Free Web NovelChapter 329: Chapter 48: The Truth of the Beast God Realm and the True Body
"I understand. Bloodlines are really just a boost; the person is what’s most important—I get it!"
After hearing Su Zhou, Bai Canglang’s expression turned serious, his gaze filled with admiration. But Su Zhou, unaware of Bai Canglang’s previous conversation with Xuan Lu, was completely baffled and had no idea what the man "got."
Meanwhile, the Artifice Sage, who was listening in—not that he was deliberately eavesdropping, as Su Zhou knew he would be overheard—also grew thoughtful, seemingly having a realization.
’Su Zhou’s True Body must be Fire Element, but his Talent with the Thunder Element must also be exceptional. That’s why he’s using it as a disguise.’
’As for why he doesn’t want people to know the origin of his bloodline, we’ll just chalk that up to youthful willfulness. Besides, revealing one’s True Body does make one an easy target. That consideration is sound, very cautious, and a perfectly normal decision.’
’In any case, if necessary, the Zhengguo Government could dig up some ancient tome from god-knows-where tomorrow and fabricate a long history for Su Zhou. They could make him a Divine Dragon that has existed since antiquity, even one worshipped by countless people—whatever the situation demanded. Given enough prep time, they could probably even forge the ruins to go with it.’
That was about everything that needed to be said. The gate to the Secret Realm opened again, and a second exploration team—fully armed and even carrying heavy weapons—had already begun to enter.
Su Zhou and the others led Garuda into Kunlun Palace on Central Mountain, coordinating with the second exploration team to transfer the relevant access rights. Once that was done, the exploration of the Kunlun Secret Realm could be considered concluded.
Of course, they didn’t encounter any enemies along the way. Instead, the group was once again surrounded by a swarm of small Spirit Beasts and forced to accept a great deal of fruit. frёeωebɳovel.com
Throughout the entire process, Garuda seemed dispirited, even more so after transferring the access rights. She would tremble whenever she saw Su Zhou.
Fortunately, unlike Li Hanshan, Garuda could still communicate normally. Whenever Su Zhou asked her a question, she would answer obediently.
Su Zhou wasn’t the type to enjoy bullying people—being confrontational and bullying were two different things. Seeing that Garuda seemed genuinely afraid of him, he didn’t deliberately try to provoke her. Instead, he led her outside Kunlun Palace and calmly asked a few questions. "Garuda—that’s what you call yourself. You said you carry a dual heritage and dual memories, one from a Divine Bird, and one from a Demon God of the Human Race who also became a Divine Bird. And because of that, you don’t know which side you belong to. Is that right?"
"...That is indeed the case."
Garuda could speak human languages; the memories she inherited from the Demon God of the Human Race, the Great Roc Golden-winged Bird, included this ability. Though her accent was archaic, she was highly intelligent. After receiving online tutorials and pronunciation lessons provided by Zhengguo, her speech was now almost the same as an ordinary human’s. "It’s not that I want to be so conflicted," she said. "But I feel that if I choose one heritage, the other will abandon me. It might even turn against me, corrupting my Cultivation and killing me."
Garuda’s voice was filled with a deep helplessness. "Most importantly, if I choose to be human, will humans accept me? I’m a Divine Bird, born of Metamorphosis from the world itself. Even though I was created from the essence of a Demon God of the Human Race, I have no parents, no teachers, and absolutely no ’social connections’... According to human ethics and human standards, would I even count as a person?"
"I suppose I wouldn’t... But the Beast God Realm... they see me as a natural-born Divine Bird. They would definitely acknowledge my bloodline."
She wasn’t lying just because she’d been captured by humans and was afraid of Su Zhou; she honestly confessed all of her conflicting thoughts. "One side is the reason for my existence, but it’s very likely they won’t accept me. The other side accepts my origin but harbors treacherous intentions. That’s why I’ve never been able to choose. I just wanted to see for myself what humans were really like... SOB... WAH..."
As she spoke, she seemed to recall some bad memory. Her legs gave out, and she sank to the ground, folding her legs to one side as she burst into tears. "Now that I’ve transferred the access rights... am I useless? A-am I going to be killed like the Peacock...? SOB..."
"Sigh. A perfectly fine person, crying at the drop of a hat... Alright, that’s enough. Stop crying. So, you came all this way in the first place just because you wanted to see what humans are like, huh?"
The members of the second exploration team were mostly special forces soldiers, or even professional agents from the Security Bureau. Even though the beautiful, golden-haired Garuda had burst into tears after just a few words with Su Zhou, they all stared straight ahead as if nothing was happening. This only made the scene feel even more bizarre, giving it the distinct air of a villainous young master tormenting a helpless maiden while his lackeys look the other way.
Su Zhou sighed. "You don’t need to worry about whether you’re a person, a demon, or a beast. Those are just labels used to divide factions, lines drawn by intelligent beings. If you’re simply afraid of dying, Garuda, then as long as you promise not to harm humanity and are willing to cooperate with us, I’m sure the Zhengguo Government would be more than happy to treat you as one of the ’Thousand Gold Horse Bones’—a way to entice the many intelligent beasts that might Awaken in the future, and even the Demon Race, to serve humanity."
"But if you’re interested in human civilization, willing to live like one of us and follow our rules—then, looking at the body you have now, at this face... who could possibly say you aren’t a person?"
As he said this, Su Zhou raised his hand and pointed toward the golden-haired girl’s face. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
Sensing Su Zhou’s movement, Garuda looked up in a daze. Her features were indeed very human; she could even be classified as a delicate beauty, lacking any non-human traits like pointed ears. The only thing was her hair—upon closer inspection, one would see it was made entirely of downy fluff, not individual strands.
