Cohabitation with Sword Spirit

Chapter 515 - 16: Nobody’s Perfect

May 11, 2018, Saint Sect

After returning from the Golden Cloud Peak ruins, Wang Jiu didn’t even bother to greet Zhao Chenlu and went straight into the archives to research everything about the founders.

The two founders of the Saint Sect were exceptionally legendary figures.

Unlike the subsequent "Supreme Type" Sect Leaders, the two founders were long the focal point of public debate. Due to the Saint Sect’s tolerance for public discourse, the legendary stories about the founders have remained popular for two thousand years.

There are relatively rigorous historical studies, which, through the public records of a Sect, Three Academies, and the Seven Great Noble Families, compare and analyze the overlooked details lost in official history, correcting one-sided accounts in certain historical documents.

There are also bolder and even radical historical hypotheses that concoct a shocking historical viewpoint for various motives, and then gather various materials to attempt justification. If supporting evidence is found, it is heavily promoted and flaunted. If not, it is ignored. If someone objects, they are subjected to character attacks, continuously creating a media vortex to boost their popularity.

Then there’s pure entertainment-based artistic creation, using historical backgrounds and characters to write stories they enjoy.

The last type of artistic work is the most numerous and has the best market.

Because of the Saint Sect’s incredible tolerance for folk artistic creation, as people grew accustomed to the existence of the Saint Sect during peacetime, historical adaptations became more dramatic. In earlier times, speculating about the Saint Sect’s founders required some caution, but as times progressed, people dared more boldly. Starting twenty years ago, this audacity reached outrageous levels. Pioneers in fashion, led by Golden Jade City, began innovating with all kinds of bizarre stories.

For instance, they hypothesized the two founders as young and beautiful girls; during the day, they slew demons and led the Xiangzhou ancestors in igniting the Fire of Civilization. At night, they explored and comforted each other, brimming with passion.

Even more outrageous were those who portrayed them as succubi, using their tight, wet mastery over control to make many heroes of the Three Academies and Seven Great Noble Families willingly become puppets fighting kingdoms for them. If any opposition arose, it would surely end in an intensely passionate close battle, inevitably leading to face-offs between the demoness and Chaos Beasts...

This kind of artistic creation clearly has nothing to do with exploring the historical truth, meant purely for satisfying the primal desires of creators and audiences. Yet undeniably, even in such works, there are often pieces of information worth noting.

For instance, the book Wang Jiu is currently reading, "Ice River Beauty," tells a story of the human Ice Age, after the end of the Primordial Weakened Era, where the continent was covered with ice and snow, the Immortal Dao Rules almost entirely frozen, and human civilization rapidly declined, with survivors clustering around large sects and families to eke out a miserable existence.

According to the verified official history now, the Ice Age lasted at least three thousand years, with the eventual thaw and revival of human civilization partly attributed to luck, especially since much of the Primordial Inheritance was preserved through various means, nearing a miracle. But this "Ice River Beauty" presents a new explanation, suggesting that during the Ice Age, two girls inherited the Primordial legacy and silently protected human civilization. They braved great dangers, traveling the ice-covered continent to aid communities in crisis. They lived long lives, remaining until the Ice Age ended and the Dark Era arrived before finally falling silent.

As for why such a solemn history is named "Ice River Beauty"?

Because whenever a person from a tribe despaired, they would inject passion into them in a sacrificial manner. When one person despaired, they would infuse passion into that person; when an entire tribe despaired, they organized large ceremonies, combining in the most solemn and intense way... The writing, though clearly in an erotic novel, vividly described the heavy feeling of history when in despair, elevating the entire novel’s realm.

The aspect that attracted Wang Jiu in this novel is the intriguing hypothesis it proposes: At the end of the Primordial Era, the early Ice Age, remnants of the Primordial created Guardians—those two girls—to support human civilization when it couldn’t sustain itself.

And the two Sect Leaders of the Saint Sect are the descendants of these Guardians.

This theory of human manufacturing differs from various mainstream historical views but undeniably offers a possibility worth deep analysis. The actions of the First Generation Sect Leader were hard to explain through spontaneous human behavior—too noble, too selfless. No matter how indifferent Wang Jiu is to worldly matters, he understands humans are inherently selfish; achieving selflessness in large strokes is commendable, but in the details, personal biases would inevitably emerge. Yet, the two Saint Sect founders were truly perfect saints from the start. This is how they managed to subdue the Seven Great Noble Families, who were once discordant, ultimately unifying human civilization. If viewed as creations, as artificial beings, it’s easily explained.

Artificial beings are indeed more capable of selflessness compared to humans. Also, this could explain why the Saint Sect heritage connects with the Demon Race—because only the Demon Race has such long lifespans!

Even in the Jiuzhou Era, no cultivator could live thousands of years, especially when the laws of heaven and earth changed, Spirit Wind halted, and spiritual energy depleted, life spans further shortened. The beings that guarded human civilization for three thousand years in "Ice River Beauty" couldn’t be human but rather like the Demon Race.

In fact, during the Immortal Demon War period, cultivators were constantly trying to understand the Demon Race to absorb their strengths for themselves. The longevity of the Demon Race was one of the key topics, but it was not the highest priority—if the Immortal Demon War could not be won, no amount of natural lifespan would matter, so the top priority was always research that directly enhanced combat power.

Up until the decisive battle, the research group on longevity had not produced any definitive results, but it cannot be ruled out that they took the risk of applying immature results and accidentally succeeded. Even if it was ineffective for humans, it was quite likely to be effective for artificial beings.

Next, what caught Wang Jiu’s interest was a historical account from the Shang Family, one of the Seven Great Noble Families.

Initially, the process of the Saint Sect Leader unifying the Seven Great Noble Families was not smooth sailing. Some mistrusted this mysterious duo, while others acted out of consideration for their interests. The former could be swayed by continued achievements, but the latter was almost a deadlock.

The Shang Family was a typical case of interest conflict. During the Dark Era, the Shang Family was once closest to the position of overlord. Therefore, the new order established by the Saint Sect brought them the lowest short-term benefits. As for the long-term? Families that considered long-term benefits during the Dark Era paid a heavy price.

Thus, the Saint Sect subdued the Shang Family with force. The process was very unfriendly, so the ancestors of the Shang Family spent the most effort trying to dig up dirt on these two founders.

The results were disappointing, as there was not a shred of substantial evidence. Even with the greatest malice in selectively collecting data, no problems could be found regarding the First Generation Sect Leader. Whether it was personal character or work capability, they were impeccable, consistently finding the right solutions amidst complex situations. Within the Shang Family’s records, there were also malicious speculations that many of the problems humanity faced at the time might have been deliberately created by these two founders conspiring with unknown forces. Otherwise, how could they have found solutions when everyone else was at a loss?

Such speculations obviously could not be relied upon. In fact, it was even more revealing, showing that the Shang Family had been driven to such lengths, indicative of how flawless these two founders were.

This flawlessness once again piqued Wang Jiu’s curiosity, even skepticism.

It is an unequivocal fact that humans are flawed beings. If there truly were so-called perfect, flawless individuals, then it’s either state propaganda or... they are not human.

This hypothesis aligns with the earlier artificial being’s assumption, but at the end of this historical account, there is a clue that intrigues Wang Jiu even more.

This was a perplexity left by the ancestors of the Shang Family.

"Even though there are irreconcilable conflicts with those two, I must admit their actions were impeccable. This makes it even more puzzling—what were they thinking, and what did they want? Humans always have motives to act, yet their actions seem motiveless. The Li Family and Zhao Family believed in their altruism, but I refuse to believe it no matter what. The Shang Family always speculates from the worst angle, so I think they must have other motives... Otherwise, why would they refuse to disclose their origins and keep secret records hidden from the world?"

When Wang Jiu posed this question to the Saint Sect Leader, the latter seemed unconcerned.

"It is merely the nitpicking of the Shang Family ancestors, given the severe conflicts in the past. Indeed, the identity of the First Generation Sect Leader is a mystery, as if they appeared out of nowhere. But in that era, revealing one’s origins hastily would bring trouble. Many patriarchs of the Seven Great Noble Families didn’t know their biological mothers until they succeeded. And outside the noble families, there were many independent cultivators who seemingly emerged out of nowhere, so this matter is actually not unusual. As for not disclosing private records, that’s even more common, right? Many people have the habit of keeping diaries, and normal people wouldn’t make their diaries public."

Wang Jiu asked, "But according to the preset characterization of the First Generation Sect Leader, they obviously weren’t normal people. Using normal people’s logic to understand them is itself erroneous."

The Sect Leader paused, thought deeply, then said, "But using the standards of perfect beings to judge them may be too harsh..."

Wang Jiu said, "It’s not about imposing standards, but trying to understand their behavior patterns. According to historical accounts, they gathered heroes from all over, establishing the Xiangzhou Civilization Order. Their deeds during that period can only be explained by them being perfect beings. But if they were perfect, why would there still be insignificant flaws?"

"Because the idea of perfect beings, or flaws, are concepts derived from human experience and inference. Perhaps there was an unexpected reality."

"Precisely because unexpected occurrences are rare, such concepts can proliferate. And a one-of-a-kind unprecedented exception must be fabricated."