Chapter 209: Demon Court

"Greetings, fellow Daoists."

"I am a wandering alchemist. I happened to overhear what you were discussing earlier and found it quite interesting. Might I join you?"

"Meeting is fate. Let me treat you all to this meal and wine."

As Lin Jing listened, the group suddenly changed the subject to discuss a widow who had lost her husband. Unable to remain silent, he walked up, hoping to steer them back to the topic.

Lin Jing truly did not know much about the Beast Taming Sect's teams traveling to Qingzhou, the Sect Master's adopted daughter, or the Demon Court.

The three cultivators at the table were all at the Foundation Establishment stage. Judging by their attire, they appeared to be rogue cultivators. They all turned to look at Lin Jing in unison.

"Treating us?" The burly, bearded man who had been speaking earlier was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"You said it yourself, meeting is fate. No need for you to pay. Sit down, fellow Daoist. Ask whatever you wish. Are you interested in that widow, too?"

"Please, fellow Daoist. We are all like-minded people; no need to be formal," the other two rogue cultivators added.

"Then I thank you." Lin Jing coughed dryly, sat down, and said, "It is not about that matter, but the previous one. I heard mention of the Beast Taming Sect Master's daughter having a half-demon bloodline, and I am quite curious... Does this 'half-demon bloodline' refer to half-demon race blood or half-demonic beast blood?"

Although both were called half-demon bloodlines, they were vastly different!

Before the Xiangong was destroyed, demonic beasts could transform into humans and were collectively referred to as the Demon Race.

There were no reproductive barriers between the Demon Race and the Human Race, and the offspring they produced were called half-demons!

All half-demons combined the advantages of both the Demon and Human races and were extremely powerful.

This type of half-demon referred to having half the bloodline of the Demon Race.

But after the ancient Xiangong sealed off the Demon Race's bloodline, the Demon Race went completely extinct.

The half-demon race with half-demon bloodline slowly ceased to exist. It became harder for the Demon Race and half-demons to reproduce, and even if they successfully did, the offspring were merely pure-blooded humans; the Demon Race genes had completely vanished.

Due to the extinction of the Demon Race, the definition of the term "half-demon" later slowly evolved to mean humans possessing half the bloodline of demonic beasts.

Demonic beasts are not the Demon Race.

This type of half-demon is created by humans using special methods to replace human blood with beast blood.

Their talent is far inferior to that of a half-demon possessing half the bloodline of the Demon Race.

Like the Zhu Yan ruins Lin Jing experienced before, they had the effect of modifying bloodlines, but even if the modification was successful, it could only be said that the cultivator possessed a certain amount of beast bloodline, not the bloodline of the Demon Clan.

Therefore, with the passage of time, the term "half-demon" had acquired two meanings.

Lin Jing did know that Sect Master Xu Xiaoyao had a daughter, who was also his adopted daughter, but he did not know the specific situation regarding her, only that she had gone to Qingzhou a long time ago.

At the time, Lin Jing had felt it was strange; was it not too dangerous for a young girl to go to Qingzhou?

But now it seemed that the Sect Master's daughter going to Qingzhou likely had an inseparable connection to this Demon Court.

And if this Beast Taming Sect senior sister only possessed half a "demonic beast" bloodline—the latter type of half-demon—Lin Jing felt that the Demon Court, with its demonic beast heritage, might not necessarily value her so highly.

After all, humans possessing demonic beast bloodlines were not exactly rare. Many special traits named after beasts existed precisely because the cultivators had demonic beast blood in their bodies.

But now, since the Beast Taming Sect senior sister had become one of the Demon Court's Holy Maidens, Lin Jing felt that what she possessed might not be as simple as half a demonic beast bloodline, but rather half a "Demon Race" bloodline.

Only then could she be valued by the Demon Court, which sought the "resurrection of the Demon Race."

But then the question arose: had the Demon Race bloodline, whether complete or half, not already gone extinct?

The burly, bearded man took a sip of wine and said, "Of course it's half the Demon Race bloodline!"

"Relying on demonic beast blood, even if it were the blood of a Demon Ancestor, dreaming of becoming a Demon Court Holy Maiden would be wishful thinking."

"That is one of the strongest demonic beast factions, with a Demon Emperor presiding over it..."

"It is said that the three Holy Maidens of the Demon Court all possess half the Demon Race bloodline!"

"Are you trying to ask if the ancient Xiangong already sealed the Demon Race's bloodline, making it impossible for them to be born?"

"Yes," Lin Jing nodded.

"I have gossiped about this with other friends. These three Holy Maidens of the Demon Court were only established in the last few decades; it is not an ancient tradition. So, is there a possibility that as time passes, the world rules rewritten by the Xiangong are slowly losing their effect?"

"After all, the Xiangong has been destroyed for so long; the world rules they rewrote may not necessarily be eternal."

"Although it might still be difficult for demonic beasts to transform now, the situation where half-demons possess half the Demon Race bloodline can already be revived. And the Beast Taming Sect Master's daughter is someone whose ancestors possessed half the Demon Race bloodline! With the loosening of the world rules, her bloodline mutated and completed an atavism!"

"Atavism? That is indeed possible," Lin Jing said. Perhaps the baby girl the Sect Master picked up awakened her half-demon bloodline at some point, thereby attracting the Demon Court's attention, which led to her being taken to Qingzhou for cultivation. This was the truth behind the senior sister going to Qingzhou in her early years.

Perhaps, when the baby girl was born, she already showed signs of being a half-demon, which is why she was abandoned and picked up by the Sect Master.

Regardless, it seemed the Beast Taming Sect senior sister was thriving in Qingzhou. No wonder the Sect Master wanted to bring a group of people to Qingzhou to make a living.

For a moment, Lin Jing had the thought of going to find the Beast Taming Sect's Qingzhou branch to seek out the Sect Master.

But in an instant, he abandoned the idea.

The Sect Master's

adopted daughter might have become a Demon Court Holy Maiden because of her atavistic half-demon bloodline, holding a high and powerful position in the Demon Court due to political correctness, but there were two others like her in the Demon Court!

While her power as a Holy Maiden in the Demon Court could help the Beast Taming Sect destroy a Soul Transformation faction, it could not be said that she had absolute say.

For a Longevity Body like himself to approach the Demon Court might not necessarily be a good thing.

After all, there were countless powerful demonic beasts in the Demon Court. If he went, it was hard to say if the Beast Taming Sect senior sister could definitely protect him.

If the other party were a Holy Maiden of a human faction, even if it were the Holy Maiden of the Netherworld Palace, one of the three great demonic sects, he would have gone to seek refuge. Unfortunately... a Demon Court Holy Maiden was too dangerous.

Perhaps not only the demonic beasts, but she herself, this half-demon, might want to eat him.

With the Beast Taming Sect sealed, Lin Jing felt it was truly not unjust.

"Sigh..." Lin Jing sighed in his heart. Although the world is vast, he felt that without strength, nowhere he went would be safe.

However, the Qingzhou Beast Taming Sect branch might serve as a fallback. He guessed the people from the Beast Taming Sect were also looking for him.

In the end, Lin Jing still set foot on the road to the Tongtian Dao, one of the sixteen paths of Qingzhou.

He intended to reach Core Formation there in his own way first.

A month later, Lin Jing left the Senluo Dao and entered the neighboring Qingming Dao. Compared to the Senluo Dao located on the edge of Qingzhou, the Qingming Dao was more in line with Qingzhou's characteristics, rich in vegetation and flourishing in alchemy.

Lin Jing had originally intended to go directly to the Tongtian Dao, but because the journey was long, and he had discovered an interesting place in this Qingming Dao, he could not help but pause his steps.

"Qingming Chamber of Commerce, one of the important partners of the Ancient Kingdom Lotus Pavilion's Lotus Chamber of Commerce in Qingzhou, is a human commercial force belonging to Qingzhou. Under the Qingming Chamber of Commerce, there are numerous commercial streets and shops, which are rented to rogue cultivators who have mastered the arts of artifact refining, alchemy, and talisman making for their business use. They only charge a certain rent and provide protection for these rogue cultivators..." ===== CHAPTER 210 =====