“Where is the way out, according to you?” the Fire Ant King asked.
Elder Nether Spring smiled confidently and said, “In the legends of the Pantheon of Demons, the demon race is the descendant of the Pangu Clan. According to the believers of Chaos, the demon race was created by Chaos. In the human beings’ narrative, the demon race evolved from the demon beasts that were injected with the ‘Demon God’ virus.
“The three theories are completely different from each other. Which one do you think is the truth?”
The Fire Ant King pondered for a moment and said, “Although I am the leader of the Blade of Chaos, the evidence is so unquestionable that I have to admit that all three theories are incomplete. Maybe a combination of all of them is the truth.”
“Exactly.” Brightness was flashing in Elder Nether Spring’s eyes. “Since exploring the cave in the cave of Chaos decades ago, I’ve been gathering all the files that are related to Chaos just like you. I also excavated dozens of residences of Chaos. During the process, I gradually collected countless pieces of information, and after I assembled the pieces, I finally deduced the truth.
“The theories of the demon race, the Blade of Chaos, and human beings each have their own highlights. But they have their own drawbacks, too, because they all accentuated part of the story for the purpose of propaganda.
“By removing all the exaggerated parts and combining the remaining parts, I reached my conclusion.”
Coldness suddenly blinked in the Fire Ant King’s eyes. “And what is your conclusion, Brother?”
“Firstly,” Elder Nether Spring said, “the Pangu Clan must’ve existed in the primeval era, and they are our ancestors, which can be proved by the countless fossils, relics, and the ‘genetic memories’ when we are training the deeper level of our cells.
“Secondly, there was really a guy named Chaos, who was an expert among human beings forty thousand years ago, at least in the beginning. He was the direct creator of the demon race.
“Thirdly, the theory of human beings has its own merits. The ‘Demon God Virus’ should be a real thing, too. Otherwise, it is inexplicable how the demons occupied the entire sea of stars with a population boom in only hundreds of years.
“Combining the three theories, my conclusion is that—
“During the final years of the era of ancient Cultivators forty thousand years ago, the first civil war of Cultivators was coming to an end. All three thousand Sectors were shattered. Every living creature was in peril. It was almost the end of the universe.
“At that time, a human expert named ‘Chaos’ accidentally retrieved the legacy of the Pangu Clan that was left from the primeval era.
“With the legacy, Chaos produced a virus named ‘Demon God’. But the purpose of such a virus was not to boost the evolution of demon beasts but to trigger the mutations in the bodies of human beings. It awakened the primeval genes that had hibernated for billions of years inside human beings and turned them into demons!
“Although it remains unknown why Chaos did such a thing, this is the deduction that I believe is closest to the truth!”
The deduction cast the Fire Ant King in deep thought. He could not help but nod.
Li Yao, who was eavesdropping below the ground, nodded in agreement, too. Elder Nether Spring’s deduction was indeed more thorough and reasonable than the theories of human beings, demons, or the Blade of Chaos.
If demons were mutations of human beings who had been injected with the Demon God Virus, then all the seemingly uncanny phenomena—for example, the demons’ habit of faking the appearance of humans, their adaptation of the language and social system of humans, and the lack of reproductive isolation between different demon species—would all have plausible explanations.
It was because the demons were merely human beings that walked on a different path of evolution.
The Fire Ant King pondered for a moment and asked, “What does it have to do with your ‘way out’?”
Elder Nether Spring smiled. “If an ancient expert forty thousand years ago could produce the ‘Demon God Virus’ and turn a large batch of human beings into demons, why can’t we do the same forty thousand years later with the advanced biotechnology that we boast?”
The Fire Ant King was startled. “You’re trying to manufacture the ‘Demon God Virus’ and spread it in the Heaven’s Origin Sector so that all the human beings of the Heaven’s Origin Sector will be transformed into demons?”
Li Yao almost could not hold back his exclamations.
If that was on Elder Nether Spring’s mind, he would certain be the greatest menace to the Heaven’s Origin Sector!
But out of his expectation, Elder Nether Spring shook his head again. “No. That’s not what I’m going to do.”
The Fire Ant King found it odd. “Why?”
Elder Nether Spring moved closed to his brother and widened his eyes, staring at the Fire Ant King solemnly. “Brother, I don’t know whether or not you had similar experiences, but during my almost a hundred years of training, I have strongly felt that we are imperfect.
“I’m not referring to the chaotic-blood demons; I’m talking about all demons. We are all imperfect, or rather, seriously flawed.
“It’s true that we can train our cells direction and activate the primeval force deep inside our genes. But such a way of training also results in the unsteadiness of our strength. Our cells are much more likely to collapse, and sometimes, a lot of useless organs or skills will be suddenly endowed to us.
“The longevity of most of the expert demons is shorter than that of Cultivators. Most of the time, they will even turn extremely savage and bloodthirsty, driven by their genes, and they lose the ability to think normally and adopt appropriate tactics.
“Furthermore, our strength is often restricted to a certain domain. General members of the Feather Clan can never utilize the strength and combat patterns of the Insect Clan, and those of the Claw Clan are not able to make use of the experience of the Horn Clan, either.
“In short, we are like ‘tools’ that are built for a certain ‘purpose’. Our path of growth and advancement are locked, and we can know the peak of our training after a quick look.
“Human beings are vastly different from us.
“Although ordinary humans are extremely weak, as soon as their spiritual root is awakened, they are able to use their strength in a much more stable and efficient way, and they boast infinite possibilities!
“Most of the time, I’m even jealous of human beings. The methodology of our training is to awaken the long-forgotten force deep inside our cells, and as powerful as the primeval force is, it has its own limits. Even if we try our best in training, we will only end up being the second Pangu Clan in the end. Is it something that we should be proud of?
“On the other hand, Cultivators of human beings are striding forward and expanding new fields. They have boundless possibilities. Nobody knows what the Cultivators who have reached the peak of Cultivation look like…
“Naturally, human beings have their own drawbacks. The combat ability of the ordinary humans is too low, and the difficulty and price to awaken the spiritual root are too high.
“The demons are much more advantageous in this regard. Most of the demons, especially the bronze-blood and the silver-blood ones, boast tremendous physical strength congenially, and they can wield the strength easily after preliminary training.
“One might say that the demon race has abandoned ‘possibilities in the future’ for ‘formidability at present’.
“The two paths of training have nothing similar. They have obvious advantages and disadvantages, but they are equally imperfect.
“After I made the conclusion, I have been wondering whether or not there is a path that can combine the merits of demons and human beings.
“Imagine it. When a demon awakens the primeval force deep inside their cells, they can form solid shells, thick horns, and sharp claws, some develop three hearts of different usages and five stomachs, and many can survive and fight in extremely harsh environments such as glaciers, ocean bottom, and rock stratum. Now imagine that the demon can drive spiritual energy directly, forming a core or even the Nascent Soul inside their body, how formidable the demon would be!
“A demon that boasts a core and a Nascent Soul!
“No. It is inappropriate to call them a demon anymore. It is a life form that is more advanced than the demon race or mankind. Maybe we should call it the god race!”
Elder Nether Spring was wreathed in the flames of excitement as if he was on drugs and shivered nonstop.
The Fire Ant King looked at him. “I understand it now, Brother. You are trying to modify the Demon God Virus!”
“Exactly!” Elder Nether Spring smiled. “The original Demon God Virus was a product from forty thousand years ago at all. At that time, the technology level of the world of Cultivators was still relatively low. Systematical concepts such as cells, bacteria, and viruses were utterly unheard of back then.
“The so-called ‘Demon God Virus’ is just a name that the latecomers made up. People at that time might’ve regarded as a brand-new poison or venom, didn’t they?
“The original Demon God Virus was not perfect. It is quite weak in the speed of infection and the efficiency of mutation. I don’t think it could’ve spread out if the world was not a mess forty thousand years ago.
“If the virus was faced with the highly-efficient modern government and army, it certainly would have been extinguished before it spreads out!
“Therefore, spraying the original Demon God Virus in the Heaven’s Origin Sector is pointless. Burnt in the fire of unbelievably high temperature, the original Demon Dos Virus will be obliterated. Even if the human beings of an entire city are transformed into demons, the other people can always impose the strictest quarantine on the city and even wipe it out!
“In the meantime, the brand-new virus that I’m developing with the original Demon God Virus as an ingredient will have none of those drawbacks. Its efficiency has been significantly increased, too. More importantly, it does not target human beings alone. Demons will have the privilege to enjoy it, too. It will allow both human beings and demons to evolve into a third life form that is much stronger and totally perfect!
“Hehe. Forty thousand years ago, our ancestors turned from human beings into demons. Today, our civilization will make another giant leap by turning from demons into gods!
“Perhaps, this is the true meaning of ‘Demon God’. This is the real Demon God Virus!”
Li Yao clenched his fists hard, his fingernails almost piercing into his palm. The craziness of Elder Nether Spring’s scheme was far beyond his imagination!
The Fire Ant King’s antennae shook violently for a while. “A third life form that is totally perfect? It’s impossible!”
Elder Nether Spring grinned so hard that his lips almost reached his earlobe. “It’s most certainly possible. In order to realize the perfect life form, I have studied for decades and established countless research centers in secret. The one you discovered in Bone Sand City was merely one of them.
“The merging of the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector provided me with the best opportunity. Every time a beast tide invaded the Heaven’s Origin Sector, I had the chance to run my experiments. In the Battle of Dawn, I got even more abundant experiment subjects and made a significant breakthrough in my research!”