Chapter 230: Chapter 68: The Secret of the Bloodline

Zhang Deming nodded upon hearing this. He now had a better grasp of their situation. "In that case," he said, "you must have had quite a few mixed-bloods back then, right? Why are they all gone now?

"When the Ghost Vine disaster erupted, was your luck so bad that they all died?"

Qing Danhong shook her head. "No, that’s not it. From the moment we decided to go into seclusion, the mixed-bloods were destined to disappear."

"Why is that?" Zhang Deming asked, puzzled. "Don’t they all have Royal Race Bloodline? How could being mixed-blood leave them with no room to survive?

They can reproduce on their own and have Royal Race Bloodline. Their ability to survive should be much stronger than you pure-bloods, right?"

Qing Danhong nodded. "That’s right. Mixed-blood Flower Demon Elves do have a better chance at survival than pure-blood Flower Demon Elves.

However, starting with the first generation of mixed-blood Flower Demons born from the Royal Race, if a mixed-blood doesn’t continue to reproduce with the Human Race and chooses to reproduce with their own kind instead, the Human Race Bloodline gets diluted."

Zhang Deming nodded. This was a simple matter of genetics, which he could understand.

Qing Danhong continued, "It doesn’t matter if a first-generation mixed-blood Flower Demon Elf chooses to mate with another first-generation mixed-blood or with a pure-blood Flower Demon Elf.

The Bloodline will ultimately be diluted, and it will continue to dilute uncontrollably with each passing generation."

Zhang Deming’s brow furrowed. "Wait a minute. Are you saying that if two first-generation mixed-bloods reproduce, their offspring’s proportion of Human Race Bloodline will be far lower than that of their parents?"

Qing Danhong nodded. "Yes!"

’Huh. So the reproduction of Flower Demon Elves doesn’t follow the laws of genetics, but the laws of metaphysics?’

Qing Danhong continued, "Without breeding with new members of the Human Race, it doesn’t matter how the mixed-blood Flower Demon Elves interbreed.

Starting from the first generation, the Human Race Bloodline can be passed down for three generations at most before it vanishes completely. The descendants revert to being pure-bloods and lose the ability to reproduce on their own.

Because of this reproductive trait, as long as we chose seclusion, the disappearance of the mixed-bloods was inevitable.

Back then, many in the Royal Race disliked the mixed-bloods. After all, the birth of many mixed-bloods was the result of being forced, with no other choice but to submit themselves to the service of the Human Race.

Very few were the product of true love.

For this reason, even though mixed-bloods were considered part of the Royal Race, their status within the clan wasn’t high, and they weren’t well-liked.

Therefore, given the choice, everyone preferred to maintain the purity of the Bloodline.

So, not long after we went into seclusion, the mixed-bloods disappeared completely.

At the time, the Flower Sea Holy Land was still normal, the Ghost Vine hadn’t mutated, and we had a sufficient population to replenish our numbers, so nobody paid it any mind.

In fact, many of our clan members were pleased with this outcome.

Afterward, when humans occasionally visited, no new mixed-bloods were produced due to their low status.

By the time the Flower Sea mutated and reproduction became difficult, there were already no mixed-bloods left in the Secret Realm.

And we, from within the Secret Realm, can only influence its opening and concealment; we can’t directly interfere with its core functions.

So when problems arose later, we didn’t have the reproductive capabilities of the mixed-bloods, and with the issues in the Flower Sea, it all led to the situation we’re in today."

Zhang Deming shook his head. "This just goes to show the necessity of biodiversity."

Qing Danhong: "???"

Qing Danhong looked at Zhang Deming with a bewildered expression, not quite understanding what he was talking about.

Zhang Deming didn’t bother to explain. Instead, he asked, "So, are the mixed-blood Flower Demon Elves less attractive?"

Qing Danhong shook her head. "Mixed-blood Flower Demon Elves inherit the delicate beauty of the Flower Demon Elves and the height of the Human Race.

They almost all look like the Royal Race, and some are even much taller.

Only Flower Demon Elves with a very diluted Human Race Bloodline end up becoming petite.

That’s why the mixed-blood Flower Demons are actually the most popular among the Human Race."

"If that’s the case, and they inherited the best traits of both sides, then why weren’t they popular within your Flower Demon Elf Clan?" Zhang Deming asked, perplexed.

Qing Danhong shook her head. "I’m not sure about that."

Zhang Deming mulled it over for a moment and quickly understood the crux of the issue.

’It all came down to whether it was consensual or forced!’

’Most mixed-bloods were born because the Flower Demon Elves had been ’volunteered.’ It would be a miracle if the children born from such unions were well-liked.’

’I guess the resentment from being ’volunteered’ is even worse than from being outright forced.’

’In an environment like that, a mixed-blood’s status and living conditions were determined from the moment of birth.’

No longer dwelling on the issue, Zhang Deming looked out at the Flower Sea and said, "From what I see, aren’t there a lot of Flower Wood gestating here?"

Qing Danhong replied with a bitter smile, "We’ve already tried to avoid it as much as possible because of the water source’s influence.

But it’s still a struggle. In this part of the Flower Sea, most of the gestations this time have resulted in stillbirths or mutated fetuses.

Only a tiny few have any chance of developing Spiritual Wisdom.

And even that is an uphill battle. In the past, when we had cases of insufficient Spiritual Wisdom, we had Spirit-Storage Fruits or Spirit-Storage Wood to help.

Now that the Spirit-Storage Forest is destroyed, we can only leave it up to their own fate."

Zhang Deming nodded, now roughly understanding the Flower Demon Elves’ plight. ’To put it simply,’ he thought, ’this disaster that’s threatening to wipe out their clan is mostly their own damn fault.’

’After the Blessed Land fell, they had a god-tier start.’

’There was nothing wrong with going into concealment at first. Lying low to build up strength was an excellent choice.’

’But to keep lying low once they reached their peak, to remain completely isolationist, even driving away people who stumbled upon them by accident...’

’All of that created the conditions for their own demise. In isolation, extinction is only a matter of time.’

’No communication, no contact with the outside world—this was the inevitable outcome.’

’What a damn waste of such an amazing racial Talent.’

’If it were me leading this clan, I would have laid low and built up our strength.’

’Then, I’d make contact with the outside world and fully exploit our attractive appearance—forming marriage alliances, winning over allies, even resorting to seduction, using every tool at our disposal.’

’With their Bloodline advantage, there’s no fear of being completely absorbed into the ordinary Human Race and losing their unique racial traits.’

’It might be difficult to become a top-tier power that way.’

’But dominating a region shouldn’t be difficult. As long as they fully leveraged their advantages, it would be quite simple. You have to understand, in any world, beauty is a sharp sword.’

’Used well, it can truly be unstoppable.’

’They were dealt a perfect hand and somehow played it into a complete loss, even managing to waste their strongest card.’

Zhang Deming shook his head, no longer dwelling on these matters.

He continued to wander for a while longer, gathering more information, before finding a place with Li Shifan to wait for his injuries to heal.

***

「The next morning」, Li Shifan’s injuries were almost completely healed.

The two of them discussed it for a moment and decided to go attempt the trial.

After all, even without the incident involving the Outer Sect, Li Shifan’s original plan had been to drag Zhang Deming along to brave this Secret Realm.

Judging from the rewards they had reaped from just a small fragment of the Turtle Water Secret Realm, the complete Cyan Wood Secret Realm—an Inner Sect Trial, no less—was worth them risking it all for.

Furthermore, powers above the Duality Stage were restricted within the realm, which further reduced the danger.

If they didn’t even try under such uniquely favorable conditions, they really didn’t deserve to call themselves Cultivators.