Chapter 121 – The Value of Martial Demons
After what happened just now, Xue Qilin who is no longer in the mood for shopping left.
While walking aimlessly in the town, she found an alarmingly large number of hunters, lumbermen, and miners. The entire town seems to be engaged in extracting resources from Martial Demon Realm to make a living.
If the owners of Martial Demon Realm are martial demons, then is this regarded as a kind of predation? Of course the world doesn"t seem to regard martial demons as beings of equal value as humans.
In a world where even humans can be a.s.signed a specific price, what are martial demons regarded as?
Killing animals for the meat, cutting down trees for the wood, and digging in the ground for the minerals – they take what they need, and then live.
No matter what kind of creature it is, its survival is bound to hinge on predation.
There is no exception.
The permutation of things never ceases, this is the truth of the world.
But can everything be taken for granted like this? It"s rather hypocritical to think so. After all, Xue Qilin sleeps on a bed made of wood and eats meat.
In the end of the day, the question that has to be answered is what kind of existence are martial demons. Are they a kind of creature similar to humans, or are they purely beasts?
It is because Xue Qilin"s answer is the former that she finds it wrong.
However, in this world where martial demons are regarded as a lower form of life, maybe she is the strange one.
That"s why she didn"t say a word, or else she might get alienated.
Stay away from people you cannot understand – this is part of human instinct.
The only fortunate thing that makes her feel better is that she doesn"t seem to be alone with such a mindset. Qi Qiqi is probably the same as her, not equating martial demons and ordinary animals. This can be seen from the girl"s display of love for White Dragon [1] as well as the fact that she sent people to deal with the people in change of the black market in anger after learning that a martial demon was auctioned there.
“Hey, are you in a bad mood? You look unhappy.”
The black cat leaned forward and patted the la.s.s"s forehead with the soft pads of a paw.
Is it that obvious? Xue Qilin sighed and teased Phecda"s nose with a finger.
“Well, a bit.”
“Why?”
Walking silently, Xue Qilin disregarded the pa.s.sers-by who are surprised at hearing the black cat talk.
“Little Phecda, what do you think of… martial demons?”
Not understanding the deeper meaning of the question, the black cat tilted its head.
“Martial demons are martial demons.”
“But they are not just martial demons…”
This simple and straightforward answer seems absolutely correct from a certain perspective.
However, this answer does not apply to this complex world.
You are not necessarily just yourself.
People carry numerous different labels. Like Xue Qilin, in addition to Xue Qilin, she is also Merak Temple"s Young Ancestor, Shui Yun"er"s teacher, a Heaven Realm master with the nick name of “Natural Disaster”, and the person who killed Hua Tianji.
The most ironic thing is that the three words “Xue Qi Lin” themselves do not endow the la.s.s with any value. All her value is generated from the numerous labels attached to her name.
What about martial demons? In addition to martial demons, what other labels do they have.
“To put it another way… Little Phecda, what do you think you are?”
To some extent, Phecda who is a quasi-sword spirit is very similar to martial demons. They both can take advantage of acquired opportunities, strive to obtain intelligence that can rival that of humans, and become existences similar to humans.
The world believes that martial demons have encroached on the uniqueness of humans, and so subconsciously cla.s.sifies the other party as a lower form of life. Then if Phecda is not the sole and unknown sword spirit, will she also be spurned by the world?
“Me…?”
“Yes… what do you think you are?”
“Boo… it seem like you"re saying that I"m worthless!”
Puff puff puff – the fluffy cat paws kept patting Xue Qilin on the forehead in protest.
“Stop, I can"t see where I"m going!”
She snorted angrily, and Phecda recoiled.
The black cat sat up and crossed its forelegs, swaying faintly along with Xue Qilin"s pace.
“I am your sword, what else can I be?”
“Aren"t you a person?”
“Well… I should be? But I am also a sword… Boo… doesn"t it mean that I am neither a person nor a sword?”
Phecda hugged her head, distressed.
I"m asking the wrong person. Xue Qilin sighed secretly. According to human standard, Phecda is probably only about 10 years old in terms of mental age. How could she understand such a complicated question? Not to mention Phecda, even Xue Qilin doesn"t quite understand it.
After transplanting Phecda into Empyrean Universe, in order to enable her to be in contact with the outside world, Xue Qilin with the help of Li Wanting carved a complex magic array on the core part of Empyrean Universe, enabling Phecda to use magic to transform the sword into different forms.
“Right! Then what am I?”
Xue Qilin shrugged and said in a strange, overcast tone of voice: “A willful rascal who loves to cause trouble and fears loneliness!”
When she heard Xue Qilin poke fun at her, Phecda pouted immediately. Now it seems like the fact that she previously manipulated Shui Yun"er"s to attack people is just a lie.
“Boo… you"re bullying me again!”
Xue Qilin laughed heartily, ignoring the surprised looks cast her way.
Um, as long as things around you are okay, that"s enough.
[1] – White Dragon (白板) is Qi Qiqi"s martial demon cat, not to be confused with white dragon (白色的龙), which is the white colored dragon form Phecda can a.s.sume