Mu Lan explained, "Actually, Immortal Sacred Whales have existed for a long time. Back then, though, they weren't called Immortal Sacred Whales, but the Sea Whale Clan, much like the Sea Giants."
"Later, our ancestor, the Lord of Life and Death, became the Symbol Ancestor's disciple and obtained the Life and Death Ancestral Symbol. He created the Immortal Heaven Derivation Technique, which was extraordinarily well suited to our bloodline."
"Back then, our ancestor used the Life and Death Ancestral Symbol to change the bloodlines of the many members of the Sea Whale Clan."
"Afterward, the clan was renamed the Immortal Sacred Whale Clan. From then on, Immortal Sacred Whales were born from our ancestor."
Fang Yi hadn't expected that to be the story.
When he finished, Mu Lan said, "I'll use my Mental Energy to teach you the Immortal Heaven Derivation Technique. How much I pass on will depend on how much each of you can withstand."
"This technique has five levels."
Afterward, Mu Lan added a warning. "No human has ever cultivated this technique, so I don't know whether you'll be able to master it."
"If you haven't gotten a glimpse of it within seven days, there probably won't be much hope. Don't force it."
Mu Lan didn't think they could master it. At most, the old ancestor might succeed, and even that would take considerable time.
Even if humans did have a greater talent for cultivation than demonic beasts, a martial art tailored so closely to a particular race was still better cultivated by demonic beasts themselves.
With that said, Mu Lan acted.
He first touched the spot between Fang Yi's brows. A vast, almost terrifying torrent of information surged into the depths of Fang Yi's mind like a raging sea.
"Impressive indeed. He can take in all five levels at once..."
Mu Lan next touched the spot between Jiang Yinyin's brows. She likewise received all five levels, showing how well suited she was to the martial art.
Then came Ying Huanhuan's turn.
She also received all five levels, leaving Mu Lan somewhat shocked. Still, as the Ice Master's reincarnation, she was bound to be special in some way.
Finally, he touched the spot between Ying Xiaoxiao's brows. Mu Lan breathed a sigh of relief. At last, someone was relatively normal; she could only receive three levels.
If Ying Xiaoxiao had managed five levels too, he would have suspected that Ying Xuanzi was a member of the Immortal Sacred Whale Clan who had ended up living elsewhere.
"Let's wait."
Just then,
countless specks of deep-blue light suddenly began to rise and drift around Fang Yi.
"Huh? Big Brother mastered it?"
Mu Lingshan, who was sitting obediently to one side, widened her eyes. "Third Grandpa, didn't you say the Immortal Heaven Derivation Technique was hard? Why has Big Brother already started his physical baptism?"
The moment a cultivator mastered the Immortal Heaven Derivation Technique, they would undergo a perfect baptism of their origin, bringing their physical body to perfection.
"Uh."
Mu Lan silently watched Fang Yi, who, immediately after receiving his instruction, had already mastered the first level, Breath Derivation, comprehended the life force of heaven and earth, and begun his physical baptism.
"This baptism should take..."
Before Mu Lan could finish,
the vitality between heaven and earth swarmed toward Fang Yi, pouring into his body.
Origin Energy surged around Fang Yi. Within it flowed life force, something that should only have appeared in Origin Energy upon reaching the Life Profound Realm.
"He's at the second level, Third Grandpa. Why didn't the physical baptism do much?"
"His physical body is too perfect..."
Mu Lan fell silent. It was the first time he had seen someone complete a physical baptism so quickly, and that usually meant the person had an exceptionally high talent for the physical body.
Even Mu Lingshan, who had been best suited to the Immortal Heaven Derivation Technique, had undergone a physical baptism-and she had been formed from the Lord of Life and Death's physical body.
Why, then, had it had no effect at all on Fang Yi?
And at that moment,
an utterly terrifying vitality gushed around Fang Yi, condensing madly at an astonishing speed.
Bang.
A flame brimming with vitality appeared around Fang Yi and fell straight toward his dantian.
"Life Flame?"
Mu Lingshan covered her mouth with her delicate little hand. "Could Big Brother be one of our clan too? How could he reach the third level so quickly?"
Hearing this, Mu Lan smiled bitterly. "No, he's a pure human..."
This Life Flame was the hallmark of the third level of the Immortal Heaven Derivation Technique: the Immortal Life Flame.
When the cultivator suffered an attack powerful enough to be fatal, the martial art would activate on its own, drawing the vitality of heaven and earth from within a hundred zhang and turning it into a protective curtain of light in an instant.
It would block the subsequent damage from the fatal blow while using the vast vitality to reverse the cultivator's near-death state.
That was also the true beginning of "immortality."
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, and someone had told him that a person had cultivated the Immortal Heaven Derivation Technique to the third level in a mere few breaths,
he would have slapped them. Did they really think the Immortal Heaven Derivation Technique was some third-rate martial art?
It stood at the pinnacle of Heavenly Martial Arts and was the very foundation on which the Undying Holy Whale Clan stood.
But now,
with the truth before his eyes, he felt his Dao heart beginning to shatter.
"But why?" Mu Lingshan's face was full of confusion.
Her three grandfathers always said she was a genius.
Am I not a genius?
How come I can't even compare to a human when it comes to cultivating the Immortal Heaven Derivation Technique?
"His talent is far too monstrous. He must also have a profound understanding of the path of vitality, allowing him to grasp this through what he already knows."
Mu Lan no longer knew what to say. What kind of monstrous figure was this, to grasp the basics of a Heavenly Martial Art in such a short time?
No wonder the Black-Eyed Elder had said the Devouring Ancestral Symbol might affect Fang Yi's path.
Any human would think this was outrageous.
Scratch that. Demonic beasts would think so too.
Just then, the power drifting around Fang Yi finally dissipated. Mu Lan breathed a sigh of relief. If Fang Yi had broken through to the fifth level in one go, that would have been a little outrageous.
"Isn't there something a little wrong with World Derivation? It doesn't seem suited to human cultivation."
"The dantians and physical bodies of ordinary humans aren't as strong as those of demonic beasts. This was probably designed to suit your Immortal Sacred Whale Clan."
Fang Yi opened his eyes, and his first words made Mu Lan's newly relaxed breath catch again.
"Mm, that's right."
Mu Lan nodded in agreement with Fang Yi. The Undying Holy Whale Clan had one defining trait: their true bodies were enormous.
Though that made assuming human form more troublesome, it gave them terrifying physical strength and immensely abundant Origin Energy in return.
A powerful physical body combined with boundless vitality.
The two complemented each other.
"It needs some improvement. Rather than deriving it into a world, it only needs to be condensed into a seed of life. There's no need to turn it into a world of vitality to devour attacks and turn them into vitality..."
"After all, humans don't have such powerful physiques. Human talent doesn't lie there, but in comprehension... In that case, it could be combined with the Great Desolation Scripture."
"Resonance with vitality, triggered by seizing vitality, would make the seed of life sprout in an instant and resonate with the vitality of heaven and earth, neutralizing the attack..."
Mu Lan stood where he was.
He watched the countless specks of deep-blue light continue to drift around Fang Yi. Then the lights began to converge in one direction, as if something were forcibly pulling them in.
Fang Yi closed his eyes and formed seals with both hands. The Origin Energy in his body surged wildly, carrying the power of vitality with it.
The Immortal Life Flame he had just condensed burned fiercely in his dantian, its light shining upon him.
Even his face took on a pale-blue glow.
Mu Lan's pupils contracted. He could clearly sense Fang Yi compressing that power of vitality.
The power of vitality that had spread a hundred zhang around him was forcibly drawn back, gathering deep within his dantian. The Life Flame was shrinking as well.
It went from the size of a fist to the size of an egg, and finally to the size of a thumb.
Yet the power contained within it grew ever purer and more terrifying.
A seed took shape in Fang Yi's dantian, pale-blue light flowing across its surface.
An endless power of vitality coiled around it. The seed seemed to be breathing, and each pulse caused the vitality of the surrounding heaven and earth to tremble with it.