Cultivation Starts from Farming

It should be known that some Demon Beasts possess quite extraordinary intelligence at the Foundation Establishment Level, such as the Water Lake Rat.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, you may not be aware."

Hearing this, Shan Tianyou showed a bitter smile and shook his head, sighing:

"These so-called ’high-rank’ ancient demons to us cultivators in the lower realm... "

"Might not even count as soldiers in the eyes of the Ancient Demon Race in the ’Upper Realm’ but are merely... cannon fodder."

"Cannon fodder?"

Xu Ping was genuinely a bit surprised and turned to look at Shan Tianyou,

"Fourth Rank Lower Grade ancient demons, comparable to Early-Stage Nascent Soul, only count as cannon fodder?"

"Indeed."

Shan Tianyou nodded affirmatively, his tone heavy,

"According to the ancient records of my Mystic Water Sect, in the strict war hierarchy of the Ancient Demon Race in the Upper Realm."

"Only by breaking through to Fourth Rank Upper Grade, equivalent to our Late-Stage Nascent Soul, can an ancient demon barely escape the fate of cannon fodder and have some status and voice within their group."

"Below this, they are all ants, to be expended at will."

Xu Ping remained silent for a moment, digesting this astonishing information.

Seeing Xu Ping in deep thought, Shan Tianyou continued, and this time, he revealed an even more shocking secret:

"Actually, although these demons are collectively referred to by us as ’ancient demons,’ strictly speaking, they are not the true descendants of the Upper Realm’s Ancient Demon Race."

"But rather war tools specially bred by the great powers of the Upper Realm Ancient Demons to invade and conquer lower realms like ours!"

"They possess low intelligence, are easy to control, reproduce rapidly, and have a strong adaptability to Demonic Qi, making them the most suitable cannon fodder for depleting and eroding the power of the lower realms!"

"Such a thing?!"

Xu Ping’s eyes sparkled with a light, this somewhat overturned his understanding.

Shan Tianyou continued to explain: "While the resources and Spiritual Qi of the Upper Realm are far superior to ours, the competition among countless races is unimaginably cruel."

"To the mighty ones of the Upper Realm, lower realms like ours with relatively independent laws and resources are also desirable resources worth fighting for."

"However, once cultivators in the Upper Realm exceed the Divinity Transformation Stage, attempting to traverse the endless void to personally descend to the lower realm becomes nearly impossible, as they are violently repelled by Interface Power, and the cost is tremendous."

"Therefore, breeding large quantities of these low-intelligence ancient demon cannon fodder and driving them through certain special channels to invade the lower realm became the most economical and practical method."

Hearing such secrets, Xu Ping felt his horizons expanded, and many past doubts became clear all of a sudden.

Moreover, he couldn’t help but hold Shan Tianyou, and indeed the Mystic Water Sect behind him, in higher regard.

Such secrets are not something ordinary Late-Stage Nascent Soul cultivators could possibly know.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, you need not be surprised."

Shan Tianyou seemed to notice Xu Ping’s gaze and smiled slightly, explaining:

"These records are preserved within the core texts of several top inheritance forces in the outer sea and are not considered top-secret."

"It’s just that ordinary cultivators have no opportunity to learn of them."

"I see." Xu Ping nodded slightly.

But in his heart, he quietly speculated that these so-called "top inheritance forces,"

were probably closely connected with the mighty ones who sealed the ancient demon passage in Ancient Times.

Perhaps they are even the inheritors of the Daoist tradition of those mighty ones, which is why they possess such detailed information about the Upper Realm.

Of course, this was just his personal speculation and he didn’t voice it.

However, just as Xu Ping continued to observe the battlefield and ponder over this information, he suddenly realized an extremely important issue.

That is, if these ancient demons are not truly blood descendants of the Upper Realm’s Ancient Demon Race, but merely artificially bred war tools,

Then... the Nirvana Blood he previously acquired, could it still be considered authentic Nirvana Blood?

At this thought, Xu Ping’s heart tightened.

If the Nirvana Blood is fake, then it would be a massive loss, and achieving the Nirvana Golden Body would be distant and uncertain.

Who could have thought that these ancient demons would have such a hidden truth?

"I must verify this," Xu Ping’s eyes flickered.

After pondering for a moment, Xu Ping looked at Shan Tianyou and spoke with a hint of probing in his tone,

"Senior Shan, do you happen to know what Nirvana Blood is?"

Upon hearing this, Shan Tianyou’s eyes flashed with a hint of surprise before he nodded,

"Naturally, I know. Nirvana Blood is the heart’s blood of an ancient demon at the Late-Stage Nascent Soul level, containing extremely pure original power of the Demon Race, serving as a valuable material for refining certain special cultivation techniques and Pills."

Seeing that Shan Tianyou actually knew the origin of Nirvana Blood, Xu Ping’s eyes immediately brightened, and he continued to ask,

"Then, can the heart’s blood of these ancient demons invading the lower realm be considered true Nirvana Blood?"

This question indeed stumped Shan Tianyou.

He furrowed his brows and thought for a long while before finally shaking his head, saying: "This... I am not entirely certain as well."

"After all, although these ancient demons are powerful, they are ultimately cannon fodder manufactured by the true Ancient Demon Race of the Upper Realm."

"Whether their bloodline still retains the original purity is truly difficult to ascertain."

Just as Xu Ping was about to leave disappointed, Shan Tianyou changed his tone and added:

"However, I do know a method to verify the authenticity of Nirvana Blood. If Fellow Daoist Xu needs it, I can share this method with you."

Upon hearing this, Xu Ping was overjoyed and immediately cupped his hands, saying: "Thank you very much, Senior Shan!"

Shan Tianyou laughed and waved his hand, saying:

"Fellow Daoist Xu, you’re too polite. This is just some insignificant little technique, not any precious secret technique."

With that, he detailed the method to verify the authenticity of Nirvana Blood to Xu Ping.

It turned out that this method was not complicated; it only required using a specific Divine Sense probing technique alongside some simple Spells to detect the purity and quality of the Demon Race’s original power in the blood.

Xu Ping carefully memorized every detail.

With this method, he could determine whether the heart’s blood he acquired from the Ancient Demon Hall is truly Nirvana Blood.