Cultivation Online

Chapter 1597  Weird Spiritual Energy

"By the way, my name's Yuan. What should I call you?" Yuan said suddenly, recalling that he hadn't introduced himself.

"You can call me Yingzi," she said.

'So they also have names here, huh?' Yuan mused to himself.

Given that names are primarily a human custom, he assumed that entities in this world might not follow such practices.

However, after thinking about it for a moment, he realized it wasn't that weird for them to have names since some of them also wear clothes.

'They must have learned a thing or two from the humans who have traversed this world in the past.'

"Do you know what happened to the humans that came to this world before?" Yuan decided to ask.

"Most of them were killed and consumed," Yingzi responded without an ounce of pity in her tone.

She continued, "As for those that survived, they were enslaved by Predators and studied."

Yuan shuddered at this information.

"So there's a possibility that some humans may still exist in this world?" he inquired.

Yingzi pondered for a moment before nodding, "It's possible, but very unlikely. The last human to appear was several million years ago, and humans cannot live that long."

"If they're an Immortal, they should be able to survive that long, though," Yuan said.

However, before Yingzi even responded, Xiao Hua's voice resounded inside his head, "B-Brother Yuan! The spiritual energy in this place is very weird!"

"What?" Yuan raised an eyebrow.

Yu Ning's voice followed: "I can't believe we haven't noticed this until now. While the spiritual energy in this world may seem normal at a glance, it is actually incredibly difficult to absorb!"

"..."

Yuan also hadn't noticed this change since their bizarre situation had completely occupied his mind. If Xiao Hua hadn't mentioned it, he probably wouldn't have noticed until much later.

However, when Yuan tried to absorb the spiritual energy around him to experiment, he didn't notice any difference.

"Huh? Are you sure? I am absorbing it just fine, nor do I feel any difference when compared to the Nine Heavens."

"Seriously…? But when I try to absorb it, I would only get about 1 percent of what I should… It's like trying to breathe while being choked." Yu Ning tried to describe her own experience.

"It's the same for me." Xiao Hua said.

Perhaps this was the real reason why Yuan hadn't noticed anything. After all, he was absorbing the spiritual energy there just fine.

'If the others were also having trouble absorbing the spiritual energy in this place, even Immortals would slowly perish from a lack of spiritual energy…'

Yuan quickly understood why Yingzi claimed that humans couldn't live for so long. However, he couldn't figure out why he was able to absorb the spiritual energy there without any issues.

"Hey." Yingzi suddenly called out to him.

"Yes?"

"What does it mean to be human?" she asked, her eyes flickering with intrigue.

"Uhh… that's a really difficult question to answer… If I were to ask you what it means to be a Predator, how would you respond?"

Yingzi pondered for a moment before responding, "I don't know."

Yuan then said, "The question of what it means to be human is deeply philosophical. I can't define what it means to be human universally since everyone differs. Whether it be our culture, morals, ethics, emotions, and even biology, none of that really defines us as human. If anything, I'd say it's our soul that makes us human."

"Your soul…? I don't understand. I also have a soul, but I am not human," said Yingzi.

"I guess it'd be more accurate to say the shape of our soul? I don't know." Yuan shrugged.

Yingzi fell silent again.

'What's she thinking now?' Yuan wondered.

A few moments later, Yingzi suddenly wore a look of enlightenment on her face, and she spoke, "Then I'll observe you until I understand what it means to be human."

"You want to observe me…?" Yuan had a bad feeling about this.

'Does this mean she'll be following me as I explore this world?'

He wanted to politely refuse, but he had a feeling that she wouldn't care about what he had to say and would still follow him regardless. Moreover, he risked offending her by refusing her company, which might get him killed.

'Maybe this won't be as bad as I am imagining. She's been a great help thus far,' he thought, trying to be positive about the situation.

If it weren't for Yingzi, he probably would still be trying to figure out his location.

He spoke a moment later, "If you want to understand what it's like to be human, you can start by wearing clothes. All of the humans in my world wear clothes throughout the day."

"..."

Yingzi frowned slightly at his suggestion, but it made sense.

"I don't have any clothes," she reminded him.

'Xiao Hua, do you have extra clothes?' he asked her since they had a similar build.

Xiao Hua came out of his Dantian for a split second to hand him a pair of robes before quickly returning to his body to avoid attracting the beasts there with her scent.

However, even though it was only for a split second, the Primals nearby had already noticed Xiao Hua's scent and were rushing in their direction.

Seeing this, Yuan quickly handed the clothes to Yingzi and said, "Here, you can wear this. Come find me when you're done."

Without explaining further, Yuan turned around and left the scene.

"..."

Yingzi stared at the black robes in her grasp with a profound expression on her face.

After spending several minutes staring at it, she reluctantly started wearing it.

While Yingzi struggled to figure out how to wear the clothes, numerous Primals arrived at the scene, drawn by Xiao Hua's lingering scent. However, their excitement quickly turned to terror as they noticed Yingzi's presence, and they swiftly departed.

Once she had managed to dress herself, Yingzi looked in the direction Yuan had gone and began chasing after him.