"Fellow Daoist Jian, may I ask where these God Spawns came from? They’re clearly not Demon Beasts..." Hengsheng asked after hearing the whole story of what had happened.
He thought this was the right time to ask this question since they now owed him a favor — well, not him, but the cat.
Jian Zixuan frowned as he considered whether to answer the question. After a moment of silence, he finally sent a sound transmission directly through Hengsheng's mind to prevent others from hearing.
"Fellow Daoist Lan, what I’m about to tell you is dangerous knowledge. However, since your beast companion possesses the power of Dao, she should be able to shield you from the Faith Whisper," Jian Zixuan said.
Hengsheng thought, 'It was called Faith Whisper? huh… the voice that whispered inside my head, trying to brainwash me.'
"The God Spawn's origin is connected to a powerful entity. We call them Wu Gods, god-like beings that dwell within the void(Wu) between worlds." Jian Zixuan said.
Jian Zixuan said that Faith Whisper was a phenomenon that occurred when people were aware of the Wu God's existence and somehow formed a spiritual connection with them, whether by praying to them or recklessly uttering their True names as Hengsheng did, through that connection, the whisper would come, converting people into Wu God followers.
The Faith Whisper could be prevented with strong willpower; however, for a low-rank cultivator like Hengsheng, his willpower was nowhere near enough to resist it.
Another way to prevent the Faith Whisper from corrupting one mind was with the power of Dao. But Jian Zixuan said these were just standard methods. The Golden Sword Sect used another approach — they employed a powerful artifact that could protect all of their young disciples from the Faith Whisper.
Hengsheng nodded as understood, to let Jian Zixuan continue.
Most Jian Zixuan had said is what Hengsheng had already guessed since the system's quest had given him a hint about the Wu Gods, ancient wars, and the Five Elemental Seal — until.
"Around Ten million years ago," Jian Zixuan's eyes narrowed.
"The God Spawns started to appear. At first, we didn't know what they were, but after my sect elders investigated, they found that these monsters were born from the leaked aura of the sealed Wu God. This made us realize that the seal is damaged and weakening," Jian Zixuan said.
Hengsheng finally understood what the God Spawns really were. They were not naturally occurring creatures but beings created by the power of the Wu Gods.
Although they appeared to be mindless monsters, Jian Zixuan stated that from his sect's observation of their behavior over a million years, these monsters consistently moved toward the seal and attempted to destroy it, as if they were programmed for one purpose — to do whatever it takes to liberate the Wu Gods from the seal.
"Why didn't your sect fix the seal?" Hengsheng asked curiously.
Jian Zixuan shook his head and said.
"We can't, since we are not the one who constructed it."
"What?" Hengsheng was shocked.
"Please don’t ask anymore — I’m not allowed to say anything else." Jian Zixuan said.
"Thank you for informing me, Fellow Daoist Jian," Hengsheng said with a bow. He knew pressing for answers would be useless — cultivators were always inherently stubborn.
"Like I said, we’re the ones who should be thanking you," Jian Zixuan said then he continued.
"There is one more thing I would like to ask you to help us with."
"I am hearing" Hengsheng said.
"Our situation is stable for now, but we can’t keep fighting these God Spawns forever. Our people are exhausted, and our resources are running dry. We might be able to hold out for a year, but who knows what those traitors will do next? That’s why I’d like you and your beast companion to go out and exterminate them for good. With your two's strength, dealing with the traitors should be easy. Will you help us?" Jian Zixuan asked.
"I’ll do it. Are you coming?" Hengsheng said, thinking about the axeman who dared to wound his beloved Yunsu. He was willing to do this for free, even if Jian Zixuan didn't ask.
Jian Zixuan shook his head and said with a serious tone.
"I’m sorry, I can’t. There’s something else I haven’t told you… There are traitors among us…" his expression was grim as if this was a serious problem.
"That it?" Hengsheng said.
The battle did not stop when the colossal wooden wall appeared; it only prevented the God Spawns' movement for a while before they found a way to get inside the wall, either by climbing or destroying sections of it.
Hengsheng observed the battlefield, counting the number of the God Spawn army. He roughly guessed that they had around 10,000 of them. He was quite puzzled about where the Heavenless Dao Cult had brought out so many God Spawns.
He remembered that the number of God Spawns wasn't this large when he went to the enemy camp.
He had also heard from Jian Zixuan that on the day that the cultist had launched a major attack, there were three humanoid God Spawns appeared. These humanoid God Spawns had power equal to that of Tier 4 beings or True Body realm cultivators.
Fortunately, those monsters were slapped to death by Yunsu's paws before they could even take any action.
He gazed at the cat, who appeared to be overly clingy for some reason, continuously rubbing her head against him.
"Meow?" She tilted her head, asking what was wrong.
"Nothing," Hengsheng replied with a playful grin. "I just thought you looked cute."
"Mew!" She puffed up proudly. 'Of course.'
Thinking of her newfound strength, Hengsheng couldn't help but feel left behind. Who could have thought that just having a little of the Dao Essence contained within her body would bring her strength to such ridiculous heights?
Race: Spirit Beast [Domestic Cat]
Bloodline: Myriad Devourer [Unique], Five Agents [Divine], Preserver [???].
Affinity: Neutral, Shadow, Yin, Yang, Wood, Fire, Water, Metal, Earth, Chakra.
Cultivation Realms: Rank 3 {55.01%}
Cultivation Techniques: —
Attainments: The Dao of Five Phases.
Overall Battle Power: Tier 4 - S
Physical [Physique, Bloodline, Race]: Tier 3 - A
Energy [Qi, Divine Sense, Spiritual Power]: Tier 3 - A
Unity [Mind, Heart, Soul]: Tier 3 - A
Abilities & Skills [Control, Proficiency, Knowledge]: Tier 3 - A
Traits [Innate, Special, Transcendent]: Infinite Evolution [Tier ???], Myriad Devour [Tier 3 - A], Five Phases [Tier 3 - A], Preservation [Tier 3 - A].
[Cultivated Abilities]: Spirit Nourishes, Affinity Physique.
[Skills]: Claw Strike, Quick Step, Qi Blast, Chakra Detection.
Hengsheng’s eyes nearly popped out of his head at the System panel before him.
"Yunsu! Are you eating the God Spawn?" Hengsheng asked hurriedly.
"Meow…" Yunsu let out a guilty-sounding mew, her ears flattening as she realized she’d been caught.
Hengsheng sighed, concern etched across his face and he said.
"Yunsu, you better need to be more careful with what you eat. What if it’s poisonous? And those ugly bastards… what if consuming them corrupts your bloodline and turns you into some kind of abomination creature?"
She raised her paw to cover her mouth in horror, behaving as if she had just thought of this possibility for the first time. A chill ran down her spine when she considered her own circumstances as an ugly mutant cat.
"Meow! Meow mew…" She tried to explain what had happened. Usually, when the God Spawns died, they quickly turned to dust and disappeared with the wind.
However, within the Dao Field's area, they didn't turn to dust immediately for some reason. This allowed her to extract the Bloodline Essence from them.
"It’s okay. Let’s just remember this and don't be reckless next time. You should tell me about your new bloodline later — right now, we’ve got a job to do." Hengsheng said.
"Meow." She responded with a pleading tone.
Hengsheng and Yunsu appeared in front of one of the God Spawns. Before Hengsheng could take action, Yunsu slapped it into dead meat with ease.
"Let me, I need to exercise my body a bit," Hengsheng said.
He raised his hand toward the remaining colossal wooden wall that had yet to be destroyed, preparing to test the power of the Divine-rank artifact.
"Fire." Instantly, the colossal wooden wall that had stood still for a while ignited, burning with fire that started from within.
This sudden change in the large object drew the attention of many cultivators. Hengsheng commanded the burning wooden wall with his Divine Sense, and it began to morph into a long shape like a serpent. Finally become—the Dragon of Burning Cinders!
The burning charcoal wood dragon swept across the battlefield under Hengsheng's command, each time it moved, the God Spawns were crushed under its weight and heat.
[You have acquired: 1,100 System Points.]
[You have acquired: 900 System Points.]
[You have acquired: 1,200 System Points.]
[You have defeated the Enemy!]
[You have gained XP!]
[You have reached the maximum level!]
[XP will be accumulated until your Mana Level increases!]
It only took half an hour before the entire God Spawn's army was turned into ash.
"It's finally over!!"
The victory cheer rang through the whole place, but little did they know, it was not over yet.
"Everyone, Senior Brother Jian has called for a meeting. Gather here!"