CHAPTER 211: CHAPTER 17: DEMON COURT

"Greetings, fellow Daoists."

"I am but a wandering alchemist, and I coincidentally overheard your conversation earlier. I found it quite intriguing and wondered if I might join in?"

"Since fate has brought us together, allow me to cover the cost of this meal and drink."

Lin Jing listened as the group abruptly changed the topic, starting to discuss a widow cultivator who had lost her husband. Feeling speechless, he walked over, hoping to bring the conversation back on track.

Regarding the Beast Taming Sect’s travels to Qingzhou, the Sect Leader’s adopted daughter, and the matters concerning the Demon Court, Lin Jing indeed lacked understanding.

The three cultivators at the table, all at the Foundation Establishment Stage, seemed to be loose cultivators based on their attire, turned their gaze towards Lin Jing.

"Treating us?" The bearded man speaking earlier was initially surprised by Lin Jing’s approach, then burst into hearty laughter.

"You said it yourself, fate brought us together. No need for you to treat us; please, Daoist, have a seat and ask whatever you want. Are you also interested in that widow?"

"Please, Daoist, we are all of the same path, no need to stand on ceremony," chimed in the other two loose cultivators.

"Then I shall gratefully accept." Lin Jing cleared his throat, sat down, and said, "However, it’s not about that matter; it’s the earlier one. I heard something about the Beast Taming Sect Leader’s daughter having a hybrid bloodline, and I am curious... Does this hybrid bloodline mean half demon race bloodline or half demon beast bloodline?"

Although both are hybrid bloodlines, they are vastly different!

Before the Immortal Palace was destroyed, demon beasts could transform into human forms, collectively known as the demon race.

There was no reproductive barrier between the demon race and the human race, and their offspring were called hybrids.

All hybrids combined the advantageous traits of both the demon race and human race, making them extremely powerful.

This type of hybrid refers to having half demon race bloodline.

However, as the ancient Immortal Palace sealed the demon race bloodline, the demon race became extinct.

The hybrid race with half demon race bloodline gradually vanished. Both the demon race and hybrids struggled to reproduce, and even if they succeeded, the offspring were purely human, with the demon race genes thoroughly disappearing.

Because of the demon race’s extinction, the definition of the term hybrid gradually shifted to refer to humans with half demon beast bloodline.

Demon beasts are not the demon race.

This type of hybrid resulted from humans using special methods to replace human blood with beast blood.

It significantly differs from the innate talents of those with half demon race bloodline.

In the Vermilion Bird relic Lin Jing had previously encountered, there were bloodline modifications. But even if one succeeded in transforming, it could only be said that the cultivator gained a certain amount of demon beast bloodline, not demon race bloodline.

Thus, over time, the term hybrid has taken on two meanings.

Lin Jing indeed knew that Sect Leader Xu Xiaoyao had a daughter, also an adopted daughter, but he did not know specific details about her, only that she left for Qingzhou at an early age.

Back then, Lin Jing felt puzzled, wondering if it was too dangerous for a young girl to go to Qingzhou.

But now, it seems, the Sect Leader’s daughter might be linked to the Demon Court in some way.

If this senior sister of the Beast Taming Sect merely possessed half "demon beast" bloodline, just this kind of hybrid, Lin Jing thought, given the demon beast heritage of the Demon Court, they might not hold her in such high regard.

After all, humans with demon beast bloodline are neither few nor plenty; many special traits named after beasts are due to cultivators having demon beast bloodline.

Since now the Beast Taming Sect’s senior sister has become one of the Demon Court Saintesses, Lin Jing thought she might possess something more significant than just half demon beast bloodline, possibly having a half "demon race" bloodline.

Only this could attract the attention of the Demon Court pursuing "ancestral revival."

But this raises another question: hasn’t the demon race bloodline, both full and half, disappeared completely?

The bearded man took a sip of wine and said, "Of course, it’s half demon race bloodline!"

"Relying on demon beast bloodline, even if it’s the bloodline of a Demon Ancestor, becoming a Demon Court Saintess is wishful thinking."

"That’s one of the strongest demon beast powers, with a Demon Emperor overseeing it..."

"It’s said that all three Demon Court Saintesses have half demon race heritage!"

"Are you wondering if the ancient Immortal Palace hasn’t already sealed the demon race bloodline, making it impossible for the demon race to be born?"

"Yes," Lin Jing nodded.

"I have gossiped with other friends too. The three Demon Court Saintesses were only established by the Demon Court in recent decades, not with ancient traditions. So, is it possible that as time passes, the world rules rewritten by the Immortal Palace are gradually failing?"

"After all, the Immortal Palace has been gone for so long; the rules they rewrote may not be eternal."

"Though maybe now, demon beasts still struggle to take human form, the occurrence of hybrid individuals, with half demon race bloodline, is already possible to revive. And this is how the Beast Taming Sect Leader’s daughter, with half demon race ancestry, her bloodline underwent an ancestral transformation as the world rules loosened!"

"Ancestral transformation? That indeed seems possible," Lin Jing said. Perhaps the baby girl the Sect Leader had taken in awakened the hybrid bloodline at a certain time, thus catching the Demon Court’s attention, taking her to Qingzhou for cultivation. This might be the truth behind the senior sister’s early journey to Qingzhou.

Moreover, perhaps at birth, the baby girl already showed some hybrid signs, leading to her abandonment and subsequent adoption by the Sect Leader.

In any case, it seems this senior sister from the Beast Taming Sect is thriving in Qingzhou, which is why the Sect Leader intends to lead a group there to establish themselves.

For a moment, Lin Jing felt a desire to find the Beast Taming Sect’s branch in Qingzhou and seek out the Sect Leader.

But in the next instant, he abandoned the idea.

The Sect Leader’s adopted daughter, perhaps due to the ancestral transformation of half the demon race bloodline, became a Demon Court Saintess. In the Demon Court, she held a high position because of political correctness, but there are two others just like her!

Her position in the Demon Court, while it may help the Beast Taming Sect overthrow a Divinity Transformation power, probably does not grant her absolute authority.

For himself, a Longevity Body, contacting the Demon Court might not be a good thing.

After all, with countless powerful demon beasts in the Demon Court, if he went there, the Beast Taming Sect senior sister might not be able to ensure his safety.

Were she the saintess of a human faction, even one of the three major Demon Sects like the Nether Hall Saintess, he would choose to rely on her, but alas... the Demon Court Saintess is too dangerous.

Perhaps not only the demon beasts but even the hybrid herself might want to consume him.

The Beast Taming Sect being sealed did not seem unjust to Lin Jing.

"Alas..." Lin Jing sighed inwardly. Despite the vast world, he felt lacking in strength, and nowhere seemed particularly safe for him.

However, the Beast Taming Sect branch in Qingzhou might serve as a backup route. The Beast Taming Sect members were probably looking for him too.

......

Ultimately, Lin Jing set off on the path to one of Qingzhou’s sixteen Daoist sects, the Tongtian Dao.

He planned to settle there, focusing on forming his core first.

A month later, Lin Jing left the Senluo Dao, entering the neighboring Cyan Nether Dao. Compared to the Senluo Dao, located on the outskirts of Qingzhou, the Cyan Nether Dao aligned more closely with Qingzhou’s characteristics, abundant in flora and thriving in the Alchemy Dao.

Originally, Lin Jing intended to head directly to the Tongtian Dao, but due to the long journey and discovering an interesting place in this Cyan Nether Dao, he couldn’t help but pause his steps.

"The Cyan Nether Trade Association, one of the significant partners of the Ancient Country Lotus Pavilion Lotus Commerce Association in Qingzhou, belongs to Qingzhou’s human commercial forces. The Cyan Nether Trade Association has numerous commercial streets and shops, rented out to loose cultivators skilled in Artifact Refining, Alchemy, or Talisman Making, supporting their commercial activities and providing protection, only collecting a certain rent..."