Free Web NovelChapter 600: Chapter 89: The Distinction Between Human and Fiend
The two founders of the Saint Sect — the Painting Demons who survived the Immortal Demon War by a stroke of luck, were nothing short of human when they unified Xiangzhou and ignited the Fire of Civilization.
Zhao Chenlu’s conclusion brought on a prolonged silence.
Perhaps it was because she had previously interpreted so many unbelievable conclusions from the Holy Record that the listeners’ nerves had become numb, so this earth-shattering fact didn’t cause more shock.
After a long while, seeing the audience without any reaction, Zhao Chenlu shook her head helplessly and continued, "Your reactions are really quite calm, much calmer than the two founders. When they realized the environment in which they had survived and what it signified, their worldviews collapsed."
"The majority of the Demon Race that invaded the Jiuzhou Continent were bred in mother nests. Instilled with the instincts of the Demon Race from their egg form, their self-awareness was of utmost importance. My dear, when we destroyed the first mother nest back then, didn’t we decipher the structure of the Demon Race’s self-awareness? Do you remember what the key points were?"
Of course, Wang Jiu remembered. Apart from the part about the final battle with the Demon Emperor, all his memories of the Demon Race remained perfectly intact in his mind.
The self-awareness acquired by the Demon Race in the mother nests centered on the following three questions: Who am I, where do I come from, and to whom should I owe my loyalty.
The first question determined the rank and instincts of the Demon Race. As a species with a strictly hierarchical system, each individual of the Demon Race had a clear place within this hierarchy. Among them, the Painting Demons were among the lower-middle kind, with instincts like cowardice and survival, considered an oddity in the vast Demon Race system.
The second question determined the sense of belonging of the Demon Race. Prior to the birth of the Demon Emperor, the Demon Race usually didn’t have a concept of belonging. The perpetual internecine fights made them unaware of what kin and hometown meant. But after the Demon Emperor, all Demons were forcibly instilled with a sense of belonging; they all belonged to the Demon Race and unless necessary, were forbidden to kill each other.
The third question naturally determined the goal of the Demon Race’s efforts. All Demons were to devote their lives and everything to the great Demon Emperor, advancing bravely in the direction indicated by the Demon Emperor.
These three questions formed the core of the Demon Race’s self-awareness. However, for the two Painting Demons, when they awoke from their eggs, two of the questions immediately collapsed.
The Demon Emperor was slain, and there was no longer an object of loyalty for the Demon Race, shattering their ideals and future directly.
The Demon Race was nearly exterminated, their mother nests destroyed, and with the passage of millennia, everything from the past was gone. Therefore, the Demon Race’s sense of belonging became elusive and unsubstantial.
Among the three major questions, only "Who am I" remained unscathed, but even this was gone after the festival.
Surviving the baptism of the Fire of Civilization unscathed meant it was impossible to still be a Demon. The deep-seated enmity between humans and demons would never dissipate, even to the end of heaven and earth. The two Painting Demons, from the moment they awoke, keenly perceived the universe’s repulsion and hostility towards demons. Yet, it was this very universe that treated the Painting Demons as one of its own at the festival... So, as the Fire of Civilization gradually spread across the continent and the festival officially concluded, the two surviving Painting Demons, looking at the crowd of human cultivators gathering around them, feeling those countless respectful and intense gazes, instantly felt their world crumbling.
"So... after the festival, was it because they were ’overexhausted’ that the two ancestors secluded themselves for months without appearing?"
The Sect Leader’s voice was full of dryness: "Before the festival, everyone thought that in the new world, the Saint Sect would hold absolute power, forming an absolute power center with the Three Academies. But the few months of vacuum caused a significant loss of power for the Saint Sect. The heads of the Three Academies were forced to take up the heavy responsibility and delegate some authority to the family sects... Later on, we all analyzed that the two ancestors deliberately decentralized power to avoid corruption, but looking at it now, perhaps they were just digesting the miracle of transforming from demon to human."
Zhao Chenlu said, "Yes, this part of the record is also the most emotional and ambiguous in the whole Holy Record. After the festival, they went into seclusion, continuously confirming their identities in various ways and searching for new self-awareness. Theoretically, Demons and humans are two entirely different and even entirely opposite species; mutual transformation is impossible — there are countless decisive differences just in physiological structures alone. Although they had previously modified themselves to imitate humans as much as possible, those modifications were only external; internally they remained Demons, at least the Painting Demon’s flat heart couldn’t be changed..."
The Sect Leader asked, "And in reality?"
Zhao Chenlu smiled, "What do you think?"
"How could I possibly guess, your interpretations of this Holy Record have already shattered most of my common sense, I can accept anything that happens next."
Zhao Chenlu said, "Oh, have you entered the numb phase so quickly? Slightly disappointing. Alright then, I’ll just say it outright. Based on their conclusions, the situation is fifty-fifty. On one hand, during the long-term masquerade as humans, their physical structures underwent significant mutations, becoming vastly different from the standard definition of the Demon Race — which is only natural. Living in a place without the Demon Emperor, without mother nests, and where the Laws of Heaven and Earth suppress Demons in every way, it’s impossible for their physical structures not to mutate over decades or centuries. For instance, the most typical flat heart of the Painting Demon displayed an expanding and stereoscopic trend. According to their own analyses, this was due to the lack of direct supply from a mother nest, combined with the inability to replenish energy through mass slaughter while playing the role of a Saint, leading to long-term metabolic disorders in the Painting Demons. Most of their changes were almost without exception aligning towards humans. This, according to analyses, was because the Laws of Heaven and Earth on the Xiangzhou Continent favored humans, so to adapt, organisms naturally evolved towards humans."
