Chapter 10: Proliferation

“Cang!”

Though Ancestor Wu Dijang’s face was filled with astonishment, he showed no sign of anxiety; his expression remained calm as he inquired, “Cang, what method do you possess that could allow my Wu tribe to innately have primordial spirits?”

“Indeed!” Ancestor Wu Zhu Jiuyin echoed, “What method is this? Would it also allow us Ancestor Wus to possess the power of the primordial spirit?”

Cang replied respectfully, “There is something the Ancestor Wus may not know. Heaven’s evolution counts to forty-nine, but always leaves a thread of hope. Our Wu tribe, owing to the calamity of chaos, when Father Pangu slew the gods and sundered heaven and earth, inherited infinite karmic debts; the karma went to the Wu tribe, while the merit went to the primordial spirit. Thus, we are innately flawed and unable to give birth to primordial spirits.”

“Indeed, most of the Wu tribe are thus. However, Heaven has left us a thread of hope!”

Cang continued, “As I know it, at this moment, I am the only one among the Wu tribe who innately possesses a primordial spirit. This is why I say I can help our tribe proliferate Wu with primordial spirits!”

“What?” All twelve Ancestor Wus were deeply astonished.

Ancestor Wu Dijang was first to act, using divine power to probe within Cang’s body, immediately detecting the embryonic primordial spirit densely patterned with innate Dao markings.

Each of the twelve Ancestor Wus examined him in turn, and almost all could not help but marvel in admiration.

Ancestor Wu Houtu said, “Though his primordial spirit treads a unique path of cultivation, during the process it can attract innate pure qi to temper the soul. This is indeed the power of the primordial spirit, and his primordial spirit, within the same realm, is quite formidable!”

“Indeed!” Ancestor Wu Xuanming agreed, “To draw innate pure qi, it must be the power of the primordial spirit!”

Now, in the prehistoric world, there are two common forms of innate power. One is innate turbid qi, the path taken by countless innate gods and demons during the Dragon-Phoenix Calamity and the Wu Tribe Catastrophe, where they refined their bodies to the pinnacle. The other is innate pure qi; at the dawn of the Wu Tribe Catastrophe, after the Dao Ancestor Hongjun expounded the Dao, more and more beings abandoned the path of physical refinement for the immortal way of the primordial spirit, absorbing innate pure qi, which gradually became mainstream in the prehistoric world.

Absorbing innate turbid qi strengthens the physical body; absorbing innate pure qi can nurture a primordial spirit in accordance with the Great Dao. These are common truths in the prehistoric world—how could the twelve Ancestor Wus not know?

After careful examination, all confirmed that though Cang belonged to the Wu tribe, he indeed possessed the power of the primordial spirit.

…

“How wondrous and strange!” Ancestor Wu Dijang sighed in admiration, “To think Heaven has left us such a chance! It is a pity, though we might use Cang’s bloodline to nurture Wu with primordial spirits, we cannot rely on him to grant us, the twelve Ancestor Wus, primordial spirits ourselves. What a great regret!”

Ancestor Wu Houtu smiled, “Before, when our entire tribe was mired in karma with no hope in sight, we didn’t complain much. Now, after finally finding such hope, what is there to be dissatisfied with?”

“Since Cang is innately blessed and wields the power of the primordial spirit, let us share a portion of Father’s yin blood and combine it with Cang’s essence blood to nurture Wu with primordial spirits. What say you all?”

“Agreed!” The twelve Ancestor Wus all nodded in approval.

Seeing them finally consent, Cang could not help but let out a long sigh of relief.

…

To nurture Cang’s descendants required the power of his essence blood—the very essence of life. The stronger the god or demon in body refinement, the more reluctant they are to part with their essence blood lightly.

With Cang’s cultivation, he could, at most, spare a single drop of essence blood every sixty years, so as not to diminish his life potential or impede his progress.

Right then, before the twelve Ancestor Wus, Cang severed a drop of essence blood.

Ancestor Wu Dijang personally guided it to merge with Father Pangu’s yin blood.

In a mere instant, a Wu warrior was thus nurtured.

Cang lifted his gaze to the newly born Wu warrior—his own offspring.

The warrior, upon birth, stood at the divine level, radiating the vigorous aura of an early-stage divine being.

Consider this: even now, Cang himself had only just entered the Celestial God realm, having cultivated the second turn of the Ninefold Mysterious Art.

Yet this newly born Wu warrior, from the very moment of birth, already possessed the cultivation of an early-stage divine being—the first turn of the Ninefold Mysterious Art.

Judging by his potential, with mere casual training, he would easily reach the Celestial God realm and the second turn of the Ninefold Mysterious Art. Moreover, he would likely advance with astonishing speed until reaching a critical bottleneck, after which progress would slow.

…

“So this is the power of Pangu’s essence blood?” Cang was inwardly shaken. “Truly terrifying!”

Upon seeing the new clansman, the twelve Ancestor Wus all came to examine him, even bestowing upon him various primordial spirit cultivation secrets.

However, to everyone’s surprise, the newly born Wu remained an ordinary member of the tribe and, unlike Cang, did not possess the ability to cultivate a primordial spirit.

“Hmm!” Ancestor Wu Houtu pondered for a long while before saying, “In my view, Cang’s bloodline is not at fault. He innately possesses the power of the primordial spirit, and his body is extremely unique. If combined with our Wu essence blood, it should be possible to produce Wu born with primordial spirits.”

“But,” Houtu continued, “at present, Cang is still too weak.”

“He is only at the early Celestial God stage. In the path of body refinement—Divine, Celestial God, True God, Profound God, Golden God, Supreme God and Demon, Great Luo God and Demon—each step apart is a world of difference.”

“Cang is but a Celestial God, while Father was a god and demon at the very pinnacle. With Father’s blood as dominant in the union, it’s natural that the offspring favor Father’s lineage.”

“If that is so,” Ancestor Wu Dijang fretted, “how should we resolve this?”

“It is not so difficult,” Houtu replied. “First, we do everything in our power to cultivate Cang, so that he grows as swiftly as possible—ideally to stand shoulder to shoulder with us. Then, his essence blood will naturally become exceedingly strong, and since what remains of Father’s blood is ordinary god blood, not the core essence, if Cang can reach the Great Luo God and Demon realm, his essence blood will rival that of Father’s. By then, the imbalance will be gone.”

“Great Luo God and Demon?” Ancestor Wu Dijang nodded lightly, unconcerned, “That is not difficult, but it will require time!”

“Second,” Houtu continued after some thought, “to save time and enhance our tribe’s potential, we can have Cang spare another drop of heart’s blood, which I will take into my body for nurturing. I cultivate the Spirit Treasure Nurturing Art derived from the Pangu Pool, and my heart chamber already bears pure yin divine blood. Once Cang’s blood is strong enough, merging it with mine will allow us to produce offspring who will surely possess the power of the primordial spirit!”