"Your benevolence speaks well of you, sir. It was this old man who judged a noble heart by his own humble measure," the Elder said with a faint smile, stroking his stone beard.
Yang Kai replied, "Actually, if it were up to me, I'd prefer Little Xiao to stay here and live among you. Just finding him on this trip is more than enough to satisfy me."
As he had said, the fact that Little Xiao had found his own kind and could live among his people was far better than remaining by his side in solitude. No matter the species, all living creatures possessed an innate need for companionship. Isolation would inevitably take its toll on anyone's spirit, given enough time.
The Elder and Mu Na exchanged a glance and gave subtle nods, as though they agreed with something Yang Kai had said.
Mu Na pressed her lips into a gentle smile and spoke, "I wonder, has the honored guest ever heard of the Blood Gate?"
Yang Kai's brow furrowed. He had no idea how the conversation had suddenly veered in this direction, but he nodded anyway. "I hadn't heard of it before coming to the Ancient Lands, but a few days ago I happened to hear some legends about the Blood Gate."
Mu Na's beautiful eyes lit up. "Since the honored guest already knows, that saves me the trouble of explaining."
Yang Kai looked taken aback. "What does the Blood Gate have to do with you?"
This time Mu Na didn't answer. Instead she turned to look at the Stone Spirit Elder, who spoke in a deep voice, "The Blood Gate has a tremendous connection with all the creatures of the Ancient Lands. There is a saying passed down among us: 'Enter the Blood Gate, gain new life. Return to the ancestral vein, become a Holy Spirit!'"
Xie Wuwei had said these very words just a few days ago, so Yang Kai remembered them clearly.
The Elder continued, "Most creatures in the Ancient Lands have heard this saying, but they have no way of verifying whether it's true. Only a small number of people know that it is."
Yang Kai's expression shifted slightly. "So entering the Blood Gate can truly awaken an ancestral bloodline and transform one into a Holy Spirit?"
The Elder chuckled. "Not necessarily. There is merely a chance."
Yang Kai's interest was piqued. "I'd like to hear more."
The Elder paused for a moment, as if weighing his words carefully, and after a long while spoke again, "The creatures of the Ancient Lands are mostly remnants of the primordial wilderness, and so they all carry to some degree the bloodline and hereditary traits of the ancient Holy Spirits. Only those who have inherited the bloodline of an ancient Holy Spirit have the possibility of transforming into one upon entering the Blood Gate. Moreover, the process is extraordinarily dangerous — a journey where nine out of ten do not return."
Mu Na took over. "The honored guest dared to venture into the Primordial Ancient Lands, so your cultivation must be remarkable. You have surely already touched upon the Power of Origin?"
Yang Kai nodded. The Power of Origin was something that cultivators at the Dao Source Realm had begun to access. As an Emperor, he was thoroughly familiar with it.
Mu Na continued, "Wanting to become a Holy Spirit and recreate the glory of the ancients, entering the Blood Gate is merely the first step. It's what comes after that truly tests you. Most creatures in the Ancient Lands believe that entering the Blood Gate alone gives them a chance to become a Holy Spirit — that's not entirely wrong, but it's far too simplistic. They know the what but not the why."
"What is the test?" Yang Kai's brow knitted tightly, seizing on the key point at once.
The Elder spoke solemnly, "Every Holy Spirit possesses its own Sacred Spirit Origin. The bloodline returning to its ancestral form is one aspect, but gaining recognition from the Sacred Spirit Origin is what matters most. Only creatures that have earned the acknowledgement of a Sacred Spirit Origin can hope to become true Holy Spirits."
Though the explanation sounded convoluted, Yang Kai grasped it immediately.
The Sacred Spirit Origin was a very peculiar form of power. The Phoenix True Fire, for example, was a Sacred Spirit Origin. A creature who obtained the Phoenix True Fire had a significant chance of becoming a fire phoenix. Liu Yan had been given such an opportunity, but whether she could succeed ultimately depended on her own fortune. If she failed to gain the recognition of the Phoenix True Fire, she would be in grave peril. That, too, was a trial in its own right.
In other words, becoming a Holy Spirit required both the bloodline power and a Sacred Spirit Origin — neither alone was sufficient.
A chill ran through Yang Kai's body, and he asked hesitantly, "You two aren't suggesting that inside the Blood Gate... there are Sacred Spirit Origins?"
The Elder and Mu Na exchanged another glance, both looking somewhat surprised, as though they hadn't expected Yang Kai's thinking to be so keen that he had figured this out on his own.
The Elder nodded. "That's correct. Within the Blood Gate, there are indeed Sacred Spirit Origins. If a creature is fortunate enough to enter, it may attempt to merge with one. Only upon success can it truly become a Holy Spirit. But failure means certain death."
"How could there be Sacred Spirit Origins inside the Blood Gate?" Yang Kai was utterly astonished.
The Elder smiled bitterly. "Because the Blood Gate is merely an entrance. Inside it lies the Palace of Holy Spirits, where the origin powers of many Holy Spirits are hidden. One might say it contains nearly all the Sacred Spirit Origins of the majority of ancient Holy Spirits."
Yang Kai's face went pale. "How is that possible?" A sudden guess struck him, and he exclaimed in shock, "Could it be that place is similar in nature to the Tomb of Ten Thousand Spirits? That the Holy Spirits would voluntarily enter it when near death, and after dying, leave their origin powers behind?"
Otherwise, how could the Palace of Holy Spirits within the Blood Gate contain the origin powers of countless Holy Spirits?
"That's not the case," Mu Na shook her head and said. "Heaven's Way is unpredictable, yet its patterns endure. The power of the Holy Spirits was far too great for mortals to contend with. In the ancient era, those Holy Spirits were numerous, each possessing abilities that could rend the heavens and split the earth, and all of them were savage in temperament, engaging in devastating battles at the slightest provocation, throwing heaven and earth into chaos and making life unbearable for all other creatures. But all things birth their counterpart, and yin and yang counterbalance each other. Eventually, among humanity, an extraordinary powerhouse was born whose power was uniquely suited to suppressing the Holy Spirits. He could be called the nemesis of all Holy Spirits. He spent countless ages slaying those Holy Spirits who committed evil, taking their origin powers and sealing them within the Palace of Holy Spirits. Then, using immense magical power, he sealed the Palace of Holy Spirits itself, hiding it within the Blood Gate to cut off the lineage of countless Holy Spirits and prevent them from continuing their reign of destruction."
"The nemesis of the Holy Spirits!" Yang Kai drew a sharp breath. He never would have imagined that such a being existed in this world. How powerful must someone like that have been?