That night, Chen Ming released Ah Yin and planted her outside his cultivation grounds. After fertilizing and watering her, he suddenly asked a question.
"Do you know when the last few Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragons disappeared from this world?"
"Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragons?" Ah Yin wrote on the paper in confusion. Clearly, she did not understand why Chen Ming was asking this. After thinking for a long while, she hesitantly continued writing.
"I once heard that there used to be a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon ferocious beast on the Douluo Continent. It was said to be an incredibly powerful existence. But I've never actually seen it myself—only heard rumors about it. Later on, though, no more news about Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon ferocious beasts ever surfaced again."
"A being like that probably perished beneath heavenly tribulation, right? Otherwise, with the strength of human Spirit Masters, even a Titled Douluo might not necessarily be capable of slaying a true dragon of that level."
"A ferocious beast-level existence..." Chen Ming muttered as he stroked his chin in thought.
Logically speaking, during the era of Douluo Continent I, the concept of ferocious beasts did not yet exist. At the beginning of that era, ten-thousand-year Spirit Beasts only had two possible paths: either transform into humans or be struck to death by heavenly lightning. The lifespan limit of Spirit Beasts was roughly between one hundred thousand and one hundred one thousand years.
Only later, with the appearance of Sea God Island, did beings beyond the hundred-thousand-year level begin to emerge, such as the Evil Orca King and the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King.
It could be considered a later adjustment to the setting.
The concept of ferocious beasts was only formally introduced during the era of Douluo Continent II. However, this was a truly complete and independent world. Though the exact situation surrounding the Dragon God remained unclear, ferocious beasts undeniably existed in large numbers.
By the era of Douluo Continent II and beyond, humanity referred to the ferocious beasts living across the continent as the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts. The strongest among them was the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, Di Tian, while the weakest was the Hell Demon Dragon King, Zi Ji.
Yet even Zi Ji was still a true dragon ferocious beast with cultivation exceeding two hundred thousand years.
A two-hundred-thousand-year Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon would absolutely qualify to stand among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts. Even within dragonkind, such an existence would rank above the Dragon Clan Elders and below only the Dragon Kings.
And yet, regardless of the era, there had never been any trace of such a powerful existence. There had never even been a true Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Spirit Beast recorded.
"A hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast transforming into a human essentially means turning itself into a true human. They can reproduce with humans and leave behind descendants," Chen Ming said slowly. "And according to the rumors, once a ferocious beast reaches the two-hundred-thousand-year level, it can temporarily assume human form. On the surface, they're no different from human Spirit Masters..."
"In that case, if a two-hundred-thousand-year ferocious beast uses a human body... could it leave behind offspring with a human?"
"Th-That..." Ah Yin froze for a moment. The pen wrapped within her vines kept spinning as she fell into deep thought. Only after a long silence did she slowly write a line of words.
"I... I don't know..."
"But theoretically speaking, if a two-hundred-thousand-year ferocious beast transforms into a human, it should be a more advanced state than the transformation of a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast. In theory, it would be a superior evolution of the same process."
"But I'm not a ferocious beast myself, nor have I ever personally seen a ferocious beast-level existence. I only know that beings of that level exist."
"And theoretically speaking, it should be impossible. The reason hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beasts can leave behind descendants after transforming is because they've fundamentally become human."
"But a ferocious beast's transformation is only disguising itself as a human. At its core, it should still remain a ferocious beast..."
"Then again, I don't know whether there have ever been cases of ferocious beasts falling in love with humans, or whether any ferocious beast has ever left bloodlines among humanity."
"Logically speaking, from a ferocious beast's perspective, humans are still considered a different species. There's an enormous difference in aesthetics alone, not to mention bloodline barriers. But..."
"If it's something I've never seen before, then all I can say is that I don't know."
Clearly, discussing a subject so completely outside her understanding was making Ah Yin's brain overheat a little.
How should this even be described?
To put it in a somewhat absurd way, if humans could be considered "beast-eared girls" from the perspective of transformed hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beasts, then to Spirit Beasts and ferocious beasts, humans would probably count as furries. The difference between the two was actually quite significant.
"Oh. I think I understand now."
Theoretically speaking, it should be nearly impossible for ferocious beasts and humans to leave behind descendants. Whether in terms of bloodline essence, racial stance, or even aesthetics, the gap between the two sides was simply too great.
But there just happened to exist certain Spirit Beasts that cared little for such distinctions and possessed the ability to break through reproductive barriers.
Wolf Bandits.
Aside from humans and Spirit Beasts, there also existed creatures that fell somewhere in between. Among them, the most infamous and vile were the Wolf Bandits.
These creatures were born after Stormwind Demon Wolves violated human women. Cruel, bloodthirsty, cold, and evil, they were rejected completely by both human society and the Spirit Beast world alike.
In the original story, Tang San's group had once obtained a Spirit Bone from the body of a Wolf Bandit leader.
Although it was unclear whether that Spirit Bone had naturally formed within the creature or had been absorbed afterward, either possibility proved how special such beings were. If it had naturally formed, then they leaned closer to Spirit Beasts. If it had been absorbed later, then they were closer to Spirit Masters.
There was also another, far rarer existence that stood between humans and Spirit Beasts—the Dragon Maidens.
These creatures possessed human appearances, but dragon scales grew across their bodies. Only during their mating period would those scales disappear.
During that time, Spirit Masters could use them as cultivation furnaces, absorbing the dragon-blood essence within their bodies to transform their own physiques. Doing so would inevitably cause their Martial Souls to undergo a beneficial evolution toward the dragon lineage.
However, such beings were extraordinarily rare and could only possibly appear within deep mountains and vast swamps. Worse still, Dragon Maidens carried a curse—whoever first captured one would inevitably be cursed themselves, with death being almost certain.
Very few people could ever find one to begin with, and even fewer dared to make a move against them.
As a result, creatures like Dragon Maidens were essentially urban legends within the Douluo world. The overwhelming majority of people had never even heard of their existence.
By the era of Douluo Continent II, even Huo Yuhao had once remarked that not even one hundred million gold soul coins could necessarily compare to the value of a Dragon Maiden.
For Soul Engineers who relied on medicinal cultivation, obtaining a Dragon Maiden could cleanse the impurities within their bodies and evolve their Martial Souls, paving the way toward reaching the ninth Spirit Ring.
And Dragon Maidens were clearly descendants left behind between dragons and humans.
Moreover, judging from their unique characteristics, the source of that dragon bloodline had to originate from an extremely powerful and pure-blooded true dragon.
In Chen Ming's view, there was a very high possibility that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan itself was a bloodline left behind in the human world by such a dragon ferocious beast.
However, there was an even greater possibility that the clan's ancestors had not obtained that dragon bloodline through any simple means. Instead, they had likely done things that humans would consider morally and ethically taboo in order to stabilize and pass down that bloodline through generations.
Considering the possibility that certain higher-dimensional existences had interfered with one another, Chen Ming even began to suspect that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan might actually be the Douluo version of "mixed-bloods."
His thoughts drifted toward the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's territory—that mountain range whose peaks remained shrouded in thunder year-round. According to rumor, it had once been the gathering place of powerful lightning-attributed Spirit Beasts before the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan seized it at all costs.
A few ideas had already begun forming in Chen Ming's mind.
One day, he intended to search through ancient records and investigate exactly what kinds of Spirit Beasts had once inhabited that mountain range before the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan claimed it.
There was a very high probability that those mountains were the ancestral land of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
Their true ancestral land, in every sense of the word.