Chapter 320: History of the Taotie Clan

"Earth Devouring?"

Lu Yang bent down and scooped a handful of mud from the ground, but mastering the urge to taste it, he cast it back down.

The Immortal Fairy gave a lively leap from the turf. "Exactly! Does 'Earth Devouring' not literally mean eating dirt? Is that so hard to grasp?"

The Immortal Fairy was of the opinion that though Lu Yang’s wits were a far cry from her own, parsing a matter so straightforward ought to have been well within his depth.

Lu Yang stood speechless.

So the "Earth Devouring" of her house was meant quite so literally?

Beholding Lu Yang’s lingering look of utterly blank bewilderment, the Immortal Fairy let slip a gentle sigh, reflecting on how providential it was that she resided within his spiritual consciousness to guide his steps; otherwise, with a head like his, he would surely be undone by deceivers the moment he ventured abroad.

She sought to illuminate him further. "Though the Taotie are chronicled among the Four Perils of antiquity, that was a renown they carved out much later. In their earliest days, the whole brood fared wretchedly indeed. Blessed with monstrous appetites but devoid of true might, they passed their days in perpetual hunger; and famished as they were, they lacked the strength to hunt, thereby falling into a most ruinous cycle."

"The lineage of the Taotie possessed no art to fast from grains; their entire span of days was consumed by eating."

"When the pangs of starvation drove them mad, they would even feast upon tree bark and wild leaves, yet such fodder scarce sufficed to sustain them."

"Later on, by some stroke of ancestral fortune that must have set their family graves ablaze with propitious smoke, there arose within the clan a singular genius, gifted in cultivation and uncommonly sharp of mind."

"That particular Taotie pondered thus: if nourishment is but nourishment, and bark and leaves can be suffered by the belly, why then should the very earth beneath our feet be forbidden?"

"It entered into a solitary meditation for three full days, during which not a single drop of water passed its lips. As it drew nigh unto the brink of death from starvation, the memories of its entire life flickered in succession before its eyes. It believed itself doomed to perish then and there, yet the image of its clansmen, its kin, and its gaunt, skeletal brethren rushed back to mind, alongside the weight of their earnest hopes."

"It resolved that it could not simply sink into oblivion; it must defy its fate!"

"From the very jaws of death it glimpsed a glimmer of hope, and driven by the sheer instinct for survival, it forged the entirety of its life’s learnings into a seamless whole, finally birthing a path out of the abyss—a grand divine ability: Heaven Swallowing and Earth Devouring!"

"This grand divine ability transformed into a power of the lineage, weaving itself into the very blood of the Taotie. Thenceforth, every member of the clan mastered this art by birthright, and they began to vie with one another in the eating of dirt."

"Hold your horse a moment," Lu Yang interrupted, his mind clouded with doubt. "I have ever heard that when the Taotie swallow the heavens and devour the earth, they can rive the very fabric of space. From what you tell of it, it scarcely sounds like an art capable of sundering the heavens." The chronicles, after all, spoke of a entirely different matter.

The Immortal Fairy glared at Lu Yang, her cheeks puffed with indignation. "My word, what an impatient creature you are! Rest yourself and hear me out!"

"Pray continue, then."

Highly pleased with herself, the Immortal Fairy murmured a satisfied "That is more like it," before resuming her tale:

"In former times, the Taotie clan suffered miserably and their cultivations were generally meager simply because they possessed no leisure to cultivate. Yet once their bellies were filled, they found themselves with ample vigor to devote to the Great Dao."

"The innate talent of their race for cultivation was grand enough to rival the foremost lineages of the beast realm—such as the Dragons, the Phoenixes, the Kunpengs, and the Qiongqis."

"There was yet another reason for the swiftness of their ascension: the consuming of earth truly lent them strength. Moreover, the finer the quality of the soil, the swifter their progress. There was a season when the price of rich black soil soared to astronomical heights, driven up solely by the rapacity of those fellows."

"The soil within the herb gardens of our Daoist Sect is of no mean grade. Should it please you, you might sample a mouthful; I wager it shall hasten your cultivation by leaps and bounds!"

"Allow me some time to weigh the matter," Lu Yang replied, seeking a diplomatic retreat.

Taking advantage of the interval while Lu Yang feigned his deliberation, the Immortal Fairy continued: "As the cultivation of the Taotie clan advanced by leaps and bounds, they began to distinguish themselves among the beast races, until at last, not merely in talent but in the sheer might of their whole kindred, they stood shoulder to shoulder with the supreme clans."

"Only then was their title as one of the Four Perils firmly established."

"Once the Taotie clan attained such grandeur, they bethought themselves that, being a great lineage after all, spending their days eating dirt was a thoroughly unseemly business. Thus, they amended the art of Heaven Swallowing and Earth Devouring, transforming it into the devouring of all creation—which is the very spectacle you witness in this present age."

Lu Yang fell into a brief silence before inquiring, "Then why, Fairy, did you not impart to me this later version of the art?"

The Immortal Fairy regarded Lu Yang with an expression of utter bewilderment, unable to fathom why such a question should even cross his mind. "Was this not by your own decree? You demanded the most ancient of arts, one that would, at a single glance, betray its primeval origin."

"This is an authentic, unadulterated ancient skill. Even to my eyes, it belongs to an era long vanished; I myself chanced upon it in the pages of an archaic scroll, and only came to grasp the full truth of the matter after hearing the Qilin Immortal embellish it with his own flourishes."

"Let me tell you, this technique has come perilously close to being lost to the world; it may well be that not a soul among the living Taotie remembers it. Had you not besought me so earnestly, I should never have unveiled it!"

Lu Yang stood in silent resignation.

My profoundest thanks to you, then.

"Does this technique serve no other purpose than the consumption of earth?" Lu Yang inquired, harboring a faint glimmer of hope.

"Of course it does."

"Truly?" Joy flickered in Lu Yang’s heart; it seemed the Fairy was dependable after all.

"Consider this: if you take a mouthful of dry earth, it must needs be parched and bitter, exceedingly difficult to force down. Should you take water with it, it turns to thick mire, which is no less troublesome to swallow, sticking fast to the throat."

"Herein lies the utility of 'Heaven Swallowing.' It allows you, upon taking the earth into your mouth, to employ spiritual qi as a draught, imbibing the ambient qi of your surroundings to flush the mud downward, so that with a single gulp, it passes smoothly into the belly!"

"...So it is nothing more than a consecutive combination of moves?"

"What a way to put it! The creator was, after all, a rare genius of the Taotie clan; is it not only natural that his techniques should be conceived with such flawless perfection?"

"Furthermore, 'Heaven Swallowing' may be employed independently, simply to draw in spiritual qi."

"Let me make trial of it."

Lu Yang silently recited the incantations of the heart-method and parted his lips. As foretold, a vast torrent of spiritual qi came rushing into his mouth, flooding into his limbs and meridians.

"Cough, cough!" Feeling as though he were choking, Lu Yang found his breath suddenly obstructed; his body instinctively closed its mouth, and he broke into a fit of coughing.

"The speed at which you draw in the qi is far too violent; given your present realm, you cannot afford to absorb it with such haste."

Hearing her counsel, Lu Yang circulated his mantra to pacify the chaotic spiritual energy within his frame. Reopening his mouth, he deliberately tempered the pace of his drawing.

The spiritual qi trickled in like sweet dew, delicious and refreshing. Digested through the stomach, it dispersed throughout his entire body, bringing an exquisite sense of comfort.

"Delightful," Lu Yang murmured with a sigh of deep satisfaction.

"Yet, hold a moment... come to think of it, did that sensation of gathering spiritual qi just now not mirror precisely the operation of a Qi-Gathering Formation?"

"You have hit the mark. The earliest Qi-Gathering Formations of our human race were fashioned precisely by mimicking this very technique," the Immortal Fairy revealed, unearthing yet another secret of the primeval era.

The various arts of cultivation, be they talismans or formations, were all conceived in antiquity by the human race through the imitation of nature and the beast kindred.

And among those beasts was numbered the Taotie clan.

"No wonder... But wait! Even if I master this version of Heaven Swallowing and Earth Devouring, it avails me nothing! In this day and age, who retains any memory of this ancient lore of the Taotie? Even if I were to fall to eating dirt right before them, those of the Nine Nether Sect would never recognize it as the legendary divine ability!"

Lu Yang was struck by a sudden realization. The antiquity of the skill was beyond dispute, yet an art too ancient posed a grave dilemma: none would possess the eyes to discern it.

He even harbored a suspicion that during the Immortal Fairy’s own golden age, few indeed were privy to these matters!

The Immortal Fairy hesitated. "Then... would you rather learn the contemporary version of Heaven Swallowing and Earth Devouring?"

Lu Yang nodded his head with utmost vehemence.

The Immortal Fairy breathed a sigh of relief. "Ah, that simplifies things considerably."

"How so?"

"I do not know it."

Since she knew it not, Lu Yang had no need to learn it—a logic beautifully simple.

Returned home late; the second update shall arrive around eleven o'clock.

(End of Chapter)