Chapter Forty: The Proper Attitude Toward One’s Creations

At this moment, Jiang Yifei, the head of the Jiang family standing nearby, witnessed Fang Zheng’s actions. After weighing his words carefully, he cupped his hands and asked:

"Senior Fang Zheng, please forgive my presumption, but may I ask why you are so intent on confirming whether they can understand you? If you could tell us the reason, perhaps we might be able to assist."

"After all, Senior, you seem unable to communicate via divine sense and must rely on ordinary speech, is that correct?"

Fang Zheng glanced at Jiang Yifei’s sincere expression and replied: "That is correct. While I can conjure them out of thin air using a mob spawner, if they are fundamentally no different from the flood dragons of this cultivation world, then..."

Jiang Yifei frowned slightly upon hearing this. Having been summoned only a short while ago, he had yet to gather much intelligence. Although he was the current head of the Jiang family and possessed a revived bloodline that made him look identical to the Great Emperor Hengyu, his cultivation level was still relatively low—currently only at the Saint King realm—and he had not been privy to the great secrets concerning the resurrection of his ancestors by the spirit of the Hengyu Furnace.

As he listened to Fang Zheng, he pondered inwardly: (Conjured out of thin air? And 'this' cultivation world? Could it be that this being named Fang Zheng does not come from the outer starfields, but from a truly different world, perhaps even the Immortal Realm?)

Fang Zheng continued: "The flood dragons of this world are sentient beings, are they not? Generally speaking, if they can cultivate, they should be able to take on human form."

Jiang Wen nodded: "Indeed. The human form is naturally close to the Dao. Among the myriad races across these nine heavens and ten earths, whenever one embarks on the path of cultivation, most will eventually take on human form to facilitate their enlightenment."

Fang Zheng looked troubled: "If the ones I conjure are just like the flood dragons of this world—sentient beings—then what does that make me, the one who brought them into this world?"

"Am I their creator? Or should I be considered their parent?"

"Do I truly have the right to bring them into existence?"

"What attitude should I take toward them?"

Looking at the flood dragons on the table, which were hissing continuously, their angry roars laced with a sense of fear and despair, Fang Zheng felt a complex mix of emotions.

He looked at the three silent men before him and asked: "In this cultivation world of yours, flood dragons are considered creatures worth their weight in gold, aren't they?"

"Whether it's stewing their flesh and blood, or stripping their tendons and skin to forge weapons and equipment, it should all be quite useful, right?"

"If one were to use the methods of cultivation and artifact refining on a flood dragon over a thousand kilometers long, it would be quite powerful, wouldn't it?"

Jiang Yifei glanced at the flood dragons on the table, a strange thought crossing his mind, and replied: "Indeed. Among the demon race, the path to becoming a dragon is a legendary road that has been passed down since ancient times. Any demon with a certain amount of dragon blood can constantly strive toward that path."

"Legend has it that the Demon Emperor Xue Yueqing, who once shook the nine heavens and ten earths, was originally nothing more than an ordinary snow hare. Yet, through constant cultivation, he moved toward the path of the dragon, eventually purifying his bloodline to become a true silver dragon."

"As for flood dragons, which are born with remarkably pure bloodlines, they are considered treasures from head to tail wherever they go."

"Their flesh and blood can be used to refine pills, and their bones and membranes are top-tier materials for artifact refining. Most precious of all is the dragon pearl; whether for alchemy, artifact creation, or setting up arrays, it is a supreme material."

"However, the purer the bloodline, the greater the aptitude, and usually, the stronger the cultivation. Their status within the demon race is higher accordingly."

Jiang Yifei spoke slowly, turning the blood and fire of eons past into calm words.

"But a flood dragon is merely a relatively powerful type of demon."

"Throughout history, the conflict between humanity and the demon race has never ceased. Humans stripping demons of their tendons and skin for artifacts and pills, or demons viewing humans as food—this is common practice in Beidou, and indeed, throughout the entire cultivation universe."

"Is that so..." Upon hearing this, although Fang Zheng had been mentally prepared, he still felt a wave of nausea.

In the past, after finishing his homework, he would read novels or watch anime, frequently encountering conflicts between different races. Vampires eating people, demons eating people, artificial intelligence killing humans, or humans killing vampires and demons to resist AI—he had seen it all.

When consuming such fiction, Fang Zheng had felt nothing; he only felt the battles weren't intense enough, wishing they would "tear each other’s brains out."

But now, Fang Zheng had truly transmigrated.

He had arrived in this cruel world.

Just a day ago, while speaking with Taiyin on the Road to Immortality, Taiyin had vaguely recounted his experiences—from being weak to rising through the ranks and eventually attaining the Dao to be proclaimed an Emperor.

Fang Zheng learned the history of the Primordial Era, where countless humans across the starfields were reduced to livestock raised by powerful alien races, used as food, stripped of their tendons and skin, and had their vitality and souls extracted as materials for artifact refining.

At the time, Fang Zheng had felt deeply uncomfortable with the history Taiyin described.

Fang Zheng felt that even if they were of different races, they could all take human form and possessed wisdom.

Can’t everyone just sit down and live together in peace?

Why is it that whether it is the demon race, the so-called ancient races, or the human race, they can kill other sentient beings, strip their tendons and skin, refine them into magical treasures and pills, or stew their flesh into delicacies without the slightest psychological burden?

Fang Zheng looked at the flood dragons on the table and turned to Jiang Wen: "Elder Jiang Wen, could you do me a favor? Please try to convey what I am about to say to them using your divine sense."

Jiang Wen nodded.

Fang Zheng took a deep breath in his heart and said: "I have just tested it. It seems that for various creatures in this cultivation world, as long as they lay eggs, I can turn them into my spawn eggs."

"In this way, no matter how difficult it is for them to hatch and grow naturally, I can conjure as many as I want."

"If those conjured from spawn eggs or mob spawners are merely mindless beasts, then I could treat them as tools or toys without any pressure."

"I could conjure them at will to play with, kill, or use for beast fighting."

"But if the ones I conjure are sentient beings just like normal creatures, I don't really want to bring them into existence."

"If they were to die after being conjured, I would feel guilty."

"If they lived a miserable life after being conjured, I would also feel guilty."

"If they possess wisdom and yet kill people, I would feel as if I had killed those people myself, and I would feel very uncomfortable."

"I don't really want to shoulder that responsibility, but I feel that if one is to bring a sentient being into this world, one must hold at least a modicum of respect for them, take responsibility, and let them live a better, happier life, rather than having them casually stripped of their tendons and skin or stewed and eaten..."

Watching the flood dragons on the table, whose movements had gradually slowed, Fang Zheng continued: "Looking at them now, they seem to have no mind, but I am worried that they simply don't understand the language I am speaking."

"Perhaps, having just been created, they are sentient but, lacking guidance, they cannot speak, much like a newborn."

"If I cannot truly confirm their state, I simply cannot find peace of mind."