Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 510 What is a Demon?

Given the project team's prior instructions, Fang Xianyu exchanged a few pleasantries with everyone before beginning to explain the matter of demon cultivators.

“In ancient times, there was no concept of ‘demon’ in the Guixu Realm, and of course, there were no humans at that time either.”

As Fang Xianyu spoke, everyone diligently jotted down notes.

"Or, to be more precise, there were no ordinary animals at that time; they were all beings capable of cultivation. Apart from plants, all animals in the Guixu Realm could cultivate, and they were all naturally intelligent."

"So at that time, ordinary rabbits, chickens, ducks, fish, insects, and all kinds of birds and beasts did not exist. There were only various extinct intelligent species, many of which were more like creatures from myths and legends on Earth, with strange and wonderful appearances and natural supernatural qualities."

This concept, however, did not cause much of a stir.

Not long ago, when the project team sent people to Quanxianwangcheng for exchange and learning, they had already learned some "ancient" knowledge about the Guixu Realm, and had analyzed the situation in ancient times several times, so it was not unfamiliar to them.

But what Fang Xianyu said next left everyone somewhat bewildered.

"As far as I know, those ordinary animals are all the result of the transformation of the flesh and blood of the ancient ancestral creatures after their death. Some ancient books have recorded that certain animals were created by some ancient god, but in fact they were not created, but were born by accident."

"Just like the humans in the Guixu Realm later on, they were actually created by the ancient goddess Nuwa using her own flesh and blood."

"Excuse me--"

Taking advantage of Fang Xianyu's pause, a professor asked, "Based on what you said, does this prove that the Guixu Realm is essentially a world based on creationism?"

“No, of course not,” Fang Xianyu denied. “Only a portion of living beings were created by the ancient gods, not everything in the world was created by them. In other words, I don’t think it was ‘creation’ but rather a special kind of ‘reproduction,’ a continuation of their bloodline. However, the products of this continuation and their origin cannot be considered the same kind of creature—if we classify them according to the biological theories of Earth.”

Wang Qiqing interjected thoughtfully, "Perhaps... it can also be seen as a kind of regression."

Fang Xianyu was taken aback for a moment, then seriously pondered for a while before nodding and saying, "Indeed, some things do 'degenerate,' regressing in terms of bloodline but evolving in terms of adapting to the environment for survival. Isn't that the case on Earth too?"

Professor Wu, the most authoritative biologist in the room, frowned. His confusion was growing, but he had to admit Fang Xianyu's point of view, so he nodded with difficulty: "From a certain perspective, you can think of it that way."

Fang Xianyu smiled and continued explaining, "In fact, there is no definitive conclusion in the Guixu Realm about how 'demons' are created. Some believe it is a kind of atavism, something carried in one's bloodline, or, to put it more mysteriously, something ordained by heaven. Others believe it is just an accident, unrelated to bloodline. Of course, there are also some less common views that it is a reproducible, inevitable result arising from the subject's living circumstances... This is a very interesting view, although I do not agree with it."

“If this is a kind of ‘spiritual reaction’,”

Wang Qiqing almost immediately followed up with Fang Xianyu's point of view:
"Let me explain. 'Spiritual reaction' is a concept I personally proposed, referring to the reaction of an objective thing under the influence of a spiritual field, based on changes in genetic traits or biological expression. Before this, I always thought that this reaction was common in plants, such as the birth of many spiritual herbs and plants."

“But now, if we apply this theory to animals as well, the difficulties it presents are the same as those for plants, namely, why most plants and animals cannot undergo spiritual transformation. But it can also explain the logic of animal ‘demonicization,’ namely, changes in genetic traits and biological expression.” Fang Xianyu’s eyes twitched almost imperceptibly.

The last time she learned similar knowledge was two hundred years ago, or even "last week". The fact that she could barely understand all the "genes" and "biological expression" that were being slammed into her face was thanks to her successful cultivation, which made her comprehension much stronger than before!

Even so, Fang Xianyu could only barely understand what Wang Qiqing meant, and if asked to reply, she could only say "Aba aba".

But how could she really "babble"? She could only nod and say with admiration in her eyes, "As expected of Professor Wang, although this is the first time I've heard this theory, it does have some merit after careful consideration."

Immediately afterward, to prevent Wang Qiqing from asking any questions that he truly couldn't answer, Fang Xianyu quickly added: "However, in any case, once an animal awakens its intelligence, it can be considered a 'demon,' and a 'demon' itself cannot belong to the same race as its former race."

"It's a very cruel thing. Even if those ordinary animals are the direct blood relatives of 'demons'—parents, brothers, sisters, and even children—they are not actually of the same kind. This is why in the Guixu Realm, we rarely see demon cultivators who have achieved enlightenment through cultivation having blood relatives."

One of the project team members astutely noticed a key phrase: "Cultivated demons through acquired means? Does that mean there are also innate demon cultivators?"

Fang Xianyu nodded: "Demon cultivators can reproduce in 'human' form, and their offspring are naturally 'demons'."

"Clans such as the Dragon Clan, Quanxian Clan, Qingqiu Fox Clan, Chiyuan Fox Clan, Xuanyan Clan, and Jinling Clan all formed their own clans by maintaining a collective for a long time and reproducing internally. Their descendants were born with intelligence."

"Although out of respect, the Guixu Realm all use it as their race name, their power system is essentially closer to 'demon'."

Wang Qiqing found it unbelievable and asked in disbelief, "So, does that mean only humans are special?"

"That's right. Among the races that emerged later, only humans are special."

Unexpectedly, Fang Xianyu nodded with great certainty and said, "Only humans are naturally capable of cultivation. Even those who are considered 'celestially disabled' or 'earthly deficient' can cultivate. I'm sure you all have done experiments and have some understanding of this."

At this point, she added, "Of course, what I'm emphasizing is that among the races that emerged later, humans are the most unique."

"But in fact, the Dragon Clan, the Spring Clan, and the Golden Spirit Clan are similar to humans. They are all independent races, and there are no individuals who cannot awaken their intelligence. This is fundamentally different from the Fox Clan, the Black Swallow Clan, and other races that were born later in life."

Wang Qiqing murmured, "Are humans really that special...?"

In the meeting room, all the project team members looked at each other, the same question on their minds: "Why?"

The good news is that Old Deng, as a witness, will be back soon. The bad news is also this: I don't know if I'll ever be able to get rid of him; it's too painful.