Chapter 327: The Path of Beasts and the Path of Humans

Although the Lingxi World was much smaller than the Nine Provinces World, it still had over ten billion humans. If even ten percent died from breaking the contracts, that would mean over a billion deaths.
“Is there any way to increase the success rate?”
“There is, but I’m not familiar with the specifics.” Elder Tang Xing indeed had a more optimized method.
“Awakening the spiritual intelligence of demonic beasts. The reason soul contracts in this world are so hard to break is precisely because demonic beasts are muddle-headed and lack spiritual awareness.”
“The Human Emperor must also be familiar with the Six Paths of Reincarnation.”
“Of course. The Six Paths are: the Path of Celestials, the Path of Humans, the Path of Beasts, the Path of Asuras, the Path of Hell, and the Path of Hungry Ghosts.”
Jiang Li might not understand contract laws, but he was well-versed in matters of the soul.
“The Six Paths represent the manifestation of hidden virtue. The Path of Celestials is the destination for souls with great hidden virtue – they’re generally reborn in the immortal realm as descendants of immortals.”
“The Path of Humans is for souls with average hidden virtue, reincarnating as humans.”
“The Path of Beasts is for souls who committed wrongs in life and lack hidden virtue. As punishment, their next life isn’t as humans but as mindless beasts.”
“The Path of Asuras, Path of Hell, and Path of Hungry Ghosts only exist in the Netherworld – they’ve never been seen in the mortal realm.”
Elder Tang Xing had initially wanted to show off his knowledge, but seeing how familiar the Human Emperor was, he gave up, not wanting to embarrass himself by displaying his slight skill before an expert. He honestly explained his thoughts.
“Demonic beasts represent the Path of Beasts. They possess little rationality, mostly relying on instinctive reactions, far inferior to humans.”
“When a demonic beast breaks through to the Divine Transformation stage and gains intelligence, it’s essentially transitioning from the Path of Beasts to the Path of Humans.”
“In other words, after gaining spiritual intelligence, they become part of the Path of Humans. The soul contract’s two parties would then change from being between the Path of Beasts and Path of Humans to between two of the Path of Humans.”
Jiang Li agreed with Elder Tang Xing’s view. The presence or absence of spiritual intelligence was a watershed – those with intelligence fell under the Human Emperor’s jurisdiction, while those without were mere beasts, not his concern.
“This way, the success rate of breaking soul contracts could rise to ninety-nine percent, perhaps even one hundred percent.”
“Moreover, even without breaking the contracts, once demonic beasts gain intelligence, humans could truly understand them. There would be no more cases of forced contract-based understanding causing spiritual collapse.”
Generally, demonic beasts below the Divine Transformation stage lacked clear intelligence, possessing only brute strength without wisdom. Only upon reaching Divine Transformation would their thoughts suddenly become clear, like clouds parting to reveal the sun.
But the demonic beasts of the Nine Provinces were different. The first Baize Emperor was a beast whose wisdom rivaled the heavens. Seeing how intelligent he was compared to his dim-witted brethren pained him deeply.
He dedicated himself to developing a method to awaken beastly intelligence, using his “No Secrets” talent three times to ensure all Nine Provinces’ beasts were born with wisdom, establishing the Baize Dynasty on this foundation.
Legend said the Netherworld listed the first Baize Emperor as its most wanted criminal – the moment he died, all Ten Yama Kings would personally come to hogtie and drag this troublemaker to hell for eternal torment.
The first Baize Emperor had essentially played the Netherworld’s defined Path of Beasts and Path of Humans like a fiddle.
However, according to Immortal Elder Changcun, the first Baize Emperor achieved celestial immortality, enjoying a long lifespan. He remained in his prime, alive and well even before the Celestial Ladder disappeared.
The Immortal Elder speculated the Netherworld was temporarily powerless – after all, it only governed the dead, not the living.
This was the limitation of cultivating reincarnation laws.
“Baize Emperor, are you busy?” Jiang Li contacted her via a remote communication talisman.
…
Baize Emperor Baixue Ling was deep in thought, her delicate brows slightly furrowed.
Dressed in a short top and skirt, her every movement exuded allure.
Beasts had different clothing standards than humans – they only covered essential areas, and Baixue Ling was no exception.
“Sect Master Bai, I’m a Baize, not an omniscient god. Even if you ask me how to defeat Jiang Li, I wouldn’t have an answer.”
Baixue Ling was exasperated. Couldn’t Bai Hongtu ask something serious?
Bai Hongtu also found the question challenging and switched to an easier one.
“How can we make Jiang Li fall for Holy Maiden Jingxin?”
“…Let’s go back to discussing how to defeat Jiang Li.” Baixue Ling wisely retreated.
Just then, the remote communication talisman in her embrace lit up.
“Baize Emperor, are you busy?”
“I suppose not.” Baixue Ling was eager to escape Bai Hongtu – even Jiang Li’s troubles couldn’t be worse than his.
“I found a new world with some problems. Come over.”
“Alright.”
The Baize Emperor quickly arrived in the Lingxi World through a temporary passage established by Brahma Tower.
“This world has so many demonic beasts.” Baixue Ling was delighted. As their emperor, more beasts meant better.
“Baize Emperor.” Elder Tang Xing bowed to her. Though peers in cultivation, he was merely an elder while she was a sovereign – half a rank difference in status.
Jiang Li detailed the Lingxi World’s situation, with Elder Tang Xing supplementing.
Baixue Ling’s expression turned peculiar – demonic beasts here actually had high status? What a wonderful place.
“So you need to awaken their intelligence.” She understood – this was simple for her.
Baixue Ling produced a long list of ingredients and measurements, making Jiang Li raise his brows.
“This is our ancestor’s original formula – the first generation intelligence-enhancing medicine.”
“He found it troublesome and eventually integrated all these formulas into his descendants’ blood. In other words, my blood contains all these recipes.”
“Every Baize Emperor uses their own blood to awaken beasts.”
“Just diluted blood can give dull-witted beasts the ability to distinguish right from wrong.”
Baixue Ling preened proudly. This was why the Baize Dynasty remained under Baize rule – beasts wanting intelligent offspring had to keep a Baize as sovereign, ensuring their lineage’s legitimacy.
Before Baixue Ling became a pureblood, the Eight Demon Kings refused to acknowledge her legitimacy but dared not rebel openly precisely because her position was unshakable.
Unless they found another method to awaken intelligence.
“Perfect timing – we have a test subject here.” Jiang Li wanted to experiment first on Professor Feng.
Currently out of emergency care, Professor Feng remained relatively lucid.
Assimilation Disease worsened gradually – a few more episodes would render him completely mindless.
Baixue Ling flicked a drop of blood into the parrot’s beak.
The trio watched expectantly, but nothing happened – it remained the same simpleton only capable of repeating basic phrases.
Baixue Ling’s face fell after her earlier boasting, only to fail the first test.
She examined the parrot carefully, scanning it repeatedly with divine sense, her expression growing graver.
“This parrot has been artificially altered – its congenital deficiencies prevent spiritual awakening.”