“Shiva?”
Upon hearing this familiar word, Li Hai’s mind immediately conjured up a series of irrelevant things: A-san, Ganges water, clean and hygienic… Wait, weren’t those from Tianzhu?
Why were they here as well?
“Shiva is the name of a deity,” Feng Heyue explained.
“The Lian Zhou Monks all revere Shiva as the Creator God, believing that this deity opened the heavens and earth, gave birth to humans and cattle, and created forests and rivers.
They even believe that the boundless Qi between heaven and earth is actually the milk of Shiva.
Therefore, all Lian Zhou Cultivators do not consider themselves Martial Artists or Spellcasters, but rather call themselves Monks, Monks who believe in Shiva, drink his milk, and fight for him.”
“Then—” Li Hai mused, “Is this so-called Shiva Martial Arts very strong?”
“It’s very bizarre, and Cultivation progresses extremely fast,” Feng Heyue said gravely.
“This Shiva Martial Dao primarily Cultivates the mind, and its essence is a Cultivation Technique system that manipulates one’s own and others’ minds, spirits, and consciousness.
They can hypnotize themselves to extract their own potential through exaggerated movements similar to dance, or strange prayers like songs, or distort the enemy’s mental thoughts, physical senses, and even soul perception.”
She narrowed her eyes in recollection: “Let me think, oh right, the lowest Realm level in this Shiva Martial Dao system seems to be called—Shudra.
This Realm is roughly equivalent to the Three Energies Realm in our Yu Continent’s Zhengchuan Martial Arts.
As for other Lian Zhou people who have not reached the Shudra Realm, they are collectively called Dalit by themselves, and are the slaves and servants of all Lian Zhou Monks, who can be arbitrarily abused.
Above Shudra is the Vaishya Realm, which is equivalent to Steel Grade Martial Artists, and further up is the Kshatriya Realm, which is roughly equivalent to Thousand Army Grade, and then above this level is the so-called Brahmin Realm.
And Lian Zhou Monks of the Brahmin Grade can directly contend with Yu Continent’s Void-Reality Grandmasters, because Monks at this level can forcibly interfere with a Grandmaster’s perception of form and spirit, causing his remote Qi projection to go in the wrong direction, hitting other places, or even hitting the Grandmaster himself.
Furthermore, Brahmin Monks are not limited to just this ability; they can even disturb the will of heaven and earth through various dances and songs, thereby triggering various natural phenomena and disasters, achieving effects similar to Qimen Arts.
In short, that group of Lian Zhou Monks is quite difficult to deal with.”
“Whoa~ Is it that powerful?”
Li Hai said excitedly, “Then, Feng Nainai (Grandma Feng), can you get me a Shiva Martial Arts book? I want to observe it and see if I can learn a thing or two.”
“You want to learn that thing?”
Feng Heyue looked at him strangely and shook her head, “Child, I advise you not to learn it.”
“?”
Li Hai asked doubtfully, “Why?”
“Cultivating Shiva Martial Dao, relying solely on the Qi of heaven and earth is far from enough,” Feng Heyue said slowly.
“In addition, one needs to frequently ingest huge amounts of spicy seasonings that make one cry and are salty to the throat, and also eat large amounts of cow dung and drink large amounts of cow urine.
Perhaps it is under the stimulation and influence of these messy things that once a Lian Zhou Monk achieves even a little success in Cultivation, an extremely terrifying stench will emanate from their soul to their physical body.
At the same time, as their Realm continuously improves, the Lian Zhou Monk’s way of thinking will become increasingly abstract and bizarre, so bizarre that normal Yu Continent people simply cannot understand it.
Their innate bestial desires will also be completely unleashed and become increasingly intense, eventually turning them into a senseless beast that will suddenly erupt at any time and anywhere, even with the slightest stimulation.”
“...Are they insane? Who created this system?”
Li Hai exclaimed, “Cultivation is Cultivation, why do they need all these messy things? Why do they need to become so disgusting?”
“If you want to ask who created Shiva Martial Dao, there is no answer,” Feng Heyue said with a smile.
“Lian Zhou people have never had the habit of recording history; there are only various exaggerated and outrageous myths and legends, and the key is that they themselves believe them to the core, all believing that Lian Zhou is a blessed land bestowed by gods, and that Lian Zhou people are the chosen people of Shiva, noble beyond compare.”
Then she slowly said: “So, since the beginning of history, Lian Zhou has always provoked Yu Continent, and then wars would break out between the two Continents.
Then Lian Zhou would be defeated, and after losing most of their people, they would retreat to their homeland and lay low, and after a few hundred years, the Lian Zhou people, who have no concept of past history, would again provoke Yu Continent, thereby triggering another war between the two Continents, repeating this cycle endlessly.”
“Truly—such a lowly race,” Li Hai frowned tightly.
“Why can’t they be wiped out every time there’s a war between the two Continents?”
“How can they be wiped out?” Feng Heyue retorted.
“A vast Lotus Continent is not much smaller than Yu Continent; at most, we can destroy their various towns, but countless remote corners can hide people, and with the Lian Zhou people’s reproductive ability, which is like that of wild beasts and livestock, a few hundred years are enough for the remaining few to give birth to a large number of new generations, and—”
Her gaze suddenly became sharp, “And deep within Lian Zhou, there are still many Evil Path Legacies that fled from the Yu Continent during the era of the Ancient First Profound Kingdoms.
Under the ravages of long years, most of these Legacy lands have declined and perished, but they are still fraught with danger, and entering them rashly would only result in heavy losses.
So, once the defeated Lian Zhou remnants flee into these Evil Path Legacy lands, the Yu Continent army will let them go and not pursue them.
At that time, no matter how many of these Lian Zhou routed soldiers die inside, even if only a few survive, they can still scour for female Dalits everywhere and give birth to a large number of new Lian Zhou people.”
“I understand,” Li Hai mused.
“It’s like cockroaches; unless the entire Lotus Continent can be overturned, these Lian Zhou people cannot be exterminated.”
“Mm,” Feng Heyue nodded, “That’s right.”
Then she frowned again: “It’s just, I wonder what the Lian Zhou people’s objective is this time.”
“Who cares what their objective is,” Li Hai said indifferently, “As long as I encounter them, I’ll kill them.”
“Heh heh heh,” Feng Heyue nodded with a smile, “That’s right, that’s how it should be; no need to care about their thoughts.”
Their casual conversation ended there.
In the following days, Li Hai pondered and researched various Cultivation Techniques and Spells, while gradually learning about the various affairs of the Demon Slayer Division under Feng Heyue’s arrangement and attempting to operate them, learning little by little.
It was also during this learning and operation that he deeply realized what it meant to not know the cost of living until one manages a household.