Chapter 653: The Human Race's Lifespan Is So Short, Is It Worth It?

He did not use any spiritual energy to suppress it, because he was very clear that during the process of bloodline awakening, any foreign spiritual energy could cause the young beast to explode and die.

Su Ming slowly extended his hand, pressing his palm over Shadow's trembling back feathers.

The moment his fingertips made contact.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

An extremely intense, warm, and wild pulsation traveled through Su Ming's fingertips and spread through his entire body.

That feeling was like this small body was struggling madly and awakening within chaos and dead silence!

The violent force of the stars rampaged within Shadow's body, the golden fluorescence growing brighter and brighter, even illuminating that dark corner as bright as day.

"Cheep!!!"

Shadow let out a shrill, agonized cry.

"Master! It can't withstand this intensity of bloodline impact!" Su Ming's forehead instantly broke out in sweat. His hand pressed desperately against Shadow's back, yet he felt as though he was pressing down on a living volcano about to erupt.

"This little one's bloodline is too pure. It's like pulling up a seedling to help it grow!" Lin Yu circled anxiously in midair.

"Whoosh..."

Shadow collapsed limply onto the ground, its previously bristling feathers smoothing back down against its body. It was exhausted beyond measure, eyes closed, only its chest still rising and falling faintly.

But Su Ming could clearly sense that within this tiny body, a terrifying power that made one's heart palpitate lay dormant.

"This little thing has turned misfortune into a blessing." Lin Yu drifted down, carefully examining the unconscious Profound Shadow Crow, clicking his tongue in amazement. "That burst just now almost cost it its little life, but it forcibly widened its bloodline channels. It might even..."

"Even grow rapidly." Su Ming wiped the sweat from his forehead, carefully scooped Shadow up, and placed it on the soft stone bed.

The two were still talking.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Outside the tree hollow, came a brisk knock on the door.

"Su Ming, are you in?" Ye Qing's clear voice sounded from outside the door.

Su Ming quickly straightened his slightly disheveled robes. After confirming that no abnormal aura residue remained in the tree hollow, he walked to the door and pulled open the wooden door.

Outside, the evening glow of the setting sun filtered through the gaps in Banyan's massive branches and leaves, dyeing the entire Greenwood Court in a soft orange-red hue.

Ye Qing stood at the doorway, holding a delicate little basket woven from emerald-green vines. Inside the basket was a full load of Primal Spirit Fruits.

"Just picked these from the spirit garden." Ye Qing grinned as he handed the basket over, then without any hesitation stepped across the threshold, familiarly hopping onto the windowsill.

"Many thanks, Brother Ye." Su Ming accepted the basket and casually took out a Primal Spirit Fruit.

He didn't use any tools, simply tracing a light line with his fingertip to peel away that layer of skin thin as a cicada's wing. He placed the snow-white flesh into his mouth and chewed gently.

The sweet, refreshing juice instantly burst in his mouth. That gentle and pure essence of vitality flowed down his throat, and under the guidance of the Like Water Art, circulated slowly through his meridians, silently repairing the faint fatigue caused by rescuing Shadow earlier.

Ye Qing sat on the windowsill, watching Su Ming eat the fruit, both hands propping up his chin, those clear eyes full of yearning and curiosity for the unknown.

"Su Ming, tell me about it." The soft tendrils atop Ye Qing's head swayed gently. "The human realm, what kind of place is it exactly? I read in the court's ancient texts that it's filled with foul miasma everywhere, and people fight until their heads bleed every day just to snatch a tiny bit of resources."

Su Ming's chewing paused slightly.

He looked at the tranquil and peaceful Greenwood Court outside the window, seemingly untouched by worldly strife, yet in his mind's eye, images he had long buried deep in his heart involuntarily surfaced.

He thought for a moment, and did not directly refute the words in the ancient texts.

"In my homeland, there is a place called Qingshi Town. There is no thick spiritual energy there, nor any glowing trees. The people there, in order to survive, built something called a paper mill. Before dawn broke, those mortals without any cultivation would plunge their hands into bone-chilling icy water to lift paper in the dead of winter. They toiled their entire lives, just to exchange for a few mouthfuls of coarse grain to fill their stomachs, to let their descendants read a few books."

"In the more prosperous capital. There is a long street of Greenstone stretching ten li. At night, red lanterns hang on both sides, voices clamor, carriages and horses flow like a stream. There are powerful ministers who stop at nothing for power, and there are upright officials who shatter their bones to pieces for loyalty and righteousness. Everyone struggles in that giant dye vat, scheming against others, and being schemed against by others."

"And in the distant Northern Frontier." Su Ming's tone carried a trace of imperceptible killing intent. "There is an Iron Wall Pass. The sky there is gray year-round. To resist the invasion of demonic beasts, cultivators used their own flesh and blood and formations to build a line of defense. Beacon fires blaze continuously, battle formations grind flesh. A comrade who was drinking with you yesterday might become a mutilated corpse today."

Su Ming looked at Ye Qing's gradually widening eyes and made his final summary.

"The human realm has the warmth of hearth fires, the flavor of the mortal world, and also endless slaughter and greed. It is not beautiful, and often, it is so cruel it suffocates."

"You humans are truly strange." Ye Qing sighed softly. "Your lifespans are so short, not even enough for us to take a nap. Yet you want to grasp everything, power, wealth, eternal life... For these, you would even risk your lives. Is it worth it?"

Su Ming stood quietly in place, still holding half a Primal Spirit Fruit in his hand.

He chewed the sweet flesh and did not refute.

Because what Ye Qing said was the truth.

The human race's lifespan was short, like summer insects that cannot speak of ice. But it was precisely because it was short that the yearning for survival, the obsession with changing one's fate, would grow wildly like weeds, erupting with terrifying power that these long-lived races could never understand.

"You are not a fish, how do you know the joy of fish. You are not a mayfly, how do you know the ambition of a mayfly." Su Ming silently recited in his heart.

But on the surface, he only smiled faintly, stuffing the remaining half of the fruit into his mouth. "Perhaps. But if you don't grasp at it, then those brief years truly have nothing left but waiting for death."

Ye Qing nodded as if he half understood, jumped down from the windowsill, and patted his rear. "Alright, it's getting dark, I should head back. You rest early. Tomorrow morning, I'll take you to the archive tree hollows to get familiar with the place!"