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Although Huan Xing was reluctant, his body remained honest.
Since following Xu Yuan, he hadn't had a single day of peace. Every day, he either helped Xu Yuan cultivate or listened to Xu Yuan's motivational speeches.
However, Huan Xing could tangibly feel that he was undergoing a kind of racial ascension. It seemed as though the abilities of his entire race were being enhanced through these cultivation practices. In the near future, he might even have the opportunity to achieve true evolution, advancing beyond the Phantom Beast bloodline to attain a higher-grade bloodline!
This would have been unimaginable during his time as a soul beast.
After all, even the lowest-intelligence soul beasts still engaged in some form of cultivation.
Especially after reaching ten thousand years, they generally possessed intelligence comparable to that of a human teenager.
In their long lives, there were always moments when they felt inspired to cultivate.
Even if they only persisted for a year at a time, as long as such an impulse occurred once every hundred years, over ten thousand years, it amounted to a century of cultivation.
Though cultivation years didn't equate to survival time, very few soul beasts managed to achieve a cultivation equivalent to thirty thousand years within ten thousand years.
Huan Xing was at least seven or eight thousand years old.
When he was in the Spirit Pagoda, he was already twenty thousand years old.
If you included the time he spent as a spirit in the Spirit Pagoda, his total existence had surpassed ten thousand years.
The amount of time he had seriously cultivated must have added up to at least eighty years, if not a full century.
However, these efforts hadn't significantly elevated his race's level.
The various conditions provided by Xu Yuan were also crucial, allowing him to develop an entirely new power system based on the five elements, leveraging his own strengths and talents.
But ultimately, Huan Xing believed that the root cause lay in his newfound ability after fusing with Xu Yuan—an ability that soul beasts lacked: creativity!
This might not be a universal trait among all spirit souls, but it was undoubtedly a unique opportunity for Huan Xing.
Still, his understanding wasn't fully comprehensive.
To be precise, the true root cause lay in the combination of his innate talent and Xu Yuan's brain-type martial soul.
His natural talent already inclined toward split consciousness and brain division. Fusing with Xu Yuan's brain-type martial soul naturally granted him partial control over Xu Yuan's brain functions.
Similarly, this ability indirectly facilitated Xu Yuan's brain in splitting off sub-consciousnesses to integrate into other spirit souls, granting them partial control as well.
Yao Yao, strictly speaking, only became creative after Huan Xing fused in.
As for Jue...
It was truly exceptionally gifted.
Back to the main topic.
Huan Xing controlled the demon's body and entered the territory of Nalundo, a powerful lord under Demon Lord Alba.
Nalundo ruled over the surrounding area.
Alba had fled in such a hurry that he hadn't had time to inform Nalundo. At this moment, Nalundo still didn't know that a group of humans had invaded the great Demon Lord Alba's domain.
The demon body controlled by Huan Xing belonged to the purest bloodline of demons—the royal bloodline.
Thus, upon sensing Huan Xing's presence, Nalundo personally came out to greet him without delay.
"Great demonic emissary, may I inquire about the command you bring?" Nalundo asked respectfully, carefully addressing Huan Xing.
Among demons, the hierarchy of bloodlines—and by extension, strength—was extremely rigid.
Or rather, the hierarchy of power was strict.
The principle of survival of the fittest was vividly embodied throughout the Demon Plane.
Strength was typically the primary measure, but when it came to demons of the royal bloodline, lineage also had to be considered.
At this moment, Huan Xing represented the royal lineage and thus commanded respect, even from a powerful lord like Nalundo.
The reason was simple: across the entire demon world, only those of the royal bloodline could break through the limits of a powerful lord, ascend to become Great Demons, and even achieve the status of true Demon Lords, reaching the pinnacle of power.
There were only nine royal bloodlines represented by the nine Demon Lords.
Nalundo was a demon warrior, towering at fifty meters tall, yet his demeanor was one of extreme caution, creating a striking contrast.
However, none of the surrounding demons found this strange.
Huan Xing was startled by Nalundo's respectful attitude. He hadn't expected this body to be so effective?
At this moment, Xu Yuan's voice appeared in his mind.
"Ask him how many troops his territory currently has. If he mobilizes all forces, how long will it take to reach the capital?"
Huan Xing's eyes flickered, and he followed Xu Yuan's instructions, clearly conveying the message.
(A/N: We'll temporarily set aside issues of language systems; subsequent world-building developments will explain this.)
He mimicked Alba's tone.
Nalundo hadn't met this particular demon of the royal bloodline before, so he couldn't detect any inconsistencies.
"Great emissary, is the great Demon Lord planning another campaign? Are the traitors of the Hell Plane launching another assault?" Nalundo's red eyes gleamed with a hint of bloodlust.
Xu Yuan inwardly sighed.
What was this nonsense? There's also a Hell Plane?
Still, he didn't lose focus and subtly guided Huan Xing.
"No."
Huan Xing shook his head, his tone heavy.
"A piece Alba planted long ago has now matured. A gateway to another world has been opened—a world teeming with life and brimming with life energy, of great significance to Lord Alba. However, the cultivators on the other side are also very powerful, and we've been temporarily held back."
Nalundo's large red eyes widened, and his breathing quickened slightly.
"A world teeming with life?"
Unconsciously, a droplet of saliva the size of a human fist dripped from the corner of his mouth.
Only after the droplet fell did Nalundo belatedly realize, wiping his mouth as his expression turned ecstatic.
"Great emissary, my territory has recovered and multiplied over the past decade. We now have a large number of warriors, including thirty thousand extraordinary fighters. If urgently mobilized, we can deploy twenty thousand extraordinary troops. There are five hundred demon commanders, and as for lords, there are still only those twenty."
Nalundo directly revealed the situation within his territory.
In the cave, Xu Yuan analyzed the various ranks Nalundo mentioned.
Clearly, "lords" corresponded to the definition Xu Yuan had previously established, roughly at the Soul Sage or Soul Douluo level. By deduction, "commanders" should be at the Soul King or Soul Emperor level, similar to the demon Huan Xing currently possessed.
Further down, those at the Soul Honored or Soul Ancestor level would be considered "extraordinary."
Below that, demons who weren't even given titles were obviously not worth mentioning.
Of course, even these untitled demons included beings equivalent to Great Soul Masters, far stronger than humans. However, correspondingly, demons relied more heavily on their bloodline and innate talents for cultivation, and their creativity paled in comparison to humans.
"How much do you know about the situations in the surrounding territories?" Huan Xing casually asked under Xu Yuan's guidance.
Nalundo replied respectfully, "Sass gained two more lords, bringing his total to fifteen. Kaye punished and killed two lords two years ago, leaving him with eleven."
"Emissary, Sass and I both believe that Kaye no longer qualifies as a powerful lord. During this period of recovery and growth, instead of strengthening his territory, he allowed his forces to diminish, hindering Lord Alba's invasion of the new world."
As Nalundo spoke, he observed Huan Xing's expression.
Unfortunately, he couldn't discern any emotional changes from Huan Xing's face.
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