Chapter 198 : Overview of the Asura Realm
Chapter 198: Overview of the Asura Realm
Long Tao stood where he was, watching the retreating figure of Xin Wushe.
He could not make sense of the sword cultivator’s final meaningful remark no matter how much he thought about it.
However, the other party clearly had no intention of explaining.
In the blink of an eye, he disappeared down the small path outside The Village, presumably heading out to hunt again.
Once he was left alone, just as he was wondering what he should do next, he suddenly realized a problem—namely… in this village, aside from being newly married husband and wife, he and True Person Mingzhu seemed to have no other identities.
Du Yiluo was the Postman, Xin Wushe was a hunter, and the young men led by Shi Wenyuan also seemed to have their own work, such as farming in the fields or guarding the Warehouse.
But it seemed that only the two of them were pure unemployed idlers. Up to now, aside from being required to have children, no tasks had been assigned to them. Every day they could even go to the Warehouse to collect their allotted food rations. Yesterday during the day, the two of them had already received theirs.
If this were his previous life, such a lifestyle—holding a beautiful wife and living off government provisions—would have been the ultimate dream life. But in this damned place, he felt a faint chill in his heart, as though something huge was waiting for him.
While he was thinking, he saw True Person Mingzhu walking side by side with Du Yiluo from the far end of the path.
Two peerless beauties walking along a country road should have formed a pleasing scene.
Yet Mingzhu’s expression carried a trace of grievance, looking exactly like a young girl who had just argued with her boyfriend and gone to confide in her best friend.
“Oh my, your husband is over there!” Du Yiluo spotted Long Tao at a glance and deliberately pushed Mingzhu lightly.
Mingzhu shot her an annoyed glare, but as she approached, she subconsciously tidied the hair at her temples.
Du Yiluo naturally would not miss such a teasing opportunity.
“Long Tao, I just heard about it. You really bullied her last night. No matter how old Mingzhu is, deep down she’s still a pure and fragile girl. Can’t you be a bit gentler as a grown man?”
“I didn’t—” Mingzhu had just begun to explain when Du Yiluo cut her off.
“Oh, I know, I know. Newlyweds. An outsider like me shouldn’t meddle. After all, couples quarrel at the head of the bed and reconcile at the foot of it. If things get awkward, the girl will always end up standing on her man’s side anyway. In the end, once you two make up, you’ll blame sisters like us for being nosy.”
At this moment, Mingzhu finally could not help but ask,
“Y-you… are you really an Asura?”
Du Yiluo burst out laughing and continued with several teasing remarks that made people blush.
Mingzhu grew so embarrassed that she turned around and walked straight back into the house. Just before closing the door, she called out to Long Tao with a red face,
“I want to be alone for a while. Don’t come back so soon!”
After the door shut with a bang, only Long Tao and Du Yiluo were left staring at each other.
“Oh my! Already such a grown woman and still this shy. How cute.”
……
Since neither of the two outside had anything to do, Du Yiluo invited Long Tao to go with her to the Warehouse to collect food. Seeing the sweat on his face, she asked curiously,
“What were you doing just now? You’re sweating all over.”
Long Tao explained how he had been learning swordsmanship from Xin Wushe, which naturally drew a sigh from the Asura.
“That’s why I say—for people with ordinary talent like you, although this situation is dangerous, it’s also a rare opportunity. Under normal circumstances, someone like you wouldn’t even get the chance to learn swordsmanship from Big Brother Xin. He’d probably feel it was a waste of time to even glance at you.”
“That’s actually true. I’m starting to feel like not leaving too soon might be a good thing.”
“Oh right,” Du Yiluo suddenly lowered her voice, “you two held back on your first night, didn’t you receive any punishment? Mingzhu just went through that, so I couldn’t ask her.”
Long Tao’s expression darkened.
“A strand of Divine Soul was extracted. What… you didn’t know?”
When Du Yiluo heard that a Divine Soul had been extracted, her expression also turned grim.
“Of course I didn’t know. People who come here and don’t listen to the seniors usually die within the first few days. The ones left are those who obediently follow instructions and value their lives. Naturally they all work honestly. So we only know there’s punishment, but we really don’t know what it is—after all, no one would try it. You newlyweds are truly bold.”
Although her tone still sounded relaxed, Du Yiluo continued with lingering fear,
“But now I more or less understand the state of those Drifters. If too much of their Divine Soul is extracted, they really will become those half-human, half-ghost things. Sigh… terrifying.”
“By the way, Miss Du,” Long Tao said, “I’ve been thinking these past few days. Why did the others all become Drifters, but the Village Chief turned into that puppet-like state and remained in The Village?”
“I’ve wondered about that too.” Du Yiluo frowned. “The only guess I can make is that the position of Village Chief is too important. Someone must hold it, so the rules of the village made him an exception.”
Long Tao nodded. He had thought the same, but it still felt too simple. Then he asked again,
“The Original Residents of this village… do they never go out? I’ve noticed that during the day, it seems only Outsiders like us are wandering around.”
“That’s right,” Du Yiluo confirmed. “At least during the daytime they absolutely never come out. As for the night… Xin Wushe and I suspect that the strange entities outside and those howling beasts might actually be the villagers themselves transformed. After all, this place has never been normal.”
“That’s very possible. I suspect they told us that information because they were restricted by rules—they had to say something. But they deliberately avoided explaining it clearly, only using titles like ‘the general’ to fool us.”
After saying that, Long Tao looked at Du Yiluo again.
“But Miss Du, I do have my doubts… are you really an Asura? You’re completely different from what I imagined. Aside from being very beautiful.”
“Oh my! Such a sweet mouth.” Du Yiluo laughed. “At a time like this you’re still saying such things to a girl. Aren’t you afraid Mingzhu will get jealous? But it’s true—I am different from the Asura people usually imagine. I’m a second-generation Asura.”
“Second generation?” Long Tao did not know much about this race and was completely confused.
“Yes. The earliest Asura—the first generation—were born from the Blood Sea of the Asura Realm. They were practically Innate Deities, immortal and extraordinarily powerful. Most of the strongest and highest-ranking Asura were born that way.”
“But later, as you know, the heavens and earth shattered. It didn’t just affect your world—the Asura Realm was also greatly impacted. Many fragments of shattered worlds fused with the Asura Realm. The humans and Demon Race living on those world fragments were influenced by the battle intent and Sha Energy of the Asura Realm. Some couldn’t withstand it and died, while others who survived became something like mixed-blood beings.”
“So you are…?”
Du Yiluo waved her hand.
“That was all from countless years ago. What I mean is… nowadays, aside from those Innate Deities born from the Blood Sea, most Asura are born from their parents just like ordinary beings—that is what I call second-generation Asura. Because of this, we possess quite a bit of human nature. My hometown was once one of those world fragments. The lifestyle and customs there are actually closer to your human world. Don’t think our realm is all about fighting and killing.”
“Oh… then… allow me to ask out of curiosity—are the female Asura really all very beautiful, and the males really all very ugly?”
Du Yiluo gave a mischievous smile at that question.
“Hehe, you’ve wanted to ask that for a long time, haven’t you? You even held it in until now. Fine… there’s nothing to hide. Basically yes. But we aren’t born beautiful or ugly. It has to do with our racial talent.”
“Talent? Dying and resurrecting?” Long Tao immediately thought of the most famous ability.