75: Qigong practitioners in the pre-Qin period

"Principal Li."

Zhang He cleared his throat, trying to make his voice sound steady and strong.

"Have you heard of... Pre-Qin Qi Refiners?"

Li Heng's hand, holding the teacup, paused in mid-air, then he nodded.

Of course, he knew. They were the most mysterious group of people in Chinese history.

Seeing him nod, Zhang He continued to explain, "Currently, all the Legacy of Qi Refiners in the mundane world, tracing back to their origins, almost all continuously flowed down from that era."

Li Heng put down his teacup and cut straight to the point.

"Did those Ancient Demons also appear at that time?"

This question made Zhang He's expression turn strange. He was silent for a long time before uttering a sentence that subverted Li Heng's understanding.

"No."

"The era when Ancient Demons appeared was much, much earlier than the Pre-Qin period."

"So early... that even the Human Race's earliest methods of Cultivation were personally taught by some Ancient Demons."

Li Heng's movements froze.

Ancient Demons teaching humans Cultivation Techniques?

What was this? A weasel paying respects to a chicken? Or... teaching a chicken how to fatten itself up?

"Why?"

Li Heng asked the doubt in his heart.

A bitter look appeared on Zhang He's face. He seemed to find it difficult to speak, but he still said it.

"Because... the flesh and blood of Human Race who have Cultivated are more... delicious to them."

"After devouring it, it is also more useful for the improvement of their own Cultivation."

A word instantly popped into Li Heng's mind.

"Pig farming."

This word, coming from his mouth, made Zhang He's body tremble, but he still nodded with difficulty.

"Yes, it's pig farming."

"In ancient times, our Human Race was the blood food raised by Ancient Demons, their... rations and Materials for Cultivation."

The air in the office solidified.

Zhang He continued, "Fortunately, the Ancient Demons were not a monolithic entity either. Factions stood in great numbers, constantly warring with each other, which gave our Human Race a chance to breathe."

"Later, a massive global upheaval occurred."

"Almost overnight, those Ancient Great Demons, powerful enough to destroy heaven and earth, all disappeared."

"The Human Race seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, turning from weak to strong, and in turn suppressed the remaining Ancient Demons, thus creating an era belonging to our Human Race."

Li Heng's mind raced.

Myths of gods and demons, tales of immortals.

The former mostly depicted the Human Race being slaughtered by various monsters, full of blood and despair.

The latter depicted Human Race powerhouses slaying Ancient Demons and establishing Schools.

The dividing line between these two might be the "great upheaval" Zhang He mentioned.

"Later, starting from approximately the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi began to thin."

Zhang He's voice carried a hint of lament.

"Without Spiritual Qi, the Legacy of most Qi Refiner Schools was broken. Only a very small number of Schools with profound foundations struggled to survive by relying on blessed lands, and in order to continue their Legacy, they created another path—Martial Dao."

"It wasn't until recent centuries that the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi gradually began to recover."

"And those Ancient Demons that we had suppressed and driven away for thousands of years, with the recovery of Spiritual Qi, once again began to run rampant in the human world."

Li Heng leaned back in his chair, his fingers unconsciously tapping the table.

All the Ancient Great Demons disappeared overnight?

Why did this plot sound so familiar?

According to the tropes of web novels, these guys probably didn't die, but rather sealed themselves in some way.

Now that Spiritual Qi was recovering, they were probably about to break the Seal and emerge.

It seemed necessary to investigate the so-called "place where the Ancient Demons disappeared"...

At the same time, a hundred miles away, Qingxia Temple.

The battle had ended.

The once arrogant Daoist name was now disheveled, his Daoist robe torn, kneeling on the ground like a dead dog, trembling like a sieve.

"Mercy! Immortal masters, have mercy!"

"This humble one was blind and offended you all, please, just let me go like a fart!"

He kowtowed, tears and snot flowing, no longer showing any trace of an immortal's demeanor.

Liu Lian walked up to him, lifted his chin with the tip of his sword, his face showing undisguised disgust.

"Just kill him. Keeping such scum is only a disaster."

His suggestion was simple and direct, full of the decisiveness of a Sword Cultivator.

"No!"

Fang Yuan immediately objected.

"We are students of Kunlun Cultivation Academy, not butchers who kill innocent people indiscriminately!"

He had just been a hero in Jiangcheng, and his sense of justice was overflowing.

"Hand him over to the official special agency for handling, let him accept the judgment of mundane law, that is the Righteous Path!"

Liu Lian sneered.

"Fang Yuan, have you watched too many hero movies? Still talking about the Righteous Path?"

"Hand him over to the officials? What if he escapes on the way? What if he has accomplices who rescue him?"

"When he comes back for revenge, the first place he'll look for is your home! Are you willing to gamble the lives of your family on this so-called Righteous Path?"

A series of questions left Fang Yuan speechless.

He really hadn't thought that far.

The other students also looked at each other, all feeling that Liu Lian made sense.

For such an evil Cultivator, it was safest to just kill him and be done with it.

But to just kill him like that, they felt it was somewhat inconsistent with their image of "slaying Ancient Demons and defending the Dao."

For a moment, everyone was indecisive.

Finally, everyone's gaze, by prior agreement, converged on the young man who had remained calm since the beginning of the battle.

Xie Wangsheng.

He was the overall commander of this operation.

Xie Wangsheng felt everyone's gaze. He slowly raised his head and looked around at everyone.

There was no expression on his face, he just spoke lightly.

"Are you sure you want me to make the decision?"