Chapter 34: The History of the Beastkin

"And... and then?" Qiu Ci was shocked by her own conjecture.

"Later, the conflict between the Beast Clan and the New Beast Clan grew increasingly severe. The New Beast Clan refused to acknowledge themselves as Beast Clan anymore, and even stopped obeying the orders of the Azure Dragon Master." Bo Yi sighed. "The New Beast Clan completely broke away from the Beast Clan, leaving the Holy City to live on the mainland. There was no contact between the two sides from then on."

"..." As expected! The people on the mainland now were the descendants of the New Beast Clan.

"We were originally of the same origin, but seven thousand years ago, the great barrier isolating the mainland began to weaken. The Azure Dragon Master took the initiative to seek help from the New Beast Clan on the land." Anger flashed in Bo Yi's eyes, and his voice deepened. "But there was no response from that side. After so many years, apart from the elder generation of the Beast Clan, the New Beast Clan had long forgotten their origins. They no longer believed in the legends of Blue Star, and even viewed our people as outcasts."

Qiu Ci thought about it carefully. Thousands of years had passed; the New Beast Clan, who lacked spiritual roots and could not cultivate, had gone through countless generations. Even those with spiritual roots could not live that long. History that no one remembered would naturally fade away, whereas the Beast Clan, due to their long lifespans, had preserved a portion of the legends.

"The Master feared that the foreign invaders would return to slaughter our people again, so he finally gathered eleven elders and used all their power to re-consecrate the great barrier." Bo Yi looked at the stone statues in front of him again, his eyes filled with sorrow. "Due to the impact of the barrier, the Holy City was sealed off, and the remaining Beast Clan members were forced to leave their homeland to dwell in these waters. Now, so many years later, I do not know how many of our clansmen still remain."

So, this was the reason why this city had become a ghost town? She looked up at those stone statues; they were not mere statues after all, but had turned into this state because they had exhausted all their power to re-consecrate the barrier.

She thought inexplicably of the people on the mainland today who pursued the awakening of powerful bloodlines. The "Dao Body" that the Beast Clan had dreamed of attaining in the past was now being sought after by those who had forgotten their history, viewing it as the source of the Beast Clan's former power. In a sense, this could be considered a regression.

She finally understood why Chinese existed on this continent, and why cultivation manuals like "Three Years of Golden Core, Five Years of Simulation" appeared. These must have been the most suitable techniques left behind by Blue Star for these creations.

Blue Star had used the genes of the Beast Clan to create them, perhaps thinking that the Beast Clan was withering, and thus created a race with linked bloodlines to stand side-by-side with them against external enemies after they left. They never expected that the external enemies wouldn't arrive, but the two sides would have a falling out first.

However, why Chinese turned into "magic scripts," and how Blue Star went from an ally to the "Demon Clan" remained unclear.

"By the way, what about the 'Young Master' you mentioned earlier?" Qiu Ci asked.

At the mention of this, Bo Yi became even more furious, his fur standing on end. "About a thousand years ago, someone suddenly broke into the Holy City with a special magic artifact. My remnant soul happened to be sleeping at the time, and I failed to notice the thief slipping into the great hall and taking away the unhatched Young Master."

Qiu Ci looked again at the empty groove in the center of the pool. So, there was originally an egg there?

"After the Master re-consecrated the barrier, he used his final ounce of strength to leave this egg behind. The Young Master was born weak and had to be nourished in this holy water for thousands of years. Now that he has been taken away for so many years, I don't know what dangers he has encountered." The remnant soul of Bo Yi looked worried. Suddenly, his four hooves buckled as he knelt before her. "This remnant soul of mine cannot leave the Holy City. Great one from Blue Star, since you have responded to our clan's plea for help, please save our Young Master. The Young Master is the only hope for our Beast Clan."

When the Young Master was taken, Bo Yi had activated the artifact in the city to call for help from Blue Star, but for all these years, the clan's pleas had never received a response. He had not expected that this time, he would finally be heard.

"Don't." Qiu Ci instinctively wanted to help the beast up, but her hand passed through him, and she remembered he was a soul form. "Get up first. I promised to help, so I won't ignore it."

After much persuasion, she managed to get the remnant soul to stand up. She tried to gather more information about the egg, but unfortunately, she didn't get anything useful. She could only collect some of the remaining genetic fluid from the pool to see if the system could analyze anything.

Bo Yi said that when the Azure Dragon re-consecrated the barrier, he had mentioned that the isolation barrier might weaken again, and at that time, only the egg could strengthen the barrier once more. That was why his remnant soul had been guarding the egg for all these years, never expecting it would be stolen before it could hatch.

Qiu Ci mused that since this barrier was left by Blue Star, it must be Blue Star's technology, and perhaps it didn't necessarily require the Young Master in the egg to strengthen it.

She then asked about the state of the city. With Bo Yi as a living—or rather, half-living—guide, she quickly understood the situation of the entire city. Indeed, this underwater city was full of Blue Star technology.

Although many facilities had become ineffective after years of wear, and even Bo Yi didn't know their specific functions, the city was overall well-preserved.

It didn't take long for Qiu Ci to find the control center of the city. However, unlike the research base, there was no intelligent control system like the "Main Brain" here. She didn't know where to start, nor did she know if there was a program to control the isolation barrier. She had no choice but to rely on the "Dog System."

Thinking of this, she contacted the system in her mind.

"System, how is it outside? Is the socially anxious one safe?"

[Rest assured, Master! Safe and sound, perfectly fine!]

Qiu Ci didn't dawdle. After saying goodbye to Bo Yi, she flew upward on her sword. Half a quarter of an hour later, she passed through the shimmering layer.

Suddenly, a bright red light illuminated the entire seabed. A massive monster, looking like an erupting volcano with magma flowing over its entire body, appeared before her. Countless lava tentacles were twisting and waving beneath its enormous frame, as if a single strike could crush a crowd of people.

There was more than one such giant beast. Beside the volcanic head, there were two... three... four... countless giant monsters crouching.

They took various forms, but without exception, they were staggeringly huge.

Qiu Ci's mouth twitched violently, and she turned to glare at the small light orb hovering above someone's head. "This is what you call 'perfectly fine'?!" How was this fine? They were clearly surrounded by monsters!

(╬￣皿￣)=○

"Senior... Senior Chu!" The socially anxious one, who was crouching nearby, called out when he saw her appear. His voice was trembling—this time not from social anxiety, but from genuine nervousness, his eyes fixed on the monsters.

[Master, don't worry. I've already talked to them. They just want to see you; they won't attack us.]

"What?" Qiu Ci was stunned. What did that mean?

She looked closely and realized that the monsters indeed had no intention of attacking. They were all staying obediently in place. Their eyes, each larger than a basketball court, were staring straight in her direction, filled with excitement and thrill, but devoid of any hostility.

Some of the larger beasts even deliberately twisted their dozen tentacles into a braid-like shape to stand as upright as possible. A jellyfish-like giant monster, seeing her look over, even lifted its transparent "skirt" and bowed gracefully, as if paying respects.

This was...

"What did you say to them?" Why did they all look like they had been brainwashed?