Chapter 27: Haishi might be a talent

The greater populace of the spirit beasts found in the eighth zone were in the core formation realm and the late stages of the foundation establishment stage with a few in the qi refinement realm, with the latter group comprised mostly of progeny belonging to those in the core formation stage.

In the cultivation world, there was one thing that remained true across all species, a fundamental truth that applied to all, and that was, that strength was everything. In the face of absolute strength, everything else was immaterial. It was the only currency that mattered, especially in a place like the green fog region filled with countless spirit beasts trying to devour and dominate each other. 

It was one of the most dangerous places in the entire continent because of it. Background ceases to matter the moment you step in there. It did not matter whether you were a domain expert or a disillusioned qi refinement cultivator with a lust for danger, a single misstep, and both would die in there.

The whole region could be considered an arena of chaos, where every single thing with a pulse was trying to kill each other with the greater part of the chaos being seen in the sixth to tenth zone, with the chaos growing the further down the zones one moved.

The world could be considered balanced when it comes to certain things. Spirit beasts are born with raw strength, terrifying abilities at birth, and absurd lifespans that are not linked with their strength, just something they're afforded at birth, but in exchange for that benefit, their cultivation base improves at a sluggish pace.

When it comes to humans, they are born weak, with weak bodies that even the slightest of things like a blade of grass could graze and injure them. Save for those born with natural physiques that grant them special abilities, most are born ordinary, with no strength or special abilities and a lifespan that was about as long as the incubation period of certain spirit beasts. But in exchange, the world gave humans malleability, they can adapt to different cultivation arts, and provided they have sufficient talent, they can improve their cultivation base rapidly giving them a fighting chance against the spirit beasts and spiritual plants born with great advantages.

If a spirit beast hoped to mirror a human's speed of cultivation it could only do so in a few ways one of which was to defeat and devour other spirit beasts, making their strength their own, devouring other humans who were a much better panacea of cultivation in comparison to their fellow spirit beasts. For spirit beasts refining and absorbing human cultivators was smoother, easier, and garnered far more benefits when compared to eating other spirit beasts. This was due to the adaptability of the human body in regard to absorbing and refining qi from all kinds of sources and converting it into the purest form.

This was the reason spirit beasts could hardly resist attacking human cultivators the moment they set their sights on them or why the green fog region had few human cultivators building their base there despite how rich in resources it was. Living there as a human ensured you had a constant target on your back from all the spirit beasts living there.

For a place swarming with spirit beasts, it was no surprise that the spirit beasts especially those in the lower zones continuously attacked each other and in that chaotic way of life, a hierarchy was established in which a few spirit beasts were able to stand atop the corpses of their brethren.

In the eighth zone three spirit beasts butchered and slaughtered their way through their peers with absolute strength and power that they were dubbed the three false kings as they had stood head and shoulder above the rest. As for why they were called false, despite their abilities, it was because there was one being in there, they dared not even approach, a true monstrosity through and through. Even though it was always in constant hibernation, never making its presence known, every inhabitant of the eighth zone knew it was the true overlord of the region, even the three false kings themselves.

With its disinterest and lack of activity, the three false kings were the most active in the region, of which the green flash viper that survived the encirclement against Feng Xin was one of them, with the remaining two being the black cosmos caiman and the dystopian gaze turtle. 

...

Back to the present-day events, the momentary allure of greed led to the capture of the mirage dragonfly by Feng Xin and the brutal murder of core formation beasts that were part of the green flash viper's faction except for the rapid snapper cottonmouth and the corroding heron that were part of the black cosmos caiman's faction while the green flowered babirusa and the mirage dragonfly were unaffiliated. The green flowered babirusa was too prideful and stubborn to be under anyone's rule as for the mirage dragonfly its cowardly nature made it apprehensive of approaching other spirit beasts let alone competing against them. Following and leeching off the babirusa was as close as it got.

It had thought of eating the bead at first due to the levels of qi it detected from it but had second thoughts about it as it found it strange for Feng Xin to feed it out of the blue. It looked at him with a tilted head for guidance on what to do with the bead in its hands which came as a small shock to Feng Xin.

"You really have no idea what that is?" Feng Xin asked with a slightly raised brow to which the mirage dragonfly replied by shaking its head sideways that it didn't.

Despite expecting it Feng Xin was still surprised but he patiently explained the use of the transmission bead and how the mirage dragonfly could use it to transmit its voice by using its spiritual sense to transmit its thoughts.

"Go ahead and give it a try." 

"H..E..L..L..O, h..ello human," the mirage dragonfly said as her thoughts seemed scattered on the first try before she got the hang of it.

"Good, it seems you understood the gist of it. My name is Feng Xin. I am a…well seeing you don't know what a transmission bead is I doubt you'd know about the Order. I think just knowing each other's names should be enough for now. The rest can wait after we deal with the matters at hand…So what's your name?"

"My name is Mir...I mean Haishi. My name is Haishi," the mirage dragonfly hurriedly said. She had a smooth wavelike voice with a melodious charm to it.

"Did she want to say mirage? Haishi still means the same thing though. She seems like a naïve one. What was she even doing at the encirclement?" Feng Xin thought to himself as he sighed in exasperation.

"Haishi, can I ask you something before we proceed? It's okay if you don't want to answer it but how old are you?" Feng Xin asked with curiosity due to her antics.

Haishi was pulled out of her deep fascination with the capabilities of the transmission bead. Her five thousand lenses in her compound eyes all had some glow as she stared intently at the milky white transmission bead.

She quickly got out of her excited stupor as she looked upwards almost like a human in deep thought.

"I may be 70 years or is it 80 years? Sorry, I don't quite know between the two as I've gone into seclusion several times some lasting for years. It ended up skewering my sense of time. The only thing I can be certain of is I haven't yet reached 100 years. I'm supposed to have a growth change at that age," Haishi innocently replied

"A 70-year-old core formation beast huh..." Feng Xin said as he held his chin in contemplation.

"Seems like a waste to feed you to Ellie now based on that revelation. To reach that level at your age your talents don't seem that bad" Feng Xin said as he cast an interesting gaze on Haishi. 

Haishi's cowardly nature was plain to see for Feng Xin. He couldn't imagine her rapidly improving her cultivation base by defeating and consuming other spirit beasts, which meant it was done through pure cultivation and that meant she had to have a powerful bloodline to lean on, unlike regular spirit beasts that had to consume each other with wanton abandon for them to be able to reach the core formation realm in a short 70 years.

A spirit beast reaching the core formation realm in 70 years was the same as a human reaching that same realm in less than 20 years. Someone of that standard would be considered a genius.

" Haishi can you come here for a minute.." Feng Xin suddenly said as he beckoned Haishi over.

"I'll need your help to fly me somewhere and we are rather short on time so I'll have to boost your speed by several notches for us to be able to get there in good time." Feng Xin said as he removed a slim rectangular box made of blue silver sandalwood from his storage ring.

Haishi flew towards him with curiosity written all over her face. After her experience with the transmission bead, she wondered what other cool trinkets Feng Xin was going to show her this time. Her curiosity overrode her sense of fear.

Feng Xin slid off the top of the box and inside was an unassuming green stalk however at the end of the stalk was a dew drop the size of a melon seed. The dew had an ancient primeval aura to it. The kind that can only be exhibited by things that have experienced the long vicissitudes of time and survived to the end. This was the primal lotus dew.

The moment Haishi saw the dew everything within her was screaming that she consume it. That greed was slowly overwhelming her like a volcano close to eruption. But fear prevailed over greed in the end. The deep-seated fear she felt from Feng Xin had helped her muster enough will to override her greed.

Feng Xin nodded in approval once he noticed her ability to restrain herself, especially in such proximity to the primal lotus dew.

"It seems it wasn't just her bloodline that helped her get to where she is," he silently thought to himself.

"This little dew you see before you is what we will be using to boost your speed and unlike the transmission bead you're free to eat this one," Feng Xin said with a teasing smile.

Haishi quickly froze before a look of both relief and embarrassment washed over her.

"Luckily I didn't swallow it. But it did look tasty though like the lunar moth eggs near my lair," thought Haishi before she yelped in surprise when she heard her thoughts being verbalized by the voice transmission bead. Warily, she used one of her many lenses to look at Feng Xin's expression.

"Yes, lucky indeed," said Feng Xin with a slight chuckle.