Cultivation: Starting from a Fighting Cock

Chapter 139 Discussion on Taoism at Monkey Mountain (Part 2)

Ji Cheng quickly understood; from the perspective of the demon race, Zhao Kun's words were truly infuriating.

So, any intelligent demon beast is formed by the fusion of your human soul and demon beast body?

Zhao Kun smiled without saying a word, offering no rebuttal, and simply swung leisurely on the swing.

"Ignore him." The old man withdrew his gaze from Zhao Kun. "I'd like to ask you, young friend, what your opinion is: why do you think the demon race can never defeat the human race?"

Ji Cheng pondered for a moment and replied, "Senior, I am just a little demon who has never seen the world. My views may be shallow and naive. I hope you will not laugh at me."

The old man smiled and nodded, telling Ji Cheng to speak freely and boldly.

Ji Cheng said, "In my humble opinion, the demon race is endowed with innate abilities and has great strength without the need for learning. Moreover, their physical bodies are often very strong, which is the advantage of the demon race."

"Compared to humans, the disadvantage of the demon race lies in their low intelligence and poor learning ability. Although they have great talent and combat power, this only ensures a high lower limit. Without learning the cultivation methods of humans, their upper limit is almost entirely determined by their bloodline, which is far lower than the upper limit of some human cultivators."

"Furthermore, the term 'demon race' is a very general classification, actually encompassing many groups, such as the wolf race, fox race, dragon race, monkey race, rat race, aquatic race, and so on. These groups prey on each other, lacking a sense of identity as fellow demons, and are prone to infighting and disunity. I believe this is a major reason why the demon race is no match for human races."

Ji Cheng listed two points: low intelligence and lack of unity within the tribe.

"Indeed, your understanding of the demon race is deeper than that of most demon beasts. The two points you pointed out are very accurate. Among them, the slow development of intelligence is the fundamental reason for the huge gap between the demon race and the human race."

The old man sighed helplessly, giving a simple example: a human's intelligence at five years old is equivalent to that of a demon at thirty or fifty years old.

Humans reach adulthood at the age of twenty, by which time their intelligence is already very high and their learning ability is strong.

The demon race may need to live to be two hundred years old to reach the intelligence of a human at twenty years old, and their learning ability is far lower than that of humans.

"To put it simply, the demon race is strong in terms of innate talent, while the human race is strong in terms of acquired learning ability. In ancient times, the human race was nothing more than food for us demons. However, as the powerful human race created the cultivation method, the human race continuously grew stronger through learning and cultivation. As a result, the human race dared to start hunting the demon race, taking their essence and demon cores to strengthen themselves, thus changing the balance of power between offense and defense."

"Furthermore, the demon race places too much emphasis on bloodline in their cultivation. Without special opportunities, bloodline almost completely locks your potential. Once you reach the later stages of cultivation, no matter how hard you try, it will be difficult to make any further breakthroughs. Of course, the human race is similar in this respect. Human cultivation relies on talent and aptitude, but compared to the demon beasts' bloodline, the human cultivation methods are easier to break through."

"Therefore, many demon beasts, after cultivating to the point of human form, will switch to cultivating human cultivation methods in order to seek alternative breakthroughs."

The old man said that only by learning the cultivation methods of the human race could the demon race possibly catch up with human cultivators.

However, usually only fifth-order great demons who have cultivated to the point of human form can switch to cultivating human cultivation methods. Considering various factors, it is almost impossible for the demon race to surpass the human race.

Ji Cheng understood immediately; it seemed that this fifth-tier fox demon was one of those who had switched to learning human cultivation methods.

"Senior, what you have said has benefited me greatly and deepened my understanding of the relationship between humans and demons. If our demon race wants to rise, it is truly a long and arduous road ahead. I feel that the burden on my shoulders is extremely heavy!"

Ji Cheng pretended to be shouldering the heavy responsibility of the rise of the demon race, and was just short of saying that he was cultivating for the rise of the demon race.

"It is truly a blessing for our demon race that you have this awareness."

The old man's eyes were full of appreciation for the younger generation. He continued, "Let me ask you something else. For tens of thousands of years, there have always been two major camps within the demon race: the pro-war faction and the pro-surrender faction."

"The demons who advocate surrender believe that the demon race can cooperate with the human race, sign contracts, and become the beast pets of human cultivators. There is no need to fight to the death with the human race. As long as they are willing to submit to the human race, they can live well."

"There are quite a few demon beasts who hold this view. Of course, the vast majority of demon beasts have no choice. They are enslaved by humans and then turn around and attack their fellow demons together with humans."

"The pro-war faction advocates that we should never surrender to the human race and should continue to fight the human race to the death. Becoming a human's pet is a great disgrace."

"Within the demon race, these two factions have been arguing endlessly. There have even been many traitors among the pro-surrender faction. I would like to ask, what is your opinion on this? If it were you, would you advocate fighting against the human race or cooperating with them?"

The question posed by the old man can be described as the greatest problem in the history of the demon race.

Whether to fight or make peace with the human race has been a debate that has raged since ancient times, and even today, these two factions remain seriously opposed within the demon race.

As soon as the question was posed, both Zhao Kun and the monkey demon turned to look at Ji Cheng, wondering how he would answer.

Ji Cheng fell into deep thought.

It must be said that even if he were to take the stand of the demon race, it would be difficult for him to choose between advocating war and advocating peace.

Even within the demon race, different social strata have different positions and demands.

The little demons have a simple request: they just want to find a little space to survive in the cracks and become the pets of human cultivators. In most cases, this is much better than surviving in the wild on their own.

At the same time, their enemies are not only human cultivators, but also those demonic beasts that are stronger than themselves. When powerful demons eat lesser demons, they are much more ruthless than human cultivators.

Great demons, naturally, would not be content to be the pets of human cultivators. In addition, they have strong survival abilities and are free and unrestrained, so the vast majority of great demons are hard-line advocates of war.

"Senior, my humble opinion can be summarized in one sentence: peace is achieved through struggle, while peace is lost through compromise." Ji Cheng said these words after careful consideration.

The old man's eyes lit up, and he asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Zhao Kun was also quite surprised and began to ponder the meaning of Ji Cheng's words.

Ji Cheng explained, "The demon race is bound to fight with the human race. Without fighting, where would the resources come from, where would the living space come from, and where would the human race attach importance to them?"

"Therefore, it is not advisable to blindly advocate cooperation with humans and become their pets. This will only make humans look down on our demon race and constantly exploit and demand from us. At that time, the demon race will have no dignity left and will be completely reduced to domesticated poultry, no different from pigs, dogs, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks and geese. This is the idea that peace is sought through compromise, but peace will perish."

"But the struggle I advocate is not about fighting the human race unconditionally to the end. The purpose of the struggle is to seek peaceful coexistence between the demon race and the human race. We must show the fighting spirit of our demon race, let the human cultivators see our indomitable will, and demonstrate our value. Only in this way can we gain the greatest bargaining chip in the negotiations."

"Fighting while striving for cooperation is the most beneficial strategy for the development of the demon race. Let the powerful demons fight, and let the weak demons cooperate with the human race to gain a little space for survival, instead of blindly advocating surrender or dragging all the demons into a bloody battle with the human race."

Upon hearing Ji Cheng's words, the old man immediately became respectful, and his eyes changed.

He had only intended to test the chicken demon, but to his surprise, the chicken demon actually said something useful.

Beside him, the monkey demon was dumbfounded, completely confused, and wondered why his head was so itchy.

Zhao Kun burst into laughter and said, "Old fox, do you still think this chicken demon isn't a demon beast formed by the fusion of a human's soul and spirit?"

Such a brilliant insight directly solved a problem that has plagued the demon race for tens of thousands of years. The phrase "seeking peace through struggle" is a level of thinking that demon beings could never possess.

The old man ignored Zhao Kun, but looked up at the night sky and sighed, "If the Red Crow Demon King had a strategist like you by his side, the demon race would not have met such a tragic end."

He didn't dwell on whether Ji Cheng was human or demon; in his view, it was no longer important. Ji Cheng's theory was of paramount importance to the demon race.

If a human makes a great contribution to the demon race, he will naturally gain the recognition and gratitude of the demon race.

The old man stood up, bowed to Ji Cheng, and said, "Young friend's insights have truly enlightened me. The purpose of the struggle is to strive for space for peaceful coexistence. This is a view that no one in the demon race has ever put forward in the past ten thousand years. The pro-war faction and the pro-surrender faction have always been irreconcilable. I never thought that the two could coexist."

Given that the demon race is forever outmatched by the human race, seeking peace through struggle is the best strategy for the demon race.

It could be said that the demon race previously had a somewhat binary mindset, either blindly advocating surrender or blindly insisting on fighting to the end.

Ji Cheng's words were like a wake-up call for the old man. Only by combining cooperation and struggle could they achieve the most favorable situation for the demon race.

At this moment, the old man knew that the chicken demon before him was no ordinary creature, and he said again:
"Young friend, now that you are leaving Wuzhen, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Please speak freely, senior." Ji Cheng's heart skipped a beat. So they're finally getting to the point.

"I hope you can help the demon race find the only son of the Crimson Crow Demon King."

"The Crimson Crow Demon King?"

"That's right. Chiwu is the ninth generation of demon king. He commands millions of demon beasts in the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons and has twelve demon generals under his command. More than a hundred years ago, human cultivators and demons once again broke out into a large-scale war. As the representative of the pro-war faction, Demon King Chiwu led the demons in a fierce battle against the human race."

"In that great battle, hundreds of thousands of demon beasts perished. In the end, the Crimson Crow Demon King died in battle, and his corpse still hangs on the city wall of Dafeng Immortal City. Seven of the twelve demon generals also perished, with only five demon generals surviving. The Crimson Crow Demon King's only son successfully escaped under the cover of many powerful demons."

"However, the only son of the Red Crow Demon King disappeared during his escape for some unknown reason, and no trace of him has been found to this day."

The old man's tone was full of regret and sorrow. He and many other powerful demons shared the same thought: the Crimson Crow Demon King died for the demon race, and we must protect his only son.

He also told Ji Cheng that the fifth-tier tiger demon currently stationed in the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons was one of the twelve demon generals under the command of the Crimson Crow Demon King.

The tiger demon became a candidate for the next demon king, and took up residence in the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons, protecting many demon beasts.

Then, the old man summoned something from his sleeve and handed it to Ji Cheng.

This is a dark red stone, about the size of a river pebble.

Ji Cheng asked, "Senior, what is this?"

"This is a Phoenix Blood Stone. The Chiwu clan has a thin layer of phoenix blood flowing through their veins. This item is a treasure for cultivation for the Chiwu lineage. At the same time, it can also sense beings with phoenix blood. If you hold this Phoenix Blood Stone and the son of the Chiwu Demon King is nearby, this stone will become hot and can help you find the Chiwu Demon King's only son."

"Furthermore, some events indicate that there was a traitor among the twelve demon generals when the Red Crow Demon King died in battle. If you find the Red Crow Demon King's only son, you must not make a fuss. You must carefully conceal your whereabouts and only tell this news to a trustworthy demon general."

The old man whispered his instructions.

(End of this chapter)