Longevity, starting from being a chicken raising servant Chapter 2260: 154: Like an Illusion_2

“Master Chao didn’t demand that I create a creature as formidable as the thousand-headed demonic beast; he only required a successful fusion. This lowers the difficulty considerably…”

While the specific sequence needed to manifest a thousand-headed demonic beast might be unique, the mere act of achieving a stable fusion without a specific outcome provides far more opportunities.

However, that is the extent of the advantage.

Even with a slightly higher probability of success, it remains a drop in the ocean when measured against the staggering number of potential sequences.

Attempting to locate a viable path amidst such infinite variables is truly like searching for a needle in a vast haystack.

Reflecting on this, Wang Ba sighed deeply from within:

“To have engineered such a demonic beast, Master Chao must possess a talent truly bestowed by the heavens…”

Without such innate genius, how could anyone hope to find the correct path among the endless sands of the Ganges?

“Fusing them one by one until reaching a thousand varieties seems like a method that would consume an eternity. Is there no way to bypass this stage?”

He contemplated everything he had learned and witnessed since beginning his journey in the Beast-controlling Dao. He felt as though he was on the verge of an epiphany, yet it remained like an illusion—separated by a translucent veil, faint and difficult to grasp.

Feeling stuck and unwilling to let time slip away fruitlessly, he immediately turned his attention to analyzing the bloodline of the first demonic beast.

“In the view of the Canlong Realm, bloodlines are essentially the manifestation of rules within living beings. This applies not just to spirit beasts; humans possess bloodlines as well. However, the difference lies in the fact that once a human bloodline is awakened, it allows for a breakthrough in realm. A human’s bloodline is expressed through the capacity for continuous transformation via cultivation. This offers far more potential than common spirit beasts… It is the reason why innate divine demons are so desperate to enter the realm and undergo reincarnation.”

With a subtle wave of his hand, Wang Ba summoned a tiger-bodied demonic beast. It possessed an aura equivalent to an early-stage Crossing Tribulation cultivator and landed heavily before him.

Under his intense scrutiny, the radiance of the bloodline shimmered above the creature's head. It was an unmistakably savage tiger, its ferocity palpable and its presence carrying an ancient weight.

Spirit beasts rarely achieve breakthroughs on their own. Many that reach advanced stages do so not merely because of their environment, but because human cultivators utilize their wisdom, spirit items, and specialized techniques to facilitate those breakthroughs.

Lacking the intervention of cultivators, the vast majority of spirit beasts never progress beyond their birth stage, remaining stagnant throughout their existence.

Only a rare few possess the natural intelligence to grasp methods of Qi intake, following a path similar to human cultivation, though they are usually restricted by the inherent limits of their bloodline.

Beings such as the Wu Monkey King are exceptionally rare exceptions.

“If bloodlines are the manifestation of rules, then analyzing bloodlines is effectively the study of rules, and the reverse is also true…”

Wang Ba observed the demonic beast and the bloodline light hovering above it. As he watched, the light seemed to disintegrate, revealing a complex weave of black and white threads. It was a sight he knew well.

Rules!

These were the very foundations of the Third Realm Sea.

They acted as the fundamental framework for every existence within the Realm Sea.

“Raw strength, physical form, consumption…”

Wang Ba sensed the rules unraveling from the bloodline light with great care, absorbing vast amounts of information.

Rules within a living entity do not function in isolation—at least not in the bloodline of this specific beast. He identified a chaotic mixture of hundreds, even thousands of rules—blood, power, feline essence, wind—all intertwined to form this demonic beast’s bloodline.

Using his previous knowledge of Beast Control, one might categorize it as a ‘tiger-clan demonic beast,’ ‘adept in wind techniques and physical hardening,’ ‘capable of physical regeneration through devouring,’ ‘biologically incompatible with most other tiger-clans,’ ‘possessing unique organs that harden into indestructible barbs when triggered,’ and ‘endowed with innate divine skills’…

That was merely the surface level. The more intricate details—such as the specific reason for its reproductive isolation or exactly how its wind affinity was encoded into its marrow—required much deeper study.

Typically, a practitioner of the Beast-controlling Dao would require a massive amount of time to decipher such complexities.

Even the old Wang Ba, who was considered a master of the craft, would have needed a decade or more for a complete analysis.

But now, having been guided by Heavenly Monarch Chao, his comprehension of demonic bloodlines allowed him to understand nearly eighty percent of the creature with a single look.

His broad perspective on rules, combined with his refined expertise, meant he could fully deconstruct the demonic beast before him in about a month’s time.

“This is the true benefit of standing at a higher realm.”

A superior realm brings a deeper recognition of rules. When supported by a flawless system of Beast Control, his current efficiency was incomparable to his past self.

Wang Ba dismissed the beast, having fully internalized its bloodline secrets.

He casually summoned a second subject.

After a period of observation, he swapped it for another.

Naturally, he encountered several demonic beasts with exceptionally rare rules that forced even him to spend significant time before he could grasp their essence.

Nonetheless, these challenges only served to sharpen his understanding of the rules.

Even under these demanding conditions, it took him less than a century to fully master the bloodlines of a thousand different demonic beasts within this realm.

“Now,” Wang Ba thought, recalling the image of Heavenly Monarch Chao’s thousand-headed monstrosity, “the real test begins.”