Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 320: History of the Taotie Tribe

“Devouring Earth?”

Lu Yang bent down and picked up a clump of dirt from the ground, resisting the urge to eat it as he tossed it back.

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy sprang up from the ground cheerfully. “That’s right! Doesn’t “Devouring Earth” mean eating dirt? Is that hard to understand?” Although Lu Yang’s intelligence is beneath mine, something like this should be simple to understand, right?

Lu Yang, “...”

So your version of Devouring Earth is literal?

Seeing Lu Yang still befuddled, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy sighed softly. Fortunately, he has me in his mental space to guide him. Otherwise, with a brain like this, he’ll easily get deceived out there.

She further explained, “Although the taotie race is one of the Four Perils of the Ancient Era, that reputation only came later. In the beginning, their entire clan had a pretty rough time. They had voracious appetites but no skills to match, so they were constantly hungry. The hunger left them no strength and unable to hunt, trapping them in a vicious cycle.

“The taotie race couldn’t fast; they spent their entire lives eating. When they were starving, they even ate tree bark and leaves, but those couldn’t fill them up for long either.

“Later, perhaps because the taotie ancestors’ graves were fuming with cyan smoke and blessed their descendants, a genius emerged in the tribe. It was talented in cultivation and had a sharp mind.

“That taotie thought, ‘Isn’t it just eating? If we can eat tree bark and leaves, why can’t we eat the dirt on the ground?’

“It went into seclusion for three days without water or food. On the brink of starvation, its entire life flashed before its eyes. It originally thought it was about to perish, but then it remembered its tribe, its family, its emaciated siblings, and their earnest hopes. That taotie felt that it couldn’t wallow in despair. It had to resist!

“In the face of death, it saw hope. The instinct to survive drove it to integrate everything it had learned in its life. When all seemed hopeless, it finally created a mighty ability—Swallowing Heaven Devouring Earth!

“This mighty ability transformed into a bloodline power, merging into the taotie’s bloodline. From then on, every member of the Taotie Tribe automatically learned this ability and began competing to eat dirt.” freēwēbnovel.com

“Wait a minute, why did I hear that the Taotie Tribe’s Swallowing Heaven Devouring Earth could even tear space apart? But from what you have said, it doesn’t sound capable of that?” Lu Yang was puzzled. This isn’t what the books said.

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy puffed up her cheeks and glared at Lu Yang. “Hey, you’re so impatient. Listen to the rest!”

“Please continue.”

“That’s more like it.” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy looked pleased. “In the past, the Taotie Tribe struggled, and their cultivation levels were generally low because they didn’t have the energy to cultivate. Once they could eat their fill, they had extra energy to devote to cultivation.

“Their race’s cultivation talent was on par with top-tier demon beast tribes, such as the Dragon Tribe, Phoenix Tribe, Giant Kun Fish Tribe, Great Peng Bird Tribe, and Qiongqi Tribe.

“Another reason they cultivated so quickly was that eating dirt actually made them stronger. In fact, the higher the quality of the dirt, the faster their cultivation progressed. For a time, the price of black soil soared, all because of these guys eating it.

“The soil in the Dao-Seeking Sect’s herb garden is of high quality. If you’re interested, you can give it a try. I guarantee it’ll boost your cultivation speed!”

“Let me think it over.”

While Lu Yang pretended to consider, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy continued, “As the Taotie Tribe’s cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, they began to make a name for themselves among the demons. In the end, not only their talent, but also the strength of their entire race, could rival the top-tier tribes.

“This cemented their reputation as one of the Four Perils.

“When the Taotie Tribe prospered, they thought that since they were a major tribe, eating dirt all day wasn’t a fitting image. Thus, they modified Swallowing Heaven and Devouring Dirt into Swallowing Devouring All Things, which is the version you see now.”

Lu Yang fell silent before asking, “Then why didn’t you teach me the later version of Swallowing Heaven Devouring Earth?”

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy looked at Lu Yang with a strange expression, baffled by his question. “Isn’t this what you requested? You wanted the most ancient skill, especially one that looks like it’s from the ancient era at a glance.

“This is a bona fide ancient skill. It’s ancient even to me. I had to read about it from ancient books and hear the Qilin Immortal's embellished narration of the story.

“Let me tell you, this skill has almost been lost to time. Even the Taotie Tribe might not know it anymore. Had you not begged me, I wouldn’t have taught it to you!”

Lu Yang, “...”

Thank you very much.

“Does this skill only work for eating dirt?” Lu Yang asked, holding onto the last sliver of hope.

“Of course not.”

“There’s really more to it?” Joy swelled in his heart. The Immortal Fairy is still reliable after all.

“Try eating a mouthful of dirt. It’ll surely be dry and hard to swallow. If you drink water, it’ll turn into mud, which is also hard to swallow and sticks to your throat.

“This is where ‘Swallowing Heaven’ comes in. Swallowing Heaven allows you to use spirit qi as water after eating dirt, swallowing the surrounding spirit qi to wash down the dirt. Gulp, and it all goes in!”

“...So this is a combo move?”

“Come on, the creator was a genius of the Taotie Tribe. Isn’t it normal for the move to be perfected? Of course, Swallowing Heaven can also be used alone, which is absorbing spirit qi.”

“Let me try.”

Lu Yang silently recited the incantation and opened his mouth. Sure enough, a vast amount of spirit qi poured into his mouth, spreading through his limbs.

Cough, cough. It felt as if he was choking. Finding it hard to breathe, he instinctively closed his mouth and coughed.

“You’re absorbing spirit qi too quickly. At your current cultivation realm, you can’t absorb it that fast,” the Everlasting Immortal Fairy reminded.

Hearing what she said, Lu Yang activated his cultivation technique and calmed the spirit energy inside him. He opened his mouth again, deliberately slowing down the spirit qi absorption rate this time.

The spirit qi was like dew, sweet and refreshing. Digested in his stomach, it circulated throughout his body, bringing immense comfort.

“Ah, so comfortable~” Lu Yang exclaimed. “Wait, speaking of which, when I was absorbing spirit qi just now, why did the sensation feel like I was using a Spirit-Qi Gathering Array?”

“You guessed it right. The earliest Spirit-Qi Gathering Arrays of the human race were developed based on this skill.” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy revealed another ancient secret.

Talismans, arrays, and numerous other cultivation arts were all created by ancient humans through imitating nature and demon beasts, including the Taotie Tribe.

“No wonder... Wait, there’s no point in me learning this version of Swallowing Heaven Devouring Earth. Who knows about this part of the Taotie Tribe’s history now? Even if I start eating dirt right away, the Nine-Netherworlds Creed wouldn’t be able to recognize it as ‘Swallowing Heaven Devouring Earth!’”

It suddenly dawned on Lu Yang. It’s true that the skill is ancient, but it being too ancient is also a problem—no one would recognize it.

He suspected that even during the Everlasting Immortal Fairy’s era, hardly anyone knew about these things!

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy hesitated. “So you want to learn the current version of Swallowing Heaven Devouring Earth?”

Lu Yang nodded vigorously.

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s easy.”

“How so?”

“I don’t know it.”

Since I don’t know it, Lu Yang won’t have to learn it—simple logic.