm afraid of humans. I just don't want to invite trouble...
Back then, when I left the Secret Realm, I soared freely through the vast skies outside and didn't understand anything. I scared some humans.
Then that martial artist chased me around and beat me up for months... Ahem. Anyway, I'm not afraid. I just can't be bothered with the hassle...)"
She looked at Ji Ruo and said earnestly, "Chirp~ (I don't harm you humans not because you have some ability to tell whether a demon has killed humans before, but because I simply don't like killing.
My children were just born. Humans can make so many delicious foods, and there are so many things that look fun. I want them to live happier lives. It's not because I'm afraid of humans, understand?)"
Ji Ruo smacked his lips. "Got it. I also think a pretty bird like you must be very gentle, Auntie."
That was what he said, but Ji Ruo remembered hearing a saying somewhere—
The more you insist on something, the more you care about it.
"Chirp~ (Good. Now hurry up and roast it!)"
Aunt Wind God Falcon seemed to be a chatterbox. She stared at the roast meat in Ji Ruo's hands and said, "Chirp~ (I've tried looking for weak humans like you to talk to before. After all, you come here every year.
Whenever I see you humans making something that looks delicious from far away, I can't help wanting to trade for some... I want to eat it too!
Unfortunately, you humans are too timid. Just seeing me is enough to scare you unconscious... Come to think of it, you're the first human in over a hundred years who hasn't been afraid of me.)"
"Hehe, didn't I tell you, Auntie? You're so beautiful. How could I be afraid of you?" Ji Ruo chuckled.
If Ji Ruo had still been a little afraid of the Wind God Falcon before, now he wasn't afraid of her at all.
Wasn't she just a housebound bird who'd been beaten up by a high-level martial artist and left with a psychological shadow?
"By the way, Auntie, if you're saying humanity never compromised and really does have the power to suppress the guys at the summit, then what's behind the recent changes in Ten Thousand Beast Mountain?
Does it mean those guys no longer intend to follow the terms of that deal?"
"Chirp~ (Not exactly. A while ago, the guys at the summit went crazy for some reason and killed that Earth-Turning Dragon born in Ten Thousand Beast Mountain's Earth Vein. That threw the Earth Vein into chaos, and all the regions became a mess.)"
She glanced at the roast meat in Ji Ruo's hands and said offhandedly, "Chirp~ (Besides, being able to suppress them and actually suppressing them are two different things.
Take me, for example. I can beat any one of the guys at the summit, but there isn't just one of them.)"
That explained it. Ji Ruo understood.
A difference in the number of combatants?
Liang Shixian couldn't understand the Wind God Falcon and looked confused. "Ji Ruo, what are you two talking about?"
He'd grown somewhat used to Ji Ruo's inexplicable ability to communicate with demons. He still hadn't figured out what was going on, but Liang Shixian felt he'd already accepted the fact that he'd somehow become an honorary member of the Wind God Falcon family.
Ji Ruo replied casually, "Nothing. Auntie says we should hurry up and roast it. She's waiting to eat."
Liang Shixian: "...Ji Ruo, did you forget that I can't understand Auntie, but I can understand you? What deal? Who are 'those guys'?"
The Sense of Immersion skill had never affected just one target. It affected everyone nearby!
Ji Ruo gave an awkward laugh. "Ahaha, it does? This is awkward..."
Liang Shixian asked curiously, "Tell me about it."
Ji Ruo pondered for a moment, then said solemnly, "Class monitor, do you really want to know what 'those guys' means?"
Liang Shixian's expression grew serious. "I do!"
"You won't regret it?"
"I won't!"
Liang Shixian's heart grew heavier.
The more Ji Ruo acted like this, the more he felt that what "those guys" represented was no simple matter.
"All right." Ji Ruo put on a thoroughly serious expression. "'Those guys' is a pronoun!"
Liang Shixian: "???"
What the hell do you mean, a pronoun?!
After eating their fill, the two little Wind God Falcons, with their limited appetites and newborn bodies, fell asleep as soon as they were full.
As for Aunt Wind God Falcon, it was very difficult for Ji Ruo to fill her up, so she only had a taste.
Rosie was the only one still eating Spirit Fruits. Ji Ruo and Liang Shixian had also eaten their fill, and were slowly practicing martial arts to refine the meat they'd eaten.
"Class monitor, remember the rhythm of your breathing. Don't let it fall into disorder. Make it a habit, even an instinct."
Ji Ruo threw punches while practicing Total Concentration Breathing. Fine currents of electricity ran over his skin—and he wasn't sure if it was because he'd eaten such high-level food, but he vaguely felt that he was about to open a Qi Vessel!
The Wind God Falcon watched the two of them practice martial arts with interest. "Chirp~ (Is this your human martial arts? I've experienced it before, though I was... Ahem. Still, it's sometimes hard to imagine that such simple movements can give you such tremendous strength.)"
Ji Ruo chuckled without explaining much.
In fact, these movements merely let people exercise their bodies more thoroughly. The truly wondrous part was the way they breathed.
The Secret Realms had brought Spirit Qi with them, but under normal circumstances, humans couldn't directly absorb and refine Spirit Qi.
They could only strengthen themselves to a certain degree, subtly, through their daily activities and breathing.
But things were different when paired with a special breathing method.
A special breathing method let humans absorb the Spirit Qi drifting through the void to the greatest extent possible. Combined with the flow of blood, it purified the entire body.
The Martial Apprentice stage was the foundation of the Martial Dao, with nine levels in total. Those nine levels were essentially a process that allowed the human body to adapt to Spirit Qi.
Throughout this process, the body was strengthened in every way—flesh, muscles, bones, and more.
Once it was strengthened to a certain point, one could attempt to open a Qi Vessel. As Ji Ruo understood it, opening a Qi Vessel was, to some extent, like "connecting Heaven and Earth's bridge" in the martial arts novels he'd read in his previous life.
In other words, becoming "innate."
With a greater capacity to absorb Spirit Qi, as well as the ability to refine and store it, martial artists became extraordinary. Using the refined Spirit Qi alongside their transformed blood, bones, and flesh, they could unleash all kinds of "special effect martial arts."
So, one didn't have to reach level nine of the Martial Apprentice stage before attempting to break through to the Qi Pulse Realm. It was just that the success rate of opening a Qi Vessel was higher after reaching level nine.
Total Concentration Breathing was something Ji Ruo had created by combining all the basic breathing methods he knew with max-level comprehension, while also drawing on some of the ideas from the original work.
In theory, it was a breathing technique meant to be paired with swordsmanship, but within its basic framework, Ji Ruo had also drawn on the strengths of many basic breathing methods for cultivation.
It was neither like the original work nor like the basic breathing methods from this world that Ji Ruo had used as references. It differed greatly from them.
Those basic breathing methods were already the most fundamental ones humans had compiled over thousands of years, and had nearly reached theoretical perfection.
After Ji Ruo combined their best parts, and with a steady supply of meat from high-level Monster Beasts and Spirit Plant treasures, a wondrous reaction took place.
The shock Liang Shixian had felt when he decided to stay behind, Li Nannan's heartfelt praise, the psychological shadow left by the Wind God Falcon, and his longing for powerful martial artists—
All those feelings came together in Ji Ruo's heart, forming a strange sensation.
Humanity had never compromised!
Ji Ruo was happy from the bottom of his heart.
That happiness was like a spark in a field of dry grass: it started as a single point, then spread rapidly.
As Ji Ruo felt that pure joy rising from within, his body suddenly shuddered. Power surged from the soles of his feet and flowed up through his spine, condensing layer by layer. In a moment of sudden insight, he threw a straight punch infused with all his conviction!
"Pop~"
He vaguely heard the sound of a bubble bursting. Then, an unfamiliar yet familiar power flowed unhindered into Ji Ruo's body from the Baihui Acupoint on the crown of his head, moving to a strange rhythm.
"Rumble~"
Ji Ruo felt as though he could hear the blood flowing through his body, surging like great rivers, ceaseless and unstoppable!
"Whoosh—"
Ji Ruo exhaled deeply. A stream of visible white mist, sharp as a sword, pierced through the barrier between the Martial Apprentice stage and the Qi Pulse Realm!
Years of subsistence-level cultivation had left Ji Ruo's body desperately "hungry." His constant feasting on high-level ingredients over the past few days in the Secret Realm had made his body feel like a land parched for years, finally blessed with sweet rain.
On top of that, the powerful emotions he'd felt lately—shock and joy, frustration and anger—had all gathered into a fierce conviction—
And so, he underwent a qualitative transformation!
Qi Pulse Realm, achieved!
Thanks to reader "Human Life Is Not Worth It A" for the 500 coin tip~
Thanks to reader "Little Jun Who Isn't White" for the 1,500 coin tip~
Thanks to reader "Yin Nanzhen" for the 500 coin tip~
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