Chapter 677 - (2/2) Lessons Begin

Draco and Eva began to sweat internally, as they trembled greatly. Their faces warped into weak smiles as they hurriedly refuted. 

"N-No, of course not. We... were just amazed at the uh... neatness.... of this area, ha-haha!" 

Even though they said this, Draco and Eva were roaring in their heart, their hatred towards the Tower increasing to exponential levels. They wished they could grab the Tower spirit to extract its soul, then bathe it in soul dissolving lava for 10,000 years! 

Why did it choose NOW to start caring about carrying over floor details? What happened to its obstinate nature of forcing its pre-planned plot down their throats?! 

If Draco and Eva could see the Tower spirit right now, their eyes would likely become bloodshot as it was sipping an elegant fruit juice while smiling pervertedly. "Hehe." 

"Pah, don't think you can bullshit someone of our generation. Anyway, since you've already accepted us as your masters, it's time for us to do our part and educate you." The Dragon Ancestor began with a roll of his eyes. 

"Bwehehe! Let's start with the basics. Given your clan's background, you must have been taught this already, but a refresher course is always necessary." The Phoenix Ancestor laughed as she followed up. 

Draco and Eva settled down and listened seriously, making the two Old Ancestors pleased. Then, they began to explain the history of the world, the origins of cultivation as well as the true nature of Martial Spirits to the Evil Duo. 

"A Martial Spirit is a manifestation of one's soul idol. The Primordials of our world were all magnificent beasts of various kinds that encompassed various types. When the human race first came about, we were too weak to do anything but reproduce." 

"Many of these beasts used our men and women to reproduce over the years, but they were eventually wiped out in a cataclysmic battle with the Upper World, which sealed the path of Ascension for our world." 

"The ones to survive were 30% of humans who had ancestry with one beast or another and 70% who didn't. After millennia of cross-breeding, everyone possesses - at least - a speck of beast gene in them." 

"Nowadays, using a special method passed down from the remnants of our connection to the Upper World, we were able to create the Martial Spirit system." 

Draco and Eva shared a look. While that was an interesting history, there were more than a few problems with the overall story. Seeing that the Evil Duo did not seem not fully on board, the two Old Ancestors smiled. 

"Seeing as you aren't fooled by this common tale, there is still hope for you. What we just told you is the common truth passed down to every generation and pushed down the throats of everyone." 

"There is a lot more that isn't said, which we will now tell you. First things first, this world was originally called the Divine Beast World. As you can guess by the name, many rare, exotic, and primordial beasts had made it their home." 

"We live in parallel to many worlds out there, and Ascension is basically climbing from one dimension upwards. In other words, there exist other worlds like this one. Some are still developing, some have already become fully-fledged worlds and some have been destroyed and raided by others." 

"The Divine Beast World was too strong to be invaded, but too peaceful to invade others. It had enjoyed centuries of peace until the humans who populated the Immortal World above us began to covet the bloodline and materials of the various Divine Beasts." 

"It should be known that even in the Upper World, such beasts were rare, or far too powerful to be touched. A world in the Lower Plane containing so many high-quality beasts that were weak enough to be taken was a rare thing." 

"However, the Heavenly Dao is fair. Immortals cannot descend from above in their power into a Lower World, or what would be the use of living and creating worlds?" 

"As such, the Immortal World sent down the highest level of cultivators into our Lower Plane. Given the resources the Immortal World has at its disposal, their men had the advantage over those who grew to that level down here." 

"However, Divine Beasts had always had the advantage over humans at the same level, so the invaders were naturally killed off. The Upper World then wizened up and sent down common humans instead." 

"Those didn't get immediately killed by the Divine Beasts, but rather kept as slaves and pets. Inevitably, some lustful ones bred their slaves and were surprised to find that they were able to bear mixed-blood offspring that weren't too bad compared to their predecessors." 

"It should be known that breeding with members of their own race was tough and terrible, so their bloodlines were dying out as their got numbers reduced." 

"And yet, the perfect solution to their problems had literally fallen from the heavens. The human gene was so weak that their bloodlines overpowered them, making offspring born with humans retain the beast bloodline as the major one." 

"What was even better was that these human born offspring also possessed the human gene, so they could easily mate with purebloods of their race and inseminate them, further reducing the human bloodline presence in the third generation child." 

The Dragon and Phoenix Ancestors paused here as they smiled filthily. "Of course, this was the plan of the Upper World all along. Once the Divine Beats had become reliant on humans for breeding and were unable to go back, they naturally came with both the carrot and the stick." 

"However, would those proud Divine Beasts comply? A war soon ensued, yet the Divine Beasts were forced to fight a war on two sides, one external, one internal. Eventually, they crumbled, but not before destroying the path of Ascension so that the Immortals could no longer directly interfere with this world and their offspring." 

"Bwehehe! It was a noble thought for sure, but their offspring were soon outbred by us, the humans, and were eventually absorbed into our ranks. This led to the humans that populate the world today, neither fully beast, neither fully man." 

"However, the Heavens saw fit to rearrange this world's matters after the war and named itself Martial Spirit World, allowing the souls of humans to reflect their bestial ancestors with enough energy." 

The two Old Ancestors stopped here as they left Draco and Eva to digest the information. The Evil Duo felt this made more sense, and in some ways, it had elements of humanity's origin in the Gerdo Galaxy, humanity's origin on Earth, and humanity's origin in the Western Fantasy section of Boundless. 

There were some underlying constants between all three. 

"Now, we didn't just tell you all of this to sate a thirst for knowledge, but also to broaden the scope of your horizons. Once you understand history, you will be smart enough to avoid repeating its mistakes." The Dragon Ancestor explained calmly. 

Draco and Eva nodded in agreement. 

The Phoenix Ancestor clapped her hands. "Good! Now, we shall talk about cultivation. This world is permeated by a special brand of energy that rises from the east and flows into the west, called Spirit Energy!" 

"It is called that because this energy is produced by the grinding of all spiritual entities and spirit matter in the world against each other, forming this by-product. The spirit relates to the soul, and the soul is the most unique and powerful origin in the world. Energy produced from its functioning is sure to be unique." 

"Spirit Energy is not crucial to life. It is a by-product energy, but it can be utilized to strengthen the body and soul through a method called Cultivation. Cultivation is simply the act of empowering the physical flesh and the mystical soul using Spirit Energy." 

"A person cannot absorb Spirit Energy without using special methods. On a side note, this is where we should mention bloodlines. For some humans - through special circumstances or through unique Martial Spirits - have adapted to Spirit Energy." 

"They are like mermaids or mermen, humans who have adapted to the sea and developed gills to breathe underwater. The average human takes in energy through food, which is the process of digestion and the reason for the digestive system's existence in our bodies. Just like with the mermen example, some have developed special organs that allow them to absorb and process Spirit Energy without needing special methods." 

The Dragon Ancestor then smiled and took over. "Of course, that is just tangential. The methods we are talking about are what you and all those other lads worked so hard to enter various sects for, methods with which to absorb Spirit Energy to refine into Qi." 

"This is called Qi Cultivation. Depending on the grade of your Martial Spirit, you may manifest unique properties with your Qi and it will also depend on how you cultivate it. Also, this is a general fact, but the higher your Martial Spirits, the faster you cultivate on average." 

"When you enter a sect, you normally are given a free Cultivation Method depending on your rank, and you can earn a better one by exchanging it with merits. 

"Cultivation Techniques are separated into grades and stages. Grades represent the overall quality of the technique compared to others while Stages refer to how many cultivation levels it can take you through on average." 

"The Grades are Iron, Silver, Gold, and Platinum while the Stages are Human, Mortal, and Immortal. The grades are further separated into low, medium, and high while the stages are not broken down." 

"The Human Stage encompasses the Muscle Tempering, Tendon Refining, Blood Pulsation, Bone Cleansing, and Flesh Hardening realm. The Mortal stage represents the Qi Condensation, Sublimation, Crystallization, Formation and Integration realm." 

"As for the Immortal Stage…"