"This proves that this energy is of an extremely high nature, but it doesn't belong to you."
Simu picked up his teacup, took a sip, and spoke bluntly.
Yixiu, seated nearby, pondered for a moment before speaking slowly.
"Amitabha. I once heard my master say that, several hundred years ago, there was a demonic cultivation technique divided into a mother and a child."
"Demonic cultivators who practiced the mother form selected gifted children and trained them in the child form from a young age. Once the child form reached its peak, they drained the children dry. It sounds rather similar to what Benefactor Lu described."
"Is that so?"
"Thank you both for clearing things up."
Lu Yan looked thoughtful, but felt a great weight lift from his heart.
Ever since he had transmigrated to the Naruto World, Lu Yan had treated chakra with caution, even wariness. He had never once tried to draw chakra out of himself.
As a result, Lu Yan's chakra reserves had stayed at the level of a Genin. Fortunately, he had discovered that by making a few small changes to ninjutsu hand seals, a wizard's magic could also be used to cast ninjutsu.
Unlike when he had watched the anime and accepted everything without a second thought, after spending more than a decade in the Wizard World, Lu Yan had come to see chakra as a deeply strange kind of energy.
If its nature was low, how could it power the Five Elements Escape Techniques and even affect the mind, life, and space-time?
But if its nature was high, why couldn't it enhance a person's essence or extend their lifespan? Even a powerful figure like Uchiha Madara had eventually grown old and died.
In particular, since Lu Yan had watched the anime, he knew all chakra came from the God Tree. That only made him more aware of the strong scent of conspiracy surrounding it.
After asking Daoist Simu and Master Yixiu about it, Lu Yan became even more certain of his suspicions.
The Naruto World was rich in natural energy. Many wild beasts had only to bathe in it for years before developing intelligence and becoming Ninja Beasts.
Yet the average lifespan in the Ninja World was extremely short. A shinobi's health would start to decline after they reached their fifties, and the chakra in their body would become a heavy burden.
That simply didn't fit with what Lu Yan had learned in the Wizard World.
As things stood, chakra was undoubtedly a massive trap.
Chakra originated from the God Tree, and every bit of it bore the God Tree's imprint at its very source. The shinobi of the Ninja World desperately extracted chakra to grow stronger, but in truth, they were all working for someone else.
Lu Yan suddenly understood why the Nine Tailed Beasts could never die and had an endless supply of chakra.
Back then, the Sage of Six Paths had divided the God Tree—that is, the Ten Tails—into the Nine Tailed Beasts. Each of the Nine Tailed Beasts was actually part of the God Tree.
And since every shinobi's chakra bore the God Tree's imprint, as long as shinobi continued using chakra, the Tailed Beasts would never die, and chakra would never run out.
"And they say the Tailed Beasts are born from human desires, and that as long as people have desires, the Tailed Beasts won't disappear."
"What a load of nonsense. They're all liars!"
Lu Yan was so angry at his own theory that he almost laughed. If it was all true, it was bizarre and absurd enough to be a Ponzi scheme.
"Fellow Daoist Lu?"
"Fellow Daoist Lu?"
Watching Lu Yan grin foolishly, Simu couldn't help worrying. Had the earlier talk about the hidden world put too much pressure on him? Why was he acting so silly now?
"Ahem, I'm fine."
Lu Yan came back to himself. Seeing Simu's strange expression, he felt a little awkward.
"Fellow Daoist Lu, could this energy have something to do with you?"
Master Yixiu held his prayer beads, his expression solemn as he studied Lu Yan's face.
"A little."
"Please take a look, seniors."
Lu Yan gathered chakra in his hand and gestured for Simu and Yixiu to come closer and examine it.
Simu gathered a strand of magical energy in his hand, wrapped it around a trace of chakra, and examined it for a moment. Then he opened his eyes in surprise. "This energy is powerful, but there's something strange about it."
Yixiu did the same. After closing his eyes and sensing it for a while, he shook his head. "This energy doesn't seem demonic, but its nature is extremely powerful. My Buddhist power can't move it in the slightest."
"Benefactor Lu, where does this energy come from?"
Lu Yan shook his head and gave them a half-true answer. "I heard from my elders that one of my ancestors once found a God Tree in the mountains. It was ten thousand zhang tall. After going through untold hardships to climb it, he found a fruit growing on its branches. Thinking it was an immortal fruit, he picked and ate it, gaining a kind of energy he named chakra."
"But even though the fruit gave my ancestor the power to move mountains and drain seas, he still died of old age. In fact, his body couldn't bear the growing mass of chakra, so he died even sooner."
"Over the centuries, everyone in my family learned to cultivate chakra and gained all sorts of incredible abilities, but our lifespans remained no longer than ordinary people's—if anything, they were shorter."
"Later, while studying overseas, I stumbled upon the cultivation methods of Arcanists. I abandoned chakra and took up the path of the arcane arts instead."
Daoist Simu and Master Yixiu were dumbfounded. They had never imagined such a hidden story lay behind this energy.
"Then it seems this energy, known as chakra, has always belonged to the God Tree. Your family has only ever been using it, and using it may even consume your life force."
After pondering for a moment, Yixiu slowly turned the prayer beads in his hand and shared his conclusion.
"That's what I think too. You'd better use this energy as little as possible from now on."
Simu nodded, agreeing with Yixiu.
"Thank you both for clearing things up."
"This is some Healing Liquid I made. It works quite well. Please accept a bottle each as a small token of my gratitude."
Lu Yan thanked them solemnly, took two bottles of Healing Liquid from the Kamui Dimension, and handed one to Daoist Simu and one to Master Yixiu.
"Benefactor Lu, you don't have to—"
Master Yixiu had only just started to refuse when Simu took the Healing Liquid, handed one bottle to Yixiu, and said:
"This kid has plenty of good stuff. Don't make him hold back."
"Then thank you, Benefactor Lu."
Master Yixiu accepted the Healing Liquid and thanked Lu Yan.
"Fellow Daoist Lu, are you really going to Bottle Mountain with Chen Yulou?"
Simu put aside his usual joking manner and asked solemnly.
"Daoist Simu, sometimes you call me Fellow Daoist Lu, and sometimes you call me 'kid.' Which is it?"
Lu Yan was a little exasperated. Simu was such an unpredictable character.
Simu laughed heartily. "You and I are both cultivators, and your cultivation is even higher than mine, so of course I should call you Fellow Daoist Lu to show my respect. But you're so young that part of me just wants to call you 'kid.'"
"Call me whatever you like."
Lu Yan shook his head, stood up, and looked out at the night.
"I came back to my homeland to serve my country and save its people from suffering. Chen Yulou is the leader of Xieling, commanding more than a hundred thousand followers. He's one of the biggest powers in Western Hunan. If I work with him, I can get things done far more easily and quickly than I could on my own."
"Amitabha. Benefactor Lu, what do you intend to do?"
Yixiu pressed his palms together and looked at Lu Yan's back.
"Enemies lurk beyond our borders while people fight among themselves at home, leaving the common folk to suffer. I want to use advanced technology from abroad to develop our own productivity, strengthen our country, and make sure the people have food to eat and clothes to wear."
"I also want to train a sharp blade of an army to deter the wolves and tigers."
Lu Yan turned around, his eyes shining as he looked at Yixiu and Simu.
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