Capítulo 1343: The seven siblings(2)

“Anyone armed with just one of those strains would instantly become a dangerous and thorny opponent, and yet you have seven,” said Yang Qing, sighing in both envy and admiration.

He had to cultivate bitterly, pushing himself to the brink of death, to acquire the abilities he possesses today. Yet Bolin had been born with all these wondrous gifts simply for being a rainbow mist toad.

As slightly envious as he was, though, he wouldn’t trade his hand for Bolin’s, even though he had so many advantages.

Spirit beasts were born with natural advantages that regular humans did not have, like the powerful bodies and the innate abilities. Human cultivators needed to reach the foundation establishment realm just to reach the starting point of some of these spirit beasts, and for some, they needed an even higher cultivation realm.

If he were at the same realm as Bolin, and in his base form (without his peerless jade physique), Yang Qing would have needed to cultivate a blue-grade art to the emergent or blooming stage just to have a chance at seeing through the cloaking effects of the yellow strain. And he would need at least a middle-tier blue-grade potion to survive Bolin’s poison, or a high-tier one if struck by the full cocktail.

But as advantageous as it seemed for Bolin and other spirit beasts, with their powerful abilities, sturdy bodies, and long lifespans, the heavens were not unfair. They gave humans something spirit beasts lacked, and that was malleability. Humans might not possess strong bodies, innate powers, or extended lifespans, but they could cultivate anything they desired, even abilities that mimicked the innate powers of spirit beasts. And if they couldn’t replicate them, they could develop techniques to counter them.

Because humans were born pitifully weak, without any clear advantages beyond their ability to procreate quickly, and perhaps the absence of fur (though there were surely spirit beasts that might see that as a disadvantage), they were driven toward ingenuity to compensate for that lack. Fortunately for them, their bodies and minds were perfectly suited for it. Being the weakest created countless necessities, and necessity, when coupled with desperation, was the perfect ingredient for innovation. At the same time, their bodies, having nothing by nature, were the perfect blank canvas for adopting anything.

They didn’t have the powerful abilities or bodies that spirit beasts possessed, but in exchange, they had the freedom to choose their path and shape themselves into whatever they wished to become. Spirit beasts didn’t have that luxury. The same powerful bodies that gave them their advantages also bound them to the path they were meant to walk.

A spirit beast with a natural attunement to fire could no more use water-attributed abilities than Yang Qing starving himself at a free banquet. Humans didn’t have that limitation. They could use all manner of spells and techniques spanning across different elements, even those opposed to one another, which made them versatile. At the same time, they also cultivated faster than spirit beasts, and with enough talent, resources, and a bit of luck, they could catch up to the natural advantages that spirit beasts possessed, such as lifespan, powerful abilities, and strong bodies.

So no, as envious as he was of Bolin, Yang Qing was rather satisfied with being born human. If he hadn’t been, he would never have gained his yin yang peerless jade nature bones physique, and as a result, would never have gotten his hands on his purple grade art.

Mastering a purple grade art was no different from having a dragon blast in your arsenal, and having a peerless jade physique was no different from having a dragon’s body. He knew he was exaggerating a bit with that thought, but that was just how precious those things were in his eyes.

That being said, while spirit beasts were constrained by the paths of their bodies, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing to have your path already decided from birth. If they mastered that path well enough, they could make up for their deficiencies and grow even stronger.

And that was exactly what Yang Qing intended to do with Bolin. The multipronged ability he possessed through his different strains granted him a versatility that most spirit beasts didn’t have the luxury of. But given the state Bolin had been in when Yang Qing first met him, he doubted Bolin was making full use of that potential, especially the yellow and green strains, which could be lethal in the hands of a master.

Yellow concealed both his presence and his toxins, while green not only granted him immunity to other poisons but also allowed him to use all the other toxins to their fullest extent. At the same time, it strengthened and refined his body as a whole. Poisons, especially his, were fast-acting, but that didn’t mean they would always take effect quickly against every opponent. The stronger a cultivator was, the more resilient their body tended to be. In such cases, dragging out the fight worked more to Bolin’s advantage than his opponent’s, because of how virulent his poisons were.

Your body might resist destruction for ten seconds, but could it do so for ten minutes?

The green strain that enhanced his stamina and vitality would help Bolin endure prolonged battles where his opponents didn’t fall instantly. It would buy him the time needed for his other strains to finish the job—whether it was the red that targeted the blood, the orange that attacked the organs, sinews, and bone, the yellow that disrupted detection, the blue that targeted the qi, meridians, and dantian while also infecting the surrounding spiritual qi, the indigo that amplified the effects of all the other strains while countering any measures used against them, or the violet that targeted the soul.

Bolin was as well-rounded as one could be in the art of poisoning. However, the way he used his abilities was what Yang Qing had questions about.

“Your abilities are strong, Bolin,” said Yang Qing. “Strong enough to make you peerless when fighting those in the same realm as you,” he praised. “However, if I were to go to our Institute and grab one of the students in their final year, even if they were weaker than you in stage, they would still give you a run for your money. Do you know why that is?” Yang Qing asked gently.

“Their techniques?” Bolin answered hesitantly.

“Yes, that’s part of it,” said Yang Qing with a slight nod. “The other part is you,” he said, pointing at Bolin.