Chapter 320: The History of the Taotie Clan

"Devouring Earth?"

Lu Yang bent down to pick up a clump of dirt from the ground, resisted the urge to eat it, and threw it back down.

Everlasting Fairy jumped up from the ground with a hey: "Yes, Devouring Earth literally means eating dirt. Is that so hard to understand?"

Everlasting Fairy thought that while Lu Yang's intelligence wasn't up to her level, understanding this should be quite simple.

Lu Yang: "..."

So in your house, Devouring Earth is meant literally?

Seeing that Lu Yang was still confused, Everlasting Fairy sighed softly, thinking it was fortunate that she was there to give him advice in the spiritual space. Otherwise, with Lu Yang's brains, he would be easily deceived outside.

She further explained: "Although the Taotie clan is one of the four ancient fiends, that reputation came later. Initially, they lived a miserable life. They had big appetites but no skills, often going hungry. Without food, they had no energy, couldn't hunt, and thus fell into a vicious cycle."

"The Taotie clan cannot go without food; they eat their whole lives."

"When they got desperate, they'd eat tree bark and leaves, but bark and leaves aren't filling."

"Then, one day, it seemed like the ancestors of the Taotie clan were blessed, and a genius emerged in their tribe with both talent for cultivation and a clever mind."

"This Taotie beast thought, 'If tree bark and leaves are edible, why not the soil on the ground?'"

"It went into seclusion for three days, not eating or drinking a drop of water. As it was on the verge of starvation, its life flashed before its eyes. It thought it was going to die, but then it remembered its tribe, its family, those skinny brothers and sisters, and their eager expectations."

"It felt it couldn't fall here; it had to fight back!"

"In the face of death, it saw hope. The instinct to survive combined all its knowledge, and finally, it created a great divine ability—Swallowing Heaven Devouring Earth!"

"This divine ability became a part of their bloodline, integrating into the Taotie blood. From then on, every member of the Taotie clan learned this divine ability naturally and began eating dirt."

"Wait a minute, I've heard that the Taotie clan's Swallowing Heaven Devouring Earth can tear apart even space. From what you're saying, it doesn't sound like something that can tear apart space." Lu Yang was puzzled; this wasn't how it was written in books.

Everlasting Fairy looked at Lu Yang angrily: "You're so impatient! Let me finish!"

"Please, continue."

Everlasting Fairy, feeling proud, said, "That's more like it," and continued:

"In the past, the Taotie clan lived miserably, and their cultivation levels were generally low because they didn't have the energy to cultivate. Once they were full, they had the extra energy to cultivate."

"Their innate talent for cultivation was comparable to the top monster clans, like the dragon clan, phoenix clan, kunpeng clan, and the qilin clan."

"Their cultivation speed was fast for another reason: eating dirt really could make them stronger. The better the quality of the dirt, the faster their cultivation progressed. At one time, the price of black soil skyrocketed because these guys were eating it."

"The soil in the Dao Seeking Sect's medicinal garden is of high quality. If you're interested, you can try it. I guarantee it will speed up your cultivation!"

"Let me think about it."

While Lu Yang pretended to consider it, Everlasting Fairy continued: "As the Taotie clan's cultivation advanced rapidly, they began to stand out among the monster clans. Eventually, it wasn't just their talent; the entire clan's strength was comparable to the top clans."

"This is how they solidified their name as one of the four fiends."

"When the Taotie clan prospered, they thought that as a major clan, eating dirt all the time wasn't appropriate. So they modified the Swallowing Heaven Devouring Earth skill to devour all things, which is what you see now."

Lu Yang was silent for a moment and then asked, "So why didn't you teach me the modern version of Swallowing Heaven Devouring Earth?"

Everlasting Fairy looked at Lu Yang strangely, not understanding his question: "Isn't this what you asked for? You wanted the oldest skill, the kind that is clearly from ancient times at a glance."

"This is indeed an ancient skill. It's so old that even for me, it's something I learned from ancient books and from hearing Qilin Immortal embellish the story."

"I'm telling you, this move is almost lost. There might not even be anyone in the Taotie clan who knows it anymore. If you hadn't begged me, I wouldn't have taught you!"

Lu Yang: "..."

Thank you, I guess.

"Does this move only let you eat dirt?" Lu Yang asked, holding onto a sliver of hope.

"Of course not."

"Really?" Lu Yang was delighted, thinking the Fairy might be reliable after all.

"Try eating a clump of dirt. It's dry and hard to swallow. If you drink water, it turns into mud, which is still hard to swallow and sticks in your throat."

"This is where 'Devouring Heaven' comes in. It allows you to eat dirt and then use spiritual energy as water to swallow the dirt, gulping it down smoothly!"

"...So this is a combo move?"

"Of course! The creator was a genius from the Taotie clan. Isn't it normal for the move to be well thought out?"

"Devouring Heaven can also be used alone to absorb spiritual energy."

"Let me try."

Lu Yang silently recited the mantra, opened his mouth, and a massive amount of spiritual energy poured in, filling his entire body.

"Cough, cough." Feeling like he was choking, Lu Yang felt short of breath and instinctively closed his mouth, coughing.

"You're absorbing spiritual energy too fast. With your current level, you can't absorb it that quickly."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yang adjusted his technique, calming the spiritual energy within him, then reopened his mouth and deliberately slowed the absorption rate.

The spiritual energy felt like sweet dew, delicious and refreshing. It was digested in his stomach and spread throughout his body, providing extreme comfort.

"So comfortable~" Lu Yang sighed.

"Wait, this feeling of absorbing spiritual energy—it's just like using a spirit-gathering array!"

"You guessed it. The earliest human spirit-gathering arrays were created based on this skill." Everlasting Fairy revealed another ancient secret.

Many cultivation arts, such as talismans and arrays, were created by ancient humans mimicking nature and monster beasts.

Among these monster beasts was the Taotie clan.

"No wonder... But wait, even if I master this version of Swallowing Heaven Devouring Earth, it's useless. Who nowadays knows this history of the Taotie clan? Even if I start eating dirt, the Nine Nether Sect people won't recognize it as Swallowing Heaven Devouring Earth!"

Lu Yang suddenly realized that while the skill was indeed ancient, it was too ancient. No one would recognize it.

He even suspected that in Everlasting Fairy's era, few people knew these things!

Everlasting Fairy hesitated: "So, do you want to learn the modern version of Swallowing Heaven Devouring Earth?"

Lu Yang nodded vigorously.

Everlasting Fairy breathed a sigh of relief: "Then the case is closed."

"How so?"

"I don't know it."

She didn't know it, so Lu Yang didn't need to learn it. A simple solution.

(End of the chapter)